USC student held in newborn's death
Associated Press, LA Daily News, U.S.A. October 14, 2005
A University of Southern California student was charged Thursday with murder for allegedly leaving her newborn son in a box next to trash bin where he was found dead.
Holly Ashcraft, 21, of Montana was charged with one count of murder and one count of child abuse, Deputy District Attorney Efrain Aceves said.
Ashcraft, who was arrested Wednesday, made a court appearance Thursday but her arraignment was postponed to Nov. 9. If convicted, she would face 25 years to life in prison.
Superior Court Judge David Sotelo ordered Ashcraft jailed in lieu of $2 million bail after the prosecution asked that her initial $1 million bail be doubled.
"The reason we've asked for that is we feel that she is a flight risk at this point given the fact that she is a student from another state," Deputy District Attorney Efrain Aceves said outside court. "She's from Montana, and from our understanding, there were no ties to the community, so we're concerned that she would be a flight risk."
After the court session, defense attorney Adam Franken was asked about his client's mood.
"I talked to her briefly in back, it was very brief," Franken told KABC-TV. "I couldn't really say anything about her composure. I mean you saw - she was the same way she was in the courtroom."
Results of an autopsy to determine the cause of death won't likely be available for at least a month, coroner's investigator John Kadas said.
Police found the body early Monday behind a popular south Hoover Street restaurant-bar after receiving an anonymous 911 call from a man who said he discovered it in a box next to a trash bin.
Police said they had no leads in the case until someone recognized the voice on the widely publicized 911 tape and urged the caller to talk to authorities.
California allows mothers to surrender newborns to hospital emergency rooms and some fire stations with no questions asked - and no legal repercussions - within 72 hours of a baby's birth.
So far this year in Los Angeles, seven babies have been turned over safely to authorities, according to county statistics.
Why you shouldn't see VAGINA MONOLOGUES
Lesbian Pedophilia and the rape of girls
Don't attend performances.
Health Canada
Aggressive Girls
Overview Paper
This overview paper summarizes recent research on girls who exhibit aggressive and violent behaviours. It defines relevant terms, outlines factors which may contribute to girls' aggression and violence, and presents ideas for preventing these behaviours. A list of resources is also included. 2002, 13p.
Why boys are in trouble
Boys have been painted as the bad guys in the push to encourage girls to succeed, leaving many young men feeling confused and alienated, wondering what they did wrong
The Associated Press
January 5, 1999
According to psychologist and author William Pollack, 'sports are the one arena in which many of society's traditional strictures about masculinity are often loosened, allowing boys to experience parts of themselves they rarely experience elsewhere.'
When Harvard Medical School psychologist William Pollack administered a test to a group of 150 teenaged boys a few years ago, the results were shocking.
Smokers - the new deviants
The Toronto Star
Aug. 20, 2006
Smokers need not apply," ran a classified ad for a job in Ireland this past May.
"Why not?" asked Catherine Stihler, a British Labour party MEP, who posed the question on behalf of one of her constituents. Should women not apply, either? Or homosexuals? Muslims? What about high-functioning alcoholics, or fat people?
The answer, from the European Commission that oversees anti-discrimination legislation in the EU, came back to Stihler this month: Smokers are fair game for discrimination.
About The truth
"All truth passes through three stages. First it is ridiculed, Second it is violently opposed. Third it is accepted as self-evident."
Arthur
Schopenhauer
(1788-1860)