The Missouri swimming and diving team enjoyed multiple victories at the Mizzou Invitational this past weekend, with the men and women’s teams each finishing in first place. The men posted 1,380 points, and the women put up 1,241.
The runner up in the men's competition, Drury University, was the toughest competition among a field that included University of Nebraska, Missouri University of Science and Technology, Truman State and Boise State.
The women’s toughest competition came from Boise State. The Broncos recorded a total of 880 points, good for a second place finish.
The Tigers began the three-day invitational Friday, by taking first place in six of the eight preliminary events. Missouri added to its strong performance later in the day by winning nine out of 12 finals events. At the close of the invitational, coach Greg Rhodenbaugh said he was speechless at his team’s performance.
“We did so great today,” Rhodenbaugh said. “As a whole we were impressive. We put up a lot of new records this weekend and to do that so early in the season is just beyond words.”
Missouri began the second day of competition Saturday, leading by a vast margin. The Tigers continued their dominance, possibly putting up their best performance of the weekend. Missouri had a swimmer register a first place finish in every one of the eight preliminary events.
In the second session of the day, the Tigers took eight of the 12 finals. Senior captain Anders Melin, one of the crucial members of the 200-medley relay, said he was very pleased with their performance.
“In the past, at the meet, we have always looked at other teams and asked ourselves how they can swim so fast,” Melin said. “I feel like after this meet other teams are looking at us. Even I am still amazed at how well we swam.”
Saturday, the diving team concluded its competition. The Missouri divers did much better than they had in the past, claiming the top three finishes in the men’s and women’s three meter. They also took the top three spots in the men’s one meter, and the top two in the women’s.
On the third and final day of competition, the Tiger swimmers won a majority of the ten preliminaries, continuing their winning ways with six first place finishes. In the finals, the Tigers took seven of the 12 events.
The final event, the men’s 400 free relay, showcased Missouri’s speed. The Tigers won with a final time of 2:58.55, more than three seconds faster than top competitor, Drury University. Senior captain Jordan Hawley said the win was a crucial one.
“The relay teams really stepped up today,” Hawley said. “They had a really good weekend overall, and its those kind of wins that will get you to (the NCAA Tournament).”
At the close of day three, Rhodenbaugh said he was impressed with his teams' performance overall.
“It’s always nice to be able to close out such a long invite like this one with a strong performance on day three,” he said.
Sunday, December 26, 2010
Missouri swimming and diving team continues strong performance
The Missouri Tigers swimming and diving teams completed the second day of the Mizzou Invitational Saturday. With two days of competition complete, the Tigers currently sit atop the standings with 500 points.
The Tigers put up possibly their best performance of the year, taking first place in 18 of the 22 events.
The men’s and women’s diving teams both claimed the top three finishes in the three meter diving event.
The day’s action included several finals events. The Tigers ended the day with a win in ten of the 14 finals. Among the finals events were crucial ones such as the 200-medley relay for both the men and women. The Mizzou Invitational concludes Sunday with the finals set to begin at 4 p.m.
The Tigers put up possibly their best performance of the year, taking first place in 18 of the 22 events.
The men’s and women’s diving teams both claimed the top three finishes in the three meter diving event.
The day’s action included several finals events. The Tigers ended the day with a win in ten of the 14 finals. Among the finals events were crucial ones such as the 200-medley relay for both the men and women. The Mizzou Invitational concludes Sunday with the finals set to begin at 4 p.m.
Men's swimming and diving completes day one of Mizzou Invitational
The Missouri Tigers completed the preliminary session of the Mizzou Invitational Friday, claiming the top finish in nine events. Senior Anders Melin did especially well, finishing first in the men’s 100 fly and men’s 50 free.
The Tigers squared off against the University of Nebraska, Boise State, Drury University, Truman State, and Missouri University of Science and Technology.
The men’s diving team dominated, claiming the top three finishes in the one-meter diving event. In the relay category, the Tigers did exceptional capturing first and second in both the men and women’s 400-medley relay.
The Tigers will continue the Invitational on Saturday and wrap up Sunday at the Mizzou Aquatic Center.
The Tigers squared off against the University of Nebraska, Boise State, Drury University, Truman State, and Missouri University of Science and Technology.
The men’s diving team dominated, claiming the top three finishes in the one-meter diving event. In the relay category, the Tigers did exceptional capturing first and second in both the men and women’s 400-medley relay.
The Tigers will continue the Invitational on Saturday and wrap up Sunday at the Mizzou Aquatic Center.
Light up your Christmas with this classic
This Christmas season, celebrate with the Griswolds and go back in time to revisit the 1989 classic “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation.” This hilarious tale of a Christmas gone horribly wrong stars famous faces such as Chevy Chase, Randy Quaid and Doris Roberts of “Everybody Loves Raymond” fame.
The film opens with the Griswold family packing into the old family station wagon and traveling to get the Christmas tree. The family is in high spirits, singing Christmas carols when, suddenly, an old pickup tries to race their station wagon.
The father, Clark, gives in and provokes them, eventually landing himself under a semi- truck. They manage to find their way out from under the truck and skyrocket into a field of trees for sale.
Ironic as their landing place is, they manage to find a suitable Christmas tree. It’s obvious gargantuan size is epitomized by Clark’s son, Rusty, saying, “Dad, that tree wouldn’t fit in our yard!” Rusty then comes back with another quip, inquiring as to whether his father remembered a saw. Clark doesn’t respond, but the next scene shows the clearly uprooted tree, roots and all, tied to the top of the station wagon.
The story continues to follow the family as they get ready for a “good ol’-fashioned family Christmas” at the Griswold house. All of the relatives are coming over and Clark wants it to be the perfect Christmas.
Clark proceeds to decorate the house in extravagant fashion, with 25,000 lights, and in the process, manages to fall off the house multiple times. In the end, the lights on the house do not light and Clark goes absolutely bananas. He proceeds to beat down a plastic Santa, send his eight tiny reindeer to the moon and trample a “Merry Christmas” sign.
The family finally figures out the problem and the house bursts into light. It is at this point that Clark’s cousin Eddie shows up with his family. They clamber out of their musty, rusty trailer with their dog Snots, and greet the rest of the family.
Throughout the course of Christmas, the Griswold family deals with flaming trees, Snots chasing a squirrel through the house and the arrival of the local SWAT team, because Eddie kidnapped Clark’s boss.
"National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation" is a must-own for any family. Find out all of the hilarious mishaps en route to the perfect Christmas and pick up this classic for under $15 at any local retailer.
The film opens with the Griswold family packing into the old family station wagon and traveling to get the Christmas tree. The family is in high spirits, singing Christmas carols when, suddenly, an old pickup tries to race their station wagon.
The father, Clark, gives in and provokes them, eventually landing himself under a semi- truck. They manage to find their way out from under the truck and skyrocket into a field of trees for sale.
Ironic as their landing place is, they manage to find a suitable Christmas tree. It’s obvious gargantuan size is epitomized by Clark’s son, Rusty, saying, “Dad, that tree wouldn’t fit in our yard!” Rusty then comes back with another quip, inquiring as to whether his father remembered a saw. Clark doesn’t respond, but the next scene shows the clearly uprooted tree, roots and all, tied to the top of the station wagon.
The story continues to follow the family as they get ready for a “good ol’-fashioned family Christmas” at the Griswold house. All of the relatives are coming over and Clark wants it to be the perfect Christmas.
Clark proceeds to decorate the house in extravagant fashion, with 25,000 lights, and in the process, manages to fall off the house multiple times. In the end, the lights on the house do not light and Clark goes absolutely bananas. He proceeds to beat down a plastic Santa, send his eight tiny reindeer to the moon and trample a “Merry Christmas” sign.
The family finally figures out the problem and the house bursts into light. It is at this point that Clark’s cousin Eddie shows up with his family. They clamber out of their musty, rusty trailer with their dog Snots, and greet the rest of the family.
Throughout the course of Christmas, the Griswold family deals with flaming trees, Snots chasing a squirrel through the house and the arrival of the local SWAT team, because Eddie kidnapped Clark’s boss.
"National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation" is a must-own for any family. Find out all of the hilarious mishaps en route to the perfect Christmas and pick up this classic for under $15 at any local retailer.
Monday, December 6, 2010
Police search for serial flasher
Investigators are seeking surveillance footage that might help them locate a suspect who has been exposing himself at Columbia stores.
This suspect has been approaching women at several Columbia stores and exposing himself to them, a Columbia Police Department news release stated. The first incident was reported to an officer doing a routine check-up at the Walmart located on West Broadway.
At about 2 a.m. Nov. 22, a woman told the officer a man came into the store and exposed his genitals. The man also took the hand of one employee and attempted to force her to touch his penis.
"We like to treat anyone who would knowingly expose themselves to others as potentially dangerous," Columbia Police Department spokeswoman Jessie Haden said. "We just don't know if he is in the right state of mind."
She said other than grabbing the woman's hand, he hadn't made any moves toward rape or any other form of sexual assault.
"As of right now he is still just being that weird guy that likes to show himself off," Haden said.
About an hour later, another officer was checking up on the Hy-Vee located in the same shopping center as the Walmart. The suspect entered the store and exposed himself to one female employee there.
Police were able to look at video surveillance from the Walmart and determined the suspect's vehicle is a white van. It is described to be of an older model.
"Police have not yet obtained a copy of the surveillance tapes," Haden said. "We are working to get our own copy so we can study it further."
The man was seen again at the UPS store located on Clark Lane. At 6:30 p.m. Nov. 24, an employee called police because the man had exposed himself to another female employee, the news release stated.
"From one report or two, we don't know what that person's potential is," Haden said. "If a person is a peeping Tom, that may be all they are, but sometimes peeping Toms are rapists, so we have to treat all of them seriously. We don't want to risk anything."
The man, if caught, will face charges of second-degree sexual misconduct and assault.
"If this is his second such offense, it would be a class A misdemeanor, so it is likely that he could labeled a sex offender for his actions," Haden said.
This is the second recent case of an exhibitionist in Columbia. The week of Nov. 8, a man was spotted jogging in the nude on East Campus. Neither of the two suspects has been apprehended, and CPD is continuing investigations into both cases.
This suspect has been approaching women at several Columbia stores and exposing himself to them, a Columbia Police Department news release stated. The first incident was reported to an officer doing a routine check-up at the Walmart located on West Broadway.
At about 2 a.m. Nov. 22, a woman told the officer a man came into the store and exposed his genitals. The man also took the hand of one employee and attempted to force her to touch his penis.
"We like to treat anyone who would knowingly expose themselves to others as potentially dangerous," Columbia Police Department spokeswoman Jessie Haden said. "We just don't know if he is in the right state of mind."
She said other than grabbing the woman's hand, he hadn't made any moves toward rape or any other form of sexual assault.
"As of right now he is still just being that weird guy that likes to show himself off," Haden said.
About an hour later, another officer was checking up on the Hy-Vee located in the same shopping center as the Walmart. The suspect entered the store and exposed himself to one female employee there.
Police were able to look at video surveillance from the Walmart and determined the suspect's vehicle is a white van. It is described to be of an older model.
"Police have not yet obtained a copy of the surveillance tapes," Haden said. "We are working to get our own copy so we can study it further."
The man was seen again at the UPS store located on Clark Lane. At 6:30 p.m. Nov. 24, an employee called police because the man had exposed himself to another female employee, the news release stated.
"From one report or two, we don't know what that person's potential is," Haden said. "If a person is a peeping Tom, that may be all they are, but sometimes peeping Toms are rapists, so we have to treat all of them seriously. We don't want to risk anything."
The man, if caught, will face charges of second-degree sexual misconduct and assault.
"If this is his second such offense, it would be a class A misdemeanor, so it is likely that he could labeled a sex offender for his actions," Haden said.
This is the second recent case of an exhibitionist in Columbia. The week of Nov. 8, a man was spotted jogging in the nude on East Campus. Neither of the two suspects has been apprehended, and CPD is continuing investigations into both cases.
Missouri swimming and diving team continues strong performance
The Missouri Tigers swimming and diving teams completed the second day of the Mizzou Invitational Saturday. With two days of competition complete, the Tigers currently sit atop the standings with 500 points.
The Tigers put up possibly their best performance of the year, taking first place in 18 of the 22 events.
The men’s and women’s diving teams both claimed the top three finishes in the three meter diving event.
The day’s action included several finals events. The Tigers ended the day with a win in ten of the 14 finals. Among the finals events were crucial ones such as the 200-medley relay for both the men and women. The Mizzou Invitational concludes Sunday with the finals set to begin at 4 p.m.
The Tigers put up possibly their best performance of the year, taking first place in 18 of the 22 events.
The men’s and women’s diving teams both claimed the top three finishes in the three meter diving event.
The day’s action included several finals events. The Tigers ended the day with a win in ten of the 14 finals. Among the finals events were crucial ones such as the 200-medley relay for both the men and women. The Mizzou Invitational concludes Sunday with the finals set to begin at 4 p.m.
Men's swimming and diving completes day one of Mizzou Invitational
The Missouri Tigers completed the preliminary session of the Mizzou Invitational Friday, claiming the top finish in nine events. Senior Anders Melin did especially well, finishing first in the men’s 100 fly and men’s 50 free.
The Tigers squared off against the University of Nebraska, Boise State, Drury University, Truman State, and Missouri University of Science and Technology.
The men’s diving team dominated, claiming the top three finishes in the one-meter diving event. In the relay category, the Tigers did exceptional capturing first and second in both the men and women’s 400-medley relay.
The Tigers will continue the Invitational on Saturday and wrap up Sunday at the Mizzou Aquatic Center.
The Tigers squared off against the University of Nebraska, Boise State, Drury University, Truman State, and Missouri University of Science and Technology.
The men’s diving team dominated, claiming the top three finishes in the one-meter diving event. In the relay category, the Tigers did exceptional capturing first and second in both the men and women’s 400-medley relay.
The Tigers will continue the Invitational on Saturday and wrap up Sunday at the Mizzou Aquatic Center.
Friday, November 12, 2010
Police arrest seventh suspect in Hobson homicide
A seventh suspect has been arrested in the ongoing investigation of the homicide of Aaron Hobson.
Lee W. Carter, 23, was identified using the surveillance footage from the Break Time at 110 E. Nifong Blvd. where Hobson was shot and killed during a robbery Oct. 23.
Hobson is Missouri defensive back Trey Hobson’s cousin. He resided in Kansas City but was visiting Columbia during Homecoming weekend at the time of the shooting.
Columbia Police Department spokeswoman Jessie Haden said Carter was asked by police to come in to speak to them. He was also notified that if he did not comply, a warrant would be issued for his arrest.
Carter came in to speak to police Tuesday afternoon. After he was arrested and given his Miranda rights, he admitted to hitting Hobson over the head with a bottle during the robbery prior to the shooting, a CPD news release stated.
According to the release, Carter, along with at least six other people, approached Hobson’s vehicle, which was parked at about 1:15 a.m. at the Break Time and demanded his money.
Once Hobson surrendered his money, suspect Daron Peal shot him, according to the release. Daron Peal, his brother Darris Peal, Tony Lewis, Leo Roland and Deshon Houston all fled along with Carter.
The owners of the Break Time originally called the police because there was a crowd of people congregating on the lot. Haden said they had come from a nearby party that had been broken up.
“The suspects had been coming from a party nearby at Peachtree (Drive),” Haden said. “It is unclear whether alcohol played a factor in the robbery or murder of Aaron Hobson. The use of a bottle to hit Hobson may or may not indicate this.”
Haden said though it might seem odd that seven men robbed one man, it actually isn’t uncommon.
“For the past two-and-a-half years, since the summer of 2008, we have seen an increase in this kind of thing, typically with young men,” she said. “If a person sees a man walking suspiciously behind them, a red flag goes up, but when it’s a group of men you just don’t think that many men are going to try and rob one man.”
Carter has been arrested on the charges of murder and robbery, both in the second degree. He was transported Tuesday to the Boone County Jail. His bond has not been set.
Haden also said CPD is looking for another man in connection with the murder.
“We are interested in questioning a man by the name of Jason Long,” she said. “We are unsure whether he was involved in the murder or robbery of Hobson, but we want to ask some questions to be sure.”
Long is described to be 20 years old, about 140 pounds and five-feet-six-inches tall. He has three tattoos on both of his arms. Police are warning that he is known to be armed and dangerous.
The police are continuing investigation of the murder and expect to unearth new details.
“This type of thing takes time,” Haden said. “There will be new developments, and I’m sure we will find new persons of interest along the way. It’s just a matter of good old fashioned police work at this point.”
Lee W. Carter, 23, was identified using the surveillance footage from the Break Time at 110 E. Nifong Blvd. where Hobson was shot and killed during a robbery Oct. 23.
Hobson is Missouri defensive back Trey Hobson’s cousin. He resided in Kansas City but was visiting Columbia during Homecoming weekend at the time of the shooting.
Columbia Police Department spokeswoman Jessie Haden said Carter was asked by police to come in to speak to them. He was also notified that if he did not comply, a warrant would be issued for his arrest.
Carter came in to speak to police Tuesday afternoon. After he was arrested and given his Miranda rights, he admitted to hitting Hobson over the head with a bottle during the robbery prior to the shooting, a CPD news release stated.
According to the release, Carter, along with at least six other people, approached Hobson’s vehicle, which was parked at about 1:15 a.m. at the Break Time and demanded his money.
Once Hobson surrendered his money, suspect Daron Peal shot him, according to the release. Daron Peal, his brother Darris Peal, Tony Lewis, Leo Roland and Deshon Houston all fled along with Carter.
The owners of the Break Time originally called the police because there was a crowd of people congregating on the lot. Haden said they had come from a nearby party that had been broken up.
“The suspects had been coming from a party nearby at Peachtree (Drive),” Haden said. “It is unclear whether alcohol played a factor in the robbery or murder of Aaron Hobson. The use of a bottle to hit Hobson may or may not indicate this.”
Haden said though it might seem odd that seven men robbed one man, it actually isn’t uncommon.
“For the past two-and-a-half years, since the summer of 2008, we have seen an increase in this kind of thing, typically with young men,” she said. “If a person sees a man walking suspiciously behind them, a red flag goes up, but when it’s a group of men you just don’t think that many men are going to try and rob one man.”
Carter has been arrested on the charges of murder and robbery, both in the second degree. He was transported Tuesday to the Boone County Jail. His bond has not been set.
Haden also said CPD is looking for another man in connection with the murder.
“We are interested in questioning a man by the name of Jason Long,” she said. “We are unsure whether he was involved in the murder or robbery of Hobson, but we want to ask some questions to be sure.”
Long is described to be 20 years old, about 140 pounds and five-feet-six-inches tall. He has three tattoos on both of his arms. Police are warning that he is known to be armed and dangerous.
The police are continuing investigation of the murder and expect to unearth new details.
“This type of thing takes time,” Haden said. “There will be new developments, and I’m sure we will find new persons of interest along the way. It’s just a matter of good old fashioned police work at this point.”
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Sixth suspect arrested in Hobson homicide
A sixth suspect was arrested in the shooting of Aaron Hobson, according to a Columbia Police Department news release.
Anthony J. Carr of Columbia was taken into custody in connection to the murder of Aaron Hobson, cousin of Trey Hobson, an MU football player. Police acquired a warrant for the arrest of Carr on Wednesday. His bond has been set at 1 million dollars, accepted in cash only.
Hobson was shot and killed during a robbery in the parking lot of the Break Time Convenience Store at 110 E. Nifong Blvd. on Oct. 23.
Carr turned himself in to police in St. Charles, Mo. on Friday, the release stated. He was incarcerated in the Boone County Jail on Sunday morning. He has declined to make a statement regarding the shooting and robbing of Hobson.
Three of the suspects in the case turned themselves in the day following the crime. The fourth and fifth suspects, Daron and Darris Peal, were captured at approximately 11 a.m. on Wednesday in Jennings, Mo.
The suspected shooter, Daron Peal, was in possession of crack cocaine at the time of his arrest, the release stated. Darron and Darris Peal were charged with second-degree murder and second-degree robbery. Bond was set, for both, at 1 million dollars, cash only.
Anthony J. Carr of Columbia was taken into custody in connection to the murder of Aaron Hobson, cousin of Trey Hobson, an MU football player. Police acquired a warrant for the arrest of Carr on Wednesday. His bond has been set at 1 million dollars, accepted in cash only.
Hobson was shot and killed during a robbery in the parking lot of the Break Time Convenience Store at 110 E. Nifong Blvd. on Oct. 23.
Carr turned himself in to police in St. Charles, Mo. on Friday, the release stated. He was incarcerated in the Boone County Jail on Sunday morning. He has declined to make a statement regarding the shooting and robbing of Hobson.
Three of the suspects in the case turned themselves in the day following the crime. The fourth and fifth suspects, Daron and Darris Peal, were captured at approximately 11 a.m. on Wednesday in Jennings, Mo.
The suspected shooter, Daron Peal, was in possession of crack cocaine at the time of his arrest, the release stated. Darron and Darris Peal were charged with second-degree murder and second-degree robbery. Bond was set, for both, at 1 million dollars, cash only.
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Four Loko faces possible bans
Four Loko, a popular alcoholic energy drink, is being considered for a national ban after nine students at Central Washington University were hospitalized.
The students were thought to have been given the date-rape drug, Rohypnol, but were found to have drunk too much alcohol through the use of Four Loko.
“They’re marketed to kids by using fruit flavors that mask the taste of alcohol, and they have such high levels of stimulants that people have no idea how inebriated they really are,” Washington state Attorney General Rob McKenna stated in a news release. “They’re packaged just like non-alcoholic drinks, but include a dangerous dose of malt liquor.”
McKenna began the push to revitalize a request in September 2009 for the ban of the drinks. The push for the ban was sparked by a recent outbreak of hospitalizations and health issues connected to the drinks in his state. In a letter to the Food and Drug Administration, he cited several examples where Four Loko had harmed consumers.
According to the letter, a 19-year-old woman from Auburn, Wash., called the police and told them she was “very drunk” and losing feeling in her hands. She said she was given the drinks at a party and didn’t realize they contained alcohol.
“These drinks are marketed to the youth culture, who are not even legally allowed to drink them,” McKenna spokesman Dan Sytman said in an interview last week. “The drink is often sold next to other similar-looking, non-alcoholic drinks such as Arizona Iced Tea.”
The inspiration for the alcoholic energy drink came from the popular mix of Red Bull and vodka. Sytman said the problem with Four Loko compared to this deadly mix is that the drinker has control over how much alcohol they put into the drink.
“They can visibly see how much alcohol they are drinking and can limit themselves accordingly,” Sytman said. “Younger drinkers are very concerned with cost effectiveness, meaning they want a cheap way to get drunk. (Four Loko) sells for about $2.50 per can and contains about five or six beers. If you were to get a Red Bull and vodka mix, that would run you at least $5 at a bar and much more if you were to make it yourself.”
McKenna said the biggest problem with Four Loko is alcohol and caffeine tend to counteract one another. Alcohol makes the user tired and drowsy after large quantities are ingested, whereas caffeine, after ingesting large quantities, keeps the user awake. This counteraction allows the user to stay awake and drink more, because the effects aren’t present to stop them.
The proposed ban doesn’t only concern Four Loko. The ban, if enacted, would restrict the sales of all alcohol containing caffeine. This could pose a potential problem for sellers of the drinks nationwide.
“There is no tighter-knit shopping community than that of a convenience store,” said Jeff Lenard, a spokesman for the National Association of Convenience Stores. “We want to do whatever will make our community happy because we want to be a part of the community.”
Lenard said the ban of alcoholic energy drinks wouldn’t hurt their stores’ sales much.
“Alcoholic energy drinks are such a small portion of convenience store sales that I don’t think a ban would be much of a problem for us,” Lenard said. “There are so many other normal energy drinks out there that it won’t matter.”
The students were thought to have been given the date-rape drug, Rohypnol, but were found to have drunk too much alcohol through the use of Four Loko.
“They’re marketed to kids by using fruit flavors that mask the taste of alcohol, and they have such high levels of stimulants that people have no idea how inebriated they really are,” Washington state Attorney General Rob McKenna stated in a news release. “They’re packaged just like non-alcoholic drinks, but include a dangerous dose of malt liquor.”
McKenna began the push to revitalize a request in September 2009 for the ban of the drinks. The push for the ban was sparked by a recent outbreak of hospitalizations and health issues connected to the drinks in his state. In a letter to the Food and Drug Administration, he cited several examples where Four Loko had harmed consumers.
According to the letter, a 19-year-old woman from Auburn, Wash., called the police and told them she was “very drunk” and losing feeling in her hands. She said she was given the drinks at a party and didn’t realize they contained alcohol.
“These drinks are marketed to the youth culture, who are not even legally allowed to drink them,” McKenna spokesman Dan Sytman said in an interview last week. “The drink is often sold next to other similar-looking, non-alcoholic drinks such as Arizona Iced Tea.”
The inspiration for the alcoholic energy drink came from the popular mix of Red Bull and vodka. Sytman said the problem with Four Loko compared to this deadly mix is that the drinker has control over how much alcohol they put into the drink.
“They can visibly see how much alcohol they are drinking and can limit themselves accordingly,” Sytman said. “Younger drinkers are very concerned with cost effectiveness, meaning they want a cheap way to get drunk. (Four Loko) sells for about $2.50 per can and contains about five or six beers. If you were to get a Red Bull and vodka mix, that would run you at least $5 at a bar and much more if you were to make it yourself.”
McKenna said the biggest problem with Four Loko is alcohol and caffeine tend to counteract one another. Alcohol makes the user tired and drowsy after large quantities are ingested, whereas caffeine, after ingesting large quantities, keeps the user awake. This counteraction allows the user to stay awake and drink more, because the effects aren’t present to stop them.
The proposed ban doesn’t only concern Four Loko. The ban, if enacted, would restrict the sales of all alcohol containing caffeine. This could pose a potential problem for sellers of the drinks nationwide.
“There is no tighter-knit shopping community than that of a convenience store,” said Jeff Lenard, a spokesman for the National Association of Convenience Stores. “We want to do whatever will make our community happy because we want to be a part of the community.”
Lenard said the ban of alcoholic energy drinks wouldn’t hurt their stores’ sales much.
“Alcoholic energy drinks are such a small portion of convenience store sales that I don’t think a ban would be much of a problem for us,” Lenard said. “There are so many other normal energy drinks out there that it won’t matter.”
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Cousin of Missouri football player shot and killed
Aaron Hobson, 22, of Kansas was shot to death outside of a Break Time Convienience Store on Saturday.
The Break Time, located at 110 Nifong Blvd., was the scene of a murder that began as a robbery.
According to a Columbia Police Department news release, Aaron Hobson, the cousin of Missouri defensive back Trey Hobson, was at the convenience store at about 1:15 a.m. when several suspects approached his car.
The suspects demanded Hobson’s money and shot him after he handed it over, the release stated. The suspect who shot him was identified as Daron M. Peal. He and his brother, Darris A. Peal, are still at large and are being considered armed and dangerous.
CPD spokeswoman Jill Weineke said she was unsure why Hobson was in Columbia that morning.
In total, there were five suspects involved in the robbery. According to the news release, three have turned themselves into Columbia Police.
Tony L. Lewis, 27, of Booneville and Leo D. Roland, 19, of Columbia, were the first to turn themselves in. Both voluntarily went to the CPD and implicated themselves in the robbery.
The third suspect to turn himself in was Deshon Huston, 20, of Columbia. Huston also implicated himself in the robbery, but also told investigators that he struck Hobson during the robbery.
According to a news release, the robbers gathered at Huston’s vehicle before descending on Hobson’s vehicle.
After the robbery was complete and after Hobson was shot dead, the suspects fled the scene, the release stated. An officer responding to gunfire at the scene identified Lewis and Roland, who turned themselves in the next day.
Huston did not turn himself in until later the same day.
All the suspects that turned themselves in were arrested on the charge of second-degree murder. Both Lewis and Roland were also charged with first-degree robbery.
All three suspects’ bonds have been set at $1 million, accepted in cash only.
The suspected shooter, Daron M. Peal, has been identified as the sole gunman.
Weineke said she doesn’t have any idea as to why Peal shot Hobson.
“Damon Peal has been identified as the shooter,” she said. “You would have to ask him why he shot Aaron Hobson.”
The hunt for the gunman and his brother are ongoing, and until they are apprehended, Columbia residents are advised to be on the lookout.
This was one of two homicides over the weekend. Sunday morning, CPD officers were dispatched to a homeless camp between Everett’s Restaurant and I-70. They found the victim, 55, deceased with injuries to his face and head.
The injuries were not consistent with an accident, a CPD news release stated.
Police have not released the victim’s name because the family has not been notified. CPD is actively investigating the crime but has no suspects identified at this time, the release stated.
Anyone with information about these cases can call Crimestoppers at 875-TIPS.
The Break Time, located at 110 Nifong Blvd., was the scene of a murder that began as a robbery.
According to a Columbia Police Department news release, Aaron Hobson, the cousin of Missouri defensive back Trey Hobson, was at the convenience store at about 1:15 a.m. when several suspects approached his car.
The suspects demanded Hobson’s money and shot him after he handed it over, the release stated. The suspect who shot him was identified as Daron M. Peal. He and his brother, Darris A. Peal, are still at large and are being considered armed and dangerous.
CPD spokeswoman Jill Weineke said she was unsure why Hobson was in Columbia that morning.
In total, there were five suspects involved in the robbery. According to the news release, three have turned themselves into Columbia Police.
Tony L. Lewis, 27, of Booneville and Leo D. Roland, 19, of Columbia, were the first to turn themselves in. Both voluntarily went to the CPD and implicated themselves in the robbery.
The third suspect to turn himself in was Deshon Huston, 20, of Columbia. Huston also implicated himself in the robbery, but also told investigators that he struck Hobson during the robbery.
According to a news release, the robbers gathered at Huston’s vehicle before descending on Hobson’s vehicle.
After the robbery was complete and after Hobson was shot dead, the suspects fled the scene, the release stated. An officer responding to gunfire at the scene identified Lewis and Roland, who turned themselves in the next day.
Huston did not turn himself in until later the same day.
All the suspects that turned themselves in were arrested on the charge of second-degree murder. Both Lewis and Roland were also charged with first-degree robbery.
All three suspects’ bonds have been set at $1 million, accepted in cash only.
The suspected shooter, Daron M. Peal, has been identified as the sole gunman.
Weineke said she doesn’t have any idea as to why Peal shot Hobson.
“Damon Peal has been identified as the shooter,” she said. “You would have to ask him why he shot Aaron Hobson.”
The hunt for the gunman and his brother are ongoing, and until they are apprehended, Columbia residents are advised to be on the lookout.
This was one of two homicides over the weekend. Sunday morning, CPD officers were dispatched to a homeless camp between Everett’s Restaurant and I-70. They found the victim, 55, deceased with injuries to his face and head.
The injuries were not consistent with an accident, a CPD news release stated.
Police have not released the victim’s name because the family has not been notified. CPD is actively investigating the crime but has no suspects identified at this time, the release stated.
Anyone with information about these cases can call Crimestoppers at 875-TIPS.
Friday, October 22, 2010
Rock the roof off with Sevendust this weekend
“Wall of Death, Wall of Death!” is a popular chant that can be heard at almost any hard rock or metal show. If you’re passing by Friday at The Blue Note, you’ll probably hear that alongside thundering guitar riffs because Sevendust will be in town.
Sevendust is a hard rock band, formed in 1995, from Atlanta. Its sound is comparable to artists such as Earshot, Taproot and Dark New Day. One of the reasons Dark New Day might be similar is because the lead guitarist of Sevendust, Clint Lowery, is a former member of Dark New Day.
Lowery left Sevendust in 2004 to play alongside his brother, Corey. His departure was shortly after the release of Sevendust’s fourth studio album, Seasons, and the album’s supporting tour. The album was the band’s most successful at that point.
“It was healthy for me,” Lowery said. “It kept me from getting burnt out and allowed me to bring some positive energy back with me when I rejoined in 2008.”
The band released its seventh studio album, Chapter VII: Hope & Sorrow and was reunited with Lowery for the subsequent tour.
“I really missed the guys,” Lowery said. “I learned a lot while I was gone. I took all of my good and my bad experiences back with me to Sevendust, and we’re better because of it.”
Lowery played a crucial role in the making of Cold Day Memory, the band’s highest-rated album to date. He was given no boundaries by the band and essentially told to do what he thought would sound best.
“I was gone for three records,” Lowery said. “They wanted to recapture the sound that I brought to Sevendust, so they just let me do my own thing. They wanted me to be able to retake my role in the band, and I feel I’ve done that.”
The best part of any show for a real hard rock fan is the ability to go out and knock around some of your fellow metal-heads and at the end of the day, leave the venue with bumps, severely sore necks and battle scars. Where else can you go, punch a guy to the floor, reach down and help him up, only to both bang your heads to the upcoming riff?
After having Lowery back for one full tour and by letting him get comfortable with Sevendust again, the upcoming show promises to be one of the band's best to date. The harmonizing vocals of lead singer Lajon Witherspoon and the superb screaming vocals of drummer Morgan Rose culminate to form the best duo of singer/screamer to be heard.
In retaining its members, the band hasn’t lost the love and respect of its fans — or its “family,” as the band prefers to address them. The group’s original sound has also been kept intact through its 15 years of existence.
“We started out with the intention to be as heavy as Pantera,” Lowery said. “I feel like we are as heavy as any of their records. Sure, our sound is going to be different because Lajon sings different than (Pantera lead singer) Phil (Anselmo), but that’s what we aimed for, and I think we succeeded.”
Do yourself a favor, Columbia, go see Sevendust rock the roof off The Blue Note and get some real heavy metal pumping through your veins this Homecoming weekend.
Sevendust is a hard rock band, formed in 1995, from Atlanta. Its sound is comparable to artists such as Earshot, Taproot and Dark New Day. One of the reasons Dark New Day might be similar is because the lead guitarist of Sevendust, Clint Lowery, is a former member of Dark New Day.
Lowery left Sevendust in 2004 to play alongside his brother, Corey. His departure was shortly after the release of Sevendust’s fourth studio album, Seasons, and the album’s supporting tour. The album was the band’s most successful at that point.
“It was healthy for me,” Lowery said. “It kept me from getting burnt out and allowed me to bring some positive energy back with me when I rejoined in 2008.”
The band released its seventh studio album, Chapter VII: Hope & Sorrow and was reunited with Lowery for the subsequent tour.
“I really missed the guys,” Lowery said. “I learned a lot while I was gone. I took all of my good and my bad experiences back with me to Sevendust, and we’re better because of it.”
Lowery played a crucial role in the making of Cold Day Memory, the band’s highest-rated album to date. He was given no boundaries by the band and essentially told to do what he thought would sound best.
“I was gone for three records,” Lowery said. “They wanted to recapture the sound that I brought to Sevendust, so they just let me do my own thing. They wanted me to be able to retake my role in the band, and I feel I’ve done that.”
The best part of any show for a real hard rock fan is the ability to go out and knock around some of your fellow metal-heads and at the end of the day, leave the venue with bumps, severely sore necks and battle scars. Where else can you go, punch a guy to the floor, reach down and help him up, only to both bang your heads to the upcoming riff?
After having Lowery back for one full tour and by letting him get comfortable with Sevendust again, the upcoming show promises to be one of the band's best to date. The harmonizing vocals of lead singer Lajon Witherspoon and the superb screaming vocals of drummer Morgan Rose culminate to form the best duo of singer/screamer to be heard.
In retaining its members, the band hasn’t lost the love and respect of its fans — or its “family,” as the band prefers to address them. The group’s original sound has also been kept intact through its 15 years of existence.
“We started out with the intention to be as heavy as Pantera,” Lowery said. “I feel like we are as heavy as any of their records. Sure, our sound is going to be different because Lajon sings different than (Pantera lead singer) Phil (Anselmo), but that’s what we aimed for, and I think we succeeded.”
Do yourself a favor, Columbia, go see Sevendust rock the roof off The Blue Note and get some real heavy metal pumping through your veins this Homecoming weekend.
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Tiger softball stays unbeaten in fall with two wins Saturday
Echoes of M-I-Z-Z-O-U could be heard far from University Field on Saturday as the Tiger softball team trounced Three Rivers Community College 21-2, and Lake Land Community College 16-1.
The Tigers got off to a quick start, getting on the board in the second inning. Senior first baseman Marla Schweisberger started off the inning with a solo shot to right field. It was her first home run of the fall. With the game at 1-1, freshman catcher Maddison Ruggeberg stole second, aided by a catcher’s error. The error was the first in a series of errors, as the Raiders of Three Rivers Community College would finish the game with nine. The Tigers would capitalize on the errors, scoring seven runs in the second inning.
“I think the combination of the errors made by the other team and our improved hitting enabled us to score a lot of runs in a short period of time,” coach Ehren Earleywine said. “If you make a mistake against us, you will pay for it.”
Early in the fifth inning, sophomore Nicole Hudson blasted a grand slam over the right wall, which skipped on to a practice green at A.L. Gustin Golf Course and hit the flagstick. As a sophomore, she already leads the team this season in homeruns and looks to continue that into the spring.
“I’ve been working really hard to get to this point,” she said. “I felt like I really got where I wanted to be for the first time today.”
Hudson led the team in RBIs with six, and scored a total of four runs.
The second game of the afternoon, the final of the preseason, began with excitement. Junior pitcher Kristin Nottlemann struck out all three Lakers that she faced in the first inning of play.
“I wanted to make sure I struck out the first batter,” she said. “After that, I just went after them.”
Contrary to the norm all preseason, the Tigers got off to a fast start offensively in the second game. They registered five runs off of only three hits in the first inning, making the score 5-0. The game was quiet from then on until the third inning, when Rhea Taylor hit a single, batting in a run in the process. The Tigers also tacked on three more in the third, pushing their lead to 9-0.
“We hit the ball pretty solid today,” Earleywine said. “We only had one batter strike out, and I think that speaks volumes about our lineup.”
Nottelmann had a very impressive day, notching seven total strikeouts. She only allowed three hits en route to the win.
“We really tried to focus on the movement of the ball rather than speed,” she said.
In the sixth inning, Hudson came in to relieve Nottelmann, showing more signs of her versatility.
“I don’t do that often,” she said. “It was fun. I just want the team to know I’m more than willing to do whatever it takes to win.”
The Tigers scored another three runs in the fourth inning and another five in the fifth, putting the game out of reach for the Lakers at 16-0.
Senior outfielder Rhea Taylor led the team at the plate against the Raiders, going 3 for 5 with an RBI and one run scored.
The Tigers have high expectations after going 8-0 in the preseason and aim to carry their success over into the regular season on February 18, 2011, when they travel to San Diego to take on Fresno State in the San Diego Classic.
The Tigers got off to a quick start, getting on the board in the second inning. Senior first baseman Marla Schweisberger started off the inning with a solo shot to right field. It was her first home run of the fall. With the game at 1-1, freshman catcher Maddison Ruggeberg stole second, aided by a catcher’s error. The error was the first in a series of errors, as the Raiders of Three Rivers Community College would finish the game with nine. The Tigers would capitalize on the errors, scoring seven runs in the second inning.
“I think the combination of the errors made by the other team and our improved hitting enabled us to score a lot of runs in a short period of time,” coach Ehren Earleywine said. “If you make a mistake against us, you will pay for it.”
Early in the fifth inning, sophomore Nicole Hudson blasted a grand slam over the right wall, which skipped on to a practice green at A.L. Gustin Golf Course and hit the flagstick. As a sophomore, she already leads the team this season in homeruns and looks to continue that into the spring.
“I’ve been working really hard to get to this point,” she said. “I felt like I really got where I wanted to be for the first time today.”
Hudson led the team in RBIs with six, and scored a total of four runs.
The second game of the afternoon, the final of the preseason, began with excitement. Junior pitcher Kristin Nottlemann struck out all three Lakers that she faced in the first inning of play.
“I wanted to make sure I struck out the first batter,” she said. “After that, I just went after them.”
Contrary to the norm all preseason, the Tigers got off to a fast start offensively in the second game. They registered five runs off of only three hits in the first inning, making the score 5-0. The game was quiet from then on until the third inning, when Rhea Taylor hit a single, batting in a run in the process. The Tigers also tacked on three more in the third, pushing their lead to 9-0.
“We hit the ball pretty solid today,” Earleywine said. “We only had one batter strike out, and I think that speaks volumes about our lineup.”
Nottelmann had a very impressive day, notching seven total strikeouts. She only allowed three hits en route to the win.
“We really tried to focus on the movement of the ball rather than speed,” she said.
In the sixth inning, Hudson came in to relieve Nottelmann, showing more signs of her versatility.
“I don’t do that often,” she said. “It was fun. I just want the team to know I’m more than willing to do whatever it takes to win.”
The Tigers scored another three runs in the fourth inning and another five in the fifth, putting the game out of reach for the Lakers at 16-0.
Senior outfielder Rhea Taylor led the team at the plate against the Raiders, going 3 for 5 with an RBI and one run scored.
The Tigers have high expectations after going 8-0 in the preseason and aim to carry their success over into the regular season on February 18, 2011, when they travel to San Diego to take on Fresno State in the San Diego Classic.
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Missouri softball takes two, improves to 6-0 in fall season
The Tigers worked their way closer to a perfect preseason Saturday, notching a pair of victories over Columbia College and Johnson County Community College.
Junior pitcher Kristin Nottelmann was the girl with the golden arm when the team played Columbia College in game one. Her arm was about the only thing shining bright in the mid-afternoon sun as the Tigers snuck past the Cougars 3-1.
Nottelmann recorded 10 strikeouts in only five innings of work.
“I’ve been working on my spin,” she said. “The rise and drop of my pitches was really good today.”
The game was uneventful until the fifth inning, when the Cougars got on the board with one run to go up 1-0.
The Tigers followed suit with a pair of runs. Senior first baseman Marla Schweisberger singled and started the scoring push. After senior outfielder Shana White pinch ran for Schweisberger, senior second baseman Abby Vock tripled to right-center field, driving in White to put the Tigers on the board. Virtually in the exact same fashion, senior outfielder Rhea Taylor, who went two for three at the plate on the day, followed with a triple of her own, allowing Vock to score the go-ahead run, putting the game at 2-1. The lead was one they would not relinquish for the rest of the game.
“The game was close, really close,” coach Ehren Earleywine said. “Columbia had a great pitcher. Our problem when we face a really good pitcher is that we back off. You can’t get hits if you don’t swing the bat, it’s as simple as that.”
Next up for the Tigers were the Cavaliers of Johnson County Community College. Cavaliers’ pitcher Katie Williams had an impressive speed to her fastball, but the Tigers weren’t intimidated.
“She threw strikes,” Earleywine said. “Her location was very good.”
Kathryn Poet, the Tigers' leading hitter in the game, said she loved the challenge of facing such a talented pitcher.
“She was fast,” she said. “Once I got up to the plate I was a little nervous.”
Those nerves must not have lasted long. The game began with a single by White. White stole second base and advanced to third after sophomore third baseman Ashlie Ortega popped out. Poet then drove in the first two runs, scoring one of them herself as she blasted a home run to left field. It was her first of the fall season.
“I thought it was a popup to short,” she said. “Then the crowd cheered and I was just so happy.”
Missouri held the Cavaliers to just three hits for the entire game. Senior pitcher Lisa Simmons lead the team, pitching through five innings.
The Tigers started to pull away in the third inning, scoring three runs to put the game at 5-0. They also recorded three hits during that time.
Simmons had held the Cavaliers to zero hits through three innings, but hopes of a fall season no-hit bid were shattered when the Cavaliers’ Kim Smith doubled to the center wall in the fourth.
Missouri tacked on another run in the fifth inning and six more in the sixth, putting the game out of reach for the Cavaliers at 11-0.
The Tigers were led by Poet, who went three for four at the plate with three runs and four RBIs.
“I had a terrible week of practice,” Poet said. “But everything just came together today. My timing was finally on.”
Missouri will host one final set of games on Saturday, Oct. 16 before opening up its regular season schedule in February.
Junior pitcher Kristin Nottelmann was the girl with the golden arm when the team played Columbia College in game one. Her arm was about the only thing shining bright in the mid-afternoon sun as the Tigers snuck past the Cougars 3-1.
Nottelmann recorded 10 strikeouts in only five innings of work.
“I’ve been working on my spin,” she said. “The rise and drop of my pitches was really good today.”
The game was uneventful until the fifth inning, when the Cougars got on the board with one run to go up 1-0.
The Tigers followed suit with a pair of runs. Senior first baseman Marla Schweisberger singled and started the scoring push. After senior outfielder Shana White pinch ran for Schweisberger, senior second baseman Abby Vock tripled to right-center field, driving in White to put the Tigers on the board. Virtually in the exact same fashion, senior outfielder Rhea Taylor, who went two for three at the plate on the day, followed with a triple of her own, allowing Vock to score the go-ahead run, putting the game at 2-1. The lead was one they would not relinquish for the rest of the game.
“The game was close, really close,” coach Ehren Earleywine said. “Columbia had a great pitcher. Our problem when we face a really good pitcher is that we back off. You can’t get hits if you don’t swing the bat, it’s as simple as that.”
Next up for the Tigers were the Cavaliers of Johnson County Community College. Cavaliers’ pitcher Katie Williams had an impressive speed to her fastball, but the Tigers weren’t intimidated.
“She threw strikes,” Earleywine said. “Her location was very good.”
Kathryn Poet, the Tigers' leading hitter in the game, said she loved the challenge of facing such a talented pitcher.
“She was fast,” she said. “Once I got up to the plate I was a little nervous.”
Those nerves must not have lasted long. The game began with a single by White. White stole second base and advanced to third after sophomore third baseman Ashlie Ortega popped out. Poet then drove in the first two runs, scoring one of them herself as she blasted a home run to left field. It was her first of the fall season.
“I thought it was a popup to short,” she said. “Then the crowd cheered and I was just so happy.”
Missouri held the Cavaliers to just three hits for the entire game. Senior pitcher Lisa Simmons lead the team, pitching through five innings.
The Tigers started to pull away in the third inning, scoring three runs to put the game at 5-0. They also recorded three hits during that time.
Simmons had held the Cavaliers to zero hits through three innings, but hopes of a fall season no-hit bid were shattered when the Cavaliers’ Kim Smith doubled to the center wall in the fourth.
Missouri tacked on another run in the fifth inning and six more in the sixth, putting the game out of reach for the Cavaliers at 11-0.
The Tigers were led by Poet, who went three for four at the plate with three runs and four RBIs.
“I had a terrible week of practice,” Poet said. “But everything just came together today. My timing was finally on.”
Missouri will host one final set of games on Saturday, Oct. 16 before opening up its regular season schedule in February.
Con artist peddles fake laptops
A con artist is preying on local shoppers by selling fraudulent laptops, according to a Columbia Police Department news release.
The man, who is described as a 5-foot-11-inch man in his thirties with two gold front teeth, has already swindled two Columbia residents, possibly more, the news release stated.
On Sept. 19, a man approached a 22-year-old woman while she was pumping gas at the Petro Mart on East St. Charles Road, asking if she wanted to buy a laptop computer. According to a news release, the man said the computer was one of three left behind in a delivery truck, and that he was the driver.
The man gave her the price of $300 for the computer, but she refused. The two eventually negotiated a price of $100.
According to the news release, the man handed her a sealed FedEx box and left. When the woman got home, she found the laptop she thought she had purchased was merely a block of wood with a mock price tag on it.
The Columbia Police Department advised people to refer to the age-old saying, “If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.”
CPD spokeswoman Jessie Haden said to avoid offers that seem shady.
“People get intimidated by these fast-talking and sometimes aggressive con artists,” Jessie Haden said. “If it seems shady at all, don’t be afraid to call for help or to simply say no.”
On Sept. 21, the suspect struck again at the Walmart on West Broadway.
According to the news release, the man approached a 21-year-old male as he left the Walmart. The suspect offered to sell a computer the suspect claimed was left in his wife’s office by a deliveryman.
Haden said the man originally declined the offer to purchase the laptop.
“Con artists aren’t typically the type of criminals that will harm you,” she said. “Their weapon is their mouth, and all you have to do is say no to disarm them.”
The victim eventually purchased the computer when the suspect told him he would sell it for $110.
According to the news release, the suspect advised the victim to take a look inside the box to make sure everything that was agreed upon was present. The man partially opened up the box to reveal what appeared to be a blue laptop, and a power cord.
When the victim arrived at home, he found the computer was, again, a block of wood, only this time it had been covered in blue masking tape to give the illusion of a laptop, the news release stated. The cord he saw was simply a cut extension cord placed inside the box, which was submitted to police as evidence.
The only lead police have is the short description of the suspect. Haden said it is unlikely that CPD will catch the suspect.
“It’s likely that he isn’t from Columbia,” she said. “Con artists usually blow into town, run their scam and leave.”
Haden said police are doing their best in tracking down the suspect.
“We contacted Walmart for their surveillance tapes and we plan to do the same for Petro Mart,” she said. “It’s all dependent on whether the tapes caught him or his vehicle, and whether they give an identifiable angle of the suspect.”
Haden said none of the victims could be reimbursed if the man isn’t caught.
“It’s not a function of our department to reimburse fraud,” she said.
The man, who is described as a 5-foot-11-inch man in his thirties with two gold front teeth, has already swindled two Columbia residents, possibly more, the news release stated.
On Sept. 19, a man approached a 22-year-old woman while she was pumping gas at the Petro Mart on East St. Charles Road, asking if she wanted to buy a laptop computer. According to a news release, the man said the computer was one of three left behind in a delivery truck, and that he was the driver.
The man gave her the price of $300 for the computer, but she refused. The two eventually negotiated a price of $100.
According to the news release, the man handed her a sealed FedEx box and left. When the woman got home, she found the laptop she thought she had purchased was merely a block of wood with a mock price tag on it.
The Columbia Police Department advised people to refer to the age-old saying, “If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.”
CPD spokeswoman Jessie Haden said to avoid offers that seem shady.
“People get intimidated by these fast-talking and sometimes aggressive con artists,” Jessie Haden said. “If it seems shady at all, don’t be afraid to call for help or to simply say no.”
On Sept. 21, the suspect struck again at the Walmart on West Broadway.
According to the news release, the man approached a 21-year-old male as he left the Walmart. The suspect offered to sell a computer the suspect claimed was left in his wife’s office by a deliveryman.
Haden said the man originally declined the offer to purchase the laptop.
“Con artists aren’t typically the type of criminals that will harm you,” she said. “Their weapon is their mouth, and all you have to do is say no to disarm them.”
The victim eventually purchased the computer when the suspect told him he would sell it for $110.
According to the news release, the suspect advised the victim to take a look inside the box to make sure everything that was agreed upon was present. The man partially opened up the box to reveal what appeared to be a blue laptop, and a power cord.
When the victim arrived at home, he found the computer was, again, a block of wood, only this time it had been covered in blue masking tape to give the illusion of a laptop, the news release stated. The cord he saw was simply a cut extension cord placed inside the box, which was submitted to police as evidence.
The only lead police have is the short description of the suspect. Haden said it is unlikely that CPD will catch the suspect.
“It’s likely that he isn’t from Columbia,” she said. “Con artists usually blow into town, run their scam and leave.”
Haden said police are doing their best in tracking down the suspect.
“We contacted Walmart for their surveillance tapes and we plan to do the same for Petro Mart,” she said. “It’s all dependent on whether the tapes caught him or his vehicle, and whether they give an identifiable angle of the suspect.”
Haden said none of the victims could be reimbursed if the man isn’t caught.
“It’s not a function of our department to reimburse fraud,” she said.
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Missouri swimming and diving shines at Show-Me Showdown
Relays were the word when the Missouri swimming and diving team hosted St. Louis University, Drury University, Missouri University of Science and Technology, Washington University and Lindenwood University on Saturday. Tiger relays claimed the number one finish in every single relay in both the men and women’s meets.
“We just went out and raced,” senior captain Jordan Hawley said. “Drury had some great teams, but we managed to pull out the win.”
Missouri started out the day at the sixth annual Show-Me Showdown with finishes of first, second, fourth and fifth in the Women’s 200 Free Relay. They finished in first place with a time of 1 minute 36 seconds.
The men’s team placed in first, fifth and sixth. The first place finish was recorded with a time of 1 minute 23.65 seconds. Senior captains Jordan Hawley and Anders Melin anchored the team.
“I was pleased with the effort we put forth today,” Melin said. “We could’ve been a bit faster, but you can’t be unhappy with a win.”
In terms of individual races, the team placed first in seven out of 10 races. In the men’s 100-yard freestyle, Hawley took first.
“I think I did well,” Hawley said. “I put up a solid first showing. We all need to iron out our mistakes, but in terms of individual events, this team is better than it has ever been before.”
The team put up a strong showing in the breaststroke, winning both the men and women’s 100-yard events. Junior Emy DiBenigno took first place for the women and junior Michael Lopresti took the crown for the men.
Missouri didn’t place in either men’s or women’s three meter diving events. St. Louis University dominated both events.
“Our diving team is one of the best in the nation,” coach Greg Rhodenbaugh said. “We just had some tough competition today. Coach Jamie Sweeney is great. He really makes them compete as a team.”
Overall, Rhodenbaugh was pleased with the effort Missouri put forth.
“We fought hard,” he said. “We were very tired because we swam a lot in the Intersquad meet yesterday. We haven’t done much other than get into shape, so we will go back to the drawing board and work on our mechanics. I think we could turn a bit faster.”
The meet ended with the men’s 200 Medley Relay, which the Tigers won by about two seconds.
Missouri won the meet on both the men and women’s sides. The women won by a landslide. Their final point total was 700, whereas the next closest was Drury University with 526. The men won by almost as big of a margin with 670.5 points. The second place finisher was Drury University with 548.5.
Missouri will continue its season Oct. 16 in Carbondale, Ill.
“We just went out and raced,” senior captain Jordan Hawley said. “Drury had some great teams, but we managed to pull out the win.”
Missouri started out the day at the sixth annual Show-Me Showdown with finishes of first, second, fourth and fifth in the Women’s 200 Free Relay. They finished in first place with a time of 1 minute 36 seconds.
The men’s team placed in first, fifth and sixth. The first place finish was recorded with a time of 1 minute 23.65 seconds. Senior captains Jordan Hawley and Anders Melin anchored the team.
“I was pleased with the effort we put forth today,” Melin said. “We could’ve been a bit faster, but you can’t be unhappy with a win.”
In terms of individual races, the team placed first in seven out of 10 races. In the men’s 100-yard freestyle, Hawley took first.
“I think I did well,” Hawley said. “I put up a solid first showing. We all need to iron out our mistakes, but in terms of individual events, this team is better than it has ever been before.”
The team put up a strong showing in the breaststroke, winning both the men and women’s 100-yard events. Junior Emy DiBenigno took first place for the women and junior Michael Lopresti took the crown for the men.
Missouri didn’t place in either men’s or women’s three meter diving events. St. Louis University dominated both events.
“Our diving team is one of the best in the nation,” coach Greg Rhodenbaugh said. “We just had some tough competition today. Coach Jamie Sweeney is great. He really makes them compete as a team.”
Overall, Rhodenbaugh was pleased with the effort Missouri put forth.
“We fought hard,” he said. “We were very tired because we swam a lot in the Intersquad meet yesterday. We haven’t done much other than get into shape, so we will go back to the drawing board and work on our mechanics. I think we could turn a bit faster.”
The meet ended with the men’s 200 Medley Relay, which the Tigers won by about two seconds.
Missouri won the meet on both the men and women’s sides. The women won by a landslide. Their final point total was 700, whereas the next closest was Drury University with 526. The men won by almost as big of a margin with 670.5 points. The second place finisher was Drury University with 548.5.
Missouri will continue its season Oct. 16 in Carbondale, Ill.
Tigers sweep doubleheader Saturday, now 4-0 in fall season
Missouri softball continued its impressive fall season with two wins Saturday. The Tigers started off the afternoon by trouncing the Meramec Magic 17-0 and beat Jefferson College 4-0 in the second game.
The Tigers raced out to an early 4-0 lead in the first game, aided by a two-run shot by sophomore third baseman Nicole Hudson. It was her second home run of the fall.
The Tigers tacked on two more runs in the third inning, and two more in the fourth, pushing the lead to 9-0. The Tigers recorded 10 hits in just the first four innings, despite the windy conditions. Senior first baseman Marla Schweisberger and senior outfielder Kathryn Poet led the Tigers offense, both going four for five at the plate with three runs apiece.
The sixth inning was the most eventful of the afternoon, as the Tigers scored a total of eight runs, pushing the lead to 17-0, and putting the game out of reach.
“I’m very happy with the way I played today,” Poet said. “It wasn’t perfect, but I got into a groove where I was comfortable at the plate again.”
Senior pitcher Lisa Simmons also put up a strong performance, allowing only four hits in the five innings she pitched, while recording two strikeouts. Simmons said she wasn’t concerned with the lack of strikeouts.
“I’m just not that type of pitcher,” Simmons said. “I just try to throw strikes and let the other eight girls out there help me out. That’s what this team is about, working together.”
The second game of the afternoon was not so spectacular. Nevertheless, the Tigers still produced a 4-0 victory over Jefferson College.
The Tigers got off to a slow start with only five hits in the first three innings.
“I’m not worried about the slow start,” coach Ehren Earleywine said. ”We had a lot of different people at different positions, so that’s going to happen.”
The Tigers capitalized on errors in the first inning. Senior outfielder Rhea Taylor started the game off with a bunt, and reached second on a throwing error by the pitcher. After a walk and another error, Simmons blasted one to the center field wall to drive in two runs, making the score 2-0.
Missouri would strike again in the third and fourth, scoring one run in each inning.
The Tigers seemed sluggish at the plate in the second game, posting only six hits and four runs by the fourth inning. Despite the cold bats, the team was very mechanically sound, committing no errors en route to the victory.
The highlight of the game was the performance of junior pitcher Kristin Nottelmann. She struck out four batters, and had zero earned runs. Nottelmann is coming off of a season ending hand injury last season. Nicole Hudson came to the mound to close the game.
Coach Earleywine said that he was pleased with the team’s performance.
“The games went well,” he said. “We aren’t so much worried about the scores, but we made some changes and it paid off.”
He said he was more pleased with the second of the two games.
“It was great to see (Kristin) Nottelmann back to full strength,” he said. “This team is headed places.”
The Tigers raced out to an early 4-0 lead in the first game, aided by a two-run shot by sophomore third baseman Nicole Hudson. It was her second home run of the fall.
The Tigers tacked on two more runs in the third inning, and two more in the fourth, pushing the lead to 9-0. The Tigers recorded 10 hits in just the first four innings, despite the windy conditions. Senior first baseman Marla Schweisberger and senior outfielder Kathryn Poet led the Tigers offense, both going four for five at the plate with three runs apiece.
The sixth inning was the most eventful of the afternoon, as the Tigers scored a total of eight runs, pushing the lead to 17-0, and putting the game out of reach.
“I’m very happy with the way I played today,” Poet said. “It wasn’t perfect, but I got into a groove where I was comfortable at the plate again.”
Senior pitcher Lisa Simmons also put up a strong performance, allowing only four hits in the five innings she pitched, while recording two strikeouts. Simmons said she wasn’t concerned with the lack of strikeouts.
“I’m just not that type of pitcher,” Simmons said. “I just try to throw strikes and let the other eight girls out there help me out. That’s what this team is about, working together.”
The second game of the afternoon was not so spectacular. Nevertheless, the Tigers still produced a 4-0 victory over Jefferson College.
The Tigers got off to a slow start with only five hits in the first three innings.
“I’m not worried about the slow start,” coach Ehren Earleywine said. ”We had a lot of different people at different positions, so that’s going to happen.”
The Tigers capitalized on errors in the first inning. Senior outfielder Rhea Taylor started the game off with a bunt, and reached second on a throwing error by the pitcher. After a walk and another error, Simmons blasted one to the center field wall to drive in two runs, making the score 2-0.
Missouri would strike again in the third and fourth, scoring one run in each inning.
The Tigers seemed sluggish at the plate in the second game, posting only six hits and four runs by the fourth inning. Despite the cold bats, the team was very mechanically sound, committing no errors en route to the victory.
The highlight of the game was the performance of junior pitcher Kristin Nottelmann. She struck out four batters, and had zero earned runs. Nottelmann is coming off of a season ending hand injury last season. Nicole Hudson came to the mound to close the game.
Coach Earleywine said that he was pleased with the team’s performance.
“The games went well,” he said. “We aren’t so much worried about the scores, but we made some changes and it paid off.”
He said he was more pleased with the second of the two games.
“It was great to see (Kristin) Nottelmann back to full strength,” he said. “This team is headed places.”
Monday, October 4, 2010
Missouri swimming and diving prepares for season opener
The Missouri swimming and diving team opened up the season on Friday with its annual Black and Gold Intersquad meet. Swimmers and divers alike showed promise for the upcoming season, which begins with the sixth annual Show-Me Showdown on Oct. 2 in Columbia.
At the Intersquad meet, each team had two captains. Representing the Black team was Morgan McCleery, and Anders Melin. The Gold team captains were Francie Szostak, and Jordan Hawley. All of the captains are seniors and hope to replace a considerably strong class of seniors from the previous year.
All of the captains seemed to feel the same way about being nominated by their teammates.
“It is a great privilege,” senior captain Anders Melin said. “It’s humbling to have the respect of the entire team.”
Melin is one of three swimmers on the team from overseas. He started swimming in South Carolina at a division two school, and when the opportunity to come to the University of Missouri came, he jumped on it.
“It is a great thing for international students to come to America,” Melin said. “The education system is top of the line. To be able to combine that with something we love, swimming, is something amazing you can’t get in Europe or wherever you may be from.”
First year coach Greg Rhodenbaugh was pleased with the teams’ performance at the meet.
“The team swam well overall,” Rhodenbaugh said. “They were swimming just as fast in relays as they did in individuals. That shows pride.”
Relays were the focus of team goals for the season.
“We want to get a relay team to the NCAA meet this year,” senior Jordan Hawley said. “That is our biggest goal.”
Melin had a bigger goal in mind for the team.
“We want to make it to the men’s championships,” he said. “We have so much talent. We are going to get there. There is no doubt about it, nothing can stop us.”
On the diving side of things, junior Jordan Morcom, coming off of a season in which she qualified for the NCAA meet, hopes to improve and go even further. At the Intersquad meet, she did well, placing first in the Women’s three meter diving.
Coach Rhodenbaugh said that the team has been doing well in practices. He was very pleased with the team’s performance in Friday’s meet.
“I’m still on the honeymoon of my first year here but I expect great things,” he said. “Everything is going well.”
Rhodenbaugh was the assistant coach at the University of Arizona last year. When he came in, he brought with him an entirely new coaching staff.
“I am very fortunate that all the people I asked to come build this thing with me wanted to come,” he said. “They’re all fine coaches.”
The team has responded well to the coaching staff change. They have been very supportive of the things coach Rhodenbaugh has done, and have responded well to his teachings.
“I expect a lot of my team,” Rhodenbaugh said. “They have accepted the changes I have made. I’m very excited for the season we have ahead of us.”
Captains Morgan McCleery and Francie Szostak had one particular goal in mind for the girl’s teams.
“We want to get more girls to the NCAA meet,” Szostak said. “Last year we felt very unfulfilled because we felt our team wasn’t adequately represented. We can do better than that.”
McCleery also said that she wanted more girls to make the trip, adding that she feels the team has the potential to be one of the best Missouri has had in recent memory.
The Intersquad meet concluded with the Gold team victorious by two points.
At the Intersquad meet, each team had two captains. Representing the Black team was Morgan McCleery, and Anders Melin. The Gold team captains were Francie Szostak, and Jordan Hawley. All of the captains are seniors and hope to replace a considerably strong class of seniors from the previous year.
All of the captains seemed to feel the same way about being nominated by their teammates.
“It is a great privilege,” senior captain Anders Melin said. “It’s humbling to have the respect of the entire team.”
Melin is one of three swimmers on the team from overseas. He started swimming in South Carolina at a division two school, and when the opportunity to come to the University of Missouri came, he jumped on it.
“It is a great thing for international students to come to America,” Melin said. “The education system is top of the line. To be able to combine that with something we love, swimming, is something amazing you can’t get in Europe or wherever you may be from.”
First year coach Greg Rhodenbaugh was pleased with the teams’ performance at the meet.
“The team swam well overall,” Rhodenbaugh said. “They were swimming just as fast in relays as they did in individuals. That shows pride.”
Relays were the focus of team goals for the season.
“We want to get a relay team to the NCAA meet this year,” senior Jordan Hawley said. “That is our biggest goal.”
Melin had a bigger goal in mind for the team.
“We want to make it to the men’s championships,” he said. “We have so much talent. We are going to get there. There is no doubt about it, nothing can stop us.”
On the diving side of things, junior Jordan Morcom, coming off of a season in which she qualified for the NCAA meet, hopes to improve and go even further. At the Intersquad meet, she did well, placing first in the Women’s three meter diving.
Coach Rhodenbaugh said that the team has been doing well in practices. He was very pleased with the team’s performance in Friday’s meet.
“I’m still on the honeymoon of my first year here but I expect great things,” he said. “Everything is going well.”
Rhodenbaugh was the assistant coach at the University of Arizona last year. When he came in, he brought with him an entirely new coaching staff.
“I am very fortunate that all the people I asked to come build this thing with me wanted to come,” he said. “They’re all fine coaches.”
The team has responded well to the coaching staff change. They have been very supportive of the things coach Rhodenbaugh has done, and have responded well to his teachings.
“I expect a lot of my team,” Rhodenbaugh said. “They have accepted the changes I have made. I’m very excited for the season we have ahead of us.”
Captains Morgan McCleery and Francie Szostak had one particular goal in mind for the girl’s teams.
“We want to get more girls to the NCAA meet,” Szostak said. “Last year we felt very unfulfilled because we felt our team wasn’t adequately represented. We can do better than that.”
McCleery also said that she wanted more girls to make the trip, adding that she feels the team has the potential to be one of the best Missouri has had in recent memory.
The Intersquad meet concluded with the Gold team victorious by two points.
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Nonpoint feat. Egypt Central, Abused Romance and Decadent Nation
Nonpoint and Egypt Central came to Columbia last Wednesday. The Blue Note hosted the concert that consisted of four different bands. On the bill were Decadent Nation, Abused Romance, Egypt Central and Nonpoint.
At the beginning of the show, there weren’t very many people in attendance, maybe 45 at the most. The audience was pleased with the performance of Decadent Nation, a band of Columbia natives. They played some popular hits such as “Independence Day,” and “Little Mushrooms.” They aren’t a very widely known band, but their sound has been compared to that of popular rock band Chevelle.
The next band on tap was Abused Romance. They were the band that seemed out of place when put with the others. Their sound was as heavy and in your face as the others, but the vocals were high pitched and more of an emo style. I would say their guitars may have been the heaviest of the four bands, but that was probably because they brought out more amps and speakers than other bands. The audience echoed my concern for whether they fit on the bill. They weren’t received by jeers and boos, but the audience didn’t pay much attention.
When Egypt Central took the stage, many were curious who they were. They are a nationally recognized band, but apparently they hadn’t reached Columbia’s ears…yet. They killed the show, captivating the entire room, and being the first band to start a mosh pit. I, along with a few other fans, was loudly singing every one of their songs and those who weren’t appeared as if they wished they knew the words so they could be more involved in the amazing sound. They closed the show with their hit single, “You Make Me Sick,” and the crowd went wild.
The headliner Nonpoint walked out on to the stage last, and it was obvious, they were the band everyone came to see. The meager crowd of 45 had grown throughout the evening and peaked around 100 when Nonpoint took the stage. They took the stage and made it clear that it was their stage. They opened with their latest single, “Miracle,” and every song from then on the crowd sang loudly. Their sound got the crowd really moving and at one point, they even got the entire venue jumping up and down. The band ended the show with its cover of “In The Air Tonight” by Genesis and the fans soulfully sang along. Nonpoint exited the stage to chants of “Encore!” and “Nonpoint.” They obliged and played two more songs, finally closing with their heaviest two songs to date, an older one, “What A Day,” and “Bullet With A Name.”
It was a fantastic show, but the odd placement of Abused Romance knocks it down a peg. They were a good band, but just didn’t fit. This show, which left fans with sore necks, and bruised limbs, receives a four out of five stars.
At the beginning of the show, there weren’t very many people in attendance, maybe 45 at the most. The audience was pleased with the performance of Decadent Nation, a band of Columbia natives. They played some popular hits such as “Independence Day,” and “Little Mushrooms.” They aren’t a very widely known band, but their sound has been compared to that of popular rock band Chevelle.
The next band on tap was Abused Romance. They were the band that seemed out of place when put with the others. Their sound was as heavy and in your face as the others, but the vocals were high pitched and more of an emo style. I would say their guitars may have been the heaviest of the four bands, but that was probably because they brought out more amps and speakers than other bands. The audience echoed my concern for whether they fit on the bill. They weren’t received by jeers and boos, but the audience didn’t pay much attention.
When Egypt Central took the stage, many were curious who they were. They are a nationally recognized band, but apparently they hadn’t reached Columbia’s ears…yet. They killed the show, captivating the entire room, and being the first band to start a mosh pit. I, along with a few other fans, was loudly singing every one of their songs and those who weren’t appeared as if they wished they knew the words so they could be more involved in the amazing sound. They closed the show with their hit single, “You Make Me Sick,” and the crowd went wild.
The headliner Nonpoint walked out on to the stage last, and it was obvious, they were the band everyone came to see. The meager crowd of 45 had grown throughout the evening and peaked around 100 when Nonpoint took the stage. They took the stage and made it clear that it was their stage. They opened with their latest single, “Miracle,” and every song from then on the crowd sang loudly. Their sound got the crowd really moving and at one point, they even got the entire venue jumping up and down. The band ended the show with its cover of “In The Air Tonight” by Genesis and the fans soulfully sang along. Nonpoint exited the stage to chants of “Encore!” and “Nonpoint.” They obliged and played two more songs, finally closing with their heaviest two songs to date, an older one, “What A Day,” and “Bullet With A Name.”
It was a fantastic show, but the odd placement of Abused Romance knocks it down a peg. They were a good band, but just didn’t fit. This show, which left fans with sore necks, and bruised limbs, receives a four out of five stars.
Friday, October 1, 2010
Missouri softball opens up fall season with sweep
The Missouri softball team launched its fall season Sept. 25 with a doubleheader. The Tigers are beginning this exhibition season with high hopes after making their second consecutive trip to the Women’s College World Series in the spring.
Morale among players is high after a strong start to the fall season. In its home doubleheader, Missouri swept Maple Woods Community College and North Central Missouri College. The competition consists of all junior and community colleges but coach Ehren Earleywine maintains its usefulness.
“Sure, the scores probably won't be close, but it gives me a chance to see people in different spots,” he said. “The competition really comes from our team. You have another girl breathing down your neck at all times competing for that starting spot.”
Earleywine said the team looks good overall. The team is returning 17 players, and junior pitcher Kristin Nottelmann and redshirt sophomore pitcher Chelsea Thomas are healthy again.
Nottelmann sat out the post-season last year with a stress fracture in her throwing hand. This fall she is working to get her hand back to full strength.
“The hand is healed 100 percent,” Nottelmann said. “I just need to get used to throwing again. It’s been a while.”
The number one problem already plaguing the team is injuries. Several players are suffering from minor injuries. Although not serious enough to keep them off the field, the players are still hindered by them.
“All of the injuries we have are preexisting conditions,” Earleywine said. “None of them have happened in practice.”
Among the more seriously injured are freshman outfielder Taylor Duplechain and senior catcher Megan Christopher. Both had surgery and are not expected to be back to full strength until at least 10 games into the spring season.
“It's unfortunate that we lost these two,” Earleywine said.
Duplechain and Christopher will be back in plenty of time to make a difference in the spring season, but the fact they have to sit out the fall means they can’t show coaches what they can do. This is detrimental for Duplechain, who is a freshman.
In preparation for the spring season, coach Earleywine wants to focus on mechanics and the little things rather than wins.
“In the spring, you’ll do anything to get a W,” Earleywine said. “In the fall, we don’t really want to focus on our record, but perfecting things like hitting and throwing.”
Another important thing Earleywine stressed was finding the weaknesses in their game and shining a spotlight on them. Senior first baseman Marla Schweisberger echoed his concern.
“We need to find each other’s weaknesses and exploit them, so we can fix them,” she said. “It all comes down to execution.”
Nottelmann has a few specific things to work on this season.
“My speed on pitches is good, but I want to work on my location, especially on the changeup,” Nottelmann said. “My spin is another thing that needs a little bit of tweaking. I’m putting in the extra time to make sure it’s where I want it come spring time.”
When spring does roll around, the team has high expectations after losing its second straight World Series. The players were asked to put last year’s season into one word, which generated mixed responses. Words such as adversity, improving and encouraging were thrown around. When it came time to pick a word for this season, the consensus among players was obvious: championship.
“We feel like the third time’s the charm,” Schweisberger said. “We have returned so many players, and we feel like the chemistry on this team is too much to not win the National Title.”
The players summarized the season appropriately, but none did it better than coach Earleywine. In his mind, the word for this season: redemption.
“We’ve got some things to take care of back in Oklahoma City,” he said.
The Tigers will continue their fall season with a doubleheader beginning at noon Saturday at University Field.
Morale among players is high after a strong start to the fall season. In its home doubleheader, Missouri swept Maple Woods Community College and North Central Missouri College. The competition consists of all junior and community colleges but coach Ehren Earleywine maintains its usefulness.
“Sure, the scores probably won't be close, but it gives me a chance to see people in different spots,” he said. “The competition really comes from our team. You have another girl breathing down your neck at all times competing for that starting spot.”
Earleywine said the team looks good overall. The team is returning 17 players, and junior pitcher Kristin Nottelmann and redshirt sophomore pitcher Chelsea Thomas are healthy again.
Nottelmann sat out the post-season last year with a stress fracture in her throwing hand. This fall she is working to get her hand back to full strength.
“The hand is healed 100 percent,” Nottelmann said. “I just need to get used to throwing again. It’s been a while.”
The number one problem already plaguing the team is injuries. Several players are suffering from minor injuries. Although not serious enough to keep them off the field, the players are still hindered by them.
“All of the injuries we have are preexisting conditions,” Earleywine said. “None of them have happened in practice.”
Among the more seriously injured are freshman outfielder Taylor Duplechain and senior catcher Megan Christopher. Both had surgery and are not expected to be back to full strength until at least 10 games into the spring season.
“It's unfortunate that we lost these two,” Earleywine said.
Duplechain and Christopher will be back in plenty of time to make a difference in the spring season, but the fact they have to sit out the fall means they can’t show coaches what they can do. This is detrimental for Duplechain, who is a freshman.
In preparation for the spring season, coach Earleywine wants to focus on mechanics and the little things rather than wins.
“In the spring, you’ll do anything to get a W,” Earleywine said. “In the fall, we don’t really want to focus on our record, but perfecting things like hitting and throwing.”
Another important thing Earleywine stressed was finding the weaknesses in their game and shining a spotlight on them. Senior first baseman Marla Schweisberger echoed his concern.
“We need to find each other’s weaknesses and exploit them, so we can fix them,” she said. “It all comes down to execution.”
Nottelmann has a few specific things to work on this season.
“My speed on pitches is good, but I want to work on my location, especially on the changeup,” Nottelmann said. “My spin is another thing that needs a little bit of tweaking. I’m putting in the extra time to make sure it’s where I want it come spring time.”
When spring does roll around, the team has high expectations after losing its second straight World Series. The players were asked to put last year’s season into one word, which generated mixed responses. Words such as adversity, improving and encouraging were thrown around. When it came time to pick a word for this season, the consensus among players was obvious: championship.
“We feel like the third time’s the charm,” Schweisberger said. “We have returned so many players, and we feel like the chemistry on this team is too much to not win the National Title.”
The players summarized the season appropriately, but none did it better than coach Earleywine. In his mind, the word for this season: redemption.
“We’ve got some things to take care of back in Oklahoma City,” he said.
The Tigers will continue their fall season with a doubleheader beginning at noon Saturday at University Field.
Friday, September 24, 2010
Columbia family sues city over February SWAT raid
A Columbia family filed suit against the city of Columbia, the Columbia Police Department and several police officers Monday for damages related to a February SWAT raid at their home in which their dog was shot and killed.
The family's attorney Milt Harper said Jonathan and Brittany Whitworth are suing the city because police improperly executed a search warrant on their Columbia home.
In February, SWAT officers raided the Whitworth’s home in the 1500 block of Kinloch Court. According to a CPD news release, officers suspected the home contained large amounts of marijuana and drug paraphanelia. The news release stated officers found only drug paraphernalia and a small amount of marijuana residue.
The news release also stated officers shot and killed one of the family’s two dogs and wounded another.
According to the lawsuit, SWAT officers ordered Jonathan Whitworth to the ground, and his wife and their 7-year-old son were ordered to sit in the front entryway of their home.
According to the lawsuit, Brittany Whitworth and her son were in plain sight of the dog that had been killed.
“This undoubtedly caused major trauma to their 7-year-old son,” Harper said. “He had to witness his pet being murdered.”
The lawsuit accuses one of the SWAT team members of kicking Jonathan Whitworth.
Shortly after the raid, The Columbia Daily Tribune requested video of the raid taken by the SWAT team be released as a public record. The video was released and posted online after misdemeanor charges against Jonathan Whitworth were resolved.
More than 1 million people viewed video of the raid on YouTube, and the tape was featured on national news shows such as "The O’Reilly Factor."
“The outrage about the video was due to misconstrued information,” CPD spokeswoman Jessie Haden said. “People began to post it on YouTube and due to the poor quality of video, people imagined things they saw.”
Harper said the basis for the suit is the misconduct exhibited when executing the search warrant, but there are several other reasons for the suit.
“We are seeking a financial award for the damages caused to the Whitworth home, and the veterinary costs of the deceased pet,” he said.
CPD Chief Ken Burton issued a statement about the raid shortly after the video was released, saying the SWAT officers acted within the law, but waiting for days after obtaining a warrant and then using dynamic entry to serve it is unacceptable.
Harper said the department also never apologized to the family for killing the dog.
“The police department did not issue a statement, a call or apologize in any form for its actions,” Harper said. “They did not even acknowledge that they were inappropriate to fire shots into the Whitworth home. They’re lucky they didn’t shoot the child, or even one of their fellow officers.”
Haden said the department never apologized because the Whitworth family never filed a claim with the city.
“If they had come to the city asking for restitutions for damage to their home, veterinary bills and doctor bills for their child, all we would have had to do is clear it with (Chief Burton),” Haden said. “It is very likely that we probably would’ve paid for such nominal damages.”
The Citizens Police Review Board reviewed the case over the summer and decided not to take action. Haden said this was because the CPRB, while reviewing the case, voted 4-3 on multiple occasions that the officers’ actions were proper according to procedure.
The family's attorney Milt Harper said Jonathan and Brittany Whitworth are suing the city because police improperly executed a search warrant on their Columbia home.
In February, SWAT officers raided the Whitworth’s home in the 1500 block of Kinloch Court. According to a CPD news release, officers suspected the home contained large amounts of marijuana and drug paraphanelia. The news release stated officers found only drug paraphernalia and a small amount of marijuana residue.
The news release also stated officers shot and killed one of the family’s two dogs and wounded another.
According to the lawsuit, SWAT officers ordered Jonathan Whitworth to the ground, and his wife and their 7-year-old son were ordered to sit in the front entryway of their home.
According to the lawsuit, Brittany Whitworth and her son were in plain sight of the dog that had been killed.
“This undoubtedly caused major trauma to their 7-year-old son,” Harper said. “He had to witness his pet being murdered.”
The lawsuit accuses one of the SWAT team members of kicking Jonathan Whitworth.
Shortly after the raid, The Columbia Daily Tribune requested video of the raid taken by the SWAT team be released as a public record. The video was released and posted online after misdemeanor charges against Jonathan Whitworth were resolved.
More than 1 million people viewed video of the raid on YouTube, and the tape was featured on national news shows such as "The O’Reilly Factor."
“The outrage about the video was due to misconstrued information,” CPD spokeswoman Jessie Haden said. “People began to post it on YouTube and due to the poor quality of video, people imagined things they saw.”
Harper said the basis for the suit is the misconduct exhibited when executing the search warrant, but there are several other reasons for the suit.
“We are seeking a financial award for the damages caused to the Whitworth home, and the veterinary costs of the deceased pet,” he said.
CPD Chief Ken Burton issued a statement about the raid shortly after the video was released, saying the SWAT officers acted within the law, but waiting for days after obtaining a warrant and then using dynamic entry to serve it is unacceptable.
Harper said the department also never apologized to the family for killing the dog.
“The police department did not issue a statement, a call or apologize in any form for its actions,” Harper said. “They did not even acknowledge that they were inappropriate to fire shots into the Whitworth home. They’re lucky they didn’t shoot the child, or even one of their fellow officers.”
Haden said the department never apologized because the Whitworth family never filed a claim with the city.
“If they had come to the city asking for restitutions for damage to their home, veterinary bills and doctor bills for their child, all we would have had to do is clear it with (Chief Burton),” Haden said. “It is very likely that we probably would’ve paid for such nominal damages.”
The Citizens Police Review Board reviewed the case over the summer and decided not to take action. Haden said this was because the CPRB, while reviewing the case, voted 4-3 on multiple occasions that the officers’ actions were proper according to procedure.
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
TV task force sends City Council complaints
In a July letter to the Columbia City Council, the Columbia Cable Television Task Force presented its complaints. According to the letter, the task force is dissatisfied with pricing and customer service and that public access, education and government channels are not available to everyone.
"The problem is, the state last year took power from local governments to approve franchising agreements," Fifth Ward Councilwoman Laura Nauser said.
That change in the law limited the city's options for dealing with the complaints. The state is now responsible for regulating the fees the cable companies charge.
Although the city might not be able to do much about the complaints, Second Ward Councilman Jason Thornhill said it is good to know how residents feel, so they can at least be aware of the problems they are faced with.
The task force was assembled in 2003 to deal with problems the community was facing from cable companies MediaCom and Charter Communications, but the group has less power since the law changed.
In its letter to the Council, the task force said it hoped the city would send out a news release explaining why Columbia can't fix the situation. The task force asked the City Council to urge residents to contact the state and voice their dissatisfaction.
"(The task force) recommends that citizens contact their legislators about the situation and consider another source of television," task force member Marty Riback said in the letter.
Nauser said that the most effective thing Columbia residents can do is to file complaints with the Missouri Public Service Commission -- the state agency that regulates cable television companies.
"All we can do for the unhappy citizens is redirect them to the state," Nauser said. "Hopefully, if enough people complain, the state can do something about it."
Mediacom and Charter Communications did not respond to a request for comment by publication. Mediacom's Vice-President of Legal and Public Affairs Tom Larsen said Mediacom is aware of the problems. He doesn't see the letter as a list of complaints for his company, though.
"They are simply expressing their frustration with the change in law," he said.
Larsen said channel owners set the pricing and there is nothing the cable company can do about that.
"Viacom, owners of MTV and other popular channels set the prices for their broadcast," he said. "We simply resell a product."
The overall choice of programming was another issue the task force identified.
"Content is chosen by companies like Viacom," Larsen said. "We have been pushing to get more digital content in HD because that is where television is heading."
Mediacom has plans to assess the complaints. It is in the process of getting the system to handle more HD. The entire system has been under upgrade for the past year, and Larsen said that is what caused many of the outages.
"I sympathize with the customers," Larsen said. "We understand their frustration with the outages, but the customer has to understand that we are doing this to make the service better as a whole."
The yearlong revamping of the system is scheduled to finish sometime next week.
"The problem is, the state last year took power from local governments to approve franchising agreements," Fifth Ward Councilwoman Laura Nauser said.
That change in the law limited the city's options for dealing with the complaints. The state is now responsible for regulating the fees the cable companies charge.
Although the city might not be able to do much about the complaints, Second Ward Councilman Jason Thornhill said it is good to know how residents feel, so they can at least be aware of the problems they are faced with.
The task force was assembled in 2003 to deal with problems the community was facing from cable companies MediaCom and Charter Communications, but the group has less power since the law changed.
In its letter to the Council, the task force said it hoped the city would send out a news release explaining why Columbia can't fix the situation. The task force asked the City Council to urge residents to contact the state and voice their dissatisfaction.
"(The task force) recommends that citizens contact their legislators about the situation and consider another source of television," task force member Marty Riback said in the letter.
Nauser said that the most effective thing Columbia residents can do is to file complaints with the Missouri Public Service Commission -- the state agency that regulates cable television companies.
"All we can do for the unhappy citizens is redirect them to the state," Nauser said. "Hopefully, if enough people complain, the state can do something about it."
Mediacom and Charter Communications did not respond to a request for comment by publication. Mediacom's Vice-President of Legal and Public Affairs Tom Larsen said Mediacom is aware of the problems. He doesn't see the letter as a list of complaints for his company, though.
"They are simply expressing their frustration with the change in law," he said.
Larsen said channel owners set the pricing and there is nothing the cable company can do about that.
"Viacom, owners of MTV and other popular channels set the prices for their broadcast," he said. "We simply resell a product."
The overall choice of programming was another issue the task force identified.
"Content is chosen by companies like Viacom," Larsen said. "We have been pushing to get more digital content in HD because that is where television is heading."
Mediacom has plans to assess the complaints. It is in the process of getting the system to handle more HD. The entire system has been under upgrade for the past year, and Larsen said that is what caused many of the outages.
"I sympathize with the customers," Larsen said. "We understand their frustration with the outages, but the customer has to understand that we are doing this to make the service better as a whole."
The yearlong revamping of the system is scheduled to finish sometime next week.
Missouri Cross Country team places 3 in top 5 at home meet
The Missouri Cross Country team held its only home meet of the season Saturday, and did so with a strong performance. The team hosted Kansas, UM-Kansas City and Stephens College at A.L. Gustin Golf Course. The women's team did particularly well with three runners finishing inside the top five, including the top finish in the women's meet.
"I am so happy for our team as a whole," first-place winner Kaitie Vanatta said. "It's an early meet, and I think we really set the tone for the season."
On the men's side of things, five runners finished inside of the top 25. Sophomore Max Storms, who took eigth, recorded the top finish for the men. Storms put up an impressive time of 26:26. A few new faces, including freshman Merid Seleshi and Hayden Legg, who took 14th and 23rd respectively, also aided the team.
The biggest story of the day was redshirt junior Aaron Dixon. An 800-meter runner, Dixon likes to use cross country as a way to train himself in the offseason. This season, Dixon challenged himself to make the cross country team and be a competitor in meets. He made a good start on his goal, claiming a 13th place finish with a time of 27 minutes.
"I'm very happy with my performance," Dixon said. "It's a personal record, and to do it on this course is exciting."
The runners were in consensus about the difficulty of the course. The course at A.L. Gustin Golf Course is known for it's many rolling hills. It begins with a downhill slope, and the hills immediately begin. 3.2 miles into the course there is an 800-meter-long hill to climb.
"We invite other teams here and they are really intimidated by what they see, especially the hill," coach Rebecca Wilmes said.
The runners were all fatigued after the event and had much to say about the difficulty of the course. Dixon said the big hill was what was the hardest, and that he underestimated how big it truly is.
Dixon also joked about the task of running the course.
"That was the hardest course I have ever ran," Dixon said. "I'd rather have a kidney stone than do that again."
It rained for much of the morning before the meet and the course was wet when the runners stepped up to the line. To Wilmes, that was not a problem.
"In cross, they all have to run the same course," Wilmes said. "It's a level playing field."
The runners also weren't worried about the course conditions. Seleshi said there were some soft spots to watch out for, but overall the weather was great.
As a program, they did well for the first meet of the season. Runners and coaches alike were pleased with the performance, but admitted they have a lot to work on.
"We need to work together and push each other," sophomore Megan Kowalik said. "That's what it's all about."
Dixon graded the team's performance as a "solid B." He cited his reasoning for the grade as the fact that his runners simply could have done better.
"We had to sideline some guys because of injury," Dixon said. "That makes it hard to go out and do your best when you can't put your best out there."
Wilmes spoke about the program needing to close gaps between teammates. She wanted the team to run in small groups and avoid having stragglers. Doing that, she said, will lead to a better overall performance for the program.
The Tigers will continue their season Oct. 2 at the Greater Louisville Cross Country Challenge in Louisville, Ky.
"I am so happy for our team as a whole," first-place winner Kaitie Vanatta said. "It's an early meet, and I think we really set the tone for the season."
On the men's side of things, five runners finished inside of the top 25. Sophomore Max Storms, who took eigth, recorded the top finish for the men. Storms put up an impressive time of 26:26. A few new faces, including freshman Merid Seleshi and Hayden Legg, who took 14th and 23rd respectively, also aided the team.
The biggest story of the day was redshirt junior Aaron Dixon. An 800-meter runner, Dixon likes to use cross country as a way to train himself in the offseason. This season, Dixon challenged himself to make the cross country team and be a competitor in meets. He made a good start on his goal, claiming a 13th place finish with a time of 27 minutes.
"I'm very happy with my performance," Dixon said. "It's a personal record, and to do it on this course is exciting."
The runners were in consensus about the difficulty of the course. The course at A.L. Gustin Golf Course is known for it's many rolling hills. It begins with a downhill slope, and the hills immediately begin. 3.2 miles into the course there is an 800-meter-long hill to climb.
"We invite other teams here and they are really intimidated by what they see, especially the hill," coach Rebecca Wilmes said.
The runners were all fatigued after the event and had much to say about the difficulty of the course. Dixon said the big hill was what was the hardest, and that he underestimated how big it truly is.
Dixon also joked about the task of running the course.
"That was the hardest course I have ever ran," Dixon said. "I'd rather have a kidney stone than do that again."
It rained for much of the morning before the meet and the course was wet when the runners stepped up to the line. To Wilmes, that was not a problem.
"In cross, they all have to run the same course," Wilmes said. "It's a level playing field."
The runners also weren't worried about the course conditions. Seleshi said there were some soft spots to watch out for, but overall the weather was great.
As a program, they did well for the first meet of the season. Runners and coaches alike were pleased with the performance, but admitted they have a lot to work on.
"We need to work together and push each other," sophomore Megan Kowalik said. "That's what it's all about."
Dixon graded the team's performance as a "solid B." He cited his reasoning for the grade as the fact that his runners simply could have done better.
"We had to sideline some guys because of injury," Dixon said. "That makes it hard to go out and do your best when you can't put your best out there."
Wilmes spoke about the program needing to close gaps between teammates. She wanted the team to run in small groups and avoid having stragglers. Doing that, she said, will lead to a better overall performance for the program.
The Tigers will continue their season Oct. 2 at the Greater Louisville Cross Country Challenge in Louisville, Ky.
String of vehicular theft continues
Columbia Police have seen a rapid increase in the number of items reported stolen from vehicles in the past week.
According to a Columbia Police Department news release, officers investigated two cases where items were reported stolen from cars parked at the Academy of Fine Arts, located at 3210 South Providence Road. The thefts reportedly occurred at about 7:30 a.m.
“The items were unable to be recovered and no suspect has been found at this time,” CPD spokeswoman Jessie Haden said.
The string of thefts continued later on Sept. 8. At roughly 5:30 p.m., officers were called to investigate three separate reports of vehicular theft. All three cars were parked in the parking lot of Jazzercise, at 120 East Nifong Blvd.
The next day, Sept. 9, officers were called to Green Meadow Day Care, where a resident spoke of another theft.
The reason for the large and sudden increase in thefts is believed to be the weather.
“This time of year, theft rates always increase because people want to leave their windows down so their car won’t get hot or because they think they can leave for just a moment without locking their cars,” Haden said.
She also said police are advising residents to lock their vehicles, as all of the reported cases involved unlocked cars. Another tip she offered was to secure items of value and keep them out of sight of passersby.
“Criminals are more likely to break into a car if they know for sure there is something of value to take,” Haden said.
CPD is stressing that these are the only things that can be done.
According to a news release, the most popular items stolen were purses because of their contents: wallets, money and identification.
The police have developed multiple leads. One officer recognized the suspect’s vehicle to be a 2010 black Chevrolet Tahoe with dark tinted windows. On Sept. 11, a Columbia resident said he saw a vehicle that fit the description at a business just outside of city limits.
Haden said the citizen was a little concerned upon seeing the Tahoe and his concern elevated when he saw the passenger walk out to the car and switch its current Tennessee license plates for Missouri ones.
At that point, he called the police and told them what he had witnessed. The police believe the string of thefts to be the work of a local identity theft gang known as the Felony Lane Gang.
“We urge anyone who may have information to call Crime Stoppers at 875-TIPS,” Haden said in the news release. “It is our main priority that no one else be victimized.”
According to a Columbia Police Department news release, officers investigated two cases where items were reported stolen from cars parked at the Academy of Fine Arts, located at 3210 South Providence Road. The thefts reportedly occurred at about 7:30 a.m.
“The items were unable to be recovered and no suspect has been found at this time,” CPD spokeswoman Jessie Haden said.
The string of thefts continued later on Sept. 8. At roughly 5:30 p.m., officers were called to investigate three separate reports of vehicular theft. All three cars were parked in the parking lot of Jazzercise, at 120 East Nifong Blvd.
The next day, Sept. 9, officers were called to Green Meadow Day Care, where a resident spoke of another theft.
The reason for the large and sudden increase in thefts is believed to be the weather.
“This time of year, theft rates always increase because people want to leave their windows down so their car won’t get hot or because they think they can leave for just a moment without locking their cars,” Haden said.
She also said police are advising residents to lock their vehicles, as all of the reported cases involved unlocked cars. Another tip she offered was to secure items of value and keep them out of sight of passersby.
“Criminals are more likely to break into a car if they know for sure there is something of value to take,” Haden said.
CPD is stressing that these are the only things that can be done.
According to a news release, the most popular items stolen were purses because of their contents: wallets, money and identification.
The police have developed multiple leads. One officer recognized the suspect’s vehicle to be a 2010 black Chevrolet Tahoe with dark tinted windows. On Sept. 11, a Columbia resident said he saw a vehicle that fit the description at a business just outside of city limits.
Haden said the citizen was a little concerned upon seeing the Tahoe and his concern elevated when he saw the passenger walk out to the car and switch its current Tennessee license plates for Missouri ones.
At that point, he called the police and told them what he had witnessed. The police believe the string of thefts to be the work of a local identity theft gang known as the Felony Lane Gang.
“We urge anyone who may have information to call Crime Stoppers at 875-TIPS,” Haden said in the news release. “It is our main priority that no one else be victimized.”
Friday, September 10, 2010
'Generation Me' author speaks with students
“Generation Me” author Jean Twenge visited MU and Columbia this past week and took part in a series of events, beginning with a book signing at the University Bookstore and ending with a lecture Thursday where she also answered readers’ questions at Jesse Auditorium.
“Generation Me,” the Mizzou Reads selection for 2010, concerns those aged seven to 36 years. In the book, Twenge discusses how “Generation Me” has been taught they were “special” from birth, which leads to narcissism, loneliness and ultimately depression.
Some students said they disagreed with what Twenge had to say about their generation.
“I don’t think she was right in classifying all of us as depressed,” freshman Courtney Watkins said. “I think I’m a pretty happy person and it offended me when I read that.”
Even with the general negative opinion on the book, attendance at her lecture was quite robust. Many of the students present at the lecture were those who had previously said they did not enjoy the book. Twenge attempted to win them back over to her side during her lecture.
“The book was interesting at parts but wasn’t a good read,” freshman April Keel said. “She did a great job of backing up her facts in the presentation with current information.”
The use of outdated statistics was a big problem with Twenge’s book, Keel said.
Twenge elected to focus on the content discussed in the book rather than the the writing process. The main point she focused on was narcissism, what leads to it and why it is a detrimental quality. Twenge stressed self-esteem as a good thing, but only if used as a “tool” rather than as a lifestyle.
“Self-esteem does not lead to great things, great things lead to high self-esteem,” Twenge said. “Excessive self-esteem can be bad because of the consequences of an unrealistic view.”
The difference between self-esteem and more severe and negative narcissism was a focal point in her lecture. Twenge said narcissism is excessively high self-esteem, so much so that the subject becomes completely self-involved. Twenge stressed that in life, narcissists do not go far.
“Everyone gets a trophy in children's sports now,” Twenge said. “In schools they even sing a song called, ‘I Am Special,’ set to the tune of 'Frère Jacques.' We are just furthering the narcissistic behavior in children.”
At the close of the lecture, Twenge broadened her theories to all ages and related her presentation to her latest book, “The Narcissistic Epidemic.” She used social networking as evidence to support her claim that narcissism is an epidemic.
“Facebook is a good thing in general,” she said. “It can, however, lead to narcissism. People who spend 15 minutes on Facebook score much higher in narcissism studies than someone who spends 15 minutes on Google Maps.”
Twenge exited after a brief question-and-answer session. Before her departure, she left the audience with a parting question: does the world change for the generation or does the generation change for the world? The audience stayed silent for a moment in response.
The audience was not limited to MU students and faculty.
“I would give her a 10 out of 10,” Columbia resident Libby Gill said. “That was about the best lecture by a professor you will ever see.”
The respect was echoed by Keel.
“You have to appreciate all the research she did,” Keel said. “She spent so many countless hours pouring over studies, and it really made for a great presentation.”
“Generation Me,” the Mizzou Reads selection for 2010, concerns those aged seven to 36 years. In the book, Twenge discusses how “Generation Me” has been taught they were “special” from birth, which leads to narcissism, loneliness and ultimately depression.
Some students said they disagreed with what Twenge had to say about their generation.
“I don’t think she was right in classifying all of us as depressed,” freshman Courtney Watkins said. “I think I’m a pretty happy person and it offended me when I read that.”
Even with the general negative opinion on the book, attendance at her lecture was quite robust. Many of the students present at the lecture were those who had previously said they did not enjoy the book. Twenge attempted to win them back over to her side during her lecture.
“The book was interesting at parts but wasn’t a good read,” freshman April Keel said. “She did a great job of backing up her facts in the presentation with current information.”
The use of outdated statistics was a big problem with Twenge’s book, Keel said.
Twenge elected to focus on the content discussed in the book rather than the the writing process. The main point she focused on was narcissism, what leads to it and why it is a detrimental quality. Twenge stressed self-esteem as a good thing, but only if used as a “tool” rather than as a lifestyle.
“Self-esteem does not lead to great things, great things lead to high self-esteem,” Twenge said. “Excessive self-esteem can be bad because of the consequences of an unrealistic view.”
The difference between self-esteem and more severe and negative narcissism was a focal point in her lecture. Twenge said narcissism is excessively high self-esteem, so much so that the subject becomes completely self-involved. Twenge stressed that in life, narcissists do not go far.
“Everyone gets a trophy in children's sports now,” Twenge said. “In schools they even sing a song called, ‘I Am Special,’ set to the tune of 'Frère Jacques.' We are just furthering the narcissistic behavior in children.”
At the close of the lecture, Twenge broadened her theories to all ages and related her presentation to her latest book, “The Narcissistic Epidemic.” She used social networking as evidence to support her claim that narcissism is an epidemic.
“Facebook is a good thing in general,” she said. “It can, however, lead to narcissism. People who spend 15 minutes on Facebook score much higher in narcissism studies than someone who spends 15 minutes on Google Maps.”
Twenge exited after a brief question-and-answer session. Before her departure, she left the audience with a parting question: does the world change for the generation or does the generation change for the world? The audience stayed silent for a moment in response.
The audience was not limited to MU students and faculty.
“I would give her a 10 out of 10,” Columbia resident Libby Gill said. “That was about the best lecture by a professor you will ever see.”
The respect was echoed by Keel.
“You have to appreciate all the research she did,” Keel said. “She spent so many countless hours pouring over studies, and it really made for a great presentation.”
Council votes on utility hikes, Maryland Ave. name change
Columbia residents gathered Tuesday at City Hall to show their support for several issues, with the city’s budget dominating the proceedings.
The council originally had set aside $4,000 in its budget for the Citizens Police Review Board, but several people at the meeting asked the Council to give the CPRB more money.
"I feel that this organization has worked so hard to form, and to give them $4,000 to work with, well, that would just be inappropriate," Columbia attorney David Smith said.
The CPRB had asked for $10,000, mainly to hire private investigators for some cases.
CPRB Vice Chairman James Martin echoed Smith’s sentiments, citing the need for investigators.
"We need to hire these investigators," Martin said. "Not having a professional investigator can hurt your case's credibility."
Smith added that investigators are not necessary for all cases, but in the event they are used they could cost between $300 and $400 per case.
Second Ward City Councilman Jason Thornhill estimated the costs of investigators for eight cases spanning one year and reasoned that with the cost of the investigators and other necessary expenses, the CPRB would need about $8,700. Other members of the council voiced their support for Thornhill's motion to amend the budget to allow the increase in funding.
"In these times it is important that we do not underfund this project," First Councilman Paul Sturtz said. "It is giving citizens trust in their police department."
When the motion went up for vote, it passed 6-1. Mayor Bob McDavid said he felt "uneasy" about the decision. He was the sole dissenting vote.
The council also discussed several utility rate increases.
McDavid said there would be a 3 percent increase in the electric rates, even though the city likely won't see any cost increases. He then proposed
The council originally had set aside $4,000 in its budget for the Citizens Police Review Board, but several people at the meeting asked the Council to give the CPRB more money.
"I feel that this organization has worked so hard to form, and to give them $4,000 to work with, well, that would just be inappropriate," Columbia attorney David Smith said.
The CPRB had asked for $10,000, mainly to hire private investigators for some cases.
CPRB Vice Chairman James Martin echoed Smith’s sentiments, citing the need for investigators.
"We need to hire these investigators," Martin said. "Not having a professional investigator can hurt your case's credibility."
Smith added that investigators are not necessary for all cases, but in the event they are used they could cost between $300 and $400 per case.
Second Ward City Councilman Jason Thornhill estimated the costs of investigators for eight cases spanning one year and reasoned that with the cost of the investigators and other necessary expenses, the CPRB would need about $8,700. Other members of the council voiced their support for Thornhill's motion to amend the budget to allow the increase in funding.
"In these times it is important that we do not underfund this project," First Councilman Paul Sturtz said. "It is giving citizens trust in their police department."
When the motion went up for vote, it passed 6-1. Mayor Bob McDavid said he felt "uneasy" about the decision. He was the sole dissenting vote.
The council also discussed several utility rate increases.
McDavid said there would be a 3 percent increase in the electric rates, even though the city likely won't see any cost increases. He then proposed
Saturday, September 4, 2010
Mizzou vs. Illinois recap
The Mizzou Tigers always seem to find a way to win. The Tigers took the sixth, and final Arch Rivalry game 23-13, sweeping Illinois in the series. They played a poor first half offensively versus the Illini but stepped up big in the second half, scoring 20 unanswered points. Junior Quarterback Blaine Gabbert threw for 281 yards with two touchdowns, while completing 70.8% of his passes. He threw zero interceptions en route to those numbers.
Gabbert’s primary target was Sophomore receiver T.J. Moe. Moe caught 13 passes for 101 yards and caught the crucial touchdown that put the Tigers in the lead, one that they would never relinquish.
The Tigers struggled early to replace suspended Running Back Derrick Washington, and ended the game with only 122 total rushing yards. Team rushing leader De’Vion Moore had 82 yards. The Illini could not stop the multi-dimensional rushing attack, which seemed to be represented by a singular play.
The Tigers defense was stout throughout the entire game and at times they rose above average and made some key stops.
The game-changer was Cornerback Carl Gettis. Gettis contributed to the Tiger victory in multiple ways as a cornerback, return man, and in kick coverage. He finished the day with 4 tackles, and one vital interception. The numbers don’t represent the effort he put in today. He stopped a punt on the one-yard line, which forced the Illini offense to drive 99 and a half yards to tie the game, which never happened.
The Tigers won the contest by boldly taking charge in the second half but that won’t win a game against titans of the conference like Oklahoma or Nebraska. The Tigers have many improvements to make, and will do so as they head into their next game against the McNeese State Cowboys on Sept. 11. The home opener is set to begin at 6p.m. at Faurot Field.
Gabbert’s primary target was Sophomore receiver T.J. Moe. Moe caught 13 passes for 101 yards and caught the crucial touchdown that put the Tigers in the lead, one that they would never relinquish.
The Tigers struggled early to replace suspended Running Back Derrick Washington, and ended the game with only 122 total rushing yards. Team rushing leader De’Vion Moore had 82 yards. The Illini could not stop the multi-dimensional rushing attack, which seemed to be represented by a singular play.
The Tigers defense was stout throughout the entire game and at times they rose above average and made some key stops.
The game-changer was Cornerback Carl Gettis. Gettis contributed to the Tiger victory in multiple ways as a cornerback, return man, and in kick coverage. He finished the day with 4 tackles, and one vital interception. The numbers don’t represent the effort he put in today. He stopped a punt on the one-yard line, which forced the Illini offense to drive 99 and a half yards to tie the game, which never happened.
The Tigers won the contest by boldly taking charge in the second half but that won’t win a game against titans of the conference like Oklahoma or Nebraska. The Tigers have many improvements to make, and will do so as they head into their next game against the McNeese State Cowboys on Sept. 11. The home opener is set to begin at 6p.m. at Faurot Field.
Man attempts to steal officers bike
Early Saturday morning at 1:15 a.m., a St. Louis man was found attempting to steal a Columbia officer’s bike valued at $1,200.
Greg Hoffmeyer left Shiloh Bar & Grill in downtown and saw the bike parked and unsecured outside. He then jumped onto Columbia Police Department Sgt. Chris Kelley’s Trek mountain bike. His motive or intentions were unclear.
“I have no idea where he was going,” CPD spokeswoman Jessie Haden said. “He was intoxicated and that’s very likely why he stole it.”
Kelley was in the area because he was responding to a trespassing call at a nearby bar.
“That is why he didn't secure (the bike)...it was more important for him to respond to the call quickly,“ Haden said.
Hoffemeyer didn’t make it far with the stolen property. A second responding officer arrived to help out with the trespassing call and witnessed the suspect get on the bike and start to ride away. The officer immediately approached the suspect and ordered him to stop and get off Kelley’s bike. Hoffemeyer did so without any protest and was arrested.
Hoffemeyer was arrested on the charges of felony stealing and tampering. The prosecutor filed the tampering charge because he attempted to steal property from a police officer, Haden said.
Bond was set according to the tampering charge and Hoffemeyer was subsequently released after posting a $500 bail.
Greg Hoffmeyer left Shiloh Bar & Grill in downtown and saw the bike parked and unsecured outside. He then jumped onto Columbia Police Department Sgt. Chris Kelley’s Trek mountain bike. His motive or intentions were unclear.
“I have no idea where he was going,” CPD spokeswoman Jessie Haden said. “He was intoxicated and that’s very likely why he stole it.”
Kelley was in the area because he was responding to a trespassing call at a nearby bar.
“That is why he didn't secure (the bike)...it was more important for him to respond to the call quickly,“ Haden said.
Hoffemeyer didn’t make it far with the stolen property. A second responding officer arrived to help out with the trespassing call and witnessed the suspect get on the bike and start to ride away. The officer immediately approached the suspect and ordered him to stop and get off Kelley’s bike. Hoffemeyer did so without any protest and was arrested.
Hoffemeyer was arrested on the charges of felony stealing and tampering. The prosecutor filed the tampering charge because he attempted to steal property from a police officer, Haden said.
Bond was set according to the tampering charge and Hoffemeyer was subsequently released after posting a $500 bail.
Thursday, September 2, 2010
Suspect arrested after fleeing police
A Columbia man was arrested for his 21st time in Boone County since 2002 after he allegedly fled from a sheriff’s deputy.
A man heading east on E. Highway WW in the area of Old Hawthorne Drive on Tuesday night failed to dim his headlights in the presence of an oncoming vehicle, a Boone County Sheriff’s Department news release stated. Sheriff’s Deputy Rob Seiner followed the suspect.
“The suspect failed to negotiate a curve and crossed the fog line, and the chase was on,” Detective Tom O’Sullivan said.
The man, 27-year-old Daniel Reese, failed to yield to police signals and continued down Highway WW, exceeding speeds of 90 miles per hour. Seiner requested assistance from the Missouri State Highway Patrol and the Callaway County Sheriff’s Department when Reese fled across county lines.
Reese raced down Route F, eventually entering Fulton city limits, the release stated. At that point, the Fulton Police Department began attempts to slow the suspect, including tire deflation spikes laid by the Callaway County deputies. The spikes were unsuccessful after piercing only one of Reese’s tires.
Reese ran into a dead end just outside of Fulton city limits and attempted to back up, smashing into Seiner's vehicle, O’Sullivan said. Reese then surrendered to police.
“About six to 10 officers were involved in the chase,” O’Sullivan said.
Reese admitted to smoking crack cocaine and told investigators he fled because he knew he had drugs in his vehicle, O'Sullivan said. He was taken into custody on charges of careless and imprudent driving, driving with a revoked license, felony resisting arrest and two separate possession charges for marijuana and cocaine.
Investigators found less than 35 grams of marijuana in Reese's vehicle, leading to a misdemeanor charge. Possession of cocaine in any amount is a felony. Seiner’s car sustained damage, including heavy damage to the front of the vehicle, during the two-county chase, O’Sullivan said.
“It’s not going to be cheap (to repair),” O’Sullivan said.
Seiner did not suffer any injuries. Reese is being held in the Boone County Jail with bond set at $10,145.
A man heading east on E. Highway WW in the area of Old Hawthorne Drive on Tuesday night failed to dim his headlights in the presence of an oncoming vehicle, a Boone County Sheriff’s Department news release stated. Sheriff’s Deputy Rob Seiner followed the suspect.
“The suspect failed to negotiate a curve and crossed the fog line, and the chase was on,” Detective Tom O’Sullivan said.
The man, 27-year-old Daniel Reese, failed to yield to police signals and continued down Highway WW, exceeding speeds of 90 miles per hour. Seiner requested assistance from the Missouri State Highway Patrol and the Callaway County Sheriff’s Department when Reese fled across county lines.
Reese raced down Route F, eventually entering Fulton city limits, the release stated. At that point, the Fulton Police Department began attempts to slow the suspect, including tire deflation spikes laid by the Callaway County deputies. The spikes were unsuccessful after piercing only one of Reese’s tires.
Reese ran into a dead end just outside of Fulton city limits and attempted to back up, smashing into Seiner's vehicle, O’Sullivan said. Reese then surrendered to police.
“About six to 10 officers were involved in the chase,” O’Sullivan said.
Reese admitted to smoking crack cocaine and told investigators he fled because he knew he had drugs in his vehicle, O'Sullivan said. He was taken into custody on charges of careless and imprudent driving, driving with a revoked license, felony resisting arrest and two separate possession charges for marijuana and cocaine.
Investigators found less than 35 grams of marijuana in Reese's vehicle, leading to a misdemeanor charge. Possession of cocaine in any amount is a felony. Seiner’s car sustained damage, including heavy damage to the front of the vehicle, during the two-county chase, O’Sullivan said.
“It’s not going to be cheap (to repair),” O’Sullivan said.
Seiner did not suffer any injuries. Reese is being held in the Boone County Jail with bond set at $10,145.
Davis Receives National Press Club award
The National Press Club awarded Charles Davis, School of Journalism associate professor, with the John Aubuchon Freedom of the Press Award on Aug. 23.
The award is given annually to two people, one domestic and one international, according to a news release. The award honors “those who have contributed to the cause of freedom and open government.”
Since 2005, Davis had led the National Freedom of Information Coalition, but chose to step down this year due to time constraints.
“The NFOIC finally got the money to hire a full time leader and I couldn’t give up my life as a faculty member at the university,” Davis said. “I am thrilled about the advancement. This is a huge step for the NFOIC and couldn’t have happened without the immense support from the people at the Knight Foundation.”
The NFOIC has funded many open-government groups around the country throughout the past 21 years and continues its mission to protect the right to open government.
As a former reporter, Davis said he knows the importance of open government for the media.
“It levels the playing field between the government and the governed,” he said.
Davis decided to accept his appointment to the NFOIC when it moved to Missouri many years ago to continue his mission to serve his profession. He said reporters were being stonewalled by the government and not given proper access to certain materials and meetings. He specifically recalled a time when he was told to leave the room during a meeting, in essence so the real meeting could begin.
“Now, I don’t believe that we should reveal CIA leaders’ names but that leaves 99.995 percent of all government action that shouldn’t be kept secret,” Davis said. “The more unnecessary government secrecy we have, the worse government gets.”
The other recipient of the award was an Iranian man, Kouhyar Goudarzi, who was imprisoned for voicing his ideas about the Iranian elections in 2009. He was recently put into solitary confinement and might never see the outside world again.
National Press Club President Alan Bjerga said the two selections for the award serve as inspirations for all journalists.
“Humbling,” Davis said, regarding how he felt about receiving the award. “I feel it’s getting old to say so but it’s the best way to put it. What’s humbling is you share an award with (Goudarzi) and you’re reminded of what’s at stake.”
Davis was surprised to be chosen alongside Goudarzi.
“I feel like we should be honoring (Goudarzi) instead of me,” Davis said. “He is paying the ultimate price. It is a poignant reminder that the battle is never over.”
The award is given annually to two people, one domestic and one international, according to a news release. The award honors “those who have contributed to the cause of freedom and open government.”
Since 2005, Davis had led the National Freedom of Information Coalition, but chose to step down this year due to time constraints.
“The NFOIC finally got the money to hire a full time leader and I couldn’t give up my life as a faculty member at the university,” Davis said. “I am thrilled about the advancement. This is a huge step for the NFOIC and couldn’t have happened without the immense support from the people at the Knight Foundation.”
The NFOIC has funded many open-government groups around the country throughout the past 21 years and continues its mission to protect the right to open government.
As a former reporter, Davis said he knows the importance of open government for the media.
“It levels the playing field between the government and the governed,” he said.
Davis decided to accept his appointment to the NFOIC when it moved to Missouri many years ago to continue his mission to serve his profession. He said reporters were being stonewalled by the government and not given proper access to certain materials and meetings. He specifically recalled a time when he was told to leave the room during a meeting, in essence so the real meeting could begin.
“Now, I don’t believe that we should reveal CIA leaders’ names but that leaves 99.995 percent of all government action that shouldn’t be kept secret,” Davis said. “The more unnecessary government secrecy we have, the worse government gets.”
The other recipient of the award was an Iranian man, Kouhyar Goudarzi, who was imprisoned for voicing his ideas about the Iranian elections in 2009. He was recently put into solitary confinement and might never see the outside world again.
National Press Club President Alan Bjerga said the two selections for the award serve as inspirations for all journalists.
“Humbling,” Davis said, regarding how he felt about receiving the award. “I feel it’s getting old to say so but it’s the best way to put it. What’s humbling is you share an award with (Goudarzi) and you’re reminded of what’s at stake.”
Davis was surprised to be chosen alongside Goudarzi.
“I feel like we should be honoring (Goudarzi) instead of me,” Davis said. “He is paying the ultimate price. It is a poignant reminder that the battle is never over.”
Sunday, February 7, 2010
Thoughts on today's Superbowl
I just don't understand why anyone is saying, "The Colts are gonna wreck the Saints" or vice versa. If these people knew anything about football, they'd know that it isn't going to be a blowout. It's going to be a close game and Reggie Bush will do okay, but he wont have that great of a game becuase the Colts planned for him and he is NOT a feature back. He will have a few decent gains, a couple of touches, a few catches, and if he is lucky a punt return. Nor will the Saints defense have 3+ picks on Peyton Manning. He is the smartest player in football, and the only player to ever intercept him 3+ times was Antonio Cromartie, and it was because of pressure and rain. Thats my rant about the superbowl. My pick: Saints by 7. Peyton Manning will have a respectable game, but the Saints defense will come up bigger. The Saints rushing attack with Pierre Thomas, and not Reggie Bush will have a 100+ yard game. The fact that Reggie Wayne tweaked his knee again won't limit him much but will take the top end off his speed. The injury to Dwight Freeney will be the biggest factor. Without this I would pick Colts by 7, but he is just that big of an impact player. Drew Brees will have much more time in the pocket, and that coupled with a superior rushing attack, and a defense suited against the pass, will enable the Saints to escape with a 42-35 win.
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Final Thoughts: An Autobiography
I. Introduction
I remember as a boy I used to run around my backyard, pretending to be an explorer. I would start in our grassy little backyard and eventually make my way out to the intriguing, unknown woods that controlled much of our property. My brothers and I would make forts and bike trails through them, but I always preferred just to walk through them and pretend I was someone else. I always liked to be a secret agent, and act out some of my favorite video games. I would ‘break in’ to my house and sneak around while Dad was asleep and pretend to hide from the imaginary owners of the house. My inventory of ‘weapons’ always consisted of some sticks that I thought resembled a sword, or my trusty hose nozzle that, to me, resembled my spy gun.
How ironic it is that I lie here, unable to move or to speak, yet my mind still races. I used to think that I had insomnia and that was the reason that my mind was always racing, but over the years I realized that it was nothing but my creativeness and intelligence in a battle to overtake my mind. In the end my creativeness always won, and that is why I never had a traditional job. I have had as many different jobs as Leonardo da Vinci does paintings and crazy ideas. Artist, writer, columnist, news anchor, cover illustrator, you name it I’ve done it. My long resume still does not boast the accomplishments of my life however. I like to think in terms of knowledge gained when evaluating what I have accomplished in life. A quote as I have made famous reads, “If you have learned something new today, then today is a good day. If not, then hurry, you still have time.”
With all this talk and lecture you would think that I had been some nutty college professor, but it never was so. I was a product of a generation of experimentation and expression, when to be a rebel was to be the solution, to be a teacher was to be part of the problem. Yep, the sixties, you guessed it. Why is it that when ever people hear experimentation they always think of drugs and the sixties? To me my generation was more than a bunch of drugged up yahoos with nothing better to do than to criticize. They were passionate lovers, real thinkers, you know? They understood themselves, and what it was to be free.
The most important thing I have learned over my many years is that the best knowledge is about yourself and about the abstract. Who needs a bunch of ideas about cars or football…concrete things. It is best to know the meanings behind abstract things like love, purpose and status of the mind. All of those odd questions that seem to have no answer. The question of purpose is my favorite, because it is the answer to itself. The purpose of why people are here is to figure out their purpose. That is the most basic definition, which branches off and gives birth to so many journeys and deeper thoughts.
Again it may seem that I am something I never was, a psychologist or maybe even a shrink? Nope, wrong again. As I said, I am creative and my creativity has led me to be a deep thinker, on a quest for knowledge. I don’t want schooling and book-read knowledge, because to me that isn’t really knowledge at all. Knowledge is something you find out for yourself, not something you read in a book or are given by someone else.
That explains why I never went to college or high school. It’s a shocker right? Oh please… isn’t it a wonder that none of the greatest minds the world has ever known graduated from anything but the eighth grade, if that? In my case I attended Fresno High School until seventh grade and then the creative side of my mind pulled out the battering ram and broke through the gates of my guided intelligence. If you think about it, who really needs a guide on their path to enlightenment? Isn’t the whole point of education, to expand the horizons of what you know? How is that achieved if you constantly have people putting blinders on you as if you were a steed, only letting you see what they have laid out in front of you, and hiding what is beside you?
It seems funny to me that my final thoughts are full of questions, when it is I who is supposed to be the educator. Still I find yet another profession to add to my illustrious resume’. (I manage to squeeze out a chuckle in my mind as my body is unable.)
II. The Very Beginning
Childhood memories aside, I had a very formal upbringing. I was born on January 17th 1952, at 1:11 a.m., a controversial time, appropriate for myself (Some debate whether Satan’s number is 666 or 111). My mother stayed at home and raised me and my two brothers, and Dad worked as a custodian at the University of California-Berkeley. The money he made wasn’t bad; with it we rented a duplex on about four acres in the California countryside. Our little house was nice. It was a tall white colonial, with black shutters. Its location always intrigued me. It sat at the very top of a small hill, about three feet up from the dirt road. On the opposite side of the road was another identical hill, but there were no other houses for a mile or more. On a hot summer afternoon, my favorite thing to do was to sit atop our deck and look down at the busy Golden Gate Bridge. It’s so iconic, you know?
The California as it exists today is much more glamorized than it was fifty or so years ago. California in my time was just beginning to be industrialized, and largely still a home to many immigrants. There was a boy who lived next door to me who I always thought was a bit strange. Though I never met him, I knew a great deal about him (As I said, I was quite the secret agent). His name was Huang Nguyen, and though I could never quite master the pronunciation, I knew it was Korean.
I never had many friends growing up, I was pushed this way and that not to conform, and to be an individual, so much so that I was made to believe that to be part of a group with similar interests was conformity. I believed what I believed and if I came to find out that someone thought the same, which I inevitably did, I was quick to change my views. In reality I was worse than a conformist; I was trying to fit in by not fitting in, no matter what the cost.
My education is unimportant, given that it was short lived and I never really put much into it, but what I will say about it is that it is a necessary evil. Imagine a world with no system of formal education, most people would not find their own means of obtaining knowledge as I have and we would live in a largely ‘retarded’ society.
III. The True Beginning
When I was twelve I became quite interested in the comic strip Blondie. The strip’s illustrations weren’t stellar, but the comedy of it captivated my interest. As children’s interests do, mine shifted to the desire to become a comic strip writer. I read some biographies on some of my favorite strip writers and found out that a lot of them dropped out of high school and became writers at very young ages. This sparked my mind, but I was intelligent as I said so I wasn’t about to leave school.
It was at that point that I started to try and poke holes in the system. I was trying to find a problem with the system of education, but I just wasn’t old enough to fully understand it. The reason I did end up leaving, how ever controversial it may be, was because they didn’t offer any art classes. Many people say it was because I was failing all of my subjects and the administration was going to kick me out anyways, but this is untrue. My creative mind was thirsty and they didn’t have a fountain. I stress they, because I originally intended to transfer to another school, but I started to form other reasons not to. Among those reasons was that the school wasn’t really doing a great job teaching me if I was failing, because I was trying.
The real reason (the realization of my limited education) didn’t actually come to my attention until I was fifteen. So I guess in the beginning I left school for a premature version of this ideal. I get that it was only seventh grade and your education is supposed to be limited at that age, but how was I to realize my dream, and get proper direction if my school didn’t offer the help?
I decided to seek out other forms of help. The first person I went to was a man named Thomas Chen. Mr. Chen was a homeless man who ‘resided’ on the lawn of the arts campus at UC-Berkeley, and I always thought he was a great artist. I would always walk by him and admire his work when I went to work with Dad when I was younger.
One time Dad even bought me one of his paintings for three dollars. I didn’t, at the time, understand what the painting was about, but it was a splash of red and black across a white backdrop, with a man’s sad face in the corner, only…he had white eyes. I called it “The Common Man’s Lament”, because to me it seemed to portray the adult’s loss of many things, including youth and innocence.
I asked Mr. Chen about where he learned to do the things he did, and he simply told me, “Do ya have any money? If ya don’t have money then fuck off!” He was a talented artist but a casualty of society nonetheless. I continued to search for direction, but found none. I decided that I would just draw and write whenever I felt like it and see if I got better. I did get a little bit better, because I learned what sounded good and what didn’t and along the way I learned what sort of topics to avoid, such as the War. I eventually realized that I needed to expand my vocabulary so I bought and read the entire Merriam-Webster’s dictionary. I published my first strip at the age of seventeen, after trial and error my efforts finally paid off. My strip, entitled “Low Life” was a six-panel feature in the L.A Times for three weeks.
My favorite strip was one where the main character, Walter, who was a terrible speller, unknowingly pulls a prank on himself. He is in a programming class at UC-Berkeley, sitting next to his friend who always corrects him on his spelling mistakes. When his friend isn’t paying attention, Walter starts to spell the word ‘total’ wrong every time he uses it. Well his friend never notices, so Walter leans over, laughing and says to his friend,
“Haha, did you notice what I did?”
“No…what?” says his friend.
Trying to stifle back laughter Walter exclaims, “I have been spelling the word ‘total’ wrong every time just to mess with you!”
His friend dutifully looks it over, and looks at Walter with a blank stare, “Walter, that’s how you spell total, it is spelled correctly…”
Walter pauses, and look at it and says, “No it isn’t its t-o-t-l-e…Oh crap!”
Realizing his mistake he is very embarrassed, and his friend continually ridicules him for it.
Low Life was discontinued because they said my topics were getting a bit too ‘racy’. I started to dabble into areas that were unexplored, such as racial comedy, and even sexual comedy. Never the war though, you never made fun of the war. That sort of thinking could get you killed in those times.
It didn’t deter me too much. I had finally achieved some level of success, and all on my own at that. Who needed school? I was on top of the world at seventeen.
IV. The War Years
On my eighteenth birthday I had to sign up and register for the draft. I was terrified because I had a very high chance to go into Vietnam. I was a free spirit and all, but again I was intelligent. I wasn’t about to try and evade the federal government. Logic told me they would find me eventually what with me being in the public eye and all. I had published my first short story in March of 1970, which was called “Visions of a Free Man”. It was about the very thing I feared, being drafted into a war I did not believe in. I would fight to the death for my beliefs, but not to defend a country that had done nothing for the United States. I felt bad for them, I really did, but I had to consider the question: Would they have done the same for us?
I registered for the Selective Service and thankfully my number was never called in those nerve-wracking lotteries. I had a greater calling it seemed, which was to entertain and convey the ideas of my generation in print. The L.A Times, recalling me from my short stint with their comics department, asked if I would compose a series of political cartoons, and even add a short editorial on the War. I was flattered, a chance to criticize the government in artistic form, and be paid for it?! I was excited to say the very least.
My very first cartoon depicted a very big looking American soldier burning down a Vietnamese forest and whistling as he went. (You wouldn’t believe all of the mail, both hating and supporting, I received during my tenure.) My weekly editorial was always an opinion of the latest developments, or just an overview, and people generally agreed with me whether or not they supported the war. Once the war ended they had little use for me and thus ended my streak with the L.A Times yet again.
V. Creativity Rears Its Beautiful Head, Once Again
By this point I was twenty-four years of age, and I realized I had shifted away from thinking creatively. In the constantly waging war in my head, intelligence had taken a strong hold, getting me a high-paying, steady job, while creativity had yielded only a few lousy comic strips in a newspaper once a week. I was starting to re-evaluate whether creativity wouldn’t lead me to more difficulties. I became a news anchor for the local morning news. (Night time was for the real hot-shots) Intelligence had won a crucial battle, but my creative mind retreated to regroup.
I enjoyed my time as a news anchor. I finally felt like I was doing a public service. Entertainment only goes so far, but bringing people important news, that’s empowering. As an added perk, I generally was always in the know, and knew what was going on at all times.
It was at this point that I started to develop a sense of charisma. I lived a closed off child life, so being on television forced me to learn to interact. I was given acting lessons and small pointers on how to conduct myself on-air. It was there that I earned the most of my money, though it was never my original intention. I always wanted to work out in the field as a reporter, but they said my talents lied elsewhere with my on-screen persona. Apparently, I was quite the charmer.
I was with Channel 2 for quite a long time, seven years to be exact. It provided a sense of security, status, and continuity. Sadly, it also came with a sense of monotony, and that’s when the ambush began. General Creative himself attended the battle, bringing his finest troops. It only took one night for Intelligence to be wiped completely from my mind, and would remain dormant for some time. I did not return to work the next morning, causing a storm of chaos, and resulting in my resignation. (Apparently common sense was a major casualty in the ambush as well!)
I used a majority of the money I had acquired to make a massive career shift. I was drawn back to drawing and artistry. I decided painting was what I really wanted to do, so I did it. I was never out of work for too long, a tribute to my well roundedness and versatility. My first painting, “Tranquility” was of a forest scene, and was set to debut in August of 1986, but there were some complications. By complications I mean my attempted suicide by alcohol overdose, a result of my parents’ deaths.
On the eve of July 29th, 1986 a masked man broke into my childhood home and shot both of my sweet parents dead. He and four other men looted the house blind. The next day, before receiving any news of their deaths, I received a small envelope in the mail. Enclosed was a note and a few digital photos. The note read, “Don’t Fuck with Veterans”. Apparently my column from over ten years ago had angered some soldiers, and they had decided it right to take it out on my beloved parents. I immediately reported it to the police, showed them the pictures and gave them my parents’ address.
I drove out to their home. (They had moved since my childhood.) It was disgusting to see my lovely folks home turned into a crime scene. The eye-catching yellow caution tape was everywhere, as if some of the neighborhood kids had toilet papered their house with it. The house was almost empty, the murderers had stolen everything of value. There was no T.V, no computer, and they even took the paintings I had sent. The most crippling sight was to see the two black bags being dragged out, one so petite as my mother, the other robust as my father.
The police assured me they would do all that they could, from analyzing the fingerprints on the note to tracing the stolen merchandise. I appreciated their diligence, but we both knew that the murderers would not be apprehended. They weren’t as dumb as common criminals, they were trained soldiers. The police later concluded that they broke in due to skill only possessed by a Navy S.E.A.L. These guys were special ops, there was no catching them.
From then onward was a downward spiral. I began drinking heavily, but still maintaining a focus on my art, whose subject had transitioned to a darker state. I began taking prescription pain medication which I obtained under false pretenses of course, and I drank even heavier still. At thirty-four years of age I realized that my time had come. I cracked open my favorite bottle…or seven, of whiskey and decided that drinking myself to death would be a satisfying close to all that I had accomplished.
The events from the remainder of that morning… are skewed and obscure. My stomach was pumped several times, and I went into many drug related seizures. Over the course of the day and night I went under many detoxification treatments and I awoke eight days later. Upon awakening, I tried to remove my IV and drink the fluids. Luckily it wasn’t morphine, or already I would’ve been in yet another brush with death. I remained in the hospital for ten more days, and my exit was granted on the requirement that I attend drug rehab. For someone of my generation, this was as familiar as police beatings and sit-in strikes. For me, however up to this point my intelligence had saved me from such. It seemed my intelligence had left me not only metaphorically.
VI. The Transformation
The rehab wasn’t as tough as you might think, given that I had almost died. I wasn’t even required to stay in a facility. I was allowed to go home, and attend sessions regularly, twice a week. Some of the people that I met in there were some of the most deranged society has ever known. One man, Carl, was in between drug rehab, and prison. He had taken a butcher knife and hacked his wife to pieces and scattered her remains all over the local state park. Another guy, whose name I never wanted to know, used to walk up and down the halls singing happy birthday to his mother, whom he had killed and kept her head in his home to talk to. (Truth be told, I never wanted to even talk to him, but he always approached me and I was too terrified to move.)
I had never done drugs before, and never drank too heavily so overcoming the addiction wasn’t the issue. The issue was the fact that I had to get my life back in order. The alcohol and drug addiction had not only ruined my credibility, but had ruined me financially as well. I maintained the trend of never having a traditional job, and it was from this point onward that I never had an employer again. As you might imagine, the flood of drugs and alcohol washed away my intelligence forever. Creativity was in control, and it would be forever so.
I turned back to painting, and “Tranquility” debuted on February the 18th, 1987. It was met with praise and applause, but its reputation was marred by its author. I put out several more forest scenes, and was fast becoming one of the best in doing so. My favorite, “The Repercussions of Autumn”, was the first step in a slow shift away from painting and into photography.
The idea for “Autumn” came from a picture I had taken from the bedroom of my home in the Hollywood Hills. I was just trying out my new camera, and flashed a shot of the woods beyond my home, just as a flutter of leaves was falling. I decided I would paint the picture. Later I realized, why not cut out the middle man? Why paint the picture I have already taken, why not just publish the photo?
I tossed out my new camera, and opted for a professional model. I didn’t really understand how one went about taking pictures, what to include and what to leave out. So I simply shot everything. I snapped pictures of wildlife, and foliage around my home to begin with and moved out into the city. There I realized I was becoming quite the tourist. I shot pictures of the Hollywood sign, the Walk of Fame, and other iconic figures. Then I realized the one simple thing that every photographer needs to know, if that was the way to take pictures, then all of the travelers would be pros. Photography is all about the abstract, and creating something that really isn’t there. In a painting, you can create things with a particular feel, mood or meaning in mind. In photography you can’t change what’s already there, so you have to use angles, and lighting to get your mood across. It was at this point that my hobby of photography became a cash cow. Of course was never my intention, but I was in dire need of funds. My first published album was a series of architectural shots. From the Golden gate at dawn, to down Rodeo Drive at dusk, I covered all of the architectural magnificence that is California. Sticking with my architectural knack, I took to traveling.
Still one of my greatest anthologies to date, “Building America” took place all over the states, capturing all of the nation’s finest wonders. The majority of the work took place in Chicago (Though you could hardly call it “work”). The book is divided by regions, but Chicago has a section all its own. Among the photos featured there are the world famous Sears Tower, the intriguing Smurfit-Stone Building, and the John Hancock Center. My favorite of all those photos is the one of the Smurfit-Stone. Every year, around Christmas time, they use lights and spell out MERRY XMAS on its slanted roof. It’s beautiful.
VII. Broadening Photographical Horizons
Most of my work after four years of photography had been urban and architectural, but not all. By 1991 I had amassed quite an impressive collection of professional football photos. I approached Sports Illustrated just before the start of the 1991 season, to see if they were interested in buying any of the photos that I had taken to include in their first ever Sports Illustrated Almanac. They were very interested and praised my skills. But as I said I have never had an employer since my addiction. They bought a few photos here and there, but curiously I was never offered a job. One of the most famous photos, the play immortalized as “The Catch”, was taken by yours truly. Joe Montana is seen rejoicing as Dwight Clark catches a pass in the back of the end zone, sending the 1981 San Francisco 49ers to the Super Bowl over the Dallas Cowboys. I dabbled in other sports but football had always been my favorite. I wasn’t a huge fan, I only caught a game from time to time. I wasn’t much a sports fan anyway.
By the summer of 1999 I had stopped publishing photos and was thinking about retiring from everything altogether. Then came new life, the Information Age began to take charge. I sold many of my nature photos to various internet servers, and many to Microsoft to be used as desktop backgrounds. Ten of the pre-packaged images that come with Microsoft Windows XP are from my collection.
I turned from photography for art, to using it for practicality. I snapped photos to be included in news articles, and curiously I even shot photos of the trial of Carl Biggins, the man who had hacked up his wife. Over the next five years I continued to take pictures and sell them to newspapers. Sometimes, on some of the more hyped stories I even would sell three or more of the same picture to different newspapers. (Haha, imagine their surprise when they open the competitors paper, only to find the exact same photo!) After all those years, again it seemed my work had found its way back to the L.A. Times.
VIII. Getting Away
At that point in my life was 48 years old, and ready to relax and enjoy the rest of my life. Think about it, who gets the chance to retire comfortably at 48? Athletes and Celebrities that’s who, not common men like me. So I hung it up for a while, everything. Photography, Painting, Drawing, Writing, Everything. I even left my home behind; I was ready to start a new life.
I sold my house and took off to Montana. I bought a nice car before I went, and planned to observe the coveted “No Speed Zones”. I bought a 1967 teal Mustang GT convertible with white leather. She was beautiful, and roared like a lion, yet purred like a kitten at the same time. I went and bought a small ranch home on about twelve acres. I didn’t really have any plans to do anything with the land; I just wanted to be by myself. The house was similar to my childhood abode, white with black shutters. I decided to paint the shutters green after a few months, because the similar look reminded me of my parents and I definitely didn’t want to slip back down that path again.
There weren’t very many people in the small town of Hobson, Montana. Having such an expensive car in a poor town like that and having such a big house hardly afforded me the reclusiveness I so longed for. (I still never really understood why I wanted to buy such a mansion, I lived alone for chrissake!) I was never married, and never in love, but I did meet a woman. A Goddess. Her full name I never knew, but we spoke daily. Her first name was Mary. She was years younger than I, but was educated beyond her years. She and her husband owned and ran the local café, and did a fine job. (Excellent java!) She was a tall, 50’s type of gal. She often wore long skirts, and had short blonde hair. It was always done up so magnificently into a cute poodle cut. She wore dark red lipstick almost every time I saw her, and was always so polite. We spoke of many things, from literature to life, news to gossip. We covered it all. I wasn’t aware that I was smitten, until years after we had gone our separate ways. I went in that coffee shop and had a cup of coffee every single evening for thirteen years. Then I missed one evening.
It was not by choice of course, even when I hadn’t wanted coffee I went, just for the company of Mary. No…no, I did not attend my regular meeting because that afternoon, right after lunch I suffered a severe seizure. I was just sitting in my wooden chair at the kitchen table, when suddenly my right eye began to twitch. This was the onset of something much, much worse though at the time I did not know it. I just closed my eye and hoped it was just another annoying muscle spasm. It was not. I started to convulse violently and fell onto the floor. My mouth began to foam and I lost consciousness.
I was found two hours after I had the first seizure and the doctors concluded that I had suffered a total of three seizures. It was Mary who had found me. She had noted my absence from the coffeehouse and came to my aid. There had been some serious damage done to my body. Part of my tongue had been bitten completely off, I had several lacerations on top of my head, and my arms were tingling. To me the tingling was no big deal, just an annoyance. When I went to itch it away, however, it stopped instantly and I couldn’t move my arms. I panicked and hopped out of my bed. No… I didn’t. I couldn’t move my legs either. I was completely paralyzed, the only motion I had left were above my eyes. So I could move my eyes and my eyebrows…oh joy. The doctors told me that I had epilepsy but had never been diagnosed. It had been dormant, but the stimulating alcohol abuse and drugs had aggravated it so many years ago. It had picked now to kick into action, now at the height of my retirement.
IX. Permanent Retirement
So I am 61 and on permanent bed rest, not a whole lot to look forward to. One day my doctor came in, and introduced to me a way that I could talk. I was ecstatic. It was a laptop that had a camera attached to it so it could read messages sent by my acute eye movements during thought. (A computer that could read my mind, creepy!) So I sit in the hospital permanently renting a room, the room that will ultimately be my tomb. My saggy old jowels, and my guy protruding above the sheets, I lie. My wispy white hair, rising ever so slowly above my old, spotted head, as I slowly slip into better days.
Many of the people close to me, fans of my work, and the few friends have urged me to chronicle my life, so here I lay it all out. The purpose of this is to educate, not about things, but about possibilities. Life is full of them, and life is limitless. Go out and live your life, don’t get stuck into a career solely for the benefits it brings. Do what you love and the money will take care of itself. If you don’t like the way you are living do something about it, the power is all yours.
Life as I have learned it, is all about whatever you want. Life isn’t about one concrete solution or meaning. You fit your own meaning, and build your own purpose. Life has not answers, but only more questions. You will never know everything, but you should damn sure try.
My final thought: Here Lies Donald Thompson, Friend, Artist, Creator, and all of the above a second time over.
X. Afterword
Donald died three weeks after the penning of his autobiography. He officially died on September 9th 2013. He himself obviously did not physically write this, but the ideas and words are all his. The ideas of a great man are here, captured in print. I have gotten to know Donald quite well over the past few months during the writing process. He is by far one of the most inspirational men I have ever met. All that he has accomplished should make those not squeezing everything out of everyday feel guilty for not doing so. This great man has changed my life. With his views, and teachings he is sure to be remembered for decades to come.
During the writing of his autobiography, Donald just took all of his thoughts and committed them to his computer. In turn his computer churned out everything this fine man had to say and I took it all down. The parenthesized sections are all small side thoughts Donald had about things he had said. Donald had nothing to do other than to talk so we would often stay up until all hours of the night just talking. I wrote down everything he said, but not all has been included. Some things were just conversations between the two of us, about things from his joys to his final wishes.
He loved to fish. He often spoke of the many marlins he had landed off the coast of Mexico, and how he always wanted to go ice fishing. Sadly he never got the chance to land that frozen fish, but I believe he was a man without regret…how foolish I am for saying so, that isn’t true. He would say something like, “Every man has regret, I simply don’t dwell upon mine.” It is strange that I feel like his closest friend after only knowing him for a few short months. He led a very closed off life, as he stated, so maybe I was the closest to him at the time.
I don’t know that he had a best friend, other than possibly Mary. She continued to come and visit him every week after his condition arose, until the day he was peacefully swept away. He would do the funniest thing whenever he saw her. He would wiggle his eyebrows up and down very quickly and say, “Well here’s my smile now, you better appreciate it.”
It was the saddest thing though, as he told some of the more emotional parts in his life, his eyes would well up with tears, and he could do nothing to clear them. I of course did so, but it was so sad to see such a valiant man reduced to helplessness. It is great to know that he always had someone by his side through his journey to the end. Mary and he would talk for hours, about who knows what. I always gave them privacy, even though Donald always insisted that I stay and include it in the book. They deserved what the two of them said to be preserved by memory, not immortalized in ink for all to know.
He had so very many valuable lessons to teach. Included is a lesson that applies to every age, sex, and type of person. I believe the most important lesson that he had to teach is best represented in his most famous quote,
“If you have learned something new today, then today is a good day. If not, then hurry, you still have time.”
I remember as a boy I used to run around my backyard, pretending to be an explorer. I would start in our grassy little backyard and eventually make my way out to the intriguing, unknown woods that controlled much of our property. My brothers and I would make forts and bike trails through them, but I always preferred just to walk through them and pretend I was someone else. I always liked to be a secret agent, and act out some of my favorite video games. I would ‘break in’ to my house and sneak around while Dad was asleep and pretend to hide from the imaginary owners of the house. My inventory of ‘weapons’ always consisted of some sticks that I thought resembled a sword, or my trusty hose nozzle that, to me, resembled my spy gun.
How ironic it is that I lie here, unable to move or to speak, yet my mind still races. I used to think that I had insomnia and that was the reason that my mind was always racing, but over the years I realized that it was nothing but my creativeness and intelligence in a battle to overtake my mind. In the end my creativeness always won, and that is why I never had a traditional job. I have had as many different jobs as Leonardo da Vinci does paintings and crazy ideas. Artist, writer, columnist, news anchor, cover illustrator, you name it I’ve done it. My long resume still does not boast the accomplishments of my life however. I like to think in terms of knowledge gained when evaluating what I have accomplished in life. A quote as I have made famous reads, “If you have learned something new today, then today is a good day. If not, then hurry, you still have time.”
With all this talk and lecture you would think that I had been some nutty college professor, but it never was so. I was a product of a generation of experimentation and expression, when to be a rebel was to be the solution, to be a teacher was to be part of the problem. Yep, the sixties, you guessed it. Why is it that when ever people hear experimentation they always think of drugs and the sixties? To me my generation was more than a bunch of drugged up yahoos with nothing better to do than to criticize. They were passionate lovers, real thinkers, you know? They understood themselves, and what it was to be free.
The most important thing I have learned over my many years is that the best knowledge is about yourself and about the abstract. Who needs a bunch of ideas about cars or football…concrete things. It is best to know the meanings behind abstract things like love, purpose and status of the mind. All of those odd questions that seem to have no answer. The question of purpose is my favorite, because it is the answer to itself. The purpose of why people are here is to figure out their purpose. That is the most basic definition, which branches off and gives birth to so many journeys and deeper thoughts.
Again it may seem that I am something I never was, a psychologist or maybe even a shrink? Nope, wrong again. As I said, I am creative and my creativity has led me to be a deep thinker, on a quest for knowledge. I don’t want schooling and book-read knowledge, because to me that isn’t really knowledge at all. Knowledge is something you find out for yourself, not something you read in a book or are given by someone else.
That explains why I never went to college or high school. It’s a shocker right? Oh please… isn’t it a wonder that none of the greatest minds the world has ever known graduated from anything but the eighth grade, if that? In my case I attended Fresno High School until seventh grade and then the creative side of my mind pulled out the battering ram and broke through the gates of my guided intelligence. If you think about it, who really needs a guide on their path to enlightenment? Isn’t the whole point of education, to expand the horizons of what you know? How is that achieved if you constantly have people putting blinders on you as if you were a steed, only letting you see what they have laid out in front of you, and hiding what is beside you?
It seems funny to me that my final thoughts are full of questions, when it is I who is supposed to be the educator. Still I find yet another profession to add to my illustrious resume’. (I manage to squeeze out a chuckle in my mind as my body is unable.)
II. The Very Beginning
Childhood memories aside, I had a very formal upbringing. I was born on January 17th 1952, at 1:11 a.m., a controversial time, appropriate for myself (Some debate whether Satan’s number is 666 or 111). My mother stayed at home and raised me and my two brothers, and Dad worked as a custodian at the University of California-Berkeley. The money he made wasn’t bad; with it we rented a duplex on about four acres in the California countryside. Our little house was nice. It was a tall white colonial, with black shutters. Its location always intrigued me. It sat at the very top of a small hill, about three feet up from the dirt road. On the opposite side of the road was another identical hill, but there were no other houses for a mile or more. On a hot summer afternoon, my favorite thing to do was to sit atop our deck and look down at the busy Golden Gate Bridge. It’s so iconic, you know?
The California as it exists today is much more glamorized than it was fifty or so years ago. California in my time was just beginning to be industrialized, and largely still a home to many immigrants. There was a boy who lived next door to me who I always thought was a bit strange. Though I never met him, I knew a great deal about him (As I said, I was quite the secret agent). His name was Huang Nguyen, and though I could never quite master the pronunciation, I knew it was Korean.
I never had many friends growing up, I was pushed this way and that not to conform, and to be an individual, so much so that I was made to believe that to be part of a group with similar interests was conformity. I believed what I believed and if I came to find out that someone thought the same, which I inevitably did, I was quick to change my views. In reality I was worse than a conformist; I was trying to fit in by not fitting in, no matter what the cost.
My education is unimportant, given that it was short lived and I never really put much into it, but what I will say about it is that it is a necessary evil. Imagine a world with no system of formal education, most people would not find their own means of obtaining knowledge as I have and we would live in a largely ‘retarded’ society.
III. The True Beginning
When I was twelve I became quite interested in the comic strip Blondie. The strip’s illustrations weren’t stellar, but the comedy of it captivated my interest. As children’s interests do, mine shifted to the desire to become a comic strip writer. I read some biographies on some of my favorite strip writers and found out that a lot of them dropped out of high school and became writers at very young ages. This sparked my mind, but I was intelligent as I said so I wasn’t about to leave school.
It was at that point that I started to try and poke holes in the system. I was trying to find a problem with the system of education, but I just wasn’t old enough to fully understand it. The reason I did end up leaving, how ever controversial it may be, was because they didn’t offer any art classes. Many people say it was because I was failing all of my subjects and the administration was going to kick me out anyways, but this is untrue. My creative mind was thirsty and they didn’t have a fountain. I stress they, because I originally intended to transfer to another school, but I started to form other reasons not to. Among those reasons was that the school wasn’t really doing a great job teaching me if I was failing, because I was trying.
The real reason (the realization of my limited education) didn’t actually come to my attention until I was fifteen. So I guess in the beginning I left school for a premature version of this ideal. I get that it was only seventh grade and your education is supposed to be limited at that age, but how was I to realize my dream, and get proper direction if my school didn’t offer the help?
I decided to seek out other forms of help. The first person I went to was a man named Thomas Chen. Mr. Chen was a homeless man who ‘resided’ on the lawn of the arts campus at UC-Berkeley, and I always thought he was a great artist. I would always walk by him and admire his work when I went to work with Dad when I was younger.
One time Dad even bought me one of his paintings for three dollars. I didn’t, at the time, understand what the painting was about, but it was a splash of red and black across a white backdrop, with a man’s sad face in the corner, only…he had white eyes. I called it “The Common Man’s Lament”, because to me it seemed to portray the adult’s loss of many things, including youth and innocence.
I asked Mr. Chen about where he learned to do the things he did, and he simply told me, “Do ya have any money? If ya don’t have money then fuck off!” He was a talented artist but a casualty of society nonetheless. I continued to search for direction, but found none. I decided that I would just draw and write whenever I felt like it and see if I got better. I did get a little bit better, because I learned what sounded good and what didn’t and along the way I learned what sort of topics to avoid, such as the War. I eventually realized that I needed to expand my vocabulary so I bought and read the entire Merriam-Webster’s dictionary. I published my first strip at the age of seventeen, after trial and error my efforts finally paid off. My strip, entitled “Low Life” was a six-panel feature in the L.A Times for three weeks.
My favorite strip was one where the main character, Walter, who was a terrible speller, unknowingly pulls a prank on himself. He is in a programming class at UC-Berkeley, sitting next to his friend who always corrects him on his spelling mistakes. When his friend isn’t paying attention, Walter starts to spell the word ‘total’ wrong every time he uses it. Well his friend never notices, so Walter leans over, laughing and says to his friend,
“Haha, did you notice what I did?”
“No…what?” says his friend.
Trying to stifle back laughter Walter exclaims, “I have been spelling the word ‘total’ wrong every time just to mess with you!”
His friend dutifully looks it over, and looks at Walter with a blank stare, “Walter, that’s how you spell total, it is spelled correctly…”
Walter pauses, and look at it and says, “No it isn’t its t-o-t-l-e…Oh crap!”
Realizing his mistake he is very embarrassed, and his friend continually ridicules him for it.
Low Life was discontinued because they said my topics were getting a bit too ‘racy’. I started to dabble into areas that were unexplored, such as racial comedy, and even sexual comedy. Never the war though, you never made fun of the war. That sort of thinking could get you killed in those times.
It didn’t deter me too much. I had finally achieved some level of success, and all on my own at that. Who needed school? I was on top of the world at seventeen.
IV. The War Years
On my eighteenth birthday I had to sign up and register for the draft. I was terrified because I had a very high chance to go into Vietnam. I was a free spirit and all, but again I was intelligent. I wasn’t about to try and evade the federal government. Logic told me they would find me eventually what with me being in the public eye and all. I had published my first short story in March of 1970, which was called “Visions of a Free Man”. It was about the very thing I feared, being drafted into a war I did not believe in. I would fight to the death for my beliefs, but not to defend a country that had done nothing for the United States. I felt bad for them, I really did, but I had to consider the question: Would they have done the same for us?
I registered for the Selective Service and thankfully my number was never called in those nerve-wracking lotteries. I had a greater calling it seemed, which was to entertain and convey the ideas of my generation in print. The L.A Times, recalling me from my short stint with their comics department, asked if I would compose a series of political cartoons, and even add a short editorial on the War. I was flattered, a chance to criticize the government in artistic form, and be paid for it?! I was excited to say the very least.
My very first cartoon depicted a very big looking American soldier burning down a Vietnamese forest and whistling as he went. (You wouldn’t believe all of the mail, both hating and supporting, I received during my tenure.) My weekly editorial was always an opinion of the latest developments, or just an overview, and people generally agreed with me whether or not they supported the war. Once the war ended they had little use for me and thus ended my streak with the L.A Times yet again.
V. Creativity Rears Its Beautiful Head, Once Again
By this point I was twenty-four years of age, and I realized I had shifted away from thinking creatively. In the constantly waging war in my head, intelligence had taken a strong hold, getting me a high-paying, steady job, while creativity had yielded only a few lousy comic strips in a newspaper once a week. I was starting to re-evaluate whether creativity wouldn’t lead me to more difficulties. I became a news anchor for the local morning news. (Night time was for the real hot-shots) Intelligence had won a crucial battle, but my creative mind retreated to regroup.
I enjoyed my time as a news anchor. I finally felt like I was doing a public service. Entertainment only goes so far, but bringing people important news, that’s empowering. As an added perk, I generally was always in the know, and knew what was going on at all times.
It was at this point that I started to develop a sense of charisma. I lived a closed off child life, so being on television forced me to learn to interact. I was given acting lessons and small pointers on how to conduct myself on-air. It was there that I earned the most of my money, though it was never my original intention. I always wanted to work out in the field as a reporter, but they said my talents lied elsewhere with my on-screen persona. Apparently, I was quite the charmer.
I was with Channel 2 for quite a long time, seven years to be exact. It provided a sense of security, status, and continuity. Sadly, it also came with a sense of monotony, and that’s when the ambush began. General Creative himself attended the battle, bringing his finest troops. It only took one night for Intelligence to be wiped completely from my mind, and would remain dormant for some time. I did not return to work the next morning, causing a storm of chaos, and resulting in my resignation. (Apparently common sense was a major casualty in the ambush as well!)
I used a majority of the money I had acquired to make a massive career shift. I was drawn back to drawing and artistry. I decided painting was what I really wanted to do, so I did it. I was never out of work for too long, a tribute to my well roundedness and versatility. My first painting, “Tranquility” was of a forest scene, and was set to debut in August of 1986, but there were some complications. By complications I mean my attempted suicide by alcohol overdose, a result of my parents’ deaths.
On the eve of July 29th, 1986 a masked man broke into my childhood home and shot both of my sweet parents dead. He and four other men looted the house blind. The next day, before receiving any news of their deaths, I received a small envelope in the mail. Enclosed was a note and a few digital photos. The note read, “Don’t Fuck with Veterans”. Apparently my column from over ten years ago had angered some soldiers, and they had decided it right to take it out on my beloved parents. I immediately reported it to the police, showed them the pictures and gave them my parents’ address.
I drove out to their home. (They had moved since my childhood.) It was disgusting to see my lovely folks home turned into a crime scene. The eye-catching yellow caution tape was everywhere, as if some of the neighborhood kids had toilet papered their house with it. The house was almost empty, the murderers had stolen everything of value. There was no T.V, no computer, and they even took the paintings I had sent. The most crippling sight was to see the two black bags being dragged out, one so petite as my mother, the other robust as my father.
The police assured me they would do all that they could, from analyzing the fingerprints on the note to tracing the stolen merchandise. I appreciated their diligence, but we both knew that the murderers would not be apprehended. They weren’t as dumb as common criminals, they were trained soldiers. The police later concluded that they broke in due to skill only possessed by a Navy S.E.A.L. These guys were special ops, there was no catching them.
From then onward was a downward spiral. I began drinking heavily, but still maintaining a focus on my art, whose subject had transitioned to a darker state. I began taking prescription pain medication which I obtained under false pretenses of course, and I drank even heavier still. At thirty-four years of age I realized that my time had come. I cracked open my favorite bottle…or seven, of whiskey and decided that drinking myself to death would be a satisfying close to all that I had accomplished.
The events from the remainder of that morning… are skewed and obscure. My stomach was pumped several times, and I went into many drug related seizures. Over the course of the day and night I went under many detoxification treatments and I awoke eight days later. Upon awakening, I tried to remove my IV and drink the fluids. Luckily it wasn’t morphine, or already I would’ve been in yet another brush with death. I remained in the hospital for ten more days, and my exit was granted on the requirement that I attend drug rehab. For someone of my generation, this was as familiar as police beatings and sit-in strikes. For me, however up to this point my intelligence had saved me from such. It seemed my intelligence had left me not only metaphorically.
VI. The Transformation
The rehab wasn’t as tough as you might think, given that I had almost died. I wasn’t even required to stay in a facility. I was allowed to go home, and attend sessions regularly, twice a week. Some of the people that I met in there were some of the most deranged society has ever known. One man, Carl, was in between drug rehab, and prison. He had taken a butcher knife and hacked his wife to pieces and scattered her remains all over the local state park. Another guy, whose name I never wanted to know, used to walk up and down the halls singing happy birthday to his mother, whom he had killed and kept her head in his home to talk to. (Truth be told, I never wanted to even talk to him, but he always approached me and I was too terrified to move.)
I had never done drugs before, and never drank too heavily so overcoming the addiction wasn’t the issue. The issue was the fact that I had to get my life back in order. The alcohol and drug addiction had not only ruined my credibility, but had ruined me financially as well. I maintained the trend of never having a traditional job, and it was from this point onward that I never had an employer again. As you might imagine, the flood of drugs and alcohol washed away my intelligence forever. Creativity was in control, and it would be forever so.
I turned back to painting, and “Tranquility” debuted on February the 18th, 1987. It was met with praise and applause, but its reputation was marred by its author. I put out several more forest scenes, and was fast becoming one of the best in doing so. My favorite, “The Repercussions of Autumn”, was the first step in a slow shift away from painting and into photography.
The idea for “Autumn” came from a picture I had taken from the bedroom of my home in the Hollywood Hills. I was just trying out my new camera, and flashed a shot of the woods beyond my home, just as a flutter of leaves was falling. I decided I would paint the picture. Later I realized, why not cut out the middle man? Why paint the picture I have already taken, why not just publish the photo?
I tossed out my new camera, and opted for a professional model. I didn’t really understand how one went about taking pictures, what to include and what to leave out. So I simply shot everything. I snapped pictures of wildlife, and foliage around my home to begin with and moved out into the city. There I realized I was becoming quite the tourist. I shot pictures of the Hollywood sign, the Walk of Fame, and other iconic figures. Then I realized the one simple thing that every photographer needs to know, if that was the way to take pictures, then all of the travelers would be pros. Photography is all about the abstract, and creating something that really isn’t there. In a painting, you can create things with a particular feel, mood or meaning in mind. In photography you can’t change what’s already there, so you have to use angles, and lighting to get your mood across. It was at this point that my hobby of photography became a cash cow. Of course was never my intention, but I was in dire need of funds. My first published album was a series of architectural shots. From the Golden gate at dawn, to down Rodeo Drive at dusk, I covered all of the architectural magnificence that is California. Sticking with my architectural knack, I took to traveling.
Still one of my greatest anthologies to date, “Building America” took place all over the states, capturing all of the nation’s finest wonders. The majority of the work took place in Chicago (Though you could hardly call it “work”). The book is divided by regions, but Chicago has a section all its own. Among the photos featured there are the world famous Sears Tower, the intriguing Smurfit-Stone Building, and the John Hancock Center. My favorite of all those photos is the one of the Smurfit-Stone. Every year, around Christmas time, they use lights and spell out MERRY XMAS on its slanted roof. It’s beautiful.
VII. Broadening Photographical Horizons
Most of my work after four years of photography had been urban and architectural, but not all. By 1991 I had amassed quite an impressive collection of professional football photos. I approached Sports Illustrated just before the start of the 1991 season, to see if they were interested in buying any of the photos that I had taken to include in their first ever Sports Illustrated Almanac. They were very interested and praised my skills. But as I said I have never had an employer since my addiction. They bought a few photos here and there, but curiously I was never offered a job. One of the most famous photos, the play immortalized as “The Catch”, was taken by yours truly. Joe Montana is seen rejoicing as Dwight Clark catches a pass in the back of the end zone, sending the 1981 San Francisco 49ers to the Super Bowl over the Dallas Cowboys. I dabbled in other sports but football had always been my favorite. I wasn’t a huge fan, I only caught a game from time to time. I wasn’t much a sports fan anyway.
By the summer of 1999 I had stopped publishing photos and was thinking about retiring from everything altogether. Then came new life, the Information Age began to take charge. I sold many of my nature photos to various internet servers, and many to Microsoft to be used as desktop backgrounds. Ten of the pre-packaged images that come with Microsoft Windows XP are from my collection.
I turned from photography for art, to using it for practicality. I snapped photos to be included in news articles, and curiously I even shot photos of the trial of Carl Biggins, the man who had hacked up his wife. Over the next five years I continued to take pictures and sell them to newspapers. Sometimes, on some of the more hyped stories I even would sell three or more of the same picture to different newspapers. (Haha, imagine their surprise when they open the competitors paper, only to find the exact same photo!) After all those years, again it seemed my work had found its way back to the L.A. Times.
VIII. Getting Away
At that point in my life was 48 years old, and ready to relax and enjoy the rest of my life. Think about it, who gets the chance to retire comfortably at 48? Athletes and Celebrities that’s who, not common men like me. So I hung it up for a while, everything. Photography, Painting, Drawing, Writing, Everything. I even left my home behind; I was ready to start a new life.
I sold my house and took off to Montana. I bought a nice car before I went, and planned to observe the coveted “No Speed Zones”. I bought a 1967 teal Mustang GT convertible with white leather. She was beautiful, and roared like a lion, yet purred like a kitten at the same time. I went and bought a small ranch home on about twelve acres. I didn’t really have any plans to do anything with the land; I just wanted to be by myself. The house was similar to my childhood abode, white with black shutters. I decided to paint the shutters green after a few months, because the similar look reminded me of my parents and I definitely didn’t want to slip back down that path again.
There weren’t very many people in the small town of Hobson, Montana. Having such an expensive car in a poor town like that and having such a big house hardly afforded me the reclusiveness I so longed for. (I still never really understood why I wanted to buy such a mansion, I lived alone for chrissake!) I was never married, and never in love, but I did meet a woman. A Goddess. Her full name I never knew, but we spoke daily. Her first name was Mary. She was years younger than I, but was educated beyond her years. She and her husband owned and ran the local café, and did a fine job. (Excellent java!) She was a tall, 50’s type of gal. She often wore long skirts, and had short blonde hair. It was always done up so magnificently into a cute poodle cut. She wore dark red lipstick almost every time I saw her, and was always so polite. We spoke of many things, from literature to life, news to gossip. We covered it all. I wasn’t aware that I was smitten, until years after we had gone our separate ways. I went in that coffee shop and had a cup of coffee every single evening for thirteen years. Then I missed one evening.
It was not by choice of course, even when I hadn’t wanted coffee I went, just for the company of Mary. No…no, I did not attend my regular meeting because that afternoon, right after lunch I suffered a severe seizure. I was just sitting in my wooden chair at the kitchen table, when suddenly my right eye began to twitch. This was the onset of something much, much worse though at the time I did not know it. I just closed my eye and hoped it was just another annoying muscle spasm. It was not. I started to convulse violently and fell onto the floor. My mouth began to foam and I lost consciousness.
I was found two hours after I had the first seizure and the doctors concluded that I had suffered a total of three seizures. It was Mary who had found me. She had noted my absence from the coffeehouse and came to my aid. There had been some serious damage done to my body. Part of my tongue had been bitten completely off, I had several lacerations on top of my head, and my arms were tingling. To me the tingling was no big deal, just an annoyance. When I went to itch it away, however, it stopped instantly and I couldn’t move my arms. I panicked and hopped out of my bed. No… I didn’t. I couldn’t move my legs either. I was completely paralyzed, the only motion I had left were above my eyes. So I could move my eyes and my eyebrows…oh joy. The doctors told me that I had epilepsy but had never been diagnosed. It had been dormant, but the stimulating alcohol abuse and drugs had aggravated it so many years ago. It had picked now to kick into action, now at the height of my retirement.
IX. Permanent Retirement
So I am 61 and on permanent bed rest, not a whole lot to look forward to. One day my doctor came in, and introduced to me a way that I could talk. I was ecstatic. It was a laptop that had a camera attached to it so it could read messages sent by my acute eye movements during thought. (A computer that could read my mind, creepy!) So I sit in the hospital permanently renting a room, the room that will ultimately be my tomb. My saggy old jowels, and my guy protruding above the sheets, I lie. My wispy white hair, rising ever so slowly above my old, spotted head, as I slowly slip into better days.
Many of the people close to me, fans of my work, and the few friends have urged me to chronicle my life, so here I lay it all out. The purpose of this is to educate, not about things, but about possibilities. Life is full of them, and life is limitless. Go out and live your life, don’t get stuck into a career solely for the benefits it brings. Do what you love and the money will take care of itself. If you don’t like the way you are living do something about it, the power is all yours.
Life as I have learned it, is all about whatever you want. Life isn’t about one concrete solution or meaning. You fit your own meaning, and build your own purpose. Life has not answers, but only more questions. You will never know everything, but you should damn sure try.
My final thought: Here Lies Donald Thompson, Friend, Artist, Creator, and all of the above a second time over.
X. Afterword
Donald died three weeks after the penning of his autobiography. He officially died on September 9th 2013. He himself obviously did not physically write this, but the ideas and words are all his. The ideas of a great man are here, captured in print. I have gotten to know Donald quite well over the past few months during the writing process. He is by far one of the most inspirational men I have ever met. All that he has accomplished should make those not squeezing everything out of everyday feel guilty for not doing so. This great man has changed my life. With his views, and teachings he is sure to be remembered for decades to come.
During the writing of his autobiography, Donald just took all of his thoughts and committed them to his computer. In turn his computer churned out everything this fine man had to say and I took it all down. The parenthesized sections are all small side thoughts Donald had about things he had said. Donald had nothing to do other than to talk so we would often stay up until all hours of the night just talking. I wrote down everything he said, but not all has been included. Some things were just conversations between the two of us, about things from his joys to his final wishes.
He loved to fish. He often spoke of the many marlins he had landed off the coast of Mexico, and how he always wanted to go ice fishing. Sadly he never got the chance to land that frozen fish, but I believe he was a man without regret…how foolish I am for saying so, that isn’t true. He would say something like, “Every man has regret, I simply don’t dwell upon mine.” It is strange that I feel like his closest friend after only knowing him for a few short months. He led a very closed off life, as he stated, so maybe I was the closest to him at the time.
I don’t know that he had a best friend, other than possibly Mary. She continued to come and visit him every week after his condition arose, until the day he was peacefully swept away. He would do the funniest thing whenever he saw her. He would wiggle his eyebrows up and down very quickly and say, “Well here’s my smile now, you better appreciate it.”
It was the saddest thing though, as he told some of the more emotional parts in his life, his eyes would well up with tears, and he could do nothing to clear them. I of course did so, but it was so sad to see such a valiant man reduced to helplessness. It is great to know that he always had someone by his side through his journey to the end. Mary and he would talk for hours, about who knows what. I always gave them privacy, even though Donald always insisted that I stay and include it in the book. They deserved what the two of them said to be preserved by memory, not immortalized in ink for all to know.
He had so very many valuable lessons to teach. Included is a lesson that applies to every age, sex, and type of person. I believe the most important lesson that he had to teach is best represented in his most famous quote,
“If you have learned something new today, then today is a good day. If not, then hurry, you still have time.”
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