Don Herbert, 89, who as television's Mr. Wizard was for many years one of the nation's foremost popularizers of science, particularly noted for his ability to attract, inspire and hold the interest of children, died June 11 at his home in the Los Angeles area.
A son-in-law, Tom Nikosey, said Mr. Herbert died of cancer.
'Don Herbert, 89, who as television\'s Mr. Wizard was for many years one of the nation\'s foremost popularizers of science, particularly noted for his ability to attract, inspire and hold the interest of children, died June 11 at his home in the Los Angeles area.
Once an aspiring actor, Mr. Herbert used gifts of showmanship, imagination and manual dexterity to create demonstrations that satisfied the senses, expanded the mind and provided insight into the workings of nature.
People of all ages remained enthralled by his television appearances, which included brief science news flashes for adults, a number of TV science specials and "Watch Mr. Wizard," the long-running children's show that transfixed the baby-boom generation.
His instructional legacy, begun in the days of small-screen black-and-white television, has continued into the computer age, with the Web site http://www.mrwizardstudios.com.
Of all his achievements, his son-in-law said, Mr. Herbert probably considered his most important legacy to be "communicating science to children." Nikosey said thousands, and perhaps millions, were influenced by his TV show.
A significant figure in television history, Mr. Herbert brought his first show to the air on NBC on March 3, 1951. Television was still in its infancy in terms of the number of viewers and the effect it had on American culture.
Mr. Herbert's 30-minute show seemed to symbolize the potential of the new medium to instruct and entertain and to unite a mass audience around a common interest.
Within three years, almost 100 stations carried the show and science clubs inspired by it sprung up around the United States. In contrast with the modern admonition "don't try this at home," Mr. Wizard's viewers were prompted to do just that: that is, to reproduce the experiments and demonstrations they watched on the show.
Mr. Herbert had served in World War II as the pilot of a heavy bomber, winning the Distinguished Flying Cross and holding the rank of captain, and was unfazed by the challenges of performing live in the days before the modern TV prompter.
However, he prepared himself with "18 file cabinets full of notes," he once told the New York Times, and kept reminders to himself posted around the studio, out of sight of the camera, for emergency use.
Another of his secrets: "Even when things went wrong, we could always explain why."
With almost 550 live broadcasts, the show ran through 1965, winning praise from scientific organizations and earning Mr. Wizard the image of a permanent ambassador from the world of science.
After being revived on NBC, the show came to life again on the Nickelodeon cable channel from 1983 to 1990.
Donald Jeffrey Herbert was born in Waconia, Minn., on July 10, 1917, and studied at Lacrosse State Teachers College, now a branch of the University of Wisconsin. He studied drama and science in college and once performed in summer theater opposite Nancy Davis, the future wife of President Ronald Reagan.
In Chicago, where Mr. Herbert acted on radio, he presented broadcasters with the idea that combined his interests in theatrical performance and in the hard facts of scientific truth.
His first marriage ended in divorce. Survivors include his wife and three children.
The "wizard" of the title of Mr. Herbert's trademark show might seem to be the antithesis of science, but Mr. Herbert knew its value.
"We thought we needed it to seem like magic to hook the audience," he said, "but then we realized that viewers would be engaged with just a simple scientific question, like, why do birds fly and not humans?"
Somehow, I feel like I am becoming a geezer. After my bike accident, I have used a cane. I feel like poking a young whipersnapper...
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
Wednesday, June 06, 2007
One tough geezer....
A man cut off his own leg with a pocket knife to free himself after he was pinned beneath a fallen tree for almost 11 hours.
Al Hill, aged 66, from California, was working alone chopping down trees in a remote area of woodland, when one fell on his leg.
Unable to summon help because he could not get a signal on his mobile phone, he cut off his trapped leg. His cries for help were eventually heard by a neighbour, Eric Bockey, who ran for two miles before he was able to get a signal strong enough to call the fire service.
Mr Hill had been working near Iowa Hill, 60 miles from Sacramento, on Friday. The town of 200 people has no electricity and few services. Mr Bockey and another neighbour loaded Mr Hill on to a truck and drove him to an emergency landing site from where a helicopter flew him to hospital. Mr Hill, who had not gone into shock despite, received amputation surgery, said Luana Dowling, Iowa Hill's fire chief. "He's a pretty remarkable person," Mr Dowling said.
"Only me, Al and God were there that day," said Mr Bockey.
In May 2003, 27-year-old climber Aron Ralston, from Colorado, used a penknife to amputate his right arm below the elbow after spending five days trapped beneath a 57-stone boulder.
Al Hill, aged 66, from California, was working alone chopping down trees in a remote area of woodland, when one fell on his leg.
Unable to summon help because he could not get a signal on his mobile phone, he cut off his trapped leg. His cries for help were eventually heard by a neighbour, Eric Bockey, who ran for two miles before he was able to get a signal strong enough to call the fire service.
Mr Hill had been working near Iowa Hill, 60 miles from Sacramento, on Friday. The town of 200 people has no electricity and few services. Mr Bockey and another neighbour loaded Mr Hill on to a truck and drove him to an emergency landing site from where a helicopter flew him to hospital. Mr Hill, who had not gone into shock despite, received amputation surgery, said Luana Dowling, Iowa Hill's fire chief. "He's a pretty remarkable person," Mr Dowling said.
"Only me, Al and God were there that day," said Mr Bockey.
In May 2003, 27-year-old climber Aron Ralston, from Colorado, used a penknife to amputate his right arm below the elbow after spending five days trapped beneath a 57-stone boulder.
Monday, May 28, 2007
Burning books in Kansas City
There are segments of this city where you go to an estate sale and find five TVs and three books," Leathem said.
The idea of burning the books horrified Marcia Trayford, who paid $20 Sunday to carry away an armload of tomes on art, education and music.
"I've been trying to adopt as many books as I could," she said.
Dozens of other people took advantage of the book-burning, searching through the books waiting to go into the flames for last-minute bargains.
The idea of burning the books horrified Marcia Trayford, who paid $20 Sunday to carry away an armload of tomes on art, education and music.
"I've been trying to adopt as many books as I could," she said.
Dozens of other people took advantage of the book-burning, searching through the books waiting to go into the flames for last-minute bargains.
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
flying with viagra?
I don't know about you, but I would not want to be on the test flights where they are testing viagra for jet lag....a bunch of horny guys stuck in the aluminum tube could get ungly....worse than snakes on the plane.....maybe we could call it woodies on the plane!
Worried about jet lag? Researchers think they might have just the ticket to perk you up: Viagra.
While it's too early to know if it will work in humans, Argentinean researchers are reporting that the drug sildenafil -- better known by the brand name Viagra -- appears to reduce symptoms of jet lag in hamsters.
Viagra does come with potential side effects, and some men might not appreciate experiencing a temporary respite from erectile dysfunction at 30,000 feet. Still, a sleep specialist called the research promising.
"We do need more effective therapies for jet lag and for sleep difficulties that occur as a consequence of shift work," said Dr. Robert Vorona, an associate professor at Eastern Virginia Medical School who's familiar with the study findings.
In the study, researchers administered small doses of sildenafil to hamsters before adjusting the cycles of light and dark they lived in. This reset their body clocks as if they'd taken a six-hour plane trip to the east.
The hamsters recovered 25 percent to 50 percent more quickly from the equivalent of human jet lag, needing less time to synchronize themselves to the new schedule, said Dr. Diego Golombek, a researcher with the Universidad Nacional de Quilmes in Buenos Aires. He said sildenafil worked at least as well as melatonin, a jet-lag treatment.
But the drug didn't help hamsters who underwent a simulation of westward jet travel.
The findings were published in this week's Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
The drug, originally developed to treat high blood pressure and angina, might alleviate jet lag by interfering with a molecule that sends signals to the hamster brain's body clock mechanism, Golombek said.
But the potential impact on humans isn't clear, and Golombek said people shouldn't rush out to prevent jet lag with doses of Viagra. For one thing, Viagra can cause side effects such as low blood pressure.
As for the next step, Golombek said "a full-scale clinical trial has to be performed in humans, which is indeed quite expensive and time-consuming. Jet-lag trials might involve laboratory simulations, but we also need 'the real thing,' which means testing pharmacological treatments on long-haul air travel."
And that, he added, will take even more time.
Worried about jet lag? Researchers think they might have just the ticket to perk you up: Viagra.
While it's too early to know if it will work in humans, Argentinean researchers are reporting that the drug sildenafil -- better known by the brand name Viagra -- appears to reduce symptoms of jet lag in hamsters.
Viagra does come with potential side effects, and some men might not appreciate experiencing a temporary respite from erectile dysfunction at 30,000 feet. Still, a sleep specialist called the research promising.
"We do need more effective therapies for jet lag and for sleep difficulties that occur as a consequence of shift work," said Dr. Robert Vorona, an associate professor at Eastern Virginia Medical School who's familiar with the study findings.
In the study, researchers administered small doses of sildenafil to hamsters before adjusting the cycles of light and dark they lived in. This reset their body clocks as if they'd taken a six-hour plane trip to the east.
The hamsters recovered 25 percent to 50 percent more quickly from the equivalent of human jet lag, needing less time to synchronize themselves to the new schedule, said Dr. Diego Golombek, a researcher with the Universidad Nacional de Quilmes in Buenos Aires. He said sildenafil worked at least as well as melatonin, a jet-lag treatment.
But the drug didn't help hamsters who underwent a simulation of westward jet travel.
The findings were published in this week's Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
The drug, originally developed to treat high blood pressure and angina, might alleviate jet lag by interfering with a molecule that sends signals to the hamster brain's body clock mechanism, Golombek said.
But the potential impact on humans isn't clear, and Golombek said people shouldn't rush out to prevent jet lag with doses of Viagra. For one thing, Viagra can cause side effects such as low blood pressure.
As for the next step, Golombek said "a full-scale clinical trial has to be performed in humans, which is indeed quite expensive and time-consuming. Jet-lag trials might involve laboratory simulations, but we also need 'the real thing,' which means testing pharmacological treatments on long-haul air travel."
And that, he added, will take even more time.
Saturday, May 19, 2007
quiet, please!
Sam Rozati of Colchester, England, regarding an incident that started when he walked past a nest of geese at a tranquil lake while talking on his cell phone:
"They flew over and started biting my hand until I dropped the phone."
One of the geese made off with the cell phone.
"They flew over and started biting my hand until I dropped the phone."
One of the geese made off with the cell phone.
Friday, May 18, 2007
I am glad we did have commencement when I went to this school....
Ellen Foley
Deborah Cureton, dean and CEO of the University of Wisconsin-Richland in Richland Center, invited me to give the commencement address May 11 to the school's 70 or so graduates.
It was a thrill to spend some time with the dedicated faculty at this intimate campus about an hour and a half drive west of Madison and to get to know the stories of the hardworking students, most of whom hail from the Richland Center area and many of whom will attend four-year campuses of the university next year.
I understand that a DVD version of my speech will be coming out next week. For those of you patient enough to read the full speech, you'll understand why that might be rather entertaining.
Here's your editor in her multimedia splendor:
Commencement Address
University of Wisconsin-Richland
It is such a treat for me to drive through the rolling hills of Wisconsin to Richland Center.
I couldn't help pondering on the drive from Madison the very words that name your school and your town: RICH LAND.
I am humbled to have been asked to share a bit of commencement wisdom with the graduates of such a magical place
You are some of our best and our brightest. Many of you are the first person in your family to graduate from college. And we know that it hasn't been an easy pull for most of you.
I sit on an interesting perch as an editor of a newspaper who is becoming the editor of a newspaper AND a website.
Technology is changing my work life dramatically. And because I realize that your lives are about to change dramatically, I feel surprisingly qualified to share with you a few observations about what the world needs from the graduates of this fine school.
You are blessed with at least two great gifts that are going to propel you into leadership roles ---- not only in your home communities --- but most likely in the world.
These two gifts are tools and timing.
We'll take timing first.
Congratulations on choosing the best time since the year 2000 to be looking for a job. The economy is booming for many industries. The stock market keeps setting record highs. There are a lot of business moguls with lots of cash investing in very interesting corners of American life.
A recent article in the Wisconsin State Journal (which you can also see on madison.com/wsj), noted that the hiring of college grads will increase almost 20 percent this year from 2006. That's a 20 percent increase in just one year. The big winners are those studying engineering, business, health care and computer-related fields.
However, recruiters told the State Journal that the job-seekers who will command the highest salaries and the best jobs have one distinguishing trait: They are well rounded.
Employers are looking for graduates who have had jobs during school, who can communicate, who have leadership potential and who can work on a team.
In short, they are looking for the kinds of students who come from this Rich Land.
In addition to your school work, your dean tells me that you have been athletes, newspaper editors, student government leaders, campus ambassadors, musicians, thespians, tutors, work-study students, Road Ralley winners (AND LOSERS. Sorry about that) active members of various clubs ---- and much more.
You are exactly what the nation's employers and universities are looking for.
You also have an historic demographic shift going for you. There are many Baby Boomers, like me, and a lot fewer of you. There will be many more jobs than job seekers in the coming years as the Boomers retire. If you play this right, you will be in the driver's seat when you go to find a job.
So let's move to gift, No. 2.
Tools.
You are THE multimedia generation. You have amazing tools. You watch movies at home via DVDs or TIVOs. And you do this ---- cuddling your laptops so you can IM your friends and keep your eye on the text messages coming in on your cell phones. (Laughter)
I have observed this at my own home.
Most likely every one of you has a cell phone that you will use to take photos tonight. Some of you may even be recording me right now with your Ipods.
Recently a professor at the Madison campus suggested the next wave of change will involve nanotechnology in the wallpaper of our homes. It will sit there quietly monitoring our vital signs ready to call our physicians if we need to go to the emergency room. This astonishes me!
Very soon OUR WALLPAPER IS GOING TO BE CALLING OUR DOCTORS!!!
Yes, I see you're laughing, but I also know that you are a bit relieved, because you don't want to be the ones coming by to check mom's blood pressure every day.
Let the wallpaper do it!
My point here is that the tools will continue to evolve exponentially and in another year or perhaps two, the job you have trained for or the topic you are preparing to study at your next college will be changing and you will need to be nimble enough to change with it. You will need to create the next tool. You will need to build on the technology.
With these two gifts come almost unfathomable challenges. Author Thomas Friedman of the New York Times in his recent bestseller told us that our world is flat. Routine jobs, such as customer service call centers, will be offshored to places, such as India, where the cost is lower and the quality may be better.
You will need to stay one step ahead of these complicated global changes, including the warming of the planet.
Many of you are saddled with debt from student loans. We worry about how you will build a life when starter homes in places like Madison cost $200,000 and health care benefits take increasingly larger bites out of paychecks.
You are coming of age at time of random violence, from Oklahoma City to Columbine to 9/11 to Virginia Tech. These horrific events will define the rest of your lives and keep you ever vigilant.
We are a nation at war, as your colleague Cody can attest to. We look to your leadership so that this conflict will come to an end.
We will look to your skills of diplomacy so our nation can resolve other international tensions without resorting to warfare and the deaths of our brave soldiers.
Yes, you are a lucky group but you will need to use your gifts wisely.
This, of course, is why your administrators invited ME to give this commencement speech.
I have the secret to success.
And I will give you that secret in just one minute after I explain to you how hard this is. You see, the problem with commencement addresses is that no one ever remembers what the speaker says.
I asked our State Journal researchers to help me remember the details of my own commencement from the University of Wisconsin in Madison in 1974. I was pretty sure it involved Sen. George McGovern and the reading of a poem.
Not only was George McGovern NOT the commencement speaker but there was no poem. (Laughter.)
Our speaker was then-Lt. Gov. Marty Schreiber and he spoke to us passionately about avoiding another Watergate scandal. You'd think I'd remember that.
So graduates, listen up. This is the only thing we expect you to remember after you have long forgotten Ellen Foley or mixed her up with Hillary Clinton. (Hoots.)
If you remember nothing else, remember THIS simple secret to success:
Are you ready?
WALK ON THE SUNNY SIDE OF THE STREET.
Walking on the sunny side of the street is a choice you will have to make every day of your life from now on. And I want to emphasize that word "Choice". It is a daily job.
It is hard work to choose the sunny side.
I am not going to go on and on about this because it's getting late, and we all know you are NOT going to remember much of what I just said. So I'm going to try something that I hope will embed this secret of survival into your reptilian brains. And I'm going to use one of those multimedia tools I referred to --- albeit a low tech one.
I'm going to sing a little song for you.
A capella.
This should be memorable.
I have never done this before in public in my entire life.
GRAB YOUR COAT AND GET YOUR HAT
LEAVE YOUR WORRIES ON THE DOORSTEP
LIFE CAN BE SO SWEET
ON THE SUNNY SIDE OF THE STREET
CAN'T YOU HEAR THE PITTER PAT
AND THAT HAPPY TUNE IS YOUR STEP
LIFE CAN BE COMPLETE
ON THE SUNNY SIDE OF THE STREET
I USED TO WALK IN THE SHADE
WITH MY BLUES ON PARADE
BUT I'M NOT AFRAID
THIS ROVER'S CROSSED OVER
YOU'LL BE RICH AS ROCKEFELLER
GOLD DUST AT YOUR FEET
ON THE SUNNY
ON THE SUNNY
ON THE SUNNY SIDE OF THE STREET.
Congratulations, graduates.
Deborah Cureton, dean and CEO of the University of Wisconsin-Richland in Richland Center, invited me to give the commencement address May 11 to the school's 70 or so graduates.
It was a thrill to spend some time with the dedicated faculty at this intimate campus about an hour and a half drive west of Madison and to get to know the stories of the hardworking students, most of whom hail from the Richland Center area and many of whom will attend four-year campuses of the university next year.
I understand that a DVD version of my speech will be coming out next week. For those of you patient enough to read the full speech, you'll understand why that might be rather entertaining.
Here's your editor in her multimedia splendor:
Commencement Address
University of Wisconsin-Richland
It is such a treat for me to drive through the rolling hills of Wisconsin to Richland Center.
I couldn't help pondering on the drive from Madison the very words that name your school and your town: RICH LAND.
I am humbled to have been asked to share a bit of commencement wisdom with the graduates of such a magical place
You are some of our best and our brightest. Many of you are the first person in your family to graduate from college. And we know that it hasn't been an easy pull for most of you.
I sit on an interesting perch as an editor of a newspaper who is becoming the editor of a newspaper AND a website.
Technology is changing my work life dramatically. And because I realize that your lives are about to change dramatically, I feel surprisingly qualified to share with you a few observations about what the world needs from the graduates of this fine school.
You are blessed with at least two great gifts that are going to propel you into leadership roles ---- not only in your home communities --- but most likely in the world.
These two gifts are tools and timing.
We'll take timing first.
Congratulations on choosing the best time since the year 2000 to be looking for a job. The economy is booming for many industries. The stock market keeps setting record highs. There are a lot of business moguls with lots of cash investing in very interesting corners of American life.
A recent article in the Wisconsin State Journal (which you can also see on madison.com/wsj), noted that the hiring of college grads will increase almost 20 percent this year from 2006. That's a 20 percent increase in just one year. The big winners are those studying engineering, business, health care and computer-related fields.
However, recruiters told the State Journal that the job-seekers who will command the highest salaries and the best jobs have one distinguishing trait: They are well rounded.
Employers are looking for graduates who have had jobs during school, who can communicate, who have leadership potential and who can work on a team.
In short, they are looking for the kinds of students who come from this Rich Land.
In addition to your school work, your dean tells me that you have been athletes, newspaper editors, student government leaders, campus ambassadors, musicians, thespians, tutors, work-study students, Road Ralley winners (AND LOSERS. Sorry about that) active members of various clubs ---- and much more.
You are exactly what the nation's employers and universities are looking for.
You also have an historic demographic shift going for you. There are many Baby Boomers, like me, and a lot fewer of you. There will be many more jobs than job seekers in the coming years as the Boomers retire. If you play this right, you will be in the driver's seat when you go to find a job.
So let's move to gift, No. 2.
Tools.
You are THE multimedia generation. You have amazing tools. You watch movies at home via DVDs or TIVOs. And you do this ---- cuddling your laptops so you can IM your friends and keep your eye on the text messages coming in on your cell phones. (Laughter)
I have observed this at my own home.
Most likely every one of you has a cell phone that you will use to take photos tonight. Some of you may even be recording me right now with your Ipods.
Recently a professor at the Madison campus suggested the next wave of change will involve nanotechnology in the wallpaper of our homes. It will sit there quietly monitoring our vital signs ready to call our physicians if we need to go to the emergency room. This astonishes me!
Very soon OUR WALLPAPER IS GOING TO BE CALLING OUR DOCTORS!!!
Yes, I see you're laughing, but I also know that you are a bit relieved, because you don't want to be the ones coming by to check mom's blood pressure every day.
Let the wallpaper do it!
My point here is that the tools will continue to evolve exponentially and in another year or perhaps two, the job you have trained for or the topic you are preparing to study at your next college will be changing and you will need to be nimble enough to change with it. You will need to create the next tool. You will need to build on the technology.
With these two gifts come almost unfathomable challenges. Author Thomas Friedman of the New York Times in his recent bestseller told us that our world is flat. Routine jobs, such as customer service call centers, will be offshored to places, such as India, where the cost is lower and the quality may be better.
You will need to stay one step ahead of these complicated global changes, including the warming of the planet.
Many of you are saddled with debt from student loans. We worry about how you will build a life when starter homes in places like Madison cost $200,000 and health care benefits take increasingly larger bites out of paychecks.
You are coming of age at time of random violence, from Oklahoma City to Columbine to 9/11 to Virginia Tech. These horrific events will define the rest of your lives and keep you ever vigilant.
We are a nation at war, as your colleague Cody can attest to. We look to your leadership so that this conflict will come to an end.
We will look to your skills of diplomacy so our nation can resolve other international tensions without resorting to warfare and the deaths of our brave soldiers.
Yes, you are a lucky group but you will need to use your gifts wisely.
This, of course, is why your administrators invited ME to give this commencement speech.
I have the secret to success.
And I will give you that secret in just one minute after I explain to you how hard this is. You see, the problem with commencement addresses is that no one ever remembers what the speaker says.
I asked our State Journal researchers to help me remember the details of my own commencement from the University of Wisconsin in Madison in 1974. I was pretty sure it involved Sen. George McGovern and the reading of a poem.
Not only was George McGovern NOT the commencement speaker but there was no poem. (Laughter.)
Our speaker was then-Lt. Gov. Marty Schreiber and he spoke to us passionately about avoiding another Watergate scandal. You'd think I'd remember that.
So graduates, listen up. This is the only thing we expect you to remember after you have long forgotten Ellen Foley or mixed her up with Hillary Clinton. (Hoots.)
If you remember nothing else, remember THIS simple secret to success:
Are you ready?
WALK ON THE SUNNY SIDE OF THE STREET.
Walking on the sunny side of the street is a choice you will have to make every day of your life from now on. And I want to emphasize that word "Choice". It is a daily job.
It is hard work to choose the sunny side.
I am not going to go on and on about this because it's getting late, and we all know you are NOT going to remember much of what I just said. So I'm going to try something that I hope will embed this secret of survival into your reptilian brains. And I'm going to use one of those multimedia tools I referred to --- albeit a low tech one.
I'm going to sing a little song for you.
A capella.
This should be memorable.
I have never done this before in public in my entire life.
GRAB YOUR COAT AND GET YOUR HAT
LEAVE YOUR WORRIES ON THE DOORSTEP
LIFE CAN BE SO SWEET
ON THE SUNNY SIDE OF THE STREET
CAN'T YOU HEAR THE PITTER PAT
AND THAT HAPPY TUNE IS YOUR STEP
LIFE CAN BE COMPLETE
ON THE SUNNY SIDE OF THE STREET
I USED TO WALK IN THE SHADE
WITH MY BLUES ON PARADE
BUT I'M NOT AFRAID
THIS ROVER'S CROSSED OVER
YOU'LL BE RICH AS ROCKEFELLER
GOLD DUST AT YOUR FEET
ON THE SUNNY
ON THE SUNNY
ON THE SUNNY SIDE OF THE STREET.
Congratulations, graduates.
A bad time a long time ago....
There is little overt physical evidence now that UW-Madison's Sterling Hall was the site of a horrific act of domestic terrorism.
To date, there has been nothing to mark the fact that a young post-doctoral student in physics, Robert Fassnacht, lost his life there.
That's about to change.
This afternoon, more than 37 years after a truck bomb blasted a crater in Sterling Hall, the UW-Madison physics department will dedicate a plaque in memory of Fassnacht, who was killed in the Aug. 24, 1970, attack.
"I'm personally embarrassed that it's taken so long," said UW-Madison Chancellor John Wiley, who knew Fassnacht well from his days here as a physics graduate student.
"The department's been trying to do something for a long while," added physics professor Wesley Smith.
The dedication will take place in the courtyard between Sterling and Chamberlin halls, near the bombing site.
Several members of Fassnacht's family -- possibly including wife Stephanie, son Christopher, and twin daughters Heidi and Karin -- are expected to attend.
"I did talk to Stephanie before we did this and got her permission," Wiley said. "We wanted to be respectful of her and she approved it."
The bombing capped a tumultuous time of protest on the UW-Madison campus against U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War. The target was the Army Math Research Center on the upper floors of Sterling Hall, where it was alleged weapons research was being conducted.
The perpetrators hadn't counted on someone like Fassnacht being there at the time. Karl Armstrong, one of four people involved in the plot, said later that they bombed Sterling Hall in the wee hours of the night because they assumed it would be vacant. They hadn't wanted anyone to be hurt.
But Fassnacht, 33, was in his basement lab at Sterling Hall that night trying to finish a project before leaving on vacation with his family the next day for San Diego.
The blast at 3:42 a.m. was so powerful that pieces of the stolen Ford Econoline van containing the ammonium nitrate bomb landed atop an eight-story building three blocks away. Twenty-six buildings in the area sustained damage.
The bombing and Fassnacht's death rocked not only the Madison and university communities but also the anti-war movement.
The plaque commemorating Fassnacht's tragic part in history is simple, stating what happened there that summer morning.
There are lessons in that violent episode worth remembering, Wiley said, and posting a plaque is part of that.
"It's very valuable in a university that honors and respects free speech (to recognize) that there are limits to what's appropriate," Wiley said. "This was way beyond the extreme limits of what's appropriate."
To date, there has been nothing to mark the fact that a young post-doctoral student in physics, Robert Fassnacht, lost his life there.
That's about to change.
This afternoon, more than 37 years after a truck bomb blasted a crater in Sterling Hall, the UW-Madison physics department will dedicate a plaque in memory of Fassnacht, who was killed in the Aug. 24, 1970, attack.
"I'm personally embarrassed that it's taken so long," said UW-Madison Chancellor John Wiley, who knew Fassnacht well from his days here as a physics graduate student.
"The department's been trying to do something for a long while," added physics professor Wesley Smith.
The dedication will take place in the courtyard between Sterling and Chamberlin halls, near the bombing site.
Several members of Fassnacht's family -- possibly including wife Stephanie, son Christopher, and twin daughters Heidi and Karin -- are expected to attend.
"I did talk to Stephanie before we did this and got her permission," Wiley said. "We wanted to be respectful of her and she approved it."
The bombing capped a tumultuous time of protest on the UW-Madison campus against U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War. The target was the Army Math Research Center on the upper floors of Sterling Hall, where it was alleged weapons research was being conducted.
The perpetrators hadn't counted on someone like Fassnacht being there at the time. Karl Armstrong, one of four people involved in the plot, said later that they bombed Sterling Hall in the wee hours of the night because they assumed it would be vacant. They hadn't wanted anyone to be hurt.
But Fassnacht, 33, was in his basement lab at Sterling Hall that night trying to finish a project before leaving on vacation with his family the next day for San Diego.
The blast at 3:42 a.m. was so powerful that pieces of the stolen Ford Econoline van containing the ammonium nitrate bomb landed atop an eight-story building three blocks away. Twenty-six buildings in the area sustained damage.
The bombing and Fassnacht's death rocked not only the Madison and university communities but also the anti-war movement.
The plaque commemorating Fassnacht's tragic part in history is simple, stating what happened there that summer morning.
There are lessons in that violent episode worth remembering, Wiley said, and posting a plaque is part of that.
"It's very valuable in a university that honors and respects free speech (to recognize) that there are limits to what's appropriate," Wiley said. "This was way beyond the extreme limits of what's appropriate."
Friday, May 11, 2007
a scared little boy
Shawn Hainstock made no secret of his tears Thursday after a Sauk County Circuit Court hearing for his 16-year-old son, Eric, who is charged with killing the principal of Weston School in September.
"I'm concerned (Eric) might say the wrong thing (in an adult prison) and somebody would hurt him," Shawn Hainstock said, tears in his eyes. "Somebody would kill him, and that would be that."
In his first public interview since the shooting, Shawn Hainstock said he visits his son in the Sauk County Jail every day or two. "He kind of breaks down and cries a lot," he said.
Sauk County Circuit Judge Patrick Taggart's decision last month that the younger Hainstock be tried as an adult was a "tragedy," Hainstock said. "My heart's been tore out," he said. "That just about killed me."
Eric Hainstock is charged with first-degree intentional homicide in the killing of John Klang, who was shot three times with a handgun while Hainstock wrestled with him at the school on Sept. 29.
Shawn Hainstock's comments came after Taggart heard a request from Assistant Public Defenders Jon Helland and Rhoda Ricciardi that the teenager's videotaped confession to police be declared inadmissible at trial.
Ricciardi argued the youth was railroaded into confessing to the shooting by law enforcement officers. She said police didn't make sure Eric Hainstock understood his rights before they questioned him.
"This kid had his rights rammed down his throat," Ricciardi told Taggart.
Sauk County District Attorney Patricia Barrett countered that police were polite and thorough.
When the teenager said he was uncomfortable, police took his handcuffs off, she said. "Very, very quickly this confession occurs," he said.
On Thursday, Shawn Hainstock said Eric was drinking a lot of coffee to help him deal with confinement and sitting through court hearings.
"Nobody knows him like we do," Shawn Hainstock said. "They don't realize how loving a boy he is. He can be saved."
But he said his son is "getting railroaded."
Defense lawyers have argued the youth was abused from the time he was 2, suffered from hyperactivity and attention deficit disorder and had a troubled home life with his father and his adoptive mother.
Shawn Hainstock and his wife, Priscilla, have previously declined requests for interviews, but witnesses have testified that both parents abused him and failed to follow through on getting medication and counseling for the troubled boy when asked by school and social services workers.
Shawn Hainstock did not address those allegations Thursday.
"I'm concerned (Eric) might say the wrong thing (in an adult prison) and somebody would hurt him," Shawn Hainstock said, tears in his eyes. "Somebody would kill him, and that would be that."
In his first public interview since the shooting, Shawn Hainstock said he visits his son in the Sauk County Jail every day or two. "He kind of breaks down and cries a lot," he said.
Sauk County Circuit Judge Patrick Taggart's decision last month that the younger Hainstock be tried as an adult was a "tragedy," Hainstock said. "My heart's been tore out," he said. "That just about killed me."
Eric Hainstock is charged with first-degree intentional homicide in the killing of John Klang, who was shot three times with a handgun while Hainstock wrestled with him at the school on Sept. 29.
Shawn Hainstock's comments came after Taggart heard a request from Assistant Public Defenders Jon Helland and Rhoda Ricciardi that the teenager's videotaped confession to police be declared inadmissible at trial.
Ricciardi argued the youth was railroaded into confessing to the shooting by law enforcement officers. She said police didn't make sure Eric Hainstock understood his rights before they questioned him.
"This kid had his rights rammed down his throat," Ricciardi told Taggart.
Sauk County District Attorney Patricia Barrett countered that police were polite and thorough.
When the teenager said he was uncomfortable, police took his handcuffs off, she said. "Very, very quickly this confession occurs," he said.
On Thursday, Shawn Hainstock said Eric was drinking a lot of coffee to help him deal with confinement and sitting through court hearings.
"Nobody knows him like we do," Shawn Hainstock said. "They don't realize how loving a boy he is. He can be saved."
But he said his son is "getting railroaded."
Defense lawyers have argued the youth was abused from the time he was 2, suffered from hyperactivity and attention deficit disorder and had a troubled home life with his father and his adoptive mother.
Shawn Hainstock and his wife, Priscilla, have previously declined requests for interviews, but witnesses have testified that both parents abused him and failed to follow through on getting medication and counseling for the troubled boy when asked by school and social services workers.
Shawn Hainstock did not address those allegations Thursday.
Wednesday, May 02, 2007
A date to remember
At three minutes and four seconds after 2 a.m., on May 6, the time and date will be 02:03:04 05/06/07.
Get down with math....
Totally geeky, totally cool...
http://blog.syracuse.com/newstracker/2007/04/youtube_hit_what_you_know_abou.html
http://blog.syracuse.com/newstracker/2007/04/youtube_hit_what_you_know_abou.html
Sunday, April 29, 2007
My hero!
At 101-years-old, Clair Duckham, who co-founded the Dayton Cycling Club in 1961, pedaled his low-riding Whiz-Wheel trike from Vandalia to Troy Sunday morning under ideal bicycling weather in celebration of his recent birthday.
It's a trip that Clair said he has made hundreds of times over the years.
Among those who rode with Clair was former Ohio Gov. Bob Taft. This makes the sixth time that Taft rode in this birthday celebration ride, five times as a governor.
"It's a tradition," said Taft. "I'll be back next year if Clair rides."
The distance from Vandalia to Troy along the rural winding back roads of Montgomery and Miami Counties is 18 miles.
It's a trip that Clair said he has made hundreds of times over the years.
Among those who rode with Clair was former Ohio Gov. Bob Taft. This makes the sixth time that Taft rode in this birthday celebration ride, five times as a governor.
"It's a tradition," said Taft. "I'll be back next year if Clair rides."
The distance from Vandalia to Troy along the rural winding back roads of Montgomery and Miami Counties is 18 miles.
Friday, April 27, 2007
Oops, wrong kind of abstinence....
Deputy U.S. Secretary of State Randall Tobias, the former AIDS czar, resigned Friday after admitting he used the services of a Washington escort service.
Tobias -- in his former position as ambassador for the President's Emergency Fund for AIDS Relief -- was known for advocating sexual abstinence over condom use. More recently, he served as director of the U.S. Agency for International Development.
Tobias told ABC News Thursday he had been a customer of Pamela Martin and Associates, an escort service, although he said he received massages, not sex. His cell phone number was given the network by Judith Palfrey, nicknamed the "DC Madam," who faces federal charges for allegedly promoting prostitution.
"I'm sure as heck not going to be going to federal prison for one day, let alone, four to eight years, because I'm shy about bringing in the deputy secretary of whatever," Palfrey said in an interview with ABC to be broadcast next week.
Tobias -- in his former position as ambassador for the President's Emergency Fund for AIDS Relief -- was known for advocating sexual abstinence over condom use. More recently, he served as director of the U.S. Agency for International Development.
Tobias told ABC News Thursday he had been a customer of Pamela Martin and Associates, an escort service, although he said he received massages, not sex. His cell phone number was given the network by Judith Palfrey, nicknamed the "DC Madam," who faces federal charges for allegedly promoting prostitution.
"I'm sure as heck not going to be going to federal prison for one day, let alone, four to eight years, because I'm shy about bringing in the deputy secretary of whatever," Palfrey said in an interview with ABC to be broadcast next week.
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
15 year old is an adult....
Sue Klang's head dropped to her hands Monday after Sauk County Circuit Judge Patrick Taggart ruled 16-year-old Eric Hainstock would stand trial as an adult for fatally shooting her husband Sept. 29.
Minutes later, Klang chose her words carefully for the media. "We are satisfied he's staying in adult court," Klang said. "I don't want him out free."
But she wasn't happy, she said - that word wasn't fitting for a tragedy all around.
"There's no good that comes out of this," she said. "There's no 'happy' there."
Monday ended a five-day hearing - a minitrial really - on a defense request that Hainstock be waived from adult to juvenile court, where, if convicted, the state would have been forced to release him at age 25.
Instead, he faces a maximum sentence of life in prison without parole if convicted of first- degree intentional homicide.
Klang, widow of Weston School Principal John Klang, said treating Hainstock as a juvenile would have only encouraged those who use the Internet to exhort teenagers to school shootings and violence. "There are people out there to whom Eric Hainstock is a god," Klang said.
Klang said she doesn't blame anyone for the events. "I don't know if there is a blame - the school and social services were identifying problems (with Hainstock), and the family wasn't following through."
Hainstock is accused of shooting Klang three times in the hallway of the school outside Cazenovia as the principal tried to wrestle a handgun away from him. Hainstock was 15 at the time.
When he was arrested, he had a box of 12 shotgun shells and 44 bullets for the handgun in the pouch of his hooded sweatshirt, state Department of Justice special agent Elizabeth Feagles testified Monday.
Sauk County District Attorney Patricia Barrett, who opposed treating Hainstock as a juvenile, said he faces an arraignment and a trial on the charges. But defense attorney Rhoda Ricciardi said Hainstock's defense team would have to decide first whether to appeal Taggart's ruling.
Ricciardi argued Hainstock would not get adequate treatment for his depression, hyperactivity and other personality disorders in Wisconsin's adult prisons.
She also told Taggart that Hainstock's behavior reflected untreated trauma in Hainstock's childhood, including sexual and physical abuse.
Hainstock, she argued, reacted violently to being touched unexpectedly, and defense witnesses testified that the teenager had no ability to carry out a plan to murder the principal.
After he was arrested the day of the shooting, two videos were made of Hainstock in the Sauk County Jail. In the first, the youth said he didn't intend to kill the principal, that he just wanted to talk to Klang about classmates who picked on him and called him a fag.
In the second, much shorter video, Hainstock is shown telling a jailer that he doubts his lawyer will be able to get him out of jail. "I doubt that'll happen since it's attempted (sic) homicide, I guess," the teenager said. "Which really sucks 'cause I can't ever hunt now."
A bit later on the video, Hainstock said to the jailer, "I have a question. Does (sic) felonies go away when you are 18? 'Cause that's what I was told was when you turn 18, your felonies are dropped because you're not a juvenile anymore."
Making the ruling, Taggart agreed that Hainstock probably wouldn't get adequate treatment in adult prisons.
But Taggart said the evidence showed "a level of organization" that demonstrated intent by Hainstock, and the judge said he had to consider whether juvenile court penalties would be severe enough to deter other potential school shooters.
On a police video shown Friday, Hainstock said he wanted to talk to Klang and his teachers about classmates who regularly called him a fag, rubbed up against him and punched him.
He told police he ate breakfast that Friday morning, then waited until his parents, Shawn and Priscilla Hainstock, went to work before getting two of his father's guns from locked cabinets and loading them, getting gasoline out of a lawnmower and putting it in a truck, then driving to school.
That "does show a level of organization toward a goal," Taggart said.
Ricciardi argued Hainstock's plan was to make somebody listen to his complaints.
"His plan was not to kill somebody," she said. "He was grabbed. He freaked out. Please listen to him now."
Sue Klang said she opposed Hainstock's transfer into juvenile court at least partly because she believes that's what her husband would have wanted.
She also said the same people who revile her on Web sites as "a liar" and "a poor excuse for a Christian" would be encouraged if Hainstock faced more limited, juvenile court penalties.
No trial date was set.
Minutes later, Klang chose her words carefully for the media. "We are satisfied he's staying in adult court," Klang said. "I don't want him out free."
But she wasn't happy, she said - that word wasn't fitting for a tragedy all around.
"There's no good that comes out of this," she said. "There's no 'happy' there."
Monday ended a five-day hearing - a minitrial really - on a defense request that Hainstock be waived from adult to juvenile court, where, if convicted, the state would have been forced to release him at age 25.
Instead, he faces a maximum sentence of life in prison without parole if convicted of first- degree intentional homicide.
Klang, widow of Weston School Principal John Klang, said treating Hainstock as a juvenile would have only encouraged those who use the Internet to exhort teenagers to school shootings and violence. "There are people out there to whom Eric Hainstock is a god," Klang said.
Klang said she doesn't blame anyone for the events. "I don't know if there is a blame - the school and social services were identifying problems (with Hainstock), and the family wasn't following through."
Hainstock is accused of shooting Klang three times in the hallway of the school outside Cazenovia as the principal tried to wrestle a handgun away from him. Hainstock was 15 at the time.
When he was arrested, he had a box of 12 shotgun shells and 44 bullets for the handgun in the pouch of his hooded sweatshirt, state Department of Justice special agent Elizabeth Feagles testified Monday.
Sauk County District Attorney Patricia Barrett, who opposed treating Hainstock as a juvenile, said he faces an arraignment and a trial on the charges. But defense attorney Rhoda Ricciardi said Hainstock's defense team would have to decide first whether to appeal Taggart's ruling.
Ricciardi argued Hainstock would not get adequate treatment for his depression, hyperactivity and other personality disorders in Wisconsin's adult prisons.
She also told Taggart that Hainstock's behavior reflected untreated trauma in Hainstock's childhood, including sexual and physical abuse.
Hainstock, she argued, reacted violently to being touched unexpectedly, and defense witnesses testified that the teenager had no ability to carry out a plan to murder the principal.
After he was arrested the day of the shooting, two videos were made of Hainstock in the Sauk County Jail. In the first, the youth said he didn't intend to kill the principal, that he just wanted to talk to Klang about classmates who picked on him and called him a fag.
In the second, much shorter video, Hainstock is shown telling a jailer that he doubts his lawyer will be able to get him out of jail. "I doubt that'll happen since it's attempted (sic) homicide, I guess," the teenager said. "Which really sucks 'cause I can't ever hunt now."
A bit later on the video, Hainstock said to the jailer, "I have a question. Does (sic) felonies go away when you are 18? 'Cause that's what I was told was when you turn 18, your felonies are dropped because you're not a juvenile anymore."
Making the ruling, Taggart agreed that Hainstock probably wouldn't get adequate treatment in adult prisons.
But Taggart said the evidence showed "a level of organization" that demonstrated intent by Hainstock, and the judge said he had to consider whether juvenile court penalties would be severe enough to deter other potential school shooters.
On a police video shown Friday, Hainstock said he wanted to talk to Klang and his teachers about classmates who regularly called him a fag, rubbed up against him and punched him.
He told police he ate breakfast that Friday morning, then waited until his parents, Shawn and Priscilla Hainstock, went to work before getting two of his father's guns from locked cabinets and loading them, getting gasoline out of a lawnmower and putting it in a truck, then driving to school.
That "does show a level of organization toward a goal," Taggart said.
Ricciardi argued Hainstock's plan was to make somebody listen to his complaints.
"His plan was not to kill somebody," she said. "He was grabbed. He freaked out. Please listen to him now."
Sue Klang said she opposed Hainstock's transfer into juvenile court at least partly because she believes that's what her husband would have wanted.
She also said the same people who revile her on Web sites as "a liar" and "a poor excuse for a Christian" would be encouraged if Hainstock faced more limited, juvenile court penalties.
No trial date was set.
Wisconsin to make fuel from pooh!
Making motor fuel from corn comes with a variety of problems, from the amount of energy it takes to produce ethanol to the impact on food prices.
But a report prepared today for a biofuels conference at Monona Terrace says other burnable material such as prairie grass, crop residue, papermaking waste or cow manure holds far greater promise for turning Wisconsin into an energy powerhouse.
Switchgrass grown at Agrecol, a business of agricultural ecological solutions in Evansville.
Wisconsin has almost 15 million tons of potential excess "biomass" that could produce 1.3 billion gallons of ethanol per year, enough to displace half of the 2.6 billion gallons of gasoline consumed in the state last year, according to the report from Better Environmental Solutions.
If burned to produce electricity, this same amount of biomaterial could also replace about 15 million tons of coal, roughly 55 percent of the state's entire coal use, the report said.
Tapping into these renewable resources is important because Wisconsin is almost totally dependent on importing its energy sources. Some $12 billion in energy spending leaves the state each year for purchasing coal, gasoline, natural gas or other fuels.
Expanding biofuel production will reduce this job and income drain and create better markets for the state's agricultural and forest production, the report said.
"Wisconsin has major untapped biomass reserves," said report author Brett Hulsey, president of Better Environmental Solutions. "While the state may not be able to match Silicon Valley as a high tech leader, it could be the Cellulose Prairie and Forest for biopower and biofuels."
The report was released today at the Nelson Institute Conference "Sustaining the Wisconsin Landscape: Biofuels Challenges and Opportunities."
Also today, Rod Nilsestuen, secretary of the state Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection, announced formation of a 12-state North Central Bio Economy Consortium.
The effort, which is being helped with a $100,000 grant from the Energy Foundation of San Francisco, is aimed at using perennial crops and crop residues to turn the Midwest into a leader in the next stage of bio-energy development.
Virtually all the biofuel produced in the U.S. comes from corn. Iowa and Illinois are the leading states in producing ethanol from corn. With the opening of United Ethanol in Milton on March 29, Wisconsin now has six operating ethanol facilities compared to more than 50 plants in Iowa.
But the Midwest states also have up to 231 million tons of potential excess biomass each year, according to the report. If converted to ethanol, this could yield 13.9 billion gallons of motor fuel, more than doubling current ethanol production. This excess biomass could also be burned, replacing 154 million tons of coal or about one-third of the coal burned in the 12 Midwest states each year.
"The Midwest is the potential biofuel Saudi Arabia of America," said Hulsey.
Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle has been a big booster of the biofuels industry, proposing $40 million in his budget to promote renewable fuels including $5 million for a cellulosic ethanol plant.
Erin Roth, president of the Wisconsin Petroleum Council, said the oil industry is not opposed to ethanol per se, as long as its use is not mandated. A bill to require ethanol to be added to gasoline in Wisconsin failed to gain passage in the Legislature.
"We feel the market should decide," said Roth.
Roth's group is supporting legislative initiatives being advanced by the Wisconsin Soybean Association designed to develop and enhance Wisconsin's marketplace for biodiesel, Those initiatives include regulations to ensure the quality of biodiesel fuel; tax incentives for wholesalers, retailers and bulk users of biodiesel; and requiring all state motor fleets to increase their use of biodiesel to 20 percent by 2010 and 50 percent by 2015.
Hulsey's report said the state's greatest natural resources are its forests and wood products; corn production and corn stover, a major biomass source; dairy and beef cattle, therefore manure; and prairie grasslands in the Conservation Reserve Program and other conservation programs.
The state also has the largest papermaking facilities in the country, with many mills using wood for energy and looking for new sources of energy and revenue to compete with stiff international competition.
Already there are promising projects in the works. The Flambeau Paper Mill in Park Falls is experimenting with an advanced ethanol project and several Wisconsin ethanol plants are studying advanced biopower projects.
"If we take these steps, we will speed our efforts to reduce our dependence on foreign oil, coal and save money while creating jobs and helping family farmers," Hulsey said.
But a report prepared today for a biofuels conference at Monona Terrace says other burnable material such as prairie grass, crop residue, papermaking waste or cow manure holds far greater promise for turning Wisconsin into an energy powerhouse.
Switchgrass grown at Agrecol, a business of agricultural ecological solutions in Evansville.
Wisconsin has almost 15 million tons of potential excess "biomass" that could produce 1.3 billion gallons of ethanol per year, enough to displace half of the 2.6 billion gallons of gasoline consumed in the state last year, according to the report from Better Environmental Solutions.
If burned to produce electricity, this same amount of biomaterial could also replace about 15 million tons of coal, roughly 55 percent of the state's entire coal use, the report said.
Tapping into these renewable resources is important because Wisconsin is almost totally dependent on importing its energy sources. Some $12 billion in energy spending leaves the state each year for purchasing coal, gasoline, natural gas or other fuels.
Expanding biofuel production will reduce this job and income drain and create better markets for the state's agricultural and forest production, the report said.
"Wisconsin has major untapped biomass reserves," said report author Brett Hulsey, president of Better Environmental Solutions. "While the state may not be able to match Silicon Valley as a high tech leader, it could be the Cellulose Prairie and Forest for biopower and biofuels."
The report was released today at the Nelson Institute Conference "Sustaining the Wisconsin Landscape: Biofuels Challenges and Opportunities."
Also today, Rod Nilsestuen, secretary of the state Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection, announced formation of a 12-state North Central Bio Economy Consortium.
The effort, which is being helped with a $100,000 grant from the Energy Foundation of San Francisco, is aimed at using perennial crops and crop residues to turn the Midwest into a leader in the next stage of bio-energy development.
Virtually all the biofuel produced in the U.S. comes from corn. Iowa and Illinois are the leading states in producing ethanol from corn. With the opening of United Ethanol in Milton on March 29, Wisconsin now has six operating ethanol facilities compared to more than 50 plants in Iowa.
But the Midwest states also have up to 231 million tons of potential excess biomass each year, according to the report. If converted to ethanol, this could yield 13.9 billion gallons of motor fuel, more than doubling current ethanol production. This excess biomass could also be burned, replacing 154 million tons of coal or about one-third of the coal burned in the 12 Midwest states each year.
"The Midwest is the potential biofuel Saudi Arabia of America," said Hulsey.
Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle has been a big booster of the biofuels industry, proposing $40 million in his budget to promote renewable fuels including $5 million for a cellulosic ethanol plant.
Erin Roth, president of the Wisconsin Petroleum Council, said the oil industry is not opposed to ethanol per se, as long as its use is not mandated. A bill to require ethanol to be added to gasoline in Wisconsin failed to gain passage in the Legislature.
"We feel the market should decide," said Roth.
Roth's group is supporting legislative initiatives being advanced by the Wisconsin Soybean Association designed to develop and enhance Wisconsin's marketplace for biodiesel, Those initiatives include regulations to ensure the quality of biodiesel fuel; tax incentives for wholesalers, retailers and bulk users of biodiesel; and requiring all state motor fleets to increase their use of biodiesel to 20 percent by 2010 and 50 percent by 2015.
Hulsey's report said the state's greatest natural resources are its forests and wood products; corn production and corn stover, a major biomass source; dairy and beef cattle, therefore manure; and prairie grasslands in the Conservation Reserve Program and other conservation programs.
The state also has the largest papermaking facilities in the country, with many mills using wood for energy and looking for new sources of energy and revenue to compete with stiff international competition.
Already there are promising projects in the works. The Flambeau Paper Mill in Park Falls is experimenting with an advanced ethanol project and several Wisconsin ethanol plants are studying advanced biopower projects.
"If we take these steps, we will speed our efforts to reduce our dependence on foreign oil, coal and save money while creating jobs and helping family farmers," Hulsey said.
Saturday, April 21, 2007
Einstein sighting at University of Arizona
A student was cited and released for minor in possession while attending Spring Fling, 4502 N. First Ave., around 10 p.m. April 12.Police saw a man helping a woman who was bent over a garbage can. The man then held the student in a "baby-lap position," according to reports.The officer approached them to check on the woman. She said she did not have identification but identified herself with her CatCard.The student's eyes were red and watery and her speech was slurred.When she put her CatCard back in her wallet, the officer saw her Arizona driver's license and found the girl was 20 years old.She was cited and released for minor in possession, after telling the officer that citing her was unfair because Albert Einstein was following her.
The saga of Cazenovia continues
It is amazing how these incidents just go from bad to worse.....what to do with this 15 year old?
Eric Hainstock's voice was flat in a video interview with police Sept. 29 as he confessed to shooting Weston School Principal John Klang not even three hours before.
In a grainy video with bad audio, the 15-year-old high school freshman sprawled in a chair in bloodied pants and shirt as he told investigators that he didn't want to kill Klang when he took two loaded guns to school that Friday morning.
Why did he pull the trigger then? police asked. "I just freaked out," the teenager said. At another point, he mumbled, "My adrenaline was going."
Asked whether he fired the gun three times at Klang by accident or on purpose, he responded, "On purpose."
"It was pop, and then a couple of seconds later, pop, and then a couple seconds later, pop," Hainstock said, describing the sequence of shots fired in a school hallway decorated for homecoming.
The video confession was played Friday, the fourth day of a hearing before Sauk County Circuit Judge James Taggart to decide whether Hainstock should be treated as an adult or a juvenile in Klang's murder.
The hearing, sought by defense attorneys, is expected to continue through Tuesday.
On Friday, Sauk County District Attorney Patricia Barrett called witnesses who testified they saw Hainstock after he came through the school's front door with two loaded guns.
Weston guidance counselor Angela Young said she heard Hainstock say, "I'm here to (expletive) kill somebody."
And special education teacher James Nowak testified he saw Hainstock point the handgun at Klang's head, then sweep the gun toward Nowak. "That's when Mr. Klang made his move," Nowak said.
During Hainstock's video confession, he told police Klang started coming closer and closer, and finally caught the boy in a bear hug. "He wrapped his arms around me, and I fired," the boy said.
"I shot him," Hainstock said.
On the video, he demonstrated how he fired the .22-caliber revolver from underneath his left armpit. "Then, when (Klang) fell down and took me down with him, I nailed him in the leg," he told investigators.
At one point during Hainstock's video confession, he loudly cracked his knuckles. At another point, he asked what kind of shoes the jail was going to give him.
A bit later, he asked if jail officers would let him keep wearing a plastic bracelet given him by his girlfriend.
He asked about a phone call to which he was entitled. He told investigators he would use it to call his girlfriend or his best friend, not his parents - he told police he didn't want his parents notified.
On the video, Hainstock said he awakened at 6 a.m. that morning feeling like he couldn't take any more insults from his classmates - classmates who regularly called him a fag, rubbed up against him and punched him, he said.
Hainstock said he wanted to talk to Klang and his teachers about the incidents. He told police he ate breakfast, then waited until his parents, Shawn and Priscilla Hainstock, had gone to work before getting two of his father's guns from locked cabinets and loading them. He said he was going to talk to Klang.
"I was just going to hold it (the gun) out," he said on the video.
After school custodian Dave Thompson wrestled the shotgun away from him at the front door of the school, Hainstock said, "I pulled out the handgun, pulled the cock back and fired" at Klang.
During the video interview, state Justice Department Special Agent Elizabeth Feagles pointed out blood stains on Hainstock's pants and shirt. Hainstock said it was "blood from the principal."
With the interviewing winding down, Feagles asked him how he felt. "Tired," the teenager said.
Do you wish this hadn't happened? Feagles pressed.
"I don't wish nothing," Hainstock said. "I'm just tired."
Eric Hainstock's voice was flat in a video interview with police Sept. 29 as he confessed to shooting Weston School Principal John Klang not even three hours before.
In a grainy video with bad audio, the 15-year-old high school freshman sprawled in a chair in bloodied pants and shirt as he told investigators that he didn't want to kill Klang when he took two loaded guns to school that Friday morning.
Why did he pull the trigger then? police asked. "I just freaked out," the teenager said. At another point, he mumbled, "My adrenaline was going."
Asked whether he fired the gun three times at Klang by accident or on purpose, he responded, "On purpose."
"It was pop, and then a couple of seconds later, pop, and then a couple seconds later, pop," Hainstock said, describing the sequence of shots fired in a school hallway decorated for homecoming.
The video confession was played Friday, the fourth day of a hearing before Sauk County Circuit Judge James Taggart to decide whether Hainstock should be treated as an adult or a juvenile in Klang's murder.
The hearing, sought by defense attorneys, is expected to continue through Tuesday.
On Friday, Sauk County District Attorney Patricia Barrett called witnesses who testified they saw Hainstock after he came through the school's front door with two loaded guns.
Weston guidance counselor Angela Young said she heard Hainstock say, "I'm here to (expletive) kill somebody."
And special education teacher James Nowak testified he saw Hainstock point the handgun at Klang's head, then sweep the gun toward Nowak. "That's when Mr. Klang made his move," Nowak said.
During Hainstock's video confession, he told police Klang started coming closer and closer, and finally caught the boy in a bear hug. "He wrapped his arms around me, and I fired," the boy said.
"I shot him," Hainstock said.
On the video, he demonstrated how he fired the .22-caliber revolver from underneath his left armpit. "Then, when (Klang) fell down and took me down with him, I nailed him in the leg," he told investigators.
At one point during Hainstock's video confession, he loudly cracked his knuckles. At another point, he asked what kind of shoes the jail was going to give him.
A bit later, he asked if jail officers would let him keep wearing a plastic bracelet given him by his girlfriend.
He asked about a phone call to which he was entitled. He told investigators he would use it to call his girlfriend or his best friend, not his parents - he told police he didn't want his parents notified.
On the video, Hainstock said he awakened at 6 a.m. that morning feeling like he couldn't take any more insults from his classmates - classmates who regularly called him a fag, rubbed up against him and punched him, he said.
Hainstock said he wanted to talk to Klang and his teachers about the incidents. He told police he ate breakfast, then waited until his parents, Shawn and Priscilla Hainstock, had gone to work before getting two of his father's guns from locked cabinets and loading them. He said he was going to talk to Klang.
"I was just going to hold it (the gun) out," he said on the video.
After school custodian Dave Thompson wrestled the shotgun away from him at the front door of the school, Hainstock said, "I pulled out the handgun, pulled the cock back and fired" at Klang.
During the video interview, state Justice Department Special Agent Elizabeth Feagles pointed out blood stains on Hainstock's pants and shirt. Hainstock said it was "blood from the principal."
With the interviewing winding down, Feagles asked him how he felt. "Tired," the teenager said.
Do you wish this hadn't happened? Feagles pressed.
"I don't wish nothing," Hainstock said. "I'm just tired."
It is eerie how similar this is to VT and happening this week
Eric Hainstock, who allegedly shot and killed the principal at his rural Sauk County school, was bullied by classmates but bullied other kids himself, a friend and a teacher testified Wednesday.
Hainstock, 16, who is charged with shooting Weston High School Principal John Klang on Sept. 29 at the school, was constantly bullied by "quite a few" kids, said his friend, Morgan Gudenschwager, during the second day of a hearing to determine whether a first-degree intentional homicide charge against Hainstock should remain in adult court or be sent to juvenile court.
Gudenschwager, 15, said Hainstock was bullied and was called names by other students and said he and Hainstock had reported the bullying "about 30 times" to school officials.
He said nothing was ever done about it. Gudenschwager's grandfather, Allen Gudenschwager, also testified he reported the bullying but nothing was ever done.
But on cross-examination by Sauk County District Attorney Patricia Barrett, Morgan Gudenschwager agreed that Hainstock did his share of bullying, too, that it was "kind of a two-way street."
Math and physical education teacher Corey Brunett, who had held Hainstock down after a wounded Klang had already wrestled the alleged shooter to the ground, expressed similar sentiments.
"I would classify him as someone who would more likely give and take than be the victim," Brunett said.
Hainstock's attorneys, public defenders Rhoda Ricciardi and Jon Helland, presented Hainstock in court as the victim of bullying from kids at school and physical and sexual abuse from an extended family member. Hainstock also suffers from attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and is socially maladjusted, they said.
They want his case removed to juvenile court so that he can receive treatment.
If tried as a juvenile, Hainstock could be kept in a juvenile correctional facility until he is 25 years old. As an adult, he would face life in prison with release on extended supervision possible only after serving 20 years.
Under state law, anyone 15 or older who is charged with first-degree intentional homicide is automatically charged in adult court.
Earlier Wednesday, child psychiatrist Marty Beyer said under cross examination from Barrett that once Hainstock is released at age 25 from a juvenile facility, she could not guarantee that even with a combination of treatments that he would be prepared to face society.
"I can't predict it that specifically," Beyer said. "But likely with a combination of services that meet his needs he won't be acting out from immaturity or trauma."
Shelley Hagan, of the state Division of Juvenile Corrections, said there would be nothing the state could do to keep Hainstock behind bars or on supervision once he's released from a juvenile facility.
Gerald Konitzer, a section chief from the state Department of Corrections Bureau of Offender Classification and Movement, testified that there's a "maybe 10 percent" chance that juveniles sentenced for an adult crime would be sent initially to juvenile facilities during their teen years before being transferred to adult prisons. But Ricciardi said she was told by someone else at the DOC that there's a "99.9 percent chance" that if convicted, Hainstock would be initially assigned to the Green Bay Correctional Institution for its special education program.
Hainstock, 16, who is charged with shooting Weston High School Principal John Klang on Sept. 29 at the school, was constantly bullied by "quite a few" kids, said his friend, Morgan Gudenschwager, during the second day of a hearing to determine whether a first-degree intentional homicide charge against Hainstock should remain in adult court or be sent to juvenile court.
Gudenschwager, 15, said Hainstock was bullied and was called names by other students and said he and Hainstock had reported the bullying "about 30 times" to school officials.
He said nothing was ever done about it. Gudenschwager's grandfather, Allen Gudenschwager, also testified he reported the bullying but nothing was ever done.
But on cross-examination by Sauk County District Attorney Patricia Barrett, Morgan Gudenschwager agreed that Hainstock did his share of bullying, too, that it was "kind of a two-way street."
Math and physical education teacher Corey Brunett, who had held Hainstock down after a wounded Klang had already wrestled the alleged shooter to the ground, expressed similar sentiments.
"I would classify him as someone who would more likely give and take than be the victim," Brunett said.
Hainstock's attorneys, public defenders Rhoda Ricciardi and Jon Helland, presented Hainstock in court as the victim of bullying from kids at school and physical and sexual abuse from an extended family member. Hainstock also suffers from attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and is socially maladjusted, they said.
They want his case removed to juvenile court so that he can receive treatment.
If tried as a juvenile, Hainstock could be kept in a juvenile correctional facility until he is 25 years old. As an adult, he would face life in prison with release on extended supervision possible only after serving 20 years.
Under state law, anyone 15 or older who is charged with first-degree intentional homicide is automatically charged in adult court.
Earlier Wednesday, child psychiatrist Marty Beyer said under cross examination from Barrett that once Hainstock is released at age 25 from a juvenile facility, she could not guarantee that even with a combination of treatments that he would be prepared to face society.
"I can't predict it that specifically," Beyer said. "But likely with a combination of services that meet his needs he won't be acting out from immaturity or trauma."
Shelley Hagan, of the state Division of Juvenile Corrections, said there would be nothing the state could do to keep Hainstock behind bars or on supervision once he's released from a juvenile facility.
Gerald Konitzer, a section chief from the state Department of Corrections Bureau of Offender Classification and Movement, testified that there's a "maybe 10 percent" chance that juveniles sentenced for an adult crime would be sent initially to juvenile facilities during their teen years before being transferred to adult prisons. But Ricciardi said she was told by someone else at the DOC that there's a "99.9 percent chance" that if convicted, Hainstock would be initially assigned to the Green Bay Correctional Institution for its special education program.
Iraq and VT
I have been wondering how the famlies of the war dead feel with all the publicity on VT. In the last 3 weeks, I am sure there have been 33 dead in Iraq.....what a shame all around.....
Wineke: Thousands die while Congress, Bush duck
BILL WINEKE
Just so we don't forget: As of Thursday morning, some 68 American service members have died in Iraq during April.
At least one American has been killed every day of this month. On some days, six have been killed. One day saw the death of nine Americans.
I don't want to take anything away from the horror we're all feeling at the senseless murder of 32 people Monday at Virginia Tech. The idea that students and their teachers can be minding their own business studying in quiet classrooms only to meet a violent death is deeply disturbing.
The students didn't deserve to die.
But neither did the service members who died in Iraq. They, too, had homes and families and friends. They, too, had hopes of bright futures that will now never be.
Sometimes, we can allow statistics to numb us to the horror of what is happening around us.
We are shocked at the Virginia Tech massacre because it involved so many. The situation would have been just as horrifying had only one person been murdered - but it would have been a minor "story" and would have been soon forgotten.
We pay virtually no attention to the daily accumulation of reports of American deaths in Iraq for the opposite reason. So many have died - 3,314 at latest count - that one more American death seems just a blip, one reported only in the community the fallen soldier called home.
The deaths of Iraqis, the people we invaded to help, are newsworthy only when something spectacular happens.
The deaths of 32 at Virginia Tech - 33 when you count the killer, who surely was a victim of his own derangement - shocked us to the core. But the death of 33 Iraqi citizens is a virtually daily occurrence. On Wednesday, more than 230 people were killed or found dead in Iraq.
The Virginia Tech victims had families, friends and futures. The U.S. service members had families, friends and futures. The Iraqis had . . . well, you get the picture.
That's why it was so dismaying to see reports emerge Wednesday from President Bush's meeting with congressional leaders. They all keep posturing. They all keep weaving and ducking. None of them - not the president, not the leaders of Congress of either party - is talking seriously about the situation in Iraq or about how we can end the seemingly endless killing.
Perhaps they have nothing to say.
Wineke: Thousands die while Congress, Bush duck
BILL WINEKE
Just so we don't forget: As of Thursday morning, some 68 American service members have died in Iraq during April.
At least one American has been killed every day of this month. On some days, six have been killed. One day saw the death of nine Americans.
I don't want to take anything away from the horror we're all feeling at the senseless murder of 32 people Monday at Virginia Tech. The idea that students and their teachers can be minding their own business studying in quiet classrooms only to meet a violent death is deeply disturbing.
The students didn't deserve to die.
But neither did the service members who died in Iraq. They, too, had homes and families and friends. They, too, had hopes of bright futures that will now never be.
Sometimes, we can allow statistics to numb us to the horror of what is happening around us.
We are shocked at the Virginia Tech massacre because it involved so many. The situation would have been just as horrifying had only one person been murdered - but it would have been a minor "story" and would have been soon forgotten.
We pay virtually no attention to the daily accumulation of reports of American deaths in Iraq for the opposite reason. So many have died - 3,314 at latest count - that one more American death seems just a blip, one reported only in the community the fallen soldier called home.
The deaths of Iraqis, the people we invaded to help, are newsworthy only when something spectacular happens.
The deaths of 32 at Virginia Tech - 33 when you count the killer, who surely was a victim of his own derangement - shocked us to the core. But the death of 33 Iraqi citizens is a virtually daily occurrence. On Wednesday, more than 230 people were killed or found dead in Iraq.
The Virginia Tech victims had families, friends and futures. The U.S. service members had families, friends and futures. The Iraqis had . . . well, you get the picture.
That's why it was so dismaying to see reports emerge Wednesday from President Bush's meeting with congressional leaders. They all keep posturing. They all keep weaving and ducking. None of them - not the president, not the leaders of Congress of either party - is talking seriously about the situation in Iraq or about how we can end the seemingly endless killing.
Perhaps they have nothing to say.
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
Richland County, Wisconsin
A couple of weeks ago, we were visiting relatives and drove through Cazenovia. The road sign said the population was 325 and there were a couple of bars and a gas station and maybe a store or two.
This area is becoming very Amish. Very rural wtth residences far, far apart once you get out of the 'metropolis.' I can appreciate feeling abandoned in this situation and the results can only be ugly. Being hated at being called names and picked on. It certainly does not justify the ugly thing he did, but that feeling of bleakness is hard to overcome.
It is ironic that his hearings are during this very dark week at Virginia Tech.
We need to tak better care of the kids.....
Eric Hainstock woke up Friday morning, Sept. 29, feeling desperate.
The 15-year-old wanted someone to recognize how tormented he was in school and how unhappy at home.
He hated being called a "fag," and he wanted school officials to stop upperclassmen from picking on him.
He loaded two guns from his parents' house, took gas out of the lawn mower and put it in his parents' truck, then drove to school.
That's what child psychologist Marty Beyer, a defense witness, testified Tuesday in Sauk County Circuit Court.
"I had no plan," Hainstock told Beyer after the shooting. "I wanted to make people listen. No one would help."
Hainstock is charged with first-degree intentional homicide for allegedly shooting Weston School Principal John Klang three times with a handgun while Klang wrestled with him at the school on Sept. 29.
The testimony Tuesday came during the first of several days of a "reverse waiver" hearing, where Hainstock's public defenders, Jon Helland and Rhoda Ricciardi, are seeking to convince Judge James Taggart that Hainstock should be tried as a juvenile rather than as an adult.
Sauk County District Attorney Patricia Barrett will get her chance to present witnesses later this week.
If Hainstock, who is now 16, is tried and convicted as an adult, he faces a possible life sentence without parole. As a juvenile, he could be released at age 25, said Helland.
"This is very significant," Helland said of the hearing, which is expected to last through Thursday.
Beyer, a Virginia psychologist who interviewed Hainstock for 11 hours in January and reviewed police and social services records, said the records showed the teen-ager had been sexually abused when he was 6 by a 13-year-old stepbrother and physically abused by his father and adoptive mother.
Ruth Willis, wife of the Rev. Paul Willis at Valton Friends Church, which Hainstock attended, said a few years ago she told Mike Ecker, then the Weston principal, that Hainstock could become a school shooter if no one helped him.
"I told him if he didn't find help for this boy, he was going to have another Columbine on his hands," Willis testified. "I could see the signs in Eric - he lived in a house with lots of guns. He needed someone in his corner."
Willis said Hainstock was part of the youth group at the church when she and her husband arrived five years ago, and she took him under her wing, helping him with his homework, buying him clothes, working with his teachers.
But Hainstock's parents, Sean and Priscilla Hainstock, began to resent her involvement, Willis said, and the boy began to take advantage of her. She withdrew from the family, she said.
But she described Hainstock as charming and helpful. "I believe Satan entered that boy, and that's what caused him to do this," Willis testified.
Beyer said Hainstock was diagnosed with learning disabilities and attention deficit disorder when he was 4 and was treated, off and on, with Ritalin to calm him.
Every year brought the same school assessment of Hainstock's social and academic difficulties, she said, but plans to help him were inadequate.
He moved seven times in eight years as his parents divorced, then found new partners. At one point, Beyer said, Hainstock didn't see his biological mother for three years.
Willis said the boy would get a little crazy every year around Christmas and his birthday because his biological mother would promise to visit but never did. "He wanted to hear from his biological mother," she said.
'Grandma listened'
Irene Hainstock, the boy's paternal grandmother, was the first to testify on his behalf. She wept at times when she said he had been a loving and affectionate youngster. "He liked to talk, and Grandma listened," she said.
Her grandson frequently arrived at her house after arguing with his parents, she said, and he lived with her for a while. "He was terribly nervous and jumpy and easily flustered," she said.
A pediatrician prescribed Ritalin, and Irene Hainstock said it helped calm the boy. But, she said, Sean Hainstock later decided he didn't want his son to take the medication.
The teenager called her from jail right after the shooting, Irene Hainstock testified. "I said, 'Eric, what have you done?' and he said, 'Grandma, I don't know. Something snapped in my head.' "
Letter confis cated
Beyer revealed the teen-ager wrote a letter to Klang's widow, Sue, from jail, though it was confiscated by officers and never delivered.
In the letter, he wrote, "It's me, Eric. I'm sorry for what happened."
Hainstock wrote that, "I often cry about what happened. I know it will never be the same."
He ended with "I'm so sorry" and a little drawing of a heart.
Beyer said the letter showed Hainstock was out of touch and emotionally immature. "He doesn't seem to realize what it would be for Mrs. Klang to receive such a letter," Beyer said.
Beyer also said Hainstock's behavior at school - talking too much, interrupting conversations, hyperactivity - may have prompted other students to pick on him.
"They picked on him for many years," Beyer testified, "early on because of his learning disabilities - he couldn't keep up in reading and math - and later on because of his body odor, wearing clothes that smelled and wearing some clothes day in and day out."
Most recently, however, Beyer said he was most troubled by being called gay when he was not.
The hearing is expected to continue today.
This area is becoming very Amish. Very rural wtth residences far, far apart once you get out of the 'metropolis.' I can appreciate feeling abandoned in this situation and the results can only be ugly. Being hated at being called names and picked on. It certainly does not justify the ugly thing he did, but that feeling of bleakness is hard to overcome.
It is ironic that his hearings are during this very dark week at Virginia Tech.
We need to tak better care of the kids.....
Eric Hainstock woke up Friday morning, Sept. 29, feeling desperate.
The 15-year-old wanted someone to recognize how tormented he was in school and how unhappy at home.
He hated being called a "fag," and he wanted school officials to stop upperclassmen from picking on him.
He loaded two guns from his parents' house, took gas out of the lawn mower and put it in his parents' truck, then drove to school.
That's what child psychologist Marty Beyer, a defense witness, testified Tuesday in Sauk County Circuit Court.
"I had no plan," Hainstock told Beyer after the shooting. "I wanted to make people listen. No one would help."
Hainstock is charged with first-degree intentional homicide for allegedly shooting Weston School Principal John Klang three times with a handgun while Klang wrestled with him at the school on Sept. 29.
The testimony Tuesday came during the first of several days of a "reverse waiver" hearing, where Hainstock's public defenders, Jon Helland and Rhoda Ricciardi, are seeking to convince Judge James Taggart that Hainstock should be tried as a juvenile rather than as an adult.
Sauk County District Attorney Patricia Barrett will get her chance to present witnesses later this week.
If Hainstock, who is now 16, is tried and convicted as an adult, he faces a possible life sentence without parole. As a juvenile, he could be released at age 25, said Helland.
"This is very significant," Helland said of the hearing, which is expected to last through Thursday.
Beyer, a Virginia psychologist who interviewed Hainstock for 11 hours in January and reviewed police and social services records, said the records showed the teen-ager had been sexually abused when he was 6 by a 13-year-old stepbrother and physically abused by his father and adoptive mother.
Ruth Willis, wife of the Rev. Paul Willis at Valton Friends Church, which Hainstock attended, said a few years ago she told Mike Ecker, then the Weston principal, that Hainstock could become a school shooter if no one helped him.
"I told him if he didn't find help for this boy, he was going to have another Columbine on his hands," Willis testified. "I could see the signs in Eric - he lived in a house with lots of guns. He needed someone in his corner."
Willis said Hainstock was part of the youth group at the church when she and her husband arrived five years ago, and she took him under her wing, helping him with his homework, buying him clothes, working with his teachers.
But Hainstock's parents, Sean and Priscilla Hainstock, began to resent her involvement, Willis said, and the boy began to take advantage of her. She withdrew from the family, she said.
But she described Hainstock as charming and helpful. "I believe Satan entered that boy, and that's what caused him to do this," Willis testified.
Beyer said Hainstock was diagnosed with learning disabilities and attention deficit disorder when he was 4 and was treated, off and on, with Ritalin to calm him.
Every year brought the same school assessment of Hainstock's social and academic difficulties, she said, but plans to help him were inadequate.
He moved seven times in eight years as his parents divorced, then found new partners. At one point, Beyer said, Hainstock didn't see his biological mother for three years.
Willis said the boy would get a little crazy every year around Christmas and his birthday because his biological mother would promise to visit but never did. "He wanted to hear from his biological mother," she said.
'Grandma listened'
Irene Hainstock, the boy's paternal grandmother, was the first to testify on his behalf. She wept at times when she said he had been a loving and affectionate youngster. "He liked to talk, and Grandma listened," she said.
Her grandson frequently arrived at her house after arguing with his parents, she said, and he lived with her for a while. "He was terribly nervous and jumpy and easily flustered," she said.
A pediatrician prescribed Ritalin, and Irene Hainstock said it helped calm the boy. But, she said, Sean Hainstock later decided he didn't want his son to take the medication.
The teenager called her from jail right after the shooting, Irene Hainstock testified. "I said, 'Eric, what have you done?' and he said, 'Grandma, I don't know. Something snapped in my head.' "
Letter confis cated
Beyer revealed the teen-ager wrote a letter to Klang's widow, Sue, from jail, though it was confiscated by officers and never delivered.
In the letter, he wrote, "It's me, Eric. I'm sorry for what happened."
Hainstock wrote that, "I often cry about what happened. I know it will never be the same."
He ended with "I'm so sorry" and a little drawing of a heart.
Beyer said the letter showed Hainstock was out of touch and emotionally immature. "He doesn't seem to realize what it would be for Mrs. Klang to receive such a letter," Beyer said.
Beyer also said Hainstock's behavior at school - talking too much, interrupting conversations, hyperactivity - may have prompted other students to pick on him.
"They picked on him for many years," Beyer testified, "early on because of his learning disabilities - he couldn't keep up in reading and math - and later on because of his body odor, wearing clothes that smelled and wearing some clothes day in and day out."
Most recently, however, Beyer said he was most troubled by being called gay when he was not.
The hearing is expected to continue today.
I hate the "Final Arrangement" ads....
I feel a senior moment coming on
The calendar stares at me in black, white and sepia. Try as I might, I can’t change the reality of dates as they swiftly approach.
In recent months, dates such as April 3 have commanded my attention. That was election day, and it was a big deal to folks like journalists, unethical political consultants and yard-sign makers. In a few weeks, I’ll focus on the date when we publish a special edition. We fondly call it Gradzilla, because gathering the names of all high-school graduates is a monster task.
But for now, I’m zeroing in on two more dates. On those days I will visit schools in Blue Springs and Independence to speak in career-day programs.
I’m comfortable in front of groups, and I’ve addressed kids many times. So why should I feel differently now?
Maybe it’s because I’ve crossed the threshold and actually become what my son started calling me more than a decade ago. Something that’s anathema to the whippersnappers I’ll be addressing: Geezer.
A few months back, I hit 55. When the calendar turned, I became a candidate for age-related safe-driving courses, specialized insurance solicitors and even an occasional senior discount.
I can only pray that Depends remain a long way off.
Of course, my family and friends have poked fun at my gray hair for years. I found my first silver-colored strands while in college. But now, after looking at my hairbrush, I’m just happy to have any gray left on my head.
As they say, it beats the alternative — and I’m not talking about Grecian Formula.
I guess there’s just no denying that I am old. Why, I even remember when the Royals were really good and the Chiefs were really bad.
What more proof do I need?
When I turned 55, I also became eligible for early retirement. Oh, it’s not gonna happen anytime soon. If I surrendered my keyboard now, my pension might be visible with a microscope. In terms of corporate numbers, at least, I’m not so old, after all.
Of course, my son will never believe that. A few years ago, I told him that if he was going to tease me he had to do it right. He had to show some creativity.
I soon started hearing things like: “You’re so old … that Noah gave you your first boat ride.”
Soon his friends, and even my wife, were contributing such day-brighteners.
But I haven’t heard any for quite awhile. I wonder if the calendar has moved too many pages and they want to spare the old guy’s feelings.
Nah.
And neither will the kids at the career-day events. They might think I’m chronologically challenged, but I haven’t lost all of my skills.
In fact, I can still do something that few kids today have ever experienced: Program a VCR.
The calendar stares at me in black, white and sepia. Try as I might, I can’t change the reality of dates as they swiftly approach.
In recent months, dates such as April 3 have commanded my attention. That was election day, and it was a big deal to folks like journalists, unethical political consultants and yard-sign makers. In a few weeks, I’ll focus on the date when we publish a special edition. We fondly call it Gradzilla, because gathering the names of all high-school graduates is a monster task.
But for now, I’m zeroing in on two more dates. On those days I will visit schools in Blue Springs and Independence to speak in career-day programs.
I’m comfortable in front of groups, and I’ve addressed kids many times. So why should I feel differently now?
Maybe it’s because I’ve crossed the threshold and actually become what my son started calling me more than a decade ago. Something that’s anathema to the whippersnappers I’ll be addressing: Geezer.
A few months back, I hit 55. When the calendar turned, I became a candidate for age-related safe-driving courses, specialized insurance solicitors and even an occasional senior discount.
I can only pray that Depends remain a long way off.
Of course, my family and friends have poked fun at my gray hair for years. I found my first silver-colored strands while in college. But now, after looking at my hairbrush, I’m just happy to have any gray left on my head.
As they say, it beats the alternative — and I’m not talking about Grecian Formula.
I guess there’s just no denying that I am old. Why, I even remember when the Royals were really good and the Chiefs were really bad.
What more proof do I need?
When I turned 55, I also became eligible for early retirement. Oh, it’s not gonna happen anytime soon. If I surrendered my keyboard now, my pension might be visible with a microscope. In terms of corporate numbers, at least, I’m not so old, after all.
Of course, my son will never believe that. A few years ago, I told him that if he was going to tease me he had to do it right. He had to show some creativity.
I soon started hearing things like: “You’re so old … that Noah gave you your first boat ride.”
Soon his friends, and even my wife, were contributing such day-brighteners.
But I haven’t heard any for quite awhile. I wonder if the calendar has moved too many pages and they want to spare the old guy’s feelings.
Nah.
And neither will the kids at the career-day events. They might think I’m chronologically challenged, but I haven’t lost all of my skills.
In fact, I can still do something that few kids today have ever experienced: Program a VCR.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)