When thinking about what represents my friend Jake Katzer’s personality best, work ethic is what comes to mind immediately.

Work ethic and discipline are what dominate nearly every aspect of his life, which I was able to observe and be a part of for nearly 4 years.

From academic excellence to leading the Morningside Mustangs defense on the football field, his no- nonsense approach to working extremely hard and prioritizing the right things in his life have brought him success wherever his ventures lead him in college.

In our 4 years as friends and 2 years as roommates, there have been countless situations where his focus and work ethic where evident to me. But there is one situation that stuck out to me especially.

During the winter months of 2017-2018, Jake made it his goal to save as much money on the utilities of the rental that he and his twin brother lived in at the time. While other people would probably go as far as lowering the heating by a couple of degrees and trying to keep their showers under the 20-minute mark, Jake and his brother Joel took it to the next level.

When I would visit them to hang out at their house, I had to remember to bring a warm coat and maybe even a stocking hat. That was because Jake and his brother had decided to completely shut of the heat in the house and only turn it on the lowest degree possible at times to keep the pipes from freezing.

This might sound uncomfortable and even kind of stupid to some people but makes total sense to those who know Jake well. He and his brother were so focused on lowering their bills that having to wear a coat in their own house and having to sleep under 3 blankets was a small sacrifice that they were more than willing to pay.

Jake’s ability to prioritize his goals and to sacrifice almost everything in order to reach them has always fascinated me. In an effort to become more focused and disciplined in my life, I have had many conversations with Jake and his brother about what drives them to live their lives this way. ” Honestly, I just really don’t want to fail anybody.” is an answer I got many of times.

If it is fear of failing the people around him or himself is hard to tell but stories like the cold winter in the house will forever be in my memory when I think about Jake Katzer.

My seat neighbour in my 8 a.m. class is a guy of dark, south American complexion, about 5’11” tall and has black hair. He wore a black winter coat with dark jeans and brown leather shoes.

During the class, we were tasked with a project and he was very excited and passionate about the subject and talked to me and the rest of the group with high energy and with a slight Spanish accent.

He talked about the premiere of his theatre production tonight and also brought most of the input to our project. It was easily noticeable that he was excited about today’s premiere and also that he was slightly nervous.

Broadcasting Article #3

Good evening. My name is Niklas Gustav and welcome to the 8 o’clock news on channel 8. 

First, let’s check in on a groundbreaking discovery in the science world. 

Scientists at UCLA discovered that earth-like planets might be more common in the universe than we think. 

In a NASA funded study at UCLA, a team of astrophysicists and geochemists are using telescope pictures of burned-out stars, called “white dwarfs” to look for rocks that could stem from Earth-like planets in their periphery. 

Alexandra Doyle, who leads the team of scientists explains that the rocks are quite similar to the rocks on Earth and Mars in terms of their oxidized iron. The oxidation of the rocks can mean that the composition of those planets is similar to Earth and that they could potentially support life.

This discovery proves that there could be many more rocky planets like the Earth in other solar systems and that the likelihood of finding one just rose immensely. 

When asking Morningside Bio-Chem major Joel Katzer about this topic he said: “It is really amazing to see how technology and expertise from different fields of science came together here to make apretty groundbreaking new discovery that could potentially change our future dramatically.”

Next up is our sports correspondent from the Morningside campus, that is buzzing in anticipation for this weekend’s CPAC championship football game. 

When Morningside College and Northwestern College clash on the gridiron in Orange City this weekend, the implication of this rivalry are even higher than they were in years past. 

While the long-running rivalry has been the deciding factor for the GPAC championship in each of the recent meeting, this year’s game between the two undefeated teams left in the GPAC while decide the outright GPAC champion on the last regular season game day of the year. 

While Morningside is ranked in the top 3 nationally in virtually every offensive and defensive category, Northwestern College also comes into this game with a strong offense and a defense that is highly ranked nationally. 

With such high implications on the game, it is not surprising that the Morningside campus is bursting with excitement for this duel of the unbeaten.

morningside Senior student Marcus Dodson shares his thoughts on this weekends game: 

“ I think that Morningside is going to travel pretty strong to Northwestern. It is for the championship and I think it is going to be a pretty competitive game.”

And now concerning news from the West Coast where wildfires have been wreaking havoc in both the northern and southern part of the state.

According to Cal Fire, three people were injured in Tehama County, near Sacramento while trying to contain the wildfires in that area. 

The three injured people were part of over 1200 firefighters and personnel that is tirelessly fighting the “Ranch Fire” since Sunday around noon. Despite the injuries, efforts to contain the fire have shown success, as the fire is now over 30% contained, according to Cal Fire. 

Morningside Junior and California native Nicholas Loya has the following to say about the wildfires in his home state : 

“Over the last few years there have been a lot more wildfires due to the California drought . Finally getting out of that drought, it has just been really devastating for a lot of people losing their homes and hopefully the communities can come together and get past this devastation.”

And with this insight, we are saying goodbye for tonight! Thank you for tuning in and make sure to be back tomorrow for your nightly news at 8 on channel 8.