Matthew Perry was found unresponsive in a hot tub at his home in Los Angeles. Perry played Chandler in the show Friends. He was known as the yippie of the group and known for his humor. However, behind the scenes of Friends Perry struggled with substance abuse. He spent more than half of his life in rehab and treatment facilities. Perry has dealt with many health issues related to his substance abuse throughout his life.

This article was written very well. It is very relevant has Matthew Perry is a very well-known actress. Friends is a very popular show. It also followed an inverted pyramid. It first talked about the death, then his career with Friends, and then his life story. In my opinion, those are in the correct important order. It was interesting reading about things people do not know about actress’ lives outside of the acting. There are so many struggles they face that go unseen. I really enjoyed this article.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/29/arts/television/matthew-perry-dead.html

A pilot affiliated with Alaska Airlines was arrested Sunday evening after trying to disable the aircraft engine. Joseph D. Emerson was riding in the cockpit jump seat when he tried to disrupt the operations of the engines. However, the captain and first officer responded quickly and ensured the engine would not run out of power. The Federal Aviation Administration encourages flight crews and carriers to remain aware. Emerson was booked in a local jail on 83 counts of attempted murder, as well as charges of reckless endangerment and endangering an aircraft.

I enjoyed reading this article. After reading the lead, I was able to get an understanding of what the article was going to be about and wanted to continue reading. The article was also structured very well. There was all the important information at the beginning. Also, I thought the quote added by the captain was a very good quote to include in the article. Overall, the article was written very well.

https://www.wsj.com/us-news/alaska-airlines-pilot-is-arrested-after-trying-to-disable-aircraft-engines-e90f982f?mod=us-news_lead_story

The war between Hamas and Israel is affecting people in the United States as well. In Chicago, Joseph Czuba stabbed two individuals, a mother and son. Czuba was the landlord to the individuals. The mother survived and is in the hospital with serious conditions. However, the six-year-old son did not make it. The stabbing was motivated by the fact the the mother and son were muslims. Czuba was charged with  first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, two hate-crime counts and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon.

I found this news article to be very interesting. It was very well-written. The article is definitely considered news because it covers a very tragic story about a 6-year-old boy and his mother being stabbed. The article’s lead was also very sufficient. It contained very good information and gave the readers an idea of what was going to be in the article. The article was also written following an inverted pyramid. I believe the author portrayed the most important information first and got the less important information towards the end.

https://www.wsj.com/us-news/man-fatally-stabs-6-year-old-muslim-boy-outside-chicago-sheriffs-department-says-dc81cdac?mod=us-news_lead_pos4

The relationship between Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce has brought a whole new audience to all NFL football streaming services. Taylor Swift attended the Bear-Chiefs game on September 24. The game was the most watched telecast on any network for the week. Additionally, the audience consisted of a strong female base. On October 1, the Kansas City Chiefs played the New York Jets. The game was not predicted to have many viewers. However, yet again, the games had a lot more viewers than predicted. Taylor Swift was at the game again. Many networks are contributing a lot of their screen time on Taylor Swift.

Overall, the article was written well. The NFL as a whole and the streaming services are being affected dramatically because of a relationship between two famous people. The lead of the article was okay. In my opinion, it could have been stronger. I think this is such a crazy thing so the lead could have been more interesting. It did not mention anything about Taylor Swift, which this is what the article is mainly about. However, the structure of the article was well-written. The most important information was portrayed at the top. I enjoyed reading this article a lot and am excited to see the impact this relationship will continue to have.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/01/arts/taylor-swift-travis-kelce-chiefs-nbc.html?searchResultPosition=3

As gas prices are increasing, students at Morningside University are being adversely impacted. 

Gas prices increased in August. The students who commute from home are paying a lot more for gas than what they were originally planning. Not only does it affect students who commute, but it also affects those living on campus. Students travel to sporting events off campus, run the weekly groceries, and go back to visit home. 

Madison Craighead is on her second year at Morningside University. She lived in the dorms her first year. After figuring out the dorms were not best for her, she decided that living back at home would be best for her. Madison and her family lives about 15 minutes from campus. 

Madison is very fortunate with her class schedule. Every day her classes are back-to-back, so she only has to make one trip for classes. On average, she takes about 1 to 2 trips from her house to campus. 

“I am very lucky my class schedule is the way it is. Every day my classes are back-to-back right away in the morning. I go to class, then I go back home. However, basketball is starting up and I am student coach. I will have to make an extra trip back to campus for practice and games later in the day.” Madison comments.

Ellie Woelber is also a student at Morningside University that decided to commute from home this school year. However, her drive is even farther than Madison’s. Ellie lives with her family in Boyden, Iowa, which is just over an hour away from the school. 

As of October 5, the national average gas price is $3.768 per gallon. Despite the high gas prices, Ellie does not regret deciding to live at home. 

“Yeah, the gas prices may be high and affecting my bank account, but I am still happy with my decision.” Ellie states. “My overall well-being is so much better being at home. I do not regret my decision. I knew gas was going to be a big expense going into the school year, but I did not think it was going to be this much of an expense.”

On the other hand, Alex Godfredsen is a student at Morningside University who lives on campus. Alex is from Rock Valley, Iowa, an hour north of Sioux City. He is part of the baseball team. Since baseball takes up a lot of time and he is busy with classes, he does not have a job during the school year. 

Morningside University does not have a baseball field on campus, so he must travel to practice every day. The baseball complex is about ten minutes from campus, so he is driving an average of twenty minutes every day just for baseball. Although it does not seem that far, it does add up. The twenty minutes also does not include running errands and other things he has to travel to.

Alex also loves spending time with his family. One of the reasons he picked Morningside University was the distance it was to home. He enjoys going home to see his family throughout the semester.

Along with Ellie and Madison, the increased gas prices as affected Alex greatly. 

“From running my weekly errands to going to baseball to go back home, I go through a lot of gas. Every time I fill up my tank it is about 60 dollars. It makes me not want to go home as much.” Alex said. “I also have cut back on doing fun things. For example, my friends and I enjoyed going to Sioux Falls or Omaha for fun, and we do not do that as much because of the high gas prices.”

However, Alex is happy he only must drive an hour to go back home. There are some students who are hours away or even overseas. 

Thomas Ritchie went from journalism to digital corporate social media at a trucking insurance company. The changing of journalism has made the transition easier.

Thomas Ritchie is from Waterloo, Iowa. He went to a small private college in Yankton, South Dakota. He was an adjunct professor at Morningside College, now Morningside University. Thomas was in the journalism career for 25 years.

Journalism has not been the same from when he first started his career. The demand for journalism has started to decline over the years. At the time he made the decision, he was working at the Sioux City Journal. The leadership at the Sioux City Journal was declining. 

Thomas designed websites as a side hustle, which soon led to more than just a side hustle. More people started to ask him to create content. This increase caused Thomas to start his own social media company. He made this shift because he was able to be his own boss and saw more of an opportunity. Thomas saw more benefits within the marketing industry. 

“I miss journalism every day.” Thomas added. 

Thomas now works in digital social media at Great West Casualty, a trucking insurance. On a day-to-day basis, Thomas focuses on social media creation, lead generation, driving people to their website, and converting those people. 

Thomas states, “My job is to get people to our website and get people to convert.” 

Many things have changed since his time at Great West Casualty. Due to Covid-19, Thomas works hybrid. He enjoys this work schedule.

“Because who wants to work in an office. That’s kind of boring.” He comments.

Thomas enjoys his time at Great West Casualty because each day looks different for him.

“It’s never the same two days in a row.” Thomas adds. 

Thomas continues to work at Great West Casualty, a place he never imagined he would be at. 

“I never expected I would be working in insurance.”