This is the archive for January 2008
Note: The following is the text of Principal Don Montoya's annual "State of the School speech, delivered today at 10:15 a.m. I
By Don Montoya,
Principal, James Logan High School
Semester #1 for the 2007-2008 school year is "in the books". Hopefully you had many successes, both academically and personally, during these past several months. And now we face the beginning of Semester #2 where we will have new opportunities and new challenges, and a chance to begin again; to re-establish goals for today, for tomorrow, and for the rest of this year. Goals which will impact the rest of your life. Did you hear that statement? You will have new opportunities and new challenges and a chance to begin again, to re-establish goals for today and for tomorrow and for the rest of this year. Goals which will impact the rest of your life. Do you believe that? It really is true. Doing the things you need to do, making the choices you need to make to earn your high school diploma is one of the most important goals you can have in life as that diploma opens many doors to your future.
Posted by courier at 11:39 AM. Filed under: News
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Clockwide from upper left:
Candidates Barack Obama, Mitt Romney,
John Mccain and Hillary Clinton
wikipedia images,
Courier News Editor
Many Logan seniors will soon be a part of the American democratic process as they cast their first official votes ever in California's presidential primary election on Tuesday.
The California Primary has been moved up to February 5, with the intention of giving the country's most populated state, and the fifth largest economy in the world a greater say in the presidential nominating process.
"Moving up the primary from June to February gives California the influence it deserves in choosing the next presidential candidates,” explained Governor Schwarzenegger in an article on TheCaliforniaPrimary.com webpage.
Posted by courier at 10:51 AM. Filed under: News
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Heath Ledger
Wikipedia photo
At hearing the news of Heath Ledger’s death, many thought it was a joke or some kind of mistake.
But as the truth of the tragedy finally sunk in, fans burst into tears over the untimely death of the 28-year old Australian actor. Fans worldwide have joined together in mourning to remember one of the few excellent young screen actors of our time.
Posted by courier at 07:45 AM. Filed under: News
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By David B. Wilkerson
MarketWatch (MCT)
CHICAGO — Average monthly unique-audience figures for newspaper Web sites grew 9 percent in the fourth quarter to 62.8 million, an industry trade group said Thursday.
A new report by Nielsen Online that takes into account Internet usage at both home and work shows the increase from a year-ago figure of 57.6 million average monthly unique users, the Newspaper Association of America said.
Posted by courier at 12:43 PM. Filed under: News
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The Union City Fire Department
leaves after dealing with the
smoky dishwasher.
Courier Photo
Plastic kitchenware which fell on a dishwasher's heating element washed away about 20 minutes of classes as James Logan High School students started their second semester.
According to Principal Mistee Hightower, "a piece of plastic fell onto the hot coils during the drying cycle" of a dishwasher in the 300 building. "It melted and set off the fire alarms," she said.
The high school had been in session for about three minutes of the new semester when the alarm sounded to send students to their evacuation areas.
Posted by courier at 12:35 PM. Filed under: News
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Logan Teacher Cathy Staib
checks out her new room.
Courier Photo,
Courier Staff Writer
District workers scrambled Monday to get classrooms in the new 400s building ready for students and faculty members to start using them tomorrow.
After the demolition of the 100s building halfway through the 2005-2006 school year, a project has been in the works over the last 2 years, and a few last touches are being put on the building before it is released to staff and students on January 29, the first day of the second semester. The weekend after the last day of final exams, the 26th through 28th, will be utilized for teachers who are scheduled to switch to the new building second semester. The Monday in which most of the transferring of furniture will occur is a semester break for students and a teacher workday for teachers.
Posted by courier at 11:08 AM. Filed under: News
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New Haven Superintendent
Pat Jaurequi. NHUSD photo
Forty children who weren’t quite old enough to attend kindergarten when the 2007-08 school year began will start school Monday when the New Haven Unified School District launches a mid-year, full-day kindergarten pilot program.
“We are very excited to be able to offer this kind of program to parents of children who were born just a little too late to start kindergarten last fall,” Superintendent Dr. Pat Jaurequi said. “We have put together a quality program that will give these children a solid foundation when they start regular kindergarten next year.”
Posted by courier at 01:29 PM. Filed under: News
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Logan alumni Andrew Fulweiler
designed the MLK tournament's
souvenir t-shirt.
Courier Photo,
Courier Staff Writer
James Logan High School’s 14th annual Martin Luther King Jr. Invitational Forensics Tournament took place this past weekend. Nearly 2,000 high school students from many different schools ranging from Colorado to Hawaii participated in this speech tournament in Union City. The competition began with preliminary rounds of such speech and debate events as Oral Interpretation Lincoln-Douglas Debate on Friday and ended on Sunday with final rounds and awards.
“My hope is for many students to show up to our tournament. I am excited to see different individuals in this competition from a variety of schools,” said senior Bilal Malik, president of James Logan Forensics Speech and Debate Team.
For complete results, visit the Joy of Tournaments website.
Posted by courier at 01:54 PM. Filed under: News
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A Guy Emanuele Elementary staffer
handed out posters. Courier Photo
The spectre of Union City's youth brought dozens of members of the faculty from Kityama Elementary and other elementary and middle schools came to James Logan High School after school on Friday with signs that had messages like “Silence the violence” and “We have the power to stop violence in our community.”
Cherie Barnecut, a third grade teacher at Kityama Elementary, took the initiative to organize this event. She did it because “We have lost young people in this community. It does not matter how young or old they were," she said. "It was a tragic loss. And I thought, what if we united people so that they can get together to greet and talk so that we can heal and move on.”
Posted by courier at 12:01 PM. Filed under: News
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By Sarena Bains, Courier Staff Writer
It's the night before finals and students are scrambling around there teachers like never before. For the prepared student, the coming of finals is time for a sigh of relief. For others, desperation is setting in.
Finals start tomorrow and continue Thursday and Friday for all grade levels. Each final period will be approximately two hours long and the school has modified the schedule so that each student takes two finals a day.
Posted by courier at 12:52 PM. Filed under: News
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A poster from the Pennsylvania
Attorney General's website.
ST. LOUIS — After wrapping up his work in the
Star Wars saga, Darth Vader settled down in Allentown, Pa. At least, that's what his Facebook page says.
Actually, there are at least a dozen people on the popular networking site claiming to be the famous villain-turned-hero, which tells us two things: There's a lot of obvious lying going on and there's not much being done to discourage it.
Posted by courier at 07:53 AM. Filed under: News
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By John McCormick
Chicago Tribune (MCT)
ATLANTA — The message Sen. Barack Obama delivered from the pulpit Sunday was at once subtle and direct.
In one of the cathedrals of black America, he melded biblical themes with a call for political action, rallying African-Americans behind his presidential bid as he campaigns in states where the most viable black candidate in history will need their overwhelming support if he is to prevail.
Posted by courier at 04:49 PM. Filed under: News
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President George W. Bush greets
officials with Saudi Prince Salman
bin Abdul Al-Aziz,in Riyadh Jan 18.
White House photo by Eric Draper
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — President Bush wraps up a weeklong tour of the Middle East Wednesday, leaving many Mideast political observers mystified as to the purpose of the visit and doubtful that the president made inroads on his twin campaigns for Arab-Israeli peace and isolation for Iran.
Bush is heading back to Washington mostly empty-handed, said several analysts and politicians throughout the region. Arab critics deemed Bush's peace efforts unrealistic, his anti-Iran tirades dangerous, his praise of authoritarian governments disappointing and his defense of civil liberties ironic.
Posted by courier at 06:46 AM. Filed under: News
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By Rebecca Soltau,
Entertainment Editor
As you walk through the James Logan campus, an air of intense anxiety hangs over the heads of students. With only two measly weeks left, friends are scrambling to study groups and intense tutoring sessions.
Finals are right around the corner, and everyone's feeling the pinch.
Posted by courier at 12:04 PM. Filed under: News
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By Rick LaPlante,
New Haven Schools Public Information Officer
The Board of Education on Tuesday night received an update on the District’s response to and the Union City Police Department’s investigation into the fatal shooting of a James Logan High School student outside Barnard-White Middle School on the last day of school before winter recess.
The meeting opened with a moment of silence in memory of Vernon Eddins Jr., a 14-year-old freshman who was killed Friday, Dec. 21, when he was shot after a confrontation between African-American students and Hispanic males outside Barnard-White about a half-hour after classes had been dismissed.
Posted by courier at 07:55 AM. Filed under: News
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Logan's Erin Cross, above,
and Amy Guastavino got
funding for their project.
Courier Photo
Fourteen New Haven Unified School District teachers are sharing $5,148 worth of mini-grants awarded today by the New Haven Schools Foundation, for special projects that promote learning.
Five New Haven teachers are sharing an additional $1,200 worth of mini-grants awarded through the Foundation by the District’s HEART (Health Education and Resource Team) program, for wellness activities.
Posted by courier at 07:46 AM. Filed under: News
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By Bethany Stringer, Courier Publications Editor
Tensions were high as the district office filled with various parents, staff members, teachers and administrators gathering Tuesday for the first School Board meeting since the murder James Logan freshman Vernon Eddins, who died on the doorstep of Barnard-White Middle School last month.
Posted by courier at 03:03 PM. Filed under: News
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Courier Staffer Harman Badwal
confers with counselor Barbara
Alexander. Jasmeen Banwait/
Courier Photo,
Courier Staff Writer
According to counselors at James Logan, students will not be able to change or fix their schedules seven days after the new semester begins. Counselors are encouraging students to make schedule starting now and before the current semester ends. Students can schedule appointments with their counselors for either this week or next week during finals.
Changing schedules after second semester begins may cause a problem. Students will need to be patient and wait a week or longer to switch or drop classes. During second semester, students can begin schedule changes on January 7, 8, and 11.
Posted by courier at 01:23 PM. Filed under: News
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An administrator guards a usually
open gate next to the Pavilion.
Courier Photo
Since the return from Winter vacation, James Logan High School has increased campus security measures to protect students from violence in the wake of the murder of freshman Vernon Eddins.
Beginning last Monday, an additonal police officer has patroled the Logan school site, bringing Logan's contingent of officers on campus to three officers rather than the usual two.
Posted by courier at 12:28 PM. Filed under: News
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Benazir Bhutto's assassination
forced U.S. presidential
candidates to modify their
campaigns. wikipedia photo
WASHINGTON — When Pakistan's Benazir Bhutto was assassinated last month, it drove home a point that needed little reinforcing — the world has rarely been more dangerous.
And so, as Americans prepare to choose party nominees and then a president, issues of national defense are once again front and center.
"A presidential election, even in the most benign times, is an election for a commander in chief," said Tom Donnelly, defense expert at the conservative American Enterprise Institute. "That's what defines the job ... And the post-9-11 time is wartime."
Posted by courier at 02:24 PM. Filed under: News
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By Jim Sanders
McClatchy Newspapers (MCT)
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Never before has California banned smoking on private property used exclusively by members of the owner's family — until now.
Beginning this month, motorists can be fined $100 for lighting up a cigarette in their own car, even in their driveway, if one passenger is a child.
The law marks a new frontier in more than two decades of state smoking restrictions that focused on workplaces, public buildings, restaurants, flights, tot lots and gathering spots.
Posted by courier at 07:54 AM. Filed under: News
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$100 bill and its security features.
U.S. Treasury image
WASHINGTON — Two years ago, as he was ratcheting up a campaign to isolate and cripple North Korea's dictatorship financially, President Bush accused the communist regime there of printing phony U.S. currency.
"When someone is counterfeiting our money, we want them to stop doing that. We are aggressively saying to the North Koreans just that — don't counterfeit our money," Bush said on Jan. 26, 2006.
However, a 10-month McClatchy Newspapers investigation on three continents has found that the evidence to support Bush's charges against North Korea is uncertain at best and that the claims of the North Korean defectors cited in news accounts are dubious and perhaps bogus. One key law enforcement agency, the Swiss federal criminal police, has publicly questioned whether North Korea is even capable of producing "supernotes," counterfeit $100 bills that are nearly perfect except for some practically invisible additions.
Posted by courier at 10:55 AM. Filed under: News
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Courier Staff Report
The number of visitors to the James Logan Courier's school news website spiked in December, rising to about 3,000 visitors-per-day, putting the publication on a pace to attract one million readers per year.
The site drew an average of 2,999 visitors daily during December, up from 1,257 per day during November, which was a record for the "newspaper" at the time.
"If we just maintain that rate for the next twelve months, we'll have more than one million visitors," said Courier Advisor Patrick Hannigan. "Since we've had a nearly unbroken record of month-to-month readership increases since we shifted to daily publication 21 months ago, it's likely that we'll have more than a million visitors."
Posted by courier at 03:45 PM. Filed under: News
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House 9 Principal
Matt Smith
Courier Photo
James Logan’s continuous goal of encouraging excellent student achievement has been represented through a recent honors assembly held for the Freshman Class of 2011.
A Freshman Honors Assembly was held on December 17 to congratulate those in the Class of 2011 who earned a 3.5 to 4.0 grade point average during the first quarter of the 07‑08 school year. The attendees of the assembly received donuts and juice as a reward for their academic achievement. More importantly, each recipient was called up to be recognized and congratulated, and were additionally awarded certificates for their success.
Posted by courier at 08:55 AM. Filed under: News
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By Eric Benderoff
Chicago Tribune (MCT)
LAS VEGAS — Something's missing from this year's Consumer Electronics Show during all the pitches for new HDTVs, digital cameras and other gadgets. Where'd the geek speak go?
Instead of focusing on megapixels, RAM and lines of resolution, product makers are trying to remove the intimidation factor by focusing on how their gear can meet people's needs.
It's a "catch-up" moment in technology, with companies realizing their products do a lot more than most consumers want, and often turn them away in the process. So rather than strictly touting more powerful products, they are removing steps and adding both new design elements and reassuring words to lure everyday consumers.
Posted by courier at 07:47 PM. Filed under: News
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By Mike Fitzgerald
McClatchy Newspapers (MCT)
BELLEVILLE, Ill. — The scene: A desolate street in an Iraqi city.
As night gives way to dawn`s first light, you walk warily, the M-16 in your hands pointed at every alleyway and door you approach.
From your left you hear a baby screaming. From somewhere off to your right you hear a man`s voice echoing eerily, endlessly, in the morning call to prayers.
And then it happens. An abandoned truck up ahead disappears into a ball of yellow-and-red flame. You hear a man scream, and then your radio crackles to life.
Posted by courier at 07:30 PM. Filed under: News
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By Rick La Plante,
New Haven Schools Public Information Officer
Student safety and school-site security will be the primary topic of discussion at the January meetings of all School Site Councils in the New Haven Unified School District, following the recent shooting death of a James Logan High School freshman outside Barnard-White Middle School.
Posted by courier at 12:34 PM. Filed under: News
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By Krystal Henderson,
Courier Staff Writer
The California Teacher's Association's elections committee has ordered a new local union election to replace a botched one held in September, despite local union leaders' assertions that irregularities in that election were of little consequence.
In September, the New Haven Teachers Association (NHTA), the local branch of the California Teachers Association representing Logan's teachers, held an election to choose a representative to the state council of the CTA. The current NHTA president, Logan computer science teacher Charmaine Kawaguchi, won the state council seat, defeating Teri Hawkins, the Alvarado Middle School teacher who ran against Kawaguchi for the NHTA presidency in 2006.
Posted by courier at 10:33 AM. Filed under: News
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By Jamie Maxfield,
Courier Staff Writer
After reports of licentious behavior at October's Homecoming Dance, school officials imposed stricter supervision standards at last month's Winter Ball, putting a damper on fun at the event for some who went, while others had fun anyway.
To Principal Don Montoya, though, "the dance was a success."
Posted by courier at 08:26 AM. Filed under: News
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Courier Staff Report
Teachers returned to the Logan campus from winter break an hour or so early this morning to attend a special before-school meeting to hear how the school plans to deal with the aftermath of the Dec. 21 murder of a student.
"We're going to reclaim this sacred ground" violated by the murder of Logan freshman Vernon Eddins, Principal Don Montoya told the assembled staff.
Posted by courier at 10:29 AM. Filed under: News
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Community members last week built an
impromptu memorial to slain student
Vernon Eddins near where he died at
Barnard White Middle School. Courier Photo
Grief counseling will be available and staff psychologists will be on site at Barnard-White Middle School and James Logan and Conley-Caraballo high schools Monday when students return for the first time since a Logan freshman was shot and killed outside Barnard-White after school was dismissed on the last day before winter vacation.
The Union City Police Department will have extra officers at all three schools throughout the week. Extra officers will remain on duty at both Logan and Conley-Caraballo through at least the following week, and an extra officer also will be assigned to Barnard-White as necessary.
Posted by courier at 07:35 AM. Filed under: News
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Chandra Levy wikipedia photo
By Emilie Raguso and Michael Doyle
McClatchy Newspapers (MCT)
MODESTO, Calif. — Chandra Levy's unsolved murder will now be investigated by criminal justice students at a small Georgia college, reviving a mystery that once captivated a nation and still torments a Modesto family.
The students at Atlanta's Bauder College will spend 2008 digging into Levy's 2001 disappearance. As part of the college's Cold Case Investigative Research Institute, they will weigh evidence, interview experts and, they hope, find some connections missed by police detectives and FBI agents.
"They just go full bore because they know how important it is. They know they may be the ones to see something no one else has seen," institute director Sheryl McCollum said. "Civilians solve cases all the time."
Posted by courier at 08:48 AM. Filed under: News
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Republican presidential
candidate Ron Paul
U.S. Government photo
SANTA ANA, Calif. — A New Year's Day rally is brewing in Irvine by way of Azeroth.
A group of Ron Paul supporters are using forums and a simple Web site to organize a march in the World of Warcraft computer game in support of the Republican presidential hopeful.
Azeroth is a kingdom in the mythical world of the massively multiplayer online game made by Blizzard Entertainment in Irvine, Calif.. More than nine million players pay a subscription fee to play WoW.
Posted by courier at 08:12 PM. Filed under: News
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