The College Perspective by Lindsey

Up And Coming Band Talks About Next Steps

Don Juan, a band that formed three years ago under Don Cooper, are planning to record new material this spring and hope to make it onto the airwaves by the end of summer. However, the band hasn’t always been so productive.

Cooper, the band leader, started out as an English teacher, not wanting to make the leap into producing music full time, saying he didn’t want to “shuck the robe of responsibility”. But this same attitude of being responsible and not settling for less than his own happiness led Cooper to contribute to the band full time, saying it makes him feel more real.

Last summer, the group did a show with the likes of Jackson Browne and James Taylor in New York. As Dodge, a group member said, “James has been a fan for a while and Jackson Browne turned into a real solid supporter.” Some critics aren’t so kind however, saying the group doesn’t do anything original or worth hearing.

The group fights, but in the end this leads to “creative tension” that helps mold their new songs. Ultimately, even though they argue, they love each other and the fighting makes the end product feel more worth it.

Cooper knows that the band may not be the most successful but he doesn’t want the main goal to be getting rich, he just wants to make a living and be happy doing it.

In New York, the homeless situation is becoming more and more of a crisis, and recently the mayor decided to put Steven Banks in charge of fixing it, a man who has long been an advocate for changing the homeless policies and procedures currently in place. For years, officials have been putting homeless people in hotel rooms when they can, without leaving the family any way to cook for themselves. In fact, cooking isn’t deemed essential by many of these officials for these families to thrive.  Meanwhile, children of these homeless families are missing large amounts of school so that their parents can show proof of having kids for these housing committees to accept them.

Besides these problems, community members are pushing back against housing homeless people in nearby hotels as it raises the crime rates and makes people feel unsafe, while hotel owners often consider selling their buildings for the conversion of entire hotels into homeless shelters as a simple way to make money, but often back out after community backlash. Banks, who has long been against the process of converting these hotels, saying they aren’t a permanent solution for the homeless, is stuck doing the same things officials before him have done. Homeless people are still being put in hotels, and he says that there have been more problems than he anticipated, so conditions have remained the same as of yet.

I believe this story is newsworthy because the homeless situation has been growing for years in New York as well as many other large cities across the country, and help has been slow to help this demographic. This story brings to light the many struggles that face administrators as they try to come up with solutions to help everybody. I think the lead itself is very vague, the author could have included something about how Banks has failed to fix anything so far, but they go on to explain more in the following two paragraphs.

The audience seems to be the general public, especially those who live in New York who might live in the area discussed in the article. I think the article isn’t really biased, it’s just pointing out how Banks got to be in this situation where people who once supported him are angry at him. Overall, I think the article was very well written and gave a lot of background information about the homeless situation that might not have been obvious to the general public. They could have included more about what others in the administration plan to do about the homeless situation or what solutions they are looking into as well, however.

The link to the original story can be found here: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/26/nyregion/steven-banks-was-hired-to-stem-new-yorks-homelessness-crisis-it-didnt-happen.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=second-column-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=0

A transgender man has recently spoken out about his breast cancer experience almost eight years ago after already taking hormone treatments since age 19 to transition from female to male. The man, Eli Oberman, didn’t have enough money or the medical coverage to remove the remaining female parts, and also wasn’t sure he was ready for a complete separation that would cause some potentially serious hormonal changes.

The article states how medical professionals are working to come up with a system that helps LGBTQ individuals get the health care they need, starting with removing the ban on transgender surgery and hormone treatments, as well as removing the problems and inappropriate treatment encountered by traditionally masculine looking transgender men in gynecologist’s offices.

Many transgender individuals feel uncomfortable going to doctors for help with the genitalia they still have from birth but no longer identify with, and Oberman hopes that by speaking about his breast cancer experience and treatments that it will help other individuals going through the same thing.

I believe this story is newsworthy especially because of the recent conversation of transgender people being allowed in bathrooms, but people tend to forget these struggles unless they know someone personally who is part of the LGBTQ. The article went into a lot of depth about the medical aspects while also focusing on Oberman’s story specifically. I think that the article had a weak first sentence, which can’t really be considered a lead because it was such a general statement. The following sentences however, gave the reader an idea what the story was about, but I feel like the author could have included why this story was relevant now, stating earlier the fact that Oberman has just recently spoken out about all of this instead of burying it in the middle of the article.

The article seems to be aimed at the general public who have no knowledge of the transgender community, but also seems to be urging those who are LGBTQ to focus on their health and not be ashamed to do so through the words of Oberman. The article seems to stay pretty objective, the author doesn’t give their own opinion. I think the author did a nice job including everything, as it is a long, detailed story, but could have rearranged a few small parts so the article seemed more relevant to today.

The link to the original story can be found here: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/17/health/transgender-health-care-breast-cancer.html?hpw&rref=health&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=well-region&region=bottom-well&WT.nav=bottom-well

Students Face Rising Debt, But Not Without A Fight

Students at Morningside College are finding it harder to pay for school after another rise in tuition price, leading to creative approaches in gaining more income.

For students, this cost is another addition to the worries and responsibilities of newfound adulthood. Grady Klein, a sophomore and vocal performance major at Morningside is currently receiving a $5,000 talent scholarship as well as a $7,000 ambassador scholarship, but still has to take out loans to pay the school’s bills. Klein tried to get more help at the financial aid office, but was told there were no more options for him at the time. Because of this, he has picked up two work study jobs in Campus Security and as an RA.

For the 2015-2016 school year, the tuition price was $26,680, and for a full time student who lived on campus for the full nine months, the total cost was $38,053. This year, the tuition price is $27,620, while the total for a full time student adds up to $39,279.

Klein picked Morningside College specifically because of the small class sizes and welcoming atmosphere, but believes his education would suffer if he had to move to a larger school because of price. He has seen several friends forced to make big decisions such as moving to an apartment because it’s cheaper or transferring to another college entirely. Klein thinks for the amount he has to pay extra for music lessons, (required for his major), the college isn’t quite giving him the fullest or best education for his money.

To combat these issues with pricing, Klein believes that the financial aid office should offer more help or classes to students, especially after freshman year. He felt like he was left too much on his own and thinks students could benefit from more explanations of budgeting, prices, or even cheaper living arrangements. This way more individuals are helped and don’t feel intimidated by the private college pricing system.

The change is mostly due to rises in personnel costs enacted by the Vice President for Business and Finance, Ron Jorgensen, and a team of individuals who look over the budget every year. As Jorgensen stated in terms of where the extra costs come from, “Higher education is very people intense and buildings, and so when these costs tend to go up, it puts pressure on funding an institution like colleges and stuff.”

Salaries for employees typically grow each year, with the college having to pay $1.8 million on health insurance alone. As colleges are heavily dependent on enrollment, it can be hard for small private schools to get the money they need to support more financial aid options and other programs.

Jorgensen says that fundraising is a major part of getting students the help they need to attend college. In the last year, the college used fundraising to gather $4 million between the annual and endowment portfolios. Scholarships that help students are typically funded through the endowment portfolio’s contents.

Besides scholarships, donors also help with the large number of renovations on buildings around campus, and in some cases, the college can get help from the state of Iowa in the form of tax credits, as certain buildings are considered historical landmarks.

In regards to how the price change has affected his daily life Klein said, “I guess it’s made it more stressful overall because it’s just another thing I have to worry about.”

Karen Gagnon, the Director of Student Financial Planning, believes that while the financial aid office hasn’t been able to expand the amount of financial aid, they always try to sit down with families and make sure they’ve looked at all the options for help available.

Sometimes even something as simple as being adopted can lead to another scholarship opportunity for a student. As Gagnon said, “For us, many times we can offset some of that difference between the state school by the scholarships that we offer, and so many times we are equivalent to a state school pricing.”

While rising costs have and continue to be a problem for college students, those at Morningside are proactively fighting the change and hope to emerge with less debt than their predecessors.

The story in question this week is a feature story, focused on the effects of extended periods of use of the drug Adderall. The author in question was addicted to Adderall herself, which makes the story easier to read and connect to. The point the author is trying to make is basically that the drug was introduced to the market without proper research by the FDA in terms of its long term effects, which has caused many people, especially those of college age, to become addicted to the drug as they take it to try and focus.

Many of the people who take the drug don’t actually have symptoms of A.D.H.D, and when they try to get off the drug they find it hard to stay off, crashing hard like with other common drugs found in use today. The author details her story of how she was finally able to get rid of her addiction and lead a healthier life by the end.

This story is especially newsworthy today as many people are using drugs and there is a huge debate in this country over whether or not marijuana should be legalized. Many people don’t think about the effects of already legalized drugs on people, especially when it isn’t prescribed to them. The audience seems to be college age students, as well as people with addictions and concerned family members. The author is trying to warn people of her mistakes and get them to realize that this drug can have serious consequences, even though it’s legalized.

The lead is telling a story, which required a whole paragraph and is semi-confusing at first, but the author brings back the attention to the Adderall part of the story in the second paragraph. It might be more helpful to switch the first and second paragraphs, even though the first paragraph brings readers in without giving everything away, since it is a feature article. While there aren’t a lot of opposing points of view, it makes sense not to include them in the author’s personal story and should probably be left to another author to bring up the good sides of Adderall.

The link to the original story can be found here: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/16/magazine/generation-adderall-addiction.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=second-column-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=0

The stories chosen primarily focused on Vermont’s ruling to change Columbus Day this year to Indigenous Peoples’ Day. In the print story, the lead accurately explains the situation, but is slightly lengthy because the author chose to include a quote right away. In the video coverage, it cut off the introduction by a news reporter, as they expected you to know what they were talking about, and led with a random civilian being interviewed about the impact of the name change. The reporter’s lead was slightly confusing, it takes until around the twenty second mark to understand the focus of the video, even though it was only a little over a minute long video.

In terms of length and content, the video focused mainly on what residents as well as officials were saying about the change, while the print focused on only the governor’s statements and past historical facts about the holiday. The length of both was relatively short and to the point. The video had two citizens, a woman and a man, who had alternating views on the topic, as well as several different official’s opinions, while the print only had quotes from the governor.

While the print article had less variety of attribution, it served its purpose for the story. The video had a variety of people talking and the reporter did a nice job of introducing who they were before they spoke and summarizing where necessary to make the video shorter.  Besides that, the print article had only one picture, which was an old painting of Columbus, while the video summed up the human impact, as well as including interviews, still shots, and street views of Vermont to get the point across in a more creative way. It seems particularly interesting that the print story had such little information for being a local Vermont station.

Links can be found here:

Print Story: http://www.wmur.com/news/proclamation-changes-columbus-day-to-indigenous-peoples-day/42038090

Multimedia Story: http://www.cnn.com/2016/10/09/us/columbus-day-indigenous-peoples-day/index.html

For the last six years, Patrick Blaine has been a Spanish professor at Morningside College, but his full story and his impact on communities worldwide goes far beyond this job title.

Blaine has travelled the world, spending time teaching as well as pursuing his hobby of skiing in countries like Chile, Peru, Argentina, Mexico, Spain, Italy, France, and Switzerland, as well as many others. To students asking about travel, he states, “If you can do it, go.” He has a special interest in Latin American cultures, which started on his first trip in college to Spain, where he stayed for a year.

While Blaine has been to many countries he spent a significant amount of time in Chile, around three years, where he met his wife and lived in San Sebastian, which he would eventually name his son after.

As Blaine grew up in America but also lived overseas for long periods of time, he was able to see many of the significant differences between America and other countries. He noticed that other countries have more freedom in terms of sexuality, where bodies are celebrated instead of considered bad or dirty as they are in America. Americans also have a greater need for personal space than other places. Other countries also tend to be more honest with each other, which led to Blaine having a more conscious need to pay attention to how he was interacting with and perceived by others.

All in all, Blaine sees travel as a more interactive learning experience. He believes that most employers see world travel as experience in international affairs, which helps more young people obtain jobs. The minority and majority races in the job market are switching, which means that those who have more experience and are better equipped to cooperate with and understand different cultures are more likely to obtain and keep the jobs they want. While many travelers experience culture shock, in the end, the experiences they have while on the journey make them a well-rounded individual.

The New York Times, as part of a documentary series called Retro Report, has brought to light the effect of zero tolerance policies on public school systems in America. The article and video highlight the fact that in the 1980s and well into the 1990s, crime in public schools was at an all-time high. It was very common to hear about drugs and guns being found in students’ possession, and many students were injured or died because of this. One school was so troubled that the principal kicked out over 300 students, leading to zero tolerance policies like his to be implemented across the country.

However, as the article shows, this policy has not transferred well into recent years. The kinds of violence and crime described in these schools peaked in 1994 and has been going down relatively regularly ever since. Three million students on average are being suspended for things like bringing a nail clipper to school or kicking a trash can in frustration, all things that wouldn’t have elicited police involvement years ago.

Because of this, many teachers are trying to reform policy, enforcing programs that encourage communication between students and teachers instead of police involvement. Many are hoping for a change in policy in every school, but think because of the media attention violent crimes in schools get, it won’t be a very popular idea with lawmakers.

I believe this story is newsworthy because while reporting the news it also takes a look back at the history of why the story they’re writing is now news. They bring up a point not many people have thought about. Since there have been so many school shootings, most parents want safety over all other things. They don’t think about the consequences or what it takes to get to that point of almost total safety. I believe they did a nice job with the facts and brought up good points and connections that may not have necessarily been made by many outside the school system. The lead, while in narrative form, as this isn’t necessarily a timely story, set the scene accurately and intrigued people. It gave some sense to where the story was going to go.

The story seems to be aimed at parents as well as the general public, specifically anybody who can vote or speak to lawmakers about change. There was a definite bias towards changing policy, and not much emphasis on how the tougher tactics are useful. The evidence they provided was very much one-sided, but I believe this story was trying to bring up the point that there is a problem that needs to be addressed, so it isn’t necessarily a bad thing that the other side who is for the zero tolerance policy isn’t greatly included.

A link to the story can be found here: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/03/us/the-unintended-consequences-of-taking-a-hard-line-on-school-discipline.html?hpw&rref=education&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=well-region&region=bottom-well&WT.nav=bottom-well