TASK DEFINITION: Given a paragraph, generate a claim that is supported by the given paragraph. 1) The claim must contain information from within the paragraph. 2) A sentence within the paragraph can be used as a claim. 3) The claim should not have contradictions within the paragraph. 4) The claim should be at most one sentence long.
PROBLEM: Leaf appeared Thursday at C.M. Russell High School in Great Falls for the first time in more than 20 years, The Great Falls Tribune reported Friday. In a speech titled, “Lying to Myself,” Leaf discussed his football career as a star at Washington State University, Heisman Trophy finalist and second-overall pick in the 1998 NFL draft by the San Diego Chargers. Four years later he was out of professional football and became addicted to prescription pills, which led to burglary and drug charges and a prison sentence, Leaf said. He recalled attending a boxing match in Las Vegas in the time shortly after hanging it up in the NFL and being booed loudly by the crowd as the announcer recognized celebrities in attendance. At an after-fight party, he took a Vicodin, and for the next eight years, kept trying to chase that high, he said. “I was a drug addict long before I ever took a drug,” Leaf said. “I didn’t know any better.” Leaf’s goal in telling his story was to connect with the audience and “try to give back to a community that I took so much from and victimized,” he said. He also spoke about the need for more discussion of mental health issues in Montana. “There is a mental health epidemic in this state,” Leaf said. “We need to come together as a community.” He does not practice a specific religion but spoke of spirituality, community and accountability. Leaf found his calling working as an assistant to a substance abuse counselor in prison, he said. He is now a program ambassador for Transcend Recovery, an addiction treatment center in Los Angeles where he worked after getting sober. As a pro athlete, “I was making $5 million a year and was miserable,” Leaf said. “Now, I was making $15 an hour and felt valued.” ___ Information from: Great Falls Tribune, http://www.greatfallstribune.com

SOLUTION: Former NFL player Ryan Leaf gives speech on  substance abuse.

PROBLEM: "In a show of Republican muscle, Florida lawmakers passed several bills relating to abortion during this year’s legislative session. One proposal awaiting the signature of Gov. Rick Scott requires young women who want a judge to waive the parental-notification requirement to obtain the waiver in a circuit court closer to their home rather than a wider-reaching appeals court. Opponents insist HB 1247 violates the privacy of young women who live in small communities and know most people in their area, including people who work at the courthouse. But supporters say it prevents teens from crossing the state to find a sympathetic judge in order to get an abortion without their parents’ knowledge. Sen. Steve Oelrich, a Republican from Gainesville and cosponsor of the Senate version, had an interesting take during a May 5, 2011, debate on the Senate floor. ""You can’t give a child an aspirin in school without permission,"" he said. ""You can’t do any kind of medication, but we can secretly take the child off and have an abortion. We should support it (HB 1247) with all our hearts and souls if parental responsibility means anything to us."" Oelrich’s claim left us wondering: Is it really that hard for students to get over-the-counter medication at school? We should explain that we're not ruling on Oelrich's statement that young women can ""secretly"" have abortions. We already know this is legal in certain cases under Florida law. Implementation of HB 1247 would limit which courts can make the decisions for women who seek waivers of the parental notification law, not strip their ability to have secret procedures. Florida law The Florida Statutes have straightforward directions for handling prescription medication at school. The law requires a student’s parent to submit a written statement with the medicine that permits a trained school official to administer a dose. The note must also explain why the medicine must be taken during the school day. The prescription medicine must be administered at school by a qualified official and then be counted, stored in the original container, and kept in a secured place. Beyond that, the law does not address the use of over-the-counter medication. The statutes leave that decision up to local school districts. We set out to check each one to learn if Oelrich's claim is . We tracked down policies for 62 of 67 counties. Most were available online. It took time to be sure, but Oelrich is right. Every district requires parental consent for non-prescription medication, sometimes in writing and sometimes by phone. Notifying a parent is the minimum step for many other districts, including Charlotte, Baker and Miami-Dade. These districts require a physician's note, too. ""We don’t administer anything in Charlotte County without doctors' orders,"" said Gail Buck, supervisor of the county’s school health services. ""No cough drops, no Tylenol."" Aspirin warnings There's another part to this claim: Oelrich specifically invoked aspirin on the Senate floor. Some of the school nurses we interviewed practically shuddered at the word. The reason? Aspirin use among children is linked to the development of Reye's Syndrome, a lethal disease that sets in after a viral infection and affects all organs of the body, according to the National Reye's Syndrome Foundation. The National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are among entities that recommend not using aspirin, or combination medicine containing aspirin, for children under 19 during fever-causing illnesses. ""We stay away from all aspirin products and stuff,"" said Catherine Reckenwald, student health specialist for Citrus County Schools. ""You don’t know if a child has an allergy, so you need to have very specific instructions for each student."" Reckenwald said Tylenol is more appropriate for children, but she does not keep a supply in her clinic. This is standard practice at most of the school health centers we contacted. ""We do not have what is called 'standing orders,' "" said Janice Karst, St. Lucie County School Board director of communications. In case you were wondering, students are allowed to self-administer epinephrine auto-injectors, metered dose inhalers, pancreatic enzyme supplements and diabetic supplies if they have a doctor's note and parental consent. Our ruling The thrust of Oelrich's point is correct: You can’t give a child an aspirin in school without permission. To administer any non-prescription medication, school officials must have approval from the parent. And in some cases, the schools also need a note from a doctor -- even for cough drops. While Oelrich is right about the permission part, he specifically mentioned aspirin so we should add that giving aspirin to children is considered risky because of the medicine's connection to a deadly disease. But that wasn't exactly Oelrich's point in a debate over abortion and a minor's right to privacy."

SOLUTION: You can't give a child an aspirin in school without permission. You can't do any kind of medication, but we can secretly take the child off and have an abortion.

PROBLEM: A meme showing a picture of a doctor and the paramedic who saved each others lives has long circulated on social media, in large part due to an April 2016 Unbelievable Facts Facebook post:That meme read at the bottom:In 1981, a pediatrician saved the life of a 3.2-pound premature baby boy by working around the clock to beat the odds & stabilize him. In 2011, the pediatrician was pinned inside a burning vehicle after a car collision, but was saved by the premature baby, who had grown up to become a paramedic.An identical version was shared on November 22 2019 to r/nevertellmetheodds, a subreddit for posts about long-odds scenarios occurring in real life:What goes around comes around from nevertellmetheoddsThe story (and appended photograph) originated with a March 2015 KTLA report about the doctor and the once-premature baby — Dr. Michael Shannon and Chris Trokey — reuniting at a fundraiser four years after Trokey saved Shannon’s life in 2011:Exactly four years ago, on March 29, 2011, Dr. Michael Shannon was driving on Pacific Coast Highway in Dana Point when a semi-truck T-boned his SUV, pinning his vehicle underneath the truck as it caught fire.Firefighters from Paramedic Engine 29 were returning from another call and responded within minutes to the fiery crash.By the time they arrived, Shannon’s vehicle was also ablaze and the flames were burning his legs. Fire crews then worked to extinguish the flames and rescue him using the Jaws of Life.The seriously injured Shannon was taken to Mission Hospital in Mission Viejo where he spent the next 45 days recovering from internal injuries. He also had to have two of his toes amputated.Among those who had helped save Shannon that day was Orange County Fire Authority paramedic Chris Trokey, whose own life had been saved 30 years earlier by the pediatrician.“I didn’t know about until I went to the hospital and started talking about it, Dr. Shannon. And I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, Dr. Shannon? '” Trokey recalled [in 2015]. “That’s when I found out.”KTLA added:Trokey was just 3.2 pounds at birth, and doctors had initially gave him a 50/50 chance at surviving. But his pediatrician — Dr. Shannon — helped save his life, staying with the infant around the clock until his health improved and he was stable.According to the meme, a pediatrician (Shannon) saved a premature baby (Trokey) in 1981. Thirty years later, the then-grown baby was a paramedic, and a first responder to a serious car accident involving Shannon. When Shannon and Trokey met again in 2015, KTLA reported the story, inspiring memes which circulated for several years thereafter.

SOLUTION:
In 1981, a pediatrician saved the life of a 3.2-pound premature baby boy by working around the clock to beat the odds & stabilize him. In 2011, the pediatrician was pinned inside a burning vehicle after a car collision, but was saved by the premature baby, who had grown up to become a paramedic.