nikkicomm303blog

I chose a story from the New York Times. I liked it because, the beginning and the end felt like a feature story, but the middle felt more like a news story.

The article begins with several stories about men who suffered from heart attacks. It goes further to state, that friends and families of the men, believe it may be because they had recently lost their jobs. Then the author talks of studies about direct and indirect effects of stress.  At the end of the article he brings it back to the plants closing and the statistics of people who worked there suffering from heart complications.

I liked the technique the author used. It was informative with data and statistical facts but it didn’t feel overwhelming or hard to read. I appreciated the fact that the writer included studies that were being conducted. It sort of validated conclusions made by the victims families and friends. He blended an appropriate amount of facts and descriptions that made it interesting for me to read.

On Sunday morning, three students were admitted to the local hospital for alcohol poisoning.

Press Martin, junior in engineering and Rob Smith, sophomore in business, were released Monday morning. Al Amelak, freshman majoring in liberal arts, is in critical condition, according to a university representative.

The initial investigation indicates they were at the ABZ fraternity house. The fraternity and its activities have been suspended indefinitely, according to a statement given by the university.

Two weeks prior to the incident, university President Bart Addison, released a statement banning alcohol from fraternity houses. Those found with alcohol, he said will be suspended. A second offense within a year will result in a five year banning of the fraternity.

Bart Addison, Interfraternity Council president, stated “…I do not believe that the entire fraternity should be held responsible for the actions of a few. I am going to ask President Smithville to reconsider his suspension of the ABZs.”

With the recent deaths of a student at LSU and one at MIT due to alcohol poisoning, this comes at a time when concern for drinking at college parties is high.

The university is considering increasing its police patrols of fraternity houses on the weekends.

I took my examples from the New York Times.

Straight lead:

KABUL, Afghanistan — An airstrike launched by United States Special Forces helicopters on Sunday against what international troops believed to be a group of insurgents ended up killing as many as 27 civilians in the worst such case since at least September, Afghan officials said Monday.

Anecdotal lead:

 MARJA, Afghanistan — Since the American-led offensive into the last large Talibanenclave in Helmand Province began nine days ago, local Afghans have faced a dangerous and uncertain world.

Direct address:

 Just push yourself away from the television. You will burn more calories.

Lead I didn’t like:

VANCOUVER, British Columbia — For sheer spectacle, the Olympics offer the opening ceremony, the closing ceremony and dozens of medal ceremonies in between. For sheer awkwardness, they offer the kiss-and-cry area.

I didn’t like this lead because it served no purpose. I get that the author is trying to be witty but from this lead you don’t know what the story is going to be about. You don’t know if she’s going to talk about the opening ceremony, the closing ceremony, the dozens of medal ceremonies or the kiss-and-cry area.

Also this sounds silly but I don’t like that the author used the word “sheer” twice within the first two sentences. I don’t know she did it on purpose or was just to lazy to find another word to fit the purpose-either way I wasn’t a fan.

A suit for 100,000 dollars was filed today by Ellie Maston against Amburn’s Produce Market, charging the market with negligence on an incident that happened earlier this year.

The suit claims on April 1, Maston, of 313 Journey Road, walked through green beans left on the floor of the market causing her to slip and break her hip.

The suit says she, “suffered permanent bodily and mental injuries, incurred medical expenses and lost income.”

I have always been a fan of National Geographic.  Reading the magazine as a child, like so many pther people, transported me to a world that was fascinating and unique to the world I experienced. 

The article I chose for this week was a feature done about Wolves. I haven’t read everything there is to read about the re-introduction of wolves but from what I gather it’s an ongoing process and an ongoing story with National Geographic.

 Recently, due to the dwindling population, wolves have been repopulated in Yellowstone Park. For some animal enthusiast this is a great thing but for others who also visit Yellowstone they no longer feel safe bringing their families into the park.  Apparently there are also issues with the wolves killing nearby livestock in places like Wyoming and Montana. For some farmers and ranchers their lively hood comes from their cattle and are not happy about having to share them with a wolf pack.

This article is a long one, explaining the pros and cons of repopulating wolves into the wild. I liked it mainly because of the first couple of sentences where it compares wolves to people. I think the writer was trying to pull us into the story but also trying to appeal to the reader with out being too bias by making wolves more relatable.

I also enjoyed the full coverage this article gave the reader. It talked about the history of wolves, the issues with repopulating them and whether it’s plausible that  not only people but other animals cancoexist with the wolves. It talked extensively about all issues and angles so the readers could decide for themselves what should be done.

Quotation # 2: 

Marilyn Wall, president of the Walls Tie Co., said sales were up this year compared to last year. Wall said because of the increase, the company rehired some of the people they recently laid off and were also able to add about 20 new jobs in different parts of the factory.

Quotation # 4: 

Jerry Butts, a member of the city council, said there are some concerns with the pay raise requested from the police department. He agrees they deserve it, but in order to do so property tax rates would have to increase. The concern is that people would be upset about an increase in taxes that have not changed in over five years.

Quotation # 5:

Anita Keller, president of the local chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Driving, said she is upset with laws that she perceives as too lenient against drunk drivers. She expressed concerns of why legislators are not taking an active role, claiming they may be influenced by contributions for campaigns from the alcohol industry.  

Quotation # 6: 

Laura Stewart, president of Stewart Advertising Agency, said the local economy in this city seems to be thriving. She said her companies gross revenue has been increasing each year. Stewart said most of the business comes from local businesses but about 25 percent is from out-of-town clients.

Photo courtesy of Flickr user P i c a

The sky is dark with menancing clouds. Barely anything here had chance to live in the waterless and course desert. In the distance there is a cluster of  parched bushes. Closer to eye sight, out of the sand grew two febble trees, with no branches and only a reminisce of leaves. They stood somberly out of the ground bent awkwardly towards the sky as if they were holding their hands out for water and sun light.

So, I was watching CNN news and they played a story about this young man. I didn’t catch all of the details, I only caught the end of the story but apparently he has struck again. I googled “Barefoot Bandit” and this is one of the articles I found. I couldn’t believe all the robberies they think hes been involved in and it was even more surprising that he is still a free man. Although, when you read this, you’ll see that he was captured once and sent to a detention hall but escaped. My question is, who is this kid?! And what is his motivation? Does he just like messing around with the police or is it something more than that? Either way, I’m intrigued.

1. composes

2. In the year of the lord A.D. 33

3.  czar

4. QE2

 5. court-martials

6.  International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers

7. It needs to be spelled out in the first reference- Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps- but then can be referred to as NROTC in the second and any other reference.

8. liberal

9. pour

10.  Altanta, Georgia

So I found this on the Washington Post. I thought is was funny and I liked the cynical tone the writer had in this piece. I enjoyed the humor Mr. Achenbach used, I literally laughed out loud as I read it. It’s basically talking about getting ready for the  up coming snow storm and buying up anything you can and the hysteria that goes along with that kind of thinking. It doesn’t have any real point to it other then people act crazy when it snows.

I went home to Charlottesville for the weekend due to my parents incessant badgering.  I went to the grocery store last night (Thursday) for ice cream, and it was bizarre how empty it was. There was no eggs, no milk, all of the produce and meat products were gone, and randomly all of the cookies were also bought up-luckily I was still able to find chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream. I even took some pictures on my phone and would put on here if only I knew how.  Today when I sat down to do this post and looked for stories this one stood out, because it was a story I had seen with my own two eyes. I found it humorous that someone actually put into print what I had been thinking last night as I walked through the sad sight grocery store.

My family and I are originally from  New York. We moved to Charlottesville when I got out of high school. We crack up every time Virgina gets snow. People here have no idea what a real snow storm is like-no offense. I’m not complaining- I didn’t have class today or a couple times last week because of the snow. So really what I’m trying to say is, stay innocent Virginia to bad snow storms, that way I will forever have snow days.