Some Things are Beyond Description

You know, nothing like this story ever happened to me as a kid. Never. That's good, I know.

It appears that a 27-year-old woman has been arrested on charges of distributing harmful material to a minor after a 14-year-old’s parents found a topless photo of her on his cell phone.

Victoria Ann Chacon, a former middle school teacher, allegedly met the boy at their church, where she was a Sunday school teacher. (The story just gets worse and worse, doesn't it?) Authorities at Somerset Independent School District said they found no evidence of any inappropriate relationships with their students; the 14-year-old attended school elsewhere.

The boy’s parents called police in March after finding racy letters in which Chacon professed her love. The boy initially refused to give a statement about the relationship, the arrest warrant says.

Several months later, the parents found a cell phone with a topless photo of Chacon. The phone was owned by Chacon and the two had been calling one another, according to court documents.
The woman was arrested Tuesday.

Sad, really, it is. This poor boy will be changed by this for the rest of his life. Ms. Chacon, well, there’s nothing good to say about her and the damage she has done. Hopefully, she will seek help through this. And, hopefully, she’s take ownership for her actions and mistakes.

Monday's A+ Award of the Day

Many people with money like to let everyone know that they have money. They often like to be flashy, brazen, and sometimes obnoxious. The majority of these people have never read the Millionare Next Door book.

Now, compare those traits to a quiet philanthropist who stood recently beside the movie-star governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to celebrate the Bernard Osher Foundation’s unprecedented $70 million donation to California community college students.

Have you ever heard of Mr. Osher? Probably not. But, he's worth getting to know.

Bernard Osher, 80, was too modest to address the crowd gathered in Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Capitol office for a donation ceremony. He remained calm and respectful, always standing to the side of the podium. But as students snapped pictures of Schwarzenegger afterward, Osher beamed about how his latest education gift could help generations of students.

The San Francisco-based Osher Foundation has committed $50 million toward an endowment to pay for scholarships for the state’s poorest community college students starting in 2009. That money will pay for $1,000 awards to defray the costs of textbooks, lab fees, and other items beyond registration fees. An additional $20 million gift is dedicated toward scholarships for students who transfer to four-year California schools.

Osher grew up in Biddeford, Maine, as the son of working-class immigrants from Russia and Lithuania. His parents owned a hardware and plumbing store, where he worked with his siblings before attending Maine’s prestigious Bowdoin College.

He then co-founded Golden West Financial Corp., parent company of World Savings Bank, which was sold to Wachovia Bank in 2006 for $24 billion. An avid collector of American art whose collection includes works by Winslow Homer and John Singer Sargent, Osher bought the San Francisco-based auction house Butterfield & Butterfield in 1970. He sold it to eBay in 1999 for $260 million.

Business Week last year named Osher the 11th most generous philanthropist in the world. The magazine estimated his lifetime giving at $805 million.

Osher Foundation President Mary Bitterman said that Osher “does not like to speak or to be recognized,” but that he tells her every day that the foundation needs to “focus, focus, focus.”

What a great story! What a positive witness! Our world definitely needs more men (and women) like Mr. Osher. Way to go!