The Observer, April 6, 2007
Volume XXXIX, Issue 23
Outside the Circle
Dartmouth sued over student death
The parents of a student who was injured and later died during a skiing class at Dartmouth are suing the school for more than $20 million. They are claiming a wrongful death occurred after her accident in 2004.
The student, Christina Porter, was on a trip as part of her Dartmouth skiing class. An instructer told her to ski alone down the Dartmouth Skiway in Lyme, N.H. Porter crashed into a tree. She was a beginner and wasn't wearing a helmet.
Porter was comatose for six months, and she died a year later. The college has since begun to require thatall ski students wear helmets.
Acceptance letters sent by mistake
Westfield State College recently sent out acceptance letters to groups of students who were not actually accepted. The school then had to send a second letter to these students, informing them that they had made a mistake and that the students were not accepted.
The mistake came from the Education Department. Students received letters saying that they had been accepted to the education department. A few days later, a letter was sent that explained the mistake. The letter read: "Recently, you may have received a letter welcoming you to the education department. This letter was generated in a report that contained the wrong parameters. As a result many such letters were mailed to students who were either not accepted or who do not plan to attend Westfield State College."
"I was more devastated than my daughter," said Suzanne Zimbaldi, whose daughter was affected by the mistake. "She was so excited when she got the first letter. I was upset for her."
Student stabs and kills fellow dorm mate
Terrance Allen Ross, a student at Norfolk State University, fatally stabbed freshman student Sean Williams in the residence hall where they both lived. Another student wounded during the altercation is in the hospital in good condition.
A spokeswoman for NSU, Sharon Hoggard, said, "There was some kind of disturbance, or fight, or altercation. We do not know the motives behind that. Those events escalated."
The university has planned for a vigil to honor Williams. Williams was a music education major with a concentration in voice and a minor in piano. The university is working to "reinforce to our students and associates alike the use of non-violent mechanisms of resolving differences so that this tragedy is not repeated."
Cheerleading dangers soar
Colleges and high schools alike are becoming more and more worried as the rates of serious cheerleading injuries soar. Since the early 1990s, emergency room trips for cheerleading injuries have more than doubled. Of the serious injuries suffered by female athletes, more than half were caused by cheerleading.
Schools blame the increasing difficulty and height of stunts and the sometimes underqualified coaches. Many schools don't practice on mats, and some less experienced coaches will attempt riskier stunts without first requiring the squad to master smaller, building-block stunts.
One reason for this spike in difficulty and danger is the lack of gymnastics teams at many high schools and colleges. Schools didn't like the high insurance that this dangerous sport required, so many chose to eliminate the gymnastics program. Many of these gymnasts then turned to cheerleading, and brought their competitive spirit and acrobatic talent to the squads.
There is often not much regulation surrounding cheerleading. Many schools don't recognize cheerleading as a sport, instead labeling it as an activity. This gives the cheerleaders the ability to do nearly anything they please.
Jessica Smith, 18, was dropped during a stunt and landed on her neck, fracturing two vertebrae. "I was inverted and in the air with nothing to stop me from coming straight down on my head. I hit and heard my neck crack. I was screaming after that," she said.
Schools commonly require all cheerleaders to sign a medical release waiver. Smith signed one when she was a cheerleader. "They ought to tell the girls that they are signing a death waiver," she said.
Baseball coach resigns to honor religion
Don Ingram, baseball coach for Central Alabama Community College resigned after religious signs were removed from the outfield fence. The billboards, which were paid for by private community members, were deemed inappropriate for a public college.
One sign read: "John 3:16." The other said: "True success is finding out what God wants you to do, then doing it." The signs cost $1000 to rent.
Ingram sent a letter to his most recent signing class that explained his decision to resign. "I resigned because I will not compromise my commitment to my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ," he wrote.
Ingram says that he does not think the college is at fault or that they made a bad decision. It simply would not be within his principles to stay. The college says that neither party feels hostile toward another. The college believed that keeping money aside to fight potential lawsuits caused by the signs would be an irresponsible use of public funds.
"I just felt like in this situation, God was pushed back and that's not a position he needs to be in," Ingram said. "We have to be willing to stand up for what is right. That's why I'm taking this stance."
