Amos Alonzo Stagg High School — 1621 Brookside Road — Stockton, CA 95207 04.18.08Vol. 51 Issue 7

NSPA ALL AMERICAN HALL OF FAME NEWSPAPER

Freshmen face reality of DUI

photos by maly boonsalat

champaign Williams

TommyDoylerecallswhenhewas18andhishighschoolinElkGroveparticipatedintheEveryFifteenMinutesProgram.“TheproblemwasIdidn’ttakeitseriously.IthoughtIwasimmunetothingslikethat…anditwentinoneearandouttheother.” Doyletellsofthepartyheandhisfriendsthrewaweekaftergraduationthatresultedinabrutalacci-dentwithhimbehindthewheelandhisbestfrienddeadinthebackseat. ThreeyearslaterheaddressedfreshmenatStaggasapartoftheChoicesandConsequencesProgram,whichtookplaceMarch11,justtwodaysbeforetheEFMProgramkickedoffforjuniorsandseniors. “I remember the paramedics putting me in aneckbrace andon a stretcher, and all I could saywas‘I’mfine!I’mtheonewhocalledyouguys.He’stheonenotmoving.Puthiminastretcherfirst.’” Doyle moved around the apron of the stagemakingeyecontactwiththestudents,hisvoicefullofemotion.

“Icouldn’tunderstandwhythefiredepartmentwaswalkingaroundthecarlikehewaspartofthedebris andnot ahuman tobeput into anambu-lance.” Because Doyle had been going 80 mph whileunder the influence,he lost controlof the vehicleand it collided into an oak tree. He was chargedwithvehicularmanslaughterandwouldhavehadtoserve10to15yearsifithadnotbeenfortheparentsofhisbestfriendwhoseonlywishwasforhimtotellhisstorytoasmanypeopleashecould. AssistantPrincipalJimThomassaidtheseassem-bliesareverybeneficial.“ChoicesandConsequencestargetsninthgraderswhileEvery15Minutestargetsjuniorsandseniorssostudentsareexposedwiththisinformationmorethanonceduringhighschool.” StudentsalsowitnessedarealcourtcaseinwhichthehonorableJudgeRichardVlavianostriedthede-fendantonhissecondchargeofdrivingwhileundertheinfluence.

EvEry 15 minutEs, someone dies in an alcohol related collision. Yet before that someone becomes a statistic, he experiences his golden hour, the 60 min-utes directly following an accident that determines whether a patient lives or dies. On the two days before spring break, juniors and seniors watched as 10 of their classmates experienced their own golden hours. The crash was staged. The deaths were staged. But the emotions could not have been more real.

thE GoldEn hour

Juniors and se-niors were not the only students who learned life lessons that week. Fresh-men attended a related assembly where they wit-nessed an actual trial that taught them the legal consequences of choosing to drink and drive.

JuniFer mamsaang

20 minutes into the golden hour,seniorKarlaGomezchecksonseniorAshleyKramerwhoremainsunconscious.Gomeznotifiespoliceofthecollisiondirectly after the impact and runs franti-callyaroundthesceneoftheaccidentuntilhelparrives.Underafive-yeardealwithSanJoaquinCoun-ty,AmericaMedicalResponseambulancesarerequiredtoarriveonscenewithin171/2minutesinruralareasliketheonedepictedinthecrash.

5 minutes into the golden hour, thedrunkdriver,seniorRobertLongley,watchesasseniorDavidMartinezliesmotionlessatophistotalledcar.Afterpolicearrive,Longleyisgivenastandardfieldsobrietytestwhichdeterminesthathewasdrivingundertheinfluenceofalcohol.Hisfailingscoreresultsinhisar-restandalatersentenceforsecond-degreemurder.

40 minutes into the golden hour,seniorLiaMcCoyandothersinjuredintheaccidentaregivenmedicalaid.Ofthe10passengersinvolvedintheaccident,threeteenagersdiewhiletheothersevensustainvariousinjuries.Ifthepassengershadnotwornseatbelts,theirchancesofsufferingfromfatalinjurieswouldhaveincreasedby50percent.

55 minutes into the golden hour,thefirstvictim,seniorDavidMartinez,ispronounceddead.Heisplacedinabodybagbyfiremenandtransportedtothelocalmorguewhereanautopsydeterminesthecauseofdeath.In2005,1,574Californianswerekilledinalcohol-relatedcrashes.Therewerealsoanother30,810individualswhowereluckyenoughtoonlysustaininjuries.

see DUI page 8

Freshmen James mccollum (left) and matthew hanson listen to a court interpreter translate the story of a man who was re-cently prosecuted for his second DUI charge.

OnlIne: A student reveals her emotional experiences while participating in the Every 15 Minutes program.

— go to StaggLine.com

Experience leaves lasting

impact

photos by Kelsey hayashI anD ChampaIgn WIllIams

Life-changing. The term may be an overused cliché,but for seniorDavidMartinez,his two-dayimmersionintheEveryFifteenMin-

utesprogramwasexactlythat,andnotabitclichéd. The program took well-known upperclass-men, pronounced them dead, and removedthem from their every day activities. A selectfewenactedatraumaticdrunkdrivingaccidentfortheirfellowclassmates,andthenanemotion-filledfuneralthenextday. “We hope to touch those kids who may go

partyandgetbehindthewheelofacaranddrive,”public affairs officer Adrian Quintero said. “Thegoalisforeachstudentouttheretobelookingoutforeachother.” SincetheCaliforniaHighwayPatroltookovertheprogramabouteightyearsago,Every15Min-utesseemstobehavinganimpact.“Statisticshaveshownthatit’severy29(minutes)now,”Quinterosaid.Yeteventhoughthefrequencyofdrunk-driv-ingaccidentshasdecreased,hesaid“theultimategoalisthatnoonewouldbekilledorinjured.” Theprogram,whichtakesmonthsofsecretiveplanning, reaches out to teens through officersandotherprofessionalswhoimpartwisdomof-

tengainedthroughfirst-handexperience. Thestudentsinvolvedspentanighttogeth-erwheretheytalkedaboutlovedonesandtheeffectsuchanaccidentwouldhave.

“It’s kind of like a privilege,” Jose Meza,junior,said.“Ididn’tthinkI’dcaresomuchun-

tiltheystartedtalkingaboutthefeelingsofotherpeople.” Martinezagrees.Hesaidthatthetimestudentsspent together made all the difference becausetheyexpressed“emotionsthatyouwouldnever

(otherwise)see.”Theemotionsthatcouldverywelllastalifetime.

AlbertHarvell,graduateoftheClassof’06,participat-edintheprogramtwoyearsago.Hesaidthemessagehas“stayed

strong”andwillcontinuetodosoforthosewhotrulyunderstooditandlistened. That sort of lasting impact iswhat theprogramaims for.Lt.ChrisStevens,anotherofficerinvolvedwiththeprogramsaid.Helovesyoungpeopleanddoesn’twantthemtogothroughthepainhe’sgonethrough. Quinterosaidhefeelssimilarly.“Evenasanofficer,nooneisimmuneto(theemotions)...It’snotjustajobforme.” Quintero understands that “if (students) are going to drink, they’regoingtodoit.”Thepurposeoftheprogramistogiveteensknowledgeoftheconsequencesandimplorethemtobesafeandresponsible. “Wewanttohelpthemmakegooddecisions,”Stevenssaid,“andsavethemfromheartacheandagony.”