Fundamentals of Journalism

Where all the news is at!

Legalization of Marijuana in Colorado!

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/06/amendment-64-passes-in-co_n_2079899.html?utm_hp_ref=mostpopular#slide=887855

 

So it seems that Colorado has decided to legalize the use of marijuana, however, it only involves adults ages 21 and above. Moreover, they could only purchase small amounts of marijuana. This is quite big, and I’m surprised it didn’t take over the news about Obama winning the presidential election again. It’s been a pretty big debate between the federal government and the states for years now. People been petitioning to legalize drugs and now states everywhere are slowly beginning to legalize them. Word has been said that if more states start to legalize the usage of marijuana the federal government will to stop it from occurring. This is one newsworthy article, because it affects a lot of people especially stoners or marijuana users and that more than likely is a lot of people.

Twitter Accounts Hacked?

Twitter Hacked?

 

Lately, Twitter has been sending out emails to Tweeters or users about their account being hacked. It is unknown how many Tweeter’s accounts have been hacked. However, recently Twitter found some Tweeter’s accounts have been posting tweets about “$250 tweets.” Twitter’s idea of resolving the problem was to send email notifications to all users about their password changed or needing to change in order to continue using Twitter. Twitter also highly advises Tweeters to check the website to make sure it is the correct website: https://twitter.com.

George Lucas’s Generous Donation to Education

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/02/george-lucas-donate-4-billion_n_2067145.html?utm_hp_ref=mostpopular

 

Apparently, the owner of  Lucasfilm Ltd company to Walt Disney, which means the muti-billion dollar company that George Lucas the reason why there’s Star Wars films is going to be under Walt Disney. The money that Lucas is getting from selling his company is over 4 billion dollars. And he plans to take the money he receives from Walt Disney and donate it to education. As the chairman of Edutopia, an organization that supports schools, it is said that more than likely the money will go to the organization.

 

The article was really short, wasn’t really informative either. All I got from the article is that George Lucas sold his company and plans to donate his money to education. However, the article doesn’t answer my question on who will receive the money. I think the writer should write about the past organization that Lucas donated money to. Then people would know the many organizations that might receive the money. Maybe the author could also quoted what the heads of those organizations said about the donation they received from Lucas.

Broadcast Stories… Shooting

Weddings are supposed to be a joyous occasion, right? Well, not in Laurette Kenny Brunson, 38, who was shot by her husband, Richard Brunson, 50, during the wedding reception at 5 p.m. on Saturday. The shooting took place at the couple’s home, 617 Jackson Street. Reason for the shooting isn’t too clear, but the shooting occurred shortly after she threw a plate of macaroni salad at him. At the wedding there were about 30 relatives and friends. Also, the bride’s three children took part in the occasion too. A neighbor contacted the police, unfortunately, by the time the police arrived the groom was gone. Here’s a short recording of one of the Brunson’s neighbors, Walter Corse, who heard multiple shots and the bride’s son saying his mother was shot:

Walter Corse

 

Girl is Beheaded for Refusing to be a Prostitute

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/20/young-afghan-woman-mah-gul-beheaded-by-mother-in-law-refusing-to-become-prostitute_n_1993675.html?utm_hp_ref=world

 

Just wow… I know this doesn’t really have anything to do with the US currently, because we don’t really force our women and young women into prostitution. However, this is pretty big because we live in the 21st century and people are gradually getting an education yet in Afghanistan people are still forcing others into prostitution. This is ridiculous, how long before mankind move forward from sexist thoughts and understand that everyone has the same potential and rights as everyone else.

What makes this newsworthy is that it relates to woman all over the world, how they are treated and the violence, pain, and unfairness they suffer. It’s unbelievable but I’m grateful that the person who wrote this did write it, because if not news about this would probably be washed over by other occurrences around the world like the presidential debate, fight against abortion, etc. This is informational and gives readers all over the world insight on what it feels like to be a woman in another country.

Foreign Planet In Sight!

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/17/earth-sized-planet-alpha-centauri-b-solar-system_n_1973059.html

So seems like we got a planet really close to us, 25 trillion miles close… which isn’t too bad considering there could be planets 50 or maybe 100 trillion miles away. I’d say this is something interesting if you’re into science that is, I mean with all the hubbub about last night’s debate between the current President and the other candidate, this got blown off. It’s educational and I think it’s somewhat newsworthy because it informs readers that there maybe alien life out there. It shows that there are more planets that we could potentially explore and expand our knowledge about the universe. However, I guess this story could also be un-newsworthy because depending on the audience, some may find this boring and a waste when the writer could be covering a story about the debate or some catastrophe or epidemic in a third world country. I think the writer could make the story more interesting if he had more quotes from the astronomers maybe ask them if it’s possible to make a spacecraft similar to Sputnik to travel down further into the Milkyway to discover more planets for us.

Morningside Suffering from Expensive Gas? Revised

Oct. 8, 2012—these past years, Americans have been suffering the effects and aftermath from recession and war. People find it hard to afford the luxury they use to buy when the economy was still doing well. Actually, people find it even hard to get anything they want nowadays because the prices on everything have been changing so much.

Now, prices on everything, from necessities to luxury items are skyrocketing. Even prices on food changed, such as milk, which use to cost 1 to 2 dollars but now cost almost 4 dollars. It is ridiculous how much money everything at stores cost. However, no price on any item beats one particular item that every adult and student dread to get every week or less: gas.

Gas prices is one that fluctuates more than the weather outside, one day it is $3.69 and the next it could drop down to $3.50 or go up to $3.86. It’s a hit or miss when shopping for gas, what’s even more painful is the gas price constantly change every so often in a day. For example, in the morning it could cost $3.25 while in the afternoon the price could raise up to $3.65.

These gas prices are killing people’s pocket change or side money. It’s so hard to find a gas station that has cheap gas, if there’s such thing as cheap gas anymore. One Morningside student, Chris Eickholt, a commuter and soon to be married man, is also affected by the gas prices. Since he doesn’t even live on campus he had to travel a great deal to get to school. If gas prices continue to rise up and possibly rise to the point where they were four almost 5 dollars like last year, how will people such as Eickholt be able to survive let alone how will he save up enough money to have a wedding.

However, commuter students aren’t the only people affected by these expensive gas prices. Residents of the college also suffer from the gas prices especially when they are active in sports. Kelsey Nelson, a resident and golf player of Morningside College, also feels the same pain as Eickholt.

“It’s expensive for me during the Fall and Spring than in the Winter because I have golf,” said Nelson.

It is understandable since travelling for tournaments, as a player on the team is normal. Nevertheless, the distance and on top of trying to pay for the gas to get there can be a hassle. Life can be difficult when the places you can’t go to the places you need or want to go because you don’t have the gas for it.

Along with students, professors at the college do find the rising gas prices displeasing. Who could blame them, especially when there’s bills and children to take care of, such as college kids who depend on the parents to pay for their tuition.

Second to college kids are infants and toddlers, they need plenty of attention and day care services, which would require driving. There’s not really a winning situation for anyone because almost everyone uses gas.

With the exception of people that don’t qualify to drive or the people that live close to home or wherever they need to go. People like Elizabeth Sterling, a freshman at Morningside College, who walk to school frequently. “I don’t really have to pay for gas much, maybe once every month. So the prices don’t really affect me much.”

However, not everyone is lucky to hold out on gas for a month, many struggle to even pull off a week. According to Eickholt, he thought that not only gas was expensive, but also the prices would aggravate the people who have to purchase gas. “Gas prices should have a cap… like they should have a stopping point where the prices doesn’t go any higher,” suggested Eickholt, which isn’t disagreeable at all.

Too bad gas prices won’t return to the price of $2 anytime soon, guess everyone will have to put up with the current prices.

Dentistry in the Past?

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/10/mummys-sinus-infection-tooth-ct-scans_n_1953918.html

Well this is something new, seems like a mummy was discovered in Egypt and given a quick CT scanning. The scan revealed that the man had suffered from abscess in the mouth and an abundance of cavities before he died. At first when reading this I thought this story was just for entertainment to pass the time away. But I found it would be newsworthy to others especially dentists, because further down in the story it talked about Egyptians attempting to cure the man, which proves that dentistry goes way back to the time where Egypt controlled by Greek Kings. Now, dentists of present time can learn from the data collected from the scanned mummy how the Egyptian dentists of the past try to treat the disease/wound.

Article 2: rough draft

Gas Prices Ripping Holes in Wallets

By Cammy Ly

 

Oct. 8, 2012—these past years, Americans have been suffering the effects and aftermath from recession and war. People find it hard to afford the luxury they use to buy when the economy was still doing well. Actually, people find it even hard to get anything they want nowadays because the prices on everything have been changing so much.

Now, prices on everything, from necessities to luxury items are skyrocketing. Even prices on food changed, such as milk, which use to cost 1 to 2 dollars but now cost almost 4 dollars. It is ridiculous how much money everything at stores cost. However, no price on any item beats one particular item that every adult and student dread to get every week or less: gas.

Gas prices is one that fluctuates more than the weather outside, one day it is $3.69 and the next it could drop down to $3.50 or go up to $3.86. It’s a hit or miss when shopping for gas, what’s even more painful is the gas price constantly change every so often in a day. For example, in the morning it could cost $3.25 while in the afternoon the price could raise up to $3.65.

These gas prices are killing people’s pocket change or side money. It’s so hard to find a gas station that has cheap gas, if there’s such thing as cheap gas anymore. One Morningside student, a commuter and a soon to be married man, is also affected by the gas prices:

“Gas prices are so expensive now,” said Chris Eickholt.

If gas prices continue to rise up and possibly rise to the point where they were four almost 5 dollars like last year, how will people such as Eickholt be able to survive.

However, commuter students aren’t the only people affected by these expensive gas prices. Residents of the college also suffer from the gas prices especially when they are active in sports. Kelsey Nelson, a resident and golf player of Morningside College, also feels the same pain as Eickholt.

“It’s expensive for me during the Fall and Spring than in the Winter because I have golf,” said Nelson.

It is understandable since travelling for tournaments, as a player on the team is normal. Nevertheless, the distance and on top of trying to pay for the gas to get there can be a hassle. Life can be difficult when the places you can’t go to the places you need or want to go because you don’t have the gas for it.

According to Eickholt, he thought that not only gas was expensive, but also the prices would aggravate the people who have to purchase gas. “Gas prices should have a cap… like they should have a stopping point where the prices doesn’t go any higher,” suggested Eickholt, which isn’t disagreeable at all.

Too bad gas prices won’t return to the price of $2 anytime soon, guess everyone will have to put up with the current prices.

Weekly News: Implant Contraceptives for Teenage Girls?

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/21/iuds-implants-urged-for-t_n_1903511.html?utm_hp_ref=womens-health

 

This week I read an article over birth control, since it has been a hot topic to talk about for the past months. I didn’t really read all the articles with Mitt Romney in it because there’s just so many of them and it’s an overkill. So, I decided to read an article that didn’t relate to Romney, and this one talked about how doctors were recommending IUDs or intrauterine device and the implant for teenage girls. My first reaction to this is “WHAT IN THE WORLD” this is outrageous, I don’t really expect a doctor to “recommend” teenagers or their parents to invest in implants for them just so they won’t get pregnant. It’s like the doctors are encouraging these girls to go have more sex, or should I say safe sex with expensive contraceptives. This is one news-worthy article! It’s not everyday you hear your gynecologists telling you to get your 15 year old daughter IUDs so she can’t get pregnant. Second to that, this article is teaching parents about what IUDs are and what is the best method to prevent pregnancies (if they prefer having their teen on birth control). However, I wish the writer would have asked the doctor or included in the article about other methods or contraception that could be used. Next to that, the writer could have given an estimate of how much the implants cost, parents input on teens having implants, or more about the risk of having implants.