OJ Simpson caught hoarding cookies in prison

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http://www.policeone.com/corrections/articles/6472071-OJ-Simpson-caught-hoarding-cookies-in-prison/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

Former gridiron great, OJ Simpson, was recently caught pilfering the sweet treats from the cafeteria of his Nevada prison — something which is strictly forbidden.

According to a source, guards noticed the 66-year-old hiding something under his prison clothes as he walked back to his cell after lunch. When they quizzed him, he revealed a stash of more than a dozen oatmeal cookies, which were then seized.

The guard could have written up Simpson for the attempted cookie smuggle but he reportedly decided to let him off with a warning. The source said that while Simpson was embarrassed, eating his favorite foods is the only enjoyment he has left.

Free up teachers to 'just teach' (Forum letter)

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http://www.straitstimes.com/premium/forum-letters/story/free-teachers-just-teach-20130927

As a former teacher and head of department, I urge the Education Ministry and schools to relook teachers' roles.

Teachers spend more time on other duties than on fulfilling their fundamental role - to teach, mark students' work and provide feedback on learning.

Perhaps this is why teachers have left the profession to "just teach" at tuition centres or become adjunct teachers.

Teaching entails an input of knowledge and skills, an assessment of the students' grasp of these, and providing feedback on how much has been learnt.

If teachers' roles are clearly defined, this cycle of learning will be complete.

Having taught history, I welcomed the ministry's initiative to move away from rote learning to focus on higher-order thinking skills. But the implementation saddened me.

Content was taught and videos were shown to spur the students' interest, but only one piece of work - the continual assessment - was marked per term. When queried, the teacher said it was impossible to mark assignments by six to eight classes each week. Without feedback on their work, how are students and their parents supposed to know if learning has taken place?

Learning has to take place in school and definitely not at tuition sessions; most students will not need tuition if learning has taken place in school.

So leave the teachers to teach. Give them time to mark their students' work and provide feedback - and learning will take place.

Anne Chia (Ms)

Ambulance priority: Motorists' attitude needs to change (Forum letter)

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http://www.straitstimes.com/premium/forum-letters/story/ambulance-priority-motorists-attitude-needs-change-20130927

I read with interest the prospect of a traffic priority system for ambulances in Singapore ("Plan to turn traffic lights green for ambulances"; Sept 18).

Just two days before the report appeared, I had been amazed at how a fire jeep, with sirens wailing, had to queue to make a turn at two consecutive traffic lights.

This is a big contrast to what I observed in Belgium, where the moment a siren is heard, all drivers move their vehicles aside, some even onto kerbs, to open up a path for emergency vehicles. And all vehicles stay put until the emergency vehicle has passed by.

At intersections, all traffic comes to a stop to give way to emergency vehicles, even when the lights are in the motorists' favour. There is no need for a special traffic light system; everyone knows what to do.

In Singapore, however, traffic proceeds as usual, as if the sirens mean nothing.

We do not just need a priority traffic light system; we need a drastic change in motorists' attitude or, more likely, new traffic laws.

Amy Loh (Ms)

Fake cop tries to intimidate man, who turns out to be a real cop

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http://www.chieftain.com/news/crime/1873712-120/detective-herrera-pueblo-arrested?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

An alleged cop impersonator’s act dialed up the wrong number in a Pueblo West cellphone store Monday when the man he was trying to bluff was a law enforcement detective himself.

Roland Herrera, 63, of an unnamed town in Texas, was arrested on suspicion of impersonating a peace officer after he allegedly told a detective that he was a cop.

According to the Pueblo County Sheriff’s Office, the undercover detective was in the wireless service store speaking to a clerk about his cellphones. While there he was approached by a man who identified himself as law enforcement.

The report stated that Herrera asked the deputy, “Why do you have so many phones? Are you a drug dealer?”

The detective didn’t answer but Herrera persisted.

The report states that Herrera then identified himself as “a cop” and ordered the detective to turn over his drugs to him.

The detective asked the individual to show him his credentials and again the man told the detective to “give him the drugs”.

The detective then turned the tables on Herrera.

He showed Herrera his own law enforcement credentials and advised him he was under arrest for impersonation of a peace officer. Herrera was being held at the Pueblo County jail in lieu of $25,000 bail.

Shell plans groundbreaking pilot plant on Jurong Island

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http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/premium/singapore/shell-plans-groundbreaking-pilot-plant-jurong-island-20130927

Shell aims to start up its diphenyl carbonate (DPC) demonstration plant on Jurong Island next year. The plant will produce one of the key intermediates used to make polycarbonates.

The product is the largest-volume thermoplastic used for various engineering applications ranging from optical media to automotive glazing of windscreens and lamp lenses to electronics and sheeting film.

The Singapore demo plant marks a "scaled-up" project from the technological process first developed at the oil giant's laboratories, and it precedes a potential investment by Shell in a world-scale DPC plant once the project proves successful.

Matthias Bichsel, Shell's projects and technology director, said the company's patented process for producing DPC at the 500 tonne-per-year (tpy) demo plant in Singapore exemplifies how the oil giant is using innovative engineering to reduce the waste by-products of what it brings to market.