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Tide, Tigers win. B1
SEPTEMBER 7 / 2008
$1.50 Classifieds: 532-4222

33
The largest portion,

WHERE DOES YOUR TRAFFIC FINE GO?

In city traffic court, the court costs total $107. Heres the breakdown:

A TIMES SPECIAL REPORT:

Republican Wayne Parker and Democrat Parker Griffith square off in the battle to replace Bud Cramer as the representative for the 5th Congressional District. Defense spending is a hot topic along the campaign trail.
IN LOCAL: Wayne Parker points to Obama stance. PAGE A11

Parker vs. Parker

NEW JAIL

goes to the

Times Staff Writer niki.doyle@htimes.com

By NIKI DOYLE

Party with a pu rpose! A GUIDE TO HUNTSVILLE S CH

Times, Septemb er 7, 2008

The Huntsville

The officer who nabbed you for speeding on the Parkway wont see acentofthat$127ticket,butagood chunk of it will go straight into one of the citys peskiest projects the jail. Exactly $33.50 of each traffic citation, or nearly $975,000 a year, goes to paying off the $86.4 million debt from the construction of the Public Safety Complex and the incomplete and over-budget jail expansion. Does the citys massive debt lead to pressure on police leaders to set traffic ticket quotas? There is no such thing as a quota, Police Chief Henry Reyes said. But there is a budget line. The citys 2008 budget shows officialsexpectrevenueofabout$1.65 million from municipal court fees, which include traffic tickets written by Huntsville police officers and otherfinesleviedbythecitys judges, said City Finance Director Randy Taylor. TheCorrectionsFundallocation was approved more than 10 years agotopayoffthedebtfromtheconstruction of the Public Safety Complex, Taylor said. That was long before the jail expansions problems caused the city to more than double the budget for the project. The city planned to spend $30 million on the jail, which was to be completeayearandahalfago.Now, the budget is up to $70 million, an amount that, if needed, wouldnt be paid off until at least 20 years from Please see TRAFFIC on A8

$33.50 (31.31%) Corrections Fund (jail)

$21 (19.63%) State General Fund Court costs assessed in Madison County District Court are higher, but no part of it goes to the jail because its being built by the city.

$17 (15.89%) City Court Costs

$16 (14.95%) Fair Trial Costs

$8.50 (7.94%) Drivers Ed

www.al.com/enjo y

The dish on white Charity begins at ho me Fake a rested face

ARITY BALLS AND SOIRE ES

Your actual fine is...

Speeding $20 Speeding 25 mph over $40 Driving without a license $75 Improper/expired tag $25 Not wearing a seatbelt* $10 *According to state law, no court costs are paid for this charge

$3 (2.8%) Peace Officers Annuity & Benefit Fund $3 (2.8%) Advanced Tech Data Fund $5
Crime Victims Compensation Fund: $2 DNA: $2 Law Library: $1

IN ENJOY!: A guide to charity balls.

(4.67%) Misc.

Eric Schultz/Huntsville Times

Congressional Medal of Honor winner Leo Thorsness went to the convention to watch Sen. John McCain accept the Republican nomination for president. The Air Force retiree spent six years in captivity in Vietnam. If a doors got a handle on the inside, he says, thats a good day.
IN LOCAL: Ran for Senate in South Dakota. PAGE A11

McCain POW cellmate lives in Madison

Folks stand in line for traffic court at municipal court in Huntsville on Thursday.

Hurricane Ike grew to fierce Category 4 strength Saturday as it roared on an uncertain path that forced millions from the Caribbean to Florida, and Louisiana to Mexico, to nervously wonder where it would eventually strike.
IN NEWS: Storm takes a southwesterly shift. PAGE A3

Where will Hurricane Ike go? Coastal residents wary

Huntsville, Alabama Vol. 99, No. 169, 92 pages Contents 2008, Huntsville Times

Full forecast, D6
High today

89 62

Low tonight

Abby / F3 Books / F7 Business / D1 Calendar / F2 Classifieds / E9

Inside

Crossword/ E11 Deaths / A14 Editorials / C2 Forum / C1 Horoscope / F2

Life&Leisure / F1 Local&State / A11 Lotteries / A2 Movies / F10 Real estate / E1

Sports / B1 Sudoku/ E2 Television/ A18 Travel / H1 Weddings / F4

IN PARADE: Warren Buffetts 10 secrets to make YOU rich.

A8 The Huntsville Times, Sunday, September 7, 2008

Traffic

Continued from page A1

now, Taylor said. Although the citys more than 31,000 traffic citations brought in nearly $3 million last year, a large portion of that goes to the state, and what the city keeps is less than 1 percent of its total revenues. The number of tickets jumped when the department launched several traffic enforcement campaigns and put federal grant money into its traffic and DUI task forces. So farthisyear,23,120ticketshave beenwritten,puttingpoliceon track for a significant increase over last years numbers. Thosetrafficcampaignsand theresultingticketincreaseare not inspired by budget needs, Reyessaid,butareeffortstoreduce the high number of accidents, injuries and deaths. Thecityhadarecord46traffic fatalities in 2005. Only 15 people have died in wrecks so far this year, a statistic the department attributes to increased police presence and checkpoints. Its just like any other death alifeislost, Reyessaid.That is just another part of our enforcement efforts that we feel the public wants us to do, even thoughwehavepeoplecalland complain: Oh its all about the money or Youre just trying to meet your quota.

A 2007 study by two university professors showed that officers in Massachusetts towns in a fiscal crunch wrote more speeding tickets than officers in other towns. The researchers from George Mason University noted that police officers are employedbycitygovernments and, to a degree, must be influenced by those cities financial needs. Thestudyacknowledgesthe officers personal sense of obligationtotheirdutiesandtheir communities, which Reyes said should be and is the drivingforceforHuntsvillepolice to pull over motorists who violate the law. Weexpectourofficerstodo that, he said. We dont tell them you have to write a ticket when you stop somebody, but if you see a traffic violation, you should pull them over. Huntsville,however,doesnt have the same restrictions that may have influenced those Massachusetts officers. Many of the towns in financial trouble had limits on the property taxtheycouldlevy,andthecash brought in by tickets played a more significant role in municipal budgets. Huntsville isnt going to declarebankruptcybecausedrivers start obeying the law. We depend on all the revenue, but we would find anotherwayifticketrevenuesde-

Correlation found

Well find a way

creased, Taylor said. Its clearly better to bring in money anotherwaythantohavethehazards that come with those trafficcitations.Wellfigureout how to pay our bills. A municipality can always raise taxes. Court fees and fines, however, are paid by thosewhobreakthelaw,notall homeowners and consumers. The Legislature has used court revenue for decades to pay for the poor to have legal representation in court, to compensate victims of violent crimefortheirmedicalbillsand lost wages, and to give police new technology including DNA testing. Tickets from state troopers anddeputiespumpevenmore cash into the state general fundupto$54acitation.The state general fund receives $21 from each Huntsville police citation. None of the money goes directly to the issuing police agency,but$3goesinthePeace Officers Annuity and Benefit Fund, which many officers dontevenchoosetojoin,Reyes said. The state-imposed fine for speeding is $20. The rest is court fees $107 in Huntsville and $135 in the county. The vast majority of the (citys)budgetissalestaxesand that type of revenue, Reyes said.Wedontevenlookatthe money coming in. We do want our officers to be proactive, looking for violations and enforcing the law. Thats our expectation.

The Associated Press

School rekindles debate on single-sex education

Phillys Boys Latin proves popular, but some not sold
By KATHY MATHESON
The Associated Press

Richard Cherry Jr., right, departs Boys' Latin of Philadelphia with his father, Richard Cherry Sr., in Philadelphia on July 15.

Mom, 2 teen girls accused in slaying

75-year-old man was robbed, stabbed in Texas
The Associated Press

PASADENA, Texas Two teenage girls are accused of stabbing a 75-year-old man to death in a robbery that netted them just $15, and police say the mother of one of the teens helped put them up to it. Dannette R. Gillespie, 38, gave knives to her 15-year-old daughter and Vanessa Anne Ocampo, 19, then waited in theircarwhiletheteensrobbed

and killed Eugene Palma, according to a probable cause warrant. All three were charged with capital murder Friday and were being held without bail. Police did not immediately respond to a call Saturday askingifthesuspectshadattorneys to speak for them. Palma, a bar owner, was found stabbed several times in thedrivewayofhishomeinthis Houston suburb Wednesday. He did not know the women, Pasadena police said. According to the warrant, Ocampo told police the three

had been looking for someone to rob that morning. He wouldve given them moneythats thecrazything, Kim Nawrot, a bartender at Palmas bar, told the Houston Chronicle. He was the kind of guythatwouldvegivenanyone the shirt off of his back. A palm print on Palmas car led police to the women, authoritiessaid.Gillespieandher daughter, who was not identified because she is a juvenile, were arrested in Pasadena. Ocampo was arrested in San Antonio.

PHILADELPHIA Calling all ninth-grade boys! Raise your hand if this school sounds like fun: wearing jackets and ties every day, staying until 5 p.m.,learningLatinandtotop it all off no girls. Whos in? Turns out, about 270 boys. And 100 more are on a waiting list. Boys Latin of Philadelphia, one of the citys newer charter schools, began its second year on Wednesday, aiming to be an educational beacon in the financially and academically troubled district. Because its a single-sex public school one of four in the cityBoysLatinfacedhugeoppositionandalmostdidntexist. Critics contend its unfair for taxpayers to fund a prep school curriculum for boys only. Supporters say Boys Latin is desperately needed in a city where 45 percent of students drop out and male academic achievement badly lags that of females. Obviously something had to be done differently to engage these young men and prepare them for graduation, and for success beyond high school graduation, said David Hardy, Boys Latin co-founder and

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acting principal. The Womens Law Project and the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania had opposed Hardys charter application based on its exclusion of girls. It was initially rejected by Philadelphia school officials in January 2006, but was approved five months later after then-district CEO Paul Vallas called the gender achievement gap a crisis. Boys Latin opened in fall 2007. New rules implemented by the U.S. Education Department in 2006 allow same-sex education whenever schools think it will expand the diversity of courses, improve students achievement or meet their individual needs. But ACLU attorney Mary Catherine Roper said those regulations conflict with the ConstitutionandTitleIX,afederal law banning sex discrimination in education. There are nonexclusionary ways to improve education, such as decreasing class sizes, she noted. There is no justification for offering kids different opportunities based on their gender, said Roper. The 167,000-student Philadelphia district, which is under state supervision for poor performance, has tried to improve by establishing charter schools, hiring private companies and universities to manage schools, and offering single-

sex education. Results have been mixed. Three months ago, the district took six schools away from private and university managers for failure to improve sufficiently, including an all-boys high school. There are at least 442 public schools in the United States with single-sex educational opportunities, according to the Exton-based National Association for Single Sex Public Education. Most of those are coed schoolsofferingsingle-sexclassrooms. Asking if single-sex education is good is like asking if coed educationisgood,saidLeonard Sax, the associations executive director. Its a very diffuse and not very meaningful question, Sax said. There are different rationalesforsingle-sexeducation and different track records. Juniors at the citys public High School for Girls, which has been single-sex since its founding in 1848, scored 79.3 percent proficient or higher in math and 85.3 percent proficient or better in reading. Hardy noted that no one has suggested making that school coed. Peter Kuriloff, research director at the Center for the Study of Boys and Girls Lives at the University of Pennsylvania, thinks single-sex classrooms are worth trying in some cases if paired with a strong curriculum. It is not a panacea, said Kuriloff. Just putting boys in a boys school and girls in a girls school is not going to do anything. Boys Latin, which opened in trailerswithonlyninth-graders, now teaches freshmen and sophomores in a renovated former Roman Catholic school. It will add a grade each year until it has grades nine through 12. Richard Cherry Sr. said he sent his son, Richard Jr., to Boys Latin because of the smaller class sizes and personal attention. He feared his son would get lost in the system at district high schools that he described as chaotic and sometimes violent. Omar Ortiz, 14, a freshman at Boys Latin, said he wasnt sure about the no-girls part at first. But then he realized hed betooshytoreadareportaloud in his old coed public school. I dont have to be shy here because its all guys, Ortiz said. His mother, Lydia Hernandez Velez, 57, said she has no qualms sending her son to the school even though it was not an option for her daughter. Theyre not the same, Velez said. Their needs are different at different times of their lives.

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Will hold its Annual membership meeting on Thursday September 11th, 2008 at 7:00 p.m. at Alabama A & Ms Winfred Thomas Agricultural Research Station

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