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First, HAPPY NEW YEAR! It is hard to believe 2006 is here, but it is....
Since Friday night was the last show of 2005, we had some fun on the show. Our legal panel (minus vacationing Jim Hammer in South America) took your questions and we showed you Bernie's high school graduation picture (see e-mails below.) Bernie and Ted surprised me with New Year's Eve hats (which they wore during the last segment of the show) and after the show they popped a bottle of champagne in the newsroom. (No, I did not have a sip... I was driving and I don't even take a sip if I am getting behind the wheel of the car. That is one problem I never want and it is easily avoided.)
Our pre-New Year's Eve party in the newsroom after the show was about seven minutes at most, but long enough for me to dig my camera out and take some pics for you. See the pics posted. From the looks of the pics, you would think our party lasted more than seven minutes, but I assure you it did not. We all were tired and wanted to get home after a long week. But it was a fun seven minutes, as you can see from the pics.
If you watched Friday, you know that college student Nate Hendrickson's body was found by Equusearch, late Friday afternoon in Houston. Words don't describe the depth of despair of the family. Compounding this despair is that Nate's parents are divorced and the relationship between the parents is — to put it gently — chilly. While we have covered this story, we have tried to sort through some difficult family issues and not get involved in any crossfire.
It is amazing that a private organization — not a police organization — finds bodies. Our police in this country simply do not have the resources to conduct long-term searches for all the people missing. That means there is much heartache for families not fortunate enough to have Equusearch get involved.
But Equusearch can't do it all — at least not without some help. Equusearch, I am told, is running into money problems. Searches are very expensive. You should log onto their Web site — www.equusearch.org — and read about the organization in greater detail. I intend to take some time today and go on their Web site and learn more about them. My experience with them to date is that they pour their hearts and souls into these searches. Their "reward" is when they can get answers for a family. The only thing worse than the bad news they often turn up for families is no news which is what happens to many families (e.g. Natalee Holloway's family.) Some families simply never learn what happened to a missing family member and the mystery is cruel.
Now for some e-mails from you. The first few relate to the high school picture of Bernie Grimm that we showed you Friday night at the end of the show:
E-mail No. 1
Greta,
Thanks to you and your senior producer for airing Bernie's high school picture. That was a great way to end 2005. It was so hilarious and what a laugh..I needed that. Thanks to Bernie for being a good sport and we still love him. Have a wonderful new year!
Cheri
SC
E-mail No. 2
Greta,
That was a great picture of Bernie Grimm. Thanks for sharing! Now it would only be fair to show us Ted's and your own yearbook picture as well. We enjoyed the segment with questions for the legal panel. Maybe you can do that again in a longer segment in the future.
Happy New Year to you and your staff. I'm looking forward to seeing what is "On the Record" in 2006!
Tempe Berggren,
Gold Beach, OR
E-mail No. 3
Who knew?! Bernie was a "junior fox" in high school! LOVED TONIGHT'S SHOW!
Happy New Year to You All ~ And to All A Good Night!
Michelle
Dallas, TX
E-mail No. 4
Greta,
The picture was hilarious, no offense to Bernie, He's a cutie now. My daughter said that he looked like Opie Taylor from Andy Griffith show. Now, where are the pics of you, Ted and Jim? Thanks Greta, that was fun!
Judy White
AL
E-mail No. 5
I never had a crush on Bernie until now! Cute! Happy New Year, Greta!
Amy
ANSWER: Bernie is happily married.
E-mail No. 6
My family and I were watching when Bernie's high school pictures got flashed on screen. Tell Bernie I dig his crazy style and I would have dated him... afro and all.
P.S. My Dad's football number was 42 as well!
Courage in women is often mistaken for insanity.
E-mail No. 7
Greta!
Bernie looks like the red-haired kid from the movie, "Fame" (who went on to become the doctor that was killed by the falling helicopter on "ER.") Then again, the simple fact that I know what the red-haired kid from the movie "Fame" even looks like sorta dates me, doesn't it? I have giant '80s hair in my year book photo. LOL!
Have a happy and safe New Year, Greta!
Lisa Martin
New York, NY
E-mail No. 8 — This next e-mail relates to our discussion about teacher Debra LaFave in Florida:
Hi Greta,
I'm a 70-year-old guy who just can't see that any real harm could come to a teenage boy that was seduced by a beautiful woman, unless of course you consider a big head and an inflated ego to somehow being damaging to him. I have considered what my feelings would be if the boy was my own grandson, I think that envy is what I felt. I do wonder what the boy's father thinks about his son's affair? The teacher involved here no doubt will no longer be allowed to teach school, that to me is sufficeint punishment for her.What's the point of sending her to jail? I'm sure that no men, [or boys] that I know
feel threatened by her. By the way, it wouldn't matter to me whether the teacher was pretty or not.
Have a good one
E-mail No. 9 — the next few e-mails relate to the A.J. Nicholson matter:
I totally agree that any woman that goes to a man's hotel room alone late at night, or any time for that matter, cannot be surprised when the man assumes she is ready and willing. "No" still does mean no, but a woman must assume some responsibility when she puts herself is such a situation. Personally, I think she was setting him up and hoped to eventually sue for big bucks! One other related issue, when a woman cries rape and hasn't been, it tarnishes the man's reputation forever. Those charges find their way into the criminal system's files never to be totally erased without incurring more publicity.
Fran Novotny
E-mail No. 10
Hi Greta:
It is true, the young lady should have not placed herself in the situation, (we have all done something foolish at some point in our lives), in which this incident occurred but that does not alleviate the young man's responsibility of forcing her to do something she did not want to do. Even if they were married; does she not have the right to say no and if the husband forces her, is that not tantamount to rape?
Becky
TX
E-mail No. 11
Hey Greta,
In response to the e-mailer who referred to going to a man's hotel room as putting oneself into a "foolish situation," how did this woman do that? How did Greta do women a disservice by saying women should be able to expect to be safe?
I have been in a man's hotel room at 3 a.m. and nothing happened. Nothing was supposed to happen, and it did not. So, how was I foolish? Why is it assumed that if a woman is with a man in the wee small hours, she is setting herself up to be attacked or taken advantage of or whatever? Why are we seen as such delicate, trembling creatures with no sense of what's good for us or any ability to take care of ourselves? It's THAT sort of attitude that does a disservice to women, not the stance Greta took.
Gets off feminist soap box.
Have a wonderful New Year, Greta!
Lisa Martin
E-mail No. 12
Dear Greta,
I think Ted was right when he asked, "What was a woman doing in the room of a football player at 3 a.m.?" Fair question — the implications? I think it is a disgrace that any woman can ruin the reputation of a man by this accusation. She has her name concealed and his is plastered all over the news. What a terrible system. Supose it is all a lie? Who knows the truth yet he is stigmatized and she is coddled and hidden. I vote in favor on Ted ! I hope the world returns to reality. Real proof should prove rape, not just an acusation. There is a big disparagy here. If the accuser is honest, her identiy should be revealed.
By the way, I am sick of Natalee Holloway, but the step mother is far more fair, charming and believable than the every negative, whinny Beth. It is a tragic case and anyone can understand the pain, but please spare us Beth — she has, now, become, a celebrity thanks to your show. I think Aruba is doing all that is possible and has bent over backwards to accommodate her. Where is her gratitude?
Mary Rayes
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