San Jose // Current TV

Breaking News The Springs Costa Rica

Latest News Updates Brad Womack certainly seemed to be falling in love with some of... more

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Recently News Updates Alexis Thorpe Video

Latest News Updates Mrs. Alexis Thorpe had suddenly grow to be the number 1 on Google... more

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QUE ENTRE EL DESGRACIADO! - Yonni Barrios el minero infiel llega a la superficie

José Henríquez, de 54 años, convertido en el minero número... more

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VIDEO DEL ULTIMO MINERO EN SALIR! Last Trapped Chilean Miner Rescued

Las imagenes de cuando sube a la superficie el ultimo de los 33 mineros rescatados en... more

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JIMMY SANCHEZ EL MINERO MAS JOVEN! QNN - RESCATE en CHILE

El 5to. minero rescatado desde ka profundidad de la mina de San Jose, Chile. Los... more

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COMENTA AQUI SOBRE EL RESCATE EN CHILE Quezada News Network

QNN Quezada news Network con el rescate de los 33 mineros en la mina de Chile... more

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YA LLEGO LA CAPSULA! -RESCATE DESDE LA MINA SAN JOSE EN VIVO.

La capsula ya esta en el fondo de la Mina !!! Manuel Gonzalez ya llego... more

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MUERTOS en CALIFORNIA Death Toll in Huge California

En el area de San Jose y San Francisco. Fire crews tried to douse the remnants of an... more

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San Jose will taste the Alabama football passion today.

Alabama football fans are all ready to watch their team playing against the San Jose... more

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Enter Music Publishing Hosts Historic Hit Man Benefit For Ritchie Hayward

Enter Music Publishing will host a benefit for famed Little Feat drummer, Ritchie... more

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We Are Change SJ Document Armored Cop Vehicle

Cops in Campbell, California, tool around the streets late at night in a... more

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Home Strange Home, Part 3

A countdown of stories about off-beat homes and unusual ways of living. Includes a... more

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Stunts and Chaos: Episode 6, Part 3

A dangerous blend of extreme sports, adventure and goofiness that can be hazardous to... more

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The Colleague Behind the Homicide Statistic

The Colleague Behind the Homicide Statistic
New America Media, Appreciation, Raj Jayadev , Posted: Jan 28, 2010

Here is what came out in the paper the day after my colleague, friend, and inspiration Albert Cobarrubias was unexpectedly killed in a random act of gun violence. Word for word it read:

“San Jose police are looking for a suspect in the fatal shooting Saturday night of a 30-year-old man, the city's first homicide of the year. At 10:57 p.m., officers responded to a report of shots fired at a home in the 2700 block of Chopin Avenue near Puccini Avenue, in a neighborhood south of Eastridge Mall. Near the garage they found a man with a gunshot wound, San Jose police spokesman Ronnie Lopez said. The man was transported to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead, Lopez said. Police have not released the victim's name. Police are interviewing people who were gathered at the home and are seeking more witnesses, Lopez said. They have made no arrests.”

Albert was playing pool with friends at a family home, when a strange car stopped in front of the house. Someone got out, walked up the driveway and started shooting. The neighborhood has had a history of senseless, unprovoked, violence.

The newspaper story had a note of who to call at the police department if anyone had information, and in the online version, there was a button to click for an interactive map on crimes in San Jose.
It was a total of 155 words.

I don’t blame the paper for leaving out the remarkable life of Albert in their report; they just didn’t know. What was newsworthy, as indicated by the title, was Albert’s numerical value – the first homicide of the year in San Jose. It is an annual reporting tradition for city papers, like finding out the name of the first baby of the new year.

After being notified that Albert was a graduate of San Jose State University, headed to law school, a former Marine, and a community leader, the media did start to take more notice of his passing, and have been helpful in letting readers know of the person behind the anonymous statistic. But never has it hit me how much is missed in such a common, even routine, marker as "First Homicide of the Year." All across the country this month there were identical headlines as the one we had in San Jose about Albert. Just Google the phrase, and the morbid pattern pops up, showing an understated fraternity of loss that can only grow consistently, every year.

Invariably, in their follow-up interviews they would ask me, ”What was lost with Albert’s death?” I don’t know how to answer that. I am used to writing letters of recommendations for Albert for scholarships, grants, college applications. I am used to describing Albert in anticipation of the great man he would become, rather than reflecting on the great man he was. It should never be that the same words from a scholarship application, the hopeful language of what can possibly be, can also be used in an obituary of what could have been.

READ THE REST OF THIS AT
www.NewAmericaMedia.org
www.YouthOutlook.org
www.SiliconValleyDebug.orgThe Colleague Behind the Homicide Statistic New America Media, Appreciation, Raj... more