jessica white

By Sarah Hurd, Contributing Writer

Approximately 100 students held a silent protest on the SUNY New Paltz campus in response to the Jena 6 trials held in Louisiana on Thursday, Sept. 20.

The protest, orchestrated by the Black Student Union, started at 11:30 a.m. on the academic concourse. At 11:45 a.m., the students marched to the Student Union Building, then returned to the academic concourse. At that point, the students formed a line that began in front of the Jacobson Faculty Tower and spanned to the front of the Lecture Center.

Although the protest was silent, the students involved were obviously upset and angry. To demonstrate their feelings, most of the students wore black and green. These colors have become the national symbol of the Jena 6. Several students handed out fliers that included a quote from the District Attorney of Jena, and a Web site offering more information and an opportunity for students to sign a petition on behalf of the Jena 6. That Web site can be viewed at www.colorofchange.

org/jena.

"It's 2007, s--- like this does not happen," said Jessica Coleman, a senior elementary education major and president of the Student Association.

"At New Paltz, we are generally very accepting," said R.J. Partington III, a recent graduate of New Paltz. "However, in other pockets of the country, hatred based on skin color does exist."

The Jena 6 are six black teenagers who face criminal charges after assaulting a white classmate. Five of the six are being charged with attempted second-degree murder. Mychal Bell, a juvenile at the time, was charged as an adult and now faces a 22-year prison sentence if convicted of aggravated second-degree battery and conspiracy to commit aggravated second-degree battery.

Brittany McKeldin, a junior psychology major, thinks that the events leading up to Jena 6 are "disgusting."

"It's sad that it's necessary for people to protest," McKeldin said.

The Jena 6 incident is the culmination of months of racial tension. On Aug. 31, a black student asked the principal of Jena High School if he could sit under the "white tree." The "white tree" is the school hangout for 85 percent of the school's white population. The remaining 10 percent of black students are confined to the bleachers. The principal told the black student that he and his friends could sit wherever they wanted. The next day three nooses were found hanging on the tree. The three white students responsible didn't face any criminal charges because they broke no Louisiana code or federal law - therefore, they were to be disciplined by the school. Their actions were ruled as a "prank" and the students faced only a three-day suspension in spite of talks of expulsion.

"I want to go to Louisiana and burn down the white man's tree," said Ben Schollnick, a junior political science major, and one of the leaders of the protest.

"It's sad not to consider differences up front." said Lia Cornella, a junior studio art major. "People everywhere need to bring awareness, not hatred."

Steve-O tells all on radio show

Steve-O of MTV's "Jackass" dropped the dime on rehabilitating Lindsay Lohan while on the Howard Stern's radio show Wednesday. Steve-O, 33, claimed that Lohan, 21, took a bag of cocaine from him after retrieving her wallet from the bathroom at his home. Did Steve-O stop to think that his possession of the white substance in his home was illegal? In other mess-with-LiLo news A host of online media are reporting that addiction treatment center the Canterbury Institute in New Jersey has new ads featuring the headline "Don't Die Lindsay" running in newspapers this week. Lawsuit anyone?

Jessica Seinfeld lets it out

Page Six reports that the wife of comedian Jerry Seinfeld , Jessica , broke silence and talked to Time magazine about her nanosecond-long marriage to theater heir Eric Nederlander. She kicked Nederlander to the curb for the funnyman. "I had left a relationship where I was sort of supposed to be someone I wasn't. That relationship was never going to work, and I met someone who was heaven and earth to me," she tells Time.

Donation garners an extra spot

A Dallas man with money to burn won his 10-year-old a spot as an extra in Will Ferrell's new movie "Step Brothers" by bidding $47,000 at a charity auction. The opening bid was $5,000. The big chunk of change benefits the Cancer for College foundation run by Craig Pollard , Ferrell's fraternity brother at the University of Southern California. The big-hearted Texan, who remains anonymous, said, "Winning this auction means a lot to me on a very personal basis. I lost my mother to ovarian cancer a few years ago, so I feel fortunate that my 10-year-old and I are able to participate in an event involving Cancer for College and Will Ferrell."

By Ursula Watson,

compiled from

various news sources