Jocelyn's Comm 303 Blog

The 2010 Winter Olympics began on Feb. 12 and concluded on Feb. 28. I felt like it lasted a lifetime. The length was only 16 days but to me it seemed like it lasted for the entire month of February. I heard more about it than I heard about Black History Month.

Everyday on Twitter, CNN, Headline News, USA Network and NBC, something about the winter olympics dominated the media. One reason may be because of the death of Nodar Kumaritashvili before the games began. His death was tragic and affected lots of people. It wasn’t a good way to begin the games but I can’t help but think that his death brought more publicity to the winter olympics. Another reason it may have gotten so much media coverage is because it doesn’t happen every year. That gives it prominence over other things because it is a rare occurence.

Congratulations to Canada for winning 14 gold medals, the most in the history of the Winter Olympics. The most recent medal they won was for men’s hockey. The United States won nine medals.

This past weekend three students from the Alpha beta Zeta fraternity were admitted to a local hospital early Sunday morning and were diagnosed with alcohol poisoning.

Press Martin, junior, engineering major;  from Shethar, N.D.; Al Amalek, freshmen, liberal arts major; from Nashville, Tenn. And Rob Smith, sophomore, business major from here in town, had been partying at the ABZ house. Martin and Smith were released on Monday morning, but Amalek is still in the hospital and is listed in critical condition.

University president Harvey Smithville gave this statement restated the previous policy that banned alcohol from any fraternity house located on campus property or within campus environs. The policy states: “any fraternity in which the members have alcohol will be immediately suspended. A second offense with a year will result in the banning of that fraternity for five years.”

Interfraternity Council president Bart Addison issued a statement: “We wholeheartedly agree with President Smithville that alcohol has no place at fraternity parties.”  The university also released a statement: “Our initial investigation indicates that these young men were at a party in the ABZ house. A number of witnesses say alcohol was being consumed by them. Based on that, we are suspending the fraternity and all its activities on campus. We have not decided how long the suspension will last.” Jan Mize, representative from the universitiy’s public relations department, says that a one-year suspension usually results from these circumstances and actions.

Addison says he does” not believe that the entire fraternity should be held responsible” and he will “ask President Smithville to reconsider his suspension of the ABZ’s.”

Straight lead from the News & Record, Greensboro, NC

HIGH POINT — U.S. Rep. Howard Coble said Friday he is feeling better and plans to return to Washington on Monday after resting this weekend.

Anecdotal lead from The Chicago Sun-Times

Enter the Internet’s information highway — and follow the signs to American Indian sites — and you will discover the profoundly spiritual meaning of the term “red road.”

Summary lead from Danville Register & Bee (My hometown paper!!)

C.J. Barksdale recorded 14 points, 15 rebounds and seven blocks as the George Washington boys pasted Halifax County 64-46 in a Western Valley District semifinal Thursday night in Danville.

One lead that does not work is this one from the Los Angelas Times

Tiger Woods apologized to his fans Friday, saying he was deeply sorry for his “irresponsible and selfish behavior.”

I don’t know if it is the formatting of the website or if the writer just did not form the story correctly but the lead is too short and blends in with the rest of the story

Another lead that does not work is this one from the Dallas Morning News.

Rather than bending to market realities and just putting Flash on the iPad, Jobs is insisting that the various content providers (in this case, The Wall Street Journal) he needs to make the iPad a success dump Flash in favor of… something.

Maybe since this is an article in a special section of the paper, those interested in technology will know what the writer is talking about. But, if he wants more people to read it, he should not use so much jargon. Maybe the terms are explained later in the article, but a reader may not get that far if he or she cannot decipher the language used in the lead.

This lead from the Fairfax Times puts the worng information in the wrong places.

A conservative group is calling on legislators to slash the state payroll and state employee salaries as part of its “commonsense” plan to balance Virginia’s budget.

Later in the article, they give the proper name of the group. I feel that they should have put the proper name of the group in the lead and then said it was a conservative group in the second paragraph. If I were a liberal, as soon as I saw the words “conservative group”, I may have stopped reading and not even get the whole story.

Ellie Maston, of  313 Journey Road, filed a $100,000 neglegence lawsuit in Circuit Court against Amburn’s Produce Market for green beans left on the floor.

Maston walked through the green beans, slipped and broke her hip. Because of the accident, which took place on April 1, Maston “suffered permanent bodily and mental injuries, incurred mediacal expenses and lost income.”

Quotation 1

Martin Goldsmith, general manager of the local public radio station: “Our goal in this year’s fundraiser is $100,000, a 15 percent increase from last year. The money we are seeking will go toward programming. We spent $130,000 on programs and the costs are going up each year. Our audience wants more on our station and this is the way they help pay for it.

Quotation 2

Marilyn Wall, president of the Walls Tire Co., a locally owned tire manufacturer: “This has been a good year for our company. Our orders increase by 20 percent over last year, and we were able to recall many of the employees that were laid off over the past three years. We have also expanded  our work force, adding about 20 new jobs in various departments.

Quotation 4

Jerry Butts, city council member: “Our options were limited this year. We could either grant the police a much deserved raise and raise property taxes or we could have denied the raise and kept the taxes the same. I think most people would be opposed to a raise for the police if that meant taxes would increase.

Quotation 7

Bruce Hill, organizer of this weekend’s antique automobile show: “These old cars are fun and interesting. I have a 1929 Packard that I’ve got running about as good as it was on the day I first brought it home. A lot of people in the show will be driving British cars and some of the old sports cars can really give you a ride. Folks should come out and see our show this weekend because they would really be interested in it.

Photo curtesy of Flickr user e.kristina

About five or six book are stacked on a nice red-flowered table. These books remind me of the books that taught me to spell in second grade. Some are thick, others thin. They are worn on the corners, as if from overuse.  In some of the books, the pages look like they are torn or falling out. The pages are also turning a dingy shade of yellow. The covers of the books are also worn and the color is gone in some places. The newest, or least used, book seems to be the white on on the bottom. Only one of its corners is worn and from what I can see, the cover is smooth and in tact. Since one is unable to see the titles or the full cover of the books, one must wonder whether these are novels, fiction, non-fiction, text books or if the belong to a genre all their own.

I like how the images in the background are blurry. This brings the eye to the books and only the books. One has no choice but to focus on the condition and use of the books. It does not matter what is going on around the books, only the books matter.

Valentines’s Day Weekend was also the NBA 2010 All Star Weekend. Some people were going out to dinner or buying flowers while others hopped flights to Texas or gathered with friends to watch the contests(Friday and Saturday) and the game(Sunday). During the three days of fun in Dallas, TX, the NBA’s best and “brightest” got together to show America who really “got game”. The official website can be found here.

Ok after this post feel free to call me the Twitter Queen. I just want you to see the power of social networking. While watching the contests with my friends on Saturday night, I Tweeted about how lame the slam dunk contest was. And I wasn’t alone. It was a trending topic before the contest was even over. Don’t beleive me? Check it out.

I think it is great that people are able to express themselves in such a quick manner. People come together and grow apart, just because they have the same feeling about something going on in music, news, sports, entertainment, or a local issue.

1. The United States comprises 50 states
2. A.D. 33
3. czar
4. QE2
5. court-martials
6. International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers
7. Navy Reserve Officers’ Training Corps
8. liberal
9. pour
10. Atlanta

On Feb. 6, CBS news aired a piece on the snowstorm. At the beginning of the video clip, Obama coined the term “snowmaggedon”. This term quickly became a trending topic on Twitter and the entire DC area was using it to describe this weekend’s snowstorm.

I think CBS was thinking smart when they put this piece together. They opened it with a quote from the president and then moved into facts about the snowstorm and how it affected the people and business of the area. They used the news value of prominence by using a quote from the president, someone that everyone knows about. CBS did report the accumulations and they ended the piece with stories of people who were snowed in and stranded in airports.

James Ray, a self proclaimed guru, was charged with three counts of manslaughter. Three of his “students” were participating in the sweat lodge activity and later died at an Arizona hospital. The full story can be found at:

http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/02/04/arizona.sweat.lodge/index.html?iref=allsearch

I felt this story was relevant to me because I am currently enrolled in an Eastern religions class. My teacher claims to have several gurus that she follows.  I wonder how she felt about hearing this story.

It also makes me think about the cult crimes of the 20th century. A lot of people get caught up in looking for ways to better themselves that they will believe anything and follow anyone. I am not saying that looking to others for advice in wrong, but one should check out the person they are asking help from. Are they a licensed therapist? What kind of credentials to they have? Would you refer them to a friend of family member? If you are unsure about the answers to any of these questions, seek another method of help.