Elizabeth's Blog

For our last news comment, I came across an article from Siouxland News called “Get ready for the first major snowstorm of the season” by Kati Nickolaou. The story went into detail about the upcoming storm system and what to expect. It also included several graphics that were relevant and displayed information such as wind gusts, snow forecast, winter weather alerts, etc. 

I think that the story is written well and it conveys all information that you would want when trying to prepare for the storm. However, the style of the article is a little confusing. There wasn’t any obvious lead and it doesn’t appear to follow the inverted pyramid style writing. Aside from that, I thought it was good. It was very detailed and held my attention. (I was also curious as to the content considering it will directly affect our area in the near future.)

It didn’t leave me needing more information and if a reader did, for some reason, need more it would be easily accessible. 

​​https://siouxlandnews.com/news/local/get-ready-for-the-first-major-snowstorm-of-the-season

A frontline worker in small-town Iowa, unable to be vaccinated amidst a global pandemic, gets COVID after almost two years.

THE JOB

A typical day starts at 8:00 am for Melissa Kruse with checking messages, making phone calls, and getting patients’ results. By 9:00 am, patients are being roomed, their vitals are being taken, and the phone is still being answered. Kruse, a certified medical assistant at Horn Physicians Clinic in Ida Grove, is one of several frontline workers putting themselves at risk during the ongoing pandemic.

Melissa’s normal hours are 8:00 – 5:00, but realistically Kruse isn’t normally off and home until closer to 5:30/6. And in a town with a population of 2,000, the commute only takes about three minutes.

Despite so many things changing during this pandemic, the Kruses’ living situation is something that’s remained consistent throughout. Sure, sometimes if she’s had a particularly bad day where she knows she has been in contact with several COVID positive patients Kruse will come home, take her work clothes off, and shower right away, even before saying hello. Her laundry is also kept and washed separately in these instances.

Melissa’s husband, Troy Kruse, has expressed the risk of living with someone who could potentially be exposed to the virus while at work as “it is part of life.” Troy is now triple vaccinated for his safety and his wife’s sake. “You take your precautions and you go to work every day. And you know what? You might get it at the gas station too” said Troy.

On top of keeping things running smoothly in the clinic, Melissa’s duties also include drawing blood, testing for things such as strep and COVID, making sure prescriptions are renewed, counseling patients on their health, and scheduling scans.

While completing any of these tasks, Melissa and the other nurses can always be found wearing surgical masks. And when around COVID patients it’s always an N-95 mask. However, because Melissa is allergic to part of the vaccine and unable to receive it, she is even more cautious than some of her co-workers who have been vaccinated.

“I will go in and I will have the full mask and gloves and gown and the whole bit, you know, I’d rather be safe than sorry.” Melissa is extremely cautious of any symptoms a patient may be experiencing, even a headache because so many common symptoms are found in COVID cases.

THE VACCINE

Doctors know that Melissa is allergic to the flu vaccine, something she is already unable to receive, and that certain components such as preservatives that make up the COVID vaccine are similar to the flu shot. Melissa explained that there is no guarantee that she could have the vaccine and not have any issues, but it’s not something she is willing to gamble on. Melissa did sign a waiver with the clinic stating that she was refusing to receive the vaccine and why.

Since Melissa is unable to be vaccinated, it’s critical that those around her are. All of her family, including her husband and three children who are in high school and college, have been vaccinated. Similar to Troy it’s protecting them, and also their mom.

THE MEDIA

The media likes to create an image of small towns that makes them seem as if nothing bad can happen there, but that is far from the truth. The virus made its way to Ida Grove. Contrary, over the last almost two years the media has done a very accurate job of portraying what the pandemic has been like for healthcare workers. Even on a smaller scale, the problems are the same.

When the pandemic first started, there wasn’t an immediate supply shortage at Melissa’s clinic because they went into lockdown and only saw those who were sick. It was when people began to get vaccinated and wellness checks were being made after being put off for so long that they began to see shortages. She explained that the shortages they’re seeing the most are the tubes for drawing blood, masks (N-95 and surgical) and medicine whether directly related to the pandemic or not.

Burnout, known as being emotionally, physically, and mentally exhausted due to prolonged exhaustion and stress is another thing that has been afflicted upon the healthcare industry. During this pandemic, burnout is something that Melissa has dealt with personally. She explained that people aren’t as patient anymore. Everything is a lot more demanding, and that wears on you. She gets yelled at daily and sometimes her hands are tied so she isn’t able to do anything about it. When this does happen, the best thing she can do is try and step back, but in a small town where you know everyone that isn’t entirely practical.

THE VIRUS

Melissa had made it COVID-free up until just recently. She found out she had tested positive the morning before Thanksgiving. She shared that she was in tears on her way home from the doctor’s office. However, the tears rolling down her face weren’t necessarily out of fear of having the virus, but out of frustration. The Thanksgiving holiday they had planned was no longer going to happen. She wouldn’t be surrounded by her children home from school or sitting down to have a meal that she had worked so hard to prepare.

“It was a major letdown. And then it was also going back… Where did I get it? Where did I let my guard down? You know, what changed?” Melissa expressed.

From the time of testing, Melissa was required to be off work for 10 days. She was also put on antibiotics and steroids for five days for preventative measures.

When discussing her symptoms Melissa said, “It wasn’t bad. The headache was the worst. It was like having a really bad hangover.” She expressed that she was very lucky to not have any respiratory problems.

However, Melissa wasn’t the only one distraught over the news. Her oldest daughter, Lindsey, was heartbroken after hearing of the positive test results. “I was sad because she got COVID and I didn’t want to necessarily be around and exposing myself to it. Especially with finals coming up. So, I ended up spending Thanksgiving here in Sioux City.” Lindsey explained. This was even more of a blow for the college junior since she was also unable to spend her Fall Break at home due to her own non-COVID-related illness.

Lindsey also expressed being worried about her mother while sick because she didn’t know how bad the symptoms were going to be. There have been studies that show adults who are vaccinated tend to have fewer extreme symptoms. And considering Melissa isn’t vaccinated, Lindsey was even more concerned.

THE FUTURE

Since Melissa has had COVID, there have been a few silver linings for the Kruse family. Melissa has expressed that because she has gotten sick already and gotten it out of the way they can for sure have Christmas and the peace of mind that they will be spending the holiday with family. Troy has also come across his own plus-side. Since sleeping in the same bed again, he noticed that Melissa snores a lot less. He joked that it’s actually “bearable” now.

The Kruses realize that the pandemic is not over and there is still a long way to go. Melissa especially knows this as someone in the thick of it every day. “I do wish that everybody would get vaccinated. I think it will help for those of us that can’t get vaccinated.” And until there is a better handle on the pandemic, they will continue to take each and every day as it comes.

For this week’s news comment I chose the article “Rockin’ around the Christmas tree: Rockefeller tree lit up” from AP News. It discussed the details of the tree from where it came from to how many lights are wrapped around the tree. The tree stands 79 feet tall with over 50,000 lights on it. The tree is topped with a 900-pound crystal star. 

Even though the article was shorter I think it was well written. It had all the information I would have wanted. I thought the additional information of where the tree came from was also nice. The article was written in a classic inverted pyramid style where the additional details/information were found at the bottom. 

The reason I chose this article was that when the tree was en route to NYC I saw several TikToks about it. I’ve also been to Rockefeller Plaza and got to see it during the summer so seeing it during the holidays is kind of cool.

https://apnews.com/article/lifestyle-new-york-manhattan-trees-arts-and-entertainment-240387689bd4011539d2d1bb180a933d

This week I read an article from AP News entitled “Target to keep stores closed on Thanksgiving for good” written by Anne D’Innocenzio. It talked about Target’s decision to permanently close their stores on Thanksgiving. In the past, their stores have opened for early Christmas shopping. However, with the pandemic changing that tradition they found that an extended shopping opportunity was beneficial to customers and employees. This allows them to have the whole day with their families. Another reason Target made this decision was because of how common online shopping is becoming.

I thought this article was written really well. It honestly followed the standard expectations for a story. The lead was short and had the necessary information needed to not read the entire article and still know what it was about. I also enjoyed the length of the article. I felt like if the journalist wanted to they could have gone on for a very long time with background information, however, they gave a nice amount of extra information about the topic. I also did not find myself asking any other questions. It gave exactly what I was expecting.

I chose to pick this story because I always found it interesting how popular “black Friday” shopping became on the day of thanksgiving and was curious to see the reasons why Target decided to do this.

Guiseppe Del Rio, a Senior at Morningside University, majoring in Graphic Design, describes himself as a perfectionist. A time when this held especially true is when working on a project in his Graphic Design Studio class.

The project consisted of creating a brand and designing the packaging for whatever the product/s would be. In this case, it was for a wine brand. When beginning this project he knew that it was going to take a lot of time and effort to get it done and done well.

When working on this project alongside his classmates, it took him longer than everyone else because of how many details he put into the final product. Del Rio explained that he “wanted everything to be tied together”. This is another aspect that resulted in the project taking as long as it did.

After getting the project itself designed it was time to construct the actual packaging, which also took a while. The intensity of the work and the timeline all made for a very stressful situation.

This week I found an article/broadcast from KMEG called “Thank-you lunches handed out to truck drivers in Salix”. The story discussed how the Iowa Motor Truck Association put together a number of lunches to hand out as a way to say thank you.

Since this was also used as a broadcast story I thought it was done really well. I admire how short and to the point they were able to make it. I know that is something I struggled with in our last story. 

Overall, I thought it was written nicely. It started with a good throwaway lead that made me want to know more. It included what I found to be all the necessary information and then some quotes as well. It’s also interesting to see these after going through the broadcast section of this class and seeing all of the things we have learned be applied.

When it comes to why I chose this story, I thought it sounded like it would be a little more “happy” than what I am used to seeing.

https://siouxlandnews.com/news/local/thank-you-lunch-handed-out-to-truck-drivers

**On moodle… the file is too big for WordPress?

Thank you for joining and welcome to “The Latest”. I’m Elizabeth Obermeier

The 22 point fourth-quarter comeback is not enough for the OABCIG Falcons during their quarterfinal playoff game.

The OABCIG Falcons, last year’s champions, were ready for another trip to the Dome but were stopped early in the playoffs when they were unable to beat Southeast Valley. The very same team the falcons lost to in September during their regular season.

According to Storm Lake Radio, going into halftime the score was twenty-six to zero with Southeast Valley in the lead. It wasn’t until the Falcon’s first possession in the second half that they scored making it twenty-six to 6.

Within the last five minutes of the game, the Falcons were able to put twenty-two more points on the board, but when that time clock hit zero it wasn’t enough. The final score was thirty-four to twenty-eight. 

2019 OABCIG graduate Lindsey Kruse had this to say…. SOUND HERE

The Falcons finish their season 9-2

https://stormlakeradio.com/news/2021/11/05/falcons-rally-falls-short-at-southeast-valley

Pfizer and bio and Tech are Requesting emergency use authorization from the FDA for a vaccine booster that is eligible for all individuals 18 and older.

According to CNN, the request is based on results from a phase 3 trial that involved more than 10,000 participants. It found that boosters were safe and were 95% effective against symptomatic covid-19.

Pfizer initially sought the okay for booster doses for everyone 16 and older however the FDA authorized it to use for a limited group of adults. since then eligibility now consists of anyone who got the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine 6 months ago or longer if they are 65 years or older, at risk of severe covid-19 from an infection because of medical conditions, pregnancy, or at risk because of living or work conditions

Junior Nursing student Sarah Severes had this to say.

This request also comes from federal health officials and their concern as the country heads into the winter months 

https://www.cnn.com/2021/11/09/health/pfizer-covid-vaccine-fda-booster-authorization-adults/index.html

Studies show that dogs can catch human emotions as if they were contagious and tend to mirror them.

An article from National Geographic explains that there is a range of emotional connections between a dog and its owner. Our canine companions can sense and understand our emotions, but they can also share them.

Larry Young, a professor of psychiatry at Emory University explains that when bonding with a dog through actions such as eye contact and physical touch it releases oxytocin. Young says “In order to have emotional contagion, dogs need to be able to recognize the emotions of their owner—that requires attention, which oxytocin facilitates. It causes the brain to focus on social cues.”

Dogs have affective empathy which is defined as the ability to understand someone else’s feelings. Specifically, those who are important to them.

Clive Wynne, a professor of psychology at Arizona State University explains that dogs are very social beings and they are easily affected by human joy. However, the latter is also true which means that if the owner is stressed and anxious, the dog will mimic these feelings.

Paige Taylor, a psychology student, and dog owner had this to say – SOUND HERE

Sensory factors such as facial expressions and body odor can also influence the emotional contagion between humans and dogs. The Journal Learning & Behavior found that dogs respond to human faces that express six basic emotions— anger, fear, happiness, sadness, surprise, and disgust. Dogs are also very sensitive to body odor. This is how they can detect diabetes in humans. This idea works the same in emotional responses. 

The length of a relationship can also influence a dog’s ability to catch on to its owner’s emotions.

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/yes-dogs-can-catch-their-owners-emotions

This has been “The Latest” for Tuesday, November 16th.

For this week’s news comment I came across an article from Siouxland Proud “Why you may be seeing purple street lights in Sioux City” written by Nikolas Wilson. There was also a broadcast segment along with the article. It discussed how many Siouxlander’s may be noticing purple street lamps around town and that the cause is due to a manufacturing error where a chemical compound is not mixing correctly. They also quoted the media relations manager from Mid-American saying that there is no danger with the purple lights and if you see one you are encouraged to report it.

I came across this and was immediately drawn to it because I have seen so many of them around town. I will also admit that I don’t care for them so it was good to know that they are not supposed to be like that. I had heard from people that they change colors when they are about to burn out and I’m glad to know that is untrue.

When it comes to the writing of the article it was fine. Nothing more or less. You were given the information you needed and it wasn’t confusing. There was also no bias of any kind. It was relatively short so there wasn’t a lot of room for it either. My only complaint was that some of the writing just felt a little odd. For example, ”Siouxlanders have noticed purple street lights near their houses, but that’s not part of some decoration for the holidays.” The second half of this sentence just feels odd. However, overall I didn’t have any major problems with it and it delivered the information it needed to. I didn’t have any further questions after reading it.

Why you may be seeing purple street lights in Sioux City

Possible Feature Stories:

Day in the life of a Mid-American worker fixing the lights

How the lights are made – chemical compound?

How the lights are replaced

Downsides to purple vs white lights