ryan pinkston

Correspondent Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy returns to Afghanistan on "Afghanistan: Lifting the Veil" (8 p.m. Saturday, CNN). This report is a follow-up of sorts to a segment called "Beneath the Veil," which aired in August 2001, just a month before 9/11.

"Beneath the Veil" revealed widespread oppression of women under the Taliban. They were banned from schools and civic life and forced to wear head-to-toe burkas when they appeared in public. Hidden-camera footage revealed the public execution of women who transgressed a strict code.

Six years later, some aspects of life have improved. Girls go to school, and the official constitution protects women's rights. But, as Obaid-Chinoy discovers, many women are still oppressed by their families, or, more often, their husband's families. Young girls are still sold to "husbands" as a way of settling debts.

Some women have rebelled in the only way they know how: setting themselves on fire. At least their suicide will show the world that they suffered.

One of the nation's most celebrated young poets found her husband enraged by her celebrity. He beat her to death and spent fewer than five months in jail for his crime.

"Lifting the Veil" shows how harsh conditions for women did not begin or end with Taliban rule. Even educated English-speaking teachers at a girl's school hold strong and surprising opinions. According to these men, any woman not hidden in a burka is fair game to be followed and harassed. One teacher jokes that he would never allow his male friends to meet his wife or even see a picture of her.

"There must be something in the water here," muses Obaid-Chinoy, dressed in a conservative scarf, to explain these attitudes.

Ryan Seacrest hosts the 59th Primetime Emmy Awards (8 p.m. Sunday, Fox, TV-14, D, L, V). Space hardly permits me to assess the nominees or my feelings about who should win, or will win, an Emmy. So I'd rather focus on one actress who was not nominated.

Tichina Arnold plays Rochelle Rock, the mother on "Everybody Hates Chris." It's on the CW, a network Emmy judges all but ignore. She's the emotional center of a series that manages to be smart, hip and touching at the same time. Rochelle is both the stern matriarch and a slightly vain woman concerned with looking good and still capable of using a little sly manipulation to get her way with her kids, her husband and her neighbors. In short, she's the kind of strong, three-dimensional character in short supply on today's situation comedies. Her non-nomination is a major oversight.

Funny, quirky, slightly flawed but still loving parental figures have been comedy staples for years. Jane Kaczmarek received seven Emmy nominations for her role on "Malcolm in the Middle." Doris Roberts received seven nominations and four Emmys for "Everybody Loves Raymond." It's time that Arnold joins their ranks with an Emmy nomination.

"Inside the Human Body" (8 p.m. Sunday, National Geographic) is nothing short of stunning. Filled with one "how did they get that?" image after another, "Body" shows how the human body functions and adapts from the miracle of birth to the moment of death.

Using cutting-edge technology and photographed with a staggering intimacy that may be a tad too much for some viewers, "Body" features actual photographs of food falling from the esophagus into the stomach and then making its way through the digestive process. We see an egg ready to erupt from an ovary and learn the ways that the tiny, walnut-sized heart of a newborn makes sudden and necessary changes to adjust to life outside the womb.

"Body" follows a single female subject through puberty, her reproductive years and menopause. We see how the body stores up fat in old age, and we even discover how the fantastically, miraculously complex organisms in our brain and skin react to our final breath.

"Inside the Human Body" will transfix adults as well as young viewers still dreaming of becoming the doctors and scientists of tomorrow.

The documentary "How the Earth Was Made" (8 p.m. Sunday, History) uses CGI technology to explain and explore 4 billion years of geology.
As 9-year-old Ryan Pinkston enters the fifth grade this school year, he is looking forward to taking music and art classes.

But Ryan will also face a few changes. He is going to a new school: Schoenhals Elementary in Southfield.

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Last school year, Ryan attended Kennedy Elementary School, also in Southfield. But Kennedy closed in June because of declining enrollment.

Some of the students who attended Kennedy will attend Schoenhals this school year. Others will go to Vandenberg Elementary or Brace-Lederle, which serves students in kindergarten through eighth grade.

"I want to try this out and give my new school a chance," said Ryan, who lives in Southfield.

Schoenhals students new and old were invited to a meet-and-greet event, in hopes of easing the transition into a new building and to introduce the school's new principal, Paula Whitted-Lightsey, who came from Kennedy.

From 4 to 6 p.m. Aug. 30, less than one week before the start of school, students and their parents were able to mingle and speak to Whitted-Lightsey over ice cream.

"We wanted this to be nice, very relaxed and comfortable," said Whitted-Lightsey, who has been with Southfield Public Schools since 1994. "Being the new person, I believe it's important to meet the students and their parents. Some of them know me from being the principal of Kennedy and some know me from Thompson Middle School, where I was an assistant principal."

So far, 380 students are enrolled at Schoenhals for the 2007-08 school year. The school, on Lincoln Drive a few blocks west of Greenfield, serves students in kindergarten though fifth grade.

Located behind Schoenhals is Thompson Middle School, which serves students in sixth through eighth grades.

"I am really excited about Ryan coming here," said Ellen Pinkston, 40, Ryan's mom. "When Kennedy closed and we found out he was coming here, I was really nervous and anxious to see how this would work. He has already received mail from his teacher. There seems to be a collaborative effort between families and teachers."

When school officials announced that Kennedy would be closing, she said, many of the parents wanted to keep the school, on Mt. Vernon near Greenfield, open.

"It was a shock," she said. "My older son was graduating, but Ryan was entering the fifth grade. It was disappointing."

Over time, Pinkston said, she has gotten used to the idea of Ryan's attending Schoenhals.

"This is a transition year for him," she said. "I am looking forward to getting him ready for middle school and finalizing his elementary school training. Thompson is next door, so he is near his new middle school. I believe he is receiving a top-notch education."

Parents were given a folder of expectations at the meet-and-greet, as well as other information about the school year. Every student in attendance received a free nonfiction storybook about animals.

"This is extremely important. There is nothing more important than connecting with kids," said Jennifer Correia, a secretary at Schoenhals. "Some of the students may have fears about coming to a new school, and this helps them and gives everyone a chance to meet the new principal. It's a way to help them get over their fears before school starts."

As parents and teachers sat at picnic tables on the school's playground and talked, many of the children took to the play-

scape or played jump rope.

The event was the first of its kind at Schoenhals. The school sent flyers to let parents know about the event.

"This is a really good event because it gets people together," said Raymond Davis of Southfield, whose 8-year-old daughter, Elena, is attending third grade at Schoenhals. "This is very sociable. A lot of the parents know each other, but in some cases, we haven't seen each other over the summer.

"We are already getting ready for the first day of school, and this event helps cut down on the confusion on the first day."

Ryan James Pinkston (born February 8, 1988) is an American actor and model.

Pinkston was born in Silver Spring, Maryland. Before he became an actor, he was involved in karate competitions, having been inspired by watching the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. He was known in Europe for his participation in the sport.[1] Pinkston appeared on Star Search at the age of twelve and was subsequently a cast member on Ashton Kutcher's MTV show Punk'd. He also starred in the sitcom Quintuplets; his older brother, Aaron Pinkston, has made guest appearances on the show.

He had a role in the last of the Spy Kids trilogy Spy Kids 3D: Game Over, alongside with actress Alexa Vega and actor Daryl Sabara.

Pinkston's most recent role is in the comedy Full of It, it opened on March 2, 2007; in the film, he plays a high school senior who lies to become popular.

Pinkston lives in Los Angeles.[1]