A 'watershed' case in school bullying? - Politico

0 downloads 150 Views 509KB Size Report
Apr 5, 2010 - By Roger Yu. USA TODAY. By Hadi Mizban ... providers. New-car auto dealers. Internet retail. Cable/ satell
www.usatoday.com FINAL SCORES

c THE NATION’S NEWSPAPER

.

mEagles trade McNabb to Redskins, 1C

MLB pay dips 17%

By Jeff Griffith, US Presswire

Alex Rodriguez: His $33M tops pay list.

mEconomic issues reach majors, 1C mTeam-by-team salaries, 6C mOpeners, 4C Butler’s Gordon Hayward

.

Women’s Final Four

UConn, Stanford play for title

$1.00

Faces of Depp

mPirate, Hatter, Wonka and more for Hollywood’s sexiest chameleon. Gallery, 4D

NO. 1 IN THE USA

Duke’s Nolan Smith

By Matt Sayles, AP

’Dogs vs. Devils: Who has edge? mCan Butler slay Duke? 1C mHow they match up, 8C mTitle game: 9:21 ET tonight m6 pages in Sports

mCardinal seek to avenge only loss of season vs. No. 1 Huskies, 1, 10C

USA TODAY

The Indianapolis Star

FAA says air-traffic reports top 14,000

Monday, April 5, 2010

Newsline n News n Money n Sports n Life

By Hadi Mizban, AP

Suicide bombings in Iraq mThree car bombs near embassies in Baghdad kill more than 40 people, 6A Baja California earthquake measures 7.2 Quake’s epicenter is south of California’s border with Mexico; Los Angeles, Arizona feel tremors. 3A.

mMoney: We debunk 10 tax myths The truth about e-filing (it’s safe), Social Security benefits (they’re taxable), and more. 1B.

mSports: Celtics prove point with Cavs Boston shows it can win big ones, topping Cleveland 117-113 as playoffs loom. NBA, 12C.

mLife: ‘Clash’ scores at box office Another 3-D film has an eye-opening weekend as Clash of the Titans takes in $61.4 million. 1D. uDocumentaries open Doors, find Kinks. 1, 5D.

Now at USA TODAY.com

usatoday.com

USA TODAY’s website keeps you current 24/7. Check now for:

AP

mTiger news conference Woods speaks to reporters today at 2 p.m. ET at Augusta; live coverage at gameon .usatoday.com

Get a free fourweek trial of our digital replica e-Edition, e-mailed to you complete every morning, at usatodaysubscribe.com/usa422.

USA TODAY Snapshots®

Who gets the most complaints Industries that the Better Business Bureau got the most complaints about in 2009:

A ‘watershed’ case in school bullying? By Don Treeger, AP

Mourning a classmate: South Hadley (Mass.) High School students hold a candlelight vigil on Jan. 15 for Phoebe Prince, who hanged herself after she had been tormented by other students.

Teen’s suicide is a criminal case

kind of bullying. The perpetrators are attractive, athletic and academically accomplished — and comfortable enough around adults to know what they can and can’t By Rick Hampson get away with, in school and onUSA TODAY line. These bullies are so subtle and SOUTH HADLEY, Mass. — At cunning it’s hard for school staff to first, it seemed like a morality play: know if what looks like bullying school officials stand by as an inreally is, and what to do about it. nocent high school freshman, new “Some of it is so under the radar The (Springfield) Republican in town, is harassed into suicide by that without training, you can’t see Phoebe Prince: a pack of older teens. what’s in front of you,” says MarA week after criminal charges Killed herself Jan. 14. lene Snyder, a Clemson University were filed, the case of Phoebe expert on bullying. Prince seems more cloudy and compliLast week, the district attorney here cated, much like the insidious national created a sensation when she took a rare problem that may have helped kill her: step, filing criminal charges against nine school bullying. South Hadley High School students who Parents might not realize that the allegedly bullied Phoebe Prince until she stereotypical bully of generations past — a hanged herself at home Jan. 14. swaggering schoolyard lout, low on self-esFelony charges against six of the teens, two teem, quick to lash out, easy to identify — has boys and four girls, range from statutory rape to become as anachronistic as the blackboard at stalking and civil-rights violations. Three other many schools. Please see COVER STORY next page u Educational psychologists describe a new

Cover story

Taxes on hotel rooms are rising Cities, counties and states shore up budget shortfalls By Roger Yu USA TODAY

ne Cellphoers provid Cable/ TV ll te sa ite Banks

r auto New-ca ealers d t Interne retail

37,477 32,616 29,920 26,888 21,494

Source: Better Business Bureau

By Anne R. Carey and Dave Merrill, USA TODAY

QIJFAF-01005z(L)e

Crossword, Sudoku 7D Editorial/Forum11, 13A Marketplace Today 7D State-by-state 6A TV listings 8D Weather 14A

©COPYRIGHT 2010 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co., Inc.

Subscriptions, customer service 1-800-USA-0001 www.usatodayservice.com

More cities, counties and states are looking to raise taxes on hotel rooms as they battle budget shortfalls and cuts in services. Among those increasing taxes or considering it: Baltimore; Scottsdale, Ariz.; Santa Clara, Calif.; and Connecticut. Taxing visitors is an old habit for local governments. Revenue from taxes on hotel rooms and rental cars have been used to fund tourism promotion, build stadiums and repair roads. While the taxes can infuriate travelers, they’re seen as a politically palatable option in tough economic times. “The government entities are hurting financially and are looking for creative means to generate more revenue,” says Trisha Pugal, CEO of Wisconsin Innkeepers Association. A report by the National Business Travel Association last year says taxes for a single night at the national average room rate of $95.61 were $13.12.

The combined lodging taxes levied by state, county and city averaged 13.73%. Tax rates ranged from 10.05% in Burbank, Calif., to 17.91% in New York. The lower end, below $11 a night in tax, includes Burbank, Detroit, Fort Lauderdale, Oakland and San Jose. Columbus, Dallas, Houston, Kansas City, Nashville, New York and San Antonio are on the higher end, above $16. Recently: uVoters in Scottsdale and Tempe, Ariz., last month approved increasing hotel room taxes by 2 percentage points. In Scottsdale, the rate will increase to 13.92%. Tempe’s rate rises to 14.07%. Brent DeRaad of Scottsdale Convention & Visitors Bureau says about 18% of the revenue funds his organization. The city, county and state split the rest. uSanta Clara voted on an increase last month to generate $35 million of the $937 million needed to build a stadium for the San Francisco 49ers NFL team. The room tax rises from 9.5% to 11.5%. uBaltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake will introduce measures April 12 to address the city’s $120 million deficit. Raising the hotel tax from 7.5% is an option being discussed, says Ryan O’Doherty, a spokesman for the mayor. uConnecticut is considering raising its 12% hotel tax to 15%. The money would be distributed to cities and towns.

Controllers’ input paves way for fixes By Alan Levin USA TODAY A new error-reporting program in the nation’s air-traffic system is revealing thousands of previously unknown hazards such as dangerous runway crossings and unreported midair problems. In the year and a half since the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) kicked off the program — which guarantees employees immunity in exchange for honest accounts of all but the most serious lapses — the agency has been deluged by more than 14,000 reports, according to agency records reviewed by USA TODAY. The reports, which had not been widely released until now, have allowed the FAA to make numerous fixes to festering problems, such as improving signage at critical runway intersections, the agency says. It has also opened a window into what was widely suspected but could never be documented: that far more planes are sent on errant and potentially dangerous tracks than were ever officially reported. “This is a way for us to get new sets of eyes and ears in a lot of places,” FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt said of the Air Traffic Safety Action Program (ATSAP). “I think everybody agrees there will be a safer system in the long run.” According to ATSAP reports and interviews with FAA officials, the program has revealed: uAbout 45% of reports, or more than 6,000 since June 2008, are cases in which aircraft flew unapproved routes or came too close to another plane, and the lapse had not been reported through official channels. The cases are overwhelmingly minor, but they will allow the agency to target procedures to minimize risks. uIn late 2008, controllers began reporting numerous potentially dangerous cases of jets flying too fast as they departed to the south from Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport. “I have had six airplanes violate this speed all in the same day,” reported one controller. “Saw major overtake luckily in time to maintain separation.” A simple change to aviation charts fixed the problem. uBugs in sophisticated computerized autopilots are causing some jets departing from Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport to turn too close to other aircraft. Controller reports have helped lead to software changes. “To be honest, I am very surprised by the detail and passion of these reports,” said Joseph Teixeira, the FAA safety official who oversees the ATSAP program. Many members of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association were suspicious of the program initially, but have rapidly embraced it, said the union’s safety chairman, Steven Hansen. Programs that encourage employees to openly discuss problems are seen as a key way to improve safety in an era when airline accidents are so rare. All major airlines have such programs, but contentious relations with controllers had prevented the FAA from adopting it for its own employees. ATSAP has not been without controversy and problems, Teixeira and Hansen said. There has been occasional disagreement over whether controllers who committed serious errors should be granted immunity, they said. However, many safety experts say the payoff of greater knowledge about risks is worth it. “It’s a systematic attack on the human errors that are inevitable in a system, but were always shrugged off,” said Bill Voss, president of the Flight Safety Foundation, and a former controller.

© 2010 FedEx.

We understand.You’d like “YouTube” to send “productivity” a friend request. Get business tips, promotional content and even lunch-hour entertainment at the FedEx® YouTubeTM channel.

Go to youtube.com/fedex F