Fundamentals of Journalism Blog

A lot of college age guys spend their time in front of their televisions playing Xbox and sitting in their dorm rooms with their “bros,” just chilling.  Other activities college guys enjoy involve eating, watching or playing sports, participating in outdoor activities, and flirting with pretty girls.

Justin Dixson, a super senior at Morningside College, who is a music major, has many of the qualities that describe college guys.   Justin also enjoys singing old country songs and participating in his music fraternity Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia. He is about 5’10” with brown curly hair, which is starting to grow thin in spots. When he walks he tends to drag his feet so you can here him coming before he even reaches you.

Even though Justin seems like any other guy on a college campus a few things set him apart from others, one being a green and white cane that helps guide him to his destination.  Justin lost vision when he was just a baby.

Justin came to Morningside in 2008 to originally study computer science.

He said, “I didn’t do so hot my first semester, so I decided my second semester why not do something I love? Music! It’s awesome, it’s fun, and I enjoy it.”

After Justin graduates from Morningside, he plans to visit Washington with his aunt to visit a piano tuning school.  One of Justin’s dream jobs is to tune pianos for a living. One of the items the school recommends to have for this job is perfect pitch.  As uncommon as perfect pitch is, Justin has it.  Only one in every 10,000 people have the capability to achieve perfect pitch.  So when a human is missing one sense such as their sight, it only makes sense for something such as perfect pitch to replace it.

Justin has been in the Morningside College Choir since his second semester.  What is it like to have someone in choir who has perfect pitch? Byron Brown, who has been in choir with Justin for two years said,

“It’s pretty much normal as any other choir except we don’t have to have a piano.  If he gives us the right starting pitch we usually as a choir keep it afloat.  It is cool sometimes to see the audiences’ reactions when they realize someone in the choir was the one to give the starting note and not piano.”

Although perfect pitch is uncommon, different people use their talent of it for different reasons.  For Justin he uses his perfect pitch talent for music and it comes in handy for the choir.  Brown admits, “It’s easier to sing next to Justin rather than others.  He’s always on pitch.”

Brown also says their choir is lucky to have someone like Justin in their group.  “In particular, it helps us when we travel.  We don’t have to worry about a piano.  Not many people have the ability to hum every note in tune so it’s cool to have someone in our choir like that.”

How did Justin exactly become visually impaired?  He entered the world three and a half months early weighing only a pound a half.  When he was born the doctors told his parents he only had a five percent survival chance.  After he was born, he was moved to the NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit), where each day he became a healthier, stronger baby.  Through the next three months everything developed properly except his vision.  His optic nerve was damaged in his eyes and both retinas were detached.

“I’m lucky being blind is the only thing wrong with me,” Justin says.

At the age of three, he had surgery to try and fix the optic nerve, but something went wrong in the surgery.  No one is entirely sure what caused it; doctors have narrowed it down to two things. During the surgery, there was either too much oxygen to his eyes or his eyes were deprived of oxygen.  That led him to become visually impaired. He is still able to see shadows such as people right in front of him, movement, or to tell if it’s sunny or cloudy out.

Dixson has overcome many obstacles so far in his 22 years of life.  He has learned tasks such as teaching himself to eat, reading braille, walking around places independently, schoolwork, and other everyday activities.

Justin is usually seen traversing campus alone. He does many things by himself and he gives credit to the visually impaired schools he attended in the past. Although Justin does go places on his own he says it’s easier to go places with others.

One place he will not go by himself though is the cafeteria on campus.  He says if he has no one to go with, he will stay in his room and eat the food he has there.

Someone who accompanies Justin a lot is a close friend of his at Morningside, Andrew Poeckes, or better known as just Poeckes to most.  Many times at supper you will see Justin and Poeckes together because Poeckes serves as Justin’s eyes.  He helps describe the food choices for the meal; gets Justin’s food, drink and silverware; and brings his food to him.  After Justin is all settled Poeckes then gets his own food.  If Justin wants a refill or more food Poeckes goes and gets it for him.  People with their vision all too often take for granted little tasks such as getting their own food.

What does it feel like to be able to help someone who is visually impaired?  Poeckes says, “I think it definitely has its advantages to learn to think about someone else next to you so you aren’t just off in your own little space. You are always with someone else and thinking about someone else.”

Poeckes has to pay special attention when he’s walking with Justin. He described how it feels to be someone else’s eyes.  “Well first you have to get use to the fact there is another person right next to you.  A particular event that this can relate to was when we were in Italy.  I had to keep looking at the ground to make sure I wasn’t running him into things.  It’s the thought of always having to pay attention to where you’re going.”

People with their vision often wonder how people who are visually impaired get around by themselves.  For Justin it deals with memorization.  For the first few trips to a new building he asked hall mates to accompany him to his classes.  Once he had paths memorized it became easier.  After he had all of his requirements other than his major out of the way it became even easier when he basically only had to make trips from Roadman, his dorm room, to Mac Collins, the music building.

The way Justin memorizes his way to classes is by doors.  One of the nosiest doors on campus he explained is the first side door walking to the Mac Collins building.

He says, “That door is squeaky.  When I leave my room, I go outside Roadman South’s door and if the wind is blowing the right way I can hear the door and say to myself, ‘Oh there’s Eppley.’”

Justin also uses the Science Center door to gauge where he is although he describes that door as fairly quiet.  Justin says he has to start walking right towards the building before he can hear it opening and closing.

Since Dixson has been here five years now he’s pretty much got all the paths to different buildings memorized.  Memorizing anything for someone with their vision and someone without is very different.

“I’ll have someone lead me there.  I don’t count my steps. I just have someone point out which building is which for the first few times.  Someone will say, ‘Okay, we’re going to the science center’ and I’ll hear a sound of the building and memorize that sound.”

Knowing where buildings are located for Justin has to do with just remembering.  If he doesn’t remember he has learned to not be afraid to ask.

Once people first meet Justin they aren’t sure how to act because he can’t see them.  After they have been around him awhile they realize Justin is a normal guy just without his vision.  He’s got a one of a kind laugh, a voice of an angel when he sings and a very kind heart.  Next time you see Justin out walking by himself ask him where he’s going and if you can help him.  You just might learn what it is like to be another person’s eyes for a little bit.

A lot of college age guys spend their time in front of their televisions playing Xbox and sitting in their dorm rooms with their “bros,” just chilling.  Other activities college guys enjoy involve eating, watching or playing sports, participating in outdoor activities, and flirting with pretty girls.

Justin Dixon, a super senior at Morningside College, who is a music major, has many of the qualities that describe college guys.   Justin also enjoys singing old country songs and participating in his music fraternity Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia. He is about 5’10” with brown curly hair, which is starting to grow thin in spots.  Not that Justin is fat, but he is a little pudgy.  When he walks he tends to drag his feet so you can here him coming before he even reaches you.

Even though Justin seems like any other guy on a college campus a few things set him apart from others, one being a green a white stick that helps guide him to his destination.  Justin lost vision when he was just a baby.

Justin came to Morningside in 2008 to originally study computer science.

He said, “I didn’t do so hot my first semester, so I decided my second semester why not do something I love? Music! It’s awesome, it’s fun, and I enjoy it.”  He says he didn’t so well his first semester because he didn’t really know what he was doing in terms of programming.  Justin didn’t want to get into that side of computer science; he wanted to get more involved with the hardware of computers, the more physical side of computers, not software.

Most people can fulfill a degree in four years if not sooner.  Being visually impaired and having to fulfill all the requirements it’s taken Justin a few years longer.

One problem in particular Justin has had to overcome within the last year was facing the decision of going to a class or not that discussed death.  That topic may seem like a very ordinary topic to discuss but for Justin, his dad unexpectedly passed away on February 14, 2012.    He remembers that day saying,

“I was in class and after I got out I had four missed calls and a voicemail from my mom. I figured something was urgent. When I called her back, she said, ‘Justin, your dad has passed away.’ I didn’t believe her at first. Then she went on to tell me what had happened. She said someone would be here to pick me up within the next few hours.”

After Justin came back to school he said he didn’t care; he didn’t care about that class.  He didn’t want to sit in a class and discuss death after one of his family members died.  Today Justin says he has grown to except the fact his dad is gone and his grieving process is healing more quickly.  He speaks about his grieving process.

“Probably for one thing, I’m the oldest and I’m away at school.  I don’t have that constant absence, like if I were at home.  The other reason is because I have never seen him, like what he really looks like. I have this imagine in my mind what he looked like but I’m not sure if that was correct. My brothers, mom, and step mom all knew what he looked like so it’s probably harder for them not being able to see him everyday.  Me not being able to see him my entire life has made it easier to cope with.”

Anyone who has walked around on Morningside’s campus can tell that the campus isn’t visually impaired friendly.    Surprisingly, Justin didn’t choose the college he was going to attend based on how visually impaired friendly it was.  It actually had nothing to do with his decision at all.

You may be wondering by now just how Mr. Dixon became visually impaired.  It all started the day he entered the world.  Dixon entered the world three and a half months early weighing only a pound a half.  When he was born the doctors told his parents he only had a five percent survival chance.  After he was born, he was moved to the NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit), where each day he became a healthier, stronger baby.  Through the next three months everything developed properly except his vision.  His optic nerve was damaged in his eyes and both retinas were detached from both eyes.

“I’m lucky being blind is the only thing wrong with me,” Justin says.

At the age of three, he had surgery to try and fix the optic nerve, but something went wrong in the surgery.  No one is entirely sure what caused it; they have narrowed it down to two things. During the surgery, there was either too much oxygen to his eyes or his eyes were deprived of oxygen.  That unfortunately led him to become visually impaired except for being able to see shadows such as people right in front of him, movement, or to tell if it’s sunny or cloudy out.

Dixon has overcome many obstacles so far in his 22 years of life.  He has learned tasks such as teaching himself to eat, reading braille, walking around places independently, schoolwork, and other everyday activities.

If you see Dixon on campus, most of the time he is alone. He does many things by himself. Back when Justin was growing up he went a school in Vinton, Iowa and went to the Iowa Braille and Sight Saving School where they taught him orientation and mobility.  Justin was taught how to use a cane, how to navigate to certain areas, how to cross streets safely, and how to travel the right way.

Justin further developed being independent the summer of 2005 when he went to another school in Des Moines called Iowa Department of the Blind.  At this school his teachers sent him out on different paths and had to get back to the school on his own.  This was a way of learning to ask for help when he was lost and couldn’t figure out where to go.

Dixon admits it’s easier to go along with someone than going anywhere on his own.  One place he will not go by himself though is the cafeteria at Morningside.  He says if he has no one to go with, he will stay in his room and eat the food he has there.

Someone who accompanies Justin a lot is a close friend of his at Morningside, Andrew Poeckes, and better known as just Poeckes to most.  Many times at supper you will see Justin and Poeckes together because Poeckes serves as Justin’s eyes during this time.  He helps describe the food choices for the meal, gets Justin’s food, drink and silverware and brings his food to him.  After Justin is all settled in for a meal Poeckes then gets his own food.  If Justin wants a refill or more food Poeckes goes and gets it for him.  People with their vision all too often take for granted little tasks such as getting their own food.

What does it feel like to be able to help someone who is visually impaired?  Poeckes says, “I think it definitely has its advantages to learn to think about someone else next to you so you aren’t just off in your own little space. You are always with someone else and thinking about someone else.”

As mentioned above, Poeckes helps Justin out a lot with getting meals.  Have you ever imaged just being someone’s eyes for them describing what every object is in front of them?  Not only getting food for Justin, Poeckes described how it feels to be someone else’s eyes.  “Well first you have to get use to the fact there is another person right next to you.  A particular event that this can relate to was when we were in Italy.  I had to keep looking at the ground to make sure I wasn’t running him into things.  It’s the thought of always having to pay attention to where you’re going.”   

For any visually impaired person, someone with his or her vision often wonders how do they get around by themselves.  For Justin it deals with memorization.  For the first few trips to a new building he asked hall mates to accompany him to his classes.  Once he had paths memorized it became easier.  After he had all of his requirements other than his major out of the way it became even easier when he basically only had to make trips from his dorm room from Roadman to Mac Collins, which is where all the music classes are held.

Other classes during Justin’s earlier years he memorized things for him to know where he was at by the sounds doors made to different buildings.  One of the nosiest doors on campus he explained is the first side door walking to the Mac Collins building.

He says, “That door is squeaky.  When I leave my room, I go outside Roadman South’s door and if the wind is blowing the right way I can hear the door and say to myself, ‘Oh there’s Eppley.’”

Another example of doors is the science center.  He describes that door as fairly quiet.  Justin says he has to start walking right towards it before he can hear it opening and closing.

Since Dixon has been here five years now he’s pretty much got all the paths to different buildings memorized.  Memorizing anything for someone with their vision and someone without is very different.  Justin takes us through the process.

“I’ll have someone lead me there.  I don’t count my steps. I just have someone point out which building is which for the first few times.  Someone will say, ‘Okay, we’re going to the science center’ and I’ll hear a sound of the building and memorize that sound.”

A lot of remembering where buildings are for Justin has to do with just remembering or he isn’t afraid to ask either.

Many people take little things for granted like reading a book, texting, typing, and even eating.  Imagine trying to do these activities without having your vision.  Although it may seem very hard or strenuous Justin does everyday activities like these.  He can text, he can read, he can type, and he can eat.  It’s just a little different than people who have their vision.

Justin texts by speaking into it his iPhone messaging application or if it’s really long he can use a Bluetooth keyboard to type on. He also types the same way on his computer using a program built into MacBook called Text Edit.  Technology has grown to accommodate everyone.  He reads by braille and whenever he needs to order books for class he gets them through a company called RFB and D (Recordings for the Blind and Dyslectic.)  Dixon says, “The company has downloadable books where you just pick the books you need, buy them, and then download them on your computer so you just can just listen to them when you need to.”

Dixon admitted at times it would be tough to stay caught up on readings when there were three or four books for a class.  He also couldn’t always find books that he needed.

Have you ever wondered what it feels like to not be able to see or to walk around and not know where you’re going? Justin described it as best as he can.

“That’s hard for me.  I’ve been blind all my life so that’s all I’ve ever known.  I can see light, shade, shadow, and color.  If light is lit within, say a disco ball or black light, I can tell what color that is.  If it’s just a shirt, I’m not very good at telling what color that is.  The best way to see what it feels like to be blind is to put a blindfold on and walk around with that for the day. Use your senses that you have, smelling, feeling, hearing and tasting.

When a human being is missing something just a sight they become very reliant on another sense.  For Justin he relies a lot on his hearing.  Something interesting about Justin that you wouldn’t know about him if you just looked at him is that he has perfect pitch.  The definition of perfect pitch is the ability to recognize the pitch of a note or to produce any given note, a sense of absolute pitch.

Since Justin’s second semester at Morningside he’s been in choir.  What’s it like having someone in choir who has perfect pitch? It’s not common to come across people who have perfect pitch, in fact only one in every 10,000 people have it.  (ASK WATSON)

A question commonly wondered for anyone who has been without their vision for a while is if they could choose to, would they want it back?  Justin says if given the choice, no he wouldn’t want it back.

“I’ve lived this way for the past 22 years.  I’ve never known anything other than this so if I could change it now, no I wouldn’t.  Now if I were five or 10, maybe I would have a different answer.  With being as old as I am now I would have to relearn everything as crazy as that sounds.”

Many people would be surprised by Justin’s answer but for those who know the young man, it shouldn’t surprise anyone.  He gets around great and deals with what he has.

What are Justin’s impressions of people? Today people often make impressions on the first thing they see of someone. Imagine if you were visually impaired and you couldn’t see anyone. Do you think your impressions of someone would change if you never saw them? Justin says he doesn’t think his impression of people would change.

Exactly how does Justin get impressions of anyone he’s around? Justin says, “Let’s say I’m walking with someone and I have my hand on their arm or elbow, I get a mental image of what that person looks like by just touching that person’s arm or elbow.  Whenever I walk with a girl I get an image in my head of what size she is.”  Chuckling, he continued by saying, “Am I checking them out? Well, maybe but I’m a guy!”

Once people first meet Justin they aren’t sure how to act because he can’t see you.  After they have been around him awhile they realize, Justin is a normal guy just without his vision.  He’s got a one of a kind of laugh, a voice of an angel when he sings and a very kind heart.  Next time you see Justin out walking by himself ask him where he’s going and if you can help him.  You just might learn what it is like to be another person’s eyes for a little bit.

Since July 13, 10-year-old Lyric Cook-Morrissey and her eight-year-old cousin Elizabeth Collins have been missing from Evansdale, Iowa.  The girls were last seen by their grandmother riding their bikes.  Four hours later the girls’ bikes were found on a trail by a firefighter.

Today an announcement was made by law enforcement that hunters came across two bodies in a field.  Authorities will not confirm if these bodies are the girls who have been missing for months.  They actually don’t even know for sure yet if they are two females.  There is suspicion this could led them to the end of their search though.  The two bodies have been sent to the state examiner’s office for positive identification.

Since the disappearance of the cousins hundreds of volunteers have spent numerous hours searching for them.  The lake where their bikes were found was drained and within in the last few weeks a reward of $100,000 was going to be given if the girls were released.

This whole story of finding two bodies may not be related at all.  Everyone will know within a short while.

I believe this story is very newsworthy for people in Iowa and certainly the people around the area where the girls were taken from.  I found this story within three minutes of it being posted so it’s still a developing story.  This has been an ongoing thing and has drawn many people in since the beginning.  Readers and listeners want to find out what has happened with these girls so that’s a main reason this is newsworthy.

Relating this to class, this also could be a feature story.  So many things could be highlighted to tell a different story.  The list on the board in class and the shooting of the football player relate kind of to this story as well.

Even though it’s an unfortunate situation these families are in and the scenario, stories like this draw readers and listeners in and make them come back.  They want to find out what ever happened.

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20121205/NEWS/121205018/0/archive/?odyssey=nav%7Chead

The chance to become the next multimillionaire will happen tonight around 11 pm. According to an article written by Kaitlynn Riely of The Pittsburgh Press.

Two people were interviewed about the Powerball drawing and both of them bought a ticket.  At $2 a ticket, why not buy one to attempt to win that much money?

Riely points out there are only a one in 175 million of a chance of actually winning this amount of money.  The reason this amount of money has grown to what it is is because since October 6, no one has won in the 15 times they have held drawings.

One of the interviewees won a lottery game in 1979 so he hopes that will bring him luck with tonight’s contest.  Paul Woods says “You gotta be optimistic.”  If Mr. Woods won the lottery he would donate the money to charity. He would also open a place for homeless veterans to stay and then use the rest to take care of his children and grandchildren.

The article ends with good advice. “You can’t win it if you ain’t in it.”

An article like this is newsworthy because for one, it’s happening right now.  This is a big Powerball and it’s got a lot of peoples’ attentions.  An amount of money this big doesn’t happen often so that’s another reason it has many people trying to win.  Another reason this story is newsworthy is because this news doesn’t happen very often.  It’s not odd but it’s rare.

One thing I may have done differently with this story or added to it was talk to a convenient store worker or another place they are selling the tickets.  I would be interested as a reader to hear from a worker what people’s reactions are to this amount of money.

http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/local/neighborhoods-city/slim-chances-of-winning-powerball-does-little-dissuade-some-in-pittsburgh-663992/

Final Story #3

In Lake City, Iowa, a fatal house fire claimed four people’s lives.  This incident took place early Tuesday morning.

The four people who lost their lives were 22-year-old Tyra Pierson, her 11-month-old son Xavier, Madison Pierson, 8, and Wyatt Pierson, 3.

Police, Dana Cook was on patrol when he noticed smoke coming from the south end of town.  When Officer Cook approached the house it was too hot and there was too much smoke inside the house to make an attempt to go inside.

When the fire department showed up it took them two hours to get the fire calmed down enough for the firefighters to go in.  When they got in, the firefighters found all four of the resident dead.

The cause of the fire is unknown but officials are still investigating.

This type of news is local news.  I find this newsworthy for me because I know where the town is.  I don’t know the people but it still is of interest because I’m from that area.  Another reason I find this newsworthy is because you hear about house fires, but you don’t hear about people not being able to get out of the house and survive them.  Unfortunately, this is sad news but this is the type of stories that grab peoples’ attention because things like this don’t happen every day.

http://www.kcci.com/news/central-iowa/3-children-1-adult-killed-in-house-fire/-/9357080/17384698/-/11duicqz/-/index.html?qs=1

New build/Renovation:

By 2020, Morningside College should have a bit of a new look to it. The title of this project is named “Vision 2020 Transformation II.”

The goal within the next eight years is to raise $50 million. About $30 million of it has already been raised.  According to Morningside’s website, the money will be used for facility improvements, and endowment and annual scholarship funds.

The money raised will fund a new academic building, which will hold classrooms and a new advising center.  An outdoor plaza will be added around the new building, the science center, and the Learning Center.

The Learning Center will be remodeled as well.  The new academic building and the learning center renovation will be the first big project completed.

The next step to the project will be to renovate Dimmitt Hall and Eppley Auditorium.

The other money raised for this project is going to annual scholarships for students and endowments.

Questions to ask: “How are you using current student opinion to influence your decisions?”

“What are the benefits of adding a building to the campus?”

“Do you think this will affect tuition in the long run for students?”

Food Drive:

Being hungry and not having food to eat is never a good thing.  The only thing worse than being hungry is being a little kid with no understanding of why there’s nothing to eat.

Food 4 Kids is sponsoring a food drive to help children at Whittier Elementary School. At Whittier, 67 percent of the students qualify for free or reduced lunches.

The goal of this program is to get pre-packaged food bags for children over the weekend to keep their bellies full.  There has been such a demand for these food bags; the Backpack program can’t meet the need for them anymore.

Food 4 Kids is a program created by the St. James United Methodist Church.  Right now, this group provides sack lunches to the kids at Whittier on the last Friday of the month.  The groups’ goal is to distribute these food bags every Friday starting in January.  After this goal is accomplished, Food 4 Kids would like to expand to five other needy elementary schools in the Sioux City area.

Food 4 Kids is asking for help from the students at Morningside.  Within the dorms, there will be totes for food collected.  The program accepts cereal cups/boxes, granola bars, snack pudding, juice boxes, individual bags of peanuts, peanut butter filled crackers, fruit cups, fruit snacks, and beef sticks.

The residence halls will be having a competition to see who can collect the most food for each building on campus.  In January, the overall winner will receive a catered meal by Sodexo.   Food collection will begin November 17 and end on December 3.

CAM:

The annual Christmas at Morningside is right around the corner.  The performance is set for November 30 in Eppley Auditorium.

All groups participating have been practicing for a few months now.  The groups performing are Bel Canto, the women’s choir, Singing Men, college choir, choral union (a mix of the three choirs) and a group of elderly people called master choral.  The band also performs by themselves and with the choirs.

The overall concert will last approximately an hour and a half.  A lot of hard work and dedication has been put into this performance.  So break out that Christmas spirit a little early and enjoy some carols by your very own Morningside students.

With most articles in the news today being about the results of the elections last night, there is a twist on a few new laws that were voted in and declined in states such as Colorado, Washington, Massachusetts, and California.

A big topic today is how making marijuana legal in Colorado and Washington is really going to work with the drug being illegal in the other 48 states.  In Colorado, the vote passed at 54 percent.  Stipulations come with the new law.  A user has to be 21 and can’t buy or posses over one ounce of the drug. A person cannot grow more than six marijuana plants and if they are growing them, they have to keep the plants in an enclosed and locked space.

In Washington, the law is similar to Colorado.  The person has to be 21 and the state added a threshold for driving under the influence of marijuana.  The vote to allow the drug in Washington passed with a 55 percent.

This section of the article ended by governor of Colorado, John Hickenlooper saying, “I’m not sure we can make it as legal as the voters would like us to do, but clearly the will of the voters spoke.”

In other news relating to marijuana, Massachusetts passed a vote to legalize the drug for medical purposes.

Other new laws that were passed or denied dealt with the death penalty, the three-strikes sentencing law, physician-assisted suicide, and condom use on adult film sets.

The death penalty was denied in California with a 53 percent of voters rejecting it.  Also in California, voters approved the three-strikes law benefiting people who commit a third felony and it isn’t a violent or serious act.

An act to pass a physician-assisted suicide was tried in Massachusetts but was denied by voters.  The last law voters voted on last night, discussed in this article, which passed was using condoms in adult film sets.  California voters voted to have that law enforced.

I think this article is very newsworthy with how timely it is.  Although most of the news is filled with these articles today, I picked this one because it brought up interesting laws that voters voted on that passed and didn’t pass. Most of the articles readers are reading today are about President Obama and Mitt Romney.

I think one of the biggest things the legal system and government will have to deal with is legalizing marijuana in two states and not having it legal in the other 48. Having this article discuss that, I think it very good and draws readers in because they want to know what is going to happen with that whole situation.

Overall, this article just has a lot of good information and the whole article is very informative for readers.

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504083_162-57546432-504083/election-2012-how-pot-porn-and-punishment-initiatives-fared-with-voters/

Hurricanes have been hitting land hard within the last few years.

Here’s Hannah Hecht with the story.  Science story

Make sure you are ready for the next hurricane if you live on a coast.

I picked this article because first off, I know Alex Watters and this story is going to be familiar with not only a lot of people on campus but around the surrounding area.

Roger Martin traveled to Morningside a few weeks ago to spend an afternoon in Alex’s shoes.  Alex Watters is a 2009 graduate of Morningside.  He came to Morningside in 2004 on a golfing scholarship.

This article talks about the journey Alex has taken to get where he is today.  When he arrived on campus in 2004 he went back to Okoboji with a friend one weekend.  Alex and another person decided to go out for a late night swim. After the two got out to the dock, a gust of wind came up and blew Alex’s hat off. He decided to dive in to go get it. The only problem was he dove into 18 inches of water.  He instantly went limp and laid there for a few minutes before he went limp.

The rest of the article talks about the obstacles Alex faced while at Morningside and also what he faces today.  He has made a lot of strides since he graduated Morningside and one thing is his confidence. If you talk to Alex today, he was one of the most confident people you will ever meet.

I think the way Martin wrote this article was awesome.  While reading it, I felt like I was in the author’s place as he was going through campus in the wheelchair.  Even the little details he added in very well.

For someone who isn’t from around this area of the country, this article probably isn’t as neat.  For people who know Alex, to have an article about someone you know in The New York Time, that’s awesome! That’s the reason I read the article. I saw it was about him so I read it just because of that.

If you are someone who doesn’t know Alex Watters, you may read the article because of the title.  It’s intriguing on its own.  The story as a whole is very motivational and uplifting so I think that’s another reason people would read it.  You don’t hear about too many people that are quadriplegics so it’s a different type of story that may interest people in wanting to read about his story.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/04/education/edlife/a-wheelchair-tour-of-morningside-college-in-sioux-city-iowa.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0