Granny’s Green Gone Bye-bye!

Margaret Holcomb was forced to part with her single medical marijuana plant on Sept 21 in Amherst, MA after a military-style helicopter swooped down on the 81-year-old’s property to confiscate the illegal contraband.

Margaret’s son, Tim Holcomb, said that it was “pretty shocking” the way in which the National Guard and State Police entered her yard and hacked away at the plant which was concealed behind a raspberry patch. Holcomb stated that she was growing the plant for medicinal purposes, in an effort to alleviate her arthritis, glaucoma and aid in her night-time sleep.

Mencher Ch 2 & 3

After reading chapter 2 in Mencher’s News Reporting and Writing I have learned that there are several basic components when writing a news story. The first, he discussed was accuracy. He went into detail by describing how and why it was important to make sure the details of a story were accurate. In this part of the chapter he states that any inaccuracies must be corrected and can be corrected in a later edition of the paper by pointing out the mistake and stating the correction. Mencher states that a writer must check and recheck their work for any spelling errors in names or addresses and all of these things must be crossed check in a telephone or city directory. He also states the importance of precise language it must be clear and accurate He begins to lead us into the way news gets filtered by speaking about news filters and first hand observations.

The chapter continues with Mencher writing on the importance of attribution and the difference between a first, second and third hand account (I found the pictures very helpful). In chapter 2 we also learn that we must write stories that are complete which means they must contain evidence to support our written statements, as writers we must present both sides of the arguments and with this we must remain objective writers should not interject their thoughts or feelings in their writings. In this reading it is also reinforced that our writing must be brief and focused. The information about the who, what, when,where, why and how must be presented in the reading early. As all writing, news writing must be clear, concise and well written.

In chapter 3 we begin discussing what news really is.  We learn that in order for the news to be “newsworthy” it must be timely, unusual, in proximity and contain conflict. Without these few things, the news would not be helpful to those watching or listening. For example, would people in Massachusetts care what the weather was like in Delaware? People also want to know about conflict, they want to know what is happening around them and how it affects their everyday lives. This also ties into currency, which is a reporter’s ability to give the voiceless a voice. I think this is an important part of news today because there are so many civilian stories that could expose so much to politicians and the “privileged” who watch the news. These stories could be the ultimate game changer in which a donation is made to a good cause or light is shed on a situation that was unknown before.

 

 

 

Becca Scott
A Dancer’s Soul

“My first performance was at 3 years old. I was a flower that had to jump out of a bucket. We were little and we had to do a somersault so I made my mom come out from backstage with her headset on and everything to help flip me.” Says Becca Scott as she recalls her first memory performing, on stage.

Currently, Becca is pursuing a Bachelor’s degree at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Like many at the university, Becca is currently “employed” as a full-time student focusing all of her energy into her 2 majors. As a sophomore she pursues a degree in Dance and Journalism.

Becca Scott has a passion for dance, she states that she has always been a dancer. For as long as she could remember she says that “it’s what I always did.” Her mother owned 3 dance studios which were scattered throughout Massachusetts. Her main studio was in Worcester, MA which Becca practiced in until she was 10 years old. During the course of her dance career she took 2 years off to pursue art classes instead. It wasn’t until her and her family moved to Brattleboro, Vermont did she regain a love for dancing. Becca said a new dance studio really inspired her to get back into dance. The new studio aided her in loving the work she did. Her eyes glistened as she spoke of the hard work and new limits she was pushing her body to. She said, “I started to see my body do things it couldn’t do before. It didn’t feel like work. It was work I wanted to do.” This is when she started to take her work seriously.

As she continued through her high school career, many of her teachers encouraged her to continue her hard work in Modern and Contemporary ballet. They believed that Becca would reach great heights with the dedication she was putting into her sport. She began to believe in herself and thought about the ways in which she could make a life out of dance.  

During the interview she reflected on her junior and senior year of high school where she traveled to Washington, Florida and Russel Stage in New York where she learned about human trafficking through dance. The way in which the information was presented opened her eyes up to how through dance she could bring about changes in the world. She feels that, “Dance is not purely for entertainment. It can get a purpose across. Actually seeing it performed on stage can make a difference.”

The passion in her voice was distinct at the moment when she stated that this was the reason she also chose journalism, She feels that the two go hand in hand. Becca decided that if she wasn’t going to pursue dance, she was going to pursue journalism, “it was the next thing because I’ve always liked writing.” Becca stated in her interview that “you can use journalism and dance to tell a story and with dance it’s a bigger message.”

When asked what her goals were after graduating college she said that she wanted to perform. She informed me that dance doesn’t work the way it used to. She says that back in the day, if you could dance, you joined a company and you performed but now you need to go to college. Through first hand experience she says that college allows you to explore your options.

At 20 years old, Becca Scott has her eyes on the prize. Her hope is,with her devotion to her work both onstage and in the classroom she will land her a career performing for thousands as she shares the messages the world needs to hear.

 

Debatable?

2016’s first Presidential Debate was the obvious first choice for breaking political news across the country. People everywhere had their own opinions, concerns and observations concerning the two candidates- including The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times.

The two articles chosen for analysis related the winner of the debate. 

From the Wall Street Journal:
And the Winner of the Trump-Clinton Debate Was…
From the New York Times: 
Debate Takeaways: Hillary Clinton Digs In and Prevails

The two stories emphasize Clinton’s tactic to provoke Trump’s poor word choice concerning Muslims, Hispanics and his attitude towards women.

The Wall Street Journal clearly points this out using some-what biased language with words such as “Her do-or-die goal” to “cut down Mr. Trump”. This article fails to provide any information about Trump’s tactics to expose Clinton’s flaws or how he planned to win over doubtful viewers. This article was extremely biased, using the first person to express the writer’s opinion on only what Donald did right (not wrong) and what Clinton did to make Trump look like the less likely candidate. The writer states that the winner of the debate was Trump  expressing that he felt the debate should not have been a close call. The comments made by readers to the writer’s article was in support of the opinion as they also provided their thoughts and concerns about Hillary’s potential election as president.

All in all, The Wall Street Journal maintains a biased, conservative point of view which is clearly demonstrated in the article.

The New York Times article was the opposite of what was presented in The Wall Street Journal article. This author was extremely careful of using non-biased, third person language using words such as, “appeared to gain”  and “seems to have beasted”. The writer, like the writer of The Wall Street Journal also highlighted Hillary’s tactic to get a rise out of Donald Trump concerning women, race and national security. The writer was careful to highlight strong points from both candidates and was factually correct when expressing the victor of the debate to be Hillary Clinton. There was no language used in this article that suggest the writers were trying to slant the view of the debate in favor of one candidate or another.  Although the writer did a fair job keeping an objective, factual point of view it seems as if the article did highlight more of where Trump went wrong and his failure to do his research in order to combat Clinton’s jabs.

The New York Times remains objective in their writing style as they factually support why Hillary Clinton in the winner of the debate.

Although this is something observed it must be wondered, was the author for the New York Times piece being slightly biased or was he just bringing attention to the things viewers all witnessed during the debate? It is ironic that both papers have two different winners but were watching the same exact program.

 

Who’s to say either writer is trying to sway opinions? Politics is like a drug, the scary part is that this drug will effect ALL of America is just a few months.

 

 

#AmericaDebates

Monday’s  American Presidential debate for the 2016 election could be the potential gap closer between presidential candidates Donald Trump and Hilary Clinton. NBC News Anchor, Lester Holt will be moderating the heated debate between Clinton and Trump beginning at 9 p.m. ET.

For good reason this debate seems to be American history’s most highly anticipated debate. New polls taken by the New York times so that the competition is basically tied.

Viewers should be prepared for 90 minutes of uninterrupted, competitive bashing and thrashing between the two. The idea of “democratic” mudslinging and name calling should be enough the capture the attention of 75-80 million viewers estimated to watch worldwide. According to Quinnipiac University, the race is “too close to call” with the polls reading 47 to 46 percent working in Mrs. Clinton’s favor. Data shows that in Colorado and Pennsylvania voters with college degrees are in support of Clinton whereas those less educated are in favor of Trump.

It seems as if our potential candidates are not the only ones in heated debate about who America needs and where the country should be heading.

With the plethora of advertising on news stations and social media everywhere, let’s hope that our presidential candidates make their points as clear and transparent as the November 8th election date nears.

 

Credits:

New York Times Article

US Magazine

 

 

 

Ex-officer Kills<<< Is what I would've named this article if it were mine.

Bad lead

A former Navy reservist who was fired from the Los Angeles Police Department in 2008 has gone on a murderous rampage aimed at police officers and their families, law enforcement officials said Thursday, killing at least three people — including an 11-year veteran of the Riverside Police Department — and setting off a huge manhunt across Southern California.

My lead

Former Navy reservist kills at least three people during a murderous rampage aimed at officers and their families on Thursday. A tremendous manhunt was set in motion across Southern California after the body of of an 11-year veteran from the Riverside Police Department was discovered. The reservist was fired from Los Angeles Police Department in 2008. Was this his motivation to kill?

Why is the original a bad lead? 

The why of the article is mentioned too late in the lead. The fact that he was fired is irrelevant until the the writer states the who,what,where, when, why and how of the story. 

The Good. The Bad. The Ugly.

Original

1 / Natural history museums, like the American Museum, constitute one decisive means for power to de-privatize and re-publicize, if only ever so slightly, the realms of death by putting dead remains into public service as social tokens of collective life, rereading dead fossils as chronicles of life’s everlasting quest for survival, and canonizing now dead individuals as nomological emblems of still living collectives in Nature and History. An anatomo-politics of human and non-human bodies is sustained by accumulating and classifying such necroliths in the museum’s observational/expositional performances.

Rewrite

Natural history museums continue their journey to bring life to the objects and bones of dead animals and humans who once roamed the Earth. The remains are collected and reviewed in the museum’s observational/ expositional performances. These items are showcased for the humans of today educating and curating a reality that once was.

Original

2 / The visual is essentially pornographic, which is to say that it has its end in rapt, mindless fascination; thinking about its attributes becomes an adjunct to that, if it is unwilling to betray its object; while the most austere films necessarily draw their energy from the attempt to repress their own excess (rather than from the more thankless effort to discipline the viewer).

Rewrite

What you see is what you get. To dig deeper for more information is taking away the mindless fascination of what is presented. The simplest films gather its details from within. Keep it simple. Keep one source.

Original 

3 / Operationally, teaching effectiveness is measured by assessing the levels of agreement between the perceptions of instructors and students on the rated ability of specific instructional behavior attributes which were employed during course instruction. Due to the fact that instructors come from diverse backgrounds and occupy different positions within a given university, both individual and organizational based factors may contribute to the variance in levels of agreement between perceptions.

Rewrite

Coming from all walks of life, teachers bring their individual educational background and upbringings to their classrooms. This creates a varied level of understanding or agreement, if you will, between pupil and teacher.