Jenn Stuczynski

Today I'd like to inform you about Fredonia High School graduate and Woman's Pole Vault Olympic Silver Medalist Jenn Stuczynski. She continues to focus in on the World Indoor Record after she achieved the Indoor American Record at the Boston Indoor Games at the beginning of February. She was also named by Track & Field News as the American Woman Athlete of the Year for 2008.

Jenn was an amazing track star at Fredonia High School. Many that competed with and against her saying that she was light-years ahead of anyone at any event. Oddly enough though, Jenn didn't pole vault at Fredonia, she barely began the sport six years ago, and now she can claim an Olympic Silver Medal at Beijing.

Here is her Nutrilite commercial along with her press conference immediately following her receieving the Indoor American Record in Women's Pole Vault. I hope to keep you updated on Jenn's progress leading up to the London 2012 Olympic Games.

A message from SSDP

By now you're probably aware that Olympic hero Michael Phelps was photographed lighting an orphanage on fire, and has now been suspended from competing and is getting dropped by a major sponsor.

Oh, wait. Actually, he was photographed lighting marijuana on fire, not an orphanage.

Smoking marijuana is hardly unusual behavior for a 23 year old. In fact, Phelps is being crucified for something that more than half the adult American population has done at some point in their lives.

Yet, Phelps is facing suspension from competing in the Olympics and Kellogg's cereal has decided to drop their sponsorship of the athlete, claiming "Michael's most recent behavior is not consistent with the image of Kellogg."

Kellogg's needs to hear from the public that their decision will hurt their company far more than Phelps's marijuana use. Please contact Kellogg's today and tell them that you will boycott all of their products until they reverse their decision on Phelps's sponsorship (you can find a list of Kellogg's products at the bottom of this e-mail). You can contact Kellogg's by visiting http://www2.kelloggs.com/ContactUs.aspx

Just cut and paste the following message into the webform on the Kellogg's website (or edit it if you like):

I am deeply disappointed by your decision to drop your sponsorship of Michael Phelps simply because he was photographed smoking marijuana. Over half of all adult Americans, including our last three presidents, have smoked marijuana during their lives. It is outrageous that Kellogg's would hold Michael Phelps to such an unreasonable standard, rather than standing by a 23 year old who has brought more inspiration and joy to millions of Americans than most will accomplish in a lifetime. Until you reverse your decision to drop Michael Phelps' sponsorship, I will be boycotting all Kellogg's products.

Meanwhile, USA Swimming, the governing body of American swimming events, has suspended Phelps for three months for his use of marijuana. While this will not cause him to miss any major competitions, he still faces a potential four-year suspension from the International Olympic Committee and the World Anti-Doping Agency. If you have a Facebook account, please join thousands of others in signing a petition demanding that the IOC and WADA not suspend Phelps from international competition. http://apps.facebook.com/causes/petitions/62

Have a great weekend, and please keep an eye out for further action on this next week. We're working with a coalition of organizations to send a strong message to the media that a single bong hit should never ruin a person's career.

Regards,

Kris Krane, Executive Director
Students for Sensible Drug Policy