Month: October 2019

200 acres of homes and land continue to burn in San Bernardino now into Jurupa Valley. Will it ever stop?

Another fire erupted early Thursday at about 1:40 a.m. by Highway 18 at Lower Waterman Canyon, spreading into neighborhoods like where Lebron James lived. 

Fire officials ordered mandatory evacuations in approximately 490 homes (1,300 residents). And 450 firefighters and helicopters are hovering and circling areas to protect and control the fires. 

“The wind has been the biggest factor in the fire spread,” said the chief firefighter. 

This article obviously is newsworthy. These non-stop California fires effect everyone in the United States. The audience for this article is basically everyone that cares about the country they live in. There has been so many fires going on in California that people care and want to know about it. The lead is affective in any way because people will want to read about it no matter what it says if it deals with the constant fires going on. 

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2019-10-31/homes-burning-in-san-bernardino-as-fire-sweeps-into-neighborhood

Long period exposer to blue light, such as that which radiates from computer screens and cell phones, could affect the aging process. New studies show that blue light damages brain cells and retinas.

One study done included flies; and how they were effected after 12-hour daily blue light exposer. 

The flies that were exposed to 12 hours in blue light and 12 hours in darkness had shorter lives than the flies that were kept in total darkness and light with no blue light wavelengths. Flies that were exposed to that blue light showed damage to retinal and brain cells. 

A professor of integrative biology that was a part of this study said that “It was very clear cut that although light without blue slightly shortened their lifespan, just blue light alone shortened their lifespan very dramatically.”

Eye glasses with blue light blocking lenses, and phones, laptops, and other devices can be set to block blue emissions to help prevent aging, and damage to brain cells and retinas. 

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/10/191017101253.htm

https://www.ksfy.com/content/news/Avera-Medical-Minute-Aquatic-Therapy-Delivers-Many-Benefits-558013761.html

The story I chose to compare happens to be about my dad, Matt Boer. This news story is about aquatic therapy and how it helps individuals with pain. The video story version is titled “Aquatic Therapy Growing in Popularity”, which a subheading underneath it titled “Therapy in the water provides many benefits.” I think this lead is about as good as it can get for a topic like this. The reporter started off by saying “Rock Rapids, IA man says aquatic therapy has revealed his back pain to the point where he is no longer hunched over.” Then continued to show the news report.

On the other hand, the printed version of this same story titled “Avera Medical Minute: Aquatic Therapy Delivers Many Benefits” has a better ring in the lead. The lead started by saying “Gary De Boer of Rock Rapids has been battling back pain for years, so when he had a change to try aquatic therapy, he jumped right in.”

Yes, the two stories contain the same content, the print version is basically a transcript of the video story, minus some sentences and phrases. But a majority of it is the same.

I think the transitions within the video were good and the interviews were good as well and good placement of all of them.  

A couple of Astros fans were escorted out of the Yankee Stadium because they were being teased, resulting in free World Series tickets. 

Cruz Arcia Jr., Nathan Rocha and Kristina Contreras all managed to get into Game 5 of the Astros and Yankees, “we’ve been to nearly every Astros home game for several years.”

Heckled right when they got to their seats, it got worse and worse once the game went on. Some guy tried to start a fight with them, and others threw popcorn and beer at their face them being escorted out. 

The Astros fans thought they were going to be escorted out of the stadium but then individuals told security that they did nothing wrong. So instead, they were escorted to seats right behind home plate.  

A video was leaked on twitter of the fans getting beer and popcorn thrown at them, and Lance McCullers Jr., Houston Astros pitcher, saw this video and got a hold of these fans to give them World Series tickets. 

“Fans of all teams should be celebrated for loving the game, not treated like that. I look forward to having you watch a WS game in the H on me.”

This article is newsworthy because it is interesting to see and hear about not only for baseball fans, but for anyone because it has conflict involved. It is World Series time of year, so any news about it is interesting. The audience for this article is probably baseball fans, or sports news readers. I thought the lead was effective in the sense when people see “free world series tickets” they will want to read more. 

https://www.cnn.com/2019/10/21/us/astros-harassed-fans-world-series-trnd/index.html

“How dare you! You have stolen my dreams and my childhood with your empty words,” Thunberg added.

Greta Thunberg, 16 year old Swedish climate activist, spoke out to the world leaders at UN Climate Action Summit. Climate change is overlooked by many in todays world, and Thunberg’s message is that “we’ll be watching you.”

Thunberg continued on with her speech saying that the members of the United Nations Climate Action Summit care about is their money and economic growth.

She continues to add on how they say they “hear us and that you understand the urgency, but no matter how sad and angry I am, I do not want to believe that.” Scientists try to be clear with what the future could possibly hold for the Earth, “67% chance of staying below a 1.5 degrees global temperature rise.”

Individuals, especially young people these days are trying to do what is right, especially when it comes to the world we live in. Young people are “starting to understand your betrayal.”

“I want you to feel the fear I feel every day,” Thunberg added, “And then I want you to act.”

65 countries, after Thunberg’s speech, had announced efforts to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050. And Thunberg led 150 countries in a Global Climate Strike. “The world is waking up. And change is coming, whether you like it or not.”

Allyson Felix, the most decorated female Olympian in track in field history, and now mother, was a part of Nikes movement to change long-standing maternity policies for their sponsored athletes. 

Just last year, Felix’s focus expanded significantly when she wanted to be a professional athlete and be an amazing mother. She thought that dream must be crazy. “If we have children, we risk pay cuts from our sponsors during pregnancy and afterward. It’s one example of a sports industry where the rules are still mostly made for and by men.” 

It was a terrifying time for Felix after getting pregnant because her renewal of the Nike contract. Despite all of her victories, Nike wanted to pay her 70% less than before getting pregnant. After asking Nike to contractually guarantee that Felix would not be punished if she did not perform her best after childbirth, Nike declined.

Nike told Felix she could help them empower women at the time of signing with them, and she believed them. Which is why this experience was heartbreaking for her. 

Just last week, Nike took a step in the right direction. Other brands announced new contractual guarantees for pregnant women and women who have children while being supported by their sponsorships. Nike joined in. 

“We shouldn’t have to rely on companies to do the right thing. Our families depend on it.”

This was a very empowering news article for me to read. The audience for this news article I would say is mainly women/mothers/pregnant women who want an empowering article to read and know about. I think the lead is very effective, it is what drew me in to even read about it. There is nothing missing in the article I read about, it started with her getting pregnant, what Nikes contract said about that, Felix fighting for what she and other professional athletes want, and how it all ended. 

“Maintenance, painting, and lighting of the parking lots is not cheap, and we use this money to help offset the costs of this.”

Brett Lyon- Director of Safety and Security at Morningside College

Students are paying an outrageous price just to get where they need to go for their education all around the United States. 

Besides tuition, room and board, textbooks/supplies, there are many more hidden costs like transportation and parking permits. Why do students have to pay for a permit to park on campus?

After interviewing several fellow Morningside students about this nationwide issue, they all the same opinions. Some explained that the price of the permit is cheap, but there is no parking in return. Or that the price of a parking permit is “just fine” compared to other big colleges that pay $400-$500 dollars for their parking permits, but those bigger campuses have more lots to park in. On the flip side, some other students I interviewed said that the parking passes are way too overpriced for the parking that we do get. Also, that us as students, “have no other option but to buy a parking pass from Morningside. If we do not buy one, we get a ticket.” Students explained how the price is too steep for what we actually get for parking, for example, freshman can only park in one lot and the Dimmitt lot only holds about 30 cars. Lastly, a sophomore at Morningside College explained how for a parking permit, that is expensive for only being allowed 1 or 2 lots at most. 

Along with interviewing fellow Morningside students, I also had the opportunity to interview the Director of Safety and Security here at Morningside College, Brett Lyon, about campus parking at Morningside. I choose Campus Security because they are the ones that set the parking regulations and deal with everything there is to know about campus parking. 

The first question I asked was the simple, why do students have to pay for parking? Chuckling under his breath Lyon added, “Maintenance, painting, and lighting of the parking lots is not cheap, and we use this money to help offset the costs of this.” Redoing a parking lot once it comes to the repair stages can cost from $20-$50,000 and the bigger lots can cost upwards of $200k. Lights and painting are a constant cost and Morningside has to replace lights, repaint lines and that is an additional cost that happen each year. That is what the parking permit money goes towards each year. Personally, I could tell with each answer that Lyon was not fond of this interview. The next question was why the permit prices were raised this year and why are lots restricted to certain permits. Lyon slowly responded by saying how we have not increased parking permit fees in about 5 years, and this one time was only a $5 increase; if you think about other colleges like Iowa, ISU, and UNI, those permit fees range from $200-300 per semester. Parking lots like Grace Methodist, Olsen Student Center, and visitor lots at Morningside College are restricted during the day so students living on campus are not taking up parking spots for commuters/faculty/visitors. Lyon added, “We also restrict other lots for those that live in specific buildings as those lots are small in size at times and have limited space.” 

Overall, parking permit fees are a nationwide thing and will not change any time soon. Whether that permit money goes towards maintenance, painting, and lights, or something completely different; it is being used in some way for the college.