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Show World&Hation Pase II Monday, Dec. I, 2008 Students lie, cheat and steal, but say they're good n -v. * * • * ) % * . # * ' • A PARACHUTE DEPLOYS AS T H E SPACE SHUTTLE Endeavour touches down at Edwards Air Force Base, Sunday in Calif. Endeavour's landing ends a 16-day mission during which the shuttle flew to the international space station delivering a new bathroom, kitchen, exercise machine, sleeping quarters and recycling system designed to convert urine and sweat into drinking water AP photo. Space shuttle Endeavour finishes 16-day mission EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. (AP) - Space shuttle Endeavour and its seven astronauts safely returned to Earth on Sunday, taking a detour to sunny California after storms hit the main landing strip in Florida. Endeavour wrapped up a 16-day trip that left the international space station freshly remodeled and capable of housing bigger crews. The shuttle dropped off all kinds of home improvement equipment, including a new bathroom, kitchenette, exercise machine, two sleeping quarters and a recycling system designed to convert astronauts' urine and sweat into drinking water. But the mission wasn't without its problems. Astronaut Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper let go of a $100,000 tool bag during the first spacewalk, muttering "Oh, great" as it floated away. And Endeavour's astronauts also had to put in extra effort to get the urine processor working. About seven liters of recycled urine and condensation were coming back aboard Endeavour for extensive testing. No one at the space station will drink the recycled water until the equipment runs for 90 days and ground tests ensure it's safe. More samples will be returned on the next shuttle flight. The shuttle crew also conducted four spacewalks to clear metal shavings from a solar wing rotary joint at the space station. The joint had been jammed for more than a year and hampered energy production at the orbiting outpost. Initial tests indicated the repairs on the joint were successful. The space station additions - and a few more scheduled to go up on the next shuttle flight in February - should enable NASA to double the size of the space station crew by June. On Sunday, NASA ordered the detour to California after dangerously high wind and a stormy sky prevented a Florida landing. "Welcome back. That was a great way to finish a fantastic flight," Mission Control radioed. "And we're happy to be here in California," shuttle commander Christopher Ferguson replied. Congratulations also came down from the space station. "Wow," said skipper Mike Fincke, who watched the landing broadcast live. 8-year-old who murdered father is offered plea deal PHOENIX (AP) - Prosecutors have offered a plea deal to an 8-year-old boy charged with murder in the shooting deaths of his father and another man in their eastern Arizona home, court records show. . Complete details of the offer weren't spelled out in a court filing posted Saturday on the Apache County Superior Court's Web site. But County Attorney Criss Candelaria wrote that he has "tendered a plea offer to the juvenile's attorneys that would resolve all the charges in the juvenile court contingent on the results of the mental health evaluations." Candelaria was responding to a defense motion seeking to block him from dropping one of two first-degree murder charges the boy faces in the deaths of his father, Vincent Romero, 29, and Timothy Romans, 39, earlier this month. Defense attorney Benjamin Brewer argued in a filing Tuesday that prosecutors wanted the charge dismissed so they could refile it when the boy was older and pursue case in adult court. Brewer said Saturday that the deal would resolve the case without it being transferred to adult court, but he declined to provide additional details. Although he is considering the offer. Brewer said he is unsure of his client's ability to understand the proceedings. At least two mental health evaluations are yet to be completed. The prosecutor explained in his response to Brewer's opposition filing that he wasn't trying to obtain an unfair advantage, but he pressed for the dismissal because the judicial system isn't equipped to deal with an 8-year-old charged with murder. "It is done to ensure that the juvenile and the two murder victims in this case do not fall through the cracks in the system that might occur if both charges remain in the pending delinquency petition," Candelaria wrote. Candelaria explained that the boy could be found incompetent to stand trial, and ifthat happened, the court's options would be limited. The court would be required to order efforts to restore the boy to competency, but if that couldn't be done within about eight months, the judge would be required by law to dismiss the criminal case and bar it from being refiled. The court would then be required to initiate civil commitment proceedings, Candelaria wrote. If the boy is found incompetent because of his age, he wouldn't fit the definition of a mentally disordered person and no treatment would be available. "Such a result denies the victims and public of any sense of justice for these heinous murders," Candelaria wrote. "It also denies the juvenile the rehabilitative services that he apparently needs to both deal with why he was capable of committing these murders and to assist him with the grief and remorse that he is probably feeling." Police in St. Johns found Romero and Romans shot to death after the boy ran to a neighbor's house on Nov. 5. The boy was questioned after Romans' wife raised suspicions about him the next day, and in a videotape released by prosecutors, he admits pulling the trigger. Both men were shot several times with a .22-caliber rifle. Romans worked with Romero and rented a room in his home. Police reports say the boy told a state Child Protective Services worker that his 1,000th spanking would be his last. The boy is being held in a county juvenile facility, although he was allowed to spend Thanksgiving with his mother. Brewer said the boy is back in custody. The next court hearing is set for Dec. 8. NEW YORK (AP)-In the past year, 30 percent of U.S. high school students have stolen from a store and 64 percent have cheated on a test, according to a new, largescale survey suggesting that Americans are too apathetic about ethical standards. Educators reacting to the findings questioned any suggestion that today's young people are less honest than previous generations, but several agreed that intensified pressures are prompting many students to cut corners. "The competition is greater, the pressures on kids have increased dramatically," said Mel Riddle of the National Association of Secondary School Principals. "They have opportunities their predecessors didn't have (to cheat). The temptation is greater." The Josephson Institute, a Los Angeles-based ethics institute, surveyed 29,760 students at 100 randomly selected high schools nationwide, both pub- lic and private. All students in the selected schools were given the survey in class; their anonymity was assured. Michael Josephson, the institute's founder and president, said he was most dismayed by the findings about theft. The survey found that 35 percent of boys and 26 percent of girls - 30 percent overall - acknowledged stealing from a store within the past year. One-fifth said they stole something from a friend; 23 percent said they stole something from a parent or other relative. "What is the social cost of that - not to mention the implication for the next generation of mortgage brokers?" Josephson remarked in an interview. "In a society drenched with cynicism, young people can look at it and say 'Why shouldn't we? Everyone else does it.'" Other findings from the survey: Cheating in school is rampant and getting worse. Sixty-four percent of students cheated on a test in the past year and 38 percent did so two or more times, up from 60 percent and 35 percent in a 2006 survey. Thirty-six percent said they used the Internet to plagiarize an assignment, up from 33 percent in 2004. Forty-two percent said they sometimes lie to save money - 49 percent of the boys and 36 percent of the girls. Despite such responses, 93 percent of the students said they were satisfied with their personal ethics and character, and 77 percent affirmed that "when it comes to doing what is right, I am better than most people I know." Nijmie Dzurinko, executive director of the Philadelphia Student Union, said the findings were not at all reflective of the inner-city students she works with as an advocate for better curriculum and school funding. MU8ICDEMRTMENT CAINE SCHOOL Of THE ART8 UtahStateUniversity ORCHESTRA Sergio Eternal, Director VIVALDI: The Four Seasons With Fry Street Quartet violinist Will Fedkenheuer BRAHMS: Fourth Symphony Tuesday, December 2,7:30 PM Kent Concert Hall at the Chase Fine Arts Center Admission: $8/students free Ride Share The Perfect Solution to Holiday Travel Needs. Just go to www.utahstatesman.com and click on the new RIDE BOARD. Make some friends, save some money, be safe, do the Green Thing. One click can bring you the perfect solution to your holiday travel dilemma! www.utahstatesman.com |