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May 5, 1999
Page A3
(Elje ^lortlanò (Dbseruer
Columbine Students
Prepare to Return to School
H i A. sdrea O rr
L IT T L E T O N , C olo. (R eu ters) -
C o lu m b in e H ig h S ch o o l stu d en ts
prepared S u n d ay to resu m e classes
for the first tim e sin ce last m o n th ’s
shocking m assacre as police said their
in v estig atio n o f the sh o o tin g s w o u ld
likely lead to arrests.
In v estig ato rs w ere still n o t su re if
Eric H arris, 18, an d D y lan K leb o ld ,
17, acted alone in p lan n in g the A pril
20 ram page in w h ich th ey m u rd ered
12 fellow stu d en ts an d a teac h er b e
fore killing them selves. B u ta sp o k e s-
m an for the Jefferso n C o u n try S h er
if f said S unday that so m e o f th e h u n
dred s o f leads they w ere follo w in g
have been “ p an n in g o u t q u ite w e ll.”
H e said it w as “ a v e ry g o o d b et"
that at least o n e arrest w o u ld b e m ade
w ith in the nex t tw o w eeks.
“ W e ’re v ery clo se to it," h e said,
b u t d eclin ed to elab o rate. N e w sp a
p e r rep o rts hav e said th e p erso n e x
p ecte d to be arrested w as a m an w h o
alleg ed ly p ro v id ed a T E C -9 sem i
au to m atic th at w as o n e o f fo u r w e a p
o n s u sed b y the teen -ag e g u n m en
S o far H arris’s p aren ts h av e re
fused to let p olice q u estio n them , ask
ing for im m unity from prosecution.
K leb o ld ’s parents w ere q u estio n ed
by police for tw o hours on Friday and
w ere described as very cooperative.
M e a n w h ile , m o u r n e rs m ille d
aro u n d their old cam p u s, w h ich has
beco m e the site o f an elab o rate m e
m orial, w hile students rallied together
at a tearful R em em b ran ce C erem o n y
o n S unday an d tried to return som e
degree o f n o rm alcy to th eir lives.
O n e clo se frien d o f each o f the 12
slain stu d en ts an d te a c h e r W illiam
S an d ers to o k th e p o d iu m in the sce
nic R o ck y M o u n tain th e a te r an d re
called m o m en ts th ey said th ey had
o n ce tak en fo r granted.
T h e au d ien c e w as o ccasio n ally
b ro u g h t to lau g h ter h e arin g sto ries o f
o n e b o y ’s g ift o f a g lo w -in -th e-d ark
lizard, a g irl’s in term in ab le b o y talk
an d a te a c h e r’s p o ly e ste r p an ts. B ut
stu d en ts a ls o said th ey re m a in e d
h au n ted b y th e trag ed y an d h ad trep i
d atio n a b o u t re tu rn in g to sch o o l.
F o r the first tim e since th e A pril 20
m assacre, C o lu m b in e stu d en ts will
M o n d ay resu m e classes at nearby
C h atfield H ig h S chool, w h ich w ill
hold m orn in g and aftern o o n sessions
to acco m m o d ate b o th sets o f stu d en ts.
“ I k n o w that things w o n ’t happen,
but I ju s t d o n ’t feel safe anym ore.” said
Brain A nderson, a C olu m b in e student
w ho narrow ly escaped injury. “ Every
so often, I still see Eric shooting a gun,
and turning an d shooting at m e.'
“T o m o rro w students w ill b e going
b ack to sch o o l,” said Jon D eS tefan o ,
the p resid en t o f the Jefferso n C ounty
B oard o f E d u catio n at th e rem em
bran ce cerem o n y at the R ed R ocks
A m phitheater. “It’s tim e to get back
o n the horse. T h is w ill tak e courage
b u t I p ro m ise y o u th at y o u w ill b e safe
H e said that ev ery p recau tio n had
b een taken to m ak e C h atfield H ig h as
safe as p o ssib le, an d that a task force
w o u ld b e pu t in p lace to im prove
security at all the schools in the county
In preparation for the new students,
C h atfield assig n ed several sheriffs
deputies to the cam pus, changed all the
locks on the building and blocked ad
m ission to anyone but students and
sta ff w ith proper identification.
S chool officials said they did not
know how w ell classes w ould be at
tended. “ 1 think the expectation is that
a lot o f kids are going to w elcom e
going back to som e degree o f n o r
m alcy,” said a spokesm an for the school
board. "T h ere m ay be som e students
w ho decide to stay out and I c a n ’t
believe they w o u ld be penalized.”
A m ong the th ousands o f m ourners
w ho continued to stream to the C o l
um bine cam pus an d bring flow ers and
hand-w ritten m essag es to the m em o
rial w ere m any paren ts w h o said they
h oped the trag ed y w o u ld m ak e an
im pression o n th eir children.
“ I b ro u g h t m y k ids h ere to p a y o u r
resp ects an d to sh o w th em w h at tra g
ed y brings. K id s d o n ’t seem to take
th e tim e to u n d e rsta n d ,” said B ud
F ears. “ I f th is d o e s n ’t w a k e u p
A m erica, I d o n ’t k n o w w h at w ill.”
“ 1 think (m y children) have been a
little m ore concerned about going to
school and th at’s sad. I d o n ’t think kids
should feel insecure going to school.”
Locks
r i ‘ > ,
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Action to Keep Guns Away from Children
U.S. Rep. Ju lia C arso n , D -Ind.,
today jo in e d P resid en t C lin to n in his
• A u th o rize recall, repair, and/or
re p la c e m e n t o f su b s ta n d a rd d is
is proposing:
• Extension o f an existing ban on
call fo r child safety locks on guns
and stronger action to keep guns aw ay
ch arg e p ro tectio n d evices;
• R eq u ire that h an d g u n s be ac
co m p an ied by a w arn in g that m eets
w ell estab lish ed criteria for con su m
ers w arn in g labels, alertin g buyers to
the hazard s that h an d g u n s pose to
ch ild ren and u rging o w n ers to store
their w eap o n s locked an d unloaded;
• P reserve any stro n g er state law
on safety locks and ch ild access, as
w ell as p en d in g actions brought by
victim s o f d efectiv e handgun or inef
juvenile possession o f handguns to in
clude semiautomatic assault rifles; also a
banonunportantotallanim uniuon maga
fective safety locks; and
• E n su re in d u stry c o m p lian ce
th ro u g h strong enfo rcem en t p ro v i
sions, including public and private
civil rem edies and crim inal penalities.
handgun purchases, with additional two
The C hild H andgun Injury Preven
tion A ct is the strongest handgun child
safety lock bill ever offered in C on
gress, Rep. C arson said. It also relies
on established product safety standard
setting procedures used by the C on
sum er Product Safety Com m ission.
The C ongressw om an reiterated the
P resident ’ s assertion in his 1999 State
o f the U nion A ddress that C ongress
should pass legislation to require trig
ger locks, and “do everything pos
sible to keep our children safe.”
T h e p resid en t an n o u n ced his gun
co n tro l p roposals at a W hite H ouse
cerem o n y to launch his new om nibus
checks on buyers if they need that
m uch time. N ow , it limits them to three
days, but m ost checks are instanta
neous N ever before has there been a
m inim um , m andatory w aiting period.
• M andatory prison sen te n c e s o f
three to 10 years and $ 1 0 ,0 0 0 fines
for adults, including p a re n ts, w ho
know ingly or reck lessly a llo w c h il
from children.
"K ids and guns are a deadly com bi
nation,” C arson said. “It should not be
easier for a child to operate a handgun
than it is to open a bottle o f asprin.
From Jonesboro to Springfield, from
Paducah to L ittleton, and all across
A m erica, the tragic consequences o f
m ixing children an d guns for those
devices. The bill has 39 cosponsors.
R ep. C arso n in tro d u ced th e bill
Feb. 3 in resp o n se th e risin g tide o f
gun violence am o n g ch ild ren in In
dianapolis an d n atio n w id e.
H andgun m anufactures have failed
to honor their p ro m ise m ade m ore
than a year ago at th e W hite H ouse to
voluntarily supply safety devices w ith
their products. A cco rd in g to a study
by the V iolence Policy C enter, only 4
out o f 20 handgun m anufactures are
supplying any kind o f safety device.
W orse, som e devices provided are so
shoddy that they d o n ’t w ork.
This legislation will:
• R equire th at all n ew h an d g u n s
com e w ith a safety lo ck o r d isch arg e
p revention device;
• Require that m inim un safety stan
dards be d ev elo p e d for th o se d ev ices
to ensure the safety lo ck s w ork, using
the sam e standard-setting procedures
used to d evelop sa fe ty stan d ard s for
toys, b icy cle h elm ets an d c h ild -re
crim e package.
In ad d itio n to m an d ato ry child-
safety locks on all guns sold, C linton
zines that hold m ore than 10 rounds, an
extension o f current law banning imports
o f those made since 1994.
• B ack g ro u n d checks o n b u y e rs
for all g u n -sh o w sales.
• A lifetim e b an on gun o w n e rsh ip
for people w ho com m it violent crim es
as ju v en iles.
• A three-day w aiting period for all
days if law officers need them to com
plete their investigation. U ntil last
year, the brady A ct provided five days
for police to conduct b ac k g ro u n d
several illegal gun m arkets.
The p resid en t also p ro p o se d re
quiring a b ack g ro u n d ch eck fo r p u r
chases o f ex p lo siv es, as w ell as guns,
in th eir attack.
A
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National Resource Center
Tougher Laws Needed to
Helps Schools, Communities
Combat Hate Crimes
in Violence Prevention
p lan s, n eed s assessm en t, an d sch o o l/
P R N ew sw ire — T he N ational R e
source C en ter for S afe S chools offers
a range o fh e lp an d services to schools
and co m m unities in th e prev en tio n o f
school violence. In the afterm ath o f
the recent tragedy at C o lu m b in e H igh
S chool in L ittleton, C olorado, school
safety has becom e a heig h ten ed and
co m m u n ity p artn ersh ip s.
T h e c e n te r has a to ll-free tele
p h o n e n u m b e r (8 0 0 -5 4 7 -6 3 3 9 , ext.
131) th at is a cen tral access p o in t for
req u estin g train in g and o th e r te ch n i
critical issue across th e country.
T h e reso u rce c e n te r m ain tain s a
W eb site (w w w .n w rel.o rg /safe), g iv
ing a c o m p reh en siv e o v erv iew o f
c e n te r p ro g ra m s an d p ro v id in g a
w ealth o f reso u rces o n sch o o l safety ,
in clu d in g free p u b licatio n s, a c a le n
d a r o f train in g an d tech n ical a ssis
tan ce ev en ts, a len d in g lib rary w ith a
search ab le d atabase, research , p ro m
isin g an d effectiv e p ractices, facts
a n d fig u res, an d u sefu l links.
T ra in e d s ta ff are av ailab le to an
sw er telephone qu eries o n topics such
as p re v e n tiv e ed u c a tio n , safe sch o o l
cal assistan ce, o r fo r o b tain in g m o re
in fo rm atio n ab o u t safe sc h o o ls and
v io len ce p rev en tio n .
T he N atio n al R eso u rce C en ter for
S afe S ch o o ls can assist sch o o ls and
c o m m u n ities w ith:
• Recognizing early w arning signs o f
potential violence such as social w ith
draw al . problem s wi th anger. and direct
o r indirect threats to self and others
•C reatin g co m p reh en siv e p lan s to
m ake a safe sch o o l en v iro n m en t
•U n d e rsta n d in g th e p ro c e ss o f
assessin g in d iv id u al sch o o l needs
•D e te rm in in g w h a t e x p e rt r e
so u rces are av ailab le
•C reatin g a ratio n al an d reaso n ed
crisis-re sp o n se p lan , in clu d in g h an -
d lin g th e m ed ia, p artn erin g w ith law
en fo rcem en t ag en cies, effectiv e cri
sis-co m m u n icatio n p lan s, an d id en
tifying an appropriate crisis-response
team . T h e crisis resp o n se p la n is p art
o f a com prehensive safe-school plan.
In ad d itio n to its to ll-free n u m b er,
the cen ter can b e co n tac ted b y e-m ail
at safesch o o ls@ n w rel.o rg o r b y m ail
at the fo llo w in g address: N atio n al
R eso u rce C e n te r for S afe S ch o o ls,
N W R E L . 101 S W M ain, S u ite 500,
P o rtlan d O R 97204.
T he N atio n al R eso u rce C e n te r for
Safe S chools is operated b y the N o rth
w est R eg io n al E d u catio n al L a b o ra
to ry (N W R E L ) in P o rtlan d , O reg o n ,
th ro u g h fu n d in g b y the U. S. O ffice
o f Ju v en ile Ju stice an d D elin q u en cy
P rev en tio n an d the U n ited S tates
D ep artm en t o f E d u catio n . N W R E L
is a n o n p ro fit o rg an izatio n an d the
c e n te r’s serv ices are p ro v id ed w ith
o u t co st to sch o o ls an d co m m u n ities.
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S tro n g er law s are n eed ed to p ro s
ecu te hate crim es, the head o f the
N A A C P e m p h asized at a regional
co n feren ce in K ansas C ity.
K w eisi M fum e discussed the m u r
ders o f Jam es B y rd Jr., a b lack m an
w ho w as ch ain ed to a p ickup truck
an d d rag g ed fo r th ree m iles in Ja s
per, T exas, and M atth ew S hepard, a
g ay co llege stu d en t w ho w as beaten
an d left tied to a fen ce in n ear-freez
ing tem p eratu res in L aram ie. W yo.
H e also talked about the h ig h school
sh o o tin g s in L ittleton, C olo.
All w ere instances ofhate crimes, he
said, and should be prosecuted as such.
“A nd yet w e recognize that the existing
hate-crimes statutes w ere not enough,
he said at a new s conference Friday.
M fume, 50, president o f the National
Association for the Advancement o f
Colored People, also noted recent ex
amples o f police brutality in Pittsburgh;
Riverside, C alif; and N ew Y ork City.
“T hose things all point to w hat we
consider to b e a grow ing, glaring na
tional trend to w ard excessive use o f
force by police officers," M fum e said.
H e said o fficers w ho use ex ces
sive force d ish o n o r those w ho w ork
w ell w ith com m u n ities. M fum e said
pol ice brutal ity is “an A m erican prob
lem " an d that dep artm en ts and m u
nicipalities should face repercussions
from the federal governm ent.
KTWB Television Stops Broadcasting Howard Stern Show
SEA TTLE (AP) _ K TW B Televi
sion has decided to pull "T he H ow ard
Stem Radio Show ” o ff the air.
T he m ove is in response to com
m ents the shock-jock broadcast person
ality m ade about the shootings at C ol
um bine High School in Littleton, Colo.
“Personally, I w as shocked and of
fended by his rem arks. O ur sensitivities
lie w ith our viewers and the families and
friends o f the victim s,” said W ade
Brewer. K TW B vice president and gen
eral manager.
The show had been broadcast late on
Saturday night. S tem ’s daily, syndi
cated m orning radio show is not broad
cast in the Seattle market.
S tem 's agent, D on Buchwald, did
not im m ediately return a telephone
m essage Friday night.
T h e C o lo rad o L egislature co n
dem ned the statem ents by Stem , w ho
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sistant asprin b o ttle s;
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dren unlaw ful access to gu n s that are
u sed to cause death or injury.
• E xpansion o f a federal p ro g ram
that traces firearm s u sed by ju v e n ile s
in crim es, w h ich has h elp ed id en tify
an d w e w ill b e th ere w ith y o u .”
P O R T L A N D , O R E ., A pril 28 /
•'To
Ï If
said some o f the girls fleeing the April
20 shooting w ere “really good-look
ing” and w ondered on the air whether
the gunm en tried “to have sex w ith any
o f the good-looking girls.”
K TW B is an affiliate o f the W arner
Brothers netw ork, w hich is know n for
its shows targeted at teen-agers such as
“ F elicity,” “D aw so n ’s C reek” and
“Buffy, the Vam pire Slayer.”
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