8- The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, September 13, 1995
1 .YOU RAN OUT OF RETURNABLES.
2. YOUR BUSTEIENDYRANSFEREDYONEUNIRSK! OF IDAHOAND
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. YOURGAS GAUGE ISONTE ANDYOU ONLYFOUND 30 QUERS
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Los Angeles Times
ALEXANDRIA, Ky.- In Room
12~0-South of Campbell -aunty High
School, Andy Bray laurhed a cam-
paign two years ago again, his Spanish
teacher, Fran Cook.
He yelled. Red-faced nd clench-
jawed, he furiously snappd pencils in
two. Asked to use a vocabuiry word in
a sentence, he chose "mzar" -- to
murder-and said he'd "kilthe cook."
There was never a lull in hi~behavior.
But on the second flo~r of the
Campbell County Courthuse last
month, SenoraCocina-as lerclasses
call her - got the last word,
A circuit court jury ordered her ex-
student topay $33,70) forharassing
and intimidating his istrucor. Cook
says she'll use the $25)00 it punitive
damages to establish a aund br threat-
ened faculty.
Now, as the academe yea begins,
school superintendents i=nortfern Ken-
tucky and across the Ohio River in
Cincinnati are making sire their staffs
and students know that lisruption and
threats in school can beostly indeed.
Editorials in local newslapers, as well
as educators across the country, are
applauding Cook's derision to take
young Bray to court, a well as the
jury's decision to back ler up.
"This is a really nie twist," said
Ronald Stephens, execuive director of
the National School Safty Center - a
joint project of the U. S. Departments of
Justice and Education aid Pepperdine
"This is. a9really
nice twist:Usually
if the teachers
have attempted
any kind ar
discipline, the
teacher gets
sued"
II C
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4. UOPMBEAT S1A1,SOYOUWAN1TOCALALLYOURSPARTAN
FRIENDSTO R U B IT...
5. BECAUSE YOURFRIENDSWON'IFALLFOR "IDN'YTWANT
TOBREAKA520
NE M
E
E
- RonaldStephens
National Schcol Safety
Center executivedirector
6.FYOUNN 'DOYOUR LAUNY SON, ITUNEEDISOWN ZiP CODE,
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8. DAD IS GETYING SICK OF ALL YE
COLLECT CALLS.
9. YU'RE TOO EMBARRASSED TO
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University in California. 'Usually if"".
the teachers have attempted mny kind of
discipline, the teacher gets sued," he
said.
Bray's attorney, Timothy i4olan, dis-t
agrees. Hetsays Bray was oily joking
and notes that his client never physi-
cally harmed Cook. He adcs that the'
judgment will be difficult to collect:
from an 18-year-old college student
who worked recently in a restaurant
and as a landscaper.
"This was a character assassination,"
said Nolan, "a reflection of the frusira-
tion people have toward juveniles to-
day." He said Bray is considering anw
appeal.
In the fall of 1993 the teacher called
his mother in to discuss Bray's tardi-
ness, cursing and class interruptiors. In
the spring, he began working "mitar"
into every sentence that he could. Same-±.r
times the verb's object was the Spanish
word for "cat" or "dog," but othertimes
it was "teacher" or "redhead" -Cook
has auburn hair.
An assistant principal suggested Cook".
take Bray into the hallway for a private
talk. Cook said that she did, asking
Bray why he kept saying he wanted to,
kill her. She said Bray calmly responded:
"Probably because I do."
"I asked why," Cook recallec. "Isaid,
I never did anything to you.' And he
said, "I'll have to give it a lot ofthought."
When the school year ended, she
thought the worst was over, although
her class was well behind in the text-
book.}
But the next fall, Bray sent a letter,q
which she confiscated from a student:
"I am afraid now that I am gone, the
class will no longer be disruptive andx
may even begin to do their homework,"
the letter read. "This cannot be permit-
ted to happen.... You can still drive the
Cocina crazy."
For this, the administration assigned
40 minutes' detention. Cook pressed
charges. Bray was sentenced in juve-
nile court to community service. Nolan
said his client also got some sensitivity
counseling. A restraining order was
imposed, keeping Bray 500 feet away
from Cook.
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