Kaycie's blog

For my Fundamentals of Journalism class my assignment was to go out and find a thick red rubber band, even though this is basically impossible since this is 2016. Nevertheless, I ventured out of the classroom in search of this thick red rubber band. I asked Ross where the heck I would find such a rare object and he informed me that I should head to the Olsen building to the mailroom, so there I went.

I stepped out of Lewis Hall, where my class is located, and was immediately greeted with a steady, icy breeze. Once I finally made it partly across campus to Olsen I stopped at the voting table to check and see if they had a rubber band. I approached one of the workers there and quickly explained my assignment but I came up short.

I then went downstairs towards the mailroom in search of my assigned object. Once I got to the little window I interrupted the two individuals working there and explained that for a class that I was assigned to get a thick red rubber band. The girl that helped me, Michelle Ruby, responded with, “Is this like for a scavenger hunt or something?” and I told her yes and that I would prefer if the rubber band was red. Then she fished out this big ball of rubber bands out of the drawer and told me she had found a red one but then proceeded to give me a bland rubber band instead. I decided to head back and convinced myself that I had technically done the assignment, even though I will probably be docked because I couldn’t find a red one.

Thursday, September 15, at 11 pm a car collision on highway 20 kills two and injures two.

Moyer Quick, his wife Dorothy, and Maxine Steuerwald, their daughter in law, collided with a truck while trying to make a pass, sending both vehicles into the ditch. The truck was driven by Randy Radin, 17.

Moyer Quick was killed in the collision from heart failure and the other three were transported by ambulance to Marion Health Center on. Randy Radin died at 8:17 am from a fractured skull and internal injuries that never recovered. Randy was an organ donor.

Dorothy and Maxine were in relatively good condition and were released the day after the accident.

The roads were clear and dry the night of the incident. The accident is still under investigation by the Woodbury County Sheriff’s Office.

1. What was the *most* difficult part of writing this paper? For me the most difficult part about writing this paper was trying not to include my opinion. About 90% of the papers I’ve written in my life include my opinion on the subject because that’s what I enjoy writing about and since I do get bothered about this topic it was hard not to write an opinion. I even wrote a couple in subconsciously.
2. Describe in detail at least one specific revision you made and explain how it made your paper more effective. In my first draft I started my lead with a very convincing quote in my opinion. Apparently the class that I missed on Tuesday had a whole big thing about how you shouldn’t start a lead off with a quote or that it is rare, so of course I changed my lead drastically. In the end it did make the lead more effective because it got straight to the points and shortened my lead.

The Native Americans of the Standing Sioux tribe are in a lawsuit battle with an oil pipeline company on whether or not the company can drill a pipeline underneath the Missouri River. Last Friday, September 9, the federal judge ruled that the construction for the pipeline could continue despite the risk of the pipeline breaking. This protest has accumulated to be about a lot more than just water, but rather a test to see if Native Americans will be respected this time around.

The Native Americans and their supporters are protesting the pipeline because it will go under the Missouri River, their main source of clean water. The tribe makes the point of not wanting the pipeline to leak oil into the water, which would destroy the water.

 News for Millennials related the acts of violence towards the Native American protesters to what protesters went through during the Jim Crow era. When the protesters attempted to block the construction site they were met with aggressive guards armed with pepper spray and ferocious German shepherd guard dogs biting at their faces and other body parts. The article also pointed out how this isn’t the first time Native Americans have protested for a cause, just the first time the media has actually taken a notice in it.

The New York Times explained just how big the protest really is. There are people in Southern North Dakota representing 280 tribes from different countries as well. There are people from Indigenous backgrounds that have traveled from Florida, California, New Zealand and Peru just to help with the protest. One of the tribe members from the Nakota and Kickapoo tribe in Kansas explains, “Many of our ways – our culture, our way of life, our spirituality, our language – we have slowly lost it, but I have seen a change. We’re trying to relearn it or to gain it back. And this coming together gives me hope that kids won’t have to fight as hard as my parents did, as I have” the Times reported.

The Huffington Post explained the situation on a more personal level reporting, “Since the beginning of the European invasion of North America, there has been a long drawn out ethnic cleansing occurring in this part of the world”.

It goes on to explain that Native Americans in America have had it horrible and the neglect continues to present day. The only Native Americans that survived back then were the ones that didn’t die from diseases, interment, starvation, forced marches and, most importantly, mass murder. The media in the past has ignored the Native Americans struggles but they can’t ignore this protest.

This week’s article, ‘I Want to Win Someday’: Tribes Make Stand Against Pipeline, in the New York Times was about the Standing Rock Sioux tribe’s struggle against the pipeline that is being built across their land. As of right now the situation is being handled by a federal judge on whether the construction can continue on the pipeline. The tribe is worried about the Missouri River being polluted by the pipeline. The sad thing is that this isn’t the first time people have taken advantage of this tribe. Fifty years ago the government built the Oahu Dam along the Missouri River which ended up forcing the tribe to relocate 190 families from their homes.  This dam caused flooding across the tribe’s sacred ground, which included burial sites.

This article did give a lot of information but I feel that it was biased in a way. It shed sort of a bad light on the Standing Rock Sioux tribe and their protests. They make them look stupid by saying that they already knew about the pipeline being built in their area but I’ve read other articles that say otherwise. They also focus on things that I feel don’t necessarily matter and leave some important issues out.

First they brought up how the protest has caught the attention of famous individuals. I could see where this is somewhat interesting but they go on to say that Jill Stein, the Green Party’s presidential nominee, took part in some of the protests. She went as far as vandalizing one of the bulldozers with spray paint. Since I have literally never heard about this person in my life it’s most likely that she did this outrageous stunt to draw attention to herself because bad publicity is still publicity in a politician’s world. But why write about this when there are more important things to point out?

They left out the part where the security guard’s dogs attacked innocent people. Yet the article stressed that they considered the protest a riot. I read from another article that one of the people attacked by the dogs was a pregnant woman; I can’t believe they didn’t put that in the article because to me that’s a pretty big deal. A security guard directed their dog’s attack onto a pregnant woman and nothing was done about it because it apparently was her fault for being at the protest. I just hope that in the end the federal judge gives this tribe a break because they have obviously been through a lot already.

The observation takes place in a friend’s dorm room at the Plex, third floor. The environment is hectic and energetic. The room is small but maybe it only seems that way due to all the furniture in the room. The beds are on opposite sides of the room from each other and the dressers are in the middle of them, pushed against the wall. The desks are against the wall on the opposite side of the room from the dressers and are cluttered with electronics, wires, chip wrappers, and books. In the middle of the room is a pinkish couch that was supposed to be thrown out by the RA but was recycled. The couch takes up the middle up the room leaving minimal space to move around. There are some dirty clothes scattered on the floor of the room. Two people sit on the old couch playing FIFA loudly and the other person sits at the far desk eating and observing the game.

The whole Plex really just smells like a mixture of feet, mildew, and weed. The room in particular mostly just smells like old sweet barbecue wings, which can probably be explained by the three stacked empty boxes from Buffalo Wild Wings that are sitting on the far desk. There is also a faint smell of cooking from Buck’s since the person sitting at the desk is eating waffle fries.

The volume of the TV is turned up about ten notches too high and can probably be heard by everyone on the hall. The two people playing video games are taking turns screaming out in anger and in excitement as they battle it out on the virtual soccer field. The one player cusses about how the other player obviously just had a lucky shot and his opponent cusses in Spanish pointing an accusing finger at his friend. The person at the table occasionally laughs and makes jokes about the player’s reactions. Overall, a typical Wednesday night.

In the New York Time’s article, Colin Kaepernick’s Anthem Protest Underlines Union of Sports and Patriotism, the author discusses Colin Kapernick’s protest of the national anthem and also how the national anthem is played at every sporting event. For those of you who don’t know, last Friday, August 19, the quarterback of the San Francisco 49ers, Colin Kapernick, sat while the national anthem played to protest against police brutality and racial injustice. In doing this, he created a mixed reaction in the country of part of its citizens applauding him for his efforts and the other half being outraged.

When I was younger I didn’t salute the flag or put my hand over my heart when the national anthem played. My whole family actually didn’t participate in it because of our religion. A lot of people were upset by this and it always made me wonder why; we weren’t hurting anyone or disrupting anyone else’s patriotism so why did it matter. When I heard about Colin Kaepernick’s protest I thought the exact same thing. In a way it’s the same situation, I had a cause for not saluting the flag then and so does he now. He is peacefully protesting in the best way he knows how. People are persecuting him for disrespecting America but isn’t the best way to respect America to practice your rights to try and make it a better place to live for everyone?

I never really realized that the playing of the national anthem before every sporting event was different until I noticed that no other country does it unless it’s for the olympics. Americans sure do love doing it though; it’s a way for people to show their patriotism and respect for those who have fought for the United States. Even though I’m not religious anymore I still feel weird saluting the flag; it almost feels like a cult ritual: putting our hands over our hearts and repeating back in a monotone voice a creed that almost every American knows by heart.

But Colin Kaepernick isn’t the first athlete ever to protest during the national anthem. A lot of athletes have protested the anthem for their causes, most of them protesting black oppression, ironically. In my opinion I agree with what Colin Kaepernick is doing. He is protesting in the best way he can for a cause that means everything to him. If practicing your first amendment supposedly makes you unpatriotic then so be it.

To perform objectivity is being impartial. To be objective in journalism is to try and have an unbiased look on the subject. I feel that this affects everyone today, including me, because there are many journalists that are not objective about certain subjects and it is very easy for people to get misled by articles or news that’s supposed to be facts.

The “norm” in objectivity should be just to simply report on the facts. In the article I can see how it is becoming very hard for journalists to write about the candidates especially when one of them consistently does something outrageous every week but I feel like they are doing a good job. Nevertheless, I feel that if journalists stick to being impartial and write about the facts then they can benefit their audience immensely.

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Emma Miller is from the small town of Corder, Missouri. She is a 20-year-old junior at Morningside College. In her free time she enjoys drawing and playing with her dog. Emma is an advertising major and her favorite class at Morningside College is her marketing class.