Lead Sketch for Article #1

With both tennis teams crowded around the t.v. in their resort suite, they anxiously awaited the news that could determine their fate for the rest of the semester. Not only were they scheduled to play a match the following day, but they were to return to campus and resume classes directly after spring break ended. Once they received the email that Morningside would be switching to remote learning and extending spring break, the players were excited to have an extension for another memorable week in Florida. They never would have guessed that from that point on, life would never be the same. 

Leads

Link to story: https://ohiostatebuckeyes.com/feature-story-balancing-act/

Analyzing: The lead works because it doesn’t jump right into the story. The story is covering a former professional-athlete returning to Ohio State to complete her degree – so the story does not have a time restraint or sense of urgency. Though it starts off simple with the phrase “Life is a balance”, it goes on to make a point that after finding a balance one can return to the complexities of life they put to the side earlier in life and still be fulfilled with life. I think the lead was short and sweet, not too descriptive but also not too vague.

Rewrite:

  1. “Practice what you preach is a common statement often upheld for coaches of professional sports. Talking about the importance of an academic degree but leaving no time for studying or homework is contradicting and can cause resentment. Cheryl Stacy tried to keep this in mind when she was hired as the golfing coach at University of Michigan. After making considerations for her athletes’ academic successes, Stacy found her motivation to return to her degree she put on pause for 20 years.” (Standard)
  2. Peace. The sound of the tress rustled by wind is all that fills the air as she prepares her swing. Already at her last hole, Cheryl Stacy knows there is nothing that can distract her from taking the perfect swing and hitting a hole-in-one – not even her Calculus final tomorrow that she has yet to study for. Now is not the time, but maybe one day, Stacy thinks to herself.” (Rule-buster?)
  3. “As a college athlete, you most likely understand the commitment that is necessary to maintain athletic success as well as academic proficiency. But let me ask you this – if you won 3 Big Ten and NCAA championships and had professional recruiters knocking down your door, would you take the opportunity or continue pursuing plan b, your degree?” (Casual)

5 Additional Feature Stories…

Story used: “Biden plans to purchase 200M more doses of Pfizer, Moderna COVID-19 vaccines” https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/biden-announce-purchase-200m-doses-pfizer-moderna-covid/story?id=75497450&cid=clicksource_4380645_5_heads_hero_live_hero_hed

5 feature stories that can come from this news story :

  1. Where the motivation for getting COVID vaccines to every American came from and how the elections may have had an impact on it.
  2. Shortage of vaccines and what that means for hospitals
  3. Biden’s hopes of what the world will look like after the vaccines are given out
  4. Why children under the age of 16 have yet to be signed off on getting the vaccine
  5. What “herd-immunity” means for a nation

As an audience member, I would most like to hear about Biden’s, and all those involved with the administering of the vaccine, hopes for what the world will look like after the vaccines are all said and done. Understanding their hopes will allow for a more humanized side of the reality of the situation, knowing they have long-term goals ahead. I would also be interested to know their thoughts on how those who do not receive the vaccine would be affecting the situation, or if they even know this information. I’m more interested in what they are thinking about everything and what is the cause of these thoughts!

“Principal at Omaha middle school is on leave; starter pistols were discovered in school office” news comment

Omaha World Herald Writer, Bob Glissmann, reports that Beveridge Magnet Middle School Principal, David Lavendar, is on leave after the discovery of starter pistols in the school’s office prompted an evacuation of students and faculty. It details that the school notified parents of the leave, ensuring them that leave is not due to related conduct with students. He also revealed that further details cannot be revealed at this time due to privacy laws. After explaining what the school did, the article talked about some of what police did to ensure there were no explosives or ammunition left in the building. At the end of the article, it notes that Michaela Jackson will serve as interim principal. 

I thought this press release, published only two hours ago, was a good way to reveal what little information the school could about the incident and procedures following it. They could have interviewed Michaela Jackson, whomever she may be since it didn’t tell us how she’s qualified to be the interim principal, to get a good idea of what she’s thinking or feeling. I did point out that the chief human resources officer for OPS was the one who sent the letter out to parents, making sure the letter was written in a way that did not alarm parents. He added in the student conduct, too, so there was no rumors about the leave.

Possible injuries in Mega City Mall explosion, the details behind it are still unclear

An explosion went off at Mega City Mall food court Thursday, December 5th, at 9:53 a.m. Police were at the scene of the incident only minutes later, arriving at 9:58 a.m. to evacuate and investigate.

Grandmother of two, Makaelyn Glienke, was in the food court buying candy when the explosion occurred. Glienke and her grandsons immediately ducked under the nearest table they could find to protect themselves.

“I didn’t have my glasses on, so I didn’t see exactly where the explosion came from. I was just glad I had my meds with me,” said Glienke.

A little further away from the food court, seasonal mall worker, 19 year-old Ellie Cropley, was getting Santa’s Workshop ready to open for the day when she heard the explosion.

“I saw people running, so I followed them to see what was happening. I immediately called my mom after I found out it was an explosion,” Cropley said.

A Mega City Theatre employee, Kristine Honomichl, was using the bathroom at the time of the explosion.

“The bathroom stalls began to fall down as I was using the restroom. This was just my luck,” said Honomichl.

At a press release right after the incident, Captain Ross Fuglsang assured the public that police are unsure if the explosion was due to electrical equipment or something more intentional at this time.

“We are working closely to make sure the investigation is timely and thorough,” Fuglsang said. “We will have more information this afternoon.”

They are trying to clear debris and get inside the building to investigate further and to see the extent of the damage done by the explosion.

“Our sympathy goes out to all the families impacted by today’s event,” Fuglsang said.

There is a second press release scheduled to be held this afternoon at 2 p.m. in the same space.

News Press Release: Zoo saddened to announce the death of beloved polar bear

Midland Zoo is saddened to announce that Homer, the beloved 16-year-old polar bear, unexpectedly died this morning at 7 a.m., only an hour after his feeding. 

The cause of death at this time is unknown but zoo director, Chris Bacon, assures that there will be investigations that take place to determine the exact cause.

“The zoo will perform a necropsy to try to determine the cause of death. The results will not be available for several weeks,” senior staff veterinarian Dr. Shanda Lear said.

The two polar bears housed in the exhibit with Homer, 9-year-old male Yukon and 10-year-old female McKenzie, were immediately removed from the polar bear exhibit and are now being monitored by veterinary staff. 

Polar bears have thrived at Midland zoo since 1985 with their unique exhibit that allows the bears to engage in natural behaviors: playing in manufactured snow, digging in gravel, and hunting trout in the chilled pool.

It was only last week that the zoo mourned the death of 10-year-old female bobcat, Regina, whom died of renal failure last week and two weeks ago, a 6-year-old female giraffe, Kenya, died after her neck broke when her horns got caught in her stall. The three deaths all have been heart-breaking but are in no way related. 

“Homer was a very curious and playful polar bear and we will miss him terribly,” zookeeper Sara Getty said.

Article 4 Profile Final Draft; Morningside sophomore continues to cultivate her passion for agriculture.

Photo Courtesy of Megan Drey

At first glance, sophomore Megan Drey may not seem like your typical farmer. With her long dark hair and the largest grin ever seen on a person, her welcoming attitude and caring tone wouldn’t lead you to believe she spends her day working alone in a field. But, this young and outgoing woman has a passion for land like no other. 

Drey grew up working on her family farm in Early, Iowa, with her parents and two sisters. Since there were no boys, all three daughters would be on call to help her father with the farm chores.

One job Drey helps with is the castrating of the pigs. This last summer, Drey was helping with this chore, holding the pigs as her dad did the cutting. 

“I don’t have any boots so I just wear his and they are a bit big,” Drey said.

She had just put a pig down and was going to catch another one but felt something in her boot. She told her dad to hold the pig she just picked up while she dumped out her boot, because she felt something in it. 

“I found out that he accidentally threw one of the pig’s balls in my boot,” Drey said. “He just laughed because he knows how much I hate doing that job.”

Despite the messy and unpredictable work the farm offers, Drey enjoyed helping her father as a child. 

“Megan has always been so willing to come help me with any chore that needs to be done. Even when she’s on school breaks, she’ll wake up early to come drive the graincart or wagons and spend the day out on the field until about 6 or 7 p.m.,” Dean Drey, Drey’s father, said.

Even though she’s willing to spend her days on the field and in the barn, she never thought that she would be doing any type of agriculture for a career.

“Once I came to college and was away from the farm for the first time, I realized how much I missed it and that’s when I decided that’s what I really like to do,” Drey said.

Drey decided to come to Morningside College, only an hour away from home, to double major in applied agriculture and food studies and accounting, with a minor in business. 

“My dream job after graduation is to potentially work at a Farm Credit of Farm Bureau office, serving farmers either being an insurance agent or being an ag lender,” Drey says. “I really want to be able to have a job that allows me to be flexible so I can go back and work on the family farm.”

Drey’s love for agriculture is so big that she not only works in Agriculture department, but is also the Treasurer of the Ag Club. The club allows her to be a leader on top of working with familiar materials. 

“Megan works well with others and is willing to participate in a variety of activities. She was actually a part of a group of students that represented Morningside at the 2019 National Future Farmers of America convention in Indianapolis, receiving first place in the categories of ‘Community Service’ and ‘Fellowship’ in the Alpha Tau Alpha Conclave. They competed against 10 other schools including Division 1 schools,” Agriculture Club advisor, Daniel Witten, said.

Only on her second year, Drey has some time to go before she can live her dream of working with farmers as well as on her farm. Until then, she plans to continue working on her father’s farm when she goes back home for breaks and weekends, further increasing her love for the independent, diligent work the farm offers her. 

“It took a debate with all-female moderators to ask Democrats about paid family leave” News Comment

Vox had many articles about the Wednesday debate. Articles ranged from varying topics from “paid family leave” to “Gender equity” to “The most substantive answers from the debate”. In this particular article, Alexandria Fernandez Campbell reported on a very important question asked at the Democratic debate on Wednesday and the candidate’s answers. She focused on their views of paid maternity leave.  It offered their answers to the question and then compared their answers to different countries’ policies. 

The article made sure to include all of the candidate’s answers and a little bit of background for each one of them. This made it more inclusive. But you could definitely tell the writer swayed more to the side of having longer paid family leave. Though it did not follow the inverted triangle, with the most important information coming first followed information that wasn’t as important, it still did a good job of chunking up information. The chunking was quote, explanation, transition for the most part making it easy to read. 

“What’s Behind Colin Kaepernick’s Surprise Workout?” News Comment

Dan Adler’s feature story over Colin Kaepernick focused on the NFL’s invitation for him to share his surprise workout in Atlanta on Saturday. He hasn’t played in a game since New Years day 2017 since he kneeled to protest the national anthem. Ever since, the league has basically forced him not to play to avoid controversery. In the eyes of the public, the former football player has become one of the biggest advocates “in the Trump-era culture wars”. The article mentioned this invitation is at a weird time since Kaepernick has been petitioning this since he was “black balled”. He says this is because the NFL is just a show and is wanting to now take credit that they recognize the importance of Kaepernick in the business.

I thought this feature story was written well. it was short but included a background on what Kaepernick is known for and how it’s related to this news event. You could tell Adler wrote it from the perspective of Kaepernick because of the wording and various use of quotes. It doesn’t include much description of Kaepernick himself but I think since it includes a lot of what he’s thinking, it works. I would classify it as a feature story because it focuses on someone famous for something but also includes an interesting part about them that people care about.

Description

Maleah Richter looks at the pumpkin choices she has at Vala’s Pumpkin Patch on a warm October weekend.

Walking to class, her straight long ginger hair with tints of blonde sway back and forth against her light grey backpack as she describes the day she has ahead of her. She tells us that she will be headed home early, a tiring and tedious six-hour drive back to Rapid City, and that tonight she would be surprising her grandmother. She has not seen her grandmother since she started the school year, so she spoke of seeing her small, sweet grandmother with eyes huge with excitement.

Today, she chose to wear athletic black leggings and dirty grey and pink tennis shoes with a light teal sweater. On any chosen day, you could find a hint of blue on her in some form or another. Different shades of blue just captured her perfectly. She could be calming and soothing, like the sky on a sunny day or she could be like a raging hurricane. She was unpredictable.

For her outer layer, she wore a black parka that was long for her five foot and four inch body. She had gotten the coat for her soccer season her freshman year. Even though she checked the weather and said it would be warmer than it has been the previous fall days, she still chose to wear the big winter coat.

She continues to talk and then as I begin to stray away from the group, headed to my class, she directs her attention to me. She asks me if she will see me before she leaves for her long weekend. She hates it when there is no goodbye exchanged when we depart. I say I’m not sure, but we will see. If not, safe travels. And she, in her most loving manner, giggles softly and says “I will! Break a leg tonight!”