Entries from September 2013 ↓

Article In Question

So I figured since the last article I read might not be considered news to some (at least not pressing news), I figured that I would go back to Reddit as a news source. Fortunately, I found an article that, as some redditors might say, gave me some feels.

The story was about an English boy in Kenya that had called a terrorist a “bad man” for shooting his mother in the thigh. The terrorist seemed to understand this little boy’s unhappiness, proceeded to give him and his sister each a mars bar, and let the family leave. There are more details in this story that tug on your heartstrings, but I do not feel it appropriate to share them here.

What I find most interesting, though, is that whilst the family is leaving (with two other children), the gunman pleaded for forgiveness, saying that he and his companions “are not monsters.” For me, this really showed a different perspective.

This man was not killing simply for the sake of killing; he was doing his religious duty. Yes, his religious duty was extreme and very considerably immoral, but that’s not how he viewed it. I can’t imagine the pain that this man must have felt when he saw how negatively people reacted to what he thought was the right thing to do.

Now I’m not saying that Islam is a good religion and we should all be Muslim jihad extremists, but maybe we should stop to think that they have feelings too. All in all, though, I would have to say that the little boy is the hero of this story. He was not afraid to stand up for what he thought was right (in a peaceful way), even if it cost him his life, and he managed to produce some fine results. I highly suggest reading this article.

 This month’s Morningsider Highlight shines on Kevin Pottebaum, a Sioux City native and Morningside graduate that that now works as the “Voice of Morningside”. Pottebaum is the Digital Communications Manager at Morningside College, where he works with social media as well as Public Relations. “They’re paying me instead of me paying them, so that’s nice,” Pottebaum commented on his job at his Alma Mater.

One of the major projects that Pottebaum is currently working on revamping the college’s website. He said that even though it’s been pushed back for quite some time, the new layout for the website is expected to appear around the end of this calendar year. “It’s mostly been pushed back because so many people have to approve it,” he explains. It has been about 6 or 7 years since the site has had an updated appearance. His goal is to have it refreshed every 4 or 5 years.

Though, this was not his original choice of workplace. Initially, Pottebaum worked in Mitchell, South Dakota, as a sportswriter. “My dream job was to be a sportswriter, but not in Mitchell, South Dakota,” he shared in a recent group interview, “if you think there’s nothing to do in Sioux City, try living in Mitchell.” He worked in Mitchell for around 10 months before he came back to Sioux City.

 As chance would have it, Pottebaum’s wife, Amanda, was offered a teaching position at Bryant Elementary in Sioux City that gave a higher wage than his own job in Mitchell. Pottebaum decided that it would be better for them if he searched for a job in Sioux City, which his new father-in-law announced at his wedding, while his then employer was present. Pottebaum laughingly described it as “probably one of the worst two week notices ever.”

 Pottebaum went to East High, and graduated from Morningside College, where he majored in Mass Communications and minored in Sports Management. He and his wife, a Bishop-Heelan and Briar Cliff University graduate, currently live in Sioux City with their two dogs, Tazz and Riley. In his spare time, he enjoys going outdoors with his dogs and hiking as well as playing for the amateur baseball team, the Sioux City Saints. 

 Article

My computer has this neat little app that allows me to find news, and I am kicking myself for not thinking about using it earlier. I found a particularly interesting article about the psychology of infants and their innate knowledge of basic biology. Don’t worry, I didn’t believe it at first either.
Apparently, infants as young as 8 months were subject to experiments in which toys were opened to reveal that they were hollow. There was a mix of toys that moved, were fuzzy, both, and neither. When the moving/fuzzy toys were opened up, the infants stared longer at the toys as opposed to the ones that were not moving/fuzzy.
This is based on the assumption that the babies are assuming the moving/fuzzy toys are animals, which would make sense when considering biology. The article also went on about how infants knew basic physics and such, but that was not the main point. Scientists are still trying to figure out what evolutionary advantage exists within knowing that animals have guts.

Cactus out.

For this assignment, I was required to acquire a breath mint. Now, being that I already had two breath mints in my lunch bag from Vonda, I felt it was irrelevant to get one, but alas, I searched anyway.

I initially made my way for the Caf, hoping to get the same breath mint I from where I got the last two, but then I realized that the paper said someone you don’t interact with on a daily basis. I decidedly settled on people in the student center. Fortunately, there was a group of Political Science students with a table in the lobby of the student center, conducting citizenship tests. I spoke with Joelle Kruger, who was sitting at that table.

She mentioned she had a breath freshener when I asked the entire group if any of them had breath mints. Though, her statement about lending me the breath freshener was “can I have it back?”. I was unsure about how much time I would have to take it down to the library and back, so we just took a picture to prove that I found it. Joelle was nice, and open. She managed to coerce me into taking the citizenship test, which I scored 9/10. Joelle told me that she would have made the same wrong answer that I did.

Tension continues to rise between the Stone Temple Pilots and their former vocalist, Scott Weiland.  The band has been touring and recording with new vocalist, Chester Bennington of Linkin Park.

In February of 2013, Weiland, the original vocalist of the band, was dismissed, according to an NME article. Not too long afterward, Bennington was hired to fill. Since then, there has been conflict between Weiland and the remaining three members.

Weiland currently tours under the name of Scott Weiland and the Wildabouts.  Initially, though, he attempted to tour the US as a solo artist, singing the same songs and using the same name as Stone Temple Pilots, according to another NME article. The band filed a lawsuit in order to stop him from doing so.

In response, Weiland filed a counter-suit, claiming that they have no right to the name, saying that the band will have to buy him out of the “company”, according to a Loudwire article. Both suits are yet to be resolved.

Currently, the band is going under the name “Stone Temple Pilots with Chester Bennington”. The band is now touring and has their latest EP, High Rise, due to be released in October. So far, Bennington has been generally well –received as the new front-man of the band, according to another Loudwire article.

Article found here

Kenya is predicted to have access to huge water source for the next 70 years.

I liked this article, mostly because it was quick and easy to read. But at the same time, this is something that’s revolutionary for the East Africa region. In the attached video, it was mentioned that the soil of Kenya is rather fertile. Now that there’s this water source, Kenya may as well become a lush utopia now. Altogether, I’m glad to finally find some good news out of all the outcries about Syria and Miley Cyrus.

With the termination of Scott Weiland, addition of Chester Bennington of Linkin Park, and upcoming release of a new EP, the Stone Temple Pilots have been garnering a fair amount of media attention (comparative to anything that is not about Miley Cyrus or her VMA performance).

In February of 2013, Weiland, the original vocalist of the band, was fired, reportedly due to his drug abuse and consistent tardiness. Not too long afterward, Bennington was hired to fill. Since then, there has been tension between Weiland and the remaining three members.

Weiland attempted to tour solo under the name of Stone Temple Pilots, with a backing band attempting to impersonate the original band, resulting in the other three members filing suit. In response, Weiland filed a counter-suit, claiming that they have no right to the name.

Currently, the band is going under the name “Stone Temple Pilots with Chester Bennington”. The band is now touring and has their latest EP, High Rise, due to be released in October. So far, he has been generally well –received as the new front-man of the band.

As per class requirement, I took the opportunity to sit and observe people for 20 minutes. Since I saw plenty of people this Labor Day weekend, I found this assignment to be no difficulty, except for the fact that I have to work off solely memory since neither a laptop nor a pen and paper were at hand when I did this. Regardless, impressions were left on my head and I shall write them down…

In Worthing, South Dakota, this labor day weekend, there was a Christian music festival known as LifeLight. During this weekend, Christian bands would play music for free all while overpriced food and merchandise was being sold in shaded areas. The free music, of course, attracted many people looking to see a show. With multiple bands playing at multiple stages, many people were walking back and forth between stages to see different bands as well as purchase consumables from various vendors. I sat at the center point of this location in order to look at all the people that had crossed paths.

Objective: Needless to say, the place was crowded. Numerous people of various subcultures walked across the plane to see generally positive, encouraging, and occasionally headbanging music. Occasionally, there were groups of people walking with “free hugs” signs. Some people traveled in groups of friends, in such case they were generally dressed alike (possibly to more easily find each other). Others traveled as families (though not as often), in which case the similarities usually were determined by genetics as opposed to fashion sense. Nonetheless, as humankind is often referred to as a social animal, it can be expected that people would travel together in groups of people that share similarities of some kind.

Subjective: Because we hate different things. Just kidding. Not all of us do. But this festival was a good way for one to see how us humans long to belong. Not only by the patterns of conglomeration that people tended to, but also the fact that people came for music and speakers that told everyone that there is Someone out there who loves you for you. That’s simply how humanity is, whether you believe in God or not, it is obvious that

1. Humanity is far from perfect
2. We all need a place to belong to

Sometimes, people search for that through something as simple as a hug. I couldn’t help but feel that a lot of the people with “free hugs” signs weren’t just there to give affection as much as they wanted to receive it, even if it was from a random stranger. Personally, I thought it was just a way to get attention, but this idea soon dawned on me when I contemplated the reason why so many people were here.

And that’s a blip of the experience I had at LifeLight. Feel free to ask any questions about it.