Passengers aboard a Greyhound bus traveling from Memphis to St. Louis got more than the trip they bargained for Friday, after they were abandoned by their bus driver, twice.
The first bump in the 45 Greyhound passengers’ ill-fated journey began with a stop near Sikeston, Mo., along I-55. Passengers told St. Louis’s KSDK the 45-year-old female driver, whom Greyhound officials would not name, pulled over because she wanted a 65-year-old passenger whom she said was being unruly off the bus.
Back on the road, nearly 40 miles later in Cape Girardeau, the driver again pulled the bus over on the side of the road. At this stop, the driver told passengers she was the one leaving, locked the bus door and went outside to wait for a ride.
Local police arrived after alarmed passengers called 911 and ordered the driver back on the bus.
The driver complied to the officers’ commands, KSDK reports, but instead of continuing on to St. Louis, drove the bus to nearby Charleston, Mo., instead.
There the driver stopped at a truck stop and left the bus again around midnight, this time for good.
The bus’s now-stranded passengers called Greyhound but ended up having to spend the night on the bus after it took several hours for a replacement driver to arrive.
The passengers finally arrived in St. Louis around noon on Saturday, nearly 12 hours late.
Greyhound apologized for the driver’s actions, and said it would issue refunds to all passengers.
The bus company also announced it would discipline the driver, who has been with Greyhound since 2004, today.
“I think it’s safe to say the protocol was not followed,” Greyhound spokesman Maureen Richmond told the Memphis Commercial Appeal. “It’s inexcusable and certainly unprecedented.”
2012年2月10日星期五
Greyhound Left the Driving to the Passengers
Passengers aboard a Greyhound bus traveling from Memphis to St. Louis got more than the trip they bargained for Friday, after they were abandoned by their bus driver, twice.
The first bump in the 45 Greyhound passengers’ ill-fated journey began with a stop near Sikeston, Mo., along I-55. Passengers told St. Louis’s KSDK the 45-year-old female driver, whom Greyhound officials would not name, pulled over because she wanted a 65-year-old passenger whom she said was being unruly off the bus.
Back on the road, nearly 40 miles later in Cape Girardeau, the driver again pulled the bus over on the side of the road. At this stop, the driver told passengers she was the one leaving, locked the bus door and went outside to wait for a ride.
Local police arrived after alarmed passengers called 911 and ordered the driver back on the bus.
The driver complied to the officers’ commands, KSDK reports, but instead of continuing on to St. Louis, drove the bus to nearby Charleston, Mo., instead.
There the driver stopped at a truck stop and left the bus again around midnight, this time for good.
The bus’s now-stranded passengers called Greyhound but ended up having to spend the night on the bus after it took several hours for a replacement driver to arrive.
The passengers finally arrived in St. Louis around noon on Saturday, nearly 12 hours late.
Greyhound apologized for the driver’s actions, and said it would issue refunds to all passengers.
The bus company also announced it would discipline the driver, who has been with Greyhound since 2004, today.
“I think it’s safe to say the protocol was not followed,” Greyhound spokesman Maureen Richmond told the Memphis Commercial Appeal. “It’s inexcusable and certainly unprecedented.”
The first bump in the 45 Greyhound passengers’ ill-fated journey began with a stop near Sikeston, Mo., along I-55. Passengers told St. Louis’s KSDK the 45-year-old female driver, whom Greyhound officials would not name, pulled over because she wanted a 65-year-old passenger whom she said was being unruly off the bus.
Back on the road, nearly 40 miles later in Cape Girardeau, the driver again pulled the bus over on the side of the road. At this stop, the driver told passengers she was the one leaving, locked the bus door and went outside to wait for a ride.
Local police arrived after alarmed passengers called 911 and ordered the driver back on the bus.
The driver complied to the officers’ commands, KSDK reports, but instead of continuing on to St. Louis, drove the bus to nearby Charleston, Mo., instead.
There the driver stopped at a truck stop and left the bus again around midnight, this time for good.
The bus’s now-stranded passengers called Greyhound but ended up having to spend the night on the bus after it took several hours for a replacement driver to arrive.
The passengers finally arrived in St. Louis around noon on Saturday, nearly 12 hours late.
Greyhound apologized for the driver’s actions, and said it would issue refunds to all passengers.
The bus company also announced it would discipline the driver, who has been with Greyhound since 2004, today.
“I think it’s safe to say the protocol was not followed,” Greyhound spokesman Maureen Richmond told the Memphis Commercial Appeal. “It’s inexcusable and certainly unprecedented.”
'Supercommittee' Failure Prompts Fear of 'Devastating' Pentagon Cuts
Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has warned that possible budget cuts triggered by the breakdown of the congresssional “supercommittee“ would have devastating consequences, but many skeptics question whether such dire predictions are an exaggeration.
If members of Congress cannot implement a contingency plan, the Pentagon would have to bear half of the $1.2 trillion in budget cuts. The cuts would begin in 2013, when the Congressional Budget Office estimates that the Defense Department would have to slash 10 percent, or about $550 billion, from its budget. Combined with the $450 billion worth of cuts already planned, that would amount to $1 trillion in the next decade.
After 10 years, the cuts would leave the United States with the smallest ground forces since 1940, a Navy fleet that would be the smallest since 1915 and the lowest number of fighters in the Air Force’s history, Panetta warned. The Pentagon would have to cancel acquisition programs such as the Army’s helicopter and ground vehicle modernization programs and the new Air Force bomber program, delay others, and reduce the fleet. Wartime funding would not be affected.
“The impacts of these cuts would be devastating for the department,” Panetta said in a letter to Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., last week. It “would render most of our ship and construction projects unexecutable,” and “seriously damage other modernization efforts.”
The cuts would be a double-edged sword, experts say. On the one hand, they would force the Pentagon to look more closely at its budget, which has ballooned in recent years, and make much-needed changes in how it allocates taxpayer dollars. On the other hand, it could make the Defense Department less efficient in the short term.
“The cuts are not as draconian as you might expect, given the rhetoric, but they are serious nevertheless,” said Todd Harrison, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments. “It’s not the depth of the cuts. It’s the abruptness with which they will occur.”
Instead of making “smart cuts,” such as reducing the number of bases and the number of military and civilian personnel, the Pentagon would be forced to make “quick cuts” right away, Harrison added. That would likely entail terminating or delaying acquisition programs, a move that could end up costing more money in the future.
The cuts would put the Defense Department’s budget at $472 billion, the same level as in 2007, a spending high for the Pentagon. If it remains at 2007 levels, U.S. military spending would be almost three times that of China, and $38 billion above average annual spending during the Cold War, points out Winslow Wheeler, director of the Straus Military Reform Project and the Center for Defense Information.
Citing these numbers, supporters of defense budget cuts say Panetta’s warnings are overblown and that sequestration would be beneficial because it will force a change in the Pentagon’s culture of unquestioned funding by Congress.
Since the Sept. 11 attacks, the department has added $1.3 trillion in its budget for the wars and $1 trillion for its base budget. But all the while, the Navy and Air Force fleets have gotten smaller, the forces are less trained and the equipment is, on average, older than what it was a decade ago, Wheeler said.
“It’s a very flush-with-money budget,” Wheeler said. “To call such a level of spending a ‘catastrophe,’ or ‘doomsday,’ is a failure of management and intellect every bit as complete as the political failure of the hapless Democrats and Republicans on the so-called supercommittee.”
“The party’s over,” Wheeler added. “The Department of Defense needs to start making informed, hard decisions and those managers who cannot operate in that environment need to be replaced.”
Despite the supercommittee’s failure, members of Congress have the power to enact changes that would lessen the impact on the Pentagon. They can delay implementation of sequestration or change the terms so that the Defense Department has to bear less of the budget cuts, but then that money would need to come from social programs.
Members of Congress are hesitant to implement Pentagon budget cuts, but given the stalemate and bipartisan wrangling, it remains unclear whether there will be an alternative. If history is a guide, the automatic budget cuts likely won’t go into effect. The two times sequestration has occurred, first in 1988 and then in 1990, the budget cuts were either reduced or ended by legislation.
Top Pentagon officials have “ratcheted up the rhetoric about what the defense cuts would mean to a level where they’re fairly confident that Congress won’t actually let it go into effect in 2013,” Harrison said. “They are not doing anything to plan for the contingency. … They are hoping there is a silver bullet that’s going solve everything for them. There’s no guarantee that that will happen.”
If members of Congress cannot implement a contingency plan, the Pentagon would have to bear half of the $1.2 trillion in budget cuts. The cuts would begin in 2013, when the Congressional Budget Office estimates that the Defense Department would have to slash 10 percent, or about $550 billion, from its budget. Combined with the $450 billion worth of cuts already planned, that would amount to $1 trillion in the next decade.
After 10 years, the cuts would leave the United States with the smallest ground forces since 1940, a Navy fleet that would be the smallest since 1915 and the lowest number of fighters in the Air Force’s history, Panetta warned. The Pentagon would have to cancel acquisition programs such as the Army’s helicopter and ground vehicle modernization programs and the new Air Force bomber program, delay others, and reduce the fleet. Wartime funding would not be affected.
“The impacts of these cuts would be devastating for the department,” Panetta said in a letter to Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., last week. It “would render most of our ship and construction projects unexecutable,” and “seriously damage other modernization efforts.”
The cuts would be a double-edged sword, experts say. On the one hand, they would force the Pentagon to look more closely at its budget, which has ballooned in recent years, and make much-needed changes in how it allocates taxpayer dollars. On the other hand, it could make the Defense Department less efficient in the short term.
“The cuts are not as draconian as you might expect, given the rhetoric, but they are serious nevertheless,” said Todd Harrison, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments. “It’s not the depth of the cuts. It’s the abruptness with which they will occur.”
Instead of making “smart cuts,” such as reducing the number of bases and the number of military and civilian personnel, the Pentagon would be forced to make “quick cuts” right away, Harrison added. That would likely entail terminating or delaying acquisition programs, a move that could end up costing more money in the future.
The cuts would put the Defense Department’s budget at $472 billion, the same level as in 2007, a spending high for the Pentagon. If it remains at 2007 levels, U.S. military spending would be almost three times that of China, and $38 billion above average annual spending during the Cold War, points out Winslow Wheeler, director of the Straus Military Reform Project and the Center for Defense Information.
Citing these numbers, supporters of defense budget cuts say Panetta’s warnings are overblown and that sequestration would be beneficial because it will force a change in the Pentagon’s culture of unquestioned funding by Congress.
Since the Sept. 11 attacks, the department has added $1.3 trillion in its budget for the wars and $1 trillion for its base budget. But all the while, the Navy and Air Force fleets have gotten smaller, the forces are less trained and the equipment is, on average, older than what it was a decade ago, Wheeler said.
“It’s a very flush-with-money budget,” Wheeler said. “To call such a level of spending a ‘catastrophe,’ or ‘doomsday,’ is a failure of management and intellect every bit as complete as the political failure of the hapless Democrats and Republicans on the so-called supercommittee.”
“The party’s over,” Wheeler added. “The Department of Defense needs to start making informed, hard decisions and those managers who cannot operate in that environment need to be replaced.”
Despite the supercommittee’s failure, members of Congress have the power to enact changes that would lessen the impact on the Pentagon. They can delay implementation of sequestration or change the terms so that the Defense Department has to bear less of the budget cuts, but then that money would need to come from social programs.
Members of Congress are hesitant to implement Pentagon budget cuts, but given the stalemate and bipartisan wrangling, it remains unclear whether there will be an alternative. If history is a guide, the automatic budget cuts likely won’t go into effect. The two times sequestration has occurred, first in 1988 and then in 1990, the budget cuts were either reduced or ended by legislation.
Top Pentagon officials have “ratcheted up the rhetoric about what the defense cuts would mean to a level where they’re fairly confident that Congress won’t actually let it go into effect in 2013,” Harrison said. “They are not doing anything to plan for the contingency. … They are hoping there is a silver bullet that’s going solve everything for them. There’s no guarantee that that will happen.”
Police Investigate Sudden Death of College Drum Major
School officials are awaiting autopsy results on the death of a 26-year-old drum major from Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University.
Robert Champion died after he was found unresponsive on the marching band’s bus in Orlando Saturday night. Friends tried CPR and called 911. Champion was rushed to Dr. Philipps hospital but did not live through the night, said Capt. Angelo Nieves of Orange County Sheriff’s Department.
Nieves said the sheriff’s office is following up on investigative interviews with the full cooperation of the university, and may have a statement once the medical examiner’s office releases the autopsy report later today.
Friends of Champion told investigators the drum major had trouble breathing before he lost consciousness. Police said they do not suspect foul play, but the investigation is ongoing.
Champion’s father, also named Robert, said his son was in good shape, WSBTV.com reported.
“I think he was in pretty good condition. He ate and he trained and had no medical condition that I know of,” Champion said of his son.
Earlier today Pamela Champion, Robert’s mother, said she is waiting to hear back from the medical examiner before speaking publicly about her son.
FAMU has scheduled a memorial for Champion on Nov. 21 at 6 p.m.
Robert Champion died after he was found unresponsive on the marching band’s bus in Orlando Saturday night. Friends tried CPR and called 911. Champion was rushed to Dr. Philipps hospital but did not live through the night, said Capt. Angelo Nieves of Orange County Sheriff’s Department.
Nieves said the sheriff’s office is following up on investigative interviews with the full cooperation of the university, and may have a statement once the medical examiner’s office releases the autopsy report later today.
Friends of Champion told investigators the drum major had trouble breathing before he lost consciousness. Police said they do not suspect foul play, but the investigation is ongoing.
Champion’s father, also named Robert, said his son was in good shape, WSBTV.com reported.
“I think he was in pretty good condition. He ate and he trained and had no medical condition that I know of,” Champion said of his son.
Earlier today Pamela Champion, Robert’s mother, said she is waiting to hear back from the medical examiner before speaking publicly about her son.
FAMU has scheduled a memorial for Champion on Nov. 21 at 6 p.m.
Police Investigate Sudden Death of College Drum Major
School officials are awaiting autopsy results on the death of a 26-year-old drum major from Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University.
Robert Champion died after he was found unresponsive on the marching band’s bus in Orlando Saturday night. Friends tried CPR and called 911. Champion was rushed to Dr. Philipps hospital but did not live through the night, said Capt. Angelo Nieves of Orange County Sheriff’s Department.
Nieves said the sheriff’s office is following up on investigative interviews with the full cooperation of the university, and may have a statement once the medical examiner’s office releases the autopsy report later today.
Friends of Champion told investigators the drum major had trouble breathing before he lost consciousness. Police said they do not suspect foul play, but the investigation is ongoing.
Champion’s father, also named Robert, said his son was in good shape, WSBTV.com reported.
“I think he was in pretty good condition. He ate and he trained and had no medical condition that I know of,” Champion said of his son.
Earlier today Pamela Champion, Robert’s mother, said she is waiting to hear back from the medical examiner before speaking publicly about her son.
FAMU has scheduled a memorial for Champion on Nov. 21 at 6 p.m.
Robert Champion died after he was found unresponsive on the marching band’s bus in Orlando Saturday night. Friends tried CPR and called 911. Champion was rushed to Dr. Philipps hospital but did not live through the night, said Capt. Angelo Nieves of Orange County Sheriff’s Department.
Nieves said the sheriff’s office is following up on investigative interviews with the full cooperation of the university, and may have a statement once the medical examiner’s office releases the autopsy report later today.
Friends of Champion told investigators the drum major had trouble breathing before he lost consciousness. Police said they do not suspect foul play, but the investigation is ongoing.
Champion’s father, also named Robert, said his son was in good shape, WSBTV.com reported.
“I think he was in pretty good condition. He ate and he trained and had no medical condition that I know of,” Champion said of his son.
Earlier today Pamela Champion, Robert’s mother, said she is waiting to hear back from the medical examiner before speaking publicly about her son.
FAMU has scheduled a memorial for Champion on Nov. 21 at 6 p.m.
Amazing Ride Nears End for 'First Brother' Reggie Love
Reggie Love walked into his windowless office late last week and surveyed the confines. It wasn't exactly an ideal place to work, especially for someone standing 6 feet, 5 inches. A burgundy couch, desk and cabinet took up much of the floor, leaving little room to maneuver.
"The space is small," Love said. "But the real estate is valuable."
Nearly every day, Love takes a right turn out of his office, walks a few steps and opens a door to the most famous office in the world: the Oval Office. Whatever President Obama happens to need once inside, from a copy of a speech to a newspaper, Love gets for him. As the president's personal assistant – a job known as a body man – Love also keeps him on schedule, often deciding who gets the president's ear.
The 29-year-old Love hardly ever speaks on the record. But after the White House announced 12 days ago that he would be leaving his position by the end of the year to attend the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Business, he granted an exclusive interview to ESPN's Rachel Nichols, providing a rare glimpse inside the president's inner circle.
Love is almost always by Obama's side, working up to 18 hours a day and often sleeping on the burgundy couch. He carries around a bag filled with anything the president might need in a pinch, like collar stays, Tide stain remover and dental products. Obama has no qualms about flossing his teeth with Love in the room.
"If he had it his way, I think he'd floss in private," Love said, noting how little time the president spends away from his closest aides. "I think the fact that he was comfortable with me is probably a product of, you know, he's beaten down. I've been around for so long." Tune in Tuesday to "World News with Diane Sawyer" at 6:30 p.m. ET and "Nightline" at 11:35 p.m. ET for Rachel Nichols' interview with Reggie Love
Affable and outgoing, Love joined Obama's Senate office in 2006. He started in the mail room and was quickly promoted to body man. But he has risen to more than a presidential aide. Obama frequently refers to Love as a little brother, making him the informal First Brother if you will.
"His ability to juggle so many responsibilities with so little sleep has been an inspiration to watch," Obama said in a statement last week. "He is the master of what he does."
One thing Love does to perfection is help make the president look hip. He taught Obama how to fist-bump, bought him a silver iPod for his birthday and introduced him to the music of Lil Wayne and Jay-Z. Last year, Obama playfully referred to Love as his "iReggie."
"The president has to deal with so many things that are heavy," Love said. "I think it's good to be able to, for him, to have some moments of levity, some moments not full-tilt. And if me being a part of (those) moments is helpful, I acknowledge and think I'm happy to do it."
The bond between Love and Obama was solidified on a basketball court. The pair played pickup games regularly during the presidential campaign, a tradition that has carried over to the South Lawn of the White House. Love, who was a star wide receiver on the football team and captain of the basketball team at Duke, rarely plays against Obama.
"Reggie is 20 years younger than me," Obama said during the campaign. "So there is no doubt that I have to have Reggie on my team. I can't be guarding Reggie."
Love and Obama are also seasoned travel teammates. According to a group of researchers at ABC News, they have flown some 880,780 miles together since the start of the presidential campaign. When two people spend that much time together, they're bound to get on each other's nerves. So, what does Obama do that makes Love's skin crawl?
"The thing that used to kill me is that the guy loves to ride around with the AC off in the summertime," Love said. "And I get hot. I start sweating. And I'm like, it's 80 degrees in this car. I'm going to pass out."
Only when beads of sweat begin to roll down Love's face will Obama relinquish his presidential powers and agree to use the air conditioner.
The stifling car rides aside, Love admits he landed a dream job, one that comes with a front-row seat to history – literally. So why on Earth is he leaving to become a student? The demands on his time, he said, were becoming too great ever since he started taking classes on a part-time basis at Wharton earlier this year. When Obama gave a speech at the White House Correspondents' dinner in April, hours before the U.S. launched a raid on Osama Bin Laden's house, Love was off studying for a midterm.
Still, the decision to leave the White House for a classroom was extremely difficult. Before making it final, Love consulted with his closest colleague.
"I said, 'Mister President, I just wanted to get your advice and your opinion on this. I'm thinking that maybe I need to spend more time focusing on school and taking some time off of here,' " Love said. "And he was very supportive of it."
Asked to describe what his last day might be like, Love seemed to get emotional. He later said he planned to regularly keep in touch with Obama and might just drop by the White House one day to have lunch with him.
Love said he felt fortunate to be a "very long passenger on an amazing ride." But it's the mundane things about the job he will cherish most. On most nights, as Obama leaves the Oval Office for the second-floor residence, he pops his head into Love's office for a quick briefing on the next day's schedule and then says goodnight.
"I know definitely I'm going to miss that," Love said. "He's been like big brother to me, a mentor. I've learned so much about life from him. I've spent most of my adult life working for him, so it's going to be a challenge. A pretty big challenge."
"The space is small," Love said. "But the real estate is valuable."
Nearly every day, Love takes a right turn out of his office, walks a few steps and opens a door to the most famous office in the world: the Oval Office. Whatever President Obama happens to need once inside, from a copy of a speech to a newspaper, Love gets for him. As the president's personal assistant – a job known as a body man – Love also keeps him on schedule, often deciding who gets the president's ear.
The 29-year-old Love hardly ever speaks on the record. But after the White House announced 12 days ago that he would be leaving his position by the end of the year to attend the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Business, he granted an exclusive interview to ESPN's Rachel Nichols, providing a rare glimpse inside the president's inner circle.
Love is almost always by Obama's side, working up to 18 hours a day and often sleeping on the burgundy couch. He carries around a bag filled with anything the president might need in a pinch, like collar stays, Tide stain remover and dental products. Obama has no qualms about flossing his teeth with Love in the room.
"If he had it his way, I think he'd floss in private," Love said, noting how little time the president spends away from his closest aides. "I think the fact that he was comfortable with me is probably a product of, you know, he's beaten down. I've been around for so long." Tune in Tuesday to "World News with Diane Sawyer" at 6:30 p.m. ET and "Nightline" at 11:35 p.m. ET for Rachel Nichols' interview with Reggie Love
Affable and outgoing, Love joined Obama's Senate office in 2006. He started in the mail room and was quickly promoted to body man. But he has risen to more than a presidential aide. Obama frequently refers to Love as a little brother, making him the informal First Brother if you will.
"His ability to juggle so many responsibilities with so little sleep has been an inspiration to watch," Obama said in a statement last week. "He is the master of what he does."
One thing Love does to perfection is help make the president look hip. He taught Obama how to fist-bump, bought him a silver iPod for his birthday and introduced him to the music of Lil Wayne and Jay-Z. Last year, Obama playfully referred to Love as his "iReggie."
"The president has to deal with so many things that are heavy," Love said. "I think it's good to be able to, for him, to have some moments of levity, some moments not full-tilt. And if me being a part of (those) moments is helpful, I acknowledge and think I'm happy to do it."
The bond between Love and Obama was solidified on a basketball court. The pair played pickup games regularly during the presidential campaign, a tradition that has carried over to the South Lawn of the White House. Love, who was a star wide receiver on the football team and captain of the basketball team at Duke, rarely plays against Obama.
"Reggie is 20 years younger than me," Obama said during the campaign. "So there is no doubt that I have to have Reggie on my team. I can't be guarding Reggie."
Love and Obama are also seasoned travel teammates. According to a group of researchers at ABC News, they have flown some 880,780 miles together since the start of the presidential campaign. When two people spend that much time together, they're bound to get on each other's nerves. So, what does Obama do that makes Love's skin crawl?
"The thing that used to kill me is that the guy loves to ride around with the AC off in the summertime," Love said. "And I get hot. I start sweating. And I'm like, it's 80 degrees in this car. I'm going to pass out."
Only when beads of sweat begin to roll down Love's face will Obama relinquish his presidential powers and agree to use the air conditioner.
The stifling car rides aside, Love admits he landed a dream job, one that comes with a front-row seat to history – literally. So why on Earth is he leaving to become a student? The demands on his time, he said, were becoming too great ever since he started taking classes on a part-time basis at Wharton earlier this year. When Obama gave a speech at the White House Correspondents' dinner in April, hours before the U.S. launched a raid on Osama Bin Laden's house, Love was off studying for a midterm.
Still, the decision to leave the White House for a classroom was extremely difficult. Before making it final, Love consulted with his closest colleague.
"I said, 'Mister President, I just wanted to get your advice and your opinion on this. I'm thinking that maybe I need to spend more time focusing on school and taking some time off of here,' " Love said. "And he was very supportive of it."
Asked to describe what his last day might be like, Love seemed to get emotional. He later said he planned to regularly keep in touch with Obama and might just drop by the White House one day to have lunch with him.
Love said he felt fortunate to be a "very long passenger on an amazing ride." But it's the mundane things about the job he will cherish most. On most nights, as Obama leaves the Oval Office for the second-floor residence, he pops his head into Love's office for a quick briefing on the next day's schedule and then says goodnight.
"I know definitely I'm going to miss that," Love said. "He's been like big brother to me, a mentor. I've learned so much about life from him. I've spent most of my adult life working for him, so it's going to be a challenge. A pretty big challenge."
‘The Doctors’ Features Labia Reduction Surgery
An episode of CBS’s “The Doctors” airing today focuses on a 23-year-old woman undergoing labiaplasty – yep, plastic surgery on the female genitals.
“I feel like I’m deformed down there,” said Shannon, a nursing student whose last name was not revealed on the show, describing her “constant discomfort throughout the day.”
The inner labia are like lips that cover the clitoris and vaginal opening. But some women say their long labia cause physical pain and psychological anguish.
“It was a factor in my previous breakup,” said Shannon. “I’m self conscious. I don’t really want to have sex – I try to avoid it, so it’s kind of a big strain on a relationship.”
Dr. Jennifer Berman, a Beverley Hills urologist who also appeared on the show, recommended labia reduction surgery to correct Shannon’s “anatomical abnormality.”
“It’s not just a cosmetic thing,” she said. “This is something that you need done, for sure.”
Dr. Grant Stevens, founder of Marina Plastic Surgery in Marina del Ray, Calif., performed the procedure. He said many women come in wanting labia reduction, but few actually need it.
“If I hear the word pain or chafing or tenderness, it’s an entirely different consult than if I get the ‘I’m embarrassed, I think it looks funny.’ But ‘I’m embarrassed’ doesn’t automatically disqualify somebody.”
Stevens said he removed a stretch of skin the length of a middle finger from Shannon’s labia.
“No one would be cruel enough to suggest a woman should live like that,” he said.
Labia reduction is one part of vaginal rejuvenation – a panel of procedures aimed at making the sculpting and refining a women’s most private parts.
“Your vagina can be a beautiful declaration of your taste and style rather than an impediment or humiliation,” reads the Marina Plastic Surgery website.
Other rejuvenation procedures include labia augmentation and vaginal tightening.
Labia reduction was just one segment on today’s one-hour episode of “The Doctors” called “Gross Anatomy,” which also featured bulging veins, boils and psoriasis.
“Let’s be real,” said Dr. Travis Stork, who hosts the show. “Looks do matter, whether it’s your face your hair or even down there.”
But some gynecologists call plastic surgery for the vagina misguided and risky.
“For every single thing that’s normal about a woman’s body there’s a man trying to change it,” said Dr. Hilda Hutcherson, an obstetrician and gynecologist at NewYork – Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center. “The last frontier was the vagina.”
Labia reduction surgery removes sections of skin rich in blood vessels.
“They’re taking this beautiful, fluffy vulva and making it look like newborn baby’s,” said Hutcherson. “They’ve taken every part of a woman’s body and convinced us it’s somehow abnormal.”
Hutcherson said labia come in all shapes and sizes.
“I think women should have options, but I think it’s up to doctors to educate them about what’s normal,” she said.
Labia reduction can cause bleeding and infections. And scar tissue can make the skin less stretchy, causing pain and discomfort during sex.
But Stevens said he only operates on women for whom the benefits outweigh the risks.
“There are risks and complications associated with all surgery,” he said. “If I’m not convinced there’s a functional defect or such an abnormality that the emotional aspect is compelling, I say no.”
Indeed some patients – like moms with prolapsed vaginas after childbirth – benefit medically from the surgery, according to Dr. Erin Tracy, an obstetrician and gynecologist at Massachusetts General Hospital.
“But most of the patients I have coming in asking about this are teenagers that look entirely normal,” said Tracy. “The majority of them, after some probing, seem to have some underlying body dysmorphic disorder or problems in their relationship that make them think they’re abnormal.”
For Shannon, who said she would avoid wearing bathing suits because of her labia, reduction surgery provided a self-esteem boost.
“I’m so excited,” she said after the procedure. “I saw the results, they look amazing. … I couldn’t be more happy.”
“I feel like I’m deformed down there,” said Shannon, a nursing student whose last name was not revealed on the show, describing her “constant discomfort throughout the day.”
The inner labia are like lips that cover the clitoris and vaginal opening. But some women say their long labia cause physical pain and psychological anguish.
“It was a factor in my previous breakup,” said Shannon. “I’m self conscious. I don’t really want to have sex – I try to avoid it, so it’s kind of a big strain on a relationship.”
Dr. Jennifer Berman, a Beverley Hills urologist who also appeared on the show, recommended labia reduction surgery to correct Shannon’s “anatomical abnormality.”
“It’s not just a cosmetic thing,” she said. “This is something that you need done, for sure.”
Dr. Grant Stevens, founder of Marina Plastic Surgery in Marina del Ray, Calif., performed the procedure. He said many women come in wanting labia reduction, but few actually need it.
“If I hear the word pain or chafing or tenderness, it’s an entirely different consult than if I get the ‘I’m embarrassed, I think it looks funny.’ But ‘I’m embarrassed’ doesn’t automatically disqualify somebody.”
Stevens said he removed a stretch of skin the length of a middle finger from Shannon’s labia.
“No one would be cruel enough to suggest a woman should live like that,” he said.
Labia reduction is one part of vaginal rejuvenation – a panel of procedures aimed at making the sculpting and refining a women’s most private parts.
“Your vagina can be a beautiful declaration of your taste and style rather than an impediment or humiliation,” reads the Marina Plastic Surgery website.
Other rejuvenation procedures include labia augmentation and vaginal tightening.
Labia reduction was just one segment on today’s one-hour episode of “The Doctors” called “Gross Anatomy,” which also featured bulging veins, boils and psoriasis.
“Let’s be real,” said Dr. Travis Stork, who hosts the show. “Looks do matter, whether it’s your face your hair or even down there.”
But some gynecologists call plastic surgery for the vagina misguided and risky.
“For every single thing that’s normal about a woman’s body there’s a man trying to change it,” said Dr. Hilda Hutcherson, an obstetrician and gynecologist at NewYork – Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center. “The last frontier was the vagina.”
Labia reduction surgery removes sections of skin rich in blood vessels.
“They’re taking this beautiful, fluffy vulva and making it look like newborn baby’s,” said Hutcherson. “They’ve taken every part of a woman’s body and convinced us it’s somehow abnormal.”
Hutcherson said labia come in all shapes and sizes.
“I think women should have options, but I think it’s up to doctors to educate them about what’s normal,” she said.
Labia reduction can cause bleeding and infections. And scar tissue can make the skin less stretchy, causing pain and discomfort during sex.
But Stevens said he only operates on women for whom the benefits outweigh the risks.
“There are risks and complications associated with all surgery,” he said. “If I’m not convinced there’s a functional defect or such an abnormality that the emotional aspect is compelling, I say no.”
Indeed some patients – like moms with prolapsed vaginas after childbirth – benefit medically from the surgery, according to Dr. Erin Tracy, an obstetrician and gynecologist at Massachusetts General Hospital.
“But most of the patients I have coming in asking about this are teenagers that look entirely normal,” said Tracy. “The majority of them, after some probing, seem to have some underlying body dysmorphic disorder or problems in their relationship that make them think they’re abnormal.”
For Shannon, who said she would avoid wearing bathing suits because of her labia, reduction surgery provided a self-esteem boost.
“I’m so excited,” she said after the procedure. “I saw the results, they look amazing. … I couldn’t be more happy.”
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