The Tampa schools are a member of the Hillsborough County School District, in which the Disciplinary Committee resides. The disciplinary panel deals with the troubled youth who commit serious offenses and policy violations at school. The panel imposes such measures as expulsion or reassignment to another school.
This past school year of 2005-2006 had the lowest number of referrals to this disciplinary panel than any other since the 1998-1999 school year.
Tampa schools, along with the other school districts, have been trying harder to solve student problems in-school, before making referrals to the panel. This obviously has increased the number of in-school suspensions over previous years; however, the Tampa schools believe their mission is to teach children — and you cannot teach those who are not attending school. Tampa schools have cautioned their principals to be more patient and tolerant with problem students, when their offenses do not hold a danger to other students, educators and school employees. Additionally, Tampa schools educators have been educating students more aggressively on the district’s zero tolerance of violent acts and other serious offenses, strongly stressing the consequences of such acts.
The Hillsborough County School District has about 191,000 students, many of which belong to the Tampa schools (the county seat). In the 2004-2005 school year, 1,602 students were referred to the panel for hearings. Those referrals decreased to 1,369 students in the 2005-2006 school year. These resulted in:
• 183 students expelled;
• 660 recommended for change of school placement;
• More than 400 were exceptional education students, who legally cannot be expelled and were recommended for change of school placement; and
• 113 received no expulsion or change of school placement.
The panel also saw a drop in weapons referrals. In the 2004-2005 school years, there were 336 weapons offenses. In 2005-2006, they received 311 weapons referrals, of which 19 percent were firearms. The surprising statistic is that more middle school students brought firearms to school than high school students, though this trend was seen in Pasco, Pinellas and Polk counties, as well.
Principal Katie Hoffman, of the Tampa schools’ Madison Middle School, believes that the psychological development and maturity level of this age group may have something to do with the high statistics. She believes that children at this age try to impress others at a higher rate than high school students, testing their limits and succumbing to peer pressure to prove themselves.
Unfortunately for the Tampa schools, their Chamberlain Senior High School had the most overall referrals with 49. Tampa schools’ Blake High School came in second with 40. The Tampa schools’ also led the way for elementary offense referrals with five for Cahoon Elementary.
Stu Unger is one of the biggest superstars to have immerged from the professional poker world. Besides being a true poker genius and a three time World Series of Poker champion, Stu Unger had a fascinating life story. It was not surprising that after his death Stu was the subject of a biography and a biopic.
Stu Unger lived the life of a rock star including the quick rise to fame, the drugs, the comeback and the unavoidable death at an early age. Here you can read about the life story of the legendary poker player Stu Unger.
The Beginning
Stuart Errol Ungar was born in 1953 to a Jewish family who lived in Manhattan on the Lower East Side. Stus father was a well known bookmaker and his mother was too ill to fight against her sons fascination with gambling. After the death of his father, 13 years old Stu had found a father figure at his neighbor Victor Romano, one of the infamous Genovese family soldiers.
Stu and Romano had at least one thing in common: they both had an incredibly sharp memory, which was mainly used in poker and gin games. By that time, Stu was already an accomplished gin player who had gained vast experience in winning gin tournaments. Stu dropped out of school to become a full time gin rummy player. The Genovese family had benefited from Stus talent. In return, they provided him protection from other gamblers who found themselves offended by his harsh and arrogant playing style.
The Rise
As a professional gin player, Stu had managed to beat all the professional gin poker players around. According to the rumors, Stu caused Harry Yonkie Stein, one of the best players around to stop playing gin completely after beating him in a gin match. Since he was out of proper competition, Stu decided to focus on playing poker professionally. In 1976, he and his girlfriend relocated to Las Vegas where they got married and had a girl, Stephanie.
In 1980, Stu won the World Series of Poker Main Event after beating experienced poker pros such as Doyle Bronson. Stu was the youngest WSOP champion in history and was nicknamed The Kid. Even though Stu won the 1981 WSOP Main Event, he still considered himself more a gin and rummy player than a poker player. After winning his first WSOP championship title, he was quoted saying that the poker world would meet better no limit players than him, but no one will ever be able to play gin rummy better than he does.
At the same time, Stu had tried to use his skill to grab money at the blackjack table. Nevertheless, the casinos were not happy with Stus presence around the blackjack tables and he was constantly barred. In 1982, he was fined by the New Jersey Gaming Commission for cheating, although Stu has not done anything illegal but using his natural skill and phenomenal memory.
The Fall
In 1990, Stu made another appearance to the WSOP. This time, he was heavily into drugs. He was a chip leader for the first three days of the event and then disappeared. He was found lying at his hotel room, unconscious from a drug overdose. However, it did not stop him from finishing ninth and earning enough money for his future cocaine supply.
The Comeback
After seven years of disappearing from the professional poker circle, Stu had returned to the WSOP. In 1997, he was broke, with damaged nostrils from cocaine abuse, addicted to horseracing and sports gambling, but still in shape to beat all the new contestants and gain back his WSOP Championship title. The local media was happy to embrace The Comeback Kid, but his success did not last long.
The Death
Stu Unger did not attend the 1998 World Series of Poker since he could not get the money to pay the entry fee. Seven months after Scotty Nguyen won the 1998 WSOP, Stu Ungar was found dead at his motel room in Las Vegas with 800 dollars in his pocket. Apparently, he died of a heart condition caused by years of drug abuse.
The Biography
Read: One of a Kind: The Rise and Fall of Stuey The Kid Ungar, The Worlds Greatest Poker Player written by Nolan Dalla, Peter Alson, Mike Sexton.
Watch: High Roller: The Stu Ungar Story directed by A. W. Vidmer and starring Michael Imperioli, Christopher Moltisanti of The Sopranos, as Stu Unger
