Here's the story. Educate yourself if you feel so inclined.

A letter being auctioned in London this week adds more fuel to the long-simmering debate about the Nobel Prize-winning physicist's religious views. In the note, written the year before his death, Einstein dismissed the idea of God as the product of human weakness and the Bible as "pretty childish

So by the looks of things this article has been around for a little while, so why the fact that it's being sold now adds significantly to the debate is beyond me.

Regardless of it's relavence to the debate about Einstein's particular belief's is the debate about science vs. religion. For me it's never been too much of a debate, since I've never found too many scientific theories that have much of any friction with my religious beliefs. But what I find interesting is this part of the above article:

"Like many great scientists of the past, he is rather quirky about religion, and not always consistent from one period to another," Brooke said.

Many would condemn such eccentricity of theology, but if we acknowledge that they're smarter than us, then why do we think they're wrong when they do something we don't understand?

Here's a favorite quote for mine from the "stein":

"Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind."

With that theory, does creationism have a case for being taught in schools? Has anyone ever come up with a solid arguement for it being taught in schools? If he's so smart, why doesn't he know what a comb is?

It's time to start taking applications for the staff of the Vox for the 2008-2009 school year.

This is for the print edition, as well as the blog.

Some tips:

Send us examples of your work!!! Each year I get applications and they DON'T SEND SAMPLES even though we request them.

Don't be afraid to apply for the second time! Sometimes, we select upperclassmen over underclassmen just because it's their last chance to be on staff. Don't be afraid to apply again!

We desperately need sports writers and cartoonists.

We are also hiring general reporters for news, A&E and opinion. We also need photographers and graphic artists.

Additionally, all our bloggers are graduating. Think this is something you'd like to do? We need you!

The application is here:

If you are from Idaho, use this one:

If the link isn't working or you have any questions, email Erin at: erind@spokesman.com

Applications are due June 13.

Keep in mind that there will be training sessions in July, and we start work on our first edition in August. Does this mean we work all summer? Oh heck no. But if you are taking off for the entire summer, it's something you need to keep in mind. Don't apply if you can't train. Or, email Erin and see if something can be worked out.

So, download the application, fill it out, and email it back to Erin as an attachment. AND DON'T FORGET TO SEND EXAMPLES OF YOUR WORK!

If you need to snail mail your app, send it to:
Erin Daniels
999 West Riverside
Spokane WA, 99210

And if you don't have email? Get one. It's how we communicate and you can't apply without one. Thanks!

I think most places have had their prom's by now, I know mine was Amazing!!!

So I was waiting in line for pictures with my date at Finch Arboretum. There was a group of probably 6 small children hanging out nearby, about 6 years old. After a little while, one of the kids starts hitting on my date! At first it was just innocent litte "hey girl!" kinda things, followed by "he dared me to do it!" After a while though, they started singing "Soldier Boy" and doing the dance to try and impress her, which is a song I find uncomfortable to listen to when it's not sung by near infants. Finally, the kid pulls up on his bike and starts talking some smack: "dude, you boy in 'da tux bettah leave! I'm gonna be takin' da picture wit dis 'cherry!'" I couldn't resist, so I faced this dude off: "are you hittin' on my girl? Comon'! you wanna fight for her? Put up yo' dukes!" The kid then threw his bike down and started being all "yeah kid! Whatcha gonna do? huh? yeah, notin! That's what I thought!" And he biked away.

We kinda regret not having him in one of our pictures.

Any of you guys have any fun prom stories? Maybe less creepy ones? or more creepy ones? Anyone else know thriller well enough to dance at least 50% of the song?

There's so much discussion nowadays over whether teens are overloaded and overwhelmed with school and preparation for college, I thought I would just remind you all it could be worse.

SEOUL, South Korea — It is 10:30 p.m. and students at the elite Daewon prep school here are cramming in a study hall that ends a 15-hour school day. A window is propped open so the evening chill can keep them awake. One teenager studies standing upright at his desk to keep from dozing.

Kim Hyun-kyung, who has accumulated nearly perfect scores on her SATs, is multitasking to prepare for physics, chemistry and history exams.

“I can’t let myself waste even a second,” said Ms. Kim, who dreams of attending Harvard, Yale or another brand-name American college. And she has a good shot. This spring, as in previous years, all but a few of the 133 graduates from Daewon Foreign Language High School who applied to selective American universities won admission.

...

Both schools seem to be rethinking their grueling regimen, at least a bit. Minjok, a boarding school, has turned off dormitory surveillance cameras previously used to ensure that students did not doze in late-night study sessions. Daewon is ending its school day earlier for freshmen. Its founder, Lee Won-hee, worried in an interview that while Daewon was turning out high-scoring students, it might be falling short in educating them as responsible citizens.

Rest of the article.

In the US, do you think high school students are overworked and overscheduled? Is there too much competition surrounding the college process?

Many are starting to ask when and how it is time to apply for the Vox staff for the next school year.

Stand by! The application and the process will be up next week. Promise!

Until then...

We need reporters for news, sports, A&E and opinion columnists.

We also need photographers and graphic designers.

We also will need bloggers!

We REALLY need sports writers and bloggers.

Interested? Stay tuned!

Also in this month's Vox, East Valley High student Sarah Radmar writes about a lawsuit against the East Valley School District for $1, over students' rights to pray at school.

From the story: Click here for file

“We want everyone to have the ability to meet and pray. We don’t care if you're Buddhist, Muslim, Devil Worshipper, whatever: students should have the right to pray on their own freewill with a group,” Way said.

According to the story, a group of students were praying on campus and another student who overheard them singing "Amazing Grace" complained. Said the student who complained to admin:

“Public school is a place of education, not religious activity. If they allow religious activity, they should be providing [it] for all religions.”

QUESTION: Do you agree or disagree with the lawsuit? Should students be able to meet on campus to pray?

A Vox card to send your mother if you still don't have a gift. Enjoy...

From the Oregonian:

MAYA BLACKMUN The Oregonian Staff
TIGARD -- Teachers and administrators at Twality Middle School have seen something in the trash bins that has them worried: increasing numbers of empty energy drink cans.

Some teachers became so concerned, they e-mailed parents Friday pleading with them not to send their students to school with energy drinks. Administrators followed up with a letter Tuesday to all families in the 880-student school.

"The result is that some students are literally drunk on a caffeine buzz, or falling off a caffeine crash," the e-mail said. While many energy drinks have the same caffeine, ounce for ounce, as strong coffee, the teachers wrote they found some students exchanging and accumulating cans and drinking as many as five cans a day.

"Many energy drink consumers have already developed caffeine dependency, and on some days we get to witness 14-year-old caffeine withdrawal (You know how you get when you haven't had your cup of coffee)," the teachers wrote.

The rising popularity of so-called energy drinks is drawing concern among school administrators around the nation, with principals in other states also urging parents not to send their students to school with energy drinks. In mid-March, four eighth-graders in Broward County, Fla., were hospitalized after sipping energy drinks and then complaining of sweating and racing hearts.

QUESTION: How many energy drinks a day do you consume? Do you agree there is a problem with teens drinking too many?

In this month's Vox, Mt. Spokane senior (and Vox copy editor) Danielle Price says yes, senior projects do miss the point. Says Danielle:

“But it’s all about you!” pro-Advisory teachers protest. “What can be easier than a presentation on you?” I can think of several things: lion taming, rocket science, learning Russian….I could go on and on. Because once you get started, you find that telling a bunch of strangers about yourself AND fulfilling their requirements is harder than it looks.

And for what? What is the point of telling complete strangers what we want to be when we grow up? Sure, it was cute when we were four, but now that we’re seventeen and eighteen, it’s just boring. All it does is add unnecessary stress to our lives.

Senior projects do not help us at all. They do not help us figure out the rest of our lives, solve world hunger, or even give us something interesting to do. All they do is suck up our time and effort that could have been spent doing something more useful, like lion taming.

Danielle's colum: Click here for file

QUESTION: Do you agree? Are senior projects a waste of time?

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A newborn black Jaguar, Panthera Onca, who is two-month-old and yet to be named, is seen at the Huachipa zoo in Lima, Monday, May 5, 2008. The cub is the third Jaguar born in captivity in Peru.(AP Photo/Martin Mejia)

I have no real reason for posting this. I just thought it was stinking cute. (Sent to me by S-R online goddess, Thuy Nguyen.)

I don't even know what to say to this one:

Your odd news of the day!

FROM: Newslite.tv - Odd News

Ewwwwwwwwww...

Consumer group Which? took swabs from keyboards across London offices and tested them for bugs such as e.coli, staphylococcus aureus and enterobacteria.

They found the bugs to be present in many and say this could cause upset stomachs and food poisoning or 'qwerty tummy' as they are calling it, after the first six letters on a keyboard. Microbiologist Dr Peter Wilson even insisted one of the tested keyboards was removed, quarantined and cleaned after it was revealed to have 150 times the recommended limit for bacteria.

In the same office the scientists tested a toilet seat which have five times less germs.

QUESTION: How do you think your keyboard would rate?

And while on the topic of sex ed, this from a brief in yesterday's S-R:

Chlamydia rates are rising in Spokane County, prompting health officials to urge more sexually transmitted disease screening.

Women may develop pelvic inflammatory disease from chlamydia. The disease is often undiagnosed, said Stacy Wenzl, communicable disease prevention program manager at the Spokane Regional Health District. Antibiotics are available.

Wenzl said the 422 cases reported in the first three months of 2008 are worrisome when compared to the 274 reported during the same span last year.

Prevention of chlamydia can be achieved through limiting sex or having a mutually monogamous relationship with an uninfected sex partner.

This mother of three from Wisconsin is teaching sex ed in a VERY frank way...

QUESTION: There has been a lot of talk on here about how "abstinence-only" sex ed doesn't work. How about teaching it this way? Would it start discussion in your home?

Carolyn Campbell, a senior at Huron High School in Ann Arbor, accepted an unusual invitation to the prom from fellow senior Kristoff Wennersten. Photo by: ELIYAHU GURFINKEL, THE ANN ARBOR NEWS

by Jeff Arnold | The Ann Arbor News

Kristoff Wennersten figured his prom proposal had to be one-of-a-kind if it would have any chance of being accepted.

But the Huron High School senior never imagined it would result in a suspension for himself and 12 of his varsity lacrosse teammates, whom he recruited to help spell out the message at a school soccer match via their derrieres.

The players displayed the question, "Will You Go To The Prom With Me? Yes or No?" on their posteriors while mooning Huron senior Carolyn Campbell at a game.

All 13 players were suspended for a undetermined number of games and ordered to complete 20 hours of community service.

Campbell, who accepted the prom invitation by patting the lower back of the player displaying the word 'Yes,' described Wennersten's method as "cute" and said she wasn't upset by the manner in which she was asked.

"People get pretty creative with prom. Anyone who's done anything has been pretty outlandish," Campbell said. "This is pretty epic, I would say.

"I didn't think it would become this big of a deal."

And from a parent:

Karen Van Eck, whose sophomore son, Forrest, plays for Huron's junior varsity lacrosse team, wasn't among those upset. But she said she saw the need for punishment.

"Some very nice kids made a really bad choice," Van Eck said. "I think it all boils down to respect. Who wants a bunch of boys with their butts hanging out (representing the school)? They had to do something."

QUESTION: Was the suspension deserved? Also, did you go all out to ask someone to the prom?

I've encountered many trivial ethics debates over the years, and I find this one oddly amusing:

Is it ethical or moral to bring in your own food or drinks into movie theaters even when they say not to? I mean, they are charging a tounge and an eyeball just to see the dumb movie, why should they get cash for overpriced junk food too? But why does inconvenience waive our subjugation to the rules?

picture from this weirdo.

From the New York Times

Barry Bearak, a news reporter, was imprisoned in Zimbabwe for doing his job--journalism.

I was being charged with the crime of “committing journalism.” One of my captors, Detective Inspector Dani Rangwani, described the offense to me as something despicable, almost hissing the words: “You’ve been gathering, processing and disseminating the news.”

And I’d been caught at it red-handed, my notes spread across my desk, my text messages readable on my cellphone, my stories preserved by Microsoft Word in an open laptop.

This guy had two dozen policemen and officials in his hotel room, searching for incriminating evidence. Obviously they found his notes and lappy, but other than that, there wasn't much else.

Here's the whole article

What would you do if this happened to you? Do you think journalism is the means for capital punishment?

16-year-old Chloe Marshall, size 16, has beat skinnier girls to now compete in the national finals for Miss England.

Video here...

"I wanted to go through to the Miss England finals to break through the stereotype that you have to be tall and skinny."

From an article in the Telegraph:

Chloe's success comes as the debate about the use of size zero models in the fashion industry continues.

The debate was sparked last year when a Uruguayan model, Luisel Ramos, 22, died of heart failure after starving herself.

In November, a 21-year-old Brazilian model, Ana Carolina Reston, died from anorexia.

The deaths prompted organisers of Madrid Fashion Week to ban underweight models, while Milan followed suit with a code of conduct to stop anorexic-looking models being used in shows.

The British Fashion Council, however, refused to ban size zero women from taking part in London Fashion Week.

Doctors and women's groups have expressed concern that the use of underweight models encourages anorexia in the industry and sends a dangerous signal to girls.

QUESTION: Should there be a ban on underweight models? Are young women like Chloe a more realistic image for girls everywhere?

You have probably heard by now that Miley Cyrus is under fire for some pictures in Vanity Fair.

She says she thought the shots were artistic at the time, but now she's just embarrassed. Vanity Fair says her family was present at the shoot and all approved at the time.

Here's a pretty good video clip on the topic:

Miley Cyrus photos too racy?

Miley is 15 and kids as young as kindergarten adore her. My 5-year-old wears her shoes...

QUESTION: Does Miley have a right to be embarrassed? Are the photos a big deal or not even provocative in the first place? Do you think this soils her image at all?

University High School will begin administering breath tests to students before they can enter dances starting next year.

Full article

Some exerpts from article:
Students arriving drunk or sneaking alcohol into events has been a problem this year, said Associated Student Body President Brett Vlahovich. "A lot of them have Pepsi bottles, and they had put vodka in the bottles," he said. "They got a bit tipsy. We've also had incidents where students were caught drunk at the door, and they've been turned away."

Other schools in the area, such as Post Falls High School and Mt. Spokane High School, already have similar programs. "I've talked to kids at schools who do it who say they like it because it removes pressure from them to drink before the dance," Danelo said. "It takes that peer pressure off the kids."

University High School will buy two breathalyzers for $160 each out of ASB funds, Danelo said. After that, there will be a cost of $50 per dance to pay for cartridges in the units. That money will be paid by the group putting on the dance as a fundraiser.

Vlahovich said he supports the program even though he will graduate before it takes effect next fall. "I think it's a great idea," he said. If he were subjected to a test, he added, "it wouldn't bother me whatsoever because I have nothing to hide. It shouldn't be that big of a deal because, if you have nothing to hide, then nothing will come of it."

QUESTION: Should more schools impliment similar policies? Would it affect your attendance at dances?

Looking for a Father's Day gift idea?

LONDON (Reuters) - Found: drinking companions to join elderly gentleman for a friendly beer at his local pub.

Mike Hammond was bombarded with offers after advertising in his village post office for someone to accompany his 88-year-old father Jack on visits to a southern England pub from a nursing home.

He offered the lucky winner 7 pounds ($14) an hour plus expenses and, after sifting through the applicants, decided on a job-share. Drinking duties are to be divided between a retired doctor and a former military man.

"Dad's now going to be going down to the pub several times a week -- three with his new friends and twice with me," Mike Hammond told The Times on Thursday. "I want to give him some of his old life back."

Some crazy stuff has been happening on the set of the next 007 film, Quantum of Solace. From CNN:

A stuntman was seriously injured in a car crash while filming an action sequence for the new James Bond movie "Quantum of Solace" on a famously windy lakeside road in northern Italy, a local official said Thursday.

An experienced stunt driver of an Alfa Romeo car remained hospitalized in serious condition following the accident Wednesday, the film's London-based production company said.

A second stunt driver in the same car also was injured, but less seriously.

It noted that neither director Marc Forster, actor Daniel Craig nor any cast members were at the location when the accident occurred.

The accident was the second on the Bond set in four days, after an Aston Martin being delivered to the set skidded off the road in heavy rain and landed into Lake Garda on Saturday. No one was injured and the car was later fished from the lake.

Get the full story here.

Question: Are film stunts getting too dangerous? Have you ever considered being a stuntman/woman?

ASSOCIATE PRESS - Miley Cyrus is already way richer than her dad, Billy Ray, and she's only 15.

People magazine reports that the Miley Cyrus franchise will be worth a projected $1 billion by the end of the year. She tops the magazine's list of the richest teen celebrities.

Not that Miley is seeing much of the money. Her mom says most is invested and Miley can't touch it until she's 18.

The Jonas Brothers are also on the list, making $12 million a year. Fourteen-year-old Dakota Fanning makes $4 million a movie.

Twelve-year-old Abigail Breslin makes $2 million a film, but has to live on an allowance of $11 a week.

Thirteen-year-old Mark Indelicato makes nearly a half million dollars for a season of "Ugly Betty," but he has an allowance of $50 a week.

QUESTION: How much money do you get from your parents, if any, to use a week?

So I'm casually reading... looking for material to blog, and I come across a Men's Health article on oral care. They post a list of cities who take care of their teeth, with stats based from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Lookie here at who has the THIRD worst tooth care:

100 Lubbock, TX
99 Philadelphia, PA
98 Spokane, WA
97 Salt Lake City, UT

What the...

Leave vanity at the door. According to the article "poor oral hygiene is linked to higher risks of heart disease, stroke, and even pancreatic cancer."

Whaaa??? We made the list? AND as yuck-mouths?

QUESTION: Do you visit the dentist regularly? What are your thoughts on the study?