Comments(1) | New Leads:
“Witches do not believe in the devil.” “Jane,” a witch and a goddess worshipper, is setting out to dispel myths about witchcraft.
“Jane” is your average woman. She goes to church and dresses like an accountant. You would never believe that “Jane” is a witch.
Comments(1) | I chose the analyze the lead of a story original published by Buzzfeed News that I found on the Longform stories website. It is called “We Saw Nuns Kill Children: The Ghosts of St. Joseph’s Catholic Orphanage.”
The lead of this story is a series of quotes from Sally Dale’s deposition during a lawsuit against the orphanage. I think it works because it sets a dark scene. This person is telling of a gruesome murder and keeping her exact words really show how she wanted to get her wording exactly right to make this case stick. I think this works really well because you aren’t clicking on this story expecting a happy time. The use of quotes really pulled me in to the story because it gave it a sense of being real. These weren’t some over exaggerated stories. This actually happened to someone.
Rewrite: On a summer afternoon Sally Dale was being escorted across the campus of St. Joseph’s Catholic Orphanage when suddenly…CRASH…. She turned to see the body of another resident hitting the ground after being thrown through a fourth-floor window. Dale saw the face of a nun standing in the window with her arms straightened out in front of her. She turned to her escort. “Sister?” she said. The other nun told her she had an overactive imagination. “We are going to have to do something about you, child.”
Comments(1) | In this article we are told the story of different public places that have implemented classical music as a means of security. The main characters in this article are the groups that the tactic is trying to repel (vandals, homeless, etc.) and those implementing it (store owners, transit workers, etc).
This story is written in a style that closely resembles a news story. There are a lot of quotes and scene building that make it more of a feature, but for the most part the facts are presented in a reporting style.
What is really interesting is that this story takes a turn. About halfway through, after reporting all the facts on this topic, the story gets very critical of the use of classical music in this context and how it really doesn’t do much in the deterrence of real crime. It simply moves it elsewhere. It also addresses the fact that weaponizing this music also adds to the reputation classical music already had for being elitist and only for those of a higher class. This is literally using the music to run off the lower classes.
There are a lot of themes being explored in this article such as classism and safety as well as being a look in to connotations that music can have.
https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/bach-at-the-burger-king/#!
Comments(1) | I found a story on the rerelease of Michael Jackson’s Thriller album cover suit for his birthday (August 29th). Here are five more ways to spin this story.
Comments(1) | Comments(1) | A story is our way of telling people about what is happening in the world. They are important because they are how we stay connected as a society. Whether they are fictional or non-fiction they bring groups of people together to learn about a topic, be entertained by a whimsical tale, or debate over a tough topic put forth by the writer. Without stories there would be no other forms of media because everything starts with a story.
Comments(0) | A group of prospective students walk through the lobby of Eppley Auditorium on their campus tour when they spot Grant Turner, a sophomore, napping on one of the couches. The student ambassador has to think quickly about how he will address the unusual sight, as its not part of the tour. “Well, as you can see, the furniture in our buildings is so nice that you can’t help but fall asleep on it.” They all awkwardly laugh as a groggy Grant pretends to keep sleeping to avoid any interaction with his audience.
Grant gets a quick nap in between classes in the hallway of Roadman Hall.
This is a common occurrence for Grant. He is the undisputed “King of Naps” at Morningside College. A number of students and faculty members have witnessed him in action since he has slept in nearly every building on campus. Not all interactions with onlookers were as awkward. “There were many times when I was napping in Eppley and I would wake up with a banana and a bottle of water and one time a blanket and I would wonder where that was coming from. Then one day I woke up as he was doing it and it was Orlando, the janitor in Eppley, who I think is one of the nicest guys ever.”
Turner is a sophomore business major who commutes to campus. Most students who live on campus go back to their rooms in the residence halls if they want to take a nap between their classes. Since he doesn’t have a room to return to he began taking naps wherever he could. So far the only buildings he hasn’t slept in are the apartments on campus and the Allee Gym, which happen to be the two buildings he has never entered.
Grant uses these naps to account for his lack of a sleepless night. “I have a lot of problems with insomnia and don’t get a lot of sleep at night but I also like, you know, not dying so that’s when I decided to nap around.” Turner has no problem falling asleep at night, it’s staying asleep he struggles with. “I am well aware that my habits aren’t normal.”
Insomnia is a condition where a person has difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep, even when a person has a chance to do so. It is a common problem for adults, effecting nearly 30 percent of the population. The two most common symptoms are waking up feeling unrefreshed and waking up multiple times a night.
Turner asked that we meet to conduct this interview at his favorite nap destination: the couches on the upper level of the Eppley lobby. He says that even in the winter the lobby of Eppley is very warm and there is always music playing. This mixed with the general comfort of those couches makes for a pleasant napping atmosphere. “One of my favorite times to nap is during college choir so I can hear pretty voices as I drift off to dream land.” He also spends a lot of time in Eppley because of his music minor.
He says that a lot of buildings on campus don’t lend themselves to napping. The HYPR is one that came to his mind. “There’s too much noise and no place to lie down.” Another building he doesn’t enjoy much is the Walker Science Center. He described it as cold and hospital-like. Aside from that he says the all buildings have their own merits when it comes to napping.
Grant has been declared the “King of Naps” by those who know him well. Jared Martin, one of Grants closest friends, finds his ability to nap astounding. “It’s crazy. I swear I will look down at my computer, look back up, and he will be asleep.” He recounts one story of how while waiting for friends to be finished with a rehearsal in Klinger-Neal Theatre Grant laid down on the hard tile floor of the lobby and fell asleep in less than two minutes. “If Grant can fall asleep there, he can do it anywhere!”
Amy Carothers, another close friend, says that she finds his napping endearing. “It’s pretty adorable. I mean, you will just walk around campus and there is Grant sleeping on a tree stump.”
College students have a long history with napping. Research shows that napping helps enhance memory, learning, and motor skills which is useful for students. As the New York Time reports, some colleges go as far as to build nap pods for their students. But until Morningside invests in that feature, Turner naps wherever he can.
Grant, known for his ability to nap in some crazy places, remembers one time in the cafeteria when he closed his eyes for what he thought was a minute, but when he opened them again he realized his entire table had left him there and the cafeteria was closed. “They even left my plate of food in front of me!” He claims that that experience helped him to understand who his friends really were. “As much as I hate being woken up that was one instance where I should have been.”
He was also able to take a nap in one of the lesser frequented buildings on campus. While waiting for a presentation by the applied theatre class he fell asleep in what was being called the “solitary confinement room.” It was a completely barren room on the very top floor of Longfellow School Building with no furniture.
One of his favorite nap experiences was just a few weeks ago when he was napping in Eppley. “I woke up from my nap and I was surrounded by the ENTIRE college choir. I don’t know why they were there. It was honestly terrifying.”
Grant’s history with interesting nap locations didn’t start in college. Some of his other crazy nap experiences have taken place in the back room of a Burger King, at least four vehicles owned by Budweiser, the Walmart parking lot, a closet in his high school, the bleachers at a track meet, a river boat, and Mount Vernon.
Grant borrows a blanket from a friend as he takes a nap in Dimmit hall.
Mount Vernon came about on a school trip he took to Washington D.C. his senior year of high school. The school put them through what he described as packed days of sight-seeing. “We would be out about town from 6 AM to 1 AM. It was crazy!” By the third day Grant had had enough. “So we went to Mount Vernon. Which was great by the way, big ol’ plug for Mount Vernon here. They have a nice little museum there where they have a theater that plays an informational video about George Washington. They were having some technical difficulties with the video and I zoned out. I slept for an undocumented amount of time.”
Insomnia is a treatable condition. Treatments include therapy and medication among other non-medical and natural options. The most important part of treatment is to determine the underlying cause of the condition such as stress or medical conditions.
For now, Grant will continue his nap quest as a treatment. “I’m not a trained physician, [my habits] probably aren’t healthy, but I’m not gonna stop.” He says that in the future he hopes to nap in the two buildings that he hasn’t been in to round out his nap tour of Morningside.
Comments(0) | An explosion occurred at Mega City Mall Thursday morning resulting in two fatalities and a number of injuries.
The Mega City Police Department reports that at 9:50 AM an explosion occurred in the mall food court near Dairy Queen. Witnesses report hearing a loud explosion and smoke billowing through the mall. Reilly Mahorn, a nurse, says that she was able to take refuge under a table in Victoria Secret when she saw the smoke approaching. “This is my first time being part of an explosion so I didn’t know what to do. I wanted to make sure both of us were ok and able to get out of the building.”
The explosion occurred before the mall had officially opened. Mall security guard Engels Perez was near the food court at the time of the explosion. “The food court was pretty empty. Everything was quiet until ‘boom!'”
Aleigha Carlson, an off duty police officer was on the other side of the mall when the explosion occurred. As a police officer she decided to take control of the situation. “I ushered people out of the building. I was able to help push a man in a wheelchair out of the mall.”
Those injured have been transferred to various hospitals around Mega City. Hospitals have reported injuries consistent with fire and smoke inhalation. The Mega City Police Department will hold a press conference at a later date to give more information on this story.
Comments(1) | On Tuesday the final work of playwright Sam Shepard will be published. It is a story of a man suffering from Lou Gehrig’s disease which blurs the line between fiction and autobiography because Shepard also suffered from the disease.
I believe this is a newsworthy story because of the recognizability of Shepard’s name as he was both a playwright and an actor. A number of people will probably recognize the name and be interested in this book.
I really liked how this story was written. I enjoyed the way that the author wove in facts about Lou Gehrig’s disease with stories of Shepard’s life and telling the story of how this book came to be. The story here was that this book was being published. It was promoting the book without feeling like a “hey buy my book” story.
I really enjoyed the lede of the story it gives some insight into the book while also giving insight into the articles focus on the disease. I also really enjoyed the final little paragraph of the story because it is a little uplifting, heart-strings pulling moment to end a rather bleak story.
Overall I believe this story accomplished what it set out to do. It made me want to read the book. I will probably go out and buy this book, even though I am not a book person, because the story of how this book was made and how much attention to detail went into the publication was so interesting to me.
Comments(1) | My news feed this week has been dominated by the engagement of Prince Harry to Meghan Markle since it crosses over into entertainment news AND regular news. This is newsworthy because the royals attract a lot of attention and the fact that he is marrying a (and this quote comes from a different story than the one I am linking) “mixed race, American divorcee.”
This is not the norm for the royal family. “Important” royals are known to marry “commoners” (i.e. Princess Diana, Kate Middleton) but not usually Americans. Because of the oddity of the engagement, the high-profile position of Prince Harry, and the celebrity status of Markle makes this important to a wider audience that even that of the last royal engagement.
This news has been reported by all kinds of news outlets with them all taking different spins on the story. Many just reported that it happened like the Daily News article I linked to. The Washington Post took to reporting on the last time a British royal married an American divorcee.
My personal favorite was the Buzzfeed post that compiled all of the tweets about the engagement where my favorite quote of this story came from which was “Prince Harry is marrying a mixed race, American divorcee and you know that is just Diana’s way of giving the finger to the queen.” I really like when news sites show some reaction from the public in their pieces. Buzzed takes that to the extreme sometimes making that their entire story but when done well I really enjoy hearing snarky comments from Twitter, Facebook, etc.