Car crash on Ralston Avenue

Ralston Avenue in Belmont was shut down Tuesday morning after a female bicyclist was hit by a car at about 8:30 a.m.

The cyclist's condition is unknown at this time, however Belmont Police Lt. Pat Halleran did state that the accident was not life threatening.

Westbound and eastbound of Ralston Avenue were shut down while the police and injured woman were waiting for the ambulance to arrive.

In an unfortunate turn of events, a woman in a blue car was turning east onto Ralston from Avon and pulled right in front of the ambulance that was coming for the injured cyclist. This woman did suffer a laceration from the hit and was immediately helped by the paramedics.

CHP was called to the scene soon after to assist with both accidents while the Belmont Police investigated the first.

Ralston Avenue has once again been opened up to traffic after an hour and a half delay from 8:30 a.m. to 10 a.m.

http://www.scotscoop.com/23889

Shooting and vehicle crash on Highway 101

On Sept. 30, a shooting and vehicle crash occurred on Highway 101 at the Holly Street exit in San Carlos.

The incident sent three people to the hospital that afternoon and closed the southbound lanes for nearly four hours.

Belmont police have stated that the shooting took place around 3:41 p.m., with the vehicle crashing about five minutes later into the bushes on the side of the freeway.

The car was a red 2009 Dodge Challenger that had been struck with several bullets. Two men and three women were in the car at the time, the 24-year-old Menlo Park man and 19-year old East Palo Alto victim had been struck by gunfire. The 23-year-old woman from Santa Cruz was the only one unhurt by the incident.

The Belmont and San Carlos police are not sure if the shooting was the result of road rage or if it developed from some other dispute. However, they do believe that this was not a random accident and that the victims were definitely targeted since no other vehicles were struck by gunfire.

Belmont and San Carlos police departments have continued to investigate this case and opened the investigation into more districts.

http://www.scotscoop.com/22702

Is Carlmont the new North Shore High

Dec. 2012

Despite Carlmont’s pride as a school that is socially accepting to all, there are still enormous amounts of cliques on campus that resemble those in movies.
Over the past two decades cliques have become commonly studied and commercialized through movies, especially teen movies.
In social sciences, a clique is a word used to describe a group of people who interact more with each other than with others in the same setting. The interaction of cliques is part of normal societal development that come about through common relations of gender, ethnicity, interests, or most stereotyped, popularity.
As Janis Ian states in the movie Mean Girls, “You got your freshmen, ROTC guys, preps, JV jocks, Asian nerds, Cool Asians, Varsity jocks…, Girls who eat their feelings, Girls who don't eat anything, Desperate wannabes, Burnouts, Sexually active band geeks, and the [popular kids],” in essence, cliques are very diverse, but at times not tolerant of others.
Carlmont, like the schools in movies, has become organized by cliques. These cliques tend to group within specific areas on campus and many groups have different connotations that come with those within the group.
“There are definitely cliques at Carlmont that form based on classes, electives, and close bonds between friends,” stated Junior Kiana Ghazouli, “but they don’t resemble those in movies, they just naturally form from common interests or hobbies.”
Popular clique movies, however, do have some reality. No matter how accepting a student body is there will always be those who feel like they are blocked out and can only wish to be part of a certain group.
“Cliques can have a scarring effect on people,” stated Ghazouli, “especially if [a person] is excluded from a group.”
At times, these desires can have beneficial effects on people, letting them grow as person and reach a new level of self-confidence. But at other times cliques can have caustic effects on people, such as changing their image to fit in more or being friends with someone they do not necessarily like, which causes them to be more and more distant from those who truly care.
Many students have found this to be apparent in their own lives; but nothing describes this way of living better than Mean Girls:
Mr. Heron: Hey, how was school?
Cady: Fine.
Mrs. Heron: Were people nice?
Cady: No.
Mr. Heron: Did you make any friends?
Cady: Yes.
The insecurities that cliques may cause for students stem not only from how they are treated at their respective schools, but also how popular movies and television portray others in their position.
The most popular way of representing cliques is by showing the social ladder of high schools, which has become especially evident in the widely viewed show, Glee:
Sue: These students are like a caste system. All the popular kids are in the penthouse. All the nerds playing wizards and trolls in the forest, bottom floor.

This predetermined social system emerges in elementary school through toys and movies and begins to effects student mentality at an early age. While some choose to be themselves, others just strive to fit in. No matter how accepting Carlmont becomes there will always be cliques on this campus.

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Presidential Election 2012 Overview

Oct. 2012
 
The next United States presidential election is to be held on Tuesday Nov. 6, 2012. Current President Barack Obama is running for a second and final term against the Massachusetts Gov., Republican Willard Mitt Romney.

Romney:
Presidential Candidate Mitt Romney is a man of experience. With a vast personal fortune, a successful private career, a stint in public office and a family life, the 65-year-old Republican nominee hopes to top off his career by becoming President of the United States of America.
“I think Romney has more experience [as a candidate],” stated junior Mary Smith, “he had to run a state! Obama never had to. But in social aspects [of the election] I am leaning more toward Obama.”
The journey has not been smooth for Romney. From the beginning he faced tremendous resistance from the GOP conservative base, from women and from minority groups.
There have been strong concerns over his fundamental political ideology, and his indecisive political stances especially concerning health care.
“Romney’s 2006 health care reform was basically the forerunner of [President] Obama’s ObamaCare Act,” said freshman John Samuels, “but for some reason he is now against his own idea.”
Romney proposes that individuals purchase their own health insurance, rather than through employers, he also wants to allow insurance across state lines.
Another aspect of Romney’s health care forum involves allowing states to ban abortions and make birth control unavailable to women. In 1994 Romney was pro-choice; however he changed his platform when preparing to run for President.
“It’s not fair to restrict women from birth control or abortions,” continued Smith, “that right of choice should not be taken away, especially from a bunch of men.”

Obama:
In 2008 Democratic Nominee Barack Obama took office under the banner of change and unity. With an articulate and hands-on approach to politics, Obama possesses an old-school charm that has captured the eye of many Americans.
The 51-year-old candidate has recently had to deal with a growing number of issues with his presidency. Questions about ObamaCare, the stagnant national unemployment rate, his previous big-government approach, and national debt have begun to surface.
“I don’t think that Obama is at fault for the debt or unemployment rates. He came into office with a giant mess to clean up. And for four years, that’s what he has been doing,” stated junior Grace Gowen.
Some of the most recognized success of the Obama administration is the hunting down and killing of Osama bin-Laden, decrease in unemployment rates, recovery of the automotive industry, and withdrawal of American forces from Afghanistan and Iraq.
“Obama definitely did a good job with his foreign policies during the Arab Spring,” said Gowen, “he effectively aided three successful revolutions.”
Obama hopes to continue the withdrawal of troops from Iraq and Afghanistan within his next term and engage in a direct diplomacy with the new governments, tighten economic sanctions and create international cooperation.
One major objection to President Obama is people’s beliefs that he has not done quite as much, or even any, of what he said he would.
“Republicans have a lot of power in government and everything is just getting stalled, but Obama says one thing and always does another,” stated sophomore Sam Jones, “he basically has not made any improvements for America.”

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