4/20? I think it's Hitler's Birthday, right? Yesterday was OKC and Waco Anniv, and today's Columbine ...

All the more reason to toke up, man!

And I'm always down for Amsterdam - spent three days there and don't remember a thing. Come to think of it, I have three rolls of film from that leg of my European escapades that I haven't yet developed. I'm saving them as sort of a "time capsule" - wanna surprise myself with what comes from them.

I don't have the money or the vacation time, sadly. The extended family and I are planning on Hawaii next year, and I gotta save up. But someday, someday...

Fresno teacher apologizes for smoking pot with students
The Associated Press
(Updated Saturday, April 16, 2005, 12:40 PM)


FRESNO, Calif. (AP) - A Fresno High School substitute teacher charged with smoking marijuana with students in his class wrote a letter to the local newspaper saying that five years of pot smoking had made him "mentally powerless."


Chris Bochin, 22, said he set the worst example for students.

"It was the worst thing I've ever done, but in a way, the resultant shame and embarrassment I felt might just save my life in the long run," Bochin wrote to The Fresno Bee.

Bochin, who pleaded not guilty to felony charges of furnishing marijuana to minors and misdemeanor charges of contributing to the delinquency of minors, also wrote an apology letter to his class that Principal Bob Reyes planned to read to students.

"I think it's important for the kids to know there is a lesson here," Reyes said. "You can make a mistake and you can learn from the mistake." Bochin was arrested March 9 after smoking marijuana with five ninth-graders in an Earth science class. Two students had retrieved marijuana and a pipe from Bochin's car.

Other students smelled the drug and alerted their peers by sending cell phone text messages. The five students were suspended for five days, a school spokeswoman said.

Bochin apologized to parents and students of the school in his letter to the newspaper, saying he had failed to lead by example and instead had shared his problems with marijuana.

"I was entrusted with young minds, given the opportunity to teach and to lead by example," he wrote. "But when things got tough, I violated that trust, teaching them a horrible lesson and proving myself the worst possible example."

A preliminary hearing is set for May 5 in Fresno County Superior Court. Defense lawyer Jim Elia said Bochin is participating in a drug rehabilitation program.

---

Information from: The Fresno Bee, http://www.fresnobee.com

Yeah, but what I wanna know is...did the students with the cell phones that were text messaging get suspended too?

Yeah, that is some lesson he's teaching them if he's admitting to doing it but pleading not guilty.

What is it with teachers all of a sudden? Showing sex tapes, having sex with students, getting them stoned....has everyone lost their mind?

Hey, the title of this thread now answers its own question.

OMG 420 W/MR.B L8R WTF

Oh shit...

Took me a second, but damn that's funny.

THat's really fucking funny. Especially because it's my thread title. Errr ... yeh.

No, no, I have not smoked the marijuana yet today. I got self-conscious after work and decided to go for a bike ride instead - but after nearly slamming into some stupid bitch riding in the wrong direction in central park AND talking on a cell phone, I'm ready for my herbal remedy.

Cheers to all you greenheads out there. Have fun partaking in "the breakfast."

:3_eyes: :headshake :joint:

Yep, the original article says students were suspended but it doesn't indicate how many or how they were involved.

Fresno High substitute accused of sharing pot

Instructor is arrested in class incident involving students.

By Anne Dudley Ellis / The Fresno Bee
(Updated Thursday, March 10, 2005, 12:25 PM)


Police arrested a substitute teacher accused of smoking marijuana with students during class at Fresno High School on Tuesday.

Christopher Bochin, 22, of Fresno was substituting for a ninth-grade earth science class when he had two students go to his car and get marijuana and a pipe, police said. Bochin and six or seven of the students from a class of 30 then smoked from the pipe.

Police arrested Bochin on felony charges of furnishing marijuana to minors and misdemeanor charges of contributing to the delinquency of minors. He was bailed out of the Fresno County Jail on Wednesday morning, with an arraignment set for March 23, said Jim Elia, Bochin's lawyer.

Elia declined to comment on the incident, saying he had not read the charges.

"He's obviously emotionally distraught over this. He knows he's ruined his career," Elia said. Elia described Bochin as "very bright" with no criminal history. He said he is helping Bochin get into a drug-treatment program. Bochin could not be reached to comment.

Several students involved in the incident were suspended and could be expelled, said Fresno Unified School District spokeswoman Susan Bedi, adding that the district's investigation continues. Principal Bob Reyes could not be reached to comment.

The district has taken Bochin off the sub list, alerted the Fresno County Office of Education so that it can get the word out on Bochin to other districts and contacted the teacher credentialing commission in case Bochin pursues a credential, Bedi said.

"I'm extremely disappointed in the substitute and in the students that did this," Bedi said. "No employer can predict when an employee is going to commit an illegal action. However, an employer can take immediate action when that takes place, as was done [Tuesday]."

Amy Bartell, co-chairperson of the Tribal Council parent group at Fresno High, had not heard about the incident until a call from the media.

"I'm horrified. I'm disgusted," Bartell said. "My reaction is as expected: I can't believe this happened."

Fresno High, at McKinley and Echo avenues, has struggled in the past decade with poor test scores and many students from its feeder schools choosing to attend other high schools.

The campus has recently been making a comeback, drawing more neighborhood freshmen with innovative programs such as the International Baccalaureate specialized advanced curriculum.

Tuesday's incident began unfolding about 2:30 p.m. A staff member passing by the portable classroom where Bochin was teaching smelled burning marijuana through an open window and reported it. At about the same time, a teacher in another class confiscated a student's cell phone and read a text message from a student in Bochin's class describing what was going on.

Police arrested Bochin at Fresno High. The district is interviewing students from the four other classes that Bochin taught Tuesday to find out whether anything improper went on. Bochin had been substituting for the district since October but had never worked at Fresno High.

The district attempts to screen its substitute teachers, requiring an application, three references and fingerprinting that is examined by the state Department of Justice. Substitutes also must pass the California Basic Educational Skills Test and either have a bachelor's degree or a 90-day permit that indicates that the substitute is working toward a degree.

-----------------------------------------------
Well, as bad as THIS situation my sound, you may not know that right now we have the Marcus Wesson trial going here, and that one could lead to more than a few comments showing up in The Cellar before it's over. My mom and I were called up for the jury pool on that one and were both dismissed, thank heavens. Could not have gone into the Wesson trial with an "open mind".

ROFLMAO d00d L8

"Mentally Powerless."

Wow.

I'll have to remember that if I ever do anything that blazingly stupid.

Blazingly Stupid would be a good name for a rock band

When in June?