When most people think of going to the bar for a few drinks they usually don’t think of anything too fancy. Well the Liquid Nitrogen Cocktail is a pretty fancy drink and pretty dangerous as well. The liquid nitrogen is poured on the drink to give it a steaming effect and is safe to drink when the effect has ended. Unfortunalty for Gaby Scanlon she did not wait and suffered the concequence. She had the drink for her 18th birthday and ended up in the hospital that same day where they had to remove her stomach. Watch the video here.

Drinking is dangerous on its own. Adding all the extra effects that could cause even more damage is a little stupid if you ask me. I think the article covers the story well and I wouldn’t have changed the way it was written. I do want to know if there will be any charges against the bar. The question is, Who is to blame?

Alexis McKee

Article #2

COMM 208

Bible Studies and College Students

            Colleges across the United States have such a wide variety of clubs and groups that their students can partake in. Most people do not think of developing a relationship with God when they think of college. Lately though, one particular activity that has become more popular at Morningside College is Elevate.

What is Elevate you ask? Elevate is college ministry. It is where college students can meet in a large group and discuss the Word. It is held at Sunnybrook Church and is open for all college students. The students are not only from Morningside but Briar Cliff and WIT as well.

Bailee Keizer, a senior at Morningside, has been a student leader at Elevate for two years now. She says Elevate has grown more popular this year than it was last year. When asked why she thought college students enjoyed going to Elevate she explained, “I think people like going to Elevate because there are a lot of familiar faces that they see there. Also because it allows everyone to meet on common ground and they know it’s a safe place to go.”

It seems college students want to be able to talk about God and the Bible. If they didn’t than why would they use their Tuesday night and an hour and a half of their time to do so? Elevate must be discussing more than what a college student could get out of Sunday service.

Keizer really stressed that Elevate is a group specifically designed for college students.

“I think the leaders try to aim for the things a typical college student would be going through,” Keizer stated. The night’s topic could range anywhere from discussing the Grace of God or even the topic of sex. There is a vast area that college students want to discuss and know more about.

We know Elevate is for college students but what do college students do at Elevate? How is it set up? Keizer described, “We get together and sing a few worship songs which are super legit! And then someone usually gives a message or we split into small discussion groups. Then we eat pizza and have some awesome fellowship afterwards!”

(2^nd Interview Quotes)

Have you ever thought of how beautiful the Great Barrier Reef is? Have you ever wanted to visit it? Well unless action to save Australia’s Great Barrier Reef is taken than nobody will be visiting much.

50% of the Great Barrier Reef’s coral has been lost since the mid-1980s. What is the reason for this loss? The answer is pretty odd, a species of Starfish. Unless these starfish are stopped they will continue to eat away the Barrier Reef.  Learn more here.

This is news worthy because people need to be informed on what is happening to the Barrier Reef. If people don’t know what is going on than there will be no effort to save it. It also will create lost jobs if it is not assessed.

I think that the article could actually even explain more to the reader what they could do to help.The article kind of just abruptly ends and leaves readers wondering what to do

It has been a long struggle for NFL fans everywhere. Replacement refs have made watching football painful. It really is true that we don’t know what we have until it is gone and when the original NFL refs were gone we all noticed. It was hard not to with insane calls and refs each calling out a different things.

Finally the wait is over and the original refs are back in the game! Though now the original refs are going to have to be very careful and not make any mistakes. A lot of attention is going to be on them now after the whole replacement ref ordeal.

I enjoyed this article because it emphasized on how important the little things we don’t notice are. I think this is great news for all NFL fans and the article effectively explained how the refs are still going to be getting attention. Read more here.

This is one of those news article that you almost can’t believe happened. A man claims that he “accidently” killed his wife after an argument over missing money. After realizing he killed his wife he then preceeded to cook her body in a 55-gallon drum of boiling water for 4 days.

I think the story was written as well as it could have been minus the fact that we do not know what happened to the man. Did authorities ever find her skull? What charges are taking place? The story just abruptly ends leaving the readers with so many unanswered questions. The would probably be the onlt thing I would change about this story.

Read the article here.

September 11th is already a day that no American can ever forget. Adding to the somber history of the day is yet another attack against America. The U.S. Embassy in Libya was attacked but Libyan protestors that had become angry over a documentary on YouTube. The video was attacking the Islamic religion. In this attack U.S. Ambassador to Libya and three staff members were killed. Read more here.

I think this article is big news for the United States. Once again on September 11th we are having to deal with an attack against us. Americans can feel the hate and it is a concern. People want to know where we stand with other countries and it is important for the news to tell them that. Without any news coverage of this attack nobody would know of it and therefor nothing could be done. It is a good article also because it is letting Americans know that there is an increase in security in all U.S. Embassies. When something like this happens people want to know what is being done as a result of the attack. This article explains the actions so far and tells that there is important discussion on how everything should be handled.

Alexis McKee

COMM 208 Article #1

Article 1

            A white, 1996 Pontiac Grand Prix sits quietly in my driveway. It is a long way from being the nicest or the fastest car on the market, but this car is important to me. I still remember the day I received it. It had been my stepdad’s work vehicle and I always remember saying how I didn’t really like the way it looked. Little did I know that years down the road I would grow to love the car and appreciate it even more when I received it on my 16^th birthday.

Being a car that was made in 1996 there are some things about the car that just make it even more unique. The shimmer of the white shell has been dulled as a result of shedding the protective layer. This would be more acceptable if it were more like a snake and replaced that layer instead of leaving blemishes. A few scars mark the skin of the rear bumper from confused incidents and miniscule mishaps.

As I open the doors to get inside a heavy weight pulls outward like outstretched wings. The doors seem immense due to the design of the model. A sweet scent of strawberries and wine cigars fills my nostrils. When inside I automatically feel like I become one with the soft, gray, seat cloth. This might also be a result of how low it sucks me down into it. The steering wheel cover grips back as if it were giving me a handshake. The material feels almost like memory foam and I can’t help but paw at it like a cat kneading his bed. Upon glancing in the back seat I can’t help but laugh at myself. A small tornado may or may not have torn through the car leaving a mess of clothes, CDs, and books in its path. No matter how many times I clean my car my entire life comes spilling back in. Turning my attention back to the front seat I notice all the little important things that have accumulated in my car over the years. A wolf and parrot stuffed animal sit side by side like partners in crime as they watch over me when I drive. They both hold their own story behind them. Purple and orange mardi gras beads glimmer in the sunlight as they dangle from my rearview mirror along with my Pizza Ranch visor. Jammed into my lighter outlet is a grinning skull that fails to do the one thing it was made to do and that is glow blue. That means I am left with a pale faced skull staring at me while I drive. If I hadn’t gotten it from my dad I probably would have taken it out by now.

After a short while of sitting in my seat I begin to sweat. The dark cloth interior holds an unbearable heat. I reach toward one of three buttons on my door panel and lower the barrier that is keeping me from fresh air. There are only two windows that roll down in my car and of those two only my driver’s side window works. Did I mention that I also do not have air conditioning. My friends always groan when they realize they have to almost die of heat stroke whenever they ride with me during summer. It is always interesting when it is a person’s first time in my car. Everybody’s reaction is the same. I hear clicking noises coming from the passenger side and as I glance over I notice they are hitting buttons aggressively.

“How do you roll down your window?” they demand as they continue to jab at the buttons.

“It is broken. It won’t roll down,” I explain with an apologetic smile.

Regardless of any flaws my car may have I still love it. I often find myself going on long drives alone, usually at night. The blue light from my stereo deck illuminates the interior as darkness surrounds my car. The windshield has a spider web of cracks etching across the expansion and creates an almost eerie effect. Here in my car I can just relax and take in my surroundings. This is my space. This is my escape.

Imagine you stumble upon a young, 6’0” tall man who is consumed in a game of Magic and is decked out in what appears to be a soccer uniform. Congratulations, you have just set eyes on Jescy Carlos Rodriguez. He was born in Jersey City, NJ but was raised in Kearny, NJ where he graduated from Kearny High School. Rodriguez made his way 1298 miles to Morningside College where he is now a senior waiting to graduate.

When asked what he wanted to do after he graduates College he stated, “I have no clue. I just want to be happy.”  This is a goal that most people overlook in the scheme of things. Rodriguez is the type of person that has a pretty relaxed attitude about him, though he is not afraid to speak his mind.

He explained, “I don’t care what people think of me, if they choose to remember me fondly it is because I respect them enough to show respect back.”

Rodriguez often spends his spare time playing soccer at the College and partaking in “nerdy” hobbies such as playing Magic and reading comics. He also stated the he enjoys cooking.

Despite the fact that he is so far away from home and currently living off campus, Rodrigues confidently proclaimed, “I am happy where I am today opposed to where I could have been had I not gone to college”.

If you would like to get to know more about Jescy Carlos Rodriguez take a look at his blog!

http://wordpress.morningside.edu/jcr004/

http://www.eonline.com/news/343308/kellie-pickler-bald-country-cutie-shaves-her-head-for-breast-cancer-awareness

                 Kellie Pickler, the country music star many people have grown to love, proved to the world that friendship really is as strong as you make it. Pickler’s lifelong friend, Summer Holt Miller, was diagnosed with breast cancer. Pickler being the good friend she is decided to not let Miller go through this alone and instead stood up to bring more awareness to Breast Cancer. She made the loudest statement that she could by shaving her head with Miller. She wants people to know that, “Cancer does not discriminate”.

                I feel this is a very touching story and newsworthy because it brings even more awareness to a cause. When stories show people doing brave and challenging things it makes others want to be better people. It makes people want to make a difference. In a way stories like this are almost a call to action. I think the story could have elaborated a little more on their friendship but for the most part this is a well written article. It made me see the small things we take for granted, such as our hair, and how we need to stop dwelling on things that aren’t that big a deal. When one person can do something so simple and have it make such a big impact you know it is worth paying attention to.

As I opened the ice cream bar that my wonderful professor supplied for me I took in the sweet sound of tearing. Feeling like I was opening a present,the waxy paper tore away from the the solid bar revealing the brown gift. These ice cream bars always reminds me of my father who has worked at Wells Blue Bunny for many years now.

As I pressed the bar into my mouth I immediately felt the cool chocolate invade my tastebuds. My teeth slid into the bars brown flesh and tore away a chunk. The vanilla ice cream melted like snow as it slid down my throat. The chocolate remained on my tongue as flakes, creating a chore as I worked to get them down. Finally, the chocolate managed to melt as my warm saliva turned snow to lava. As I glances at my bar for the next bite I soaked in the crystal forms of the vanilla ice cream. With each bite the bar became softer and softer, leaving me with a deformed rectangle. The last few bites were not very simple and resulted in me peeling the debris off of my lap. The skeleton of the bar remained moist and bare in its wrapping, having been stripped of its skin