Fundamentals of Ewertz

If you’ve never taken the saying, “don’t trust everything you see on the internet” literally, now is the time to start. 

As long as social media has been around, there have been people sharing their “hacks” showing how they lose weight. With the rise of TikTok over the past four years, the hashtag of #guttok has been trending. It is important to recognize that no evidence has been found that consuming immense amounts of laxatives causes sustained weight loss. However, some users on TikTok have started to share that consuming laxatives when they aren’t needed helps them to feel less bloated and more slim. According to Kristen Harrison, an expert on the effects of media on disordered eating at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Hussman School of Journalism and Media, “It absolutely is reason for concern. It’s presented as a sort of legit and healthful lifestyle choice as opposed to something that could become pathological or difficult to give up or could lead to an eating disorder over time.”

While we all know laxatives as being used for important and legitimate medical uses – think constipation or clearing the bowels before surgery – the dangerous side of this is the shocking link to anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa. Without getting too far into how one would use laxatives in this way, many users on TikTok have tried using laxatives to expel anything they ingested earlier in the day. 

David Levinthal, an assistant professor of medicine and a practicing gastroenterologist at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, says, “The main effect of laxatives really is in the colon.” According to Levinthal, the thought that misusing laxatives could make someone lose weight is a heavily misguided ideal. There have been studies that show that misusing laxatives to the extent that these people are doing can cause extreme dehydration and a loss of balanced electrolytes. 

According to Scientific American, “estimates suggest that the number of people with an eating disorder in the U.S. who have ever misused laxatives varies from 10 to 60 percent. The range is so large because almost all the investigations rely on self-reported data and use different criteria to determine what constitutes laxative misuse.” Essentially this is showing that there is a large possibility that the social media trend of purposefully misusing laxatives is becoming a major problem. It isn’t just the doctors and everyone in the medical profession that are concerned for the youth using laxatives incorrectly, but parents are getting to be concerned as well. Make sure you take what you see online with a grain of salt. Always double check your sources before you make a final decision on what is right and what is wrong for you. 

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-a-weight-loss-trend-on-tiktok-might-encourage-eating-disorders/

Jim McKenzie is a Sioux City resident who has been selling all of his costumes that he has spent more than 40 years collecting. The 77-year-old never thought of this becoming a big thing, rather he was expecting to just free up some space in his home and possibly make a little bit of money. McKenzie has stated multiple times that he loves the Siouxland Community because of the overwhelming amount of positive responses to his posts. When McKenzie first met his now wife there was already an extensive amount of costumes, but the amount has just grown since then. 

Jared McNett wrote this article. McNett appears to currently reside in Sioux City. He is also an Online editor / Politics reporter / Podcaster for the Sioux City Journal. We should trust him with this article because he is a local and this also isn’t a super difficult article for someone to write should they not be from Sioux City. 

I don’t think I would consider this newsworthy, but I would say that it makes my day a little bit. It is local, it is relevant, and it is recent, however it is important to recognize that there are other things that are more important going on than a silly old guy selling his costumes on Facebook Marketplace.

I liked this article even though it was a little longer than I would normally read on my own. It went into detail about both McKenzie and his wife, but I felt that wasn’t needed for this short little news comment.

Students at Harvard University got doxxed after they wrote an anti-Israel letter. There was a group of 30 student groups that participated in writing and publishing an open letter on the night of the Hamas attack that stated that Israel was “entirely responsible” for the violence that killed more than 1,400 people. Within days of posting this, students within those groups were being doxxed. Wall Street executives demanded a list of student names to ban their hiring. There was a truck with a digital billboard, paid for by a conservative group, that circled Harvard Square. This truck flashed student names and photos with the headline, “Harvard’s Leading Antisemites.” A majority of these students have requested to be kept entirely anonymous, due to the severity of this situation. The president of Harvard Hillel, the building on campus that is meant to help students with spiritual growth, said, “it’s tragic that students on both sides feel afraid to voice their opinions… Especially at a college that prides itself on the pursuit of truth.”

Anemona Hartocollis is the author of this article. This is probably my favorite article I’ve read this year, as it is both in-depth and shows both sides of the story, pro-Israel & pro-Palestine. Hartocollis met with Jewish students at Harvard and students who are pro-Palestinian activists for this article. She made sure to be in-depth about everything she stated.

This is news. It is current, local to the United States, and it is interesting. The fact that this happened at Harvard makes this a clickable article, on top of it dealing with the biggest news story as of right now, the Israel and Palestine war. 

The Sioux City International Film Festival is back for its 18th year; it showcases films ranging from 15-minute shorts to feature-length productions over the weekend.

Samantha “Sami” Giesen, Shawna Fernau, and Camrie Miranda all have unique experiences with the film festival. Sami has volunteered in the past, this is Shawna’s first year, and this is Camrie’s second year as an intern.

Sami is familiar with volunteering at this film festival; her experience with volunteering is exciting, to say the least. Dr. Leslie Werden, an English professor at Morningside University, sends out a volunteer Google Form every year. Sami fills out this form that allows her to volunteer. Sami gets a free ticket to see a film block, a small set of films, because she volunteers.

Sami thinks everyone should go to the Sioux City International Film Festival because it is something to do with your day. She says, “They don’t call it the ‘International Film Festival’ for no reason!” She then discusses how she is able to meet a filmmaker from California, a filmmaker from a different country, and Bri Holland.

Tonight is Shawna’s first time visiting the Sioux City International Film Festival. This is Shawna’s first time going to the festival. Shawna recommends going to the Sioux City International Film Festival because “this is a great platform to boost small movie producers!”

Shawna says that she loves the feature-length film Love… Reconsidered. She mentions how it is extremely funny & how she doesn’t tend to like romance movies, but she thinks this goes very well. When asked if she likes the Sioux City International Film Festival, she says, “It is definitely worth the time.” Shawna says that she will for sure be going to the Sioux City International Film Festival next year.

This is Camrie’s second year as an intern with the film fest. She loves working with them because they have, “Good organization, the board is passionate, they have firm intentions with their interns.” She also talks about how she has always been interested in film and she would love to have her name in credits somewhere in a movie. Camrie also says that getting involved with the Sioux City International Film Festival allows you to meet filmmakers from all around the world.

Camrie suggests watching the short film Trumpet. Trumpet is about a man who gets stranded after going somewhere to watch an orchestra. The main character doesn’t speak the language that is spoken in this new and strange world, but he knows he can communicate with those around him through music.

Thomas Ritchie is currently a strategic digital marketing specialist. He works with social media, lead generation, and tries to create content that drives people to their website. He’s even had a few interesting stories that he is super proud of.

Ritchie recently wrote about someone who turned 100. During his interview with this person, they said that their secret to longevity was to smoke cigars and have a lot of sex. Ritchie has also been in the room with a majority of the presidential candidates within the last 20 years, and he has asked most of them a follow up question. One of Ritchie’s favorite stories is that he went to the bathroom once at the Sioux City Journal office and John McCain was in the bathroom at the same time.

When asked what his main job is during his day to day job he said, “My job is to get people on our website and to get people to convert.” He also talked about how he works with a lot of Excel spreadsheets and AI. Another part of his job is to try to get the public to recognize that they are real and not artificial intelligence.

Ritchie was asked about how he gets over the fear of someone not agreeing with him. To that question he responded with, “Take a stand, write it, publish it.” He said that if you worry too much about people not agreeing with you, you will start to overthink everything. Essentially he is saying to make a decision and stick with it. 

At the end of the conversation with Ritchie, students involved in the class he spoke to were better informed about who he is as a person & an employee/employer. Thomas Ritchie seems to truly care about his current position of working where he current is. He is also extremely passionate about journalism and the future of it.

The Sioux City International Film Festival has come back for the 18th year. Films from 15 minutes to feature length films will be shown this weekend.

Today I interviewed Samantha “Sami” Giesen, Shawna Fernau, and Camrie Miranda about their individual experiences with the film fest. Sami has volunteered in the past. This will be Shawna’s first year. This is Camrie’s second year as an intern. 

As previously mentioned, Sami volunteered last year. Sami’s experience with volunteering is exciting to say the least. She said that Dr. Werden, an English professor at Morningside University, sends out a volunteer Google Form every year. Sami was able to get a free ticket to see a film block, a small set of films, because she volunteered. 

Sami thinks that everyone should go to the Sioux City International Film Festival because it is something to do with your day. She said, “They don’t call it the ‘International Film Festival’ for no reason!” She then discussed how she was able to meet a filmmaker from California, a filmmaker from a different country, and Bri Holland. 

Tonight was Shawna’s first time visiting the Sioux City International Film Festival. I asked her if this was her official first time going, and she said that this was her first time going and that she does not regret it.  Shawna recommends going to the Sioux City International Film Festival because, “This is a great platform to boost small movie producers!”

Shawna said that she loved the feature length film Love… Reconsidered. She mentioned how it was extremely funny & how she doesn’t tend to like romance movies, but she thought this went very well. When asked if she liked the Sioux City International Film Festival, she said, “It is definitely worth the time.” Shawna said that she will for sure be going to the Sioux City International Film Festival next year.

Finally, I talked with Camrie Miranda. This will be Camrie’s second year as an intern with the film fest. She loves working with them because they have, “Good organization, the board is passionate, they have firm intentions with their interns.” She also talked about how she has always been interested in film and she would love to have her name in credits somewhere in a movie. Camrie also said that getting involved with the Sioux City International Film Festival allows you to meet filmmakers from all around the world. 

Camrie suggests watching the short film Trumpet. Trump is about a man who gets stranded after going somewhere to watch an orchestra. The main character doesn’t speak the language that is spoken in this new strange world, but he knows he can communicate with those around him through music. 

Kevin McCarthy has just been voted out of the House, leaving the House leaderless. McCarthy was the Speaker of the House, meaning his voice was extremely important. This wasn’t just Democrats that wanted him out of office either. Republicans turned against their party to help vote him out. As of right now, there is no current replacement for McCarthy’s position. 

Catie Edmonson wrote this article. Edmonson has been writing for The New York Times for a little while. Specifically, she has written political articles for a majority of her time at NYT. 

If this is not news, I don’t know what is. Not only is this something that affects everyone in the United States, but it was such big news that it interrupted an ad I was listening to on KISS FM. Even for someone outside of the United States this should be considered newsworthy. No one has been voted out of office since the rules to fire someone were put in place.

I think that this article was written very well. It is important because Speaker McCarthy was voted out by Democrats as well as his own party. My friend group starting blowing up when the news went out; it takes a lot for my group chat to blow up.

Target’s Chair and CEO Brian Cornell has released the 2022 Annual Report, here is what he has to say in the Letter to Shareholders.

Cornell appears to be hopeful for the future as he states how, “[Through] this discipline and alignment [we] have produced continuous growth through a wide range of business environments, with ample opportunity still ahead of us.” Target spiked in rates and limits during the pandemic, but Target still appears hopeful they will continue to grow. 

Target thinks of themselves as consistently trusted. They believe that the longer they have been established as a reputable company, their trust and loyalty will continue to grow. Cornell also discusses how guests looked to Target for their input and discretionary choices while inflation was reaching an all time high. 

Since the pandemic Target has increased their revenue and profit. They recognize that the plan they had between the years of 2019-2022 was the proper trajectory. With this current trajectory, Cornell expects profit to increase by $2-3 billion. 

Cornell states that in 2023, Target will continue to:

“Support our team and lean into our culture, knowing they are the heart of our overall success.

Invest in our store-remodel and expansion plans, in our supply chain and in digital and same-day fulfillment through our stores-as-hubs model.

Deliver a steady cadence of newness in owned and national brands across our multi-category assortment. 

Bring the magic of Tar-zhay to life, day in and day out, while delivering affordable joy for our guests.”

Cornell wants to make it clear that Target wants to be realistic about their possible outcomes. He wants to push their hopes to continue to be sustainable, resilient, responsive, and agile. He is optimistic about their future, but wants to stress that they can’t predict the consumer and economic landscapes.

Cornell ends the Letter to Shareholders with the statement, “I appreciate your continued support and look forward to the value we’ll create this year.”

The Peace Corps are being sued over some mental health problems. The Peace Corps have allegedly avoided hiring at least nine people because they disclosed that they had anxiety and/or depression. Two people have taken a stand and started this lawsuit, but there have been others who don’t wish to disclose their names that have spoken up as well. The two that are hosting this lawsuit claim that this violates the Rehabilitation Act. The Peace Corps are trying to retaliate by claiming that they say that they screen for mental health and disabilities before hiring. There was, however, one person who claimed they got told they got the job, but right before they got on the plane they got told they actually could not take the job as they had a mental health diagnosis.

Ellen Barry wrote this article. Barry is most known at The New York Times for covering mental health. She has worked in New England, London, New Delhi, and Moscow. With Barry’s extensive coverage of mental health, I feel like the reader(s) can trust her.

This is news to those that want to be a part of The Peace Corps, or those that know anyone that wants to be a part of The Peace Corps. Mental health struggles have been growing throughout the country. Whether you want to be a part of, or even care about, The Peace Corps, you will need to deal with mental health. 

Overall I think that it is important for anyone who cares about mental health to read this. While this is a little longer of a piece, it is a critical read. 

Today I interviewed Josh Bern from Vermillion, SD. Josh is a Junior English Major here at Morningside University. Josh collects lots of things from vinyl records, to baseball cards, to autographs. 

According to Josh, he has over 100 records right now. Because of the sheer amount of records, Josh is looking for a new storage cabinet to store all of them. Something that Josh is interested in when it comes to these is cleaning the records. He loves to play them both before and after cleaning to hear and see the difference in sound and quality of the vinyl. Josh said, “covers get me sometimes.” When he says this he is referring to the way his brain is easily influenced by pretty artwork on vinyl covers.

Josh not only collects vinyls, but he also collects baseball cards and autographs. When I asked what he meant by autographs, he said that he chases celebrities to get their autographs. Josh says that his favorite story about getting a celebrity autograph was when he, “[I] saw Jimmy Fallon at a bagel place in New York. He didn’t sign an autograph, but said photos are okay.”