Archive for October 27th, 2007
The Video John Edwards Doesn’t Want You to See
October 27th, 2007
A UNC-Chapel Hill journalism professor said John Edwards’ presidential campaign tried to kill a student’s video story about his campaign headquarters.
Associate Professor C.A. Tuggle said two top staffers for the former North Carolina senator demanded that the school drop the segment from the student-run television program “Carolina Week.” They also asked to have the video removed from the YouTube Web site.
Tuggle said they threatened to cut off access to Edwards for UNC student reporters and other student groups if the piece aired.
“My gosh, what are they thinking?” Tuggle said. “They’re spending this much time and effort on a student newscast that has about 2,000 viewers? They’re turning a molehill into a mountain.”
A spokeswoman for the Edwards campaign said it had no problem with student reporters.
“This is silly,” campaign spokeswoman Colleen Murray said in a statement. “We love all reporters, the problem is the feeling isn’t always mutual.”
The campaign would not answer questions about the incident.
Below is the video Edwards’ campaign tried to get taken from YouTube:
Sounds pretty balanced to me.
Posted in 
School Leaders Told What Law Says About Sex Under Age 14
October 27th, 2007
Last week I lamented the fact the school board for one of the schools in my home state had voted to allow middle schoolers as young as 11 years old to get birth control pills without having to disclose the reason for the health visit to the parents.
There’s a new twist in the story now and it’s a good one. The District Attorney has told the members that Maine law prohibits sex with anyone under the age of 14, regardless of the age of the other person involved.
A health care provider must report all known or suspected cases of sex with minors age 13 and under to the state Department of Health and Human Services, she said. Abuse also must be reported to the appropriate district attorney’s office, Anderson said, when the suspected perpetrator is someone other than the minor’s parent or guardian.
“When it’s somebody under age 14, it is a crime and it must be reported,” Anderson said. “The health care provider has no discretion in the matter. It’s up to the district attorney to decide.”
Anderson said she contacted Portland officials after she learned that some employees of the health centers, which are operated by the city’s Public Health Division, believed they could decide whether a child’s sexual activity constituted criminal abuse.
In fact, if a child under age 14 was having consensual sex with someone of a similar age, health center employees weren’t reporting it to the proper authorities, said City Attorney Gary Wood.
Anderson said doctors and other health care providers in private practice may falsely believe they have similar leeway, but they must follow the same laws.
“It’s clear that it’s going on all the time,” Anderson said. “Either the law is going to be enforced or it needs to be changed. I don’t think a law should be routinely violated.”
Portland’s six school-based health centers had no formal policy on reporting sexual activity involving students under age 14, said Douglas Gardner, director of Portland’s Department of Health and Human Services.
Gardner said it’s unclear whether any health center employee failed to report suspected cases to the state Department of Health and Human Services, but they did fail to report cases to Anderson’s office.
“Moving forward, we will report to the letter of the law,” Gardner said.
It may not stop under age children from having sex, but it will definitely stop the schools and health authorities from helping them.
