Last week I was given one of the most interesting class assignments I’ve ever had. The assignment’s mission was simple, get rid of twelve bags of cookies in any way I see fit.

Simple enough, now how to get rid of them?

After receiving the cookies, I quickly darted through the rain to get to my next class and then went to the activities fair immediately after. I walked in drenched, but the cookies remained dry underneath my hoodie. (I’m sure walking around with a huge square stomach was quite the site to behold.)

Once I got to my table at the activities fair, one of the AOII girls tried to persuade me to give her the whole box. She even said she’d grab them and run away just to make my story interesting. As tempting as that was, I wanted to test out another idea I had in mind.

I went back to the library after the activities fair, once again shielding the Keebler fudge stripes from the rain.

Once I got back to the library, I started dropping the cookies onto random tables. I was curious if anybody would be daring enough to take the cookies if they saw them left behind on not one, but multiple tables.

A few people that were busy studying glanced up at me to see what I was doing and then went back to their work, too busy to pay attention to me for more than a few seconds.

I positioned myself in the big, comfy chairs right next to the Spoonholder so I could view the library from the best vantage point possible. Now it was time to sit back and watch.

A few minutes in, a girl set her stuff down at one of the tables I had dropped cookies on. She went over to the Spoonholder, ordered her own snacks, and got settled into her work. She was there for a couple of hours, but she never paid the cookies any mind.

As time passed, one of the Sodexo workers picked up a bag of cookies that was on one of the table close to her. She put it down two seconds later after commenting, “Those look good,” and moved on with her work.

Eventually I goaded my roommate into taking the cookies off of one of the tables next to us. She made her actions deliberate, trying to draw attention. From the way she slowly walked over to the table, glanced around and snatched the cookies off of the table, I thought she would garner some attention for sure.

It was to no avail. The only cookies that went missing were ones the Sodexo workers removed from the tables closest to them.

I gathered up the rest of my cookies, shoved them in my already overflowing bag, and headed back to my room. The library was a bust.

A few days later I revisited the assignment and decided to give the AOII girls a treat during our busy recruitment week.

I walked into the room with cookies and dropped them on the floor, announcing that it was first come first served.

Megan responded with a “yasss, bitch,” as she hadn’t eaten dinner. Justine mirrored that sentiment and asked if she could take another one for later.

The cookies all disappeared as the hungry AOII members snatched them all up and finished them in no time.

And just like that, the assignment was over.

The lead that caught my eye was from the article “The Boy Who Heard too Much.”

It began, as it always did, with a phone call to 911. “Now listen here,” the caller demanded, his voice frantic. “I’ve got two people here held hostage, all right? Now, you know what happens to people that are held hostage? It’s not like on the movies or nothing, you understand that?”

I believe this lead works because it jumps right into one of Matthew Weigman’s prank phone calls, which is what he is notorious for. I believe this phone call is particularly compelling to use as the lead since it shows that not only was he making prank calls, but the content of the calls was extremely serious.

Other lead ideas:

One fat, blind kid is putting people in their place one phone call at a time.

Piss off the blind kid and he’ll send a SWAT team to your door.

Quitting school to make 40,000 prank calls a month is always on option, right?

Matthew Weigman possesses a considerable superpower. One he exercised so often, that it got him in trouble with the FBI.

The story that I chose to read through is called “The Deadly Waterfall in the Instagram Age.” The last four people that died at Kaaterskill Falls died while taking or posing for pictures. The state is taking measures to make the site safer because of these incidents. For example, the state added warning signs, new stairways, new fencing, hand railing, and so on, in an effort to make the waterfall more safe for tourists.

Spinoff story ideas:

1. A story detailing the different accidents people have been in while trying to follow social media trends or trying to get the perfect “Insta worthy” moment. (Ex: a girl got hit by a car trying to do the Keke challenge)
2. Interview nature photographers who have accounts of getting hurt on the job or know of somebody that has died while trying to get the perfect shot.
3. Interview the public about the “Instagram Age” and their take on it. Is it dangerous, narcissistic, stupid..?
4. How do locals feel about the deaths at Kaaterskill Falls and the fact that $1.25 million has been spent just to make the area safer for tourists?
5. A story about the most dangerous tourist attraction in the US.

The spinoff story idea that I would probably pursue would be the first one. I know there are many incidents of people getting injured while trying to jump in on the newest social media challenge. I think it would be interesting to explore these incidents more in depth and get the public’s opinion.

1. Where do I want to live after college?
2. What do I want to do with my degree?
3. Will Business Law get easier with time? (Hopefully yes)
4. Will getting a dehumidifier in my apartment get rid of the overwhelming humidity in my room?
5. Will I make it through this semester without locking my keys in my car? (Probably not)

‘They Are Slaughtering Us Like Animals’

Since Rodrigo Duterte took office as president of the Philippines on June 30, two thousand people have been killed by the hands of the police alone as a part of his brutal antidrug campaign. Mr. Duterte made a call to slaughter anybody suspected of dealing or using drugs. Vigliantes and police officers have taken this call to action and have shot down people in the streets and in their homes. Many times, police officers make up stories about suspected drug dealers/users taking up arms against officers and being shot as a result, when the truth is many people are completely defenseless when they are shot and killed. It appears as if nobody in this country is safe.

I like that it started off with a very descriptive anecdote. It complemented the headline well and really helped set the scene. The author’s use of pictures and video also gave the article impact. I believe they were tastefully incorporated throughout the story and I really liked the fact that they were full screen and the text disappeared when you viewed them. It made them inescapable.

I believe that a story such as this can be much more lenient with organization since it’s more of a story telling article of the deaths of specific people. That being said, I still believe this article had excellent flow.

This article is newsworthy because of human interest, impact/significance, and timing. This story appeals to human interest because it is emotionally charged with pictures of the deaths of innocents. This story is significant because an entire country is being impacted by this President’s reign and many people have died as a result. I also believe this story is timely because it’s covering an ongoing event.

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