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2008 Academic All-Stars
Here it is, your annual dose of hope.
Some have broken through language barriers and replaced the low expectations of poverty with unrivaled academic success. Others have fully grasped advantages given them.
They are Academic All-Stars, chosen among 1,964 nominees this year in an annual competition sponsored by The Fresno Bee.
"These kids are so amazing in so many ways that you can't help but feel optimistic when you read about them. It's a privilege to be able to tell their stories," says The Bee's executive editor, Betsy Lumbye.
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Lawyer: Fla. office shooting suspect mentally ill
The engineer accused of fatally shooting one employee and wounding five others at the firm where he once worked is "very mentally ill" and crumbled under the stress of his divorce, bankruptcy and unemployment, his attorney said Saturday.
Jason Rodriguez, 40, was ordered held without bail at the Orange County Jail, where he is under suicide watch after Friday's shooting. His mother, Ana Rodriguez, also apologized Saturday, telling reporters she is "so sorry for everything that has happened."
"Sorry for the families involved. I'm really very sorry, it is very hurtful," she said.
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Rodriguez says Michigan is undaunted by challenge
Rich Rodriguez has to lead Michigan to an upset at Wisconsin or in the Big House against rival Ohio State to earn bowl eligibility - and perhaps patience from fed-up fans.
"The University of Michigan is not used to this, but neither am I or my staff," Rodriguez said Monday. "We're all kind of going through this process.
"We're not daunted by the challenge. It's just a bigger challenge than a lot of people think."
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Witness: Fla. office shooter stayed about a minute
A man who was in an Orlando office when a former employee came in and started shooting said Monday that the ordeal that left one dead and five injured lasted about a minute.
Mark Davidson, a vice president at the engineering firm Reynolds, Smith and Hills, said Monday that his co-workers stayed calm Friday and didn't scream as Jason Rodriguez entered a reception area of the eighth-floor office and began shooting randomly.
"Nobody was screaming or yelling," Davidson said. "It wasn't panicky."
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NHLPA and interim executive director Penny part ways
Less than two months into the job, interim executive director Ian Penny and the NHLPA have parted ways, it was announced on Friday.
Penny had held the position since August 31 when the NHLPA fired Paul Kelly, who was named to the position after the league fired Ted Saskin amid allegations he ordered the spying of NHLPA player e-mail related to his initial hiring.
"Interim executive director Ian Penny informed the NHLPA staff and the NHLPA executive board earlier today that it is his position he has been constructively dismissed as interim executive director and can no longer work in the present circumstances," the NHLPA said in a released statement. "Effective today, Ian Penny is no longer employed by the NHLPA."
Sunnyside academic counselor Diana Rodriguez, who nominated Ian Stephens for Academic All-Stars, describes him as humble and wise beyond his years.
"He's very sensitive to others and their needs and will be quick to make himself available -- without making a big hoopla," she said.
Nothing illustrates that like Ian's recent decision to cut off his ponytail, which he sported throughout high school, and donate it to Locks of Love, an organization that provides hairpieces to children who lose their hair while undergoing medical procedures.
Ian shrugs off the idea that it was an extraordinary gesture.
"I had no plans for my hair -- it just sort of grew on my head," he said. "It was an opportunity to cut it without it going into a trash bin somewhere."
Ian, first in his class of 669, is an avid guitarist who's played in just about every student band Sunnyside has to offer. He sees connections between jazz and the engineering studies he plans to tackle at the University of Pennsylvania during the next four years.
"There's a certain demand for an aesthetic beauty through technical brilliance in the music," said Ian, who's not sure yet of his career path. "Engineering is this creative process. If you have a problem you don't understand, you find a way to understand it, which is mathematical."
Rodriguez organizes an annual tour, which Ian attended twice, to give promising minority students a shot at attending Ivy League schools. But she's certain who got the better of the deal when he decided where he wanted to go to college.
"Penn is stinking lucky to have him," Rodriguez said.
-- Don Mayhew
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2008 Academic All-Stars
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