A shocking footage of police forcefully pepper spraying a group of Occupy demonstrators staging a sit down protest the University of California, Davis, has emerged.
The images of the tense standoff between police and students show an officer using pepper spray on a group of protesters who appear to be sitting passively on the ground with their arms interlocked.
Witnesses watched in horror as police moved in on more than a dozen tents erected in the campus quad drenching demonstrators with the burning yellow spray and arresting 10 people, nine of them students.
A shocking footage of police forcefully pepper spraying a group of Occupy demonstrators staging a sit down protest the University of California, Davis, has emerged
The footage shows how the officer displays a bottle before spraying its contents on the seated protesters in a sweeping motion while walking back and forth. Most of the protesters have their heads down, but at least one is hit in the face.
Some members of a crowd gathered at the scene scream and cry out. The crowd then chants, “Shame on You,” as the protesters on the ground are led away. The officers retreat minutes later with helmets on and batons drawn.
It’s not clear from the video what agency the officer who used the pepper spray represents.
Officers from UC Davis and other UC campuses as well as the city of Davis responded to the protest, according to Annette Spicuzza, UC Davis police chief. Davis is about 80 miles north of San Francisco.
Annette Spicuzza told the Sacramento Bee that police used the pepper spray after they were surrounded. Protesters were warned repeatedly beforehand that force would be used if they didn’t move, she said.
“There was no way out of that circle,” Annette Spicuzza said.
“They were cutting the officers off from their support. It’s a very volatile situation.”
The tents went up on Thursday, and protesters were apparently warned on Friday morning that they had until 3:00 p.m. to take them down or they would be removed.
On Friday, the university’s chancellor Linda Katehi released a statement saying the police had no option.
“Following our requests, several of the group chose to dismantle their tents this afternoon and we are grateful for their actions. However a number of protesters refused our warning, offering us no option but to ask the police to assist in their removal.
“We are saddened to report that during this activity, 10 protestors were arrested and pepper spray was used. We will be reviewing the details of the incident,” Linda Katehi told the New York Daily News.
On Saturday, the chancellor had harsher words for the officers, saying that her office would be launching an investigation into the incident.
“The use of the pepper spray as shown on the video is chilling to us all and raises many questions about how best to handle situations like this,” Linda Katehi said.
“The university lacked the resources to keep the protest site from becoming a public health hazard,” she said.
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A new University of California Davis study has found that happiness and well-being in adolescents report less involvement in crime and drug use than other youth.[googlead tip=”patrat_mic” aliniat=”dreapta”]
To reach this finding, researchers at the University of California Davis used 1995 and 1996 data from nearly 15,000 seventh- to ninth-grade students in the federally funded National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health.
[googlead tip=”lista_mica” aliniat=”stanga”]About 29% of the students surveyed reported having committed at least one criminal offence, and 18% claimed they had used at least one illegal drug.
The researchers then correlated these reports with students’ self-assessments of emotional well-being and found that those who said they were happier were less likely to commit crimes or use drugs.
Happiness and well-being in adolescents report less involvement in crime and drug use than other youth.
[googlead tip=”vertical_mare” aliniat=”stanga”] “Our results suggest that the emphasis placed on happiness and well-being by positive psychologists and others is warranted,” said co-author Bill McCarthy, a UC Davis sociology professor.
The researchers also found that youth with even minor depression were much more likely to be involved in criminal activity or drug use. And while most of teenagers have periods of happiness and depression, “it’s when negative periods begin to outnumber the more positive ones that trouble can start,” the UC Davis researchers said.
“In addition to their other benefits, programs and policies that increase childhood and adolescent happiness may have a notable effect on deterring non violent crime and drug use,” said Prof. Bill McCarthy.
Prof. Bill McCarthy and Teresa Casey, a postdoctoral researcher at UC Davis argued that positive emotions also have a role.
The UC Davis team theorized that the benefits of generally happiness – such as maintaining strong bonds with others, feeling good about oneself, and gaining good social skills – can help teenagers make good decisions.
“We hypothesize that the benefits of happiness – from strong bonds with others, a positive self-image and the development of socially valued cognitive and behavioral skills – reinforce a decision-making approach that is informed by positive emotions,” they wrote in their study.
Their research finds that happier adolescents were less likely to report involvement in crime or drug use. Adolescents with minor, or nonclinical, depression had significantly higher odds of engaging in such activities.
The study was to be presented Monday at the Annual Meeting of the American Sociological Association in Las Vegas.
Since the study has not yet been published in a peer-reviewed journal, the findings should be viewed as preliminary.
[googlead tip=”patrat_mic” aliniat=”dreapta”]New research findings show that the risk of autism in a child whose older sibling has been diagnosed with the disorder is higher than previously believed.
Autism and autism spectrum disorders (ASD) represent a group of developmental disorders that affect the ability to think, communicate, and socially interact and affect one in 110 U.S. children, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Autism affects the ability to think, communicate and socially interact and affect one in 110 US children
The risk of an autism spectrum disorder occurring in a younger brother or sister was estimated to be from 3% to 14% in the past years. However, researchers have now discovered this is close to 19%.
“The average risk for the whole sample was 18.7%,”
said researcher Sally Ozonoff, PhD, Vice Chair for Research and professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the M.I.N.D. Institute at the University of California Davis.
Dr. Sally Ozonoff, PhD, professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the M.I.N.D. Institute
“Certain children had an even higher risk,” Dr. Ozonoff said.
”Families who had male infants had a higher recurrence of 26.2%.”
”Families that had more than one child with autism prior to the birth of this infant [in the study] had almost a one in three risk, or 32%.”
“Overall we found this almost 1 in 5 risk, but more like 1 in 4 if the new baby was a boy and 1 in 3 if the family has more than one child with autism.”
The results are published in Pediatrics.
[googlead tip=”vertical_mare” aliniat=”dreapta”] This new information may help parents in their family planning decisions or make them aware of an early intervention at the younger sibling.
“This was very sad, it brought tears to our eyes for many of us,” Dr. Sally Ozonoff said.
“However, the information is valuable. Parents can ask for close monitoring of a young sibling. That way, if autism is detected, early intervention can begin. The new information may also help parents in their family planning decisions.”
During the study have been evaluated 664 infants who were enrolled in an international network known as the Baby Siblings Research Consortium. All enrolled infants had an older sibling with an autism spectrum disorder.
They were observed from about 8 months of age until 36 months. The infants were evaluated many times during the three years.
At the 36-month mark, the infants were classified as having an autism spectrum disorder or not.
Study findings showed at the end that 132 children out of 664 were diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder. Out of those 132, about 41% were diagnosed with autism and 59% were diagnosed with other conditions on the spectrum, such as Asperger’s syndrome.
According to Dr. Ozonoff, it is impossible to estimate an individual family’s risk.
“Remember that overall, over 80% of those babies didn’t have autism,” she said.
“The general population risk is under 1%.”
“The new estimates are very sound,” said Laura Schreibman, PhD, director of the Autism Intervention Research Program at the University of California, San Diego, who reviewed the study findings but was not involved in the research.
“The study design, which followed the infants forward, ensures more accuracy than looking backward,” Dr. Schreibman said.
“The fact that they could look ahead meant they could be certain about how the diagnoses were obtained.”
The group included children from 12 locations and was ethnically diverse. Both of these factors reduce bias.
“Families need to know this is an estimate,” Dr. Laura Schreibman added.
“It doesn’t reflect what will happen to an individual family.”
“This new study provides a more definitive estimate of the recurrence of autism in younger siblings,” said Alycia Halladay, PhD, director for environmental research for Autism Speaks.
Autism Speaks supports the Baby Siblings Research Consortium.
Autism Speaks, the National Institutes of Health, and other organizations supported the study.
“For parents who have an older child with autism, the new information should motivate them to be sure the younger child has close monitoring,” Alycia Halladay said.
“That should be done as early as six months,” she added.
[googlead tip=”lista_mare” aliniat=”stanga”]“Genetic counselors can use the information to help parents interpret the findings,” said Karin Dent, president of the National Society of Genetic Counselors and assistant professor of pediatrics at the University of Utah, Salt Lake City.
“The updated data from this study … should be incorporated in genetic counseling sessions with parents and families of affected individuals,” Dr. Dent said.
“This will help families to have a number on something that is difficult to assess.”
