Nobody puts 'baby' in a corner

Anywhere over 24 patients make for a hectic day. Kevin Poss just finished evaluating number 26, an athlete for a local high school whose basketball season has been put on hold due to a leg muscle tear. The young man is hopeful Poss can bring him back to full health in time for the state tournament; a short 3 months away. This was the last patient of a very busy day. As owner and head Physical Therapist of his business, he knows how hard everyone, including himself, has been working in the office.

Most days after work, Kevin jumps in his Ford Explorer and heads to 5:30 mass at Saint Michael’s church in South Sioux, Nebraska to focus on the important things in life and release the stresses of the day. He heads to his 4 bedroom, paid off home where his wife is waiting. Often times, some of his children and grandchildren are there as well. Before dinner, the family bows their head in prayer to thank the Lord for all the blessings they have received. This scene is familiar to those who know Kevin and his family. He reveals, “My family and faith are my passions in life.”

Kevin is studying to be a deacon in the Catholic Church. Shortly after eating, Poss begins studying his reading assignments regarding the clerical duty. Every other Saturday, he travels to Early, IA to meet with other deaconate candidates to learn from scripture. Prayer has become an important part of his daily routine and he attributes all his life accomplishments to a strong belief in the Roman Catholic faith. It has taken Kevin almost 50 years of his life to reach this point. Some 30 years ago, his life was nowhere near this directed and composed.

By 19 years of age, Kevin had the biggest decision of life to make. His girlfriend, Stormy, was expecting a baby girl and she was moving from Sioux City to Dallas in pursuit of a job as an executive secretary for the Vice President of Dallas International Bank. He had to decide if he too would be willing to pack up and create a life 700 miles away from home out of nothing. Without hesitation, Poss recalls the struggles he knew he would have to make ends meet as he followed his soon to be wife. “We had no money, a child, no job; we came with nothing, no college, no experience, no transportation to get to a job, no transportation to look for a job, being a dad at 18 as well as states away from your family support.” Going from the lowest of low, things slowly began to get easier.

A man in town had refurbished a car that had already been totaled by an insurance company, enough to barely pass inspection, and was now selling it. Kevin drove this car on its last leg, miles away from needing to be junked. Day in and day out he drove this car around town, rag top flapping in the wind, looking for a job. After knocking on doors begging for a hire, Poss realized finding a job in his situation in a big city was beyond difficult. At one point, the store owner told him he’d give him a job, just so he’d stop hanging around the building. It was for a carpet cleaning service and was the best he could find, but he knew he had to support his family.

3 months after filling out an application for a job in Sioux City, Norwest Bank hired Stormy as a loan secretary. Happy to move back to their family, Kevin decided he wanted a degree. This meant his wife would have to continue pinching pennies to put him through college. Kevin’s life consisted of working a full time job at William’s appliance store as well as studying full time at Briar Cliff.

Ever since he saw an up close and personal segment during the 1988 Olympics, he had the desire to be a physical therapist. An athlete had recovered from an injury just in time to qualify for the Olympics with the help of a physical therapist. This inspiration let Kevin to complete a Bachelor of Science degree in 1993. That year, he moved his family to Cedar Rapids in pursuit of his Masters of Physical Therapy from the University of Iowa.

Kevin and Stormy now had three girls to take care of ages 11, 7 and 3. With their budget established, the couple each had $10/week to spend on necessities including lunch. He graduated from Iowa and was ready to move back to Sioux City having a second income to contribute to the family needs.

For the next 6 years, Kevin worked underneath other therapists but felt he had worked too hard and was qualified enough to start his own business. “I didn’t even know what that really meant, I didn’t know if that was possible, but I always had the desire to own my own office.” It has been 10 years since he thought that way. Physical Therapy Specialists is the name of his company; it’s located right across the street from a major Sioux City hospital.

Since he cut the red tape, Poss has become a much more skilled therapist and has learned to thrive in a management setting. He has created an enjoyable environment for the 7 employees who work under him and his partner Tim Salisbury. The office workers referred to the atmosphere as a ‘laid back little family.’ Judy Jaminet, Kevin’s office administrator for the past 10 years describes Poss as “very good with people, just so excellent with his patients and working with the doctors.”

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It’s time to count China’s “living fossils,” otherwise known as Pandas. Apparently like people, researchers try to count the number of pandas left every 10 years, although it is much harder to locate these recluse animals.

This article is very interesting…if you can get past the first sentance. I had to read it 3 times and I still barely understood what it was trying to say which is not a good sign. I’m glad I kept reading because I learned a lot.

I also dislike the fact the writer includes herself in the story by using “we.” To me, it brings down the credibility of the article.

I like the way the quote the wildlife biologist first before telling his involvement. They give a quick bio on the man and then continue back to the story.

Another thing I liked was that the article answered questions I had while reading. The part about that I didn’t like was that I had to read paragraphs down to find out the answer. For example, I was wondering how droppings of a Panda could help them count the number left. Finally about 8 line breaks down, the article told how each dropping sample was a signature of an individual panda.

Although I was interested in the Panda story, I was not interested in reading page two. The article was too long for someone other than an avid panda lover or wildlife enthusiast.

Here are 10 facts about Pandas

Kevin Poss just finished evaluating patient number 26, the last of the day. As owner and head Physical Therapist of his business, he knows how busy everyone, including himself, has been. The patient loads each day are overwhelming and they have enough clientele to hire another Therapist to work for him at Physical Therapy Specialists.

Most days after work, Kevin jumps in his Ford Explorer and heads to 5:30 mass at Saint Michael’s church in South Sioux, Nebraska to thank the Lord business is booming and release the stresses of the day. He heads to his paid off home where his wife is waiting. Often times 2 of his daughters and grandsons are there as well. They eat together and he begins studying his reading assignments shortly after dinner. Kevin is studying to be a deacon in the Catholic Church. Every other Saturday, he travels to Early, IA to meet with other deaconate candidates to learn from scripture. It has taken Kevin almost 50 years of his life to reach this point. Some 30 years ago, his life was nowhere near this directed and composed.

By 19 years of age, Kevin was married and living in Dallas, Texas with his wife and daughter struggling to make ends meet. Each morning he drove his car to work with its rag top flapping in the wind. The car was a few short miles of needing to be junked. Finding a job was not as easy. Day in day out he knocked on business doors begging for a hire. At one point, the store owner told him he’d give him a job, just so he’d stop hanging around the building. It was for a carpet cleaning service and was the best he could find but he knew he had to support his family.

His wife, Stormy, worked as a secretary for the President of Norwest bank in Dallas. Her boss took a liking to her and openened a lot of doors for their family. A few months later, she was offered a job in Sioux City working as a personal banker. Happy to move back to their family, Kevin decided he wanted a degree. This meant his wife would have to pinch pennies to put him through college. Kevin’s life consisted of working a full time job at William’s appliance store as well as studying full time at Briar Cliff. The couple had daughter number 2 on the way.

After completing a Bachelor of Science degree, Kevin moved his family to Cedar Rapids so he could receive his Masters of Physical Therapy from the University of Iowa. Kevin and Stormy now had three girls to take care of ages 11, 7 and 3. With their budget established, the couple each had $10/week to spend on necessities including lunch. He graduated from Iowa and now had a second income to contribute to the family needs.

They again moved back to Sioux City. After a few years of working underneath Therapists, Kevin felt he had worked too hard and was qualified enough to start his own business. That was 10 years ago.

((I have audio interviews from his co workers that I will include but I’m not sure where))

The return of Gumby

Two young men attepted to rob a San Diego 7-11. One was dressed as cartoon character Gumby.

The story is short and sweet, perhaps inches were already cut off. The video addition to the text shows initiative to enhance the story. Since the article was to the point, it did not raise many additional questions in my mind. That tells me there were no tangents to the story that would confuse the reader. The article mentions a television interview but does not leave a link or a description as to where the reader could find it.

What idiots. They should have known they wouldn’t be taken seriously and would ultimately leave empty handed. At least take a pack of gum on your way out if you’re going to be that stupid.

If you have any intention of wanting to renact the crime, the gumby suit can be found here for only 50$. Beware that you may pay more for the suit than you will make in any theft attempt.

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Gone Postal

A former fed ex employee opened fire in his previous workplace before turning the gun on himself. At this point, he is the only known victim. As the man entered, other employees fled the building and took cover in the parking lot under cars and in a building across the street. The gunman’s intentions remain unknown.

Critique 

The opening statement captures almost the entire story and invites the audience to continue reading. The problem is, when you continue through the article, you don’t learn much more information. What is presented is very redundant. The piece mentions the death of the shooter 5 times. It’s not like he can rekill himself. One mention of it in the lead and perhaps once when the police confirm the death is sufficient. I was also annoyed by the time updates. After mention of the original time of day, you can simply say ‘about an hour later’ or ‘mid-morning,’ rather than 9:30, 8:15 etc. I also thought information was out of order. At the top they mention the gunman jumping into a truck. Further down the article, the man driving the truck tells his account. I felt these two points should have been linked. The quotes and those who the reporters talked to were beneficial. Getting mention from the building across the street added good detail.

Here is a site explaining the origin of the phrase “going postal.”

This is an update of the NBA lockout and the negotiations taking place.

The article starts with a direct and easy to understand overview of the information ahead. For the most part, the writer does a good job of explaining complex terms such as BRI which is Basketball related income. It talked a lot about decertification of the union and referred to these terms many times but never explained what that would do and how it would affect the NBA. When a source requested anonymity, I found it credible when the article stated why. It made the source still seem reliable instead saying, “a unidentified source said.” which loses some authority. At the end of the article, the negotiations taking place are listed in full. Although this would be a good place for those if the article were chunked off, a few of the issues should have been mentioned towards the beginning of the piece.

Until reading this article, I did not know that one of my favorite players, Derek Fisher, was president of the union. As soon as the internet is up, I’d like to find an article discussing his role as my attachment of further reading.

A recent case study has revealed the freshman 15 as a myth.

This article is full of things I can critique. The lead is not interesting and it does not draw the reader in. For a well-known topic, introducing the Freshman 15 as a myth needed a much better opening. A part that bothered me was when the writer put herself in the piece using words such as ‘we.’ The writing is very flowery and is not a journalistic style. When she uses phrases such as “ ..drumroll..,” I feel she loses credibility. Another point I dislike about the paper is extraneous information. “The paper has some interesting information about just where the myth came from (although unfortunately, the journal won’t let you access the article unless you pay).” If you have to use parenthesis, the information should not be included.

Here is a very ‘kiddish’ site that young adults can navigate around with tips about college life.

With teenage plastic surgery on the rise, Morningside students discuss the issue. According to the American Society for Plastic Surgery, numbers rose from 60,000 kids under 18 receiving surgery in 1997 to nearly 225,000 in 2003. The motivation for a teenager wanting a procedure is often different than an adult. Teens want to fit in with their peers, adults tend to want to stand out. Freshman Michael Mogensen shared his opinion. (insert quote) Many students felt that reasons other than vanity may be a probable cause. Senior Corrine Brown feels it is acceptable on occasion. (insert quote.) Plasticsurgery.org offers an evaluation to see if you really are ready to under-go the knife.

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