The moon pies come in a clear wrapper individually wrapped from the box. They have a crackly sound. The wrapper has “Moon Pie,” pressed on the front in blue letters with white shadow effect, a yellow crescent moon with a smile on its face encomapces the words. Upon opening the wrapper a chocolaty flavor creeps out. I hold the hardened chocolate covered cylindrical disk in my hand velvety and cool to the touch. The sweet resembles a hockey puck. The teeth marks in the treat after biting in reveal the white marshmallow filling thin in the center and the next layer a sandy looking cake confection and the brown milk chocolate on the outside. The texture is slightly sandy then mushy and marshmallowy with the light feel of smooth milk chocolate. The flavor is graham cracker, mallow, and chocolate, a cold version of a smore with a more bland taste. There is an aftertaste leaving you with a remembrance of a stale cookie from your grandmother’s old fashioned cookie jar you used to steal from as a kid.

Hello my name is Elsie Dirkx bringing you three intriguing stories about rooster realizations, campus cuisine, and motivational mentors.

Why does the rooster gobble to himself in the mirror? Roosters indicate signs of self-awareness and have challenged the traditional mirror test. In a modified New York Times experiment, despite failing the conventional test, roosters displayed potential self-awareness by reacting to predators with their alarm calls. This study shows the limitations of the classic mirror test and advocates for ecologically relevant approaches to evaluate self-awareness in various species. In an interview with Abraham Dirkx, a previous chicken owner, he answers the question, what does he feel is the significance of roosters being self-aware? … Still poses the question, why does the rooster gobble to himself in the mirror? BECAAUUSE!

Roosters may be aware of their reflections but is Morningside aware of their gluten and diary-free students?

In the ever-evolving landscape of campus dining, Morningside students with gluten and dairy intolerances have faced a culinary challenge as slim as a wafer-thin cracker. In most recent years there has been an increase in special dietary needs. In 2023 Morningside cafeteria finally created a space for gluten and dairy free options. Staff are learning ways to cater to needs like new desserts and whipping up specialty pizzas when there is nothing else. Lydia Thams shares her journey navigating the scarcity of options and how it shapes her day-to-day campus life… Offering gluten and dairy-free options supports the overall well-being of the student population.

Overall well-being of students needs to be a priority of educational institutions this is why Morningside has a peer mentoring program.

Who are those people that make college feel less like a maze and more like a choose-your-own-adventure? This is the role of a peer mentor. Mentors offer relatable guidance on academic resources, extracurricular activities, and overall college experiences, helping social and academic integration. They are empathetic listeners, and provide emotional support, creating a sense of community and belonging. By sharing personal experiences, mentors motivate a smoother transition and enhance the overall student experience. I spoke with Deontez Williams a Morningside student who has been the recipient of this service to get a first hand experience….

Again this was Elsie Dirkx bringing you three intriguing stories, that’s all folks.

The U.S. is more involved in Gaza than previously known. The U.S. military is flying surveillance drones over the Gaza strip to apparently to aid in hostage recovery efforts. While Israel frequently conducts reconnaissance flights over Gaza, U.S. defense officials said it was believed to be the first time that U.S. drones have flown missions over Gaza. Israel is in the early stages of a ground invasion in Gaza and says Hamas is holding more than 240 hostages, 10 are believed to be Americans. The flights are concentrated in southern Gaza approximately 15 miles from the Israeli military’s initial push in the north.

The article sandwiches shocking information about the hostages in the middle of information given where as I think that information could have been apart of the lead. Toward the end the article talks about the type of drones used and how sophisticated they are. The design of the drown is explained in detail. This article had short paragraphs and each had a well rounded topic. The inverted triangle method was used. I think this article was written well.

Roosters have shown signs of recognizing themselves in mirrors, challenging conventional wisdom about the cognitive abilities of chickens. In an article published by the New York Times, a study led by Sonja Hillemacher, a researcher at the University of Bonn, suggests the self-awareness in roosters using a modified version of the classic mirror test. This sheds new light on the intelligence of these birds and potentially prompting re-evaluations of animal smarts.

The mirror test, originally introduced by psychologist Gordon Gallup in 1970, has been used to assess self-awareness in various species by marking individuals and observing their reactions in mirrors. While only a few species, such as dolphins and elephants, have passed this test, the researchers argue that it may not be suitable for animals with different sensory abilities and social systems.

The study found that roosters failed the classic mirror test when marked with pink powder, showing no inclination to inspect or touch the marks. Instead, the team designed an alternative experiment that focused on rooster self-awareness using their natural behavior of alarm calling in response to predators. Roosters alerted other birds when they saw a hawk silhouette projected on them through a mirror, but they remained silent when alone or when another rooster was present but blocked from view by a mirror.

These findings suggest that roosters may possess a form of self-awareness and that they recognize their own reflections. While this study presents strong evidence for self-awareness in roosters, it may require further experiments and research to persuade all scientists. Masanori Kohda, a biologist at Osaka Metropolitan University in Japan says, “Potentially, this study shows strong evidence for self-awareness, however, these results will not be enough to persuade all scientists.” Regardless, the authors hope that their approach can be used to test other animals’ self-awareness in ecologically relevant ways, potentially allowing a more accurate assessment of various species’ self-awareness abilities.

The representative Mike Johnson won election on wednesday and became the 56th speaker of the house of representatives after three weeks of infighting and dysfunction. Three other canidates where quickly discarded. Representative Tom Emmer, who was let go from his speakership bid by the hard right on Tuesday, called the bitter process Republicans just went through over the past three weeks “open, honest, transparent and a true display of what democracy looks like in action.”

The paragraphs are small and add statements from Biden and others in leadership positions. There is a good perspective from many angles. The inverted pyramid is used as the most important information is mentioned first then there is more information added on later. There is quote after quote from Johnson added in. There is talk about a government shutdown if funds can not be acquired. But overall there is celebration of the new election and hope for the future.

A new bride was shot by her husband only three hours after getting married on the front porch of their home 617 Black street. Saturday at 5pm Richard Brunson 50 shot his wife Laurette Kenny Brunson 38 with a 22 caliber handgun. The incident happened after she threw a plate of wedding reception macaroni at him. An eye witness described the scene this way

The couple had been living together for four or five months before they were married and about 30 relatives and friends attended the wedding. When shots were fired a neighbor called the police. By the time the police arrived the groom was gone. Mrs. Brunson is in St. Luke’s hospital and is in satisfactory condition as she was shot in the abdomen. Police are still on the lookout for Mr. Brunson Another eyewitness describes how he left.

There was a deadly blast at a Gaza hospital on Tuesday that American and Israeli officials said their intelligence showed that the blast was caused by a Palestinian group. The Palestine claim that and Israeli strike caused the explosion. Neither side’s claims about the responsible party have been verified independently. The intelligence that caught what happened was a satellite showing a launch of a rocket or missile from Palestinian fighter positions within Gaza. Also open source video recordings collected by journalists and others showing that the the strike came from the same direction.

The NYT article explained well what happened and they use short paragraphs which makes it an easier read for people. After the first initial explanation of what happened, there is explanation of the specific damage caused by the strike such as how many people were injured and died as well as what part of the hospital was hit. There is more discussion about the photography that was captured even more in depth the further you read the article. The ending ties it all together by explaining that the United States regularly uses infrared satellite collection to analyze launches.

More than 25 business honors students will use the cafeteria kitchen to bake, pack, label, then deliver over 1,500 freshly baked cookies to students. At Morningside students are nearing midterms and are restless for fall break. Some students will be working over fall break and some will be driving home. Others will relax on campus. No matter what they are planning on doing, most of them have worked busy and tireless schedules during this first quarter. So business honors has created a fundraiser to deliver some love from their parents to soften their load. 

Marilyn Eastman, the head of Business honors, describes where Smart Cookies came from. She explained that this year 2023 will be the 5th year of doing smart cookies. It came out of the idea of needing a fundraiser for business honors. “This is because in order to get club funding and to become a club through student government you have to do fundraisers.”  The honors group uses the fundraiser for trips and sometimes conferences. This year business honors will take a trip to Omaha. 

One of the goals of business honors is to help students network with executives in their field. Not just people doing regular jobs but people doing CEO level jobs and big jobs. Dr. Eastman says she likes to take her students to a city and go to big companies to give them an experience of what it might be like. Because there are a lot of students here at Morningside that come from smaller towns and have probably not traveled much and have not seen what a big corporate office building looks like in a big city. Dr. Eastman says, “I think it is important for students, especially honors students, to aspire to things that maybe they don’t know.” 

She went on to say “These honors students are already really bright and hard working so they would have the opportunity to go work for a Deloitte or a Linked In or a Union Pacific. So if students don’t ever know what that is like, how do they know that it is what they want to do?” 

In order to have these unique experiences, business honors really wanted to look and find something unique and profitable but not too much work. Dr Eastman came up with the idea of smart cookies after getting a forwarded link from her sister. From Saint Olaf up in Northfield Minnesota the idea blossomed. Dr. Eastman’s niece went there and Dr. Eastman’s sister forwarded her a link where you could order cookies for your students. She brought that idea to the business honors club and they loved the idea. Then that sort of just developed into the Smart Cookies idea. 

One aspect that has been a challenge for Jes Lumsden the administrative assistant has been managing the ordering systems. She has to make sure that the order has gone through and that the order has been paid for on separate spreadsheets. The hardest thing to manage, she says, is “Just the systems because they don’t talk, making sure that the payment was made and the order was placed.”  This is Jess’s first year managing Smart Cookies and she is hopeful that next year there will be a better system in place. 

Once the orders are in, the fundraiser is done all in one night. Business honors uses the cafeteria kitchen to bake the cookies which is not how it has been done in the past. There has been much revision done in the past years to make smart cookies as fool proof as it is now. 

When they first started they cooked the cookies in the dorms themselves. So they would bake the cookies in Dimmitt and Roadman and such. That was so complicated and so much work. Another thing that made it more complicated is that instead of using the cookie dough that is already balled they used the scoop out cookie dough which made things more time consuming and complicated. Also the groups were separated and missing out on coming together to accomplish the goal while bonding and building friendships. 

So two years ago business honors got the “brilliant idea” to use the cafeteria kitchen. Luckily the Cafeteria has been so generous as to say yes to using it after they close for the night. Which has saved so much time and has made things much easier. 

Now all the students that are working on the project can come together all in one place. Creating a space for them to get to know each other. It is hard to get to know each other sometimes on this campus so working together in service is a way to have a bonding experience. Smart cookies serve that objective too. So besides just making money it is a way to get to know each other and bring some really busy and smart students together for a night of working together on something that is actually kind of fun. 

At Morningside students are nearing midterms and are restless for fall break. Some students will be working over fall break and some will be driving home. Others will relax on campus. No matter what they are planning on doing, most of them have worked busy and tireless schedules during this first quarter. So business honors has created a fundraiser to deliver some love from their parents to soften their load. On October ninth more than 20 business honors students will use the cafeteria kitchen to bake, pack, label, then deliver to each dorm over 1,000 freshly baked cookies to students. 

With an interview with Marilyn Eastman the head of Business honors, she describes where smart cookies came from. She explained that this year 2023 will be the 5th year of doing smart cookies. It came out of the idea of needing a fundraiser for business honors. This is because in order to get club funding and to become a club through student government you have to do fundraisers. The honors group uses the fundraiser for trips and sometimes conferences. This year business honors will take a trip to omaha. 

The goal of business honors or really one of the goals is to help students network with executives in their field. Not just people doing regular jobs but people doing CEO level jobs and big jobs. Marylin says she likes to take her students to a city and go to big companies to give them an experience of what it might be like. Because there are a lot of students here at Morningside that come from smaller towns and have probably not traveled much and have not seen what a big corporate office building looks like in a big city. Marylin says, “I think it is important for students, especially honors students, to aspire to things that maybe they don’t know.” These honors students are already really bright and hard working so they would have the opportunity to go work for a Deloitte or a Linked In or a Union Pacific. So if students don’t ever know what that is like, how do they know that it is what they want to do? Maylin really just aims to give business honors students unique experiences beyond that of what a normal business honors student in college might see. 

In order to have these unique experiences, business honors really wanted to look and find something unique and profitable but not too much work. Marylin came up with the idea of smart cookies after getting a forwarded link from her sister. From Saint Olaf up in Northfield Minnesota the idea blossomed. Marilyn’s niece went there and Marilyn’s sister forwarded her a link where you could order cookies for your students. She brought that idea to the business honors club and they loved the idea. Then that sort of just developed into the Smart Cookies idea. 

The fundraiser is seamless and is done all in one night. Business honors uses the cafeteria kitchen to bake the cookies which is not how it has been done in the past. There has been much revision done in the past years to make smart cookies as fool proof as it is now. When they first started they cooked the cookies in the dorms themselves. So they would bake the cookies in Dimitt and Roadman and such. That was so complicated and so much work. Another thing that made it more complicated is that instead of using the cookie dough that is already balled they used the scoop out cookie dough which made things more time consuming and complicated. Also the groups were separated and missing out on coming together to accomplish the goal while bonding and building friendships. 

So two years ago business honors got the “brilliant idea” to use the cafeteria kitchen. Luckily the Cafeteria has been so generous as to say yes to using it after they close for the night. Which has saved so much time and has made things much easier. Now all the students that are working on the project can come together all in one place. Creating a space for them to get to know each other. It is hard to get to know each other sometimes on this campus so working together in service is a way to have a bonding experience. Smart cookies serve’s that objective too. So besides just making money it is a way to get to know each other and bring some really busy and smart students together for a night of working together on something that is actually kind of fun. 

Now more than ever people are capturing their dissociation experiences on social media #dissocociation has drawn more than 775 million views. There is a public fascination with dissociative identity disorder. Christina Caron, the author of the New York times Article states that, “conversations about mental health continue to migrate into public forums.” The media is full of content with millions of voices speaking on their perspective. But research suggests that much of the content is not providing reliable information. Dr. Frank W. Putnam, a professor of clinical psychiatry at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine and an expert on dissociative disorders explains that dissociation is like you shut down and kind of go away and these episodes become a disorder when you end up in a place without knowing how you got there for example. It is thought that the disorder is largely under diagnosed. It comes from severe childhood trauma at an early age.

The article starts off asking if you have ever zoned out. It starts with a question which are hard things to start with and catch attention but the saying caught my attention enough to read the article and keep reading to the end. There is much talk about the effect of social media in the perception of the diagnosis. The article ties in experts and the interesting thoughts they have on the topic and how the disorder has gained so much attention through social media. The end of the article encourages curious people to speak with an attentive and thoughtful health care provider. We are left with a great quote from Dr. David Rettew, a child and adolescent psychiatrist, “Just about everything in mental health is dimensional. It exists on a spectrum,” he said. “And that doesn’t make our conditions less real, but it does make them more complicated.”