European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - June 19, 2007, Darmstadt, Hesse                              June 2007 stars and stripes Mideast edition Page 19 Zero tolerance rules Wane schools finding Onesipe Fitall approach May not work by Ray Henry the associated press fifth graders in Cali fornia who adorned their mortar boards with tiny toy plastic soldiers this week to support troops in Iraq were forced to Cut off their miniature a Utah boy was suspended for giving his Cousin a cold Pill prescribed to both in Rhode a Kinder Gart Heidi to a Portsmouth High school senior Patrick posed in a costume for his yearbook Pic Agins mom sued the school in december after it was rejected because of the schools Zero tolerance policy against Ner was suspended for bringing a plastic knife to school so he could Cut its All part of Zero tolerance which typically mandate severe punishments for weapons and drug offences regardless of the lawmakers in several states say the strict policies in schools have resulted in Many punishments that Lack common and Are seeking to loosen the a Machete is not the same As a butter a water gun is not the same As a gun loaded with said Rhode Island state Daniel a former school Board Mem Ber who worries that no tolerance rules Are applied blindly and too Issa sponsored a Bill requiring school districts to decide punishments for drug and no firearm weapon violations on a Caseb Case basis after weighing the Circum it passed the Senate and House and now Heads for the governors some have Long been aware of the problems of Zero for the last missis Sippi has allowed local school districts to re Duce previously mandatory oneyear expulsions for weapons and drug More Texas lawmakers have also moved to tone Down their states Zer Toler Ance Utah altered its Zero tolerance policy on drugs so asthmatic students can carry in the american bar association has recommended ending Zero tolerance while the american psychological association wants the most draconian codes it May be a bit of self correction that youre beginning to see where the pendulum is coming said Kathy vice president of a research Clearinghouse for Edu cation commission of the states in Texas decided in 2005 that schools can con Sider students intent and other mitigating fac Cal Fomia students recently had to Cut the gun barrels off their plastic soldiers because of their schools policy on Brad the daily tors before punish ing them for any of lenses other than those involving fire and Rob Eissler said he wants the weighing of those factors to be its hard to legis late common he if we get in tent into part of the i think Well be in Good critics of Zero Tol France rules cite multiple academic achievement often lags in schools with the highest rates of suspension and even when socioeconomic factors Are taken into said Cecil chair Man of the Apas Zero tolerance the kids feel like there walking on egg he Reynolds also questioned what lessons Zero tolerance rules citing reports that a 10yearold girl was expelled from a Colo Rado Academy after giving a teacher a Small knife her Mother placed in her what she Learned from the school if something happens and you break a for gods dont Tell Reynolds Zero tolerance policies completely ignore the concept of which is antithetical to the american philosophy of the principal at Portsmouth High school in Rhode Island whose Mascot is sometimes depicted carrying a Rifle censored a year Book photo because it showed a student who enjoys medieval reenactments wearing Chain mail and holding a citing the Cost of the school relented this year and recently published in the yearbook graduate Patrick Agins senior photo showing him with the water everywhere and that a problem by Jay Reeves the associated press police Angela Velarde is looking for wet grass and Wash clues of the latest crime wave sweeping this Boedry with much of the Southeast in the grip of a drought unlike any seen for police Are enforcing mandatory watering bans in Many areas where water supplies have fallen to critical for the Job Means driving through neighbourhoods with Brown grass and wilted she keeps an Eye out for telltale signs of watering scofflaws grass that Damp on sunny Days when watering is banned clean cars sitting in wet driveways under cloudless officers on the water detail work Day and night because some people in this town of Are going to the extreme of night police write about a dozen tickets a week and have even caught homeowners sneaking outdoors to water their Crunchy lawns at 1 its almost like people Are thinking like drug dealers try ing to come up with ways to said be violators can be fined As much As in City located about 30 Miles South of Calera int the Only City where police Are spend ing less time looking for Speed ers and More time looking for similar patrols Are under Way in metro Florida and among other dried out officers will soon begin enforcing watering restrictions in and officers in an other Are hand ing out letters to people who Iga Nore that cites Hoover police spokesman Roper said police get a few Calls every week from neighbors reporting on neigh Bors for watering on Days when its its like there if my grass is going to be yours said a Dep Uty the same thing is True in Cal where the restrictions took effect last theres no Honor among Velarde sprinklers water a Yard in on Rob photos by National Audubon society a from top a Northern an evening an Eastern Meadowlark and a Tern birdies familiar species Are on the decline by Seth Borenstein the associated press Washington the populations of 20 common american Birds from the Fence sitting Meadowlark to the whippoorwill with its haunting Call Are half what they were 40 years according to an suburban climate change and other invasive Spe cies Are largely to said study author Greg of the National Audubon most of these we dont expect will go he we think they reflect other things that Are happening in the environment that we should be worried last month a different group of researchers reported that seven species had dramatically declined because of West Nile the species harmed by West Nile Are different from those listed in the new study except for the Little hardhat on both Many of the species listed As de Clining in the new study depend on open Grassy habitats that Are said Audi Bons Bird conservation for the researchers looked at Bird populations of More than half a million which covered a wide they compared databases for 550 species from two different Bird Audi Bons own Christmas Bird count and the geological surveys Breeding Bird Survey in today there Are 432 million fewer of these Bird including the Northern greater boreal common Loggerhead Field Grasshopper spar Snow Blac Throat de Lark com Mon american horned utile Blue Heron and ruffed