Ashley Explores The Arts

Newly Weds Shot

Marriage can be a struggle, especially if you don’t like the same foods. Yesterday, the start of a new life together, went south.

At 5 p.m. a shooting was reported at the house of 617 Black Street. Neighbors called the police when they heard shots fired. The weapon used was a .22-calibre handgun.

The victim of the shooting has been identified as 38-year-old Laurette Brunson, newly wed to 50-year-old Richard Brunson. The dispute was over a plate of macaroni salad being thrown.

Police arrived at the scene to find Richard Brunson missing and Laurette shot in the abdomen. Walter Corse, a neighbor said, “I heard the sound of the shot, or I think I did. And then the son came out yelling ‘She’s been shot and can’t breathe!’” Laurette was taken to St. Luke’s hospital and currently is in satisfactory condition. 

According the neighbors the two had been living together for four or five months, along with Laurette’s three children. Walter Corse’s mother, Marilyn Corse, also said, “I just feel so bad for the kids having to see this.” Nobody else was harmed in the shooting.

Giant tortoises, dodo birds, and humans. What do they all have in common? They all lived together at one point.

The islands of Madagascar and Mascarene are home to many mega fauna. A word not often used but referring to the animals that weigh 22 pounds or more. These islands are extremely biodiverse. However, because of human existence, they have lost a majority of their native species.

According to Julia Jacobo, a reporter for ABC News, there has been new research on the two islands. Researchers have studied about, “8,000 years of climate data from cave mineral deposits,” Jacobo said in her article. With the use of these deposits it shows that climate change alone did not cause extinction.

Madagascar and Mascarene were two of the last places on earth to be invaded by humans. Not long after humans took over the islands, the giant tortoise became extinct. Following that, in the late 17^th centaury, the dodo bird went extinct as well.

The giant tortoises and dodo bird’s extinction have been thought to be caused by human activities. As Jacobo says in her article the tortoise and dodo bird survived “repeated megadroughts over several thousand years.” The species thrived before humans arrived at the islands because there was nothing to upset the balance of flora and fauna. The use of this study is proving that humans and climate change are killing off the native features of earth.

https://abcnews.go.com/International/humans-contributed-extinction-dodo-bird-giant-tortoise-madagascar/story?id=73564865&cid=clicksource_4380645_18_big_feature_bf_image

https://abcnews.go.com/US/charged-trafficking-ring-thousands-flying-squirrels-florida-asia/story?id=73716699&cid=clicksource_4380645_15_comic_strip_sq_hed

https://www.cnbc.com/video/2020/10/20/flying-squirrel-trafficking-ring-busted-in-florida.html

For the media comparison, I chose the story over an animal trafficking of flying squirrels. I got the the print story from ABC and the broadcast story from CNBC. Basically, seven people were apprehended for a ring of animal trafficking of flying squirrels from Florida to South Korea. The squirrels were trapped in Florida, sold to a buyer, where some were driven to Chicago and transported to Asia or people from South Korea came to the buyer and bought to keep them as pets.

The two types of stories did differ quite a bit. In the print version it states right away that seven people were apprehended. Who they were apprehended by and where. In the broadcast version it doesn’t even mention the amount of people apprehended until the end of the newscast. The broadcast seems to have less content than the print version, especially since the print version stated how long it was going on and when it was first reported. There was no quotes in the broadcast and one in the print, but the title for the person was very lengthy and I got confused.

The print story also mentioned how people were smuggling the wild animals to keep them as pets, I don’t believe the broadcast one. The broadcast one also made it seem like it wasn’t even that big of an issue. They introduced the story by saying something about cute little creatures and then laughing. It may not seem serious because it is a cute creature, but those people were taking animals from their natural habitat and forcing them to be domesticated. They could have made the squirrels endangered and the newscaster wasn’t even taking it seriously. I wasn’t a fan of the broadcasting one. However, I did like the images used because they gave people a visual of what kind of animal was being smuggled.

https://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory/irish-regulator-investigates-instagram-childrens-data-73691251?cid=clicksource_4380645_10_heads_posts_headlines_hed

For this weeks article I chose “Irish regulator investigates Instagram over children’s data” written by The Associated Press. In this article it discusses how Instagram is launching an investigation from their headquarters in Ireland on data that is getting out for users under 18. A lot of this happened when “likes” were taken away for the mental health of people, but then people began to switch their accounts to business ones so they could see the likes. With their account being a business account, their information is out to the public and anybody can access. Therefore, the investigation is figuring out how to change or block that.

This article relates to quite a few different things that we discuss in class. It starts out with a good lead, stating where, who, and what. You know exactly what the article is going to be discussed about and why this is happening. Another thing is that they don’t just throw quotes into the article, they incorporate them into the article. A lot of it they just paraphrase the quotes, but still say a person or company said it. I also liked this article because it is showing that social media and reporters are caring for the people. They are giving the people, especially people of my age and generation, information that could protect them. However, it could be seen as a breach of privacy or rights because they stated they changed some things for the “mental health” of people. It is their business to inform the public, but is it their business for how the public handles it?

How can such a small space be creepy and avoided by everybody? A public area, that anybody can use, yet it is so disgusting that nobody wants to. I even avoid it at all costs, I will walk a minute or two just to avoid the closest one. The inside has two doors, one that leads from the outside into a small walkway. From the small walkway, another door that leads into the room. The lights flicker, as if they don’t want to stay on, already casting a dimly lit glow. The colors that once used to be white, are now stained a cream color. Inside, the hardwater that has sat for days, maybe weeks, creating a rust circle at the bottom that will never go away. The bugs that line the windowsill and sometimes where the soap lays. This place creates a small fear, that while you are in there, anybody could walk in. Most people try to avoid this place, the few who use it would be the ones who don’t live in Dimmitt and don’t have a key to another one or guests that aren’t actually supposed to be there. Others that use it tend to be people who want alone time or who would like to go in peace and not have to worry about the smell. Nobody is going to come in right away after you, so why worry? The Dimmitt lobby bathrooms are like a bathroom at a very cheap motel, where you only stay for one night and really hope you don’t have to go pee.

https://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory/brazil-reaches-150000-deaths-covid-19-milestone-73543215?cid=clicksource_4380645_16_hero_headlines_headlines_hed

For this week I read the article, “Brazil reaches 150,000 deaths from COVID-19 milestone” written by Marcelo De Sousa and Tatiana Polastri. In this article it says that Brazil stands as the second highest for death tolls of COVID, right behind the US. It mentions how the president refuses to shut anything down, ignoring what mayors and governors advise him to do. The article also talks about how the Brazilian government does not have enough resources for the people, so it can’t do anything for them.

I chose this article because it relates to a few things we have discussed in class. First off, I noticed that when there is a quote or anybody is saying something, they always use the word said. I have a lot of issues with that because I need to work on just using said, but it is the proper thing to do for articles. This article also mentions a lot how the president refuses to shut anything down. He does not care for the safety of his people and he down played the severity of the pandemic, giving out false information to the people. He is a head figure, he needs to be giving out truthful information for the safety of his people. News reporting, or even giving a speech or saying anything online from a president, should be to inform the public with facts and he did not do this. In my opinion, I feel like Brazil’s president and our president are related.

Climate change is inevitable because of the generations that have caused it. Greta Thunberg discussed this issue in her speech to climate change negotiators in Katowice, Poland yesterday.

Thunberg is a 15-year-old climate change activist from Sweden, who is determined to bring change to the world we live in. “I care about climate justice and the living planet.” Past generations have destroyed our world and are leaving it up to the kids to fix it.

“You are never too small to make a difference,” Thunberg stated as she discussed that the generations do not care what they have done. She mentioned that parents say they love us, but they are taking away our future. Who knows if we will have a future?

Even though in her speech Thunberg seemed small and timid, she spoke with a big voice. She carried such intensity with what she had to say that it gave hope for change in the future.

Students have the want and need to be back on campus because of social interaction; that human contact that can’t get from staying at home. It may not be safe, but wearing a mask statistically proves in helping to prevent not only COVID-19, but the common cold and the flu.

According to the CDC, countries in the southern hemisphere just got through their influenza season with little to no cases. “33 influenza positive test results were detected among 60,031 specimens tested in Australia, 12 among 21,178 specimens tested in Chile.” Masks and the use of social distancing are preventing the spread of influenza as well as COVID-19 because there is “little influenza circulation.”

Since masks have become a huge aspect in the lives of people today, protecting people from COVID-19, will they prevent common illnesses in the United States? Dr. Anni Moore, a professor in the department of natural and mathematic sciences, said that masks are for sure helping. “Based on that evidence from Australia you can see that not only are the masks helping to prevent whatever garbage is going around now, but like everything. From common cold to the flu.”

Dr. Moore discussed how most common illnesses are airborne because of aerosols or how long the particles stay in the air. This means that if somebody coughs in one area and somebody walks in, breathing in, they are breathing in those particles. People in packed areas share a lot of the same air.

One of the really packed areas on college campuses are the music departments. Shane Macklin, the band teacher at Morningside, also discussed how aerosols are a big issue for the spread of illnesses. He goes through a lot of precautions to keep the air circulated and to let it air out. “We only play for thirty minutes at a time. Outside is five minutes, then we shift our area and play another thirty minutes.” It isn’t all about masks working alone, but also the air flow. Macklin said, “It’s mitigation not elimination.”

That is why a lot of colleges see wide spread of colds, flu, or recently COVID-19. Students are going from classroom to classroom, not giving the rooms time to air out. They are interacting with other students who just came from different buildings.

Dr. Moore stated, “It is the nature of a young animal, a human being, to interact with others. And what we are doing now, the precautions really go against the nature of a person.” It is hard for students not to socially interact because that is where they learn their social skills.

A junior at Morningside, who is also a part of Dr. Moore’s department, Katie Kirby, said how she contracted a fungal infection in her lungs from campus last year. “[Today] doctors say I am still recovering.” She got this infection because of how the air systems are connected throughout the dorms. If one person is sick it is going to spread throughout the whole building.

Another student who is a part of the student government, Haley Vigil, commented on how they are trying to improve COVID-19 on campus. However, the college is doing all they can by enforcing their rules, but really it is the students who have to do most of the work. “Making sure you do it not because you are told to do it, but because it helps other people.” Vigil also said that at one point the college was going to fine students for not wearing masks, but that was never approved. A fine shouldn’t be held over students heads to make them wear masks, as Vigil said, “Do your civil duty. That is your duty as a student to protect you and other people.” 

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/mormon-president-calls-members-end-racism-73421316?cid=clicksource_4380645_10_heads_posts_headlines_hed

The article I chose for this week is “Mormon president calls on members to help end racism” written by Brady McCombs. In this article it discusses how the president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ wants to end racism within the church. It also gave a background history of how the church was once against black people, it even had a ban on them until 1978 and still have not given a formal apology. They don’t like to talk about the history of the church, but they know want to show they accept black people.

This article relates to our class because of how it is written. It is a decent article, it states what it wants to discuss right away. There is a nice quote from the president, but towards the end things get a bit rocky. There is one sentence that mentions the conference was held without an audience and I feel like that was randomly thrown in. It was at the bottom because it isn’t as important, but it still feels so random. Another thing I noticed is that they capitalized the word black, even in a quote. I kind of like to know why because that is a weird thing to do. Over all, it did a decent job of following the inverted pyramid, but I feel like stuff towards the end wasn’t as necessary.