Crystal Gunns resigns from school post over scandal

Louisa C. Tuck, also known as former porn star Crystal Gunns, has decided to hang up her cafeteria apron and leave the New Jersey school district where she had worked since June 2008.  In a one-sentence resignation, she stated she was “resigning in good standing” effective December 8.

Vineland Public Schools Superintendent Charles D. Ottinger stated that the school district did not wish for nor requested the resignation from Ms. Tuck.  The resignation letter did not give any hints as to whether or not the recent publicity had played any part in her decision.  Vineland YMCA Executive Director and CEO George Steinbronn stated that Ms. Tuck is still employed as a supervisor for children’s programs.

Ms. Tuck’s resignation, however, has not been approved by the school board and she can rescind it at any time before the next meeting, scheduled for January 21.  Ottinger stated that the board would most likey allow her to keep her job if she changes her mind because they did not request the resignation.

So, once again the parents who feel they must shelter their little darlings from the non-existent evils of the world (see my previous blog) have caused someone who has done nothing wrong to leave.  Ms. Tuck has not received poor reviews, nor has her previous career caused a problem except in the eyes of these over-protective, knee-jerk parents.  I personally hope that Ms. Tuck reconsiders her decision, but I can also completely agree if she doesn’t.  It is hard to live and work in an area where the moral majority dictates who is and who isn’t acceptable in society.

Update & Opinion – School drops Crystal Gunns case

You’ve probably already read my blog entry about Louisa C. Tuck (aka Crystal Gunns) and the school district that had planned to fire her.  If you haven’t read it, go back there and get caught up on the story!!

Now the district has decided to drop the case.  The question of the day is this – who ratted her out?

Charles D. Ottinger, Superintendent of Schools at Vineland School District, states:

Neither the Vineland Board of Education nor the Vineland Public School District initiated the investigation into Louisa Tuck.  We started our investigation after a reporter for The Daily Journal contacted our board president.

In an article by AdultFYI.com, the statement by Mr. Ottinger includes concerns for the students and their families but does not denigrate Ms. Tuck for her previous employment.  He also states that he understands how many students are exposed to various items of questionable nature on a daily basis.

It is admirable how Mr. Ottinger believes the school district should help be the “moral compass” for the students.  But, this is obviously a man with his head on straight and a firm grip on reality.  He believes that if the employees conduct themselves in a professional and forthright manner at all times there shouldn’t be a problem.  Isn’t that the way it should be?

Mr. Ottinger said that only upon hearing the allegations did the school district seek legal counsel for input.  After being advised that nothing could or should be done, the district ended it’s investigation.  And that’s as it should be.  To drag something on just because other people have their feathers in a ruff is not good business and not good for the students.  If the parents and town busybodies can’t let it go, then it’s their fault when the kids have problems with it.

I do take issue with part of Mr. Ottinger’s statement, however.  He says:

I certainly understand that people make mistakes, and when given the opportunity many people learn from their mistakes and actually become better people for having gone through that type of experience.  While we want to teach our students about forgiveness, we also want them to understand that certain behavior is still considered by many to be unacceptable.  Notwithstanding that point, it has been made clear to me that most of our parents do not want their children involved in any type of negative behavior they feel might have a detrimental impact on their children’s futures.  So there really is a fine line between forgiveness and accountability, and both are important life lessons.

Make mistakes?  Who said she made a mistake?  And who is he to judge whether her previous life choices were wrong or not?

I can agree with keeping kids from “unacceptable behavior,” but let’s remember that there are many teachers and other school employees across this country who are either alleged to have had or convicted of illicit activities with their students!  Shouldn’t we be more concerned about keeping the children away from them?  Those are the people that can actually hurt them, not some static photo or video on a website an elementary child shouldn’t be viewing anyway.  That’s the parents’ responsibility to keep the kids away from porn!  It’s only the school’s responsibility during school hours.

And for the parents who “do not want their children involved in any type of negative behavior” — get a life!  If you’re going to shelter your children so much that they never, ever hear a foul word or see a questionable photo, then don’t expect the rest of society to pick up after your mess when your kids can’t deal with the real world.

There are reports all over the news about “helicopter parents” who just can’t let go and expect “Billy” and “Susie” to get top grades, the best teachers, and no responsibilities just because they whine about it (the parents, that is, not the kids).  These are the types of parents that have children who can’t function the first time someone reprimands them at their first job when they do something outrageously unsafe.  These are the parents who have children who can’t pass a class in college and the instructors are sick to death of hearing their students ask if mom or dad can call to negotiate a higher grade.

A little self-responsibility is what people need.  And if you have children too young to be responsible for themselves, remember that they are your children.  They don’t belong to the school district, church, civic group, or any other agency you want to pawn off your responsibilities to raise your kids.

“Forgiveness and accountability are both important life lessons,” to paraphrase Mr. Ottinger.  Let’s all be more forgiving after we’ve taken responsibility for our own families and lives.

Poetic Justice — Suspected dogfighter bitten by police dog

Talk about poetic justice!! Sunday, a Dayton, OH, man suspected of running a dogfighting was bitten by a police dog.  The man was attempting to run from police when the K9 officer grabbed him by the wrist.

The suspect was treated for bites and taken to jail.

Bravo to the police dog!  I just hope that if the guy really is guilty he doesn’t get some ambulance-chasing lawyer to sue the police department for damages.

Citi too big to fail? Fed employees owe them money, too.

There are tons of news articles and blogs out there about how Citibank is too large to fail.  President Bush said it yesterday.  The new economic team being brought together by President-elect Obama seems to agree.  Does anyone know why?  Here’s some food for thought….

Most of it has to do with consumer spending and the crashing economy.  But it’s not all because of main street spending or the irresponsible banks.

A close friend of mine works with a government disaster agency.  They recently were told that their government travel cards for hotel and travel expenses only were going to change from Citi to JP Morgan Chase.  Everyone who was eligible by their employment and credit ratings to receive a new card got one almost a month ago.

Remember when Hurricane Katrina hit?  Remember when everyone was screaming for people to show up and help in New Orleans?  And remember when FEMA recruited people off the streets to fill those positions?  In that article it mentions that the lady couldn’t get her government travel card — something required by all employees in order to be able to work.

Many of those people were given credit cards to use for “travel only” that were issued from Citi.  Just in April of 2008 the Department of Homeland Security had to accept the Government Credit Card Abuse Act of 2007 that requires actions to be taken against employees who misuse card.  Many were fired because the credit cards could be used anywhere and these temporary “surge” employees bought computers, leather handbags, jewelry, and “entertainment” with their cards.  They weren’t supposed to, of course, but the checks-and-balances of reviewing all purchases never happened.  Many who were fired, as well as many who were not, never paid-back the money they owed.  So who owes it now?

You may be thinking, so what if they changed from Citi to JP Morgan?  Well, the government is still responsible for clearing those accounts with Citi.  Also, my friend told me that he got a memo stating that JP Morgan isn’t ready to take over the accounts yet and that government employees will need to continue to use their Citi cards into 2009.

So of course the government thinks Citi is too big to fail!  If the government itself is depending on that credit to keep itself going, then it absolutely would believe it’s important to save it.  I haven’t been able to figure out where the money is going to come from to pay the old bad debts.  I’d be willing to be they don’t get a dime out of the people who charged the bills in the first place.  That leaves it falling back on the taxpayers, of course.  We’re already bailing out everyone else.  What’s one more bailout at our expense?

Do the punishments fit the crime? Youths and bad behavior…

What the hell is up with kids these days?  Is there nothing they’ll do for attention?  And are the punishments adults mete out appropriate for the offenses?  Shouldn’t we be a little more creative?

In Stuart, FL, a student was arrested for “passing gas.”  The 13-year-old had been accused of continually disrupting classes by intentionally breaking wind and then turning off computers other students were using.  He was released to his mother after being charged with disruption of a school function. 

Arrested??  Seriously??  What ever happened to in-school suspension?  Or how about some good old-fashioned corporal punishment?  Oh…that’s right…the U.S. has been trying to ban it for years even though South Korean schools use it with effective results, though I don’t totally agree with all their methods.

I do really like this video of how a judge in Ft. Lupton, CO, deals with noise ordinance violators.  I don’t really consider myself a fuddy-duddy person, but I can’t stand it when someone drives by with their radio so loud I can feel the beat in my teeth.  How can they stand that?

Judge Paul W. Sacco has gotten tired of parents just paying the fines for their children’s violations of the noise laws.  I can agree with that.  If the parent pays and there are no repercussions directly affecting the violators, then what have they learned?  Absolutely nothing other than “money talks.”  So Judge Sacco has started sentencing them to a one-hour session of music.  Of the music he likes — Barry Manilow and Barney the Dinosaur.  They, among other artists and music genres, are usually not going to be found on the iPods of the offenders.

Now that’s creative punishment!  And is it effective?  I don’t have any statistics on it, but one of the teens said he didn’t think Manilow was all that bad after hearing it.  Hmmm….maybe a Ray Coniff jubilee or Lawrence Welk marathon would be better?

He could have made a mint! Man gives away coal in basement…

Steve Hronek bought a 90-year-old house in Cleveland, OH, 11 years ago but didn’t realize he was sitting on a gold mine of alternative fuel.  Now, he has given the whole pile away!

The anthracite coal was in Mr. Hronek’s basement when he purchased the house in 1997.  The home had once been heated with a coal-burning furnace.  Anthracite coal burns at a higher heat and with less soot and pollution than bituminous coal, what most people are familiar with.  Not really seeing a need for it, he put a classified ad online stating that anyone who wanted it could have it if they hauled it away.

Anthracite coal sells for $220 or more per ton, the article reports.  The pile was reportedly knee-high.  Calls started coming in within 15 minutes of the ad’s placement and people showed up with trucks for two days.

I wonder how many other basements are full of coal that has been forgotten over the years?  True, he probably wouldn’t have gotten very rich off the find.  There probably wasn’t much more than a ton there.  But it’s a great show of support for alternative fuels to see that there are so many who are interested in it.

Now if only I could find oil while digging my garden….  I can hope, can’t I?

Does a piano tinkle in the woods?

Okay…no thought-provoking post here.  I was trolling through the Internet and a friend of mine pointed out this story about a working piano left in the woods in Harwich, MA.  No one knows how it got there or why it and it’s matching bench were left there.

Perhaps the wildlife was looking for a little light entertainment?  Maybe it’s one of thoseart displays that no one gets?  It was inside a conservation area.  Maybe Baldwin pianos are more endangered than we thought?

Regardless, if a bear….you know….in the woods, at least now he can entertain himself afterwards!

Santa shortage in Germany? What about kindness everywhere?

In these trying financial times, people are losing their jobs and life savings in the worldwide economic crisis.  Some are hoping to simply put a little food on the table or perhaps have one item for Father Christmas to leave in a stocking hung by the chimney with care.  For the Germans, they can’t find enough people to be Santa.

No, they’re not talking about “being Santa” as in showing charity and helping those less fortunate.  They’re looking for more than a few good men willing to put on a red suit and have snotty children scream in terror when placed on their lap.  A lot of people aren’t willing to go through that torture.  Maybe they’ve read this book!

Santas in Germany can make 60 euros per hour.  That’s about $75 per hour!!  In one thought, I think it’s way too much.  I would love to have a job that paid like that.  However, upon reflection, with the hazard pay you would need to provide to get some people to just consider being the jolly ol’ elf, it’s about right.  I mean…look at the working conditions!  You’ve got kids who are terrified of you.  You’ve also got overbearing parents who believe their little angels are entitled to whatever their sweetums begs for and are looking for the perfect photo to put in their Christmas letters that no one ever reads.

Then you have the parents who shyly stand on the sidelines and weep quietly to themselves because they know there’s no way they could possibly provide even one of the smallest items their kids are whispering into Santa’s ear.  Or the kids who sit on your knee and tell you they just want Mommy or Daddy to come home again, or stop drinking, or visit them from Heaven.

The Germans say that they’re actively recruiting Santas because people want to cling to their traditions to get through trying times.  I can see that.  Telling a child they can’t talk to Santa this year because no one can afford Christmas would bring tears to anyone’s eyes.

But do we really need a Santa on every street corner?  What about taking some of that salary and donating it to organizations that will ensure children can simply have a small present under the tree?  Or using it to help provide food for those who are in need and might go hungry this holiday season, regardless of whether it’s Christmas, or Hanukkah, or Kwanzaa, or even a non-religious celebration?

It’s supposed to be the happiest time of the year.  For many, even sugarplums won’t be dancing in their heads because the suffering of the real world has finally hit home.  What a shock to many it is to have gone from granting any wish their heart desired to wishing someone else had a heart large enough to help.

Former porn star employed by school. Does it really matter?

When is your past no longer private?  Well, if you’re a convicted felon, a sex offender, someone applying for a governmental position, planning to join the military, or want to work with kids you really should expect someone to poke around in your history.  Background checks are done for very valid reasons –  particularly when we’re entrusting our children to the care of adults.  I’m pretty sure we’ll all agree that no one wants a convicted pedophile or child abuser working in our schools and daycare centers.

But what if you haven’t done anything illegal?  What if you’re a mature adult (or maybe not so mature but over legal age) who chose a career path that isn’t in lockstep with the moral majority?  Should you be punished?

The newest brouhaha is over Louisa C. Tuck who works at a school and YMCA center in Vineland, NJ.  She helps in the cafeteria and on the playground at the school.  Many parents of children who have attended functions through the YMCA describe her as “an excellent role model.”  So why is everyone upset with Ms. Tuck?  It seems that she is also known as Crystal Gunns and is a former porn star.

There are tons of articles and blogs being written as we speak on the subject.  The question, however, is this:  Does it really matter?

The school district in which Ms. Tuck is employed has been advised to not take action against her employment status.  The superintendent states there are no legal grounds with which to terminate her current employment based solely on her previous employment.  It’s been five years since Ms. Tuck was active in the porn community and I’ve not been able to find any records showing where anything she did while a part of it was illegal.

I’ve worked part-time as a substitute teacher and had to undergo a thorough background check even though I wasn’t going to be with the kids every day for nine months.  Surely a cafeteria employee and playground attendant would have to do the same.  And if not, then doesn’t that mean they don’t have prolonged direct contact with the students?  Isn’t that enough?

And, sure, someone will say that she has an active website and the kids could find her videos and photos.  Really?  Someone under 18 finding pornography on the Internet?  Yes, it can happen — but then that’s the fault of the parents who refuse to police their children (under 18).  You would think most responsible parents would have installed protective filters on every computer their little ones come within 10 miles of after all the Dateline: To Catch a Predator episodes out there.  Ms. Tuck isn’t a predator but her website and videos would certainly be blocked by the filters.

Just because she worked in the adult industry in the past most certainly doesn’t mean that she’s a bad person.  It doesn’t mean that she cannot work with children or be a positive role model.  Parents tolerate their children idolizing celebrities and sports stars who have questionable morals and public activities.  They buy them the latest clothes and accessories with their photo or jersey number on them and say, “Kids will be kids.”  Anyone remember when Charles Barkley did the “I am not a role model” commercial for Nike?

Instead of focusing on a former porn star working at a school, how about focusing on the actual teachers who have been convicted in pornography cases?  Earlier this month a former middle-school teacher in Bedford County, VA, was sentenced to 56 years in prison for felony child pornography.  He was caught after exchanging explicit texts with an investigator posing as a minor.  (Everyone says they watch To Catch a Predatorbut every day more idiots get caught that way!)  In Boyertown, PA this past May, a teacher was convicted of having pornographic videos of children performing sex acts.  In 2007, a substitute teacher in Windham, CT, was convicted for exposing students to pornographic images she claims were displayed on the computer by undetected spyware.

We have all heard about the teachers, both male and female, who have had sex with their underage students.  There are even cases of teachers and administrators having sexual relations at the school after hours and being caught on tape.  Aren’t these much worse than the former career of a current employee who doesn’t seem to have violated any policies?  Don’t they speak to their morals as well?

Today’s headlines and blog feeds are crammed with information about Ms. Tuck.  Farther back from the fray is the report filed today that a Louisville, KY, teacher has been indicted on Federal child porn charges.  If we’re so sensationist that we’re more interested in something someone did in the past, it’s no wonder we sit blindly by while people really exploit children and then ask how it could have happened.  Let’s protect our kids.  But let’s be intelligent and protect them from people and actions that will actually hurt them.

American automakers do too little WAY too late

You’ve probably already seen the article, but here it is again.  General Motors to return two leased jets amid criticism.

Wow.  What a great and charitable move by an industry giant.  And, yes, the sarcasm meter is turned WAY up in that statement!

Not only is it incredibly naive of them to believe that the American taxpayers are going to accept their move as an act of contrition regarding their overspending, narcissistic, carefree millionaire attitudes but it’s way too little, way too late in the game.  And, you just can’t help but pick out how they’re really not trying to do more to show that they are getting their affairs in order before they bite the big one.

They’re giving back two planes.  TWO??  Out of a fleet of how many?  GM refuses to provide the name of the company they lease from.  Is it because the fees are exorbitantly high?  Is it because they agree to pay more than the regular rate?  No one really wants to answer that.  And they’re leased jets.  So how many do they actually own??

My favorite statements in the articles are these:

He [GM spokesman Tom Wilkinson], however, said the company has not decided on what mode of transportation [GM CEO Rick] Wagoner would take if had to travel to Washington again.  Wagoner and Ford CEO Alan Mulally are required by their companies to fly by private aircraft for security reasons, according to company documents filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

What?  What security reasons??  I wouldn’t recognize these bozos on the street if they walked up and gave me a million dollars (which I wish they would, but there you have it)!  Hell…watch Jay Leno’s “Jaywalking” on The Tonight Show and see just how uninformed most of the American public is.  Many can’t recognize their own State Senator or Representative for whom they claimed to vote.  So who’s stalking all these auto execs?  No one I can think of.  Well, no one unless you count the mind-numbingly large numbers of former auto workers who have been fired over the past years because CEO salaries have gone up while benefits, consumer trust, and caring for your employees has plummeted.

Toyota and Nissan aren’t really having the same problems that the American Big Three are.  I was in San Antonio, Texas, back in 2005 when Toyota was preparing to open their new plant there.  People were really excited about the new jobs and the hotel I stayed in was hosting some of the Japanese executives who were there to finish ironing out the deals.  Now, I’m certainly no millionaire who can stay at the ritzy hotels of any city.  Heck, I’m lucky if I can get a room at a Super 8 some days.  But these guys who make lots of money and represent one of the largest corporations in the world were staying at a regular hotel just like the rest of us.  I didn’t see security details around the hotel, so I guess they’re not as “wanted” as the American CEOs are, huh?

Maybe it’s because their employees come first.  When the very same Toyota plant they were building had to slow production this year due to decreased sales of the Tundra pickup they make, they didn’t fire their employees.  They shut the plant down for three months and paid, yes paid, their employees full salaries to attend training and complete community service projects throughout the city.  In addition, while the employees were working to better themselves and their community, the company implemented new improvements to safety and quality.  And employees who didn’t work on the one shift that was restarted?  They’re still getting paid to do program and self improvement projects.

Isn’t that what the American dream was?  Work hard and make yourself and your community a better place??  And the Japanese are having to teach us that in our own country??

So thanks, but no thanks to the “generous gesture” given by GM.  My confidence isn’t bolstered by it.  In fact,  I bet you’ll be hard-pressed to find many taxpayers who will say, “Oh, two planes?  That’s fine.  Now you may have all the money I and the rest of the country’s working class toiled hard to make and paid the government to use for national security, services, etc.  That’s fine with us now.”

Yeah…when it comes to overpaid executives sticking it to the little people, that sarcasm button doesn’t release lightly.