Science Story Assignment

The Natural Catastrophes that hit the world this year were no coincidence.

The increase of heat in the atmosphere known as global warming has been a topic for many years. Scientists have long anticipated that climate change would create more airborne vapor, fueling what might be called “vapor storms” that are unleashing more rain and snow than storms did only a few decades ago. Catastrophes such as Hurricane Ida, the flooding of China’s Henan province or the flooding of south Germany this year arise from this phenomenon and hence affect us all as they result in deadly incidences.

The Scientific American published a map called “Wetter World” depicting global distribution fo water vapor. This shows that the most water vapor is present along the equator given to the tropical moisture. A graph of the vapor development shows that the increase in the recent years is concerning in comparison to 2010.

What is unsettling the most according to Scientific American is the rapid intensification of tropical storms by the atmospheric water vapor. Storms rapidly intensify when either the maximum wind speed increases 35 miles per hour in 24 hours or the central atmospheric pressure of the storm drops at least 42 millibars in 24 hours. This said, data from the last 40 years show that the probability of a storm rapidly intensifying has quintupled. There are ten examples of Atlantic hurricanes that did just that in 2020: Hanna, Laura, Sally, Teddy, Gamma, Delta, Epsilon, Zeta, Eta and Iota. Overall, recent studies show that rapid intensification is more likely when oceans warm which causes more water to evaporate and deliver more heat to the atmosphere. As stated by the Scientific American, Oceans absorb around 90 percent of the heat trapped by extra greenhouse gases we humans have emitted to the atmosphere. With this, comes a raise of water temperatures which acts like a powerful battery that storms can draw energy from.

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/vapor-storms-are-threatening-people-and-property/

Media Comparison

The article “Where will the escalation with Poland lead to” published on the 28th of October 2021 by Helga Schmidt and the video “European Court of Justice imposes a daily fee of millions on Poland” published on the 27th of October 2021 by Michael Grytz, tackles the political conflict between Poland and the European Union.

According to the Tagesschau report, Poland refuses to reform the justice system and keep it independent. This lead to Sanctions in the COVID-19 care package and also in a 1,000,000 Euro fine per day.

The article tackles the story a little more objectively than the video. The article reports on how the political pressure on the justice system violates the European Union. Poland’s laws enable politics to pressures judges and state attorney into resigning. Further, the Polish citizens are divided in opinions. The EU response is necessary for a political reform according to vice president. However, the 1,000,000 fine is viewed critically by the public according to MEP Róza Thun. The video however implements a more sensational tone in order to catch the viewer’s attention. It starts off with a quote of the Polish president, stating that this this shall be the beginning of the third world war if financial aid would continue to be withheld, as he mentioned in an interview with the Financial Times. It further quotes Alexander De Croo the Prime Minister of Belgium who says “you are playing with the fire, if you want to go to war with your European Colleagues for internal political reasons”.

https://www.tagesschau.de/multimedia/video/video-938393.html
https://www.tagesschau.de/ausland/europa/polen-eugh-109.html

News Comment #7

The article called “A timeline of 22-year-old Gabby Petito’s case” by Christina Maxouris and published by CNN on the 21st of October 2021, covers the mysterious murder case of the Instagram influencer Petito.

The article is very news worthy because of the prominence of the case. The case counts to one of the most mysterious cases in the past years. Many followers of the influencer follow the case on social media and speculate about it. Her boyfriend, a direct suspect went missing right after she was filed missing. However, he continued her instagram, as it appeared, after her death. Now both her and him were found dead. The prominence of the case is already international and it is speculated that there will be a documentary about the mystery in near future.

The article does a good job at chronologically sorting the events and creates a timeline for the case. This makes the case comprehensible.

https://www.cnn.com/2021/09/16/us/gabby-petito-timeline-missing-case/index.html

Morningside Men’s Soccer Gains Attention

How star player Okan Golge’s presence at Morningside University influences the soccer program and what his outage means for the future

“We put soccer on the map” is what Okan Golge cheered after the first Gpac title won by the Morningside Mustangs in Fall 2019. The following season head coach Tom Maxon said in an interview “Okan is straight money” after winning another Gpac title. Jim Sykes, the athletic director, is also “impressed” with the soccer team for gaining international attention. In the current season of 2021 the Mustangs had to dispense their striker Golge. Ever since, the soccer team is not doing very well.

Maxon elucidates what Golge’s presence means to the team and what his work changed here at Morningside. “There is two big personal differences” Maxon explains when talking about this season compared to the last seasons. “One is Okan on paper, simply 30 goals that we have to replace and we are not doing it, but the other part is his big personality”.

Golge’s impact on the team can simply be seen when comparing the soccer team’s performances from this season without him to the last seasons with him. Morningside already has more losses now than in the entire season of 2020 or the season of 2019. Other than that, Golge’s talent is underlined by his consecutive awards as the Gpac player of the year and NAIA All-American first team nomination. “He’s got a magnetism for one kind or another where guys get around him, he also attracts people in a game to where everyone else in the game is better” Maxon states when describing how Golge affects the team as a player. He also says that if you do not have to worry about Golge, you can worry about two or three other guys. Which highlights how other teams respond to Golge’s outage this season. Maxon further suggests that with Golge, the team would have performed better this season. “Our biggest losses were in overtime, we would have probably won these games” Maxon said.

However, did his performance with the team really “put soccer on the map”? Morningside’s athletic director definitely acknowledges the achievements by Golge and Co. “The depth of talent within the conference makes it difficult to win championships so to do it is impressive” is what he answered when being asked whether his view on the soccer team has changed with the recent successes.

Nevertheless, all the Mustang’s success can not be solely credited to Golge. Starting in summer 2018, along with Golge, a large group of international freshmen enrolled at Morningside and this trend is continuing ever since. Sykes realizes this trend and said “our successes in soccer along with our ability to attract international talent is not a coincidence”.  He is hoping that Morningside’s move to becoming a University will enhance those opportunities in the future.

When asking Maxon what he thinks about that, he said that he hopes to continue this. Winning trophies makes it “easier to get them, they look at us and think dang thats a group” according to Maxon. The latest stats clearly make Morningside more attractive for talents from Europe who are looking for universities. This may be an opportunity for Morningside to establish a nationally competing program. “I believe Morningside is trending in the direction of being nationally relevant on a consistent basis” Sykes emphasizes. He further explains that continuing to recruit top notch players is important because “good players want to play on teams with other good players”.

When being asked, why Golge believes that he “put soccer on the map” he responded that ever since they are winning trophies, people around the campus acknowledge soccer players. “Top athletes from other sports here on campus start greeting me, asking me about when the next game is and seem to show interest for the sport” he said. Soccer was never really a cool people’s sport here at Morningside, given that it is not a popular sport in the US, Golge explains. “Everyone only cares about Football and Basketball, now we are the cool guys too”. Other than that, Golge also mentions how multiple soccer players from Morningside have recently transferred to top D1 soccer programs. The talent level increases but the program here at Morningside cannot seem to support it. Hence players move on to advanced programs with better facilities and better scholarships. “We do not even have a locker room, we asked other teams and we are also the only ones who pay for our gear ourselves” Golge complains.

Given this rising relevance of the sport here at Morningside, both Maxon and Sykes were asked if it changes the way the school looks at the sport and whether or not the program could expect more attention and funding. “Did previous success put soccer on the map?” Maxon questioned, “It definitely does” he responded, but according to him, the upper administration look at it from a whole different perspective. To them, “the health and stability of the school as a whole” is what they are interested in. For example being called a university, adding new majors, student enrollment being up, financial health being high is what he listed.

Maxon continues by suggesting that they rather look at soccer as an “addition of an entire new dimension to the school” with this large international group which affects all majors, “especially business”. Maxon further explains how professors “love it” and how he constantly receives feedback about what an “engaged interested group” they are. “This is a group that we keep and graduate which is healthy for the school”. Lastly he said, “I would not say you put us on the map, but you are a big part of what we are on the map”.

“If i have to be syndical, I would say the board and alumni want to make sure basketball and football are good everything else can go up and down and we will be okay” Maxon adds. Therefore, Golge’s absence, which causes a downfall in the performances, does not seem to worry anyone, even if it means that the chances of establishing a national ranked soccer program decreases. Sykes underpins the lack of unrest about this when stating that “the University’s expectations for our teams is probably never higher than what the coaches expectations are for each sport”.

This said, the soccer program cannot expect any changes, according to Sykes. When being asked if the school would invest into the program to continue this growth, Sykes responded that “In a perfect world each sport would have their own facility with locker rooms, unlimited budgets for staff, equipment and scholarships.  However that is not the reality of where we are at today”. Overall, Maxon was right about his assumption, that Football and Basketball remain the main focuses of the school, despite the foundation Golge and Co. have created.

“2020 NAIA Men’s Soccer All-America Teams Announced.” NAIA, NAIA 2021, 13 May 2021, https://www.naia.org/sports/msoc/2020-21/Releases/2020_AA.

Monster Buddies

October 12, 2021

The so called “Monster Buddies” are fruit snacks by the brand Kellog’s. Both gooey and squishy describes the consistency of the Monster Buddies. They are also more solid than normal fruit snacks but have a very similar shape and colors. The theme of the Kellog’s fruit snacks, as mentioned in the name, is monsters. This is why the snacks are shaped like the little monster figures on the packaging.

Each different color represents a different flavor in a “matching” principle that each color is associated with the taste. As they consist of fruits puree, each color tastes like a different fruit. Nevertheless, one can expect a differentiation in the tastes as they are “artificially flavored” according to the packaging. Therefore, the snacks will not taste like the original fruit taste.

Talk To A Not so Complete Stranger

Thursday, Oct. 15

Day after day I see Joseph. He lives at the very end of my hallway and sometimes I see him when I leave my room. The hall way is very long so when I walk to the door and he does as well, we are walking towards each other for quite a while. If we make eye contact there is an awkward silence because its too far away to say something, yet he is right in my eye site and there is nothing else to look at. I usually walk really slowly on purpose so that he gets to the door way earlier and will not feel the need to wait to hold the door, or that we walk down the stair case at the same time. Other than that, I see him at soccer practice, where all we say is “Hi”. One time I needed to get to an appointment and I had no one to drive me, so I asked him for a ride. I decided to take that as an opportunity to introduce myself to him and start a little conversation. Joseph usually plays video games with his friends in his free time. His parents are separated and his dad is not a big part of his live. He also has a step dad. Joseph also does not like to party very much and never drinks or takes any drugs. He told me how once his friend almost died in an accident when he was drinking alcohol, therefore he does not like to do it. Also that his mom would get “really really” mad at him is what he told me. Joseph is the kind of kid who is not very outgoing. He is quiet at soccer practice and reserved. Nonetheless, he is exceptionally polite and helpful. People like him and I have little in common. I still think that he is a great guy and I have the feeling he would probably not expect that I think this way.

I hope he does not think I just talk to him to make him drive me around.

Lead Exercise

September 14, 2021

Store owner, who refused to resist, was robbed of $382 at a local store robbery last night.

A robbery at ‘BJ’s Drug’ in 450 Stanley Street, left two masked men with $382.65 from the cash register. The robbery took less than a minute. One of the two men took the money form the register while the other held a gun to the store owner’s head. The getaway car was parked in front of the store with its motor still running.

Even though Barney Joseph Jr. kept a pistol under his counter, he decided not to reach for it during the robbery. He reportedly didn’t feel like it was a smart thing to do. 25 years ago, his father was shot in a similar accident when he did reach for the pistol under the counter while being robbed. Joseph Jr. said that he’d rather part with his money than his life.

$100,000 Lawsuit Filed Against Amburn’s Produce Market

September 9, 2021

A lawsuit was filed against Amburn’s Produce Market after a woman slipped and broke her hip.

The woman called Ellie Maston filed the lawsuit against Amburn’s Produce Market for negligence. The accident occurred on April 2nd of this year.

Because Maston slipped on green beans that were allegedly left on the floor and broke her hip, she is suing the produce market for $100,000.

The lawsuit reads “suffered permanent bodily and mental injuries, incurred medical expenses and lost income”, filed by Maston.

Local Man Dies In A Car Crash On Highway 28

September 9, 2021

A 65-year-old man called Moyer Quick from South Iowa City, died yesterday in his car after his vehicle crashed into the rear-end of a truck.

According to the report, he tried to pass a car on the highway when his truck collided with the truck of a 17-year-old boy called Randy Radin. The impact sent both trucks into a ditch on the side of the road.

Three people were hospitalized. Two of them were passengers from Quick’s vehicle and are in a “fair” condition. Randy Radin however is still in a “critical”.

Patric Stewart, a South Iowa Highway Patrolman, said that the accident occurred on a road that was clear and dry and is still under investigation.

Scavenger Hunt

As an assignment for our Journalism class, we were supposed to talk to two strangers and collect one item from the conversation. This exercise was supposed to make us more comfortable in approaching people. “Talking to strangers is one of the things people fear the most” is what professor Fugslang explained when assigning the task.

The first person I talked two was Brandon who works at Buck’s. I see him multiple times during the week when I get my meal exchange, so decided this time I was going to talk to him for a bit when the situation arose. He told me about how he was glad that the shift was over almost over since it was already 10:30 pm. I asked him what kinds of hobbies he had and he replied that he liked listening to music and he also makes music in his free time. He always seemed like a very kind person because he is very courteous and also remembers my name when he greets me. Hence I was interested to find out a little bit more about him. He signed one of the napkins with his names for me.

The second person I talked to was Jim Sykes. I wanted to interview him anyways for my story “Okan’s Outage”. Since I never talked to him before, this came in as a good opportunity for having a conversation with a stranger. I also interviewed my coach Tom Maxon for the story, however, we are not strangers so the conversation was less formal and I did not feel nervous. For Sykes it was a little bit different because I really had to think about how I will approach him and what kind of words I would use.