Drug Teachers, Super Sized Fliers & Old Men Driving

Good morning my fellow Rotarians, here is our latest bottom of the news stories on this Friday, November 12th…

HOUSTON, TX:  Drug Teachers…  Teachers in Houston are crying foul because the Houston School District has decided school "zero tolerance" policies should apply to teachers as well.  At least eight teachers, including a Texas "Teacher of the Year," have been arrested on drug charges, two of them twice, after school police with drug-sniffing dogs were brought in to search teachers' cars and desks. The searches are "a very wide and very destructive dragnet," complained Tom Shahiria, a former attorney, now a fifth-grade teacher.  He says that he has a problem with "using the zero-tolerance laws that show zero compassion and zero common sense."  Hmmm, seems like a classic case of “do as I say, not as I do” example.

QUEENSLAND, AUS: Super Sized Flying…  Samantha Scafe was incensed when she flew Jetstar Airlines recently.  Jetstar made her pay for two seats because she weighs 353 lbs, but Scafe says that when she booked her ticket by phone the airline told her "not to worry about paying for a second seat."  However, when she arrived at the airport the agents told her that “for other people’s comfort” because of her size, she needed to pay for a second seat.  She argued that the agent was discriminating against her, but eventually gave up and paid for the extra seat.  Upon boarding the airplane she quickly realized there was a problem… her two seats were not together. Scafe is now considering suing the airline for discrimination, public embarrassment and severe emotional trauma.

TAMPA, FL:  Old Men Driving…  Stanley Makowski, 79, has lived in Tampa, FL for 30 years and lost his license last year after he drove away after an accident – the police said it was a hit and run. To get his license back he has to take pass the standard written test, which is 20 multiple-choice questions and you need 15 correct answers to pass. The test does not have a time limit, plus you can take it as many times as you need to pass.  "I've been driving for 65 years and, see and they keep making changes to the rules and they never tell me," he explains.  “Maybe I'll try again tomorrow." If and when he passes the written test, then he has to take a driving test.  He can only fail this test five times and then Florida will ban him from driving for life.  And oh, did I tell you, over the past year, Markowski has failed the 20 Question written test 72 times.

And there you have it, that’s our bottom of news this Friday, 11-12-2010.  ###