Caitlin Casey's blog

A couple said ‘I do’, and then things took a turn for the worst.  Hospital officials say Laurette Brunson is in satisfactory condition today after being shot in the abdomen yesterday by her new husband, Richard Brunson.  Richard and Laurette Brunson got married on the front porch of their home Saturday with 30 friends and relatives in attendance.  Everything was going smoothly until Laurette threw a plate of macaroni salad at her new husband for unknown reasons.  In response he shot her with a .22-calibre handgun in the abdomen.  A neighbor called the police, but by the time they arrived on the scene Mr. Brunson was gone.  His whereabouts are still unknown.

Laurette Brunson didn’t have much to say about the incident.  Laurette

The couple had been living together for four or five months before they were married.  Laurette Brunson had 3 children who were present at the time of the incident.  Richard Brunson worked for a construction company.  Laurette had recently quit working for a government housing program and was hoping to open her own daycare center.

A family friend gave her opinion on the affect this will have on Laurette’s children. MCorse

Catarina Migliorini, a 20-year-old Brazilian, has auctioned off her virginity online for $780,000.  The winning bidder is known as Natsu, from Japan.  Migliorini says she intends for 90% of the auction money to go to charity, but some are skeptical about whether she will carry out with this promise. Another problem with this is people may not want to accept the money if they know the reason behind it.  Natsu will now be tested for sexually transmitted diseases and apparently this will take place on a plane flying between the U.S. and Australia to avoid prostitution laws.

This is newsworthy because as Cleon Daskalakis, a former Boston Bruin who now runs NetRaffle.org, puts it, “This type of transaction is setting a dangerous precedent, not to mention a call for global prostitution on a one-time basis.”  The woman is from Brazil but obviously here story has reached our ears.  It is definitely rare which I believe is part of the reason why it is news in the U.S. even though it didn’t occur here.  I was just surprised how detailed they get about how this process will be carried out and how they plan to avoid the prostitution laws.  If you have to worry about avoiding a law, it’s probably something you shouldn’t be doing in the first place.

Read the full story here.

If approved for a gaming license, it won’t be long before work begins on a Hard Rock Casino in Sioux City.  It would be located at the site of the old Battery Building and the projected cost is $100 million.  The plan is that it will replace the Argosy Casino.  It will target a lot of people because not only is it a casino but it also includes 3 restaurants and a beer garden.  They determined that Sioux City was a good fit for a new Hard Rock Casino because of our history and culture and love of this brand of music.

This is a newsworthy story in Siouxland because it will have a huge effect on the area.  The casino will provide over 500 new jobs not to mention all the t0urism it will bring in.  This story to me seems only newsworthy to the area so it surprised me when I found an article about it on CBSnews.com.  Granted it was a lot shorter than the story the Sioux City Journal published but I was surprised they mentioned it at all.  The Hard Rock Cafe is a big name brand which is probably why it was mentioned; I just can’t believe we might be getting one in Sioux City.

Read the CBS story here.

Read the Sioux City Journal story here.

We started out the morning handing out t-shirts and getting our picture taken.  Then we were separated into groups and dismissed to get donuts and juice.  My group didn’t have to be anywhere until 10am so we decided to go to Kum and Go to pick up more food.  Even with this little side trip and all the construction we arrived at our destination by 9:30am.

The Sergeant Floyd Welcome Center is located on a boat right by the Missouri River.  We spent all morning raking the area around the Welcome Center and by noon we had 20 huge sacks filled with leaves, sticks, and dead grass.  It was quite a workout, even for us track athletes.  The woman in charge of the Welcome Center even provided cookies and lemonade and later on even bought us pizza.  “It was hard work, but the food made it totally worth it,” Tyler Figge, a junior at Morningside, said.  Overall it was a very nice day and it was fun going out and helping in the community.

On game day Saturday everyone wears his or her colors proudly, and the trash talking on campus begins.  Friday, November 23 is the day Nebraska or Iowa gets bragging rights for an entire year just because of one football game.

Ever since Nebraska moved to the Big 10 the Heroes game, as it is now called, is known as one of the best rivalries in the sport.  Being right by the border of the rival states, Morningside is greatly affected by this competition.

A majority of the students that attend Morningside are from Iowa or Nebraska.  Cheering and booing can be heard up and down the hallways of the dorms during game time.  It usually doesn’t matter who wins or loses that week either; almost everyone is guaranteed to have a comeback if something is said about his or her team.

Alex Howrey is a very strong supporter of the Iowa Hawkeyes.  She is a sophomore here at Morningside College, originally from Moville, Iowa.  You often see her strolling around campus decked out in her Iowa apparel.  With Iowa being the home of two college football teams what made her choose the Hawkeyes over the Cyclones?

“Because I have pride in my state and Iowa State sucks,” she said.

None of her family graduated from there; she supports them because she was born and raised in Iowa.  She has never attended a game but that doesn’t stop her from cheering on her team every Saturday.

“I also like the colors gold and black,” she added as an afterthought.

Jacey Tomhave, also a sophomore at Morningside, is a very avid Husker fan.  Originally from Valparaiso, Nebraska, her family recently moved to Pennsylvania but she still bleeds Husker red.  Like Alex, Jacey doesn’t have any relatives that graduated from the school she so strongly supports.

She says she is a Nebraska fan because “that’s what my Dad raised me to be.”

She attended her first game with her dad when she was 5 years old.  She loved the atmosphere and has been hooked ever since.

As the season continues, the suspension mounts.  This year the game will be held at Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City and it will be interesting to see if being at home will give the Hawkeyes an advantage this year.  Last year Nebraska won 20-7 and hasn’t let Iowa forget it.  It also doesn’t seem to matter how well, or bad, the teams have done throughout the season.  With this big of a rivalry a good game is always expected.

Jennie Vaugher is a third party observer who likes to keep the peace and refuses to pick a side.  She just sits back and watches as the trash talking commences.

“Coming from Colorado it’s weird to see a rivalry so huge but I guess it makes sense since neither state has a professional football team,” she said.  “I think it’s just kind of funny to watch.”

With a rivalry this strong some may wonder how Morningside deals with the division between the students.  Teachers often get involved and sometimes even take sides.  After all, what’s wrong with a little healthy competition?  Both Alex and Jacey live in an apartment with 7 girls, including 2 Nebraska fans and 2 Iowa fans.

“Yes, it causes some tension between my roommates, but overall that is a very small factor in our friendship,” Alex said.

“It definitely makes things more interesting when we don’t agree on everything,” Jacey said.

The same week Facebook hit one billion users they came out with their first ad.  So far it hasn’t gotten the best reviews.  The big thing they are trying to push in the ad is that Facebook is what connects the whole world.  It brings us together in a way nothing else has.  This is true, but I tend to agree with the critics of the ad.  I was confused as soon as I started watching it. “Chairs are like Facebook,” it says. Ok? Out of all the things they could have compared it to they pick chair?  In my opinion, that wasn’t the best option.  But apparently Facebook doesn’t have to worry just yet about their ad having a big impact on possible new users.  As of right now it is only being showed on Facebook.

I believe this is newsworthy because many people use Facebook.  It is also one of those stupid stories that people only read to get a good laugh.  They put all this money into a new ad after they already have one billion users, and then they only show it on Facebook.  That makes sense.  Most people by now have Facebook if they want it and if they don’t there is obviously a reason for it.  I think this ad was a waste of money and I doubt it will help attract any new users.

Read the full story here.