THETATTOOBLOG.COM

From Egypt: 'YJI saved my life'

2011-04-04T19:22:00.002-04:00

By Jessica Elsayed

Senior Reporter

ALEXANDRIA, Egypt -- Where I am from, when someone is really grateful they put their hands on their hand on their heart then move it put to their head in a gesture that looks like a salute. The reason behind this is because just saying thank you alone will sometimes not express the extent with which something or someone has touched another’s heart and mind.

Youth Journalism International gets this beautiful gesture from my home in Egypt and tens of other traditional ways of saying thank you from all over the world with every new blog entry it posts.

Personally, I cannot remember my life before YJI, although it was not far back. It isn’t very exciting remembering when my opinions were only thoughts no one else can hear in my head. My views were overlooked and rarely respected. My words reached no one past my friends who still thought I was crazy for wanting the world to hear me.

But Youth Journalism International heard me and let my voice echo out into the rest of the world through the miracle of blogs and web sites.

Most people my age have something to say but because they know it is worthles; they seem to have nothing, walking empty-headed in the streets.

The truth is YJI saved my life.

It showed me that I, like all youth, have respectable thoughts that when put in writing are priceless.

Even before the revolution, YJI gave me freedom and allowed me to criticize, condemn and praise what I saw around me.

Although my ideas were oppressed in school, I came home to a website and community of people just like me despite our different nations and traditions.

The people behind YJI are the most pure forms of human kindness. They are such motivating and full-of-life individuals that stood by me when my nation was experiencing the most difficult of times, calling on a daily basis during the revolution to get my voice over to the other end of the world and just comforting me that they stand by our struggle and that freedom was soon to come. And it did.

Now with a more fearless nation, more youth are going to be searching for a place to be heard.

One by one, Egyptians look to YJI.

So, thank you with my hand on my heart to the organization that made me feel like something because I am.

Thank you, YJI, for being the microphone I use to be heard in such a noisy world.

Thank you, for connecting me to such an amazing group of people that made me realize that the world is much smaller and more related to each other than we think.

I am a braver, stronger person because I am part of YJI and I will forever make sure that no matter where or what life throws at me, I will stay loyal to the organization that taught me to be loyal to myself.

You can help Youth Journalism International touch more lives by making a contribution to its ongoing GlobalGiving campaign.

New Tattoo issue offers lots of great work

2010-12-17T12:10:00.000-05:00

This week's issue of The Tattoo (available at www.ReadTheTattoo.com) features a lot of terrific work by Youth Journalism International's talented student writers, including three newcomers.

You won't want to miss Talon Bronson's two pieces from Portland, Oregon that he wrote after attending his city's annual tree lighting ceremony for Christmas -- the same ceremony that federal authorities say a would-be bomber hoped to blow up.

Teens playing in the snow in Wixom, Michigan. (Colin Cuming/youthjournalism.org)

Also high on the must-see list is newcomer Monica Blaze's "My Hometown" story on Wixom, Michigan. She gives readers a real flavor for the place she calls home.

In London, newcomer Noah Kidron-Style offers a hard-hitting opinion column castigating the police for mistreating student protesters who oppose government plans for tuition hikes.

The new issue also has two review of the latest Harry Potter movie, by Nancy Hsu in Brisbane, Australia and Roohani Deshpande in Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, India. They both loved Deathly Hallows, Part 1. This is Deshpande's first piece.

Finally, Kiernan Majerus-Collins offers a news story from Hartford, Connecticut about the debut of Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Jennifer Higdon's latest work, Road Stories.

More work by YJI students is online daily on the organization's blog at www.YJIBlog.org, including a review of the new Narnia movie by another newcomer, Evangeline Han from Melaka, Malaysia.

Youth Journalism International is a 501(c)(3) public educational charity, which allows donors to get a tax deduction for contributions and opens the door for possible grants to help YJI flourish as never before. If you're in a position to help financially, you can find information on how to donate at www.youthjournalism.org. You can also phone us at (860) 523-9632 and we'll be glad to tell you more.

This is a great time of year to make a donation to help YJI continue to offer the best opportunity on the planet for students eager to learn journalism and make connections across the globe.

With more than 200 members in scores of countries, YJI offers the most comprehensive source of youth journalism on Earth. It has readers in nearly every country.

By the way, be sure to keep an eye on YJI's Blog -- www.YJIBlog.org -- to stay right up to date with everything these talented students are doing. You can also find YJI on Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr. The links are on the blog.

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Copyright 2010 by ReadTheTattoo.com. All rights reserved.

More great stuff from The Tattoo

2010-05-13T11:50:00.000-04:00

A new issue that we finished late Monday is now online -- and full of great material from the world's best young writers and photographers. You'll find it at www.ReadTheTattoo.com.

The featured news story is the first written by Louisiana teen Kaley Willis, who rounded up the views of young people about the awful oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. They're worried, of course, but take a look at their words and don't miss Willis' photographs of a still pristine section of the Louisiana coastline. Let's hope it remains in its natural state in the weeks and months ahead.

Monday's issue also has a travel piece by Youth Journalism International veteran Edrees Kakar about a visit he made to Dubai, which is quite different from his hometown in Kabul, Afghanistan. There is also a review by Yelena Samofalova and Mary Majerus-Collins of a new Tom Sawyer play that's just finishing a run at the Hartford Stage in Connecticut. They liked it.

One new thing in this issue is that we also have translations of a recent news story by Samofalova about the plans for a World Youth Peace Summit in 2011. Three of our students -- Eugenia Durante in Italy, Katie Grosser in Germany and Caroline Nelissen in the Netherlands -- combined to offer translations of the story into Italian, German and Dutch. More translations are in the works.

That's the sort of global reach that Youth Journalism International hopes to do more often.

And now, a request. Youth Journalism International is trying to secure some assistance through an online contest that you can reach by clicking here. It takes less than 30 seconds to cast a vote for Youth Journalism International. You can vote daily (every 24 hours) until Friday, when the contest ends. As a new nonprofit, this is the sort of thing that can really help Youth Journalism International grow and prosper.

Thanks so much for reading and for your support of the world's best teen journalism since 1994.

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Copyright 2010 by ReadTheTattoo.com. All rights reserved.

From Haiti to Avatar, The Tattoo is on the story

2010-01-26T13:00:00.000-05:00

Check out another knockout issue of the world's best youth newspaper, The Tattoo. This week's issue introduces three new Youth Journalism International student writers -- Pooja Sha in California, Chloe Buckley in Texas and Shweta Ganesh of Mumbai, India -- and features a piece on a Bethlehem, Penn. high school junior whose family in Haiti is still trying to sort out who survived. Two of Rayna Allonce's cousins perished in the rubble and her great aunt's three-story home collapsed. These are tough times for the family, but Allonce told YJI reporter Gokce Yurekli that she's also "worried about how Haiti will get past this great catastrophe." Read Yurekli's story, Horror and hope in Haiti, by clicking here. On the same page you'll also fund Buckley's piece about watching the earthquake damage from a distance with a heavy heart. Her family has roots in Haiti, too.

The issue has four movie reviews as well. Senior reporter Mariechen Puchert in South Africa reviews Invictus, a film about a South African rugby team. Canadian Jenna Potter gives Nine a thumb-up. And both Sha and Ganesh rave about a little-known movie called Avatar.

Thanks for reading these students' work. Please don't hesitate to share it with any young adults in your life or anyone who cares about teens. For more information on Youth Journalism International, see its website by clicking here. Giving a voice to the next generation is what we're all about.

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Copyright 2010 by ReadTheTattoo.com. All rights reserved.

Two new issues of The Tattoo online now

2009-11-30T10:42:00.000-05:00

Composers Row: (from left to right) Gerald Shapiro, Robert Carl, Neely Bruce and Ken Steen at the Mitchell College performance of Bruce's "The Bill of Rights: Ten Amendments in Eight Motets." Shapiro is a professor of music at Brown University, where he is chair of the music department. Carl is chair of the composition department at The Hartt School, University of Hartford. Bruce is a professor music at Wesleyan University. Steen is an associate professor of composition and music theory at The Hartt School. (Photo by Kiernan Majerus-Collins/youthjournalism.org)

We've got not one, but two new issues at ReadTheTattoo.com that I should let you know about. We're moving so fast we can barely keep up.

That just means there's more great stuff for you to read from the talented young writers at Youth Journalism International.
Today's issue focuses mostly on American Composers, a group that probably doesn't get its share of ink. YJI Senior Reporter Kienan Majerus-Collins has a package of stories that include pieces on Wesleyan composer Neely Bruce, Hartt School composer Robert Carl and one describing what it was like to play in the band for a world premiere of a new piece of music from the Hartt School's David Macbride. There's also a story about Bruce's fascinating decision to put the Bill of Rights to music, an idea that any journalist has to love.
Also in today's issue is a story from Mumbai, India about how the city is coping one year after the terrible terrorist attack that left 170 people dead and many others wounded. It's the first piece by YJI newcomer Shagorika Ghosh.
Let's not forget last week's issue either.
Limerick, Ireland teen Marese Heffernan, a YJI veteran, wrote about the lingering memory of writer Frank McCourt in the byways of her old city. She also took some pretty good pictures, which is always welcome.
We also have a couple of stories from the first-ever Lego Kidsfest in Hartford, Connecticut that a team of YJI reporters turned out on deadline. Check out the stories and photos by Clare Hern, Kiernan Majerus-Collins, Francis Byrne, Mary Majerus-Collins and Yelena Samofalova.
We also encourage you to poke around on The Tattoo's website, where there are at least 1,500 stories stretching back over 15 years. Collectively, they easily represent the best teen journalism in the world. There is some wonderful stuff.
We're always eager for suggestions, tips, constructive criticism and any other help anyone can offer. Youth Journalism International's application to the IRS for nonprofit status remains pending, by the way. We'll keep you updated on any news about it.
Thanks for reading and thanks for your support of these great young writers from across the globe.

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Copyright 2009 by ReadTheTattoo.com. All rights reserved.

Tattoo's new issue is running all over the globe

2009-09-30T15:17:00.001-04:00

The new issue of The Tattoo, which is online now, features news stories about the German election and a plane crash in South Africa along with three reviews of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland and a photo page featuring Usain "Lightning" Bolt during his stop this week at the ESPN campus in Bristol, Connecticut.
Youth Journalism International senior reporter Kiernan Majerus-Collins, from Connecticut, took photographs of Bolt before, during and after the speedy Jamaican raced ESPN employees. You can see them here.
He also chipped in a glowing review of the rock museum. Two other reporters, Katherine Holland, of Pennsylvania, and Mary Majerus-Collins, of Connecticut, had a different take on it. They actually thought it was booooring. Read all the reviews here.
We also have senior reporter Katie Grosser's story about the German election Sunday, which we published last weekend. Grosser lives in Germany. To get a sense of what young German voters were thinking, check it out here.
And junior reporter Nicole Megan Gounder gets extra credit for racing to the scene of breaking news in her Durban, South Africa hometown after a passenger jet crash landed in a nearby schoolyard. Fortunately, there were no passengers aboard at the time and all four of those badly injured are expected to recover. But as Gounder reports, if it hadn't happened on a national holiday, it could have been a terrible disaster because the plane came down right where kids love to gather before school begins. Read her story here.
It's a pretty good package of stories and pictures for our third issue of our 16th year at The Tattoo.
As always, we appreciate your constructive criticism, tips and suggestions. We'd love for you to pass this along to anyone teens in your life (or those who care about young people).
We love giving young people a voice.
There's more in the works, of course, and hope you'll check out ReadTheTatto.com's vast archives as well. If you've never read it, we especially recommend Samantha Perez's stunning journal of surviving Hurricane Katrina.
You can also follow Youth Journalism International, our educational wing, on Twitter @yjinternational and on Facebook by becoming a Fan of Youth Journalism International.
Thanks so much for your support.

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Copyright 2009 by ReadTheTattoo.com. All rights reserved.

The Tattoo eyes German elections

2009-09-26T22:54:00.002-04:00

Youth Journalism Internatkional senior reporter Katie Grosser lets the world know what young voters in Germany are thinking as the country heads to the polls to elect a new parliament and perhaps a new government, too. Read all about it here.
For those who don't know, The Tattoo is an online newspaper featuring the work of young writers in more than 20 countries and most U.S. states, including many in our home state of Connecticut. It's in its 16th year and won many, many awards for some stellar work.
You can follow it online at http://www.readthetattoo.com/ and http://www.youthjournalism.org/, along with social media sites. It's at www.facebook.com/youthjournalism and on Twitter @yjinternational.

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Copyright 2009 by ReadTheTattoo.com. All rights reserved.

The Tattoo goes Inside ESPN

2009-09-07T21:30:00.002-04:00

Thirty years ago this evening, a new sports network began broadcasting out of a trailer in Bristol, Connecticut. That tiny operation has grown over the past three decades to become the worldwide leader in sports, with its headquarters looking ever more like a major college campus and that trailer just a distant memory. It has thousands of employees and fans in every country. To celebrate the anniversary, two Youth Journalist International reporters from Connecticut, Clare Hern and Kiernan Majerus-Collins, ventured inside to find out what makes ESPN tick. Their work -- a stellar package of seven stories with lots of pictures, is online now at ReadTheTattoo.com

It's a great read, the perfect subject for The Tattoo's 200th issue.

Earlier Tattoo stories about ESPN by alums Collins Seguin, T.J. O'Connor and Justin Skaradosky, are also online. Check out the links on our "Latest Issue" page.
We hope you'll read carefully and let us know how we're doing. We're always eager for tips, suggestions, constructive criticism and any help anyone can offer.
The Tattoo is a teen-written, online newspaper that began 15 years ago and has grown into the world's premier showcase for youth journalism. Youth Journalism International, the educational nonprofit that works with the students, is busy every day helping young writers in many countries learn the craft and build bonds across borders with their colleagues across the globe.
Thanks so much for your support of youth journalism.

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Copyright 2009 by ReadTheTattoo.com. All rights reserved.

New Tattoo issues online now!

2008-12-02T12:08:00.001-05:00

We have a new issue online at www.ReadTheTattoo.com that I know you'll want to check out soon.

Two of Youth Journalism International's teen journalists in India, Hashra Mishra and Janina Ramachandran, detail the terror of watching Mumba, the city of dreams, locked in battle with terrorists for three days last week.

Back in the U.S., three teen writers - Brice Birdsall in Oregon and two Connecticut reporters, Leah Igdalsky and Kiernan Majerus-Collins -- weighed in on Black Friday in the wake of the trampling death of a Wal-Mart worker in New York.

Speaking of New York, don't miss a brother and sister take on the annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in Manhattan. Kathryn and Matt Middleton, who live in Pennsylvania,tell what it's like to see the famous parade up close and personal instead of on television.

Birdsall also has a review of Twilight, the hit new vampire movie.

I failed to send out a notice about our last issue -- sorry for that oversight! -- but let's catch up now.

Genoa, Italy's Eugenia Durante wrote about a student protest against planned education cuts by the government while Mishra had a piece about Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights.

Australia's Rebecca Baylis wrote her take on the election of Barack Obama, whose acceptance speech moved her to tears. And Connecticut's Justin Skaradosky had another of his great cartoons, too.

We're working on an election reaction package featuring the thoughts of more than two dozen young people in eight countries on five continents. It's an ambitious effort for Youth Journalism International, but we're getting there. You wouldn't believe how much material there is to try to organize coherently. When it's done soon, you'll appreciate the work that went into it.

As always, we're grateful for your support and any help that you can offer. We're eager for constructive criticism, tips, advice and any talented teens you may have in your life.

As the recent carnage in Mumbai makes clear once again, learning together about our world and the ties that bind us all, young and old, is an endeavor that's not merely nice, but perhaps the most important thing we can do. We're lucky to have so many wonderful young people in our broad Yoouth Journalism International family and so glad that their work is seen and appreciated by so many.

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Copyright 2008 by ReadTheTattoo.com. All rights reserved.

Teens around the world react to Obama's victory

2008-11-08T18:13:00.004-05:00

Yard signs in Connecticut after the presidential election.

Mary Majerus-Collins/YouthJournalism.org

Be sure to keep up with The Tattoo in the days ahead. We're working on an issue, tentatively slated to appear on November 17th, that details the views of more two dozen teens from around the world.

We'll have students giving extensive views from many countries, including South Africa, Kuwait, Germany, the United States, Australia and India. It's going to be an enlightening report when we can pull it all together.

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Copyright 2008 by ReadTheTattoo.com. All rights reserved.

Election '08 issue is online at ReadTheTattoo.com

2008-11-04T08:37:00.001-05:00

After some unusual hitches, we have managed to update The Tattoo to include the new Election '08 issue here.

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Copyright 2008 by The Tattoo. All rights reserved.

The Tattoo's new Election '08 issue is online

2008-11-02T16:33:00.004-05:00

The Tattoo's website can't be updated at the moment, thanks to some kind of glitch with our host server, so the new Election '08 issue is housed temporarily here, on a makeshift blog. Don't let that stop you from reading some wonderful stuff from teens all over the world. Go check it out.

I'll put a notice up when the website is updated again.

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Copyright 2008 by The Tattoo. All rights reserved.

Election 2008 issue coming later today

2008-11-02T10:51:00.004-05:00

Coming later today -- The Tattoo's Election 2008 issue, featuring stories and opinion from South Africa, Afghanistan, Germany and more. See how teens around the world are viewing the showdown between Barack Obama and John McCain.

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Copyright 2008 by The Tattoo. All rights reserved.

New issue features everything from jazz to Chinese military showers

2008-10-28T22:01:00.002-04:00

In our October 27, 2008 issue, Youth Journalism International reporter Kiernan Majerus-Collins weighs in with a news story about the unique jazz improvisition program that has helped make West Hartford a high school jazz destination and a review of the new musical 'Big River' at the historic Goodspeed Opera House in Connecticut.

Zhu Qin Zhe, a Chinese teen and junior reporter for Youth JournalismInternational, writes about life in a military camp for teens in China, including the sweetness of the countryside and the need to take wicked fast showers.
Finally, West Hartford's Leah Igdalsky has a review of singer and musician Andrew Bird's recent gig at the fabulous old Calvin Theater in Northhampton, Massachusetts.

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Former Tattoo reporter assaulted at Palin rally

2008-10-17T13:01:00.002-04:00

Former Tattoo ace Joe (Wilbur) Killian, who is a reporter in Greensboro, N.C., got assaulted by an angry Republican yesterday. Read his account of what happened here.

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Copyright 2008 by The Tattoo. All rights reserved.

What do Johnny Pesky and Prudence Crandall have in common?

2008-10-08T13:12:00.004-04:00

They're both featured in The Tattoo's new issue, online now.

Red Sox great Johnny Pesky, left, and Kiernan Majerus-Collins, in 2006. (youthjournalism.org photo)

Reporter Kiernan Majerus-Collins writes about the decision by the Boston Red Sox to retire the number 6, which legendary second baseman Johnny Pesky wore back in the day.

Gabi Smith-Rosario, sculptor Gabriel Koren and Mary Majerus-Collins at the Connecticut State Capitol last week. (youthjournalism.org photo)

Junior reporters Gabi Smith-Rosario and Mary Majerus-Collins, both of Connecticut, wrote a package of stories about a new statue placed in the State Capitol in Hartford -- the first in more than a century. It honors Prudence Crandall, a teacher in the 1830s who integrated her school for girls and got run out of town for it.

Australian junior reporter Alex Patrikios adds a tale of interning at a Melbourne newspaper and getting the chance to sit in media tycoon Rupert Murdoch's very own chair there. He wasn't in it at the time.

Finally, senior cartoonist Justin Skaradosky, also from Connecticut, weighs in with a cartoon about the war on terror.

It's a great issue. Go read it.

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Copyright 20086 by The Tattoo. All rights reserved.

Two new issues of The Tattoo online now

2008-09-22T18:49:00.004-04:00

We have published two more issues that are chock full of advice on how to survive high school. In our September 15th issue, you'll find two Justin Skaradosky cartoons making fun of motivational posters, a piece by Wisconsin teen Emily Mongan about Freshman Kill Day, an essay by South Africa's Mariechen Puchert urging teens to make friends to cope with high school, Tennessee teen Sarah Heath's warning not to make your life an after school television special and West Hartford, Connecticut teen Wesley Saxena's sage advice on the bridge into high school. "It Ain't Like In the Movies," warns Mariah Pulver of Arizona.
In our September 22nd issue, you can read about how teens in Kuwait scrape by during the hunger of Ramadan, thanks to Sana Ali's report. Also featured in the issue are New Jersey teen Shekinah-Glory Dhanie-Beepat's take on homeschooling, another Justin Skaradosky cartoon, Katie Grosser's piece from Germany about being the new foreign kid in school, Harsha Mishra's account from India about the horrors of acne, Georgia's Donicea Johnson's advice to freshmen to get involved and Zhu Qin Zhe's personal tale of making a choice in China.
Talk about spanning the globe!
We have dozens of new writers who are dripping with talent so, please, keep an eye on what they do in the weeks and months ahead.

September 22nd issue and September 15th issue.

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Copyright 2008 by The Tattoo. All rights reserved.

More back to school advice from The Tattoo

2008-09-08T14:27:00.000-04:00

On the heels of last week's all-Olympics special issue, this week we return to tradition to offer a new Insider's Guide to High School installment, the 20th issue we've devoted to back to school advice over the years. We'll likely have another back to school issue next Monday, too.

This week's issue includes useful advice from teens in Italy, South Africa and the United States. It features two new cartoons from the talented Justin Skaradosky as well.

There's also a review of "No Child..." -- a play currently on stage at TheaterWorks in Hartford, Connecticut -- by two veteran writers for Youth Journalism International, Wesley Saxena and Kiernan Majerus-Collins.

We hope you'll enjoy it.

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Copyright 2008 by The Tattoo. All rights reserved.

Another monster hurricane heads for New Orleans

2008-08-30T23:16:00.002-04:00

As Hurricane Gustav heads inextricably toward the Gulf Coast, taking aim at New Orleans, this seems an opportune time to recommend once again the brilliantly written, moving and insightful journals that Louisiana teen Samantha Perez wrote for us beginning the day that Hurricane Katrina rolled ashore. You can read them here.
For those who are wondering, we don't know how Samantha is faring this time. We've tried to contact her, so far without success. But we are thinking of her and her family as another storm bears down on her hometown.

Our official policy: We hate blogs.
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Copyright 2008 by The Tattoo. All rights reserved.

Tatto summer party underway in Connecticut

2008-07-06T17:15:00.004-04:00

Here's a first picture from this year's annual Tattoo Summer Party in West Hartford.
From left to right: Nicole Bernosky, Sarah Jordan, Katie Jordan, Teague Neal, Luke Pearson, Stefan Koski and Kiernan Majerus-Collins. Katie Haire showed up shortly afterward.

Our official policy: We hate blogs.
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Copyright 2008 by The Tattoo. All rights reserved.

New issue of The Tattoo features the story of a teen who survived a deadly twister

2008-06-04T17:54:00.003-04:00

When a half mile-wide tornado ripped through tiny Parkersburg, Iowa recently, it left much of the town in ruins, five dead and a high school torn to bits.
As the wind howled, 16-year-old Krista Kannegieter huddled in the basement with her parents, listening to a sound “like a freight train” rumbling overhead.
Veteran Tattoo writer Beth Pond tells Kannegieter’s story in this week’s issue of The Tattoo teen newspaper, online at ReadTheTattoo.com.
Also in our new issue is a review by Rachel Glogowski of “The Milk Train Doesn’t Stop Here Anymore,” a Tennessee Williams play now at Hartford Stage and another stellar cartoon by Justin Skaradosky.
Take a look at what these talented teens are doing and let us know what you think. We welcome constructive criticism, tips, advice, help and kind words for our young writers. We’re also eager to round up any talented teens in your life, anywhere in the world.
Keep reading in the days and weeks ahead. There’s much more to come.

Our official policy: We hate blogs.
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Copyright 2008 by The Tattoo. All rights reserved.

Another new issue of The Tattoo is online now

2008-05-19T22:39:00.003-04:00

Our new issue features the latest, and perhaps final, installment of Louisiana writer Samantha Perez's stunning diary of coping with Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath. Don't miss it -- and if you haven't read her journal, grab a box of Kleenex, clear your calendar and do it. It's an extraordinary tale of courage and hope in the midst of one of the nation's worst natural disasters.
The new issue also has a solid news story by Connecticut's Rachel Glogowski about teen driving, a fascinating take on voting by London teen Louisa McIndoe and a new cartoon by Justin Skaradosky.
There's also a little story about The Tattoo's on air experience with Hartford radio wizard Colin McEnroe, who's also a darn fine writer with several books and many articles to his credit.
At the station, Tattoo writer Luke Pearson got to meet one of the radio personalities he likes. Here they are:

Tattoo writer Luke Pearson and Jenny Boom Boom, of Hartford's radio station Hot 93.7.

Our official policy: We hate blogs.
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Copyright 2008 by The Tattoo. All rights reserved.

Tattoo writers on the radio Wednesday

2008-05-13T14:25:00.003-04:00

Tattoo writers will be among the teen journalists that WTIC-AM radio host Colin McEnroe plans to have on his show starting at 3 p.m. Wednesday. It's possible to listen live online here no matter where in the world you may be.
What are they going to talk about? Journalism. School. Life. Whatever. It'll be fun because McEnroe has a quick wit and a solid background in journalism. He still writes a column and a blog for The Hartford Courant.
If you can listen, do. And, hey, don't hesitate to call in, too!

Our official policy: We hate blogs.
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Copyright 2008 by The Tattoo. All rights reserved.

New Tattoo issue ranges from Myanmar to West Hartford

2008-05-12T12:39:00.002-04:00

In our new issue at ReadTheTattoo.com, Youth Journalism International’s young writers have delivered a wide-ranging assortment of stories, pictures and cartoons.
Singapore teen Geraldine Soon wrote months ago about her journey to Myanmar long before this month’s cyclone ripped through a wide swath of that poverty-stricken but beautiful place. Check out her account – and luscious pictures – as well as her opinion piece on what’s happened there in recent days.
West Hartford writer Kiernan Majerus-Collins has a hard-hitting opinion piece calling for schools – and students – to stop using “gay,” “fag,” and “homo” as casual slurs. Don’t miss it.
There are also two new cartoons from the talented Bristol artist Justin Skaradosky, one on proms and one on school funding, and a solid news piece from Beth Pond about the effort to help Darfur one empty bowl at a time.
There’s also a review by Bristol’s Rachel Glogowski of the stage production of “The Bluest Eye” that you won’t want to miss.
Thanks for reading The Tattoo. Please don’t hesitate to let the young people in your life know about us. We’re always looking for talented teens anywhere in the world.
We’re also always eager for constructive advice, tips or even donations that will help The Tattoo continue to offer the best teen journalism in the world.

Our official policy: We hate blogs.
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Copyright 2008 by The Tattoo. All rights reserved.

RIP, Dith Pran

2008-03-30T09:09:00.005-04:00

In the days before Cambodia collapsed into chaos and death, New York Times photographer Dith Pran had to choose whether to join his family in exile or stay on to record the scene. He decided to stay, a move that put him in the middle of a four-year journey through the Khmer Rouge hell that descended on his country, an odyssey portrayed in the harrowing film "The Killing Fields."
After his escape, he became a staff photographer for the Times and a champion for his countrymen and against genocide.
There can be few journalists whose decision to cover the news has brought so much pain with it. But in that crucial moment when Dith picked duty over safety, he showed for all time his strength and character. No doubt he would have picked differently had he known everything that would follow, but he knew it wouldn't be easy. He is a hero.
Here is the Times story about Dith's death today.

Our official policy: We hate blogs.
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Copyright 2008 by The Tattoo. All rights reserved.

New issue in the works for Monday. Don't miss it.

2008-03-22T23:06:00.002-04:00

Just so you know... watch for a new issue of The Tattoo on Monday! Here's a new Justin Skaradosky cartoon to get you in the mood:

By Justin Skaradosky/ ReadTheTattoo.com

Our official policy: We hate blogs.
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Copyright 2008 by The Tattoo. All rights reserved.

Halls of Shame adds two from New Jersey

2008-02-27T13:25:00.002-05:00

It’s been awhile since we’ve inducted anyone into our Halls of Shame for tossing the First Amendment out the schoolhouse window.
But it’s time to turn up the heat again.
Publication of The Pioneer student newspaper at New Jersey’s Clearview Regional High School has been held up this week because school administrators don’t like an editorial cartoon that takes aim at anti-sex education activists, according to a story in the Gloucester County Times.
The cartoon shows a Teen Prevention Education Program volunteer “being burned at the stake by two Pure Pioneers, designated as such by their pioneer-style caps. The Pure Pioneers is a group of parents that has been vocally opposed” to the teen program that has older students educating younger ones, with teacher supervision, the paper reported this week.
“Once the administration caught wind of what we were doing, they brought in an attorney and now the issue is in prior review," senior Jordan Rubin told the paper. “This is the first time in The Pioneer's history that we've been in prior review and considered for censorship."
It’s unclear why school leaders got so freaked out about the cartoon since the district’s attorney wouldn’t talk, citing “attorney-client privilege,” the paper said. That the attorney obviously doesn’t comprehend that he works for the taxpayers, not some backward school superintendent doesn’t seem to matter. And the censors themselves? They had nothing to say.
There's nothing quite like censors who are so contemptuous of freedom that they don't even see a need to explain their thinking, such as it is.
So let’s honor Principal Kevin Kitchenman and Superintendent John Horchak with a spot in our Halls of Shame. They apparently would rather dishonor the Bill of Rights than tell some mouthy parents to back down and get out.
Instead of showing students what it means to live in a free country, they’re busy teaching their community that censorship is fine, that students have no right to an opinion and that the Bill of Rights doesn’t apply in Harrison Township, New Jersey.
We hope that the student paper will go to print quickly when officials realize how badly they’ve screwed up.
And we trust that the student journalists who are trying to do what newspapers should will realize that they’re entirely in the right in this dispute. Don’t back down, kids.

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Copyright 2008 by The Tattoo. All rights reserved.

Tattoo cartoonist has many talents

2008-02-15T11:07:00.001-05:00

Take a look at what talented Tattoo cartoonist Justin Skaradosky can do:

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Copyright 2008 by The Tattoo. All rights reserved.

Afghan soccer player

2008-02-11T14:17:00.001-05:00

Those of you who read Katie's Jordan's pieces in 2004 might enjoy knowing what's happened to one of the girls who played on the Afghan team that Katie wrote about. The New York Times has a story, pictures and video online today.
What's particularly interesting for The Tattoo is that the girl that Katie talked to four years ago, who lived in Afghanistan, is now going to school in New Jersey with one of our Tattoo writers today, Kathryn Middleton. It's funny how things turn out.

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Copyright 2008 by The Tattoo. All rights reserved.

Teen writers focus on Obama vs. Hillary

2008-02-06T08:45:00.000-05:00

Mary Majerus-Collins/Tattoo photo

Teens at a Hartford rally for Barack Obama: (left to right) Abigail Oliveras, Devin Smith, Theresa Govert, Amanda Smith, all from East Haddam, Conn.

It wasn't easy, but our young writers churned out four stories Monday night about Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama's election eve rally in Hartford to complete our latest issue. Talk about deadline pressure!
The issue also has two stories about Hillary Clinton's campaign that reporter Rachel Glogowski wrote last week. (They've been posted at http://www.readthetattoo.com/ for the past seven days, in case you happened to see them already.) We also have two stories from the other side of the world with teens from Kuwait and Afghanistan reacting to the killing of Benazir Bhutto.
One of the two, newcomer Sana Ali, drove through Karachi that night and saw cars burning and eerily empty streets. It's a striking reminder that politics isn't the same everywhere.
Daniel Lee, a California teen, weighed in as well with an analysis of President Bush's final State of the Union address last week.
We do want to brag just for a bit, though, about the way our Connecticut crew came through after the Obama rally. Writers Beth Pond of Bristol and Wesley Saxena, Luke Pearson, Kiernan Majerus-Collins and newcomer Mary Majerus-Collins, all from West Hartford, collaborated to compile four different stories between 9 and 11 Monday night that covered the story pretty well. Check out their work and you'll see why we're so happy.
As always, we welcome constructive criticism, tips, suggestions, donations, and help of any sort.
Please feel free to forward this to anyone in your life who might like to see what our young writers can do -- teachers, journalists, other teens, parents, counselors, anyone who needs a window into the world of young people.

Our official policy: We hate blogs.
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Copyright 2008 by The Tattoo. All rights reserved.

Watch on Super Tuesday for The Tattoo's coverage!

2008-02-04T23:57:00.000-05:00

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama in Hartford on February 4, 2008.

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Copyright 2006 by The Tattoo. All rights reserved.

Watch for The Tattoo's take on Hillary

2008-01-28T20:40:00.000-05:00

Tattoo writer Rachel Glogowski and Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton in Hartford on January 28, 2008.

Watch The Tattoo for Glogowski's account of Clinton's campaign stop in Connecticut. It's coming soon!

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Copyright 2008 by The Tattoo. All rights reserved.

The Tattoo will be rocking!

2007-12-14T09:30:00.000-05:00

At least a few Tattoo writers are planning to attend a human rights rock concert in West Hartford Saturday afternoon, to write about it and to talk with students there about The Tattoo.
Jackie Majerus and Steve Collins, who run The Tattoo, will also be on hand to tout both The Tattoo and Youth Journalism International, a soon-to-be nonprofit that will kick all of this up a notch.
So stop by and say hey! We'll be at Webster Hall at the town hall in West Hartford, Connecticut from noon to 7 p.m., listening to great music for a good cause and talking about this wonderful thing we do.

If you want to buy tickets ahead of time, here's the link.

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Copyright 2007 by The Tattoo. All rights reserved.

The Tattoo zooms to new heights in Spain

2007-11-10T23:04:00.000-05:00

The American Embassy in Spain thought so highly of what its counterpart did in Poland to promote The Tattoo -- and who can blame them? -- that it just reprinted the wonderful writeup from the Polish issue of Zoom in on the USA for all of its readers in Spain. We're now on the front page of the October 2007 issue in Spain.
We're hoping that lots of American Information Centers around the world follow suit. Lord knows there's nothing better to be said about America than that it's home to ReadTheTattoo.com!

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Copyright 2007 by The Tattoo. All rights reserved.

Norman Mailer died today

2007-11-10T10:42:00.000-05:00

One of America's great writers -- and, occasionally, a great journalist -- died this morning in New York. Norman Mailer is too often ignored by younger readers and too little prized by older ones.
Just to stick to the journalism side of this heavyweight author, check out his fabulous Armies of the Night, Of a Fire on the Moon The Executioner's Song and Oswald's Tale: An American Mystery.
An inventor of the New Journalism, a founder of The Village Voice, a hipster novelist with a raging ego, Mailer lived a life just this side of Hunter Thompson, but left a body of work that far exceeds the gonzo great.
He'll be missed by anyone who cares about writing, journalism or America.

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Copyright 2007 by The Tattoo. All rights reserved.

Tattoo alum to cover higher education in North Carolina

2007-11-08T07:47:00.000-05:00

Amanda Lehmert, one of our bright shining stars, is leaving the Cape Cod Times this month to begin reporting about higher education for the Greensboro News and Record. She's slated to begin there on Nov. 26 - just in time for the holidays.
We wish Lehmert lots of luck in her new position, where she'll be working with another great Tattoo alum, Joe (Wilbur) Killian.
Greensboro's gonna kick some ass.

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Copyright 2006 by The Tattoo. All rights reserved.

Finnish school shooting

2007-11-07T21:36:00.000-05:00

The news that an 18-year-old gunned down seven other students and a principal in Tuusla, Finland today brings home yet again the horror of mass murder in a schoolhouse. It's a subject The Tattoo has covered quite a bit over the years and perhaps it's helpful to point the way to the stories we've done on the issue.
You can find them here.

Our official policy: We hate blogs.
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Copyright 2007 by The Tattoo. All rights reserved.

Don't miss Springsteen, Cows and Daisy at ReadTheTattoo.com

2007-10-14T13:00:00.000-04:00

The Tattoo rocks -- and you can, too!
In our new issue, join rookie Tattoo writer Luke Pearson at Opening Night of the new tour by Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band. Luke takes you on stage in Hartford, talks to famed guitarist Nils Lofgren and finds the Magic in last week's performance by Springsteen and the band.
But, naturally, that's not all. Two other West Hartford, Conn. Tattoo writers, Wesley Saxena and Kiernan Majerus-Collins, provide a mooooooving account account of the Cow Parade that's invaded their hometown.
And Bristol, Conn. Tattoo writer Rachel Glogowski gives a solid thumbs-up in her review of a new production of "Driving Miss Daisy" that's currently showing at TheaterWorks in Hartford.
In case you missed it, The Tattoo also had a new edition last month of its terrific Insider's Guide to High School series, featuring advice pieces by Kathryn Middleton, Carolyn Liu, Rachel Glogowski and Donicea Johnson, along with cartoons by Julia Reichard and Justin Skaradosky.
There are stories, reviews and more at www.ReadTheTattoo.com from as long ago as 1994 that are well worth exploring. Don't hesitate to stay awhile looking around in our vast website and to savor what these talented teens have done.
We love to hear from readers so if you have tips, story ideas, constructive criticism or messages to pass on to our writers, please write to us at thetattoo@gmail.com.
If you know any teens with an interest in journalism, be sure to point them our way. We're always looking for recruits.
Thanks for reading!

Our official policy: We hate blogs.
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Copyright 2007 by The Tattoo. All rights reserved.

Back to school again!

2007-09-03T17:43:00.000-04:00

By Justin Skaradosky/ The Tattoo

The all-new 2007 edition of The Tattoo's Insider's Guide to High School is online now. As always, it's full of great advice for anybody who's heading to high school (especially freshmen, of course).

In this year's edition, there are three -- yes, three -- cartoons. Justin Skaradosky chipped in two while Julia Reichard produced another.

There's a great overview piece by Caroline Liu -- who also gave us some wonderful photos -- as well as Kathryn Middleton's advice to "crack your shell" if you want to get the most out of the high school experience. And Donicea Johnson recommends seeking your passion.

Rachel Glogowski weighs in with a piece on what it's like to have a sibling suddenly tagging along.

From Peshawar, Pakistan, Edrees Kakar points out that playing sports is a great way to make friends. (I can't help adding that joining The Tattoo is a great way to make friends, too, and some of them will be half a world away!)

Don't miss all the earlier advice The Tattoo's provided in seven previous years' worth of back-to-school issues. It's a real wealth of information.

Our official policy: We hate blogs.
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Copyright 2007 by The Tattoo. All rights reserved.

See Tattoo alum Amanda Lehmert take to the sky!

2007-08-23T21:10:00.001-04:00

If you go online right now --- www.capecodonline.com -- you can view clips from Cape Cod Times' reporter Amanda Lehmert's flight with the stunt pilot. It's awesome -- and she didn't lose her lunch!

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Copyright 2007 by The Tattoo. All rights reserved.

Charging more for journalism degrees?

2007-07-29T14:07:00.000-04:00

As part of a trend among public universities in the United States to charge students in certain disciplines more than those studying other areas, Arizona State University has begun slapping an extra $250 charge per semester on journalism students.
That's an amazing development - charging students more to study stuff that will help them get jobs in one of the worst paying fields in our entire economy. The kids really should rebel.

Our official policy: We hate blogs.
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Copyright 2006 by The Tattoo. All rights reserved.

Harry Potter casts worldwide spell

2007-07-22T23:17:00.000-04:00

Just a quick note to say that The Tattoo has just published a comprehensive Harry Potter issue at www.ReadTheTattoo.com that includes reviews of the final book, all five movies, several essays, a cartoon, and some pictures of the weekend hoopla. Don't miss it.

Our official policy: We hate blogs.
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Copyright 2007 by The Tattoo. All rights reserved.

Pearl Harbor survivor talks with The Tattoo

2007-07-02T14:08:00.000-04:00

Tattoo writer Beth Pond and Pearl Harbor survivor Everett Hyland, a former radioman 3rd class, who served on the U.S.S. Pennsylvania the morning of the attack. He was badly wounded in the Dec. 7, 1941 air strike by Japanese planes on the U.S. Pacific Fleet.

In a new issue online now, catch Beth Pond's piece on visiting Pearl Harbor and talking with two eyewitnesses to the attack in 1941. Pond also has a review of the new movie "A Mighty Heart."
In addition, don't miss newcomer Julia Reichard's cartoon about socialite Paris Hilton and Kiernan Majerus-Collins' photographs of a high school jazz band performing yesterday at the Iowa City Jazz Festival.

Our official policy: We hate blogs.
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Copyright 2006 by The Tattoo. All rights reserved.

Thanks to The Tattoo from an El Salvador teen

2007-06-17T22:53:00.000-04:00

Our hearts were truly touched the other day when Oscar Ramirez let us know that he mentioned us in the valedictorian address he gave to his school in San Salvador recently.
In his speech, Ramirez told his classmates, among much else, that he appreciated Jackie Majerus and Steve Collins, "editors of a newspaper based in Connecticut which published my articles during these years. They are not here today, but thank you for igniting my passion for journalism."
In his note to us, he said, "You , your family and your newspaper have truly been an inspiration to my life. I only wish you could have been at my graduation ceremony to say it to you in person. Strangely enough , I felt your presence. I guess a part of you and of The Tattoo became a part of me after joining. I'll never forget."
Really, his words put a lump in our throats.
Never did we imagine that a kid in El Salvador would be thanking us at a high school graduation ceremony there. It says more about The Tattoo and its far-reaching influence than it does about us, but it's still impossibly delightful that Ramirez honored us at that moment.
We're lucky to have had him as a writer and even more lucky that he became, across all these miles, a friend.

Our official policy: We hate blogs.
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Copyright 2007 by The Tattoo. All rights reserved.

Looking for Tattoo alumni

2007-06-15T20:47:00.000-04:00

Hey everyone - We're looking for everbody who's ever written for us, or taken a picture, or drawn a cartoon. We want to keep in touch with you -- and keep you up to date with what's happening in the newspaper that you all did so much to create.
So, alumni, if you're not hearing from us once in awhile, or even if you are, drop us a line and let us know what you're doing and where you are. We're naturally curious. But you know that.
We want to hear about your jobs, your loves, your kids, your apartments and homes, everything. Tell us what's going on!

Our official policy: We hate blogs.
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Copyright 2007 by The Tattoo. All rights reserved.

The Tattoo's big in Poland today

2007-05-11T06:53:00.000-04:00

The American Information Resource Centers at the U.S. consulate in Krakow publishes a monthly magazine, Zoom in on America, that aims to educate Poles about the United States and help them learn English. It's mostly targeted at teens, our favorite group of people, and it's pretty solid and professional.
But this month, Zoom in on America put out its best issue yet because it features ... us!
Check it out here (in PDF form).
The May issue is devoted to "Youth Journalism in the USA" and covers the subject well. It helps, of course, that the front page focuses entirely on The Tattoo, the biggest and best writeup we've ever gotten. (The Harvard Advocate, a literary magazine, is the only other publication featured in the issue. It's older than The Tattoo, and a tad more renowned, so we don't mind sharing the limelight with it.)
We're happy to get such a nice writeup. As an added bonus, perhaps we'll end up with some new writers from Poland soon.

Our official policy: We hate blogs.
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Copyright 2007 by The Tattoo. All rights reserved.

RIP David Halberstam

2007-04-23T19:33:00.000-04:00

One of America's best journalists, David Halberstam, died today in an automobile crash in California. He started his career as a chronicler of the Civil Rights movement, produced sterling reporting from Vietnam, and wrote a number of brilliant books during his long career.
Halberstam truly was one of the best and the brightest.
His loss is immeasurably sad.

Our official policy: We hate blogs.
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Copyright 2006 by The Tattoo. All rights reserved.

The Tattoo hangs with "Simpsons" writer Mike Reiss

2007-04-23T13:08:00.000-04:00

L to R: Justin Skaradosky, Tattoo cartoonist; writer Mike Reiss; and Tattoo writer Beth Pond.

We here at Tattoo Central had a great chance last week spending some time with Mike Reiss, a Bristol, Conn. native who's been writing for "The Simpsons" since it went on the air nearly two decades ago. Reiss provided plenty of grist for fans of the show as well as giving solid tips for young people who might want to follow the path he took to success.
Be sure to check out www.ReadTheTattoo.com for stories by Beth Pond and Rachel Glogowski.
Also in this week's edition is an eye-opening essay by Australian teen Rebecca Baylis on the pressures of senior year and a review of Fall Out Boy's latest album by Alabama teen Mallory Mitchell.

Our official policy: We hate blogs.
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Copyright 2006 by The Tattoo. All rights reserved.

El Salvador news story wins major award

2007-04-19T00:12:00.000-04:00

Tattoo writer Oscar Ramirez, from San Salvador, collected a first-place newswriting award in the Scholastic Press Forum's annual contest last month for his stellar story last spring about a day care provider on the lam from the police after a baby died in her unregistered shelter.
The Tattoo published a detailed story by Ramirez, in both English and Spanish, that told about life in the shelter -- including photographs -- and laying out what happened afterward. It was a timely scoop on a big story in Central America.
We're proud of Oscar and glad his work got some recognition.

Our official policy: We hate blogs.
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Copyright 2007 by The Tattoo. All rights reserved.

Two issues from April online now

2007-04-19T00:06:00.000-04:00

Catch up with The Tattoo!
This month, we've had two great issues.
On April 2, we published a piece from Trinidad teen Kate Agard about how she spent the wild days of Carnival on her island paradise, a review of "Freedom Writers" by Connecticut teen Beth Pond, a piece by Singapore teen Geraldine Soon about meeting up with one of The Tattoo's writers from India, a review of "I Spy" photographer Walter Wick's recent museum exhibit, and a new cartoon by Justin Skaradosky that our Bristol-based readers will especially appreciate.
This week, in addition to the pieces by teens in Blacksburg, Va., we have Kate Agard's cautionary tale about getting drunk, a news story by Beth Pond about Kurt Vonnegut's death, a news story by Sean Soltys about the new Everest Expedition rollercoaster at Disney's Orlando, Fla. amusement park and another wonderful cartoon by Justin Skaradosky.
We'll have more soon, so keep checking back!

Our official policy: We hate blogs.
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Copyright 2006 by The Tattoo. All rights reserved.

Blacksburg teens react to Va. Tech shooting spree

2007-04-19T00:01:00.000-04:00

Four students at Blacksburg High School, just down the road from the Virginia Tech campus, wrote pieces this week for The Tattoo detailing their horror at events the massacre in their hometown. Another student's piece will be added soon.
The teens, two sophomores and two seniors, help shed some light on how the tragedy hit home to young people for whom Virginia Tech is part of the landscape.
Another teen from their school, a senior, found he couldn't write anything. Two of his friends died at the hands of a crazed gunman.
Be sure to check out what these teens had to say at www.ReadTheTattoo.com.

Our official policy: We hate blogs.
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Copyright 2006 by The Tattoo. All rights reserved.

Freedom on the line in Indiana

2007-04-06T15:12:00.000-04:00

It is time for everyone who cares about the First Amendment and a free press to stand up for Amy Sorrell, the Woodlan Junior-Senior High School journalism teacher in Indiana.
Sorrell received notice on March 29 of her possible terminations as a teacher for allegedly violating school rules because she stood against the outrageous censorship of a student’s column that called for tolerance toward gays.
According to a story published by the Student Press Law Center, students refused to print the paper, The Tomahawk, at all after Principal Edwin Yoder insisted on future prior review of all articles.
Sorrell, showing ingenuity and smarts, began teaching the students First Amendment cases with an eye toward making suggestions for a revised district policy on student publications.
“Changing ‘the prescribed curriculum’ was one violation noted in the letter along with her alleged use of the district's e-mail system to transmit ‘false or misleading statements to the media,’ casting Yoder ‘in a false light’ and her refusal to retract and replace the Tomahawk's current editorial policy,” the SPLC said.
"The journalism program...would be better served by replacing you with a teacher willing to work collaboratively with, not in conflict with, the building administrator in carrying out the prior review curriculum requirement for school sponsored publications," the letter said, according to the SPLC story.Sorrell said that the district, East Allen, “is trying to turn this into a personnel issue," but it’s not. "This is about East Allen's stance on tolerance and disregard for the First Amendment," she told the SPLC.A hearing, which Sorrell asked to take place in public, is expected soon, with a final decision likely at the May 1 school board meeting.
This is as sickening an abuse of power by a wayward principal as we’ve seen.
Not content with just censoring a perfectly reasonable column, Yoder is now taking aim at a teacher who is not just good, but great. She’s teaching her students – and the rest of us – that standing up for freedom demands that we take on tyrants, whether they’re commanding armies of evil or running schools like private fiefdoms.
This isn’t a personnel issue. It’s about whether or not the schools, students and teachers in East Allen, Indiana will taste the liberty that nourishes our country or if they’ll be forced to bend to the dictates of a principal with no principles.
The world is watching.
Amy Sorell is worth a million Edwin Yoders.

Our official policy: We hate blogs.
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Copyright 2007 by The Tattoo. All rights reserved.

ReadTheTattoo.com censored in China

2007-03-16T17:23:00.000-04:00

We never knew that The Tattoo threatened the communist leadership of China, but it turns out that touting a free press is apparently too subversive a concept.
According to the Great Firewall of China web site, which tests whether websites can be seen in China, readthetattoo.com is off limits to a quarter of the world's population.
Fortunately, our clunky alternative URL -- http://home.comcast.net/~majerus-collins/homepage.htm -- remains accessible, though all of the pictures are stripped away, including our cool new masthead.
So we're glad to have some readers in China. We admire your intrepid use of the internet and, yeah, we do think there ought to be a free press in China, and everywhere else.

Our official policy: We hate blogs.
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Copyright 2006 by The Tattoo. All rights reserved.

The Tattoo and Samantha Perez win national awards

2007-03-05T17:46:00.000-05:00

The Suburban Newspapers of America recently honored The Tattoo's terrific Hurrican Katrina writer Samantha Perez for turning out the best feature journalism in the country for larger daily newspapers last year. The judges could not have chosen more wisely.
The Tattoo itself got a third place for Young People's Coverage. It won in 2002 and 2005.
The advertisement above appeared in The Bristol Press today, which is nice, too.

Our official policy: We hate blogs.
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Copyright 2006 by The Tattoo. All rights reserved.

More on Fort Wayne travesty

2007-02-28T18:55:00.000-05:00

For allowing students to print a thoroughly reasonable school newspaper column advocating tolerance on gays in the school paper, teacher Amy Sorrell received a written warning for "insubordination and not carrying out her responsibilities as a teacher," according to the Journal Gazette of Fort Wayne, Ind.
She was threatened in writing with "disciplinary action or possible termination should another incident like this occur," the paper said.
God forbid she should again allow the publication of inoffensive columns advocating tolerance.
This is a picture perfect example of why school administrators should have absolutely nothing to do with newspaper content. They apply ridiculous reasoning to apply warped political views on student journalists.
Sorrell did her job well. Her "superiors" are the ones who ought to be terminated.

Our official policy: We hate blogs.
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Copyright 2006 by The Tattoo. All rights reserved.

Halls of Shame comes to Fort Wayne

2007-02-21T17:35:00.000-05:00

Just when I thought America's school administrators were turning a new leaf, along came Edwin Yoder, principal of Woodlan Junior-Senior High School.
After 10th grader Megan Chase wrote a column calling on people not to look down on gays, Yoder came down on her.
According to Kelly Soderlund's account in The Journal Gazette of Fort Wayne, Ind., Yoder read the piece and immediately issued an order to journalism teacher Amy Sorrell that he sign off on every future edition. Obviously, columns advocating tolerance have no place in HIS school's paper.
The staff of the Tomahawk, showing just the kind of gumption we love to see among high school journalists, sought out legal help to fight this jerk.
So Yoder issued a written warning against the teacher for “insubordination and not carrying out her responsibilities.”
He accused her of exposing his students “to inappropriate material” and warned her to comply or she could be fired, according to the newspaper’s account.
It must have been something heinous for Yoder to take such an extreme stand, right?
Well…. Here is the opinion column that put a teacher's job in jeopardy:

We live in a world where we grow up being taught that it is only acceptable for a boy and a girl to be together. So how do you think you would feel if as you grew older and more mature you started noticing people of the same sex as you, rather than the opposite? I can only imagine how hard it would be to come out as homosexual in today's society. I think it is so wrong to look down on those people, or to make fun of them, just because they have a different sexuality than you. There is nothing wrong with them or their brain; they're just different than you. I've heard some people say that they think there is a cure to being homosexual. I can't believe anyone would think that. It's not a disease, or something that you catch from someone else; it's something that they don't have control over. In saying that, I also believe that homosexuality is not a choice. Almost everyone that I talk to says that a person chooses to be gay or straight. That, again, is something that I believe to be very wrong. If people made the choice to be homosexual, there wouldn't be anyone who committed suicide because they were too afraid of what people would think of them, and kids wouldn't be afraid of being disowned if they came out to their parents.There is also the religious aspect to the argument, where people say that if someone is homosexual, they are automatically sent to hell. To me, that seems extremely unfair. So what are homosexual Christians supposed to do? The answer that I constantly get to that question is, ''Just don't acknowledge that they're homosexual and live a 'normal' life.'' Excuse me? So they're just supposed to never find a partner, or marry someone of the opposite sex, have kids, and pretend they're ''normal?'' I don't think that's right, or fair. I wouldn't want to believe in something that would condemn me over something that I didn't even choose.It is fact that as many as 7.2 million Americans under the age of 20 are homosexual, and of those that have already come out, 28% of them felt compelled to drop out of school due to the constant verbal assault that they experienced after people found out. Now, if you think that is terrible, this is even worse: According to pflagupstatesc.org, every day 13 Americans from the ages of 15-24 commit suicide, and homosexual youths make up 30% of the completed suicides. I don't understand why we would put so much pressure on those people, that they would feel that they have to end their lives because of their sexuality. Would it be so hard to just accept them as human beings who have feelings just like everyone else? Being homosexual doesn't make a person inhuman, it makes them just a little bit different than the rest of the world. And for living in a society that tells you to always be yourself, it's a hard price to pay.

Sorell told the Fort Wayne paper she ''didn't think anybody would be upset about it'' at all, because, of course, there was no reason anyone should be upset.
This has all become an amazing example of how out-of-control principals can clamp down on freedom.
Sorell and the paper deserve the support of every freedom-loving American.
And Yoder, well, he just earned a place in our hallowed Halls of Shame. Congratulations!

Our official policy: We hate blogs.
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Copyright 2007 by The Tattoo. All rights reserved.

Tattoo alum Joe Killian probing big breaking news

2007-01-24T22:07:00.004-05:00

Shortly after midnight Saturday, outside a dorm on a normally quiet Quaker college in Greensboro, N.C., at least three football players cursed and hit three Palestinian students with fists, feet and brass knuckles, according to police.
"These people who beat me I had never seen before in my life," victim Omar Awartani told reporter Joe Killian of the Greensboro News & Record. "They just began insulting us, calling us 'dirty,' 'terrorists' and 'sand niggers.' We tried not to fight them; we did not insult them back, but they beat the hell out of us."
Joe, a night cop reporter, broke the story and he's been on it ever since, trying to find out the truth about what happened at Guilford College.
The story has appeared around the world, horrifying readers.
It's particularly big news in Ramallah, the West Bank town where the three students hail from. But bloggers and journalists everywhere are examining the incident to see what larger messages it carries.
But Joe's doing the real work. He's getting the story, rooting around to find witnesses, to figure out exactly what happened and why. He's doing what good reporters do - to search through the murkiness to find the truth, and tell it to a wary world.
This week, we're particularly proud of Joe, whose work for The Tattoo helped make it something special years ago. He's been our friend, and a mentor to budding journalists, ever since.
Go read what he's writing about this awful episode of hate and violence in a place that's supposed to be devoted to the Quaker ideals of peace and justice. It's good stuff.
http://www.news-record.com

Our official policy: We hate blogs.
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Copyright 2007 by The Tattoo. All rights reserved.

Halls of Shame, Part 10

2007-01-18T22:49:00.000-05:00

The St. Francis High School newspaper, The Crier, this week has a big blue box on its front page with these words listed inside: “Originally a photo was to be placed here, but was censored by the administration.”
The Anoka County, Minnesota paper had planned to run a picture from a school play that appeared to show the destruction of an American flag, though it was really only bunting.
In the picture, which the St. Paul Pioneer Press published on its website, actress Becca Bennett can be seen holding the red, white and blue bunting in shreds, from a scene meant to depict “how a country could be torn apart by affecting the youth.”
It’s actually a pretty good photograph.
As the Pioneer Press reports: “According to a front-page article written by Editor in Chief Eric Sheforgen, who also took the picture, as well as an editorial in the paper and a statement made today by the editorial board, Principal Paul Neubauer threatened the paper with legal action and froze its funds after the paper gave him a heads-up that they were planning to run it.”
Neubauer, like sissy principals everywhere, dodged the Pioneer Press reporter who tried to get him to explain his actions.
But the school superintendent, Ed Saxton, told the paper the photo was “like a quote being taken out of context.”
“That particular picture, although it’s a snapshot of what was in the fall play, standing in isolation, it could be taken in many different ways. It could be pretty offensive to veterans or people who served in the military. It’s kind of a community standards thing,” Saxton said.
What’s especially amazing about this censorship is that the district actually has a pretty good policy on this sort of thing. It reads, “Official school publications are free from prior restraint by officials except as provided by law.”
That makes it, by law, an open forum that school administrators can’t touch.
So St. Francis High School has the right policy. It just has the wrong principal – and the district has the wrong superintendent.
What’s important to “veterans and people who served in the military” is that America remains free. That’s why they fought and that’s why so many have died on so many battlefields across the globe.
They didn’t sacrifice so that Neubauer and other censorious jerks could treat our freedom as if it were a dirty napkin to be tossed in the trash can.
But let’s give Neubauer and Saxton some credit. It’s not every day that school administrators earn a spot in our Halls of Shame, but today, this pair of doozies made the cut. Congratulations, guys!

Our official policy: We hate blogs.
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Copyright 2007 by The Tattoo. All rights reserved.

Why we write news

2007-01-13T19:54:00.000-05:00

One of the many woes that comes from young people's abandonment of newspapers is that far too many of them haven't got a clue what news is anymore.
So let's take a quick look at news.
News is, at its root, a story about what's new. It can be a thrilling story or a dull one, depending on who's writing it and, to an extent, what it's about. It's hard, for example, to write a gripping tale about the changing price of cattle futures from day to day -- unless a reporter happens to find someone who made, or lost, a bundle on them. But for the mainstream press -- which includes The Tattoo -- news generally aims to tell something interesting, not just potentially useful.
News can be written with verve, even with spunk, but it has to be fair to all sides. It has to try to tell the truth about the story, to give an honest account of what happened and why. It relies on what witnesses, officials and experts tell reporters, who have to talk to everyone they can in the time they have and then pare it all down into a story that informs readers about something that matters. It gives the who, what, where, when and why, but it also should find the hook to make it all matter to a harried reader.
At The Tattoo, we mostly focus on news that young people would find most interesting, but our readers obviously include all ages.
So what's the difference between news and opinion? Sometimes, not all that much, if the writer isn't particularly opinionated. But the idea of an opinion piece is to try to convince readers of a particular point of view. A news story tries instead to lay out the facts in an unbiased way so that readers can draw their own conclusions.
It's harder to write news than it is to tap out a column or a personal essay because news is not about the person who writes the story. It's about the story itself. Reporters are only visible to the degree they're good, or bad, at what they do.
But what writing news does is unimaginably important for anyone who believes in democracy. News stories are the only source of information that even attempt to say what's happening without bias, partisanship or an agenda to push. It's the vital, beating heart of a free society.
And it should alarm everyone, old and young, that it's getting harder and harder to find legitimate news in the morasse of sloppy information that permeates the web.
At The Tattoo, we're trying to uphold the standards and values of the golden age of newsapers, to teach young writers that writing a good news story is ultimately more valuable than churning out more entertainment goo.
The Tattoo is about more than news, naturally. But writing news is why we're here. It's what our writers need to master. It's what makes The Tattoo special. News is our thing. We just need more of it.

Our official policy: We hate blogs.
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Copyright 2007 by The Tattoo. All rights reserved.

High schools need to rock and roll

2007-01-08T22:51:00.000-05:00

The Tattoo's got a scoop today from America's coolest deejay, Little Steven Van Zandt.

In a Tattoo exclusive, reporter Zach Brokenrope breaks the news that Van Zandt, a rock and roll legend, is planning to put the music that made him a star into the curriculum of high schools from sea to shining sea. Van Zandt is a prophet of rock 'n roll, a true believer in the power of music to remake the world.

And as the guy who led the anti-apartheid music movement in the 1980s, which helped to free Nelson Mandela and South Africa itself, Van Zandt may be on to something.

In any case, check out the fabulous stories that Brokenrope brought back from Van Zandt's New York City studio, where "Little Steven's Underground Garage" takes to the airwaves each week. It's great stuff, including audio clips and our first-ever Tattoo video.

This is great journalism on a great subject. Don't miss it.

Our official policy: We hate blogs.
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Copyright 2007 by The Tattoo. All rights reserved.

Halls of Shame, Part 9

2007-01-05T18:21:00.000-05:00

Princeton High School Principal Ray Spicher is off to a good start in the new year, earning his way into The Tattoo’s Halls of Shame by censoring a student’s opinion piece that criticized the school’s none-too-good football team.
According to Denise Smith Amos’ story in the Cincinnati Enquirer, Spicher made the staff of Odin’s World “rip out two pages” from its December issue to remove a piece by 17-year-old Evan Payne that criticized the football team for its third straight losing season.
It’s probably no coincidence that the team’s coach is married to the school board president.
Payne told the Enquirer that he tried to write a solid, professional opinion piece.
“I knew it would probably make somebody mad, but for them to cut it out it completely threw me off guard,” Payne told the daily.
Evan’s mother, Paula Payne, wrote in a letter to the school board that her son’s article “merely questions the team’s choice of offense by pointing out the sub par results of the scheme. We contend that this is far from bashing. These are fair questions that could be raised by any sports journalist, high school or professional.”
Spicher, proving once again that he’s not a big fan of words, declined to comment to the Enquirer.
The district’s superintendent, Aaron Mackey, is naturally taking a stand in favor of censorship.
He said he is “taking additional actions to make sure the publication better reflects the district’s attitude and values,” according to the Enquirer. “He is making a district spokeswoman an adviser to the magazine and changing policies to make it clear that advisers can censor articles.”
Mackey said that Payne’s article would have damaged morale, because it is one student or group of students criticizing another group.
“We felt the kid was putting himself out there for some serious ridicule potentially,” Mackey told the paper. “You’re dealing with a very large football squad, not in stature but in numbers. You’ve got one kid putting his neck out there. It may not be in his best interest to have that article. This is not a threat, but it creates an attitude and a situation between kids. You’d have a lot of staff noses out of joint as well.”So there’s a great lesson to learn, too. If a kid has the courage to write the truth – that a football team sucks – it’s best to censor the piece than to protect the writer from what might be a mythical threat.
At a time when American troops are fighting and dying every day to protect America’s cherished freedoms, it’s especially sickening to see men like Mackey and Spicher casually toss the First Amendment in the nearest trash can.
Let’s hope that Payne and Odin’s World keep trying to do journalism with courage and insight, whatever their misguided elders say.
And let’s hope that Americans as a whole have more respect for the Bill of Rights than these school officials at Princeton High who need a good civics lesson.

Our official policy: We hate blogs.
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Copyright 2007 by The Tattoo. All rights reserved.

Scenes from The Tattoo's Christmas Party, 2006

2006-12-30T23:06:00.000-05:00

Stefan Koski

Sam Yosafi

Beth Pond

Mike Nguyen

Amanda Lehmert

Brian LaRue and Katie Haire.

The whole gang, minus those who left early. :)

Rachel Glogowski

Teague Neal

Zach Brokenrope and Courtney Pendleton.

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Copyright 2006 by The Tattoo. All rights reserved.

Christmas in the parish

2006-12-28T20:24:00.000-05:00

What the heck does Samantha Perez, right, have on her hands? Truffles.
Yes, it's Christmas in Louisiana, and The Tattoo's accclaimed hurricane diarist has a new entry, about her first Yule back in the old home in St. Bernard Parish. It's another sign of hope and recovery in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Don't miss her story at www.ReadTheTattoo.com.
Also in our new issue is a Justin Skaradosky cartoon and Mallory Mitchell's first piece, a profile of an Alabama ballplayer.
Keep an eye on The Tattoo in the coming days as well. Zach Brokenrope's got some great stories from the Underground Garage that can't be missed.

Our official policy: We hate blogs.
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Copyright 2006 by The Tattoo. All rights reserved.

Coming soon: Little Steven talks to The Tattoo

2006-12-28T13:50:00.000-05:00

Tattoo writer Zach Brokenrope and 'Little Steven' Van Zandt in the studios of the Underground Garage in New York City.

Watch The Tattoo in the coming days for much, much more!

Our official policy: We hate blogs.
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Copyright 2006 by The Tattoo. All rights reserved.

"Poison bullets"

2006-12-17T10:18:00.000-05:00

Tattoo alum Amanda Lehmert, a reporter for the Cape Cod Times, has an extraordinary, important two-day series starting in today's issue of the Massachusetts daily.

Here's the main story: How tungsten missed the mark . This is how the story begins:

When the 211th Military Police battalion fired the Army's new ''green bullets'' at Camp Edwards in 1999, it was supposed to mark a turning point in a long history of military pollution at the Upper Cape base.
The 5.56 mm tungsten-nylon ammunition was heralded by Army brass as a nonpolluting and nontoxic alternative to the standard-issue lead bullets regulators considered a threat to the drinking water supply beneath the Upper Cape.
But a year after those first rounds were fired, Army researchers discovered that tungsten powder in the bullet leached through sandy soils - the type of soil that covers Cape Cod. The finding exposed the risk that tungsten could leach through soil and into the aquifer under the base - the region's primary source of drinking water.
A Cape Cod Times investigation has found Army officials never told the Massachusetts Guard or environmental regulators about those alarming findings. And when subsequent research further proved the tungsten-nylon bullet was anything but environmentally friendly, Army officials remained silent.
While the evidence against the new bullets mounted behind closed doors, soldiers training at Camp Edwards continued to fire the tungsten-nylon ammunition. By the end of 2003, troops had fired 687,478 rounds on base firing ranges - introducing nearly a ton of tungsten into the environment.

If you go to the front page of the Cape Cod Times's website today -- capecodonline.com -- you'll find an audio interview with Amanda, a video about the issue, more stories and even a little bio page that tells a bit about Amanda and others who contributed to her project.

We're unbelievably proud of what Amanda's done and encourage everyone to read it. This is great journalism from a terrific reporter.

Our official policy: We hate blogs.
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Copyright 2006 by The Tattoo. All rights reserved.

Shopping at amazon.com?

2006-11-22T23:35:00.000-05:00

We're not encouraging you to shop at amazon.com. But if you're going to do it, or you know anyone who is, The Tattoo can get some of the profits that would otherwise have gone to amazon. And we do know that The Tattoo needs the money more.
So if you are going to shop at amazon.com, go to ReadTheTattoo.com first and click on the Amazon ad on the right side of our home page. It'll take you directly to the amazon.com website and you or anyone can proceed to shop normally there. The only difference is that The Tattoo will get something like 5 percent of what you spend. It will cost you nothing, just shift some of the profits on any sales from them to us.
So keep that in mind if it has any bearing on your life.
And let friends and family who might shop at amazon.com know about this, too. It's a simple way to help keep The Tattoo thriving.
We appreciate your help!

Our official policy: We hate blogs.
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Copyright 2006 by The Tattoo. All rights reserved.

Playing around on Thanksgiving

2006-11-22T23:31:00.000-05:00

By Rachel Glogowski
The Tattoo
For my 12 younger cousins and I, today – the Wednesday before Thanksgiving – is a time of preparation.
Although most of us cousins don’t do an extreme amount of cooking for Turkey Day, we prepare in our own way for another family tradition – the annual Thanksgiving Play.
The Play, which deserves a capitalized title, is a cute little production that has been performed for the adults for many years on the Saturday after Thanksgiving.
You see, on the Friday after Thanksgiving, my dad’s entire side of the family goes up to Vermont, where my aunt and uncle and two of my cousins live.
We run through the script, mostly written by my two younger cousins and I, on Friday and Saturday. Then it is performed in the basement, which has ample seating for the many adults that watch, after dinner on Saturday night.
Over the years, the play has snowballed – it keeps getting longer, more creative, and more intricate as Thanksgivings pass.... Click here to read Glogowski's entire Thanksgiving story

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Copyright 2006 by The Tattoo. All rights reserved.

The Tattoo gets a thumbs-up from the Center for Parent/Youth Understanding

2006-11-21T14:00:00.000-05:00

"Begun in 1994 with a small group of teen writers in Bristol, Connecticut, The Tattoo has grown into a widely respected online teen newspaper with writers from around the world. The site is filled with articles on every topic of interest to teenagers. A great window into the adolescent world and worldview."

-- Center for Parent/Youth Understanding

That's a pretty nice nod of recognition. We appreciate it.

Our official policy: We hate blogs.
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Copyright 2006 by The Tattoo. All rights reserved.

Windows on the world

2006-11-21T06:54:00.000-05:00

Port Saint Lucie, Florida

Above is the view from Tattoo alum Eric Simmons' window in Port Saint Lucie, Florida. It's the first of what we trust will be many photographs taken by Tattoo staff, alumni, friends and readers across the globe. If you'd like to join our effort to show the world one little piece at a time, send us a digital picture of the view out YOUR window. Just tell us where you are and, if you like, your name. You can email the photographs to thetattoo@gmail.com.

We'll soon have a special page devoted to what we get at www.ReadTheTattoo.com. Thanks.

Our official policy: We hate blogs.
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Copyright 2006 by The Tattoo. All rights reserved.

Sign up for The Tattoo's mailing list

2006-11-20T17:58:00.000-05:00

Find out what's going on with The Tattoo!
We're setting up a new mailing list to let loyal readers know when new issues or special stories are available online. We'll only send something about about once a week except in the rarest of circumstances.
We'll keep your email address private. Nobody else will see it. Just us.
Help us serve you by signing up now to receive Tattoo updates in your inbox. Just follow this link -- http://groups-beta.google.com/group/Readers-of-TheTattoo -- and click on the "Join This Group" link on the right side of the GoogleGroups page you reach.
Thanks for your support!

Our official policy: We hate blogs.
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Copyright 2006 by The Tattoo. All rights reserved.

Another Tattoo issue hits the streets

2006-11-20T17:47:00.000-05:00

Featuring two journals, a profile, a cartoon and a review of "Stranger Than Fiction," there's a variety of material in this week's great new issue.

Tattoo writer Rachel Glogowski, one of our Bristol contingent, turned out both the review and a journal about the end of marching band season on Thanksgiving Day, when the two rival Bristol schools face off in the decades-old rivalry at historic Muzzy Field.

Another Bristol writer, Beth Pond of St. Paul Catholic High School, wrote a profile of a teen who's turning heads as a twirler.

There's also a journal from Miami writer Jenny Coloma, who writes movingly about her mother. Don't miss it.

Oh, yes, and there's also Justin Skaradosky's cartoon.

ABOVE: Jenny Coloma.

Another Justin Skaradosky cartoon published today

2006-11-20T17:42:00.000-05:00

For a whole lot more of Justin Skaradosky's work, check out www.ReadTheTattoo.com. You'll find our writer's index on the right side, about halfway down. Just look up Skaradosky to see all of this cartoons. And poke around. There's an awful lot of other great stuff!

A potential Halls of Shame contender

2006-11-15T20:57:00.000-05:00

In the Raleigh (N.C.) News & Observer photograph to the right, Stephanie Moreno, center, is handing out what may be the last uncensored copies of the Holly Springs High School paper, The Hawkeye.
According to a Nov. 15 news story in the Raleigh daily, the school's principal, Luther Johnson, plans to start reviewing the paper before it goes to press to make sure it is "factual and reflects our school ... in a relatively positive light."
The young journalists who turn out the paper aren't stupid. They know what he means -- and they don't like it.
"I don't want to turn it into fluff," Kathryn Watson, 15, a sophomore and editor in chief of The Hawkeye told the Raleigh newspaper.
According the News & Observer story, which is particularly well done, "Students at Holly Springs High were glad administrators didn't review their first two editions. In those issues, The Hawkeye told about construction delays, gas leaks and water leaks since the school opened in August. Other stories and editorial cartoons focused on rules typically found in elementary schools, such as how to walk and which side of the stairs to use."
Jennifer Hall-Lewis, adviser for The Hawkeye, told the newspaper that other teachers have joked to her about when she will be fired.
Hall-Lewis said, according to the Raleigh paper, "parents have praised the newspaper for providing a balanced view of the school. But Johnson, the school's principal, said parents and teachers have complained that the newspaper isn't portraying the school in a positive enough light."
The News & Observer said that Johnson is meeting with Hall-Lewis next week to discuss the student newspaper and says he hasn't made up his mind, though the six other Wake County principals he asked for advice all told him they already censor their students' papers.
It doesn't look promising.
But perhaps Johnson will see the light.
The Raleigh paper talked to Steven Unruhe, adviser to The Pirate's Hook at Riverside High School in Durham, who said censorship typically makes newspapers so boring that students don't want to read them.
Unruhe told the News & Observer that in his 16 years at Riverside High, he's never had a principal yank a story.
As a result, he told the paper, The Pirate's Hook covers topics such as profanity, public displays of affection and other R-rated behavior at school.
"If you want to know what kids think, you've got to let them write about it," Unruhe told the News & Observer, proving he's one of the great student paper advisors.
Riverside High Principal James Key told the News & Observer that he isn't always thrilled with what he reads in The Pirate's Hook. But, he told the paper, he weighs the controversial topics, including criticism of himself, against all the good he says the newspaper does for the school.
"I'm not going to squelch an article simply because it looks unfavorably upon the school," Key told the Raleigh newspaper. "It may help bring to light something that's not widely known by administrators."

If only there were more principals who think like Key and fewer who hold students and parents in such contempt that they would rather hide the truth than face it.

Another young writer censored

2006-11-15T20:42:00.000-05:00

A couple of weeks, a student reporter named Kelly-Anne Howe was at an Edward Milne Community School Halloween dance when she suddenly and unexpectedly found herself in the middle of some breaking news.
As she wrote for the Sooke News Mirror in British Columbia, despite the presence of "four police officers" to keep things on the straight and narrow "more drunk kids got through the Sooke cops then ever before."
She reported that four students were caught drinking by teachers and a chaperone "found a mickey of Smirnoff raspberry in the girl's bathroom."
Needless to say, in today's no-tolerance world, some students got in big trouble.
Of course, though, administrators cared more about Ms. Howe's reporting the news than they did about the students drinking.
According to the Sooke News Mirror, Ms. Howe "was taken to task for writing what she thought was an event that had serious consequences for the student body as a whole and the drinking teens in particular."
She was reprimanded, the paper reported today, "and received a far harsher punishment than the students who were sent home from the dance. She has been barred from writing about what she sees and hears in the school."
As the Sooke News Mirror rightly points out, "To limit what a student can write about is censorship and as editor I will not condone such a tactic from the school or from anywhere else. To limit what a student can participate in for fear of a unflattering story takes censorship too far. Things happen in schools, in town, everywhere and to stick one's head in the sand and pretend everything is perfect is just plain silly."
The Sooke News Mirror says it "stands behind our young reporter and we are watching to see what happens. If she has been threatened in any way, by anyone, for her writing, then something is terribly wrong on some level in the community."
That's the spirit. Don't give up, Ms. Howe. The truth will prevail and the censors will lose. They always do.

Our official policy: We hate blogs.
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Copyright 2006 by The Tattoo. All rights reserved.

Going to Guatemala and more in The Tattoo's new issue

2006-11-13T10:16:00.000-05:00

There's another great Justin Skaradosky cartoon, of course, but the November 13, 2006 issue also has a freshman diary by North Carolina's Taylor Isenhour, a profile of a Maine teen by Sebastianne King and a terrific travel piece by Oscar Ramirez, a Tattoo writer in El Salvador. Ramirez wrote about the historic city of Antigua, Guatemala and took a slew of photographs, too. If you have a high-speed Internet connection, be sure to check out all of the pictures on his Antigua picture page (the link is at the bottom of his story). It's another wonderful issue that deserves your attention.

Halls of Shame, Part 8

2006-11-01T21:54:00.000-05:00

There must be something up in Florida because yet another principal there has gone out of his way to enter our Hall of Shame.
This time, the student journalists of the “PawPrint” at Deltona High School haven’t had the chance to print their latest issue because Principal Gary Marks is slowly, slowly, slowly reviewing EIGHT different pieces to see if they meet his no doubt high journalistic standards.
Among the stories, according to the Daytona Beach News-Journal, is one about the resignation of the school’s football coach, always a touchy subject. Another controversial piece is an editorial calling for the arrest of four students involved in a car crash that killed a freshman at the school. And then there’s a column about Satanism, which is always fun.
But we know what it’s really all about.
As the Daytona paper put it: “Irate student editor Eric Ritter, a senior, said the school can't handle criticism so it censored the students' articles. As an example, Ritter pointed to an opinion article he wrote scolding the school for purchasing a $700 television for the front office while teachers face limits on the numbers of photocopies they are allowed to make. ‘This is them covering themselves because they don't want parents to read that they're spending money on things that aren't necessary,’ the 17-year-old said.
Now you just know that’s what got to censorious Mr. Marks. There’s nothing like blowing the whistle on a $700 tv set for the front office to guarantee trouble with the administration.
And you have to love Eric Ritter, who seems to have both the poise and the news sense to make it in the news biz.
So, Mr. Marks, you probably won’t see this on your big new tv, but congratulations on your new induction into the Hall of Shame that we here at The Tattoo created to honor jerks in positions of authority who have no respect for freedom of the high school press.

PS: Hey, Eric, come write for The Tattoo!

Our official policy: We hate blogs.
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Copyright 2006 by The Tattoo. All rights reserved.

Halls of Shame, Part 7

2006-10-28T22:19:00.000-04:00

We knew it couldn't last. The school year has gone on a long time without some horse's ass masquerading as a principal taking a whack at the First Amendment.
But William Orr, principal of Tampa's Hillsborough High School, managed to step into the gap and earn his position in our Halls of Shame recently.
According to the St. Petersburg Times, the most recent issue of the school paper, Red & Black, has "a gaping hole on page 3" and a note stapled to the each copy saying the missing piece was "deemed inappropriate."
Mr. Orr, of course, did the deeming.
Was he axing some juvenile humor? No. A sickening invasion of privacy? No. A hideously reported and probably libelous story? No.
Instead, he took a razor to Editor-in-chief Emily Matras' piece on the sadly dramatic divide between white and minority student achievement on state standardized tests.
According to the St. Petersburg paper, her article "used government-provided numbers on Hillsborough High students" and also mentioned that test scores are linked with income nationally.
The story even quoted Mr. Orr "on the complexities of the issue and the school's efforts to 'raise the achievement of all students,'" according to the St. Petersburg Times.
Mr. Orr refused to let it run.
He told a St. Petersburg reporter that the barred news item had "a potential to hurt students' self-esteem."
"I don't think it's the job of the school newspaper to embarrass the students," he said.
I suppose, too, that the Red & Black should not report when the school's athletic teams lose, since God knows that can be embarassing as well.
Mr. Orr seems to have a reality problem. The scores are what they are. Erasing them from print doesn't change the facts.
And who was he really trying to protect from embarassment? Students? Or the principal whose school isn't doing well enough in educating minority students?
What's truly embarassing is not that Hillsborough students have the same test achievement gap that hits too many schools -- mostly for reasons beyond the control of educators. It's that it has a principal without principles.
Mr. Orr, read the First Amendment and ponder what it means. If we can't tell the truth about what's going on, whether it's in Washington or Hillsborough High, then we're not free.
We'd like to think Mr. Orr's idea of protecting "self-esteem" by keeping facts at bay doesn't even begin to approach the proven value of a free press.
So hold your head high, Mr. Orr, and walk proudly through our Halls of Shame. You've earned your place.
And to the student journalists at the Red & Black, keep trying!

Our official policy: We hate blogs.
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Copyright 2006 by The Tattoo. All rights reserved.

New issue this week!

2006-10-24T23:07:00.000-04:00

In the hustle and bustle of the past two days, I forgot to post here that we have a new issue online now.
It features a news story by Rachel Glogowski about the mysterious deaths of a family of ducks at Bristol Eastern High School; the first of what we hope will be a series of journals about getting braces, by Wesley Saxena; Josh Gales' account of going to the X Prize Cup this past weekend; and Billy Knox's review of a must-see movie, "The Green Mile."
Don't miss it!

Our official policy: We hate blogs.
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Copyright 2006 by The Tattoo. All rights reserved.

Tattoo nabs scarecrow award

2006-10-23T19:48:00.000-04:00

A talented Tattoo crew consisting of Beth Pond, Justin Skaradosky, and Ryan and Rachel Glogowski patched together a "Couch Potato" scarecrow for the first-ever Forestville Village Association Scarecrow contest held Saturday. The Couch Potato got many laughs and won second place in the 'most original' category. Much fun was had by all. Below are some pictures from the contest:

"Couch Potato" on the scene at the scarecrow festival.

The Mum Lady scarecrow, appropriate for Bristol.

The robot scarecrow that, deservedly, captured the 'most original' category.

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Copyright 2006 by The Tattoo. All rights reserved.

The Tattoo's rocket man

2006-10-22T22:33:00.000-04:00

Tattoo writer and photographer Josh Gales ventured to New Mexico for the X Prize Cup this weekend, where he saw astronaut Buzz Aldrin, rockets firing off into the sky and a host of marvels. You can read his account of some of his adventures at www.ReadTheTattoo.com

Above, by the way, is his picture of a Tripoli rocket blasting off. Below is a picture of Josh in the cockpit of an Albatross.

Mourning a heroic colleague

2006-10-07T17:10:00.000-04:00

One of the world's bravest and best journalists, Anna Politkovskaya, a special correspondent for the Novaya Gazeta newspaper in Russia, was shot in the head by an assassin today outside her apartment. It appears that one of her enemies put out a contract on her life.
Ms. Politkovskaya, 48, brought news to the world of the nightmares in Chechnya, a Russian province that's been ripped asunder by war for more than a decade.
She was an outspoken hero in the human rights movement that has helped so many to freedom across the globe, including her own land.
Mikhail Gorbachev, the former Soviet Union president, told the Interfax news agency that her death “is a blow to the entire democratic, independent press. It is a grave crime against the country, against all of us.”
All of us, indeed. Not just her fellow Russians, but all who care about freedom and the press have suffered a blow.
She should have had many, many more years.

We haven't forgotten Aurora!

2006-10-03T15:37:00.000-04:00

Zach Brokenrope, standing in the middle of Aurora, Nebraska's main street downtown.

Okay, we know we promised a full report on our August trip to Aurora. We'll get to it soon. We promise. Meanwhile, here's a picture of our intrepid Tattoo reporter risking his life in the heavy traffic of downtown Aurora on a weekday morning.

Watch for more. It's coming.

A Tattoo Halloween

2006-10-03T14:53:00.000-04:00

The Tattoo on the farm: (Left to right) Mike Nguyen, standing; Jason Brown, Merissa Mastropiero, Kiernan, Sarah Jordan, Mary and Katie Jordan enjoy a chilly fall afternoon at Roberts Orchard in Bristol, Conn. Note the carved pumpkin in the background that says "The Tattoo.".

Back in October 2000, The Tattoo joined in a pumpkin carving contest at Bristol's wonderful Roberts Orchard. Though we weren't the best, as anyone can see, we came away with a prize of some sort. It was a fun time for all. And my how things have changed since then. Merissa and Jason are married and living in the great Southwest. Sarah's graduated from UConn. Mikey's nearly done with his studies at Boston University and Katie's a sophomore at UConn.
Kiernan and Mary, well, they're a lot bigger.

Voice of America quotes Samantha Perez's Hurricane Journal

2006-10-02T09:25:00.000-04:00

Voice of America reporter Ted Landphair took note of The Tattoo's own Samantha Perez's words in his report to the world from St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana. Check it out at:

Katrina-Ravaged St. Bernard Parish Far From 'Up and Running'

Our official policy: We hate blogs.
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Copyright 2006 by The Tattoo. All rights reserved.

Jack Lautier, friend of The Tattoo, dies at 53

2006-09-21T12:06:00.000-04:00

Among the friends who lent us moral and practical support for The Tattoo over the years is Jack Lautier, a Bristol Press sportswriter. He never hesitated to help us out in a jam, offer encouraging words or speak with young reporters.

Today, we are mourning after Jack's death.

Though he never smoked and always took care of himself, Jack died of lung cancer Wednesday after fighting the awful disease since last winter. He leaves behind two teenage sons and a wife, all of them terrific people.

This isn't the place to tell about Jack's life, but we want to note for everyone that we lost a friend of The Tattoo and are feeling sad.

If you want to read about Jack's life, please see Jackie Majerus' two stories in today's Bristol Press. Here are the relevant links:

BRISTOL – Facing what he called the fight of his life, sportswriter Jack Lautier stood strong and battled with everything he had. cont'd at:

Longtime sportswriter succumbs to cancer

BRISTOL - Sportscasters and fellow journalists who still rely on his definitive books on the Hartford Whalers paid tribute to Jack Lautier, the award-winning sportswriter and author who died Wednesday. cont'd at:

Lautier was passionate about Hartford hockey

And here is the obituary from today's newspapers:

John “Jack” Victor Lautier, 53, died Wednesday, Sept. 20, 2006, at his home in Southington after a valiant battle with lung cancer. He was a non-smoker.
Born December 12, 1952 in Torrington, Jack was the son of Rose and John Lautier.
He married Janice Sierchio on April 20, 1985 at the Avon Old Farms Inn in Avon, and with her, proudly raised two sons, Jackson Patrick and Jarrett Nolan, both currently students at Southington High School.
Growing up in Torrington, Jack developed an incredible, lifelong passion for sports that culminated in a career as an author and award-winning sports journalist.
He was an amazing statistician, learning baseball scorekeeping at the age of five.
A New York Yankees fan, he often enjoyed attending Old Timer’s Day at Yankee Stadium with his wife in their early years of marriage.
His love for hockey eclipsed all other sports. He began playing it as a youth, when he and his friends skated on the pond in Torrington.
He was a devoted fan of the Hartford Whalers and believed the team never should have left Connecticut.
Jack covered hockey as a reporter and author, but continued to enjoy playing the sport himself, last taking to the ice in mid-December.
He wrote seven books, most of them about the Whalers, but his first book was a collection of Red Sox stories. His interest in history was reflected in his books.
He wrote Fenway Voices; Baseball’s Hometown Heroes of New England; Whalers Trivia Compendium; Fifteen years of Whaler hockey: The history of the Hartford Whalers; Off Broadway, a Season with the Hartford Wolfpack; Forever Whalers: From Abrahamsson to Zuke and, with co-author Frank Polnaszek, Same Game, Different Name: The History of the World Hockey Association.
More than playing hockey or covering games, Jack was a devoted husband and father. He loved nothing more than watching his sons in their own games on the baseball field and on the ice, sometimes traveling to out of state venues just to see them play.
Jack attended St. Peter’s School in Torrington and graduated from Torrington High School and the University of Connecticut with degrees in English and business.
He began working as a sportswriter for the Hartford Times in 1975 after graduating from UConn and then took a sportswriting job at The Bristol Press when the Hartford paper closed the next year. He worked at the Press for the rest of his life.
He spent his working life covering local, state and national athletes and sports with compassion and respect for the game and its players and coaches.
He was an avid member of the Southington YMCA, where he enjoyed sharing stories with friends while working out.
Besides his wife and sons, Jack leaves his mother, Rose Lautier and a brother Dennis, both of Torrington; a brother and sister-in-law, James and Diane Lautier of Windsor; his mother-in-law, Violet Sierchio, of Southington; a sister and brother-in-law, Ellen and Robert Messina of Windsor, two nieces, Holly Messina of Boston and Heather and Marc Dlugolenski of Windsor Locks; and an aunt, Jean DaRoss of Litchfield.
Calling hours will be today from 5 to 8 p.m. at the Della Vecchia Funeral Home at 211 N. Main St., Southington. The public is invited to attend a Mass of Christian Burial on Friday at 10 a.m. at St. Thomas Church, 99 Bristol St., Southington. Visit http://www.dellavecchiafh.com/ for more information. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the American Cancer Society, 583 Preston Ave P.O. Box 1004 Meriden, CT 06450-1004.

Our official policy: We hate blogs.
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Copyright 2006 by The Tattoo. All rights reserved.

Our favorite action hero: Joe Killian

2006-09-17T17:44:00.000-04:00

One of the great things about the web is that it makes indulging your interests so much easier than in days gone by. Have a thing for Frank Sinatra? There are a thousand websites devoted to him. Want to know more about raising llamas? Just Google it. And even better, for those who like to share their hobbies and loves, you can always start your own website.
Joe Killian, Tattoo alum, has just begun yet another new website - www.comixunderworld.com - to share his affection for high quality comic books.
While our own fascination with comics extends only to the ever-shrinking Sunday comics -- and childhoods spent reading about Archie, Betty, Veronica and Jughead -- we'll admit that Joe's new site is sort of cool. Oh, OK, it's way cool. If you're into comics or just want to see what Joe's doing when he's not searching the blotter for an interesting cop case to write about, go check it out.

Our official policy: We hate blogs.
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Copyright 2006 by The Tattoo. All rights reserved.

Relive the biggest controversy The Tattoo created

2006-09-17T13:29:00.000-04:00

Eight years ago, two Tattoo writers -- Amanda Lehmert and Joe Wilbur (now known as Joe Killian) -- headed out to report on the annual Miss Mum pageant in Bristol. They returned with a scathing report on the event.
We published it, of course, along with a pro-pageant piece by another fine Tattoo writer, Hila Yosafi.
The phones started ringing immediately and angry letters to the editor followed quickly.
Carmel Waldron of Bristol, for example, denounced Lehmert, Wilbur and the paper for printing "despicable trash" about the pageant, the city, the mayor, the emcee, a former Miss Bristol, a fomer Miss Mum "and all of the contestants."
"Where do these two teenaged reporters get off disrespecting our Mayor?" asked another reader, Stacie Roberge, who also wrote, "Where did they learn to disrespect young women by negatively referring to the color of ones hair or size and shape of their bodies? These kinds of negative comments only perpetuate these stereotypes. Did they learn this at home? From their peers?... from their teachers and mentors? Giving an opinion is one thing, trashing respected officials and people you don't even know, is totally uncalled for and downright rude. Do these two reporters have any idea how much courage and hard work it takes to get up on a stage, in front of an auditorium full of people and still remain calm and poised? As they sit behind their computers, I suppose they don't."
Yes, the fireworks were going off everywhere, with almost nobody bothering to note that Yosafi's piece, running right alongside the one that had the pageant people all upset, was generally positive about Miss Mum and the pageant.
Personally, we always found it particularly ironic that Ms. Roberge would take aim at two high school reporters who published a tough piece for thousands upon thousands of people to read -- with their names attached to it for all time -- while griping that Lehmert and Wilbur had no idea how much courage it took to stand on the stage and answer questions.
Journalists, of course, are on a much bigger stage, and they have to pretty damn good at maintaining their poise when critics such as Ms. Roberge take aim. Thick skin is mandatory in the news business, because you can never please everyone.
It might surprise Ms. Roberge and her fellow critics to know that Lehmert is now a full-time reporter for the Cape Cod Times and that Killian is a full-time reporter for the Greensboro (N.C.) News and Record. They're both doing bang-up work.
It turns out the work they were doing that night at the pageant helped each of them find a worthwhile, if not lucrative, career.
We don't suppose those Miss Mum pageant winners are still on the stage anywhere, but rest assured that Killian and Lehmert are, and probably will be for decades to come, doing their bit to shape a nation.
In any case, take a few minutes and check out the story that started it all, along with Yosafi's piece and the letters to the editor about it. It's good reading even eight years later.

Miss Mum: much ado about nothing

Flying on 9-11

2006-09-12T14:35:00.000-04:00

Don't miss Tattoo alum Amanda Lehmert's sterling story for the Cape Cod Times on the fifth anniversay of the 9-11 attack. It's a terrific piece:

Citizen soldiers

Louisiana State Senate honors Samantha Perez

2006-09-07T21:05:00.000-04:00

To those who say politicians never do anything worthwhile, read this...

Regular Session, 2006 ENROLLED
SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 127
BY SENATOR [WALTER] BOASSO
A RESOLUTION

To commend Samantha Perez on her numerous achievements and accomplishments and on receiving the prestigious "The Professor Mel Williams Award " for writing.

WHEREAS, it is with great pride that the citizens of Louisiana have learned of the honor bestowed upon Samantha Perez for her written accounts of Hurricane Katrina; and

WHEREAS, Samantha Perez, the seventeen year-old Louisianian who is both a victim and a survivor, and an eternal optimist living amid disaster; and

WHEREAS, she recently became a celebrated high school journalist when she was honored at the International College Scholastic Press Forum for her first-hand accounts of the storm's aftermath for Tattoo, an independent teen-written newspaper based in Connecticut; and

WHEREAS, she was honored with "The Professor Mel Williams Award" at the forum which showcased the work of high school newspapers from Vermont to Ohio; and

WHEREAS, Samantha Perez stated that "Katrina" has opened a lot of doors for her, such as flying on a plane for the first time on her way to receive her award and staying in a hotel with "endless" hot water, amenities that are not included with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)-provided trailer she and her family live in while they try to re-build a home on the same lot where their original home once stood; and

WHEREAS, Miss Perez recalls first hearing about Hurricane Katrina after her high school's first football game of the season; and

WHEREAS, her family then temporarily left their home in St. Bernard Parish before the worst of the hurricane hit, and as the storm made landfall, the busy plans of this teenager in the throes of her senior year quickly took a detour; and

WHEREAS, in her columns for the Tattoo she expresses her emotions on paper during and after the hurricane, "Our home is gone. We have nothing now . . . They won't allow news crews to film or to show footage of my parish because of all the bodies floating in the rivers that used to be our streets."; and

WHEREAS, her horrific written accounts of how Hurricane Katrina catapulted her somewhat ordinary teenage life into a surreal reality touched many readers; and

WHEREAS, she knows her life changed forever with Hurricane Katrina as she continues to forge forward graduating from high school and making plans to attend college; and

WHEREAS, she now knows what it means when it is said "what doesn't kill you will make you stronger"; and

WHEREAS, the success of the state of Louisiana, the strength of our communities and the overall vitality of American Society depend, in great measure, upon young people like Samantha Perez who continue to make the best out of seemingly insurmountable situations.

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Senate of the Legislature of Louisiana does hereby commend Samantha Perez on her numerous accomplishments and wishes her much success in all her future endeavors.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be presented to Samantha Perez.

[signature]
PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE

On the first anniversary of Katrina...

2006-08-29T08:04:00.000-04:00

On a pretty normal day in Connecticut last Aug. 29, we read with growing horror about Hurricane Katrina as it stormed ashore on the Gulf Coast. The news was sketchy at best, but on discussion boards operated by New Orleans tv stations and the city's terrific newspaper, ordinary people telling what they knew made it painfully clear by mid-day that Katrina's devastation would easily surpass anything our country had seen in generations.
At Tattoo Central, we wanted someone to tell that story for us.
Lacking a single writer or photographer anywhere near the scene, we did the only thing we could do: try to recruit someone on the spot.
Figuring that a news-minded teenager might well be reading the same desperate message boards that we were scanning – they really were the only decent source of news that day – we posted a handful of pleas for any teens who had a story to tell about Katrina to contact us and write.
At 3:30 that afternoon in Louisiana, a girl named Samantha Perez entered our life.
She wrote this to us:

I was looking for news on the flooding near my home on the wwltv.com forum, hoping I'd find some better news than we were hearing from family that didn't leave the area. We left our home in St. Bernard, located in southeastern Louisiana, at 3:00 on Saturday morning, and we evacuated to Shreveport, Louisiana. I read your post in the forum, and I thought maybe I could help.

I've lived in St. Bernard parish all my life, and hurricanes are something you have to deal with here. It's part of living in this area. My entire family lives in St. Bernard, the parish that was hit the worst of all in this hurricane. The eye of the hurricane passed directly over my parish, which means our homes endured the eyewall, the worst part of a hurricane. We had the strongest winds and storm surges that broke the levees on the canals and ship channel. Water poured into neighborhoods and flooded the streets. We found out an hour ago from family that my street is under ten feet of water. I don't have a home anymore....

I've been writing stories since I was little, but my mother got angry before we left, looking for my cell phone that we were going to give my grandparents, who were also evacuating. She dumped out the bags I'd packed of my things, just dumped them on my bedroom floor. All the disks of my writing are there, under ten feet of water. We're 9 hours away from the parish now, but she's still yelling at me because I left my new senior ring on my bedroom dresser.

My parish, my home, the homes of my friends ... it's all gone. I don't know what I can do for TheTattoo, but I'd like to help tell people about what's going on. A close friend of mine lives in New York, and I tried telling her about the hurricane. She didn't understand what it means to have 12 feet of water in your streets, to have everything you have ever owned simply washed away. My family is very close and has lived here for generations. I grew up, listening to my grandparents tell stories of Hurricane Betsy in 1965 that sent people to their roofs. People went around in boats during the aftermath, taking dead bodies out of the water. Betsy was a category three. Katrina was a category five, and it hit my parish, my home, with a direct hit. New Orleans didn't take the direct hit. We did. St. Bernard parish. And all our homes are under the water because of it.

I have no home to go back to, and I'd like to write about it for your newspaper. This was the hurricane of the century, and I know that it would be a good thing if teens actually understood what happened in Louisiana. This wasn't just a "bad storm." This was a monster of a hurricane that brought total destruction to my home. My friends, family, and I have nothing left, and I'd like to help people know what really happened here during this hurricane.
Email back if you'd like me to. I'm not sure what you need. I've only heard of TheTattoo before briefly, but it'd mean a lot to write about this. Wish the best of luck to any other teens who've contacted you about this hurricane. We all need it.

- Samantha Perez

We couldn't believe it: through sheer luck, we'd found a real writer who could put our readers in the middle of it all. We grabbed at the chance, and so did Samantha.
She's kept writing, too, for all these many months of her gypsy life, giving us, and our readers, an enduring look at the emotional toll of losing nearly everything. It's been a story of heartbreak and courage, told with unimaginable skill by a genuine writer with an eye for detail.
We have no doubt that Samantha's journal is going to be read for a long time to come and are honored that The Tattoo had a role in helping her to find a worldwide audience for it.
Today, Samantha looks back over the past year in another of her wonderful entries. Please do yourself a favor and read it. Get others to read it. And if you haven't seen what she's been writing starting that awful day in August 2005, then go back to the beginning and find out what you've missed.
Make Sammy Perez a part of your heart and soul, just as we have.

Check it all out at: ReadTheTattootoo.com

Our official policy: We hate blogs.
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Copyright 2006 by The Tattoo. All rights reserved.

Garrison Keillor is a funny fellow

2006-08-27T19:59:00.000-04:00

"A Prairie Home Companion" at Tanglewood. July 2006.

Don't miss Connecticut writer Wesley Saxena's review of the live "Prairie Home Companion" show performed at Tanglewood up in the Berkshires early in July. Host Garrison Keillor proved a soothing, funny fellow and guest star Meryl Streep seemed to have a pretty good time, too. Check out Saxena's views at ReadTheTattoo.

Our official policy: We hate blogs.
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Copyright 2006 by The Tattoo. All rights reserved.

Michel Lee's Harvard Journal

2006-08-27T18:46:00.000-04:00

California writer Michel Lee has packed up and gone home from her summer program at Harvard, but she hasn't closed the book on her experience.
Read the latest posts in her "Harvard Journal" for The Tattoo to find out how come not everybody packs on the infamous 'freshman 15' while eating cafeteria food at college and why writing college applications is one of the more onerous chores for high school seniors.
Catch up with Lee's journal here:

New Insider's Guide to High School issue published

2006-08-27T15:00:00.000-04:00

Kicking off our 13th year, The Tattoo offers a new round of advice to high school students from their peers who have been there, done that.
"There’s a lot more to navigating high school then how to get from one class to the next on time, managing your time and money, getting noticed by the opposite sex, and eventually getting ready to apply to college, even though that’s what most people think about when the subject of getting through high school comes up," Tattoo writer Stefan Koski points out, before he lays out his own advice.
Oscar Ramirez weighs in to emphasize that teens should try new things so they can find out what they're truly passionate about.
Molly Horan tackles the ever-present problem of the lunch room: where to sit. Don't miss her piece.
Michel Lee offers up a list of must-have books that students, well, must have.
And the talented Justin Skaradosky rounds out the first issue of our new year with yet another of his wonderful cartoons: "When pigs fly...."
Check it all out in our August 28, 2006 issue (Vol. 13, No. 1).

Our official policy: We hate blogs.
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Copyright 2006 by The Tattoo. All rights reserved.

A new entry in Samantha Perez's Hurricane Journal

2006-08-27T14:15:00.000-04:00

Don't miss the latest piece by Louisiana writer Samantha Perez, who only recently got an Internet connection that allowed her to send this on to us:

Monday, July 3, 6:44 p.m., St. Bernard, Louisiana
Before — before the hurricane — things were different.
Everyone looked forward to July because it was so special to all of us. Almost every weekend during the summer, I would spend at the camp we had in the Violet Canal, but the Fourth of July was different. The water was different then. The water was alive that day. It was bright and it was smiling because my entire family and the people raised as my family were out on that water, cooking things on the grill and laughing.
The Fourth of July was my favorite time of the year. It meant an entire week with my cousins and my aunts with their amazing stories to tell and my uncles who give my family its magic.

Read on by clicking here: "Lost freedom on the Fourth of July"

And be sure to check back on Tuesday, when Perez weighs in on the first anniversary of the devastating storm.

Our official policy: We hate blogs.
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Copyright 2006 by The Tattoo. All rights reserved.

Read the best writing about Hurricane Katrina

2006-08-24T18:27:00.000-04:00

In the year since Hurricane Katrina slammed ashore last Aug. 29th, millions of words have been written about what happened and why. None of them are as good as the journal that 17-year-old Samantha Perez started writing for The Tattoo the day the hurricane destroyed her home in St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana.

Anyone who wants to understand what happened should read Perez's stunning, detailed, heart-tugging account at ReadTheTattoo.com.

Here's just one of the many, many comments we received from readers who stumbled across Perez's journal and coudn't stop reading: "I have just finished reading your online journal. I can hardly find the words to tell you how impressed I am. You have so much talent, and more than that, so much strength. You keep on writing. You will only get better, and I can hardly wait to read your stories. I know we don't have a clue what you and your family and thousands of your friends and neighbors are feeling, but your words give us a little insight. We pray for you, we hurt with you, and we encourage you to keep on climbing up, till you have overcome this awful thing that has happened."

The journal is long but utterly absorbing. Just make sure you have a box of Kleenex at your side before you begin.

2006 Insider's Guide available now

2006-08-21T22:37:00.000-04:00

Though there's more to come, we've started updating our comprehensive, award-winning Insider's Guide to High School. Check out Molly Horan's advice on sitting at lunch, a perennial concern for teens, and don't miss Justin Skaradosky's new cartoon. They're both available now on The Tattoo's website at www.ReadTheTattoo.com.
Poke around a bit in our Insider's Guide (currently on the right side of the home page, at the top) for years worth of knowing advice from students who have been there, with eyes wide open. It'll do any teen good.

Our official policy: We hate blogs.
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Copyright 2006 by The Tattoo. All rights reserved.

Tattoo Central moves to Nebraska, temporarily

2006-08-15T22:38:00.000-04:00

Watch this space for a behind-the-scenes look at Zach Brokenrope's hometown of Aurora, Nebraska, which is about as close to the middle of America as it gets. We're here, nosing around now. We'll let you know what we find.

Our official policy: We hate blogs.
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Copyright 2006 by The Tattoo. All rights reserved.

Get ready for school

2006-08-13T18:06:00.000-04:00

If you're thinking about the start of the new school, which is coming up all too soon for many, check out The Tattoo's comprehensive Insider's Guide to High School for great advice from peers who have been there. It's at www.ReadTheTattoo.com.

Our official policy: We hate blogs.
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Copyright 2006 by The Tattoo. All rights reserved.

Joy riding with Joe

2006-08-08T01:42:00.000-04:00

Okay, it wasn't really joy riding with Joe. It was more like hopping aboard the campaign express with an embattled U.S. senator, his wife, some aides and a few stray reporters. And it was cool.

Go along for the ride with Tattoo reporter Wesley Saxena and find out what really happens behind those tinted glass windows.

Check out the story at www.ReadTheTattoo.com.

Oh, yeah, in case you're wondering. When The Tattoo sought to interview Sen. Lieberman, he invited our reporter and photographer onto his campaign bus for a few hours and sat down for a lengthy interview just a few days ago.
His opponent, Ned Lamont, who was not particularly swamped at the moment we approached him, responded to our request for an interview with this: "You've got seven seconds." He sounded like he meant it. Lamont actually gave us more time than that, but....

Our official policy: We hate blogs.
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Copyright 2006 by The Tattoo. All rights reserved.

Tattoo tackles Leiberman-Lamont race

2006-08-05T18:36:00.000-04:00

Tattoo writer Wesley Saxena interviews U.S. Sen. Joe Lieberman on his campaign bus.

Sure, you can read about the hot and heavy race between Greenwich millionaire Ned Lamont and U.S. Sen. Joe Lieberman in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, Newsweek, Time and a thousand other publications, but WHY BOTHER? The Tattoo has the story.

Find out what makes this Connecticut Senate race so important -- and find out what the candidates told The Tattoo during the final days of the hottest political contest in America.

Check it out at www.ReadTheTattoo.com.