Jody Lawrence-Turner is detail oriented. I met Jody at the Davenport when she was a new arrival reporting on Dick Cheney and his visit here while we were raising money for a GOP cause. I recall she asked me some very insightful questions and I directed her toward the brilliant "Avery Rendon" quote..a gentleman who is with PJALS and is a good friend...although we have divergent political views (now we agree on the war.....END IT NOW)

Jody does an excellent job with difficult assignments...especially with consideration to the fact she is young. Anybody under 30 years old writing with her focus and laser-beam accuracy...WOW.....Avery and I both were impressed with her professionalism.(Avery is a retired software exec who travels and collects art with Peggy Guggenheim)

The issue of the teacher and the "Creepy" factor makes me imagine a teachers union...and a Guillatine. Sometimes punishment should be more than cruel and unusual. Maybe with certain crimes we should lock em up and melt the key...then poor the metal liquids down the gullet of the perp. I agree with both Steve Smith and Mark Fuhrman on this one.

Teachers have a sacred trust with our impressionable children. Once violated...they become a different and damaged person. With that in mind I can only say that I wish Keyser Soze (fictional character from "The Usual Suspects")...I wish he were available for proper and appropriate measures for those who violate our children.

My wife Belinda and I have 5 teenagers. Three with us almost full time. If I were left alone with such a perpetrator for 5 minutes, I feel confident I could redirect his energy into a pile of human waste on the floor...prepped for cremation. That sounds drastic...huh ? Level three sex offenders are higher on the food chain...maybe...but kids are special. They are only young once and those experiences and interactions form who they become.

Punishment should be extreme.

Waterboarding is far too kind.

David Howard Elton
Former CASA
(court appointed special advocate/Oregon 1998-99)

Dave Oliveria has opened a thread on this topic at Huckleberries Online.

Here is the link.

steve

I was not here yesterday to be part of the discussion about whether we should post the school district's investigative report. Although I understand the arguments against posting offensive documents, I would have argued it was justified in this case.
This apparently is a very well-liked teacher, and our reporters took considerable flack when we originally wrote that he'd been placed on leave. Numerous people said that when the investigation was done, it would turn out that an innocent man had been dragged through the mud. And already today, I've responded to e-mail from an angry former student who defends Perkins and questions why this was news.
I doubt anyone who read the district report would question that the situation is worthy of news coverage.

We must do all we can to keep our children safe.. I too was a Guardian Ad Litem for a year after retirement (CASA).. and found the homes that we were asked to enter and evaluate were beyond many's scope of experience... Gus

I'm a student at Rogers High School.
I had Mr. Perkins
He was such a nice guy.
He never seemed like he'd do something like this.
I don't know wut to think.
I was so shocked when i heard about it.
I knew he was gay.
But i never thought that he would go this far.
its hurtful.

It is disappointing that someone has the power to destroy human potential with only one article. I do not blame the Spokesman for what is going, but I am rather critical of a media outlet that writes with such flagrant disregard for the facts. What the Spokesman wrote could almost constitute as slander, and looks like bathroom rumors disguised as journalism. Indeed the pen is mightier than the sword. What's even mightier is the ability of media to pursuade people, and people's ability to believe everything in front of their eyes as truth, without further questioning the leigitmacy.