Jacket Journal
PATRIOT DAY EDITION SEPTEMBER 11, 2008
Sgt. David Cooper
25-years-old, short dark hair, musician, fun-lover, friendly, smart, gentleman, Williamsburgian, Kentuckian, true American.
By: Gabe Dizney
Recently we lost this young marine to small arms fire in Iraq while he and his fellow
soldiers were on patrol. When our small town received the news of his passing, we all banded together in mourning and prepared for his final arrival. Thursday, September 4th, his body arrived in a nearby airport and drove past Williamsburg High School in front of hundreds of students with their hands held over their hearts and members of the choir singing "God Bless America." It was an emotional moment to say the least. But, who was David Cooper? Most if not all of the current students didn’t know him personally; however, some of our current staff knew him very well. Coach Moses, Coach Conn, Coach Robinson, and Coach Mountjoy all graduated in his class. Mrs. Harrison, Coach Connell, Mrs. Connell, Mrs. Traveny, Mrs. Judd, and Mrs. Hays all knew him as a student. When asked about him, Mrs. Harrison said: "David was very intelligent. He could have been valedictorian no doubt, but he was content simply to "do well." Mrs. Connell said, "David was a polite and respectful young man who, like most students, would rather be at school for the social aspect, along with sports and band!" Coach Connell said, "In class, David would venture onto the internet during a lecture, but could always successfully complete assignments." A classmate of David's, Coach Conn said, "He was extremely smart, out-going, and opinionated!" And finally Ms. Hays said, "David was a good student, dependable, did not miss a performance. He was a leader to the younger students in his section. He was smart and had a quick wit about him."
Now how was he outside of the classroom? Coach Conn, a fellow student of Cooper, said, "He was kind, good natured, friendly towards all, and level headed. You always knew where you stood with him!" Coach Connell said: "David was the type of person everyone (regardless of economic status, academic standing, etc.) felt comfortable being around and he felt comfortable being around them." Mrs. Harrison said, "He was well liked, well behaved, but had a little streak of the mischievous in him. What I do remember though was how kind he was to others, especially the younger kids." Mrs. Traveny observed the same thing about David. She said that she “never saw Dave angry or upset about anything. He seemed to be a ‘laid-back’, easy-going person. He never seemed to ‘sweat the small stuff’.” Another fellow student of David's, Coach Robinson, said: "David was a very fun person to be around. He always had a smile on his face and was very happy. David was a great person and is now a true hero." Sgt. David Cooper was a great man and a true hero for our country. From what I have seen he was a respectful young man who didn’t do to other people what he wanted done to him. He also seems like he was a fun-loving guy who brought a little light into the high school hallway every time he walked in, and could always make someone feel better if they were not having a good day. He has touched the lives of many and has sacrificed his own for his friends, family, state, and country. We all should take some time here in the next few weeks to visit his gravesite and pay our respects and maybe even leave a small flag on his grave. Some teachers had other thoughts on David. Mrs. Harrison said: "I ran into David a few months ago and he said he wanted me to know that he had joined the service and had really grown up. I hugged him and told him I was proud of him. He seemed grateful. I must say I will treasure that last embrace with my student, my fallen hero, for the rest of my life." Mrs. Judd said: "My last memory of him was seeing him at Wal-Mart, and I asked him how he was doing. He said something like he couldn't figure out what he was going to do with his life yet. Who knew David would end up being a hero for our school, our city, and our nation." I also asked for words to describe David. Mrs. Connell called him witty; Mrs. Traveny said he was unique; Coach Conn described him as generous; Coach Robinson used the word entertaining; Mrs. Hayes said mischievous; Mrs. Judd called him vibrantfull of life, and Mrs Harrison described him as simply being real. A final word from Coach Conn: "Enjoy each other’s company; enjoy the moments of high school, even trials and disappointments with each other, for someday the time will come that all will have to say goodbye to our friends in this earthly world."
This week is National Suicide Prevention Week. To inform you about the necessity to discuss the unpleasant topic, Ashleigh Taylor and Hunter Williams did some research. Below are statistics and phone numbers to call for help. If you have or are contemplating suicide, please get help. No problem is too big that be fixed.
National Facts
Suicide is the 11th leading cause of all ages. Suicides are responsible for 1.3% of all deaths in the US. 32,000 suicides occur in the US. This is about 89 suicides per day. For ages 15‐24 years old, there is one suicide per 100‐200 attempts. In 2007, 14.5% of US high school students reported that they had seriously contemplated attempting suicide. More than 6.9% reported that they had attempted. Males take their lives at nearly 4 times the rate of females and represent 79.4% of all suicides. Over their lifetime, women attempt suicide 2 to 3 times as often as men. Suicide is the 8th leading cause of death in men and 17th leading cause in women. Firearms are the most commonly used among men. Poisoning is the most common method among women. Among 15‐24 year olds, suicide accounts for 12.3% of all deaths annually. 2% of students reported making at least one suicide attempt that needed medical attention.
Daniel Yetter’s awesome, but sad, pie chart graph. Notice that suicide is the 2nd leading cause of death for 15-24 year olds.
Kentucky Facts
2nd leading cause of death in KY ages 10‐24 is suicide. 4th leading cause of ages 35‐44 KY has the 12th highest suicide rate in the US 72% of suicide deaths in KY are by firearms. KY loses 3X as many people to suicide as homicide.
Phone Numbers to call for help
The Jacket Snack Shack is now open Monday thru Friday from 2:50‐3:10 The WHS Senior Class 2008‐2009 will be selling Tupperware 9‐11‐08 thru 9‐ 23‐08 WHS vs. Bath County, September 19th 2008 Football Concession Workers Ashleigh Taylor Sara Branson Ashley Stephens Raymond Surber Megan Robbins
Cody Hurst Kayla Bunch Joshua Wren Dawn Lang
Ashland: 1‐800‐562‐8909 Bowling Green: 1‐888‐837‐3964 Elizabethtown: 1‐888‐182‐8266 Hopkinsville: 1‐877‐473‐7766 Lexington: 1‐800‐928‐8000 Louisville: 1‐800‐221‐0446 Owensboro: 1‐800‐433‐7291 Prestonsburg: 1‐800‐422‐1060
Cyber Bullying
By Eva Smith and Leeandra Rose
Since this is National Suicide Prevention Week, two of our journalism students decided to write an article about a topic that can cause great harm – cyber bullying. We on the Jacket Journal staff hope that nobody harasses anyone else on the internet. Also, if you are being harassed, please get help, and don’t be a victim.
To many people, when they think of bullying, they just think of normal school
yard bullies. But many people do not think of cyber bullying. Cyber bullying is using technology to embarrass, humiliate, threaten, and make a person or a group of people look bad or feel bad about themselves. Due to cyber bullying, suicides are not unusual. In 2006 the parents of thirteen-year-old, Megan Meier, were shocked to find she had committed suicide. They have come to believe that her death was caused by the mother of her former friend. The mother posed as a sixteen-year-old boy named Josh Evans, which pretended to be her boyfriend. “Josh” had said that he did not have a phone, so he could not talk to her. Josh and Megan decided to keep their communication online. Tina, Megan’s mom contacted the police to see if Josh’s myspace was accurate. They could not determine whether it was real or not. To a thirteen-year-old, having a boyfriend is quite a big deal. Although Megan thought this was her first real boyfriend, she had no idea who he really was. The day of her suicide Josh had sent her a rude message stating “the world would be a better place without you.” Before this message he had also sent her one saying that “I don’t know if I want to be friends with you anymore, because I have heard that you are not very nice to your friends.” The FBI, who had been investigating the hoax, had asked the Meier family not to say anything public about the belief of their loss, so that the Drews would not get suspicious that they were under investigation. After their long investigation they had come to find that an eighteen-year-old female employee who works for Lori Drews, whose name is Ashley Grills, wrote most of the messages, also the final message sent to Megan Meier. Even after writing those horrible messages, the parents of Megan Meiers still do not want to press charges against her. To you cyber bullies out there, you should see what huge effects you are making in people’s lives. To you cyber bullying is just a game, but to the people you are bullying, you are doing the most harmful and hurtful thing you could possibly do. And to you people that are being cyber bullied, just don’t even listen to what they say, because there just jealous of how different you are then them. Also if they continue to cyber bully you, you should seek help from a parent, counselor, or teacher.