Six Flags story updated

SIX FLAGS OVER GEORGIA

Roller coaster reopens after fatal accident

By S.A. REID, YOLANDA RODRIGUEZ, RHONDA COOK
Published on: 06/29/08

Six Flags Over Georgia officials expect to open the Batman the Ride roller coaster Monday morning, a spokeswoman for the park said.

The amusement park in Austell opens at 10:30 a.m. "We anticipate reopening the ride today," said Hela Sheth, a spokeswoman for the park.

Asia Leeshawn Ferguson died Saturday after he and another teenager scaled two fences and entered a restricted area. Ferguson was hit by the speeding roller coaster and was decapitated.

The ride was shut down Saturday after the accident.

An autopsy on the teenager is also scheduled for Monday, said Michael Cosper, operations manager for the Cobb County Medical Examiner.

Ferguson, 17, was traveling with members of the Oakley Spring Baptist Church, which was visiting the park from Columbia, S.C.

Phone call told parents of accident

The cellphone call came just as Asia D. Ferguson and his wife, Letha, finished lunch Saturday afternoon at a picnic area beside the east parking lot at Six Flags Over Georgia, which they were visiting with a church group.

Letha Ferguson answered.

On the other end was David Jenkins, a cousin, with the news the couple's 17-year-old son, Asia LeeShawn Ferguson, had been in an accident. A horrific accident.

"Shawn," as family and friends called him, had been decapitated by the Batman the Ride roller coaster at the Austell park.

The speeding roller coaster struck the Columbia, S.C., teen as it sped through a restricted area that he and another teen entered by scaling two 6-foot fences, ignoring warning signs, police said.

On Sunday, Shawn Ferguson's relatives struggled to comprehend their loss as authorities continued their investigation and Six Flags officials prepared to reopen the 11-year-old ride Monday. It was shut down after the Saturday afternoon accident, though the park remained open.

"We're awaiting the results of the investigation. We're going to have someone investigate, too," his father said. "We're not blaming the park."

The elder Ferguson had a hard time finding the words during a cellphone conversation Sunday as he and his wife rode home with other Sunday School members from Oakley Spring Baptist, a church of about 200 members in Springfield, S.C. The 67 young people and adults had come to Atlanta on Friday to sightsee and hang out at Six Flags.

"It's really hard for me to talk right now," said Ferguson, also father to Shawn's brother, Jacolby. "I'm really upset. I lost my oldest son."

Leaving Shawn's body behind for an autopsy on Monday compounded their heartache.

"It's real tough," Ferguson said. "My wife is still crying."

Jenkins, Ferguson said, hasn't been in a mood to talk about what happened to his cousin and what led the younger Ferguson to take an apparent shortcut.

Ferguson himself is at a loss to explain it.

"You don't know what's in a teenager's mind," he said. "Teenage boys do what teenage boys do. Sometimes they make some good decisions. Sometimes they make some bad decisions."

He said his son — the fourth in line of Ferguson men named Asia — was never in trouble.

Shawn Ferguson was an average student and a rising senior at Columbia's W.J. Keenan High School.

Ferguson said his son loved PlayStation 3, working out with weights and playing basketball. He also was avid churchgoer, played the drums, sang tenor in the choir at Oakley Spring Baptist and had a love for both gospel and secular music, including rap.

"He didn't do anything wrong," Ferguson said. "He was just in the wrong place at the wrong time."

Police said the teens had been inside the park earlier and were trying to re-enter without going to the front entrance. They did not identify the other youth.

They first scaled a decorative black iron fence that circles the entire park, then a chain-link one that encircles the ride. The fences are each about 6 feet tall.

The fences are posted with signs warning of a danger zone and a "restricted area" accessible only to authorized park employees, Six Flags said in a written statement.

The Batman the Ride roller coaster travels up to 50 mph as it takes riders ski-lift style upside down and on vertical loops, corkscrews and 11-story climbs.

Neither Ferguson's companion nor any passengers were hurt when the ride struck Ferguson.

His death is the second reported in connection with the ride since 2002, when a maintenance worker was hit in the head by a rider's foot as it passed overhead. The ride opened in 1997.

Boy Decapitated at Six Flags Over Georgia

Boy Decapitated at Six Flags Amusement Park

Last Edited: Saturday, 28 Jun 2008, 4:33 PM EDT

Created: Saturday, 28 Jun 2008, 4:01 PM EDT

Six Flags Over Georgia COBB COUNTY, Ga. (MyFox Atlanta) – Investigators with Cobb County police said a boy was decapitated at Six Flags amusement park Saturday. Authorities said the incident happened just after 2:00 p.m. Saturday. A church group went to the amusement park and a group of boys with the group jumped a fence and entered an area that was marked off limits. One of the boys jumped up and tried to grab someone's feet who was on the Batman ride. The boy ended up being decapitated. Investigators did not release the boy's age, name or the name of the church the boy was traveling with.

The Dark Knight + The Office

Equals hilarity.

Stephens County, Represent!

Weezer - "Pork and Beans"

There's a fair chance you've already seen this. I saw it a few days ago and it really cracked me up. I'm not the biggest fan of Weezer, but they do have a decent amount of songs that are great.

Enjoy!

Dear Austin

Don't listen to Pat Robertson. Be their friends.


tim

Doctoral Degree Thesis Topics

Beth's brother Brandon graduated from Georgia Tech a few weeks ago. While waiting for his name to be called among the 2,000+ graduating, Beth and I had some fun reading the doctoral degree thesis papers. Here are some of my favorites:


-- "Supression of Osteoblast Activity by Disuse is Prevented by Low-Magnitude Mechanical Loading through a Bone Morphogenic Protein-dependent Mechanism"

-- "Sevine Palmitoyltransferase and Ceramide Kinase in Embryo Development of Loblolly Pine"

-- "Dynamic Mechanical Behavior and High-pressure Phase Stability of a Zirconium-based Bulk Metallic Glass and Its Composite with Tungsten"

-- "In-situ Monitoring of the Mechanical Properties during the Photopolymerization of Acrykates Resins Using Particle Tracking Microrheology"

-- "Transient Simulation of Power-supply Noise in Irregular On-chip Power Distribution Networks Using Latency Insertion Method and Causal Transient Simulation of Interconnects Characterized by Band-limited Data"

-- "Investigating Learning with Web Lectures"


But my favorite:

"The role of Heterogenic Spinal Reflexes in Coordinating and Stabilizing a Model Feline Hindlimb."

Steven Curtis Chapman's Daughter Killed

This is just awful.


Daughter Of Steven Curtis Chapman Killed
Thursday, May 22, 2008 5:59AM The 5-year-old Chinese-born daughter of Grammy-winning Christian music star Steven Curtis Chapman was struck and killed by a sport utility vehicle driven by her brother, authorities said.
The girl, Maria Sue, was hit in the driveway of the family's home Wednesday afternoon by a Toyota Land Cruiser driven by her teenage brother, said Laura McPherson, a spokeswoman for the Tennessee Highway Patrol.
The brother, whose name and exact age were not available, apparently did not see the girl, McPherson said. No charges are expected.
"It looks like a tragic accident," she said.
Several family members witnessed the accident, which happened in Williamson County just south of Nashville. The girl died later at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, hospital spokeswoman Laurie Holloway said.
In a statement, Velvet Kelm, a publicist for Chapman, said Maria was the Chapmans' youngest daughter.
Chapman, who is originally from Paducah, Kentucky, and his wife have promoted international adoption and have three daughters from China, including Maria. They also have three biological children.
The singer's Web site says the couple was persuaded by their oldest daughter to adopt a girl from China. The experience led the family to adopt two more children and create Shaohannah's Hope, a foundation and ministry to financially assist thousands of couples in adoption.
The Chapmans did missionary work at Chinese orphanages in 2006 and 2007, according to the Web site.
"After our first trip to China, my wife and I knew our lives were changing _ our eyes and hearts were opening to how big God really is, and we have wanted to experience more of that," Chapman says on the Web site.
"We've really wondered whether or not we should just go to China and stay there. But I don't think so. I believe God is saying, 'I want you to go, get your heart broken, your eyes opened, and then take this story back to the church in America and around the world."'
The 45-year-old singer also has released a book about being a father titled "Cinderella: The Love of Daddy and his Princess." He has won five Grammy awards and 54 Dove awards from the Gospel Music Association, according to Kelm. - Associated Press

Burma or Myanmar?

With the recent devastation in Burma, I've been hearing a lot of people refer to the country as it's U.N. recognized name, Myanmar. While it's okay to call it what you wish, I don't think a lot of people realize that you are making a social/political statement when you refer to the country as Burma or Myanmar.

Here's some interesting articles:

Should it be Burma or Myanmar?

WHO, WHAT, WHY? The Magazine answers...

'Burma' to the pro-democracy camp

Protest marches in Burma have entered a ninth day. But why is the country not known in the UK by its official name, Myanmar?

The eyes of the world's media are focused on Rangoon, where tensions are rising in the streets, yet news organisations and nations differ in what they call the country.

The ruling military junta changed its name from Burma to Myanmar in 1989, a year after thousands were killed in the suppression of a popular uprising. Rangoon also became Yangon.

THE ANSWER It's known as Myanmar in many countries and at the UN But the UK doesn't recognise the legitimacy of the regime that changed the name

The Adaptation of Expression Law also introduced English language names for other towns, some of which were not ethnically Burmese.

The change was recognised by the United Nations, and by countries such as France and Japan, but not by the United States and the UK.

A statement by the Foreign Office says: "Burma's democracy movement prefers the form 'Burma' because they do not accept the legitimacy of the unelected military regime to change the official name of the country. Internationally, both names are recognised."

It's general practice at the BBC to refer to the country as Burma, and the BBC News website says this is because most of its audience is familiar with that name rather than Myanmar. The same goes for Rangoon, people in general are more familiar with this name than Yangon.

But look in a Lonely Planet guidebook to Asia and the country can be found listed after Mongolia, not Brunei. The Rough Guide does not cover Burma at all, because the pro-democracy movement has called for a tourism boycott.

HOW IS MYANMAR PRONOUNCED? There are various ways 'My' may be 'mee' as in 'street' or 'my' as in 'cry' And stress can be on the first, second or third syllable How to say 'Myanmar'

So does the choice of Burma or Myanmar indicate a particular political position?

Mark Farmener, of Burma Campaign UK, says: "Often you can tell where someone's sympathies lie if they use Burma or Myanmar. Myanmar is a kind of indicator of countries that are soft on the regime.

"But really it's not important. Who cares what people call the country? It's the human rights abuses that matter.

"There's not a really strong call from the democracy movement saying you should not call it Myanmar, they just challenge the legitimacy of the regime. It's probable it will carry on being called Myanmar after the regime is gone."

Colloquial name

The two words mean the same thing and one is derived from the other. Burmah, as it was spelt in the 19th Century, is a local corruption of the word Myanmar.

They have both been used within Burma for a long time, says anthropologist Gustaaf Houtman, who has written extensively about Burmese politics.

WHO, WHAT, WHY? A regular part of the BBC News Magazine, Who, What, Why? aims to answer some of the questions behind the headlines

"There's a formal term which is Myanmar and the informal, everyday term which is Burma. Myanmar is the literary form, which is ceremonial and official and reeks of government. [The name change] is a form of censorship."

If Burmese people are writing for publication, they use 'Myanmar', but speaking they use 'Burma', he says.

This reflects the regime's attempt to impose the notion that literary language is master, Mr Houtman says, but there is definitely a political background to it.

Richard Coates, a linguist at the University of Western England, says adopting the traditional, formal name is an attempt by the junta to break from the colonial past.

The UN uses Myanmar, presumably deferring to the idea that its members can call themselves what they wish Richard Coates, Linguist

"Local opposition groups do not accept that, and presumably prefer to use the 'old' colloquial name, at least until they have a government with popular legitimacy. Governments that agree with this stance still call the country Burma.

"The UN uses Myanmar, presumably deferring to the idea that its members can call themselves what they wish, provided the decision is recorded in UN proceedings. There are hosts of papers detailing such changes. I think the EU uses Burma/Myanmar."

Other countries to rename themselves like this include Iran (formerly Persia), Burkina Faso (Upper Volta) and Cambodia (Kampuchea).

"They've substituted a local name for an internationally acknowledged one for essentially nationalistic and historical reasons."






Also:

The Burma/Myanmar Name Game

September 27, 2007 02:56 PM ET | Permanent Link

What's in a name? Plenty, when referring to the protests that are becoming increasingly violent in the Asian country being referred to as both Myanmar and Burma. Governments around the world are condemning the actions of the military junta, which started cracking down on protesters, killing at least nine people and arresting more than 100 Buddhist monks.

While some are calling the country Myanmar, others are using an older name, Burma. The BBC explained that the military junta renamed the country Myanmar in 1989 after a wave of similar uprisings a year before. The United Nations and other countries like France and Japan recognize this government; however, both the United Kingdom and the United States do not. Thus, this explains the BBC's and President Bush's usage of Burma and the U.N.'s use of Myanmar.

By refusing to call the country Myanmar, Bush is showing his distaste for the military junta that is using force against nonviolent protesters who have for 10 days taken to the streets of Yangon to express dissent for the military government's rule. The protests originated from the government's decision to hike fuel prices and have spiraled into a larger call for democracy.

— Nikki Schwab

Death Cab For Cutie - "Narrow Stairs"

Get this album.




If you're skeptical, you can stream the album HERE.