Throwing sand just not for kids anymore

[Mayfly]

http://bangornews.com/news/t/sports.aspx?articleid=156455&zoneid=23

A Class A state champion runner from Lewiston High School fell back from second place to finish 124th at the 73rd New England Cross Country Championships over the weekend after someone, he said, threw sand into his eyes.

The Sun Journal newspaper of Lewiston reported that Mohamed Noor said Saturday evening that a spectator threw sand in his face early in the race at Twin Brook Recreation Area.

"I’m livid," Lewiston coach Ray Putnam said.

Well, I guess throwing sand in someone's eyes just isn't for the playground, street fighting, or bad "B" movie fight scenes any longer.

 

[outofplace]

The kid is running in a high school cross country state meet and needs a translator? Wonder how his classes are going.

What the heck does that have to do with the story?

 

[HandsomeHarley]

"Hey, quit kicking sand in our face!"

"That man is the worst nusance on the beach."

"Listen, I'd smash your face, except you're so skinny, you might dry up and blow away!"

"Oh, don't let it BOTHER you, little boy!"

The ad that made a MAN out of MAC.

 

[outofplace]

The kid is running in a high school cross country state meet and needs a translator? Wonder how his classes are going.

What the heck does that have to do with the story?

I don't know. Ask the writer. It was in there. It said the kid needed a translator. How is he in an American high school if he needs a translator?

It was a pretty small part of the story. I'm just not sure why his grades in school have anything to do with him having sand thrown in his face by some asshat spectator. The writer of the story wasn't questioning his right to be there, but it does read like you are. Perhaps I misread your intent.

As far as how he is in that school, you'd have to ask them. I do know there are American high schools with ESL programs. I went to one and some of the students in it were difficult to communicate with.

 

[Chi City 81]

:)

 

[BYH]

Damn, I wish I'd thought of that back in the day. I might have finished 376th instead of, umm, 378th?

 

[Kevin Morales]

Wow, unbelievable. I wonder how the sand thrower's kid (assuming it was a parent) finished. One place better, I guess. Sad.

P.S. Definitely had kids in my high school that didn't speak English. I think they did OK.

 

[wickedwritah]

The kid is from Somalia, which is why he needs a translator. There is a very large Somali community (relatively speaking) that has come to Maine in recent years, and they're struggling to assimilate.

From the sounds of it, at least the way the coach is presenting it, it's a racially driven incident. Given some of the hayseeds in far northern and western Maine, it wouldn't shock me.

 

[outofplace]

You're stalking me. How cute.

Get over yourself... or at least stop changing the subject.

Thank you wicked for actually contributing some useful background information.

 

[outofplace]

Take it up with the school board in the kid's district, Junkie. Still doesn't excuse what happened to him.

 

[crusoes]

The kid is from Somalia, which is why he needs a translator. There is a very large Somali community (relatively speaking) that has come to Maine in recent years, and they're struggling to assimilate.

From the sounds of it, at least the way the coach is presenting it, it's a racially driven incident. Given some of the hayseeds in far northern and western Maine, it wouldn't shock me.

Don't give Maine all the credit. There are hayseeds everywhere.

 

[wickedwritah]

Don't give Maine all the credit. There are hayseeds everywhere.

Of course, but when you say "backwoods" in Maine, those woods really are pretty far back, especially close to the border.

 

[Fenian_Bastard]

Jesus, the kid gets assaulted during the race and we're arguing about why he needs a translator to explain what happened?
Somebody's got issues.

 

[outofplace]

Jesus, the kid gets assaulted during the race and we're arguing about why he needs a translator to explain what happened?
Somebody's got issues.

That was my point. The assult on this kid was a disgrace. I find it disturbing that a poster on here is responding to that assault by suggesting that the kid doesn't belong in the race because he needs a translator. I really hope I'm reading his point incorrectly.

 

[Ace]

Um, we had something in my high school called, let's see ... ENGLISH CLASS. In fact, we had four years of it. If you didn't pass those four years, you pretty much didn't graduate. It was pretty important to be able to speak English.

So you suggesting the kid should have stayed in Somolia another 2-3 years till he could speak English gooder?

 

[Mayfly]

http://www.boston.com/news/local/vermont/articles/2007/11/14/second_runner_claims_sand_thrown_during_race/

Just an update on the story. Another runner from a different team confirmed sand throwing and police are continuing their investigation.

More than 3,000 Somali refugees have settled in Lewiston in recent years, giving the city the highest concentration of Somalis anywhere in the country.

The influx has created tensions, starting with a letter by then-Mayor Larry Raymond in 2002 asking the Somalis to advise their countrymen not to come to Lewiston because city resources were "maxed out."

Tensions ran high again last summer when a man tossed a pig's head into a mosque during evening prayers at the Lewiston-Auburn Islamic Center. Last April, a prank in which a middle-schooler tossed a piece of leftover Easter ham onto a table surrounded by Somalian Muslim youngsters exposed yet again the cultural divide in the city.

 

[wickedwritah]

Hey, all you typical board assholes, it just struck me as odd that a kid competing as a varsity athlete at an American high school can not speak English even well enough to complete a simple interview. The first sentence of the story says he's a "Class A state champion," implying he has been here for at least one full year. What the **** has he been doing for 12 months? Pushing 2 for Spanish? ****.

Yet another reason we're circling the drain. The borders are wide open, which is fine, but the demand for assimilation is zero.

How do you know there is no demand for assimilation? Half the problem in Lewiston is the lack of resources, hence the mayor's letter a few years back discouraging further immigration. It's an old industrial Northeast city that probably can't provide much in the way of educational opportunities for immigrants and special-education students, given its tax base probably isn't great.

You are ignoring the nuances of this case. Maine cities, specifically Lewiston, have been wondering for a while how they can service the Somali community. It's not like the Somalis are leaving anytime soon, nor should they if they feel comfortable, even if the city fathers want to shove them out the door.

Assimilation is a noble, necessary goal, but when you have people who keep fighting these people's presence in the first place, in a nation where we're supposed to be welcoming of immigrants, I imagine assimilation is a bit more difficult.

 

[outofplace]

Hey, all you typical board assholes, it just struck me as odd that a kid competing as a varsity athlete at an American high school can not speak English even well enough to complete a simple interview. The first sentence of the story says he's a "Class A state champion," implying he has been here for at least one full year. What the **** has he been doing for 12 months? Pushing 2 for Spanish? ****.

Yet another reason we're circling the drain. The borders are wide open, which is fine, but the demand for assimilation is zero.

And this excuses assaulting him during the race?

 

[wickedwritah]

How do I know there is no demand for assimilation? Because half our nation is now printed in Spanish. I have to press 1 everywhere I go. Why is that?

But I'm not talking about the school or the government in this case. I'm talking about the kid. If you were an immigrant where nobody could understand you, wouldn't you work your ass off to make sure they could?

How do you KNOW he isn't? You're twisting facts to go along with your point, and I'm accepting that now. But prove to me that the kid has not made strides in his assimilation.

You can't.

 

[wickedwritah]

Um, he needed in interpreter to do an interview. Prove to me that he has? You can't, either. At least I have some sort of evidence.

Look, it's simple. When my sister was a freshman in college, she went to France for a work-study program for a summer. My mom went for the first two weeks to get her settled in. Two weeks later, Mom spoke nearly fluent French. Was she a French Savant? No. She made it a point, because communication, you know, helps. If people want to do it, they can. If they're not made to do it, though, and they don't give a ****, they won't.

What evidence, that he needed an interpreter? If I were in a foreign country and had something heinous happen to me, I'd feel more comfortable speaking in my native tongue, too.

He's a victim, and he should be treated as such. Yes, I'd rather have a translator in this situation than trying to talk to the kid in possibly fractured English, unable to ascertain what really happened.