1. West Lafayette, Ind.
A shooting occurred at Purdue University at noon on Jan. 21 when a 23-year-old teaching assistant opened fire in the Electrical Engineering Building, killing a fellow 21-year-old teacher assistant, Andrew F. Boldt. Shooter Cody M. Cousins then calmly walked out of the building, surrendered to the police and is now under custody.
Students were informed through school official text messages and tweets to take shelter for about two hours until the situation was under control.
Police are still unsure of the connection between the two senior teaching assistants that prompted Cousins to shoot Boldt, but Purdue police chief John Cox announced that, “it appears to be an isolated and intentional act and not a random shooting.”
Classes are suspended through Wed. Jan. 22, and the counseling sessions are being offered to students to help them heal from the fatal shooting.
2. Portsmouth, R.I.
Students at Portsmouth Middle School are being sucked into a dangerous, new trend. Instead of consuming the popular Smarties candy, these kids are being seeing crushing the candy into powder and snorting through the nose with a straw or rolled up piece of paper.
School officials have recently sent an email to parents warning of the possible health effects of snorting Smarties, including infection, scarring of nasal cavity and even maggot infestation. Maggots are attracted to the sugary dust in the nose and begin to feed on it.
This trend is not just limited to Portsmouth Middle School though. Videos on Youtube have shown many children practicing the same trend or others, such as the “cinnamon challenge” and “ice and salt challenge.”
3. Cocoa, Fla.
Robert Marucci, an 18-year-old senior attending Cocoa High School, is returning to school after claiming school officials suspended him for his after-school job as a gay porn model.
The real reason for Maruucci’s suspension is unclear though.
District spokeswomen Michelle Irwin announced “[they] would never suspend a student for his job, or job-related activities,” and WKMG-TV Orlando claimed Marucci’s referral slip informed that Marucci made threats against other students.
According to Marucci, after Cocoa High Principal Stephanie Soliven “apologized to me and said the threats were made up [by other students],” Marucci was allowed to be attend classes again. Marucci has appeared on “Florida TV” and even has a Facebook page, “Support Robert Marucci” of over 450 members.
