Problems with my own writing:

September 13th, 2012 § Comments Off on Problems with my own writing: § permalink

One thing that I have struggled with in writing is portraying my ideas clearly and keeping the same idea throughout. I may start with a certain thesis, and change it by the end of the paper. I noticed last year in my research paper on political campaigns, I wrote my introduction first, but ended up changing it five or six times as my paper changed. It was a seven page paper, and after I found new information, the entire idea of my paper changed. It took a lot of work to go back and fix each paragraph to suit the paper’s new topic, but it was worth the extra effort.

I know I need to improve on organizing my papers in ways that make it easier to write and easier to understand for the readers. I could do this by writing out my outline on paper, creating ideas before writing, and allowing myself more time to get a good start on the paper.

Sometimes I don’t catch my grammar or spelling mistakes- it’s hard to reread my own writing and catch all of the mistakes. I know I need to have another person proofread the papers more often before the due date.

News Comment #3: Woman Finds Ex-Boyfriend From 12 Years Ago Living in Her Attic

September 12th, 2012 § 1 comment § permalink

When you find out your ex-boyfriend from twelve years ago, who was just released from prison, has been living in your attic for over two weeks, how would you react?

A woman in South Carolina started seeing nails coming out of her ceiling, along with her and her children hearing things from the attic. FEeling that something just wasn’t right, the family travelled into the attic where they found her ex-boyfriend sleeping in the corner. They also found Sonic cups filed with feces and urine.

Even creepier yet, her ex had opened all of the vents so that he could look down on the family during the day.

Once being found out, he escaped by foot. Police are still searching for him.

Is this news? It definitely falls under the unusual or rare category. Things like this don’t happen often, and although it’s not a feel-good story (rather, sends some chills down your spine!) I think it can be considered news. It’s not the kind of article you’ run in a newspaper, but on online sites like the Huffington Post, I think it’s acceptable.

 

Read the article here at the Huffington Post.

Stone State Park

September 10th, 2012 § 2 comments § permalink

Hiking in Stone State Park.

While walking the miles of footpaths in Stone State Park, you can’t help but be in awe that Sioux City has such a magnificent area. Fall is arriving early throughout the park, with leaves already falling, some trees turning golden, and the crisp air coming through the trees. Those who love fall would be excited to visit Stone State Park in the next few weeks of hot summer air.

First inhabited by the Dakota Sioux, the land has plenty of history. After the Native Americans left the land, a man named Daniel Talbot started buying it piece by piece. The land was turned over the the Iowa DEpartment of Natural Resources in 1925 and now totals 1,242 acres.  This land expands through Iowa and South Dakota, running along the Missouri River in North Sioux City.

Although it’s a bit of a drive from the Morningside campus, it’s worth it. My friend Madison and I make the trip together, her with a camera around her neck and me with a backpack with pen and paper and water. Arriving at Stone State Park, you come to a fork in the road- you go up the hill or you go down the hill. The roads are narrow and steep. Signs point in all directions. I go all the way down to Turtle Lake, park the car, and start hiking. It’s a five minute walk to reach the lake on dirt paths that go through the forest. As my friend, Madison, and I reach the lake, we notice that the path is worn and uneven, as if water used to travel over it. The rust colored path is as hard as stone, like the dried up rivers around the Mid-West due to the drought.

The main portion of Turtle lake sits up on a hill. The grassy area has trees that shade it, letting the warm sunshine seep through the branches and leaves, casting shadows on the green floor. The wind carried the smell of rotting leaves, moist dirt, and a slight swamp smell. Heading down the hill, the wind picks up and causes the lake to ripple with waves. The floating down tilts slightly as I step on it. The water is murky, but still, I see the bluegills swimming happily along the seaweed. Across the water, the sunlight hits a tree that hangs out over the lake, illuminating the leaves and turning the tree golden. It’s beautiful.

We hike for another hour, going along the trails exploring and trying not to get lost. In the expansive forest area, the trails travel far. There are trees that have fallen in past storms, trees that are rotting away, and trees that are hundreds of years old. Somewhere near us, a woodpecker drills a hole into a tree trunk, the noise echoing through the quiet space. Rabbits run across the trail when they hear my footsteps and hop into hiding.

After an hour and a half of hiking, Madison and I decide to leave- it’s getting warm out in Sioux City as we reach the peak of the afternoon. We loved being out there. As Madison put it, “Stone STate park has a lot of horse and hiking trails. It’s a great place for families to visit.”.

Stone State Park brings visitors to the area. If you want to hike, run, ride horses, fish, camp, or go sight seeing, Stone State Park has it all.

To view all the available activities, go to the DNR website.

 

(Photos courtesy of Madison Fisher.)

 

Turtle Lake in Stone Stone Park.

 

News Comment #2-Obama Visits Louisiana

September 4th, 2012 § 1 comment § permalink

This weekend, while doing IRIS, there was an article about Republicans being angry about Obama not visiting the Siouxland area during last year’s floods. This anger, a year late, took form in a protest a day or two before the President’s schedules arrival last Saturday.

However, MSNBC posted an article yesterday about Obama’s detour to Louisiana before continuing to Charlotte for the Democratic National Convention, which takes place today until Thursday. Louisiana is enduring flooding form Hurricane Isaac, while came ashore on the seventh year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina.

I imagine that these Republicans who protested Obama last week were not happy about Obama visiting Louisiana and not visiting Siouxland when they were in need of help and support.

During his speech in Louisiana,  Obama talked  about the support of the communities he’s witnessing in Louisiana and about the effort to recovery. The article also states that it wans’t just a Democratic event for Obama- he was joined by Bobby Jindal, the Republican governor of Louisiana.

“When disasters like this happen we set aside whatever petty disagreements we might have,” Obama said. “Nobody’s a Democrat or a Republican” (MSNBC).

After hearing these stories, I don’t think that the Siouxland story is considered news, because of how delayed the protests are. However, because Obama’s visit to Louisiana is current, will help his campaign to reelection, and because he is the President right now, it is news.

I think the article included an unbiased view of the President’s visit and provided enough information for the  reader to understand what went on. However, I would have included quotes from the President’s speech to make it more informational to the reader.

I could not find the article that I mentioned from the Sioux City Journal. However, this is the link to the main article that I focused on from MSNBC: http://firstread.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/09/03/13643974-obama-detours-to-louisiana-to-discuss-hurricane-recovery?lite

About Gage.

September 4th, 2012 § Comments Off on About Gage. § permalink

New lede:  As a college junior, making routine trips to the University of South Dakota for ROTC, living in Europe as an elementary student, and having done many interesting activities in the past, makes Gage Thackston a well-experienced individual.

 

From Kansas to Germany to Morningside and London, Gage Thackson seems to have done more than your average college student. Gage, a mass communications major and a graphic design minor, is from Leavensworth, Kansas, but moved around quite a bit. When he was in first grade, he moved to Parsberg, a tiny town in south-eastern Germany. While living in Europe, he travelled around, including going to Paris, France. While living in Parsberg, Gage learned some German, but over the years has lost touch with most of it. Come fourth grade, he moved back to the United States.

Now enrolled at Morningside for his junior year, Gage plays soccer on campus and has already completed his May Term requirement by going to London this last May. Gage is also part of the ROTC and has been for the past three years. His plans for after college graduation is to be in the army and serve his country. Gage used to do mixed martial arts, or MMA, boxing. He didn’t have many injuries, aside from hurting his wrist and having a hairline fracture to his nose. When Gage was asked about one of his most memorable experiences, he couldn’t pick just one, but finally landed on his experience down in the ocean. “I went scuba diving to an old World War II battle ship,” he said.

If anything, this should should teach us all that we don’t know each other. There are people out there that we see everyday that have  amazing stories to tell, but we don’t take the time to seek those stories out. Gage has lived and will live an interesting life, and this assignment did show me that I need to open my eyes more- seek the stories that people don’t show on the outside.

The Melting Grape Popsicle Race

August 30th, 2012 § 1 comment § permalink

I can feel the coolness seeping through the thin wrapper, my palm becoming faintly cold from grasping it. The waxy paper that holds the popsicle is covered in blue rabbits, the logo for the local company, Blue Bunny. As I open the package, it tears easily, revealing a deep purple colored popsicle on a thin wooden stick. As I hold it, I look at the purple colored summer delight. The texture looks like ice shavings, all molded together in a form fit for the width of a mouth.

I put it into my mouth, and the refreshing flavor of grape immediately washes over my taste buds. My mouth waters and I want more. I take a bit into it and realize my mistake- despite doing this same thing all throughout my childhood, I still take a bit and my teeth react negatively to the frozen popsicle. I fear I’ll get a headache from the cold, and slow down my eating.

The popsicle starts to melt. As the juice drips down the side, I realize how sticky the liquid will be once it reaches my hand. To avoid this, I lick the popsicle and start to eat faster. As the popsicle adjusts to room temperature, it seems to melt faster. It’s almost like a race- I must eat faster than the popsicle is melting.

I near the end of the popsicle, and eating it gets harder. The wooden stick that holds the popsicle together when frozen is now in my way. Reaching the final inch of the popsicle is difficult, so I allow it to melt some and slide up the wooden stick. The final bites are some of the best. It is refreshing and flavorful.

I lay the wooden stick back on the wrapper, and I am content after such a delicious treat.

Hello world!

August 23rd, 2012 § 1 comment § permalink

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