Please select what you would like included for printing: Copy the text below and then paste that into your favorite email application Joy Michelle “Schelle” Cook Maclean Tennessee to James Mitchell “Mickey” Cook and Billie “Joy” White Cook A graduate of Craigmont High School in Memphis Schelle furthered her education at Louisiana State University receiving her Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism Schelle began her dedicated career with Federal Express retiring with 34 tenured successful years.  Brian and Mitch Maclean; and her devoted sister She is also survived by her sons’ father The family would like to express their gratitude to Dr William Varnado and the infusion team who took such compassionate care of Schelle Her passion for LSU sports was evident to all especially during football and baseball seasons as tailgating was one of her all-time favorite things to do Schelle also dabbled with cooking and loved the tradition that she and her Alpha Xi Delta sorority sisters had with girls’ weekends but all of these paled in comparison to her true joy in life Schelle left an indelible mark on this world and all the lives that she touched she had an amazing wit with her quick comebacks Although her time on Earth was much too brief she made the most of every moment – teaching all of us that life is truly a gift Relatives and friends are invited to attend the Funeral Service at 10:30 a.m A Visitation will be held at the funeral home on Sunday Interment will follow at Resthaven Gardens of Memory.  memorials in honor of Schelle Cook Maclean can be made to the Dream Day Foundation in Baton Rouge to support St Please visit Donate - Dream Day Foundation (charityproud.org) or directly to St Family and friends may sign the online guestbook or leave a personal note to the family at www.resthavenbatonrouge.com  Enter your phone number above to have directions sent via text This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply Service map data © OpenStreetMap contributors A GoFundMe has been launched to help with medical costs for a well-known Hagerstown-area media personality who was in a recent car crash who grew up in the Clear Spring area and has lived in Hagerstown for many years has worked for various media outlets in the Tri-State area Hagerstown Police confirmed on Wednesday that Schelle was the driver in a motor vehicle crash during the late afternoon of Monday near the intersection of East Lee and South Locust streets 10 to a Herald-Mail inquiry about the crash Fetchu wrote that the vehicle hit a parked car and flipped Fetchu said the driver may have had a medical emergency police had not identified the driver in the crash Fetchu said Wednesday the crash report wasn't available yet The Schelle family launched an online fundraiser earlier this week to raise money "to help cover the cost of her continued care and bills from the car crash," per the GoFundMe description Schelle has been in Meritus Medical Center's intensive care unit Her family is working to move her to a long-term care facility Wake of Supreme Court ruling: Hagerstown considering anti-camping ordinance to deal with homeless camps in public spaces Statement from Crystal Schelle's family"Christmas is Crystal's favorite time of year as the lights go up the music returns to the radio and the Hallmark movies are on repeat That's why this makes Crystal's accident and condition even more painful for the family because of how much joy she brings to the season embracing the Christmas spirit," according to a Schelle family statement provided to The Herald-Mail "Crystal has been a mainstay in the Tri-State community as a journalist and public relations professional for more than 30 years there would a good chance you would see her at the same event she wrote about in the paper that week She highlighted health challenges that our neighbors live with and the people who are the beating heart of Hagerstown and the Tri-State Talking to people in the entertainment community is how she met her boyfriend "Crystal’s accident has shaken the Schelle family yet has brought us closer together as our lives have changed forever We are not certain that Crystal will be able to communicate again to write another story or read the news on the radio and it’s time for her to wake up for Christmas doctors and medical team for their critical care of Crystal We are also overwhelmed by the positive stories from extended family as well as the enormous generosity they have shown The family will share updates about Schelle and the fundraiser’s status at https://gofund.me/cff5208d Over $11,500 has been raised as of Thursday morning High School sports: Meet the inaugural All-Washington County Flag Football teams Features journalist grew up in Washington CountySchelle is a former Herald-Mail features reporter and editor who co-hosted a "What's NXT" weekly TV show through The Herald-Mail's HMTV6 in 2018 and 2019 She worked for The Herald-Mail for almost nine years During her time with the newspaper's Lifestyle section Schelle mentored many teens who gained journalism experience writing for the paper She previously was a features editor for The Journal in Martinsburg She also has worked on-air and off-air for WJEJ radio and has been a freelance writer She has written for publications including Hagerstown Magazine and The Frederick News-Post Her most current jobs included being director of marketing and communications for the Washington County Museum of Fine Arts in Hagerstown's City Park and teaching journalism/communications at Frederick Community College The museum, in a post on Facebook on Tuesday, said her colleagues have "enjoyed Crystal's energy and dedication" and she is "dearly missed." Schelle is a graduate of Clear Spring High School, Hagerstown Junior College and Morehead State University. Background: Pharmacological cognitive enhancement, using chemicals to change cellular processes in the brain in order to enhance one's cognitive capacities, is an often discussed phenomenon. The prevalence among Dutch university students is unknown. Volume 9 - 2015 | https://doi.org/10.3389/fnsys.2015.00010 This article is part of the Research TopicAugmentation of Brain Function: Facts, Fiction and ControversyView all 150 articles Background: Pharmacological cognitive enhancement using chemicals to change cellular processes in the brain in order to enhance one's cognitive capacities The prevalence among Dutch university students is unknown Methods: The study set out to achieve the following goals: (1) give an overview of different methods in order to assess the prevalence of use of prescription illicit and lifestyle drugs for cognitive enhancement (2) investigate whether polydrug use and stress have a relationship with cognitive enhancement substance use (3) assessing opinions about cognitive enhancement prescription drug use A nationwide survey was conducted among 1572 student respondents of all government supported Dutch universities Results: The most detailed level of analysis—use of specific substances without a prescription and with the intention of cognitive enhancement—shows that prescription drugs illicit drugs and lifestyle drugs are respectively used by 1.7 The use of prescription drugs and illicit drugs is low compared to other countries We have found evidence of polydrug use in relation to cognitive enhancement A relation between stress and the use of lifestyle drugs for cognitive enhancement was observed We report the findings of several operationalizations of cognitive enhancement drug use to enable comparison with a wider variety of previous and upcoming research Conclusions: Results of this first study among university students in the Netherlands revealed a low prevalence of cognitive enhancement drug use compared to other countries such as a difference in awareness of pharmacological cognitive enhancement among students accessibility of drugs in the student population and inclusion criteria of enhancement substances are discussed We urge enhancement researchers to take the different operationalizations and their effects on the prevalence numbers into account that the nonmedical use of prescription stimulants was higher in the North-Eastern region of the US and higher for institutions with more competitive admission criteria compared to less competitive admission criteria a difference can be found in the way that cognitive enhancement drugs are addressed in the questionnaire for example by either questioning general drug use for the purpose of enhancement or questioning the use of specific types of stimulants (e.g. The latter limits the number of stimulants and/or active ingredients that are taken into account in the survey but leads to more specific questions for the respondent resulting in a prevalence of 11 out of 211 students (5.21%) who had ever used prescription drugs for cognitive enhancement and found a prevalence of 7% among 1324 students and graduates In an attempt to reach a representative sample our survey has been advertised online and offline among students of all 14 government supported universities in the Netherlands The survey examines the prevalence of general nonmedical use of prescription drugs and the use of particular prescription drugs (methylphenidate and rivastigmine) with the specific purpose of cognitive enhancement with and without a prescription we will assess the use of prescription drugs for cognitive enhancement with a question not targeted at particular drugs but at the general group of prescription drugs we will describe the use of lifestyle and illicit drugs with the purpose of cognitive enhancement It is impossible to make a comparison of all definitions and study methods in previous studies but in this way many differences of prior studies are addressed which makes it possible to directly compare prevalence numbers by different methods within this study and to studies with similar methods abroad We hypothesize that university students in the Netherlands will also display polydrug use meaning that (1) users of prescription drugs for the purpose of cognitive enhancement are more likely to use other substances than non-users and (2) there is a correlation between the use of prescription illicit and lifestyle drugs for cognitive enhancement We hypothesize that a similar relation between the use of cognitive enhancement substances and stress will be prevalent among students in the Netherlands; and thus that students who use substances for the purpose of cognitive enhancement will report more stress than students who do not use substances for the purpose of cognitive enhancement Finally, several surveys have examined attitudes toward the use of prescription drugs for cognitive enhancement. In general, the public displays similar concerns as described in the academic literature on the topic, concerning topics such as the safety of using prescription drugs by healthy people, the possibility of being coerced in using a drug for cognitive enhancement and the fairness of using drugs to enhance ones cognitive performance (Schelle et al., 2014) To add to this discussion we assessed opinions in the current sample toward several statements regarding the safety and policy surrounding the use of prescription drugs for cognitive enhancement the survey aimed at (1) giving an overview of different methods to assess the prevalence of use of substances for cognitive enhancement and apply these methods to a new sample of university students in the Netherlands (2) investigating whether findings of polydrug use and the relationship between cognitive enhancement substance use and stress can also be applied to this population and (3) assessing opinions about the use of prescription drugs for cognitive enhancement 1572 respondents of a total population of approximately 245,000 students registered at Dutch universities social media advertisements and a letter to student organizations Prior to analysis 69 respondents were excluded [exclusion criteria were not being a student at a Dutch university technical difficulties with the online questionnaire and an affirmative answer on a control question (see below)] resulting in a final sample of 1503 respondents with a mean age of 21.8 years (± sd 2.8 years; 70% women) The sample included students of all 14 government supported Dutch universities although the relative distribution of respondents was not equal for different universities Respondents were stimulated to complete the questionnaire by raffling one tablet PC 30 shopping vouchers (€15,-) and 20 cinema vouchers (€7 The questionnaire was an anonymous online survey in Dutch which could only be accessed after signing a digital informed consent form This form was followed by the questionnaire as described in a next section After submission of the questionnaire a new non-related website opened where the respondent was offered the opportunity to enter in the lottery for the tablet PC and vouchers Data were stored in an offline database for later analysis Care was taken not to store IP addresses from the respondents in the dataset Contact information needed for distribution of the prizes was stored in a separate data file The procedure and questionnaire are approved by the Ethics Committee Faculty of Social Sciences (ECSS) of the Radboud University The remainder of the survey focused on the use of and the opinion about several substances The length of the survey depended on the amount of substances used because respondents were routed toward more specific questions about substances All questions had a forced response format meaning that respondents could not skip the question For most respondents the survey was about 80 questions long respondents took approximately 18 min to complete the survey The main outcome measures concern the use of prescription drugs soft drugs and hard drugs) and lifestyle drugs (alcohol We asked respondents to indicate their use of prescription drugs in two different ways namely with questions about four prescription drugs in particular (methylphenidate and rivastigmine) and questions about the use of prescription drugs in general The use of specific prescription drugs was part of a single question in which we asked respondents to indicate whether they had used one or more of the following substances since the start of their university studies followed by examples as shown in the following overview: alcohol (e.g. smart shop products (such as memory boosters hard drugs (such as lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) We added a non-existent drug to the list of possible substances respondents could indicate to have used This drug was named “Hoxazine (e.g. in Hypersotaline)” and was placed there to detect untrustworthy results Respondents who admitted to have used this non-existent drug were excluded from further analysis Because we only included four often discussed prescription drugs that could potentially be used for cognitive enhancement we also asked a question regarding general prescription drug use Respondents were asked to indicate whether they had ever used a prescription drug without having a prescription themselves If they confirmed this question they were routed toward a question about their reasons for using prescription drugs Specific categories and answer options for amount and times of usage were different for certain substance categories they will be discussed in the following sections regarding the specific substances Answer options for amounts and times of usage of substances which were not present in the “Family and Health 2003/2004” were created based on questions asked on a similar substance in the questionnaire The “Family and Health 2003/2004” questionnaire discusses four general reasons for substance usage: coping with stress, conformity to peers, enhancement (feeling good) and social substance use, related to the four-factor model of alcohol use (Cooper, 1994) We added four answer options in the question about reasons for usage for each substance: (1) “to enhance study performance” as this was our main target of interest (2) “medical reasons” and (3) “to lose weight” as it applied to some of the substances different than alcohol on which the four-factor model was based and (4) “other” to provide respondents with an answer option in case their answer was not in the list From these questions specific measures per substance (category) were derived The amount of nonmedical users was calculated by including all users of the substance (category) who reported to at least sometimes (on a four-point scale of seldom; sometimes; regularly; often) use the substance for any other than “medical reasons” (exception: general prescription drug use for which this measure could only be calculated for users who do not have a prescription themselves) The amount of users using a substance (category) without a prescription was calculated by including all users of the substance (category) minus the users who reported to use the substance without “regularly” or “often” (similar four-point scale of seldom; sometimes; regularly; often) to have a prescription The amount of users using the substance (category) with the purpose of cognitive enhancement was calculated by including all users of the substance who reported to use the substance at least sometimes “to enhance study performance” (similar four-point scale) Description of the term “smart pills” (translated from Dutch) Some students use drugs which are only available with a prescription Some other students do have a prescription but they use a higher dose than prescribed When they use those drugs to improve their study results The statements below are all about smart pills Please fill in to what extent you agree with these statements Chi-square analyses were conducted to examine whether users of prescription drugs are more or less likely to use other substances than non-users Chi-square analyses were conducted to examine the association between the use of prescription drugs and lifestyle drugs for the purpose of cognitive enhancement regarding the relationship between substance use for cognitive enhancement and stress was examined with One-Way ANOVA's for the differences in perceived study stress scores between users and non-users according to our different operationalizations P-values < 0.05 (two-tailed) were considered statistically significant The analyses were conducted with IBM SPSS Statistics version 22.0 None of the respondents reported to use rivastigmine or modafinil 52 students indicated to have used methylphenidate while 36 students indicated to have used beta blockers Nonmedical use (at least “sometimes” use for any other reason than medical) of methylphenidate was self-reported by 80.8% of methylphenidate users (2.8% of the total sample of respondents) and 61.1% of beta blockers users (1.5% of the total sample of respondents) Total nonmedical use of specific prescription drugs in the sample is 4.0% (due to four users using both beta blockers and methylphenidate at least sometimes for nonmedical purposes) Excluding the respondents who indicated to “regularly” or “often have a prescription” results in 2.4% of respondents reporting to use prescription drugs at least sometimes for a nonmedical purpose without having prescription From the methylphenidate users 73.1% (2.5% of the total sample of respondents) reported to use methylphenidate at least sometimes for the specific purposes of improving ones study results (cognitive enhancement) From the beta blocker users 38.9% (0.9% of the total sample of respondents) reported to use beta blockers at least sometimes for the specific purpose of improving ones study results Total specific prescription drug use with the intention of cognitive enhancement in the sample is 3.2% Most users without a prescription acquire the drugs via people they know The number of respondents using specific routes of obtainment for prescription drugs with the purpose of cognitive enhancement from the group of respondents who indicated to “less than often” have a prescription for the drug themselves Sixty respondents (4.0% of the total sample of respondents) admitted to use a prescription drug without having a prescription for the drug Forty-six respondents (3.1% of the total sample of respondents) reported nonmedical use without a prescription (at least “sometimes” use for any other reason than medical) 40% used these prescription drugs at least sometimes to improve their study results (2.7% of the total sample of respondents) The percentage of respondents that (dis)agreed with 17 statements about the use of “smart pills” are presented in Table 2 Most respondents disagree with statements regarding the respondent being aware of the use of smart pills There is less agreement about statements regarding the risks related to the use of smart pills and the regulation of the use of smart pills Percentages of agreement toward statements about smart pills (N = 1503) Soft drugs, hard drugs and stimulants are considered illicit drugs. Table 3 displays the prevalence of the use of the three categories of illicit drugs the use of illicit drugs for nonmedical reasons (at least “sometimes” use for any other reason than medical) and the use of illicit drugs with the specific purpose of cognitive enhancement The use of illicit drugs for nonmedical reasons is 20.4% and with the specific purpose of cognitive enhancement (CE) 1.3% Alcohol, nicotine, caffeine, over the counter pharmacy products, and (legal) smart shop products are considered lifestyle drugs. Table 4 displays the prevalence of the use of the categories of lifestyle drugs the use of lifestyle drugs for nonmedical reasons (at least “sometimes” use for any other reason than medical) and the use of lifestyle drugs with the specific purpose of cognitive enhancement The use of lifestyle drugs for nonmedical reasons is 90.5% and with the specific purpose of cognitive enhancement 45.6% over the counter pharmacy products and (legal) smart shop products Table 5 provides an overview of the prevalence of the use of certain drugs according to the above described definitions An overview of the prevalence of the use of drugs for CE Users of specific prescription drugs with/without a prescription reported more often the use of soft drugs, stimulants, nicotine and over the counter pharmacy products. Users of prescription drugs without a prescription were more likely than non-users to report use of soft drugs, nicotine, caffeine and over the counter pharmacy drugs. Table 6 provides the test statistics for these tests For most substances the data confirm the hypothesis that users of prescription drugs for the purpose of cognitive enhancement are more likely to use other substances than non-users of prescription drugs for the purpose of cognitive enhancement Results of the Chi square comparisons of substance use between users and nonusers of prescription drugs with/without and only without a prescription Similar tests for the relation between the use of illicit drugs for the purpose of cognitive enhancement and prescription drugs for the purpose of cognitive enhancement could not be performed because small cell sizes precluded significance testing Results of the Chi square association between the use of prescription drugs (specific prescription drugs with/without a prescription; specific prescription drugs without a prescription; general prescription drugs without a prescription) Results of One-Way ANOVAs for the relation between the use of prescription drugs (specific prescription drugs with/without a prescription; specific prescription drugs without a prescription; general prescription drugs without a prescription) illicit and lifestyle drugs for cognitive enhancement and study related stress The present study demonstrates the prevalence of the nonmedical use and the use with the specific purpose of cognitive enhancement of prescription drugs and lifestyle drugs among university students in the Netherlands General use and nonmedical use is larger for lifestyle drugs than illicit drugs and larger for illicit drugs than prescription drugs Even though prevalence numbers differ for general and nonmedical use the use of prescription drugs and illicit drugs with the purpose of cognitive enhancement is rather similar and low in occurrence in the current sample almost half of the respondents use lifestyle drugs with the intention to cognitively enhance themselves Users of prescription drugs for the purpose of cognitive enhancement are more likely to use other substances than non-users There is a relation between the use of prescription drugs and the use of illicit drugs but not with the use of lifestyle drugs when it comes to using these substances to cognitively enhance oneself that respondents who use substances for cognitive enhancement experience more stress than non-users is confirmed for the group of users of specific prescription drugs that include both users with and without a prescription and for users of lifestyle drugs In general our prevalence numbers of prescription drugs and illicit drugs appear to be low compared to research in other European countries whilst our results for lifestyle drugs are more in line but at the same time there is not enough information yet—especially on the long term effects—to create a proper risk/benefit analysis Our findings display that users of lifestyle drugs for the purpose of cognitive enhancement are more likely to use illicit drugs and prescription drugs for the purpose of cognitive enhancement and thus support previous findings in suggesting that this hypothesis not only plays a role in physical performance enhancement but also for cognitive performance enhancement Another explanation might be found in the low awareness about the use of prescription drugs for cognitive enhancement in the current sample There might be a higher discrepancy between the awareness of the use of prescription drugs for cognitive enhancement and the use of lifestyle drugs for cognitive enhancement than in other countries resulting in less association between the two types of cognitive enhancement drug use When one wants to relate the use of a certain category of substances to for example stress it is clear that these relations depend on the type of substances included in a certain category We aimed to create transparency about this topic by providing the prevalence number for each specific substance within each category separately our sample is representative for the population Future studies will need to give more insight in the use of substances for cognitive enhancement in other target groups such as in specific occupations A final limitation regards the study methods. The research is conducted by an online large-scale self-report questionnaire with many questions which might have given rise to a decrease of the feeling of anonymity, a burden in the time that was needed to complete the questionnaire, or for example a lack of memory about certain situations and feelings during the use of certain substances. It is possible that the use of certain substances is stigmatized (Dietz et al., 2013) which may lead to a different reported prevalence rate compared to the actual prevalence rates the present study indicates that the use of prescription drugs and illicit drugs to increase cognitive performance among students in Dutch universities is rather low compared to other European countries while the use of lifestyle drugs for cognitive enhancement fits the European context better We have found further evidence of polydrug use in relation to cognitive enhancement while previous findings of the relation between cognitive enhancement drug use and stress have not been confirmed consistently We have decided to report the findings of several operationalizations of cognitive enhancement drug use to enable comparison with a wider variety of previous and upcoming research We urge future researchers to take the discussion about these different operationalizations and the effects that they have on the prevalence numbers into account in designing and reporting future experiments on the use of substances for cognitive enhancement The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest Cools for their feedback on previous versions of this article Supplement use in the context of preferred competitive situations Characteristics of methylphenidate misuse in a university sample Use of cognitive enhancement medication among Northern Italian university students Pubmed Abstract | Pubmed Full Text | CrossRef Full Text Motivations for alcohol use among adolescents: development and validation of a four-factor model Nonmedical ADHD stimulant use in fraternities Randomized response estimates for the 12-month prevalence of cognitive-enhancing drug use in university students Predicting future anabolic-androgenic steroid use intentions with current substance use: findings from an internet-based suvery Characteristics and motives of college students who engage in nonmedical use of methylphenidate Neuroenhancement among German University students: motives and relationship with psychoactive lifestyle drugs Alcohol use and intimate relationships in adolescence: when love comes to town CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar Use of illicit and prescription drugs for cognitive or mood enhancement among surgeons Non-medical use of prescription stimulants and illicit use of stimulants for cognitive enhancement in pupils and students in Germany caffeinated drinks and caffeine tablets for cognitive enhancement in pupils and students in Germany What users think about the differences between caffeine and illicit/prescription stimulants for cognitive enhancement Oneigenlijk Medicijngebruik Onder Nederlandse Jongeren: Aard en Omvang Rotterdam: Instituut voor Verslavingsonderzoek (IVO) Parental rules and communication: their association with adolescent smoking The Fagerström test for nicotine dependence: a revision of the Fagerström Tolerance Questionnaire Risk and protective factors for methamphetamine use and nonmedical use of prescription stimulants among young adults aged 18 to 25 Prescription drug misuse among university staff and students: a survey of motives CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar 22nd neuropharmacology conference: cognitive enhancers [special issue] Cognitive-enhancing substance use at German universities: frequency To dope or not to dope: neuroenhancement with prescription drugs and drugs of abuse among Swiss university students Substance use to enhance academic performance among Australian university students CrossRef Full Text | Google Scholar Sources of prescription drugs for illicit use Non-medical use of prescription stimulants among US college students: prevalence and correlates from a national survey Monks, K. 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Available online at: http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2013/07/02/drug-testing-students-barbara-sahakian_n_3533065.html (Accessed June 1 The epidemiology and cognitive neuroscience of prescription stimulant use by normal healthy individuals Stichting Farmaceutische Kengetallen Stichting Farmaceutische Kengetallen Illicit use of specific prescription stimulants among college students: prevalence Pillen voor de psych(e); een exploratief onderzoek naar neuro-enhancement onder Nederlandse psychiaters en artsen Pubmed Abstract | Pubmed Full Text Reduced self-control leads to disregard of an unfamiliar behavioral option: an experimental approach to the study of neuroenhancement Subjective stressors in school and their relation to neuroenhancement: a behavioral perspective on students' everyday life “doping.” Subst Modeling students instrumental (mis-) use of substances to enhance cognitive performance: neuroenhancement in the light of job demands-resources theory Gusman-Vermeer J and van Mil ACCM (2015) A survey of substance use for cognitive enhancement by university students in the Netherlands Received: 17 June 2014; Accepted: 20 January 2015; Published online: 17 February 2015 Copyright © 2015 Schelle, Olthof, Reintjes, Bundt, Gusman-Vermeer and van Mil. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited in accordance with accepted academic practice distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms *Correspondence: Kimberly J. Schelle, Radboud Honours Academy, Radboud University, Comeniuslaan 4, 6525 HP Nijmegen, Netherlands e-mail:a2ltYmVybHlzY2hlbGxlQGdtYWlsLmNvbQ== Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher 94% of researchers rate our articles as excellent or goodLearn more about the work of our research integrity team to safeguard the quality of each article we publish the Red Sox have had players on their roster who were perhaps better known for the uniqueness of their name than for anything they did on the playing field You could add La Schelle Tarver to that list announcer mistakenly introduced him as “Tarver La Schelle.” In a one-season major-league career that lasted only 13 games scoring three runs and driving in one during the summer of 1986 for the Red Sox He did not produce an extra-base hit or steal a base although it was for his speed in the outfield and on the base paths that he was initially valued Tarver simply came on the scene at the wrong time — the Red Sox had proven veterans starting in their outfield that season he was the fourth of six sons born to his mother He noted that he was the baby of the family for 11 years before his two younger brothers Tarver was not allowed to play any organized sports when he was real young but by the time he was 10 years old his mother acquiesced “I was always crying, because my friends would play baseball and football. My older brother Paul played Little League baseball and I wanted to be just like him,” said Tarver.1 He was allowed to sign up for Little League baseball in 1968 but showed up for practice without a baseball glove “One of the coaches gave me a glove and it was the old kind He was picked for the team Duncan and Scheid and admitted he was not very good at first but “by the time I was 12 I was on every all-star team and was always MVP of my team.” Tarver was later named the most valuable player of the all-star tournament “Coach Bledsoe would become my role model on the baseball field from that time on and was my coach all through high school,” Tarver said “He was a baseball guru and took me under his wing and worked with me to be fundamentally sound on the field.”         was a Northern California All-American first baseman when he played at Madera High School He was scouted by Fibber Harioma of the California Angels and after his 1977 high-school graduation was drafted by the Angels in the 42nd round of the major leagues’ amateur draft Tarver played two years for Reedley (California) Junior College in 1978-79 then moved on to Cal State University-Sacramento in 1980 but I have a big old pasture that you can roam out in center field,’” Tarver recalled Cal State had produced several other major leaguers including infielder Mike Fischlin and pitcher Keith Brown “I never hit under .360 all through high school and college and my speed was a big part of my game,” Tarver said “That was my separation from everybody else After spending the summer of 1980 playing for the Humboldt Crabs in the Humboldt County baseball league for college players Tarver was drafted by the New York Mets on August 18 He spent 1981 through 1985 in the Mets’ minor-league system After a spring-training injury in 1981, Tarver spent his first minor-league season with the Shelby Mets of the South Atlantic League. The team also featured future major leaguers Lenny Dykstra, John Gibbons, Randy Milligan, and DeWayne Vaughn leading Shelby in stolen bases with 57 while batting .314 and driving in 27 runs He also played five games with the Lynchburg (Virginia) Mets of the Carolina League Tarver started the 1982 season with Lynchburg, where he was the one of the team’s regular outfielders along with Herm Winningham and Milligan He wound up the season with Double-A Jacksonville and Triple-A Tidewater “I started out (1982) in Lynchburg and was having a good season, and then there were injuries in certain places,” Tarver said. “They didn’t want to move some of their top draft picks like Darryl Strawberry and Billy Beane so I guess I was doing well enough that they would send me up or down as they needed somebody.” “I was playing winter ball in San Juan (Puerto Rico) and my agent at the time called me,” Tarver recalled ‘I have some good news and some bad news.’ He said you got traded,’ so I asked what’s the bad news was and he said Tarver looked it as an opportunity to perhaps play for a team that didn’t put a lot of emphasis on speed “When I got to Boston, speed wasn’t something they were known for,” he said, “but for me, it was just an opportunity to play and I felt I may have a chance. At the time, the Mets were stacked and they had Mookie Wilson in center, they had Dykstra coming up, they had Herm Winningham coming up, they had Terry Blocker coming up and all playing center field So it was a good opportunity for me (in Boston) and I was excited.” In a rather auspicious debut in his first spring-training at-bat with the Red Sox, on March 7, 1986, against the Tigers, Tarver ended the game by lining into a triple play. It was reportedly the first triple play hit into by a Red Sox player in 21 years.2 With Mike Stenhouse and Mike Greenwell on first and second, respectively, with singles, Tarver pinch-hit for Mike Easler. His liner was caught by shortstop Doug Baker who stepped on second to put Stenhouse out and threw out Greenwell before he could retreat to first Tarver began the 1986 season with Triple-A Pawtucket, spending time in the outfield with Boston prospects Mike Greenwell and Todd Benzinger “The Boston Herald and Globe sportswriters were always down in Pawtucket and they would come over and talk to me,” Tarver said “I was just tickled pink because with the Mets I never had anybody from the New York sportswriters come and talk to me Boston Globe writer Sean O’Sullivan wrote on June 29, 1986, that “Tarver, currently Pawtucket’s starting right fielder, is one of those ‘other guys’ involved in the eight-man deal, but he hasn’t been just any other guy on the field.”3 Tarver was leading the International League in batting with a .359 average He was in the midst of a stretch where he had hit in 16 of his last 17 games He was also tops on the team in stolen bases with 20 despite having missed the first three weeks of the season with a groin pull When center fielder Tony Armas pulled a thigh muscle and went on the 15-day disabled list in mid-July the Red Sox purchased Tarver’s contract from Pawtucket He became the eighth player at that point to make the jump from Triple-A to the parent club in 1986 “I had no idea what Fenway even looked like So I got in my car in Pawtucket and drove up (Route) 95 to Boston,” Tarver recalled “I got a block away from Fenway out on Yawkey Way and looking for the park I guess I was looking for a stadium like Dodger Stadium or Candlestick.” “I called the office asking where the park was and whoever answered the phone said ‘You see that brick building that looks like a warehouse just come to that gate,’” Tarver continued “It was a heck of an experience for my first time in Boston.” In his major-league debut, on July 12, Tarver struck out against California’s Mike Witt in his first at-bat and was somewhat taken aback by the loud ovation he received while trotting back to the bench after being retired on a 2-and-2 pitch “Perhaps Tarver was cheered because the 32,932 Fenway faithful were trying to be polite — after all, it was his first major league appearance,” wrote the Boston Globe’s Michael Vega. “Or maybe it was the manner in which Tarver went down — he protected the plate and made Witt work for the out by tossing 11 pitches — that elicited the response.”4 but I do remember it was a long at-bat,” Tarver said “What I also remember about Fenway and playing center field were the fans almost right on top of you It was a warm welcome; they were really good to me.” The Red Sox embarked on a 13-game late-July Western road trip and Tarver played center field in his first three games. He didn’t get his first hit until his third game, on July 19 in Seattle. He went 1-for-5, driving in a run and scoring a pair to help Roger Clemens to a 9-4 victory Armas rejoined the team on July 20 but was unable to come off the disabled list for another week That evening Tarver picked up a hit in a 9-5 loss to Seattle and then had one more hit as the Red Sox fell in Oakland While the Red Sox were in Seattle, the Globe reported that trade talks were in the air but they apparently “fell apart after Seattle manager Dick Williams termed Boston’s offer for outfielder Dave Henderson ‘insulting.’ The Red Sox were offering outfielder La Schelle Tarver and a minor league pitcher, probably Mike Brown.”5 Once Armas returned to the lineup in early August Henderson joined the Red Sox on August 19, 1986, along with shortstop Spike Owen, for pitcher Mike Trujillo and shortstop Rey Quiñones Henderson became the regular center fielder for the stretch run and the playoffs At the conclusion of the International League season, Tarver was called up along with pitchers Steve Crawford, Jeff Sellers, and Rob Woodward, first baseman Paul Dodson, and catcher Dave Sax as the rosters expanded for the end of the regular season In his first game back, on September 3, Tarver came on in the ninth inning in a game at Texas to pinch-run for Mike Greenwell. Spike Owen tried to move him to second on a bunt but struck out on three pitches. Rangers reliever Dale Mohorcic began working Wade Boggs low and away but Boggs found a pitch to his liking and slashed it to the gap in left-center never hesitated from first and came all the way around to score the eventual winning run in Boston’s fifth straight victory “I was running with the pitch,” Tarver told the Globe, “and I got a good jump. I was coming all the way after I saw the sign to go.”6 Tarver’s role on the team seemed to be exclusively as either a pinch-runner or pinch-hitter except in for a start in left field a September 30 loss to Baltimore after Boston had clinched the American League East Tarver would not be with the team as it moved on to the playoffs it had been announced on September 25 in the Boston Globe “Jeff Sellers, Rob Woodward, Dave Sax, La Schelle Tarver and Kevin Romine can participate in the clinch party, but none will be on Boston’s postseason roster,” it was noted.7 “They had set the roster and told us we weren’t going to be part of the postseason,” said Tarver But it would have been nice to play the Mets and all the players I came up with.” Tarver was named to the International League All-Star team in 1986 When spring training in 1987 rolled around, Tarver was one of the young outfield candidates along with Benzinger, Greenwell, and Romine. However, the return of highly-touted Ellis Burks who was coming back from shoulder surgery that caused him to miss the 1986 season Tarver made a sliding catch in left field and felt his right knee lock up but I didn’t know it at the time it was a career-ending injury,” he said “No one told me at the time that there was a chance of me not playing again but I never played another game after that.” Tarver began working with at-risk youth in poverty-stricken areas of Fresno under a grant program for nearly a dozen years He later went back to school for his business-administration degree and as of 2015 had worked for the sheriff’s department for 15 years He returned to Boston for the 20th-anniversary reunion of the 1986 American League champions in 2006 and the 100th anniversary of Fenway Park in 2012 He was married for the first time on May 3 she accompanied him to Boston for the Fenway Park 100th-anniversary celebration “It was great to see Fenway once again and share that experience with my daughter and wife,” said Tarver the ownership and the people are just tremendous how they treat you when you do come back.” La Schelle Tarver continued working for the sheriff’s department until his death on March 20 He was survived by his daughter Shontel and four grand-daughters 1 All quotations from La Schelle Tarver come from interviews with the author on January 29 and February 5 If you can help us improve this player’s biography, contact us 1986 Boston Red Sox Meet the Staff Board of Directors Annual Reports Inclusivity Statement Contact SABR This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks The action you just performed triggered the security solution There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page Add articles to your saved list and come back to them any time Victorians who casually blow up an inflatable pool in their backyard this summer may not realise they are breaking the law by not putting a fence around it including blow-up pools that cost as little as $25 require a safety barrier under Victorian laws Regulations for inflatable pools are confusing for many people.Credit: Getty Images The state government introduced pool and spa safety legislation in 2019 to ensure proper fencing around inground and above ground pools and spas The Victorian Building Authority (VBA) has confirmed the legislation extends to relocatable Inflatable or relocatable pools that can contain 30 centimetres of water or more need to have an adequate safety barrier according to the regulations outlined on the Victorian Building Authority website small wading pools that hold less than 30 centimetres of water must be maintained by the pool owner at all times in between inspections to ensure they are safe,” according to Deputy State Building Surveyor Jo van Loon The VBA is responsible for registering pool inspectors and educating them on the regulations while individual councils are responsible for enforcing regulations spas and safety barriers must comply with requirements including being constructed by a registered builder having self-latching and self-closing pool gates Pools – including inflatable pools – also need to be registered if they are in place for more than three days and all safety barriers have to be inspected to check if they comply If they don’t comply and are found to have breached the standards people with unregistered pools risk being fined as much as $1800 depending on what council area they live in people have been warned by council officers over inflatable pools in their backyards after being dobbed in by neighbours KidsSafe Victoria chief executive Sarah Sexton said inflatable pools were a great way to keep cool in summer but there were significant risks around any bodies of water and young children are also a bit top-heavy and it only takes 20 seconds and a couple of centimetres of water for a toddler to drown,” she said “It’s critical that parents and guardians have preventative measures in place to keep their kids safe around water.” They also needed to keep an eye on items such as pet water bowls Opposition consumer affairs spokesman Tim McCurdy said water safety was critical to ensuring people enjoyed their summer “Victorians cannot keep up with all the rules which leads to more people not following them as they simply cannot understand them,” he said McCurdy said there was a lack of consistency around the country when it came to pool fencing regulations “The Victorian government needs to end the confusion that exists when it comes to pool fences and barriers,” he said He said the state government should lead a campaign for a consistent “For something as important as our children and safety around water we desperately need clear rules around inflatable and portable pools – rules that will ensure we all can have fun without the headache of understanding compliance,” he said said councils wanted to help people understand the rules and comply councils would prefer to educate rather than to dish out penalties “While adult supervision is the number one factor in pool safety the role of the regulatory system is ensuring that a lapse in supervision doesn’t lead to tragedy,” association president Jennifer Anderson said “Pool safety is critically important to Victorian communities and local councils.” She said coronial reports showed time and again that faulty pool fences played a part in children drowning But the association does not have data on the enforcement of breaches of the legislation Wodonga Council is one organisation that has urged people to be aware of the safety regulations around inflatable pools On social media it told residents to remember that pools must have the right safety barriers “The council relies on several methods to ensure compliance and reports from the community,” it said in a statement “Residents are encouraged to register their pools and spas including inflatable pools that meet the criteria The Victorian government stood by its pool safety regulations when approached for comment from this masthead “After a number of fatal and avoidable drownings involving children we undertook extensive consultation to make pools and spas safer - introducing a registration and inspection scheme to ensure barriers are compliant and up-to-date.“ “Pool owners should do the right thing by registering their pool or spa with their local council and maintaining a compliant safety barrier.“ Get alerts on significant breaking news as it happens. Sign up for our Breaking News Alert must be maintained by the pool owner at all times in between inspections to ensure they are safe,\\u201D according to Deputy State Building Surveyor Jo van Loon Pools \\u2013 including inflatable pools \\u2013 also need to be registered if they are in place for more than three days If they don\\u2019t comply and are found to have breached the standards and it only takes 20 seconds and a couple of centimetres of water for a toddler to drown,\\u201D she said \\u201CIt\\u2019s critical that parents and guardians have preventative measures in place to keep their kids safe around water.\\u201D \\u201CVictorians cannot keep up with all the rules which leads to more people not following them as they simply cannot understand them,\\u201D he said \\u201CThe Victorian government needs to end the confusion that exists when it comes to pool fences and barriers,\\u201D he said \\u201CFor something as important as our children and safety around water we desperately need clear rules around inflatable and portable pools \\u2013 rules that will ensure we all can have fun without the headache of understanding compliance,\\u201D he said \\u201CWhile adult supervision is the number one factor in pool safety the role of the regulatory system is ensuring that a lapse in supervision doesn\\u2019t lead to tragedy,\\u201D association president Jennifer Anderson said \\u201CPool safety is critically important to Victorian communities and local councils.\\u201D \\u201CThe council relies on several methods to ensure compliance and reports from the community,\\u201D it said in a statement \\u201CResidents are encouraged to register their pools and spas to ensure they meet safety standards.\\u201D \\u201CAfter a number of fatal and avoidable drownings involving children we undertook extensive consultation to make pools and spas safer - introducing a registration and inspection scheme to ensure barriers are compliant and up-to-date.\\u201C \\u201CPool owners should do the right thing by registering their pool or spa with their local council and maintaining a compliant safety barrier.\\u201C Get alerts on significant breaking news as it happens (FOX26) — A former correction officer for the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office who was also a former MLB player has passed away Tarver attended Madera High School class of 1977 and played many sports including basketball and baseball but he truly excelled in baseball and started on Madera’s varsity baseball team in his sophomore year [RELATED]Mother of drowned Visalia hero seeks healing by meeting the family her son saved He became the first African American player to be honored as an MVP of the NYL North Yosemite League Tarver continued to play baseball at Reedley Junior College and Sacramento State until 1980 playing in the minor leagues from 1981 to 1985 he was then traded to the Boston Red Sox and made his major league debut in July of 1986 and played until October [RELATED]Missing Clovis grandfather with dementia found safe and reunited with family He ended the season by playing in the World Series where his team lost to Tarver’s former team he went on to become a corrections officer for the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office in 2001 Funeral Services for La Shelle Tarver will be on Friday 2024A former Major League Baseball player and retired correctional officer with the Fresno County Sheriff's Office has died.FRESNO COUNTY (KFSN) -- A former Major League Baseball player and retired correctional officer with the Fresno County Sheriff's Office has died The sheriff's office has confirmed that La Schelle Tarver died last month He was a Madera grad who went on to play at Reedley College The Mets drafted him in 1980 and his Major League debut came in July of 1986 with the Red Sox Tarver went on to serve 20 years as a correctional officer for Fresno County Sheriff's Office Funeral services for Tarver will be held on Friday There’s a saying in journalism that you’re not supposed to get too close to your subjects. But as a features writer and editor for more than 25 years, I can tell you first hand that’s extremely hard. In features, you are often sharing someone’s story that is extremely personal and writing a piece of them at their most vulnerable time to the world. Journalists are human, too, so there are stories that I’ll always remember. And Katie Miller, who I featured in the Lifestyle section on Nov. 19, will be one of those stories. In the spring, Katie was diagnosed with unknown primary cancer. I had seen postings about GoFundMe requests for her to help with her medical expenses. As I kept seeing it shared online, I knew she was someone I needed to feature a story on. I didn’t know Katie, but as I was trying to reach out to her I learned that I knew people who knew her. My sister, Wendy, worked with her at The Arc of Washington County. Her mother worked at Clear Spring Middle School when I was a student there. And my best friend in high school is her cousin. Katie was 33 when I interviewed her over the phone a week before her birthday. She was in the hospital then with hopes of being moved to rehab in a few days. We chatted about her love of country music, her dogs and her family. And she had a little request. She wanted birthday cards to celebrate her 34th year. She told me she was just hoping for 100, and wanted anyone to send her positive thoughts to do so. I started running into more people who knew Katie and who talked about her beautiful smile and big heart. People who had went to school with her at North Hagerstown High School. A co-worker who realized she was Katie’s Girl Scout troop leader when she was a child. Over and over again, they talked about what a shining light she was. A joy, they told me. I had gathered some signed cards for her birthday. So Wendy and I went to visit her at Meritus Medical Center where she had returned. Her room was filled with cards and stuffed animal dogs (her two dogs were the love of her life). Katie was having a hard time speaking so we asked her yes and no questions so she could keep her strength. “Do you want Crystal to read these to you?” Wendy asked as I lifted up a stack of about 25 cards. I read her every one, showing her the cards. She smiled. Katie was 34 when she lost her battle with cancer. She died Nov. 30 at Doey’s House in Hagerstown. When I arrived for her viewing at 4 p.m. Dec. 4, it was already packed with family and friends. I’m told it was a steady stream of people who paid their respects that day as well as packed the funeral home the next day. She left behind her parents, Ricky and Ruth, and her beloved Shetland collies, Bentley and Hershey. And as I witnessed, thousands of people who were touched by her brief 34 years on this earth. Ruth said they estimate that Katie received 2,500 birthday cards — some containing checks and money that will be put toward her funeral expenses. Some people, Ruth said, wrote Katie letters. And every day, Ruth said they would read them to her. “We want to thank everybody for being so kind,” she said. “Katie only wished for 100 cards and got over 2,500.” Rick said the outpouring of support from strangers was “just overwhelming.” Katie received cards from schools, churches, Girl Scouts and regular people. They’ve gotten cards from as far away as Colorado and California. Her parents are still reading the cards and going through the ones they weren’t able to read to Katie. Ruth said they want Katie to be remembered for her big heart. “She will want people to be humble and kind to one another and to love their family because she was a family person,” she said. “And to make new friends and do whatever you could do for each other. And always keep a smile on your face because she always had a smile.” Ruth said Katie would want anyone to fighting cancer to never give up. “If you ever get cancer, fight it to the end and keep positive like she did,” she said. “She was really positive. Never give up. “ Crystal Schelle is Lifestyle and What’s NXT editor at Herald-Mail Media. She can be reached at 301-791-7136. This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks. The action you just performed triggered the security solution. There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase, a SQL command or malformed data. You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked. Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page. Volume 8 - 2014 | https://doi.org/10.3389/fnsys.2014.00053 A primary means for the augmentation of cognitive brain functions is “pharmacological cognitive enhancement” (PCE) The term usually refers to the off-label use of medical substances to improve mental performance in healthy individuals With the final aim to advance the normative debate taking place on that topic several empirical studies have been conducted to assess the attitudes toward PCE in the public we provide an overview of the 40 empirical studies published so far reporting both their methodology and results we find that several concerns about the use of PCE are prevalent in the public These concerns largely match those discussed in the normative academic debate We present our findings structured around the three most common concerns: medical safety Fairness is divided into three subthemes: equality of opportunity Attitudes regarding some concerns are coherent across studies (e.g. whereas for others we find mixed results (e.g. we find differences in how specific groups—such as users and health care providers—perceive PCE: a coherent finding is that nonusers display more concerns regarding medical safety and fairness than users We discuss potential psychological explanations for these differences Examples of seemingly common pharmacological enhancers are methylphenidate (e.g. the first two were developed as treatment for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and the latter as treatment for Narcolepsy but now they are being used to enhance performance in healthy individuals In the normative debate about whether or not PCE is to be endorsed, certain concerns about its use are often raised and have been discussed by several authors (e.g., Farah et al., 2004; Bostrom and Sandberg, 2009; Schermer et al., 2009; Hyman, 2011) we focus on three concerns that are most often emphasized by the public but are also discussed in the normative debate the medical safety of the aforementioned substances has been discussed in particular in terms of short- or long-term side effects relating to concerns about the explicit and implicit pressures that can arise from the availability of PCE forcing people to use these substances to be able to compete The third concern relates to the fairness of the use of PCE This concern includes several subtopics such as a possible unequal distribution of access to such enhancers their use in competitive environments being seen as cheating and also to what degree performance brought about under PCE can be seen as authentic The current article is based on an extensive literature search and included all articles published in English between 1990 and 2014 The search terms we used were [(“cognitive enhancer” OR “cognitive enhancement” OR “pharmacological enhancement” OR “prescription drug” OR “performance enhancing drug” OR neuroenhancement OR “human enhancement”) AND (view OR perspective OR opinion OR attitude OR judgment OR motive OR justification)] as part of the title This search resulted in 447 articles in Web of Science and 4162 articles in Scopus Based on a careful check of titles and abstracts we selected all articles that reported empirical studies on the opinions of groups outside the normative academic debate (such as students or physicians) on the use of PCE We also cross-checked the reference lists of the studies found this way to identify additional relevant literature matching our inclusion criteria we checked Google Scholar and asked colleagues publishing in this area to direct us to relevant publications this search resulted in 40 publications reporting qualitative or quantitative examinations of attitudes and views of the general public and more often specific sub-populations toward PCE These 40 publications are marked with an asterisk in the reference list containing information about the concerns investigated the research method by which the data were obtained and the sample (occupation of participants Overview of the empirical studies discussed in this review but a sharp discrepancy between their risk estimations is revealed While nonusers generally have strong concerns regarding the safety of PCE find in the second wave that a higher expected likelihood of side effects decreased the willingness to use PCE who concluded that subjective suffering is taken into account as a criterion for disease 379 Swiss general practitioners and psychiatrists 88% reported being influenced by the degree of subjective suffering in prescribing an enhancer in four different scenarios When asked if they would prescribe a PCE substance if a student requested a prescription to stay awake to study more although 54% would prescribe if there were no therapeutic alternative Around half of the respondents reported being confronted in their practice with such requests for prescriptions which demonstrate that students who are illicitly using cognitive enhancers seem to be more likely than nonusers to believe that the substances are harmless there is a general discrepancy between the views of users and nonusers with regard to the associated health risks of PCE and its moral acceptance with users being less concerned than nonusers Participants in Forlini and Racine's (2009) study held the descriptive view that users are generally deciding to take such substances as a result of a voluntary decision they believed that this decision can be influenced by perceived social pressure or by competitive environments where people are striving for success and feel they have to perform better than average Health care providers amongst the participants admitted that students who don't take enhancers may be disadvantaged because demands are getting higher and PCE is becoming more prevalent They regarded peer pressure as an important contributing factor to the perceived need to take cognitive enhancers were aware of the pressure being put on students and consequently felt worry and sadness They feared that the use of PCE may become a new standard they accepted the use of PCE conditional on the fact that one remains faithful to one's personal values they recognized the difficulty of that endeavor when social pressure is high and when abstinence could lead to personal disadvantage maintained a paternalistic view: students should be informed about cognitive enhancement they should be held responsible and accountable for the decision to engage in PCE people consider the role of peer pressure as problematic and agree on the importance of deciding autonomously whether to engage in PCE since the few studies reported here reveal mixed results more research is needed to investigate the topic in greater depth They developed a model to describe three different subthemes: they suggest that judgments of fairness can (apart from external factors like legislation) be defined by a relationship between equality of opportunity Participants who valued the equality of opportunity described the importance of an equal distribution of opportunities to obtain PCE substances and opportunities deriving from their use Honesty and authenticity are both related to effort that has to be invested to achieve a certain task The underlying assumption is that when high performance is achieved with less effort—as might be the case when PCE substances are taken—this might be less fair compared to performance that is achieved with substantial effort Honesty relates to the social aspect of this assumption and reflects the effect of PCE use on other individuals for example in a competitive environment where PCE use might be seen as cheating Authenticity relates to the individual PCE user and questions whether his/her performance under PCE often seen as a situation in which effort is discounted It is based on the underlying belief that putting in effort shapes the experience of an individual and thus affects a “future” individual that does not gain the same experience while using PCE Although the above separation of concepts is too coarse to fully reflect the depth of the academic normative debate the concerns of the public can be grouped around these subthemes of fairness these underlying theories are not distinguished yet in empirical research on the public's opinions about PCE suggesting that in this case it might be closer to a treatment than to an enhancement it would seem that both the acceptance of side effects as well as the acceptance of a certain unequal distribution is greater in the case of a treatment compared to enhancement Users find it more acceptable than nonusers that fellow students with low academic performance use PCE but research investigating the reasons for these diverging views of users and nonusers is still lacking In the case of a competition for grades or admission PCE could be seen as cheating if it were against the rules or if access were unequally distributed As described above, Fitz et al. (2013) showed that when obtaining PCE takes less effort This was reflected in reduced fairness ratings in a scenario in which one individual could use PCE and another could not The effort needed to obtain PCE was manipulated that of the effect of the PCE as either reducing the effort needed to study or increasing the number of hours that one could study for The combination of diminished effort in obtainment and reduced study effort produced the lowest ratings of fairness any variation of the description that would result in a reduction of effort for the user of PCE in comparison to a nonuser resulted in respondents judging PCE as less fair and health care providers included some individuals who saw PCE as an unfair shortcut but also individuals who considered PCE a study tool like any other a little over half of the public believes that the use of PCE provides an unfair advantage to users especially in highly competitive environments Nonusers provide lower ratings of honesty than users in quantitative studies In general there seems to be dissent on whether PCE qualifies as cheating or not Qualitative studies give more insight into the different perspectives on this question for which the activity itself is seen as central for which the result of an activity counts We can apply the distinction between process goods and outcome goods to the list of 19 traits rated by 357 respondents in an online study by Riis et al. (2008) For each trait they had to rate their willingness to enhance it using pharmacological means received higher scores on willingness-to-enhance than more process related traits These higher ratings for what we deem outcome related traits might be explained by respondents valuing the notion of effort respondents were less willing to enhance traits that were rated as more fundamental to the self Finally, in their experimental vignette study Fitz et al. (2013) found that respondents rated an individual's performance as significantly less authentic when PCE was used this opinion did not completely transfer to judgments of worthiness for a promotion when the character would be assigned a new project in his job Respondents judged a PCE user as significantly more worthy when successful without enhancement compared to with enhancement but they also indicated that people who succeeded with the help of PCE were more worthy of promotion than people who did not use PCE and failed in general people are more likely to enhance outcome related traits than process related traits in direct discussions about effort and authenticity in relation to fairness individuals display divergent opinions on the importance of these topics The proportion of people who believe effort is discounted and authenticity violated when using PCE is a little over half of the respondents in most studies This implies that little less than half of the public is not that concerned about effort and authenticity in relation to PCE One reason that is given is that effort still has to be invested to achieve certain goals The findings we present are divided between three concerns regarding PCE use which are common in both the ethical and lay debate: medical safety Several studies have shown that medical safety is regarded as central by nonusers of PCE and insecurity about it provides a reason for them to refuse the use of PCE Related to this concern are findings that point toward a preference for natural over artificial enhancers A similar preference can be seen for interventions that might be closer to treatment than to enhancement do not display these preferences and indicate conflicting results on judgments of (subjective) health risks associated with PCE and deem PCE more often harmless than nonusers do A more convergent view can be found on the theme of coercion Different subgroups agree that PCE should be a matter of personal choice They believe that decisions concerning use are although they can be influenced by perceived social pressure or by competitive environments It is shown that peer pressure is a complex phenomenon as students might not always be influenced by other people's PCE use itself but only when these others achieve a higher performance compared to their own only a few studies have investigated coercion to date and we call for future research to fill this gap divided into three subthemes: equality of opportunity An unequal distribution of PCE substances that might develop due to changeable factors—such as wealth—is seen as unfair while an unequal distribution due to biological dispositions—such as a low attention span—is seen as less relevant to judgments of fairness This might relate to a general finding that treatments are seen as more acceptable than enhancements The public's opinion on the subthemes of honesty and authenticity shows a more complex pattern Nonusers believe more often than users that the use of PCE provides an unfair advantage although in general only half of the public raises concerns about this topic of honesty and cheating Several studies show that around the theme of authenticity both problematizing and non-problematizing views on PCE arise in equal proportions While some respondents indicate that “the work has still to be done” even when PCE is used others believe that PCE is a quick fix and undermines an authentic performance This would reflect a situation in which users adapt their attitudes toward their PCE use Future research is called to examine in greater depth which biases might influence people's attitudes toward PCE and the causal direction explaining the attitudes currently prevalent future research might also reveal whether differences between users and nonusers also hold for other concerns such as coercion and authenticity for which data on this distinction is currently lacking future research should provide more insight into the opinions of populations other than students such as the general population or more specifically people active in the workforce This would add to a more accurate picture of opinions of the general population and of potential users in those areas where use is to be expected future research is called for to reveal more fine-grained differences in the public opinion for certain concerns while different names may also be used for the same concern as was described for equality of opportunity This makes it harder to draw precise conclusions on the state of research on public attitudes toward PCE and to systematically compare it with arguments from the normative debate Although more fine-grained studies are needed to reflect the depth of the normative debate concerns of the public regarding the use of PCE reflect the main issues fiercely debated in academia Academic performance enhancement: a qualitative study of the perceptions and habits of prescription stimulant-using college students CrossRef Full Text Wish-fulfilling medicine in practice: the opinions and arguments of lay people Pubmed Abstract | Pubmed Full Text | CrossRef Full Text Explaining recent increases in students' marijuana use: impacts of perceived risks and disapproval Pubmed Abstract | Pubmed Full Text | CrossRef Full Text Cognitive enhancement: perceptions among parents of children with disabilities CrossRef Full Text Physician attitudes towards pharmacological cognitive enhancement: safety concerns are paramount Pubmed Abstract | Pubmed Full Text | CrossRef Full Text Ordinary ethics: lay people's deliberations on social sex selection CrossRef Full Text Illicit use of prescription stimulants in a college student sample: a theory-guided analysis Pubmed Abstract | Pubmed Full Text | CrossRef Full Text Australian university students' attitudes towards the acceptability and regulation of pharmaceuticals to improve academic performance CrossRef Full Text *Bergström mood and memory in healthy individuals: an empirical study of attitudes among general practitioners and the general population Pubmed Abstract | Pubmed Full Text | CrossRef Full Text The use and misuse of prescription stimulants as “cognitive enhancers” by students at one academic health sciences center Pubmed Abstract | Pubmed Full Text | CrossRef Full Text The reversal test: eliminating status quo bias in applied ethics Pubmed Abstract | Pubmed Full Text | CrossRef Full Text Pubmed Abstract | Pubmed Full Text | CrossRef Full Text and their potential risk and protective correlates in a Hispanic college student sample Pubmed Abstract | Pubmed Full Text | CrossRef Full Text Normal functioning and the treatment-enhancement distinction Pubmed Abstract | Pubmed Full Text | CrossRef Full Text The role of physician opinion in human enhancement Pubmed Abstract | Pubmed Full Text | CrossRef Full Text “Adderall is definitely not a drug”: justifications for the illegal use of ADHD stimulants Pubmed Abstract | Pubmed Full Text | CrossRef Full Text Judging cheaters: 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(2006). Meeting of Minds, European Citizens' Deliberation on Brain Science. 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(2003). Beyond Therapy. Biotechnology and the Pursuit of Happiness. Available online at: https://bioethicsarchive.georgetown.edu/pcbe/reports/beyondtherapy/index.html (Accessed March 31 Justice as fairness: political not metaphysical Pubmed Abstract | Pubmed Full Text | CrossRef Full Text Preferences for enhancement pharmaceuticals: the reluctance to enhance fundamental traits CrossRef Full Text Judgments of the fairness of using performance enhancing drugs Pubmed Abstract | Pubmed Full Text | CrossRef Full Text *Santoni de Sio “Moving beyond responsibility-shifting towards a nature-of-activities approach,” in Cognitive Enhancement: Ethical and Policy Implications in International Perspectives Dubljevic (Oxford: Oxford University Press) Pubmed Abstract | Pubmed Full Text | CrossRef Full Text Impact of contextual factors and substance characteristics on perspectives toward cognitive enhancement Pubmed Abstract | Pubmed Full Text | CrossRef Full Text Evaluating the drivers of and obstacles to the willingness to use cognitive enhancement drugs: the influence of drug characteristics Pubmed Abstract | Pubmed Full Text | CrossRef Full Text The rationale for consuming cognitive enhancement drugs in university students and teachers Pubmed Abstract | Pubmed Full Text | CrossRef Full Text Pubmed Abstract | Pubmed Full Text | CrossRef Full Text CrossRef Full Text Pubmed Abstract | Pubmed Full Text | CrossRef Full Text The future of psychopharmacological enhancements: expectations and policies CrossRef Full Text The ethics of ‘smart drugs’: moral judgments about healthy people's use of cognitive-enhancing drugs CrossRef Full Text The ethics of ‘public understanding of ethics’–why and how bioethics expertise should include public and patients' voices Pubmed Abstract | Pubmed Full Text | CrossRef Full Text “Prevalence and attitudes to neurenhancement among students. results of a survey at the UAMR Universities” in Conference Presentation (Bochum: Ruhr University Bochum Military medical research on cognitive performance: the warfighter's competitive edge Pubmed Abstract | Pubmed Full Text “The dynamics of citizen deliberation regarding human enhancement in the Netherlands,” in Beyond Therapy v Multidisciplinary Analysis of a Heated Debate Are prescription stimulants “smart pills” Pubmed Abstract | Pubmed Full Text | CrossRef Full Text The use of prescription drugs for academic performance enhancement in college aged students Prevalence and motives for illicit use of prescription stimulants in an undergraduate student sample Pubmed Abstract | Pubmed Full Text | CrossRef Full Text Van Der Schaaf Working memory capacity predicts effects of methylphenidate on reversal learning Pubmed Abstract | Pubmed Full Text | CrossRef Full Text The neurocognitive enhancement of surgeons: an ethical perspective Pubmed Abstract | Pubmed Full Text | CrossRef Full Text * References marked with an asterisk indicate studies of the public's opinion on PCE; their results are discussed in this review Caviola L and Hewstone M (2014) Attitudes toward pharmacological cognitive enhancement—a review Received: 28 January 2014; Accepted: 21 March 2014; Published online: 17 April 2014 Copyright © 2014 Schelle, Faulmüller, Caviola and Hewstone. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) *Correspondence: Nadira Faulmüller, Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, 9 South Parks Road, Oxford, OX1 3UD, UK e-mail:bmFkaXJhLmZhdWxtdWVsbGVyQHBzeS5veC5hYy51aw== but studying life’s big questions in philosophy led to VCE success for one star pupil Melbourne Grammar School student Ryan Mooney said when he talked about studying philosophy Melbourne Grammar School’s Ryan Mooney excelled in a more uncommon VCE subject.Credit: Luis Enrique Ascui ‘Philosophy – isn’t that what they talked about 2000 years ago Why not study maths or something?’” he said But no one could question his marks – Mooney received a study score of 47 in the subject and an ATAR of 99.4 Mooney described philosophy as the study of fundamental questions about the nature of the world and people and how we relate to each other and the world around us “It’s essentially the discipline of questioning and asking the big questions,” the 18-year-old explained adding students examined questions such as ‘What is a good life?’ Despite the subject’s “perceived obscurity” he said it was the one that gave him the most relevant skills to engage with today’s world “Once you’re forced through this kind of high-intensity mental boot camp which allows you to see things a bit clearer “You can actually understand and explore concepts If there is a fear that students of philosophy can get bogged down with “gobbledygook” and not end up with anything useful Mooney “can definitely attest that’s not the case with me” “It was the most rewarding subject I took,” he said He pointed to debates online or in person and says philosophy gave him critical thinking skills “I think these are more important skills than ever in human history to have now it’s precisely [because of] the lack of these faculties that misinformation is so prevalent that people can no longer critically think or have a reasonable discussion … that we can’t combat misinformation All those questions will come in useful next year when Mooney plans to study arts at Melbourne University and pursue a law degree after that 15 students scored 40 or above (out of a possible 50) in philosophy Thirty is the mean; a score of 40 or above puts a student in the top 9 per cent of a subject’s cohort That means about one in six top philosophy scorers statewide were in Mooney’s classroom Sociology is another subject that students say isn’t well understood but Haileybury Girls’ College students Kiara Rampal and Amelia Yates both picked it Roughly one in five top scorers in the state in this subject studied at this school “Most people have no clue what it is,” Yates said of sociology community and society and how it relates to life Yates said she particularly enjoyed learning about other cultures and said she gained greater empathy as a result of her studies said she loved sociology because of how relevant it was to all aspects of life “It really teaches students how to think beyond the box how to be a bit more creative in the way they think about and understand the world around them,” she said One of the topics covered was Australian Indigenous cultures and how issues like Native Title legislation potentially impacted the Voice referendum last year Both said that sociology was relevant to other humanities subjects and that it helped them in other VCE classes Get the day’s breaking news, entertainment ideas and a long read to enjoy. 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It was an intense \\u201Cmental boot camp\\u201D but studying life\\u2019s big questions in philosophy led to VCE success for one star pupil \\u201CSpeaking to people outside of my school \\u2018Philosophy \\u2013 isn\\u2019t that what they talked about 2000 years ago Why not study maths or something?\\u2019\\u201D he said But no one could question his marks \\u2013 Mooney \\u201CIt\\u2019s essentially the discipline of questioning and asking the big questions,\\u201D the 18-year-old explained adding students examined questions such as \\u2018What is a good life?\\u2019 Despite the subject\\u2019s \\u201Cperceived obscurity\\u201D he said it was the one that gave him the most relevant skills to engage with today\\u2019s world \\u201COnce you\\u2019re forced through this kind of high-intensity mental boot camp \\u201CYou can actually understand and explore concepts It truly allows you to see clearer.\\u201D If there is a fear that students of philosophy can get bogged down with \\u201Cgobbledygook\\u201D and not end up with anything useful Mooney \\u201Ccan definitely attest that\\u2019s not the case with me\\u201D \\u201CIt was the most rewarding subject I took,\\u201D he said \\u201CI think these are more important skills than ever in human history to have now it\\u2019s precisely [because of] the lack of these faculties that misinformation is so prevalent that people can no longer critically think or have a reasonable discussion \\u2026 that we can\\u2019t combat misinformation that we can\\u2019t come to a consensus.\\u201D Thirty is the mean; a score of 40 or above puts a student in the top 9 per cent of a subject\\u2019s cohort That means about one in six top philosophy scorers statewide were in Mooney\\u2019s classroom Sociology is another subject that students say isn\\u2019t well understood but Haileybury Girls\\u2019 College students Kiara Rampal and Amelia Yates both picked it \\u201CMost people have no clue what it is,\\u201D Yates said of sociology \\u201CIt really teaches students how to think beyond the box how to be a bit more creative in the way they think about and understand the world around them,\\u201D she said entertainment ideas and a long read to enjoy Victorian teachers are saving time they say they can redirect to educating with a new streamlined and more efficient phonics check designed to gauge the literacy skills of the state’s six-year-olds The new 10-minute assessment, part of the state’s move toward an “explicit instruction” model of literacy learning, will replace the contentious English Online Interview (EOI), which the state government scrapped in December Year 1 students at Docklands Primary School and the new classroom phonics way of learning.Credit: Simon Schluter The EOI, the subject of much criticism over the years from both the profession and academia, is still available for schools to use this year, but from 2026, the grade 1 phonics check will be mandatory in all government schools Both the EOI and the phonics checks are one-on-one between a teacher and a student but the old assessment took up to 40 minutes to administer Government schools can now choose to hold off applying the old test for the 2025 school year or begin the transition to the phonics check before it becomes mandatory next year As soon as the EOI – which was so lengthy that schools were often forced to draft in casual relief teachers to administer it – was no longer compulsory A Docklands student does the phonics check with teacher Bethany Tonkin (centre) and Education Minister Ben Carroll.Credit: Simon Schluter “There was a lot in the English Online Interview that was nice to know but didn’t really have any impact on students learning to read,” Bethany Tonkin adding that it also included things like retelling a story or rhymes Tonkin said the new grade 1 phonics check was shorter and more focused than the previous assessment “Alien” words in the phonics check for grade 1 students.Credit: Department of Education “It’s a fabulous use of teacher’s time so they can get on with the important business of teaching and it really just tests the essential skills for reading,” Tonkin said and 20 made-up or “alien” words for grade 1 students to sound out to measure their reading and phonics knowledge Using made-up words such as “scrug” helps a teacher determine if a child can recognise sounds a letter makes The alien words are illustrated with a cartoon extraterrestrial used to reinforce the notion that the child is not looking at a real word they sound out both the words and non-words Tonkin said the test provided educators with precise data on how each student was doing “We’re able to get really clear data on where students are She said the test also helped teachers identify struggling students who needed immediate intervention Grattan Institute education expert Jordana Hunter said the phonics check allowed educators to determine what children had mastered or if they needed additional help “It will also save time in the long run because if we pick up those students that are struggling early we can intervene quickly to get them back on track,” she said Hunter said there was a strong argument for children who didn’t meet the grade 1 benchmark after sitting the test to resit the phonics check again in grade 2 just for those children who didn’t meet that benchmark in year 1 and I really want the government to adopt that recommendation,” she said The Grattan Institute’s Jordana Hunter says the phonics check allows teachers to determine what children have mastered.Credit: Rhett Wyman Hunter said it was important for children to develop a love of learning at an early stage it could lead to a cycle of falling behind It was also important for parents to be aware of expectations and be informed with any changes said it was vital the Department of Education communicated with schools and parents before it implemented changes “[The department] need to seize the opportunities for interaction and have those conversations and give parents that kind of key information about what to expect during a transition year and next year,” McHardy said The government has pledged $5 million to help schools implement the new check and pay for new classroom equipment and Education Minister Ben Carroll reiterated his commitment to explicit instruction teaching “The evidence is clear that explicit teaching and the use of systematic synthetic phonics instructions gets results,” Carroll said “Our synthetic phonics program was developed by Victorian academic and education experts in evidence-based reading instruction to best reflect how students learn to read.” Start the day with a summary of the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter streamlined and more efficient phonics check designed to gauge the literacy skills of the state\\u2019s six-year-olds part of the state\\u2019s move toward an \\u201Cexplicit instruction\\u201D model of literacy learning will replace the contentious English Online Interview (EOI) the subject of much criticism over the years from both the profession and academia is still available for schools to use this year Both the EOI and the checks are one-on-one between a teacher and a student As soon as the EOI \\u2013 which was so lengthy that schools were often forced to draft in casual relief teachers to administer it \\u2013 was no longer compulsory \\u201CThere was a lot in the English Online Interview that was nice to know but didn\\u2019t really have any impact on students learning to read,\\u201D Bethany Tonkin \\u201CIt\\u2019s a fabulous use of teacher\\u2019s time so they can get on with the important business of teaching and it really just tests the essential skills for reading,\\u201D Tonkin said and 20 made-up or \\u201Calien\\u201D words for grade 1 students to sound out to measure their reading and phonics knowledge Using made-up words such as \\u201Cscrug\\u201D helps a teacher determine if a child can recognise sounds a letter makes \\u201CWe\\u2019re able to get really clear data on where students are and what they need to learn,\\u201D Tonkin said \\u201CIt will also save time in the long run because if we pick up those students that are struggling early we can intervene quickly to get them back on track,\\u201D she said Hunter said there was a strong argument for children who didn\\u2019t meet the grade 1 benchmark after sitting the test to resit the phonics check again in grade 2 just for those children who didn\\u2019t meet that benchmark in year 1 and I really want the government to adopt that recommendation,\\u201D she said \\u201C[The department] need to seize the opportunities for interaction and have those conversations and give parents that kind of key information about what to expect during a transition year and next year,\\u201D McHardy said \\u201CThe evidence is clear that explicit teaching and the use of systematic synthetic phonics instructions gets results,\\u201D Carroll said \\u201COur synthetic phonics program was developed by Victorian academic and education experts in evidence-based reading instruction to best reflect how students learn to read.\\u201D Start the day with a summary of the day\\u2019s most important and interesting stories A contentious mandatory reading ability test for Victoria’s prep and year 1 pupils is being scrapped at the end of this school year The English Online Interview was compulsory for prep and year 1 students and the state government spent $11.3 million to upgrade it to include a phonics component in 2023 But Victoria decided late last year to decommission the tool and it’s no longer mandatory for schools to use it in prep and year 1 this year The test is a one-on-one interview between a teacher and a student and teachers record each student’s responses onto the online system that generates a report Prep and year 1 students will no longer sit the English Online Interview.Credit: Getty Images The phonics component of the EOI faced criticism because it only had 10 words and five of those were “non-words” which are used to teach sounding out skills The national standard phonics test had 40 words but experts argued it should be carried out in term 3 when children have a better grasp of the principles Schools will replace the English Online Interview with a mandatory year 1 phonics check but there will be no mandatory reading test for prep students Professor of cognitive psychology Pamela Snow a co-director of La Trobe University’s Science of Language and Reading Lab She said the areas it covered were important but it wasn’t always accurate in identifying areas where students were struggling “It’s a very good thing that it’s being decommissioned,” she said Getting rid of it wouldn’t disadvantage Victorian students or teachers The new phonics-based test will be introduced this year across Victorian government primary schools but won’t be mandatory until 2026 “The year 1 phonics check is a short assessment that provides information to teachers on a student’s phonics knowledge It takes just 5 to 7 minutes for a teacher to complete with each student and involves year 1 students using phonics knowledge to decode real and non-real words,” says the website Snow supported the move to the new tool but pointed out it would not test preps “There is a case to be having a conversation about what [assessment tool] could be used in term 4 of prep She said as teachers became more confident with explicit instruction, which has been mandated across Victoria’s public schools they would be better able to spot students who need help Some parent groups have also supported the shift away from the English Online Interview with Dyslexia Victoria Support founder Heidi Gregory saying it wasn’t “fit for purpose” Families wanted to know what to expect with the new tool and wanted testing done as early as possible so issues could be dealt with sooner rather than later “We can’t wait any longer … parents need to know when they should be off to an allied health professional or get their kids assessed,” Gregory said She argued any new test or tool needed to be compulsory and that there should be reports available for parents and teachers “The evidence is clear that explicit teaching and the use of systematic synthetic phonics instructions gets results – and we continue to support teachers in the rollout through lesson plans and the new phonics check helping teachers to gather more detailed information about students’ literacy skills,” said Education Minister Ben Carroll “The year 1 phonics check is quicker and more appropriate than the English Online Interview and will be mandatory for all year 1 students in government primary schools from 2026.” Victorian Principals Association president Andrew Dalgleish said it was a positive move “There has been some consternation from some schools,” he said of the move to replace the EOI But he said replacing the EOI with the phonics check made sense given the shift towards explicit instruction and the assessment tools had to match the evidence Opposition education spokeswoman Jess Wilson said the new test should become mandatory sooner “By allowing the use of this substandard test to continue into 2025 the Allan Labor government is jeopardising learning outcomes for students across the state,” she said Labor must immediately mandate the use of a new phonics screening test that aligns with national standards.” South Australia was the first state to implement a year 1 phonics screening check in 2017 SA publishes key data from the assessment annually and it is not clear if Victoria will follow suit A contentious mandatory reading ability test for Victoria\\u2019s prep and year 1 pupils is being scrapped at the end of this school year and it\\u2019s no longer mandatory for schools to use it in prep and year 1 this year and teachers record each student\\u2019s responses onto the online system that generates a report and five of those were \\u201Cnon-words\\u201D which are used to teach sounding out skills a co-director of La Trobe University\\u2019s Science of Language and Reading Lab but it wasn\\u2019t always accurate in identifying areas where students were struggling \\u201CIt\\u2019s a very good thing that it\\u2019s being decommissioned,\\u201D she said Getting rid of it wouldn\\u2019t disadvantage Victorian students or teachers The new phonics-based test will be introduced this year across Victorian government primary schools but won\\u2019t be mandatory until 2026 \\u201CThe year 1 phonics check is a short assessment that provides information to teachers on a student\\u2019s phonics knowledge It takes just 5 to 7 minutes for a teacher to complete with each student and involves year 1 students using phonics knowledge to decode real and non-real words,\\u201D says the website \\u201CThere is a case to be having a conversation about what [assessment tool] could be used in term 4 of prep She said as teachers became more confident with explicit instruction with Dyslexia Victoria Support founder Heidi Gregory saying it wasn\\u2019t \\u201Cfit for purpose\\u201D \\u201CWe can\\u2019t wait any longer \\u2026 parents need to know when they should be off to an allied health professional or get their kids assessed,\\u201D Gregory said \\u201CThe evidence is clear that explicit teaching and the use of systematic synthetic phonics instructions gets results \\u2013 and we continue to support teachers in the rollout through lesson plans and the new phonics check helping teachers to gather more detailed information about students\\u2019 literacy skills,\\u201D said Education Minister Ben Carroll \\u201CThe year 1 phonics check is quicker and more appropriate than the English Online Interview and will be mandatory for all year 1 students in government primary schools from 2026.\\u201D \\u201CThere has been some consternation from some schools,\\u201D he said of the move to replace the EOI \\u201CBy allowing the use of this substandard test to continue into 2025 the Allan Labor government is jeopardising learning outcomes for students across the state,\\u201D she said Labor must immediately mandate the use of a new phonics screening test that aligns with national standards.\\u201D Joseph's School of Nursing Alumni Association President Peg Schelle reminisces about her experiences as a School of Nursing student and the recent annual homecoming event for the school's Class of 1973 along with help from people in the Alton community The sisters were granted permission to care for Alton area's sick and administer to the poor The Daughters of Charity leader Sister Laura Eckenrode and nuns founded St which opened its doors for the next 72 years recently held its 50th reunion homecoming May 7 at OSF Saint Anthony’s Health Center in Alton followed by brunch in the Perpetual Help Center Conference Room Joseph’s School of Nursing has stood the test of time with its graduates who recently celebrated the school’s class of 1973 the last class to graduate from the groundbreaking school Joseph’s School of Nursing taught more than just theory with a no-nonsense education Joseph’s School of Nursing Alumni Association President Peg Schelle The Class of ‘73 recently held a reunion homecoming May 7 at OSF Saint Anthony’s Health Center in Alton “This was 50 years for the Class of ’73,” Schelle noted They did a little talk about what they did since graduating the group took a tour of Lewis and Clark Community College’s nursing department and St a learning specialist for the nursing program The group then had dinner at Gentelin’s on Broadway Joseph’s memorabilia displayed on the first floor 1956 and 1960 attended the annual mass and brunch to honor the 50th reunion of the Class of 1973 The School of Nursing’s three-year program was ahead of its time in that it offered on-the-job experiences who worked in obstetrics during her third year The sisters were granted permission to care for Alton area's sick and administer to the poor four Daughters of Charity came to Alton at the request of President Abraham Lincoln to care for the sick in the wartime Confederate prison The Daughters of Charity leader Sister Laura Eckenrode and nuns founded the School of Nursing A total of 886 students graduated over all those years including in small rural towns such as Wilsonville as well as the charitable City Hospital in St “It was so special and honorable,” Schelle recalled of her student experience “We were well protected and well taken care of Our uniforms were taken care of  — uniforms below the knees  — and white shoes It was great to be here in Alton at that time nurses and students did a “lot of bedside nursing,” instead of like now when people go to the hospital the Daughters of Charity passed sponsorship of the hospital to the Franciscan Order of the Sisters of St Clare’s Hospital in 1989 as a part of Alton-based Saint Anthony’s Health Care The School of Nursing Alumni Association was organized in 1916 by Anna Belle Clark Schelle has been president now for many years The association was formed “as a means of mutual benefit and pleasure to the graduates of the School of Nursing.” is a third-generation nurse who is a surgical nurse at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester Joseph’s School of Nursing students lived and learned by the (Florence) Nightingale Pledge The sisters taught students to treat each patient as if they were caring for Jesus Christ and Alumni Association Vice President Dorothy Droste planned and organized the recent class of ‘73 homecoming They had help from class of ’73 graduates Sue Diak Gloria (Kirback) Gray and Nancy (Whittman) Heafner “It’s wonderful of Saint Anthony’s to let us hold our annual event there,” said Schelle helped make arrangements for the annual event Another annual formal get-together occurs in December Schelle’s family moved to Belleville in 1946 where she attended the Academy of Notre Dame High School Just out of high school Schelle began working as a nurse’s aide in the obstetrics ward at St A nurse she worked with talked about the St Joseph’s School of Nursing influencing Schelle’s decision to go to the school where she moved into a school dormitory in Alton Her parents also wanted Schelle to go to the school She enrolled in the three-year program and returned to obstetrics at the Belleville hospital as a nurse She married in 1955 to Arthur Thomas Schelle She then worked in the emergency room at St “I am so grateful that I was part of this history which formed my future in the years to come,” Schelle said Schelle alternated working the ER and ground floor where she would take care of people of all ages Daughters of Charity leader Sister Delphine Fleming was the first administrator to recruit Black students for the nursing program “She believed in helping all people of all races and religions and having respect for everyone,” Schelle said “She instilled that in all of the students.” The first two Black students were Jacqueline Bell and Dolores Burton Schelle officially retired in 1993 but still kept her hand in nursing through volunteer efforts with BJC Hospice for 14 years including traveling to visit patients outside of Madison County She visited hospice patients in Calhoun County She also became a charter member for Friends of Wings Illinois which was a volunteer effort for BJC Children’s Hospice and Palliative Care She is an avid golfer and today plays and still works at Rolling Hills Golf Course in Godfrey Jill MoonLifestyles/Entertainment EditorJill Moon is an award-winning journalist and features editor for Hearst Community Newspapers. She also is editor-in-chief of the company's award-winning On the Edge of the Weekend monthly culture and entertainment magazine. Michael Schelle's music has been commissioned and/or performed by more than 350 orchestras symphonic bands and professional chamber ensembles across the United States and abroad This document may not be reprinted without the express written permission of Northwest Arkansas Newspapers LLC Material from the Associated Press is Copyright © 2025 audio and/or video material shall not be published rewritten for broadcast or publication or redistributed directly or indirectly in any medium Neither these AP materials nor any portion thereof may be stored in a computer except for personal and noncommercial use The AP will not be held liable for any delays errors or omissions therefrom or in the transmission or delivery of all or any part thereof or for any damages arising from any of the foregoing EAST FALMOUTH — In the immediate aftermath of a June crash that seriously injured two people as they walked along Route 28 Although it was later determined they were student workers from Macedonia the community has reached out to them as if they were born and raised on Cape Cod especially in the case of the young woman who was so badly injured that she initially had to be put into a medically-induced coma “She was hit directly between the entrance and exit driveway at the church,” said Mark McSherry it was really evident we were getting involved crossed over the white fog line on the south side of the road in his Cherolet Trailblazer striking the two people and causing minor injuries to another person walking behind them according to a Falmouth police crash report The impact threw one of them nearly 100 feet and another more than 50 feet Officers will discuss criminal charges against Schelle during a closed hearing before a Falmouth District Court magistrate later this month who was unhurt and remained at the crash scene is being cited for marked lanes violation for crossing the fog line negligent operation and impeded operation-cell phone use The charges could be classified as criminal Schelle declined to comment for this story were walking east along the side of Route 28 two to three feet beyond the fog line at the time of the crash in a well-lit area where the speed limit is 40 mph on the left arm with the passenger side rearview mirror a Prince Henry Drive resident who was walking a bicycle a few feet behind his companions Schelle’s car then hit Damjan Dobrevski and Danche Zafirova — in Falmouth from Macedonia on student work visas and staying at a home on Prince Henry Drive Dobrevski was brought to Falmouth Hospital was flown to Rhode Island Hospital’s Trauma Intensive Care Unit where she was put into a medically-induced coma due to a brain injury her sister Katerina wrote that her sibling had pelvic fractures lung injuries that kept her on a ventilator for two weeks She remained in critical condition for several days Zafirova was released from the hospital about three weeks ago She isn’t expected to be able to return to Macedonia until January and her parents have made the trip to the U.S Cape Cod Church offered an apartment in their former church building on Teaticket Highway so the church put the family up in a beach house for a few days “Church members helped furnish it,” McSherry said ”They have been taking them out to dinner; taking them to Commodores’ games Several local churches and community groups have pitched in “You’re in a different country in circumstances you thought would never happen,” said Nell Fields pastor of the Waquoit Congregational Church The No Place for Hate group and Falmouth Together We Can were able to raise close to $4,000 to help cover lost wages for Dobrevski “There were a lot of small amounts donated,” Fields said both ministers at the Mid-Cape Worship Center in Dennis Port said the J1 visa work program is one of the church’s ministries Each summer they help make arrangements for the foreign students and help them during their stay on the Cape Matthew Boyle went to Rhode Island Hospital to check on Zafirova as soon as he heard about the crash and returned for future visits And expenses have been mounting for the Zafirovas The Go Fund Me page created by Katerina should help with medical bills and the cost of Danche Zafirova’s return to Macedonia Danche and Katerina Zafirova declined to comment for this story director of lifelong learning at the Falmouth Jewish Congregation and a member of the Falmouth Bike Committee which has helped community members communicate with Zafirova’s parents Many students workers hold night jobs and have to walk home along busy roads A coalition is needed to assess what needs to be done so they can be safer “This tragedy has gotten the town to talk about the welfare of these student workers and the issue of how they are housed and how they get around,” Rothstein said — Follow Christine Legere on Twitter @ChrisLegereCCT sign up for the military and have children But some teenagers are arguing that should change – starting at 16 has been working for two years and paying tax but wants to be able to vote Darcy is a Melbourne high school student who wants to be able to cast their ballot in the upcoming federal election but will miss out because their 18th birthday is later in the year They’re disappointed but are fighting to make sure others will get the opportunity to head to the ballot box “I think it will be better and more beneficial to democracy as a whole to have a representative democracy that includes young people,” the 17-year-old said from Templestowe in Melbourne’s north-east argues that people their age work and pay taxes but have no say in where that money goes Darcy said they had worked in a fish and chip shop for two years and paid tax but didn’t get a say on how it was spent “[Politicians] are always talking to young people’s parents principals and the adults around them rather than directly to them,” they said Voting would give them a chance to say where they wanted that money to go and who should represent them “Extending the voting age … means that politicians can actually get a sense of young people and how they think and why they think things and what they care about,” they said According to data that the “Make It 16” campaign obtained through a freedom of information request 16- and 17-year-olds paid more than $270 million in taxes between 2011 and 2021 a non-partisan advocacy organisation run by young people said there shouldn’t be taxation without representation “I think that it’s frankly ridiculous that the government expects young people to pay so much money in taxes and then not allow them to actually vote on where that money is spent,” he said If young people could generate taxable income could drive and consent to medical procedures Ravin Desai is part of the Make It 16 advocacy group But Monash University’s Paula Gerber said she didn’t agree with tying voting to taxes “I actually think that’s not a strong argument [for allowing 16-year-olds to vote],” she said we would exclude a lot of people – students who specialises in international human rights law and has a focus on children’s rights But she said 16-year-olds had the right to express their views and have their opinions considered – and research showed they had the cognitive capacity and maturity to exercise the right to vote “Now youth political participation and activism demonstrates that they are ready and should be given their right to vote,” she said It would also help battle the decrease in youth voter turnout It has declined from 90 per cent of eligible voters in 2001 to about 78 per cent according to University of Adelaide politics professor Lisa Hill She said letting younger people vote could tackle declining turnout Hill said studies also showed there was a higher level of trust in governments and institutions in countries where 16-year-olds could vote “There’s actually high turnout when you enfranchise 16-year-olds [they] are keener than the 18-year-olds,” she said Greens senator Jordon Steele-John was behind a bill to lower the voting age in 2018, but it failed to get the support needed the Labor and Liberal parties don’t want to hear from young people they have resisted this change for many years even as many other countries have implemented these changes,” he said The senator said lowering the voting age would add thousands of new perspectives on democracy and would lead to a more representative government “These are members of our community who are contributing to the community in all the ways other people do … or contributing to community groups and thinking about what the future looks like and thinking what the education system needs for them “These are voices that we should hear loud and clear at the ballot box.” Special Minister of State Don Farrell was contacted for comment Cut through the noise of federal politics with news, views and expert analysis. Subscribers can sign up to our weekly Inside Politics newsletter But some teenagers are arguing that should change \\u2013 starting at 16 They\\u2019re disappointed but are fighting to make sure others will get the opportunity to head to the ballot box \\u201CI think it will be better and more beneficial to democracy as a whole to have a representative democracy that includes young people,\\u201D the 17-year-old said from Templestowe in Melbourne\\u2019s north-east Darcy said they had worked in a fish and chip shop for two years and paid tax but didn\\u2019t get a say on how it was spent \\u201C[Politicians] are always talking to young people\\u2019s parents principals and the adults around them rather than directly to them,\\u201D they said \\u201CExtending the voting age \\u2026 means that politicians can actually get a sense of young people and how they think and why they think things and what they care about,\\u201D they said According to data that the \\u201CMake It 16\\u201D campaign obtained through a freedom of information request said there shouldn\\u2019t be taxation without representation \\u201CI think that it\\u2019s frankly ridiculous that the government expects young people to pay so much money in taxes and then not allow them to actually vote on where that money is spent,\\u201D he said \\u201CIt\\u2019s plainly unethical in many ways.\\u201D But Monash University\\u2019s Paula Gerber said she didn\\u2019t agree with tying voting to taxes \\u201CI actually think that\\u2019s not a strong argument [for allowing 16-year-olds to vote],\\u201D she said we would exclude a lot of people \\u2013 students people who are unemployed,\\u201D said Gerber who specialises in international human rights law and has a focus on children\\u2019s rights But she said 16-year-olds had the right to express their views and have their opinions considered \\u2013 and research showed they had the cognitive capacity and maturity to exercise the right to vote \\u201CNow youth political participation and activism demonstrates that they are ready and should be given their right to vote,\\u201D she said \\u201CThere\\u2019s actually high turnout when you enfranchise 16-year-olds [they] are keener than the 18-year-olds,\\u201D she said Greens senator Jordon Steele-John was behind a bill to lower the voting age in 2018 the Labor and Liberal parties don\\u2019t want to hear from young people they have resisted this change for many years even as many other countries have implemented these changes,\\u201D he said \\u201CThese are members of our community who are contributing to the community in all the ways other people do \\u2026 or contributing to community groups and thinking about what the future looks like \\u201CThese are voices that we should hear loud and clear at the ballot box.\\u201D Cut through the noise of federal politics with news The 2025 VCE exams will be developed under the watch of a government-appointed supervisor after the leak scandal that marred dozens of tests last year The scope of a major review into the VCE exam debacle and the details of what the new independent monitor will focus on were revealed on Wednesday Deputy Premier and Education Minister Ben Carroll announced a “root-and-branch” review into the bungle and into the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority.Credit: Paul Jeffers Last year, 65 exams – more than half of the 116 VCE subjects – were affected when questions were inadvertently leaked on practice papers Questions were removed from the sample test material when the mistake was discovered – but some students had already downloaded them while others accessed them using internet archive tools Deputy Premier and Education Minister Ben Carroll announced a “root-and-branch” review into the breach and into the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority (VCAA) The review will examine what went wrong with the production of the 2024 VCE exams and probe the VCAA’s structure the independent monitor – senior public servant Margaret Crawford – will look at the “adequacy and progress” of each stage of development of the 2025 exams printing and distribution of tests and the running of the exam process It will cover both written and performance exams Crawford will also provide “quality assurance” advice and reports about the tests to Carroll and the department’s top bureaucrat She will also get regular briefings from the curriculum’s acting chief executive officer David Howes But Crawford will not be tasked with looking into the development of VCE study designs or the quality and merits of individual items included on exams The review will be led by another senior public servant They will determine whether the VCAA is capable of designing delivering and developing VCE course work and assessment tools they will look at how New Zealand and other relevant authorities operate Both the monitor and review will also consider the state curriculum and exam authority’s implementation of recommendations from a review into errors uncovered in maths, chemistry and Chinese language exams in previous years “The Blacher Review and the independent monitor will operate in tandem to provide full confidence to Victorian students families and schools,” an education department spokeswoman said But Opposition education spokeswoman Jess Wilson said the state government should have supported an Ombudsman-led investigation into the debacle “Instead [the government] decided to establish yet another review that reports back to the very department that has overseen consecutive failures,” Wilson told The Age “The minister must commit to publishing in full the findings and recommendations of the review and ensure the class of 2025 isn’t subjected to the same failures that have plagued VCE exams for the past three years.” A Victorian government spokesperson said the review findings would be published when available A previous version of this article said Marcia Devlin was VCAA chief executive officer 65 exams \\u2013 more than half of the 116 VCE subjects \\u2013 were affected when questions were inadvertently leaked on Questions were removed from the sample test material when the mistake was discovered \\u2013 but some students had already downloaded them Deputy Premier and Education Minister Ben Carroll announced a \\u201Croot-and-branch\\u201D review into the breach and into the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority (VCAA) The review will examine what went wrong with the production of the 2024 VCE exams and probe the VCAA\\u2019s structure the independent monitor \\u2013 senior public servant Margaret Crawford \\u2013 will look at the \\u201Cadequacy and progress\\u201D of each stage of development of the 2025 exams Crawford will also provide \\u201Cquality assurance\\u201D advice and reports about the tests to Carroll and the department\\u2019s top bureaucrat She will also get regular briefings from the curriculum\\u2019s acting chief executive officer David Howes Both the monitor and review will also consider the state curriculum and exam authority\\u2019s implementation of recommendations from a review into errors in previous years \\u201CThe Blacher Review and the independent monitor will operate in tandem to provide full confidence to Victorian students families and schools,\\u201D an education department spokeswoman said \\u201CInstead [the government] decided to establish yet another review that reports back to the very department that has overseen consecutive failures,\\u201D Wilson told The Age \\u201CThe minister must commit to publishing in full the findings and recommendations of the review and ensure the class of 2025 isn\\u2019t subjected to the same failures that have plagued VCE exams for the past three years.\\u201D An organization is providing a concierge service for military families during their moves to new duty stations at no cost to them helps the newcomers find real estate agents utilities and other services and basic needs It has expanded into a network of concierges at 87 stateside and 12 overseas bases “I worked in the hospitality industry for over 30 years and decided during COVID to take a more active role at home and assist my wife in the real estate world,” Schelle president of the organization based in Valrico recently told Stars and Stripes by video chat since we are so close to MacDill Air Force Base was quite a few of her clients both coming and going were military families,” he said Sixty-eight real estate agents who volunteer their time make up the nonprofit network “Part of the attraction to get Realtors to sign onto this is that we assign them a particular base or area and they are exclusive to it,” Schelle said The organization has so far assisted several hundred individuals by connecting them to resources and specialists they need “If we are actively involved with finding them a home and doing the research for that we’re looking at about 10 [people] per week,” Schelle said Military families moving to a new duty station frequently start over in a place where they’ve never been a job for a spouse or are incurring moving expenses not eligible for a government reimbursement “What we are doing is taking that load off their shoulders so that they’re not wasting their time on Google and doing those things themselves because they have more important things to do during this overwhelming process,” Schelle said Almost half of all military families are “financially stressed” a significantly higher proportion than the general population according to Blue Star Families’ most recent Military Family Lifestyle survey “There are a ton of concierge programs like ours out there that are available but almost all of them charge a price,” Schelle said “My goal is to always provide this service free of charge to the men and women who serve this country.” Donations have so far covered the organization’s expenses but he is hoping to qualify for some grants About 600,000 families with a military connection will make a permanent change of station according to the Blue Star Families website “We want to help reduce PCS stress by doing PCS research for active-duty families,” Erin Lorenz the Military No Stress PCS program coordinator “Our concierge service basics: they tell us what they’re looking for and then we do the research and give them our highest recommendations!” said she can find resources or answers to questions fairly quickly and then send a quick text or email response to the military family “When they pick up the phone or tap that email they’re just hoping to have some sense of calm come over them whether it’s a simple answer to a question or someone pointing them in a direction to a resource that they will need and sometimes it’s just affirmation that they are doing the right thing,” Schelle said In the second installment of our interview with industry leader Anne Schelle of Pearl TV we discuss the future of NextGen TV in various sectors its growth beyond its American birthplace to nations like Jamaica and how consumers and advertisers can start taking advantage of the technology today September 29, 2022 by Daniel Brown — Editor This is part two of a two-part series. Click here for part one "The other interesting thing to note about NextGen TV is [that] it's basically web over the air," Schelle said TV ratings can now be far more accurate than was previously possible This versatility can also enhance digital signage "Companies that have big digital signs that need to send out the latest [update] It's very inexpensive for us to do that because we are one-to-many so if you wanted to send something to a thousand signs across 20 markets "We utilize the return channel to do the interactive on the TV so we connect it to the Internet [and] it sort of hooks it into the hybrid environment that exists on these TVs." DST asked if the platform can include mobile Schelle explained that there will be room in the future to explore ways OTA televisions can interact more with mobile or other devices One hypothetical example could be tying mobile apps into OTA broadcast content this will heavily depend on rights providers and distribution deals not a technology issue," Schelle explained it just depends on how the various distribution partners will play that out," a process that could take time to evolve where the majority of longform content is actually watched." And broadcasters are already leveraging NextGen TV to offer viewers the option of customizing not just text-based emergency alerts so you don't have to turn on the closed captioning." Schelle also mentioned that audio descriptor technology is available as well for audio description of visual scenes "It makes everything much more elegant because it's IP based." a university's existing digital signage fleet can add an accessory to tune into emergency alerts as needed is that NextGen TVs don't need an Internet connection to receive emergency info it can receive rich content via OTA signals without Internet connection Campuses can also have their own channel in this system which now runs an interactive branded channel Such custom channels can easily integrate multiple languages or other accessibility tools device information and so forth can be used to target content and data only reflects information on a given screen's usage (not the person or persons viewing it) plus a permissions system must be navigated to activate various interactive- and data-based features A perfect example of content customization is a station owned by Gray Television that covers Valdosta and Thomasville in Georgia NextGen TV allows a customized viewing experience for consumers in both towns even though the content originates from the same station including advertising and emergency alerts I'm a car dealership in Thomasville and I only want my ad to go to Thomasville I can target my ads and really maximize my dollar spend," Schelle said assuming the customer has opted in to the relevant services we get excited about it from both the content perspective and also emergency alerting So we can let consumers know the flood is affecting Thomasville and not the other cities." "We expect to be at over eight million connected NextGen TV sets by 2024," Schelle said "That's why we're urging advertisers to have conversations to start to learn about this because it will be a great new environment for them as well as for broadcasters to have those conversations." "One of the first things is lead generation We can easily do overlays that you could click on a car ad and pull up a menu and go to their website," Schelle said A lot of this promotional power circles around interactivity "Broadcasters have a lot of content they do in local markets on lifestyle shows," Schelle said "so restaurants for example — a restaurant might want to promote a giveaway or menu or recipe you could do a QR code or you could click on it content viewers who caught the tail end of a multi-part local story can easily access previous installments from their TV menu A viewer can now change the camera angle or switch to their favorite driver's audio feed during a live NASCAR race since new features are constantly under development TV can now be as passive or interactive as a consumer wants it to be Schelle said she expects to see more bleed-over from OTT to OTA along with growth in local events and lifestyle content Smaller companies will be able to launch affordable targeted campaigns in a medium they once shunned for cost and other reasons People will likely see much more targeted local emergency alerting including rich media like maps and other information that is not available on other platforms why do media outlets keep printing pieces on the so-called "death of TV" "That's been a story for 40 years!" Schelle said "OTA is actually on the rise." Future-proofing is at the center of NextGen TV's IP-based design Schelle believes that the system will be compatible with new innovations Jamaica is already transitioning to the system Brazil is considering adoption and other countries are considering it Unlike the European proprietary standard of smart television and will keep pace with Internet standards over time The American and European smart TV systems have a level of compatibility at the software level DST asked what Schelle is most excited about with NextGen TV Schelle is most excited about the power of this platform as the first IP broadcast platform and she is proud that it was developed in the U.S "I was recently on a phone call," Schelle said "It was a representative who experienced a tornado and the reason why they're okay is they turned on the television and that meteorologist knew exactly where it was I experienced it with my daughter in hurricanes Broadcasters have the news trucks." Further and we are seen as and are unbiased news reporters "The other piece to this I think is really important is the connection to the local," Schelle continued having a station that's representing the community is really important for all those reasons I mentioned but it's up to us to make sure that we're delivering in a way that consumers want to watch This platform gives us that and so much more." Daniel Brown is the editor of Digital Signage Today, a contributing editor for Automation & Self-Service and an accomplished writer and multimedia content producer with extensive experience covering technology and business His work has appeared in a range of business and technology publications including interviews with eminent business leaders He has written extensively on AI and the integration of technology and business strategy with empathy and the human touch Brown is the author of two novels and a podcaster His previous experience includes IT work at an Ivy League research institution Get the latest news and resources from Digital Signage Today Digital Signage Today sat down for a chat with Anne Schelle a collaborative organization formed between local stations and major broadcasting companies to design and implement the future state of television in America September 27, 2022 by Daniel Brown — Editor As reported by Digital Signage Today, NextGen TV has been expanding in the U.S., most recently with a launch in Louisville is widely viewed as the biggest development in broadcast television since the current standards were first laid down in the 1980s advertisers and media companies across categories like sports Digital Signage Today talked by Zoom with Anne Schelle a collaborative organization formed by the major broadcasting companies to design and implement the future state of television in America provided an overview of where the new technology stands and gave us a glimpse of the future of television "Our existing over-the-air television platform but implemented in the early 90s," Schelle said but it didn't anticipate IP [Internet Protocol] and the rise of IP we recognized the need to be able to have a platform… that would keep pace with the internet and would enable many of the things that you can do in a digital environment in an over-the-air-environment Schelle explained that the new standard does not disrupt current broadcasts on the old system; customers are still getting their regular content via OTA service and cable NextGen TV simply adds a layer with a large range of features on top of what is already being broadcast The upgrade consists largely of a software update to existing OTA transmission systems which makes it much more feasible to implement rapidly Industry leaders see NextGen TV as the clear future of TV with customers and manufacturers already preparing for the shift so we're building out markets," Schelle said The Louisville launch is one of 60 markets currently offering NextGen TV Schelle expects NextGen TV to be available to 75% of American households sometime in 2023 "We did a tremendous amount of consumer research and that research led us to come out with a set of features for consumers that [are] sort of what I call 'beginning features,'" Schelle said "When we talk about 'upgradeability,' that means that we can continue to improve the service not unlike an application you have on your cell phone… It continues to get better as you use it and we launch more content or more programming." One of the landmark features of the technology is its ability to transmit high definition and ultra-HD content "We can go up to 4K starting at 1080P which is better than exists today in HD so it automatically has a better day-one," Schelle added Another noteworthy out-of-the-box feature is the audio quality "It has the Dolby audio system which allows for consistent loudness," Schelle explained "You don't experience the loud noise anomalies between different channels set at different volume rates Schelle explained that NextGen TV offers a special audio enhancement that sports aficionados and live event viewers will appreciate: "Dialog enhancement which is the ability to hear the dialogue over the background noise It's interesting to learn that sports enthusiasts keep closed captioning on because they can't hear the sports announcer over the roar of the crowd… If content is produced in immersive audio it brings a theater-like quality to the sound so the television literally bounces the sound off the room You don't need all those speakers that you had back in the day It really gives you an immersed experience in sound… When we tested that with consumers The core element that sets NextGen apart from the older OTA technology and the feature that helps to future-proof it which also fuels the interactive nature of the tech "Because it's IP it's basically bits over the air," Schelle said "It's no different than what we offer on digital today so it enables the services to be Internet-interactive Schelle also discussed the interactive nature of NextGen TV which is especially apparent in local content it's a great way to bring more information to consumers in a way that they're used to or getting more used to especially millennials and Gen Z's on leaning forward," she said Even though the technology already offers so many new features Schelle says that this is only the beginning and that more content and features will naturally evolve as content producers advertisers and technologists continue to experiment with and develop the potential of the technology high spectrum efficiency means broadcasters can add 300% to 500% more channels to the menu along with the capacity to provide vivid colors via HDR Broadcasters are exploring alternative ways to reach viewers a feature which brings to mind the growing popularity of autonomous vehicles and taxis the best way to receive the signals is currently an HD antenna which Schelle said you can currently find at Walmart for about $10 meaning that consumers won't have to invest in expensive equipment to take advantage of the new technology Major manufacturers are paying attention to the trends "We've been working with key manufacturers to make sure that there are TVs that are being sold Samsung and LG have all included technology in about 120 models across those companies they definitely have NextGen because they don't sell a Sony set without NextGen Schelle sees NextGen TV as the future of broadcasting "This is the fastest-growing TV technology right now as a feature it's growing faster than DVDs much faster than a lot of technologies," She said it [will be] really hard not to buy a NextGen TV because it will become commonplace in televisions." A Melbourne academic sacked for sexually harassing a colleague after declaring his love and sending her a text that read “who needs white powder when you have this” has won a legal challenge Dr Aleksander Owczarek was in December 2023 dismissed from the University of Melbourne for serious misconduct including sexual harassment and inappropriate behaviour towards a female colleague The Fair Work Commission has ordered Dr Aleksander Owczarek be reinstated at the University of Melbourne.Credit: X He worked at the university for more than 30 years including as a Redmond Barry distinguished professor A Fair Work Commission tribunal found while Owczarek had crossed a boundary with his colleague his dismissal by the university was unfair The professor told this masthead he was grateful for the tribunal’s decision while the university has said it is considering an appeal when he was a deputy dean and then acting dean for the School of Sciences She described their relationship to the tribunal as initially one of the “best working relationships” she had with a manager felt “an increasing sense of disquiet” about the married professor’s behaviour from March 2019 The University of Melbourne is considering appealing against the Fair Work Commission’s ruling.Credit: Wayne Taylor She raised her concerns with the faculty’s human resources director and said she was worried about a pending dinner with Owczarek at a Carlton restaurant The tribunal heard the woman didn’t want to go to the September 2019 dinner but felt she couldn’t cancel because Owczarek was her boss and “because she felt he would keep asking her to go out to dinner” the faculty’s HR director offered to call her during the dinner so she could claim there was a family issue and leave She said she did not reciprocate his feelings The University of Melbourne Credit: Penny Stephens Owczarek sent the woman a text: “As I have potted around an empty house this morning kept company only by a sleepy furball until a few moments ago and during a slow meditative run I have been supremely serene and a feeling of utter happiness has pervaded my existence Thank you so much for the most wonderful evening P.s who needs white powder when you have this.” and apologised for the slow response in a bid to “keep the peace” while she worked out what to do explained to HR what had happened and was told to tell Owczarek she didn’t feel the same way Owczarek sent the woman nine messages which went unanswered the woman sent the professor a text telling him she was unable to attend work because what he said at dinner made her “very uncomfortable” ‘Thank you so much for the most wonderful evening P.s who needs white powder when you have this.’ Her text read: “We are friends but no more than that I need to establish more space between work and personal life and I hope our working relationship can continue I’m not able to talk to you about this at the moment.” Owczarek responded with a text that day: “I am very sorry to have made you feel at all uncomfortable and will work with you to make sure you feel right.” telling her he wanted to apologise in person and get their working relationship on track He wrote in that message: “As you may appreciate I am struggling to undertake my work understanding I have so deeply hurt you I am cognizant of the number of issues in my inbox and of course PBC [planning and budget conference] next week I do understand your need to have some time as a breather.” Owczarek told the HR manager he hadn’t meant to upset his colleague but wanted to hear her voice The manager told the professor he needed to stop and when Owczarek said he didn’t understand At a meeting between the professor and the woman she told him their relationship was one of “colleagues” and he assured the woman he didn’t have “feelings” for her When the University of Melbourne investigated Owczarek’s conduct the HR manager said the professor was like a “teenage boy with a romanticised view of what life is like and what women are like” “He is a disaster waiting to happen because he romanticises friendships,” the manager told the university’s investigator The university argued to the Fair Work Commission that Owczarek was motivated to pursue a romantic relationship with the woman his text messages and actions amounted to sexual misconduct he repeatedly sent texts and reached out to the woman despite him returning to the mathematics department in December 2020 and the woman said each time she was too busy Owczarek also messaged her about new year’s celebrations sent her photos of his new puppy and about a workplace issue when Owczarek texted the woman asking to catch up over lunch she replied: “Your perceived closeness to me makes me feel uncomfortable and I would appreciate it if you stopped asking me to meet And please stop enquiring after me through my colleagues.” and later apologised to her in a formal letter “I had no idea how this has been affecting you and I am mortified that this has had such an effect I humbly apologize for any distress that I have caused you,” he wrote The tribunal heard there was no suggestion of additional contact from that point Owczarek applied for a position in the University of Melbourne science faculty The woman later told the tribunal she did so to “stop him getting the role” The university launched an investigation in March 2023 and dismissed the professor in December that year Fair Work Commission deputy president Andrew Bell said Owczarek “clearly crossed a professional boundary” and his actions at the September 2019 dinner constituted sexual harassment Bell said the professor “lost all sense of personal and professional objectivity” at the dinner Bell also slammed Owczarek’s decision to send the text the day after the dinner “It must have been difficult for the [woman] to receive and I have no hesitation in accepting her evidence that this text message confirmed in her mind that Dr Owczarek had deeper feelings for her than friendship.” But the Fair Work Commission deputy president found the university’s sacking of Owczarek was “harsh he found it was not to the extent that Owczarek should be dismissed “Dismissal was disproportionate in circumstances where there was no credible evidence of any ongoing misconduct or similar conduct since March 2021 and the complaint was not lodged to have Dr Owczarek dismissed but to preclude his reappointment to a faculty level position.” Bell said the university had a legitimate concern about Owczarek’s “profound lack of insight about appropriate workplace boundaries” But Bell ordered the professor to be reinstated at the university The university said in a statement it was considering an appeal “We are pleased that the Fair Work Commission confirmed the view of the university that Dr Owczarek engaged in serious misconduct in the form of sexual harassment and that he failed to provide a respectful rewarding and environmentally sustainable learning and working environment,” a university spokesperson said the university is concerned that the Fair Work Commission has ordered Dr Owczarek to be reinstated to his employment.” Owczarek told this masthead he was grateful for the tribunal’s decision for the opportunity to resume his academic career at the university that there was no valid reason for my termination and that the actions of the university were additionally harsh and unjust and unreasonable “The past 12 months have been very difficult for me and my family but I always maintained that there was no proper basis for the termination of my employment after more than 31 years of distinguished service.” The woman no longer works at the university A Melbourne academic sacked for sexually harassing a colleague after declaring his love and sending her a text that read \\u201Cwho needs white powder when you have this\\u201D has won a legal challenge The professor told this masthead he was grateful for the tribunal\\u2019s decision She described their relationship to the tribunal as initially one of the \\u201Cbest working relationships\\u201D she had with a manager felt \\u201Can increasing sense of disquiet\\u201D about the married professor\\u2019s behaviour from March 2019 She raised her concerns with the faculty\\u2019s human resources director The tribunal heard the woman didn\\u2019t want to go to the September 2019 dinner but felt she couldn\\u2019t cancel because Owczarek was her boss and \\u201Cbecause she felt he would keep asking her to go out to dinner\\u201D the faculty\\u2019s HR director offered to call her during the dinner so she could claim there was a family issue and leave Owczarek sent the woman a text: \\u201CAs I have potted around an empty house this morning kept company only by a sleepy furball until a few moments ago and during a slow meditative run I have been supremely serene and a feeling of utter happiness has pervaded my existence P.s who needs white powder when you have this.\\u201D and apologised for the slow response in a bid to \\u201Ckeep the peace\\u201D while she worked out what to do explained to HR what had happened and was told to tell Owczarek she didn\\u2019t feel the same way the woman sent the professor a text telling him she was unable to attend work because what he said at dinner made her \\u201Cvery uncomfortable\\u201D Her text read: \\u201CWe are friends but no more than that I\\u2019m not able to talk to you about this at the moment.\\u201D Owczarek responded with a text that day: \\u201CI am very sorry to have made you feel at all uncomfortable and will work with you to make sure you feel right.\\u201D He wrote in that message: \\u201CAs you may appreciate I am struggling to undertake my work understanding I have so deeply hurt you I am cognizant of the number of issues in my inbox and of course PBC [planning and budget conference] next week I do understand your need to have some time as a breather.\\u201D Owczarek told the HR manager he hadn\\u2019t meant to upset his colleague but wanted to hear her voice and when Owczarek said he didn\\u2019t understand the manager told him: \\u201CYou do.\\u201D she told him their relationship was one of \\u201Ccolleagues\\u201D and he assured the woman he didn\\u2019t have \\u201Cfeelings\\u201D for her When the University of Melbourne investigated Owczarek\\u2019s conduct the HR manager said the professor was like a \\u201Cteenage boy with a romanticised view of what life is like and what women are like\\u201D \\u201CHe is a disaster waiting to happen because he romanticises friendships,\\u201D the manager told the university\\u2019s investigator Owczarek also messaged her about new year\\u2019s celebrations she replied: \\u201CYour perceived closeness to me makes me feel uncomfortable And please stop enquiring after me through my colleagues.\\u201D \\u201CI had no idea how this has been affecting you I humbly apologize for any distress that I have caused you,\\u201D he wrote The woman later told the tribunal she did so to \\u201Cstop him getting the role\\u201D said Owczarek \\u201Cclearly crossed a professional boundary\\u201D Bell said the professor \\u201Clost all sense of personal and professional objectivity\\u201D at the dinner Bell also slammed Owczarek\\u2019s decision to send the text the day after the dinner and found the message \\u201Cdifficult to read\\u201D \\u201CIt must have been difficult for the [woman] to receive and I have no hesitation in accepting her evidence that this text message confirmed in her mind that Dr Owczarek had deeper feelings for her than friendship.\\u201D But the Fair Work Commission deputy president found the university\\u2019s sacking of Owczarek was \\u201Charsh \\u201CDismissal was disproportionate in circumstances where there was no credible evidence of any ongoing misconduct or similar conduct since March 2021 and the complaint was not lodged to have Dr Owczarek dismissed but to preclude his reappointment to a faculty level position.\\u201D Bell said the university had a legitimate concern about Owczarek\\u2019s \\u201Cprofound lack of insight about appropriate workplace boundaries\\u201D \\u201CWe are pleased that the Fair Work Commission confirmed the view of the university that Dr Owczarek engaged in serious misconduct in the form of sexual harassment and that he failed to provide a respectful rewarding and environmentally sustainable learning and working environment,\\u201D a university spokesperson said the university is concerned that the Fair Work Commission has ordered Dr Owczarek to be reinstated to his employment.\\u201D Owczarek told this masthead he was grateful for the tribunal\\u2019s decision for the opportunity to resume his academic career at the university \\u201CThe past 12 months have been very difficult for me and my family but I always maintained that there was no proper basis for the termination of my employment after more than 31 years of distinguished service.\\u201D \\u2018Thank you so much for the most wonderful evening P.s who needs white powder when you have this.\\u2019 Erin James wants to start a country music revolution The singer-songwriter said the country music sound is lost on today’s radio stations And she’s one of the artists hoping to bring back the music that artists such as Merle Haggard Willie Nelson and Jerry Reed helped create Those who want to hear exactly what the 35-year-old Nashville transplant is talking about can attend her show from 1 to 4 p.m James hails from the small town of Taylorsville James said she wanted to do exactly what mom was doing she was already influenced by Hank Williams Sr James said she decided making country music was exactly what she wanted to do “I really involved myself in anything I could possibly do,” James said during a telephone interview from her home on Tuesday She had just finished volunteering for Tracy Lawrence Turkey Fry at the Nashville Rescue Mission James easily found work as an emergency-room nurse which has a schedule flexible enough to enable her to continue making music She said it’s not easy to find a spot to perform on Nashville’s famous Broadway where traditional country music once ruled “They play everything now from AC/DC to Journey to even rap,” she said “It’s hard to find a bar that has country music.” “Wilted Flower,” has a collection of songs that James said is a true reflection of who she is “Every song is about something I’ve seen or I’ve gone through or spoken to someone who has gone through it,” she said James said she is not a fan of the Nashville writing machine She has recently been challenged to write lyrics for soundtracks But movies won’t detract from her time trying to start the revolution especially since she met Haggard and played for him twice She said he stayed through one of her sound checks “We need a girl like that opening my show.” James said hearing what her hero said was unbelievable adding that he was “just wonderful” to talk to during their meetings she said she learned some hard lessons about trying to be everything to everyone — especially radio “Everything on the new record has to be something that I love,” she said a job she said she probably always will do one of whose songs recently was cut by Montgomery Gentry She promised to bring a little of Nashville’s Broadway to the vineyard “I just want everyone to have a good night,” she said CONTACT: Call 301-302-8032 or go to www.bigcorkvineyards.com music director of the South Bend Symphony Orchestra introduces the third Jack M Champaigne Masterworks of the season Discover Mahler’s Fifth Symphony and hear a world premiere by Indiana composer Michael Schelle "The Fifth Horseman of the Apocalypse" was inspired by the storied "Four Horsemen" who made up the backfield of Notre Dame's 1924 football team Legendary US brand behind childhood classics weathers controversy and Covid-19 to celebrate milestone anniversary The small upstate New York village of East Aurora is a picture of small-town tranquillity complete with a five-and-dime store; farmland towards Lake Erie is dotted with dairy cows and the museum celebrates a community of arts and craft artists known as Roycrofters who set up here in 1895 mayor Irving Price decided he wanted to establish financial security for the town as the Great Depression began to take hold children’s book illustrator Margaret Evans Price owner and manager of the Penny Walker Toy Shop Fisher thought the world needed better toys – toys that “appeal to the imagination that do something new and surprising and funny” Fisher-Price celebrates its 90th anniversary With it comes a rare opportunity for uncomplicated nostalgia for a company that over the decades has produced around 5,000 types of toys under the logo: “Our Work is Child’s Play” A drawing of the founders of Fisher-Price Helen Schelle and Herman Fisher.“The original Fisher-Price factory had produced copper for Roycrofters so the community already had a history of simple creative manufacturing,” town historian Robert Goller told the Observer “The times were right for a simple pull-toy a 95-year old lady who works at the museum recalls going to pick up toy pieces to assemble at home and bring back for a little extra money.” After Price teamed up with Fisher and Schelle they began inviting neighbours’ children to play with their designs One was a pull-along toy dog called Snoopy Sniffer; others included a range of 16 toys called the Hopefuls which included Dr Doodle and Granny Doodle “I don’t think much has changed in the past 90 years People call it a Norman Rockwell-type village,” said mayor Peter Mercurio remains a key employer and supportive of the community sponsoring local events and the Christmas parade “They have focus groups to which they invite local children to come in for toy testing and marketing.” the company’s community-minded approach goes both ways “There’s lots of inspiration for what we do around art galleries and museums,” said principal designer Patrick Murphy In the 1950s Fisher-Price’s artisanal approach produced Little People updating the looks of the characters as the look of children in the village changed “The founders focused on creating toys that appeal to the imagination because play is how kids grow this philosophy lives on,” said Chuck Scothon senior vice president of Fisher-Price and global head of infant and preschool at Mattel The classic Chatter Telephone toy was produced by Fisher-Price in the early 1960s.The company’s success coincided with the postwar baby boom and pioneering work by child psychologists such as Jerome Singer author of the 1973 book the Child’s World of Make Believe producing classics such as the Record Player and Chatter Telephone a $100 video camera adopted by artists and film-makers and a plastic smartwatchfor “tracking their steps” Far more damaging was the recall last year of the Rock ’n Play sleeper, a lightweight, collapsible bassinet (4.7m sold) after an investigation linked it to at least 32 infant deaths While some Mattel brands like Barbie and Hot Wheels have seen sales increases of up to 25% the company’s infant and pre-school products dropped 9% and it really helped define toys for kids and preschool childrenSteve PasierbInvestment advisers note that the recall of Rock ’n Play has contributed to a weakness in the company’s performance Fisher-Price recently released a special edition line of Little People called Thank You Heroes with net proceeds going to First Responders First Mattel has also responded to criticism of the heavy use of plastics by the toy industry saying it aims to use only recycled or recyclable plastics by 2030 By the end of the year, Mattel says all Fisher-Price Rock-a-Stack toys worldwide will be made from sugarcane-based plastics and packaged in 100% recycled or sustainably sourced materials which employs around 750 at its East Aurora headquarters “It’s one of the legendary American brands and it really helped define toys for kids and preschool children,” said Steve Pasierb “The toy industry is like the fashion industry – things come and things go Fisher-Price is going to continue to have a role in the world.” This is the archive of The Observer up until 21/04/2025 The Observer is now owned and operated by Tortoise Media A Carey Grammar teacher who was sacked after starting a romantic relationship with a student soon after they graduated from high school faces a years-long ban from teaching Eleanor Louise Yorke faced a disciplinary hearing at the Victorian Institute of Teaching on Monday over allegations of serious misconduct while she was a teacher at the private school in Melbourne’s south-east in 2020 Former teacher Eleanor Yorke has been suspended from teaching and her registration is now at risk after admitting to an inappropriate relationship with a student Yorke was 26 and the former student was 18 when they began dating soon after the student graduated at the end of 2020 started her career at Carey Baptist Grammar School in 2017 after completing her teaching masters at the University of Melbourne She quickly rose through the ranks at the school she was teaching chemistry and biology to year 12 students and was promoted to head of digital learning It was during COVID-19 that she and the year 12 student began to bond by chatting online using Microsoft Teams The then 17-year-old student struggled to cope with lockdowns and sought additional help for schoolwork through Yorke Yorke said she tried to “reset” the boundaries between herself and the student The teacher had had “frequent and familiar communication” with the teenager throughout 2020 and had contacted them about 35,000 times via Microsoft Teams There was no sexual or intimate relationship between the two while the student was still at the school Yorke said: “Should I be leaving you alone?” The teenager replied: “My immediate response is no Two misconduct claims against Yorke relate to her behaviour in 2020 while the third relates to her sexual relationship with the student who had completed school less than two years prior In 2021, the professional regulator brought in a new code of conduct that banned teachers from having sex with former students for at least two years after they graduate Yorke conceded she had engaged in serious misconduct Yorke did not pursue a relationship with the student until they graduated year 12 at the end of 2020 after which she passed on her phone number Yorke acknowledged the relationship was inappropriate and said she had discussed it with the former student at the time She said the queer relationship was “wholly consensual” and they even discussed the power imbalance between each other “Even though we spoke about our concerns with [the power imbalance] it still exists,” Yorke told the regulator “It was not appropriate and that’s inherent to any relationship that starts in a school context between a teacher and student.” Yorke said she had not come out yet and was “deeply lonely” but that was not an excuse or a reason for her behaviour She accepted the consequences of her actions and knew she’d no longer be able to teach Losing her career and her job at the school was “horrible” because teaching was everything to her The revelations had also forced Yorke to come out to her family and if there were people or individuals concerned it was well within their right to have that investigated,” she said who is now pursuing a career in psychology said she and the former student had parted on good terms Carey Grammar became aware of the relationship in June 2023 and stood Yorke down The teaching watchdog suspended Yorke’s registration that month In a letter to the school community at the time principal Jonathan Walter said: “I can now confirm that the school recently received a report regarding Ms Yorke’s compliance with the school’s expectations regarding professional boundaries.” Walter said the report concerned Yorke’s interactions with a year 12 student from several years prior The panel agreed Yorke’s registration should be cancelled but will provide a decision at a later date on how long she will be barred from teaching Yorke said she had no plans to reapply to work in an education setting Get the day’s breaking news, entertainment ideas and a long read to enjoy. Sign up to receive our Evening Edition newsletter. Eleanor Louise Yorke faced a disciplinary hearing at the Victorian Institute of Teaching on Monday over allegations of serious misconduct while she was a teacher at the private school in Melbourne\\u2019s south-east in 2020 Yorke said she tried to \\u201Creset\\u201D the boundaries between herself and the student but it continued in a \\u201Cfriendly\\u201D vein The teacher had had \\u201Cfrequent and familiar communication\\u201D with the teenager throughout 2020 Yorke said: \\u201CShould I be leaving you alone?\\u201D The teenager replied: \\u201CMy immediate response is no the professional regulator brought in a new code of conduct that banned teachers from having sex with former students for at least She said the queer relationship was \\u201Cwholly consensual\\u201D and they even discussed the power imbalance between each other \\u201CEven though we spoke about our concerns with [the power imbalance] it still exists,\\u201D Yorke told the regulator \\u201CIt was not appropriate and that\\u2019s inherent to any relationship that starts in a school context between a teacher and student.\\u201D Yorke said she had not come out yet and was \\u201Cdeeply lonely\\u201D but that was not an excuse or a reason for her behaviour She accepted the consequences of her actions and knew she\\u2019d no longer be able to teach Losing her career and her job at the school was \\u201Chorrible\\u201D because teaching was everything to her it was well within their right to have that investigated,\\u201D she said The teaching watchdog suspended Yorke\\u2019s registration that month principal Jonathan Walter said: \\u201CI can now confirm that the school recently received a report regarding Ms Yorke\\u2019s compliance with the school\\u2019s expectations regarding professional boundaries.\\u201D Walter said the report concerned Yorke\\u2019s interactions with a year 12 student from several years prior The panel agreed Yorke\\u2019s registration should be cancelled SHEPHERDSTOWN, W.Va. — When Shepherdstown Police Chief Sgt. Mike King was receiving phone calls from area residents that bordered on the unexplained, there was only one question to ask: Who you gonna call? King called the TV channel Destination America. Charlotte Fletcher, publicist for Destination America, said King had “seen an uptick in calls” for which he sent officers to scenes but no one was in danger, and there were no signs of trespassing or forced break-in, but “something still seemed amiss.” Fletcher said King was familiar with Nick Groff, who stars on Destination America’s “Paranormal Lockdown” and is one of the country’s leading paranormal investigators. Groff thought there was cause for an investigation and brought with him Bill Hartley, paranormal tech, and Elizabeth Saint, a paranormal sensitive, to investigate the spooky happenings in Shepherdstown. The result of the trio’s work in Shepherdstown is a six-part TV series called “Ghosts in Shepherdstown” that premieres at 10 tonight on Destination America. Hartley and Saint said the history of Shepherdstown was ripe for a paranormal investigation. Shepherdstown basically acted as the field hospital site for the Battle of Antietam, with every standing building used to help the wounded or dying, Hartley said. “The streets ran red with blood. All the death and misery that happened there had to build up so much paranormal energy,” he said. “Those guys are still there.” “Anytime I’ve been to a historical place, the energy alone is just overwhelming,” she said. “It’s hard in those situations not to find something paranormal-related.” The town, which was charted in 1762, predates the Revolutionary War. “There’s some parts that you turn and you swear you’d feel you should be seeing a Continental solider walking down the street,” Hartley said. “It’s such as beautiful town that I found it fascinating that it was such a mixture of modern and historical in one location.” When the team was in Shepherdstown from June 2015 through September 2015, Saint said they were told by King which calls he received from town residents. Then the members investigated to see if the activity could be considered paranormal. As a sensitive, Saint said when she gets to a location, she likes to first walk through a space to get a sense of what she’s feeling. “I’m really sensitive to my environment, so I tend to pick up on things that a lot of other people can’t,” she said. “In regard to spirits, when I get to a location, I will hear them or see them. Or projected onto me (are) the feelings they were feeling at that time. There wasn’t a location in Shepherdstown that I wasn’t overcome by those feelings. And I think a lot of that had to do with the history of the town.” She said she validates what she’s feeling or seeing with the instrumentation used during an investigation. Hartley, who has been doing paranormal investigations since 2006, said studying an entire town posed some problems, since he was only used to probing one house at a time. He joked that he didn’t think he’d have enough cable. Among the tools of the trade are DVR systems, full-spectrum cameras, voice recorders, still photography and a spirit box, which uses radio frequency to contact spirits, Hartley said. “Anything we could throw at an investigation, we used,” he said. Hartley said viewers will be surprised by the number of things discovered during the investigation. “Each of us during our time all had something happen to us that kind of changed us a little bit,” he said. “When I left Shepherdstown, I felt like I was part of the town. The people were so welcoming. The events that happened to us — I look back and say, ‘That was incredible.’ With the show and the way it presents our investigations, it’s going to make people want to come back to see what else we find and what happens to us.” Saint said she also feels different since filming in Shepherdstown. Saint said she hopes the show will change people’s minds. "Ghosts of Shepherdstown" premieres at 10 tonight on Destination America. The six-part series runs Sundays through July 17 you’ve probably tripped over something made by Fisher-Price the company has specialized in imagination-stirring diversions for tots Check out 11 facts about things that would make any toddler drool If you’ve ever been in the vicinity of a small child Fisher-Price offers a conciliatory note about her absence in the company name: “Sorry ThisOldToy World War II brought a change in priorities for many manufacturers, and Fisher-Price was no exception. The company ceased production of nearly all their toys during wartime, instead using their resources to make ammunition crates, medical chests, and parts for combat planes [PDF] In 1961, Fisher-Price decided to formalize what most toy companies should have already known: Focus group testing should consist of subjects with poop in their pants Their Play Lab invites kids to interact with new product designs to assess their playability which would grow to dominate the toy industry Jose Lulz Rules via Flickr // CC BY 2.0 For a brief period, the company’s trademark farm playset removed the familiar moo sound that triggered when kids opened the tiny barn doors. According to Fisher-Price the change led to “udder outrage” by parents; the sound was quickly reinserted Spend any amount of time in a toddler-occupied household and you’ve probably heard the familiar tock-tock-tock of the company’s Corn Popper, a two-wheeled contraption that bounces balls around in a sealed dome at irritating decibels. Fisher-Price acquired the rights from designer Arthur Holt for $50 in 1957 LiveAuctioneers The next time you’re at a yard sale, keep an eye out for Push Cart Pete, one of the company’s earliest pull toys made out of Ponderosa pine. Debuting in 1936, it’s rare enough to command $9500 on the collectible market If you can find a Donald and Donna Duck pair from 1937—Fisher-Price licensed Disney characters early on—you could score $5000 © 2025 Minute Media - All Rights Reserved Mental Floss may receive a commission for purchases made through these links.",{"type":"8f","value":"i4"},"AR_1",{"type":"8f","value":"i6"},"This article contains affiliate links to products selected by our editors as well as products provided to Mental Floss for review purposes d) {\n h = h[d] = h[d] || {\n q: [],\n onReady: function(c){ h.q.push(c) },\n };\n d = o.createElement(u);\n d.async = 1;\n d.src = n;\n n = o.getElementsByTagName(u)[0];\n n.parentNode.insertBefore(d \"https://www.datadoghq-browser-agent.com/us1/v5/datadog-rum.js\" Initialize Datadog RUM and then measure TTFB/FCP\n window.DD_RUM.onReady(function() {\n // 3a Initialize RUM\n window.DD_RUM.init({\n applicationId: 'f3f16add-4ebf-4aad-9bb4-adb13da4d17e',\n clientToken: 'pub53fad8ec1eea29e2f92980d95072da2f',\n site: \"datadoghq.com\",\n service: \"voltax-sites-www.mentalfloss.com\",\n env: \"prod\",\n sessionSampleRate: 100,\n sessionReplaySampleRate: 0,\n trackUserInteractions: true,\n trackResources: true,\n trackLongTasks: true,\n defaultPrivacyLevel: \"mask-user-input\",\n });\n\n // 3b Measure TTFB & FCP once the page fully loads\n window.addEventListener('load' {\n ttfb: ttfb,\n fcp: fcp,\n });\n\n // Optional: log them to console for debugging\n console.log('[Datadog RUM] TTFB:' ThisOldToy World War II brought a change in priorities for many manufacturers, and Fisher-Price was no exception. The company ceased production of nearly all their toys during wartime, instead using their resources to make ammunition crates, medical chests, and parts for combat planes [PDF] In 1961, Fisher-Price decided to formalize what most toy companies should have already known: Focus group testing should consist of subjects with poop in their pants Jose Lulz Rules via Flickr // CC BY 2.0 For a brief period, the company’s trademark farm playset removed the familiar moo sound that triggered when kids opened the tiny barn doors. According to Fisher-Price Spend any amount of time in a toddler-occupied household and you’ve probably heard the familiar tock-tock-tock of the company’s Corn Popper, a two-wheeled contraption that bounces balls around in a sealed dome at irritating decibels. Fisher-Price acquired the rights from designer Arthur Holt for $50 in 1957 LiveAuctioneers The next time you’re at a yard sale, keep an eye out for Push Cart Pete, one of the company’s earliest pull toys made out of Ponderosa pine. Debuting in 1936, it’s rare enough to command $9500 on the collectible market Reports of assaults at Victorian schools have surged by about 50 per cent in the past two years as teachers warn campuses are becoming more dangerous places to work Schools reported more than 600 assaults and related offences in the year ending June 2024 Crime Statistics Agency data shows – up from just over 400 in 2021-22 It’s also double the number reported a decade ago harassment and threatening behaviour at schools has also rebounded from a COVID-era dip with reports reaching their highest level since 2019 The data does not go into detail on who is alleged to have committed the reported assaults But a Victoria Police spokesman said about 70 per cent of all such incidents at schools were common assaults – minor in nature with no injuries sustained – and were not related to family violence “[They are] consistent with a schoolyard push and shove,” he said president of the Victorian Principals Association said police would rarely be called for minor fights or pushing and shoving teachers and parents to look at what led to the behaviour He said police were more likely to be called for more serious assaults or if weapons were found But an Education Department spokesperson said any criminal offence involving staff or students should be reported to police “The safety and wellbeing of students is the highest priority of all schools – and any reports of violence on or near school grounds are immediately investigated,” the spokesperson said crimes against the person – a category that includes assaults – account for less than a third of offences committed at schools Dalgleish said schools were mostly incredibly safe but he wasn’t surprised to see reported assaults increasing something which was consistent with violent acts teachers were seeing at schools He said Australian principal occupational health safety and wellbeing data showed when there was violence in schools “There is really a challenge about what’s the cause of it “What is causing our young people to be disengaged while still trying to keep young people engaged in education?” The crime data showed there was a 14 per cent increase in stalking harassment and threatening behaviour reported at schools in financial year 2023-24 from the year prior The data shows there were 56 such reported incidents at schools in 2015 – but by 2024 the number was 96 harassment and threatening behaviour offences occur at schools with less than 130 reported for the entire year,” a police spokesman said these types of offences have also decreased from the levels seen in Victorian schools before the pandemic.” there were more than 100 offences reported Dalgleish said he suspected those cases were more likely to involve student-on-student allegations and secondary schools They could also include the use of social media The most common offences at school locations were burglaries “While the crime data does not reference times of offending anecdotally most burglaries and thefts take place outside school hours,” the police spokesman said The Independent Education Union’s general secretary said: “The IEU is concerned by reports from some schools of the poor risk management of students “The obligation of schools to provide a safe work environment extends to eliminating or at least minimising all workplace violence sometimes incorrectly citing disability discrimination law are prepared to let the behaviour go on – and staff become daily punching bags.” The Australian Education Union declined to comment Premier Jacinta Allan addressed a report in News Corp that said student suspensions at state schools have soared in recent years due to a rise in violent or unruly behaviour “The safety of all students and staff in every school is of critical importance It is why we have been rolling out programs and initiatives to support schools respectful places for students and all staff,” she said One of the programs she was referring to is Positive Classroom Management Strategies which trains teachers to set classroom routines and build three-way relationships with students and their parents The Crime Statistics Agency data includes incidents that occur on school grounds outside operating hours State schools have a centrally managed security system The Morning Edition newsletter is our guide to the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up here Crime Statistics Agency data shows \\u2013 up from just over 400 in 2021-22 It\\u2019s also double the number reported a decade ago But a Victoria Police spokesman said about 70 per cent of all such incidents at schools were common assaults \\u2013 minor in nature with no injuries sustained \\u2013 and were not related to family violence \\u201C[They are] consistent with a schoolyard push and shove,\\u201D he said \\u201CThe safety and wellbeing of students is the highest priority of all schools \\u2013 and any reports of violence on or near school grounds are immediately investigated,\\u201D the spokesperson said crimes against the person \\u2013 a category that includes assaults \\u2013 account for less than a third of offences committed at schools but he wasn\\u2019t surprised to see reported assaults increasing \\u201CThere is really a challenge about what\\u2019s the cause of it \\u201CWhat is causing our young people to be disengaged while still trying to keep young people engaged in education?\\u201D The data shows there were 56 such reported incidents at schools in 2015 \\u2013 but by 2024 the number was 96 with less than 130 reported for the entire year,\\u201D a police spokesman said these types of offences have also decreased from the levels seen in Victorian schools before the pandemic.\\u201D \\u201CWhile the crime data does not reference times of offending anecdotally most burglaries and thefts take place outside school hours,\\u201D the police spokesman said The Independent Education Union\\u2019s general secretary said: \\u201CThe IEU is concerned by reports from some schools of the poor risk management of students \\u201CThe obligation of schools to provide a safe work environment extends to eliminating or at least minimising all workplace violence are prepared to let the behaviour go on \\u2013 and staff become daily punching bags.\\u201D \\u201CThe safety of all students and staff in every school is of critical importance respectful places for students and all staff,\\u201D she said The Morning Edition newsletter is our guide to the day\\u2019s most important and interesting stories Aspiring dentists accepted into one of the country’s most prestigious universities have been unexpectedly barred from starting their postgraduate degree this year after the university accepted more enrolments than it had capacity for Some students who were due to start the dental surgery degree at the University of Melbourne this month have been told they will have to wait until 2026 Among them is a student relocating to Melbourne from Perth who quit their job and rejected another university offer The University of Melbourne said there had been an unprecedented demand for places on the dental course.Credit: Simon Schluter A University of Melbourne spokeswoman said some applicants who were offered places in 2025 had their admission deferred to 2026 “We have apologised to the affected students for the disappointment and inconvenience this has caused and have been meeting with these students to provide support and discuss their options,” she said The university refused to disclose exactly how many admission offers it had sent out But it said it normally makes more offers than it has capacity for because not all students accept According to its website a figure based on the availability of dental chairs at the Royal Dental Hospital and Melbourne Dental Clinic a university spokeswoman said there was an unprecedented demand for places in the program this year “The number of offers we made was based on historical acceptance data to ensure the course is filled to capacity in order to make full use of the teaching resources available,” the spokeswoman said our acceptance rate was more than double what it had been in recent years with acceptances coming through in a very short period compared to recent years which resulted in the program unexpectedly exceeding its enrolment capacity.” It’s one of the most competitive courses for students a test for graduate candidates who are applying for medicine The students who have been deferred found out about the decision in December after many had already accepted first-round offers in October Some aspiring University of Melbourne dental students have taken to social media to complain about their admissions being deferred.Credit: Simon Schluter said he was delighted when he received the admission offer “It was just a regular day at work when I saw the letter,” he said I was shocked and felt the biggest weight being lifted off my shoulders as I have been applying and sitting the GAMSAT for many years.” said he was proud and excited about the future when he was accepted into the competitive course “I ran out of work to surprise-call my family and we celebrated together that week,” he said the student realised there was an issue when he checked the online portal and saw my previous admission status of ‘offer accepted successful’ became ‘offer accepted – admission pending’,” he said The student emailed the admissions department and called the university assistance line The university didn’t email him until December 18 to tell him he had been deferred until 2026 “My family and I were distraught,” he said “It was shocking to even imagine something like this happening from a university that claims to be a top dental school.” He had planned to move interstate for the degree quitting his job and rejecting an offer from the University of Queensland to begin his studies in Melbourne He lost money on flights and accommodation He has contacted student advocacy groups and is consulting other students about his next steps “I haven’t appealed or sought legal advice yet as I wish to exhaust all internal processes first,” he said Other aspiring Melbourne University dental students have taken to social media to complain about their admissions being deferred Melbourne University student union president Joshua Stagg said students had suffered as a result of the “significant miscalculation” made by the university “Many of these students made far-reaching changes to their lives and have taken on significant financial burdens to accept their place in the course and now are left in the lurch with little support and a lack of communication beyond hollow and strategically worded emails and a hole in their lives that they would not have suffered were it not for the university’s terrible miscalculation,” he said Stagg said the university had failed to communicate with students before the Christmas and new year period “This is a failure entirely at the hands of the University of Melbourne,” Stagg said “The university has been careless in accepting a number of students beyond their capacity to teach effectively.” The university did not respond to questions about whether any impacted students were from overseas had Commonwealth-supported places or were full-fee paying Aspiring dentists accepted into one of the country\\u2019s most prestigious universities have been unexpectedly barred from starting their postgraduate degree this year after the university accepted more enrolments than it had capacity for Some students who were due to start the dental surgery degree at the this month have been told they will have to wait until 2026 \\u201CWe have apologised to the affected students for the disappointment and inconvenience this has caused and have been meeting with these students to provide support and discuss their options,\\u201D she said \\u201CThe number of offers we made was based on historical acceptance data to ensure the course is filled to capacity in order to make full use of the teaching resources available,\\u201D the spokeswoman said which resulted in the program unexpectedly exceeding its enrolment capacity.\\u201D It\\u2019s one of the most competitive courses for students \\u201CIt was just a regular day at work when I saw the letter,\\u201D he said I was shocked and felt the biggest weight being lifted off my shoulders as I have been applying and sitting the GAMSAT for many years.\\u201D \\u201CI ran out of work to surprise-call my family and we celebrated together that week,\\u201D he said and saw my previous admission status of \\u2018offer accepted successful\\u2019 became \\u2018offer accepted \\u2013 admission pending\\u2019,\\u201D he said The university didn\\u2019t email him until December 18 to tell him he had been deferred until 2026 \\u201CMy family and I were distraught,\\u201D he said \\u201CIt was shocking to even imagine something like this happening from a university that claims to be a top dental school.\\u201D \\u201CI haven\\u2019t appealed or sought legal advice yet as I wish to exhaust all internal processes first,\\u201D he said Melbourne University student union president Joshua Stagg said students had suffered as a result of the \\u201Csignificant miscalculation\\u201D made by the university \\u201CMany of these students made far-reaching changes to their lives and have taken on significant financial burdens to accept their place in the course and now are left in the lurch with little support and a lack of communication beyond hollow and strategically worded emails and a hole in their lives that they would not have suffered were it not for the university\\u2019s terrible miscalculation,\\u201D he said \\u201CThis is a failure entirely at the hands of the University of Melbourne,\\u201D Stagg said \\u201CThe university has been careless in accepting a number of students beyond their capacity to teach effectively.\\u201D it was hard to miss Richard Sterban’s distinctive baritone voice singing “oom poppa By the time The Oak Ridge Boys released their 1981 album “Fancy Free,” featuring the song “Elvira,” the country music group already had a long career stretching back to the 1950s But “Elvira” became a crossover hit for the quartet and gained them legions of fans outside their original gospel circles Longtime fans of The Oak Ridge Boys can see the foursome — which also includes William Lee Golden Joe Bonsall and Duane Allen — perform at 7:30 p.m at The Maryland Theatre in downtown Hagerstown and was raised in a strict household where even attending school dances was not allowed where he made his first public performance “From Elvis to Elvira,” where his Christian faith became deeply ingrained Even though he was allowed to participate in chorus in high school his parents restricted radio music to gospel in the home It was while listening to those early radio shows featuring gospel quartets that Sterban fell in love with harmonies He also was given an album of gospel music by J.D Sterban also became enamored with the group The Couriers It was at a Couriers concert that he met Sumner in person after Sterban started his own group called The Keystone Quartet while going to Trenton (N.J.) State College in the early 1960s he started working with Sumner as a member of The Stamps The Stamps was one of Elvis Presley’s backup groups and Sterban had the chance to perform behind The King from 1971 to 1977 Sterban left in 1972 to join The Oak Ridge Boys “I think it was very exciting to perform with him,” Sterban said during a telephone interview from his Hendersonville “I was able to see how a big-time tour actually takes place Elvis was arguably the biggest star in the world And his tour was arguably the biggest tour in the music business back then I was able to see things in a big-time way and I think it helped to prepare me for what was to come later on with The Oak Ridge Boys because we went back to some of the same places and arenas that were just as packed for The Oak Ridge Boys.” Golden called Sterban to ask if he wanted to leave The Stamps and join The Oak Ridge Boys Sterban was asked to come in and recorded all the solo bass parts again By the time the group released 1974’s self-titled “The Oak Ridge Boys,” Sterban was an official member It took some time for the group to start putting out record-topping hits but with 1978 album “Y’all Come Back Saloon,” the group was getting hits like the No The Oaks followed it up with 1978’s album “Room Service,” and with 1979’s “The Oak Ridge Boys Have Arrived,” they garnered another No 1 hit with “Leaving Louisiana in the Broad Daylight.” The following year 1 hit with “Trying to Love Two Women” from the 1980 album “Together.” It was the 1981 album “Fancy Free” that solidified them as country hitmakers with the platinum hit “Elvira.” When the Oaks made a transition from gospel to country music gospel promoters were starting to turn their backs on The Oak Ridge Boys “The promoters turned their back on us because we were playing Las Vegas with Johnny Cash and were playing dates that were not gospel dates,” he said when they were transitioning from gospel to getting played on country radio Sterban said it was gospel fans who really supported their move “They basically called radio stations and were requesting our songs because they really did want to hear us,” he said The Oaks hoped that “Elvira” would be a hit but were surprised that it became a mega hit “It went to the top of the country charts and it kept right on going,” Sterban said it’s still one of the largest-selling single records to ever be recorded in Nashville left the band in 1987 for a time when it was reported he was “voted out” by the other members of the group who wanted to change the band’s image he returned to the group and the foursome has been together ever since Sterban said the band has survived simply because “we love what we do.” “And we enjoy taking our music to our fans and to our audience We don’t plan to retire anytime soon because this is what we love to do.” Sterban said the bandmates are as close as brothers They are in their 70s now and have learned to work together as a team we have become the best of friends,” Sterban said Each guy brings something different to the table I think that’s part of our appeal — the fact that we are so different and we come together and work together as a team We all learned a long time ago that we need each other I think the relationship that exists with the four of us is very important The last two years have marked two important duets for The Oak Ridge Boys they teamed up with Merle Haggard for “Sweet Jesus.” Haggard co-wrote the song that appeared on the Oaks’ 2015 album “Rock Of Ages: Hymns And Gospel Favorites.” “And we went into the studio and we put our part onto it We were never really in the studio at the same time.” The song did so well that the Oaks and Haggard were recognized with a Dove Award from the Gospel Music Association in 2015 and it was Merle Haggard’s first and only Dove Award before he passed away,” Sterban said Shelton suggested they perform a couple lines from “Elvira.” “The entire audience stood up and did it with us,” he said The group never seems to stop making music and touring Sterban said the guys are talking about going back into the studio to record a new country album the quartet released “The Oak Ridge Boys Celebrate Christmas” and began touring in November to promote the album “Our Christmas show is the biggest part of our year,” Sterban said He said their concert is “a real bargain because you actually almost get two shows for the price of one.” The first part of the show includes fan favorites and secular music we do a complete Christmas show that features about every side of Christmas you can imagine,” he said We sing about the romantic side of Christmas.” Sterban said one of the highlights is the rocking chair segment “The four Oak Ridge Boys sit down in four Cracker Barrel rocking chairs and basically we talk about what Christmas means to each of us individually,” he said “We talk about childhood Christmas memories It’s the section of the show that allows people to get to know The Oak Ridge Boys individually better We started doing this several years ago now We end the Christmas show with a series of songs that talk about the true meaning of Christmas that the birth of Jesus Christ is really important to us And I believe it is really important to a vast majority of our audience and our fans all over the country.” CONTACT: Call 301-790-2000 or go to www.mdtheatre.org Boarders embroiled in the Ballarat Grammar strapping scandal have been kicked out of the school after an independent investigation according to an email sent to former students and supporters Ten senior boarders at the school were sent home last month over claims junior students – some as young as year 7 – had been assaulted as part of a hazing culture going back decades and known as strapping An internal investigation has uncovered “completely unacceptable” behaviour at Ballarat Grammar.Credit: Joe Armao The Anglican school sent an email on Friday morning confirming an independent investigation had been completed and handed to the board It had been a “challenging period” for the school community and the investigation uncovered behaviour that was “completely unacceptable” “Disciplinary actions have been taken against some students identified in the investigation They will no longer attend Ballarat Grammar,” the email sent by board chair Sarah Lia and headmaster Adam Heath said Changes to accommodation arrangements for other students had also been made after they returned from suspension “They will not return to the Dart Boarding House and will attend as day students.” Several staff members with boarding house responsibilities have been repositioned and new boarding staff installed who were “completely committed to change to ensure safety wellbeing and empathetic support for our boarding students” “We understand what a challenging time this has been for our school community and we know it is confronting to read media reports that have detailed some disturbing behaviour in the school we love distress or uncertainty this situation may have caused and want to assure you that we will focus on cultural change wellbeing and safety of all students will remain our highest priority.” The school’s headmaster Adam Heath confirmed in a statement to The Age it had taken “decisive action” to ensure the safety and trust of the boarding community including some students leaving the school and the repositioning of several staff who had boarding house responsibilities to reinforce our commitment to a safe and supportive environment,” he said he did not say how many students were booted from the school and how many returned as day students rather than as boarders The school continues to work with Bradley Fenner to further strengthen its boarding program “Our focus is on meaningful cultural change to ensure Ballarat Grammar remains a place where all students feel safe The Victorian Registration and Qualifications Authority the state’s education and training watchdog which also manages the registration and review of independent schools It comes after this masthead reported private security guards were hired to protect boarders as they slept at the school Families of students who boarded at the school were told last week the guards would be on duty in the two boys’ boarding houses overnight and communal residential areas would be covered by security cameras Numerous men have told The Age they were assaulted or hazed as children due to a strapping culture among Grammar boarders going back to at least the 1950s The school is facing legal action from a former boarder claiming “physical sexual and psychological” abuse he suffered from fellow students that left him mentally scarred and battling drug and alcohol problems Get alerts on significant breaking news as happens. Sign up for our Breaking News Alert Ten senior boarders at the school were sent home last month over claims junior students \\u2013 some as young as year 7 \\u2013 had been assaulted as part of a hazing culture going back decades and known as strapping It had been a \\u201Cchallenging period\\u201D for the school community and the investigation uncovered behaviour that was \\u201Ccompletely unacceptable\\u201D \\u201CDisciplinary actions have been taken against some students identified in the investigation They will no longer attend Ballarat Grammar,\\u201D the email sent by board chair Sarah Lia and headmaster Adam Heath said \\u201CThey will not return to the Dart Boarding House and will attend as day students.\\u201D and new boarding staff installed who were \\u201Ccompletely committed to change to ensure safety wellbeing and empathetic support for our boarding students\\u201D \\u201CWe understand what a challenging time this has been for our school community and we know it is confronting to read media reports that have detailed some disturbing behaviour in the school we love \\u201CWe sincerely apologise for any hurt wellbeing and safety of all students will remain our highest priority.\\u201D The school\\u2019s headmaster Adam Heath confirmed in a statement to The Age it had taken \\u201Cdecisive action\\u201D to ensure the safety and trust of the boarding community \\u201CDisciplinary actions have been taken to reinforce our commitment to a safe and supportive environment,\\u201D he said \\u201COur focus is on meaningful cultural change to ensure Ballarat Grammar remains a place where all students feel safe respected and supported,\\u201D Heath said the state\\u2019s education and training watchdog Families of students who boarded at the school were told last week the guards would be on duty in the two boys\\u2019 boarding houses overnight The school is facing legal action from a former boarder claiming \\u201Cphysical sexual and psychological\\u201D abuse he suffered from fellow students that left him mentally scarred and battling drug and alcohol problems Get alerts on significant breaking news as happens