Fundamentals of Journalism Blog

A lot of college age guys spend their time in front of their televisions playing Xbox and sitting in their dorm rooms with their “bros,” just chilling.  Other activities college guys enjoy involve eating, watching or playing sports, participating in outdoor activities, and flirting with pretty girls.

Justin Dixson, a super senior at Morningside College, who is a music major, has many of the qualities that describe college guys.   Justin also enjoys singing old country songs and participating in his music fraternity Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia. He is about 5’10” with brown curly hair, which is starting to grow thin in spots. When he walks he tends to drag his feet so you can here him coming before he even reaches you.

Even though Justin seems like any other guy on a college campus a few things set him apart from others, one being a green and white cane that helps guide him to his destination.  Justin lost vision when he was just a baby.

Justin came to Morningside in 2008 to originally study computer science.

He said, “I didn’t do so hot my first semester, so I decided my second semester why not do something I love? Music! It’s awesome, it’s fun, and I enjoy it.”

After Justin graduates from Morningside, he plans to visit Washington with his aunt to visit a piano tuning school.  One of Justin’s dream jobs is to tune pianos for a living. One of the items the school recommends to have for this job is perfect pitch.  As uncommon as perfect pitch is, Justin has it.  Only one in every 10,000 people have the capability to achieve perfect pitch.  So when a human is missing one sense such as their sight, it only makes sense for something such as perfect pitch to replace it.

Justin has been in the Morningside College Choir since his second semester.  What is it like to have someone in choir who has perfect pitch? Byron Brown, who has been in choir with Justin for two years said,

“It’s pretty much normal as any other choir except we don’t have to have a piano.  If he gives us the right starting pitch we usually as a choir keep it afloat.  It is cool sometimes to see the audiences’ reactions when they realize someone in the choir was the one to give the starting note and not piano.”

Although perfect pitch is uncommon, different people use their talent of it for different reasons.  For Justin he uses his perfect pitch talent for music and it comes in handy for the choir.  Brown admits, “It’s easier to sing next to Justin rather than others.  He’s always on pitch.”

Brown also says their choir is lucky to have someone like Justin in their group.  “In particular, it helps us when we travel.  We don’t have to worry about a piano.  Not many people have the ability to hum every note in tune so it’s cool to have someone in our choir like that.”

How did Justin exactly become visually impaired?  He entered the world three and a half months early weighing only a pound a half.  When he was born the doctors told his parents he only had a five percent survival chance.  After he was born, he was moved to the NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit), where each day he became a healthier, stronger baby.  Through the next three months everything developed properly except his vision.  His optic nerve was damaged in his eyes and both retinas were detached.

“I’m lucky being blind is the only thing wrong with me,” Justin says.

At the age of three, he had surgery to try and fix the optic nerve, but something went wrong in the surgery.  No one is entirely sure what caused it; doctors have narrowed it down to two things. During the surgery, there was either too much oxygen to his eyes or his eyes were deprived of oxygen.  That led him to become visually impaired. He is still able to see shadows such as people right in front of him, movement, or to tell if it’s sunny or cloudy out.

Dixson has overcome many obstacles so far in his 22 years of life.  He has learned tasks such as teaching himself to eat, reading braille, walking around places independently, schoolwork, and other everyday activities.

Justin is usually seen traversing campus alone. He does many things by himself and he gives credit to the visually impaired schools he attended in the past. Although Justin does go places on his own he says it’s easier to go places with others.

One place he will not go by himself though is the cafeteria on campus.  He says if he has no one to go with, he will stay in his room and eat the food he has there.

Someone who accompanies Justin a lot is a close friend of his at Morningside, Andrew Poeckes, or better known as just Poeckes to most.  Many times at supper you will see Justin and Poeckes together because Poeckes serves as Justin’s eyes.  He helps describe the food choices for the meal; gets Justin’s food, drink and silverware; and brings his food to him.  After Justin is all settled Poeckes then gets his own food.  If Justin wants a refill or more food Poeckes goes and gets it for him.  People with their vision all too often take for granted little tasks such as getting their own food.

What does it feel like to be able to help someone who is visually impaired?  Poeckes says, “I think it definitely has its advantages to learn to think about someone else next to you so you aren’t just off in your own little space. You are always with someone else and thinking about someone else.”

Poeckes has to pay special attention when he’s walking with Justin. He described how it feels to be someone else’s eyes.  “Well first you have to get use to the fact there is another person right next to you.  A particular event that this can relate to was when we were in Italy.  I had to keep looking at the ground to make sure I wasn’t running him into things.  It’s the thought of always having to pay attention to where you’re going.”

People with their vision often wonder how people who are visually impaired get around by themselves.  For Justin it deals with memorization.  For the first few trips to a new building he asked hall mates to accompany him to his classes.  Once he had paths memorized it became easier.  After he had all of his requirements other than his major out of the way it became even easier when he basically only had to make trips from Roadman, his dorm room, to Mac Collins, the music building.

The way Justin memorizes his way to classes is by doors.  One of the nosiest doors on campus he explained is the first side door walking to the Mac Collins building.

He says, “That door is squeaky.  When I leave my room, I go outside Roadman South’s door and if the wind is blowing the right way I can hear the door and say to myself, ‘Oh there’s Eppley.’”

Justin also uses the Science Center door to gauge where he is although he describes that door as fairly quiet.  Justin says he has to start walking right towards the building before he can hear it opening and closing.

Since Dixson has been here five years now he’s pretty much got all the paths to different buildings memorized.  Memorizing anything for someone with their vision and someone without is very different.

“I’ll have someone lead me there.  I don’t count my steps. I just have someone point out which building is which for the first few times.  Someone will say, ‘Okay, we’re going to the science center’ and I’ll hear a sound of the building and memorize that sound.”

Knowing where buildings are located for Justin has to do with just remembering.  If he doesn’t remember he has learned to not be afraid to ask.

Once people first meet Justin they aren’t sure how to act because he can’t see them.  After they have been around him awhile they realize Justin is a normal guy just without his vision.  He’s got a one of a kind laugh, a voice of an angel when he sings and a very kind heart.  Next time you see Justin out walking by himself ask him where he’s going and if you can help him.  You just might learn what it is like to be another person’s eyes for a little bit.

A lot of college age guys spend their time in front of their televisions playing Xbox and sitting in their dorm rooms with their “bros,” just chilling.  Other activities college guys enjoy involve eating, watching or playing sports, participating in outdoor activities, and flirting with pretty girls.

Justin Dixon, a super senior at Morningside College, who is a music major, has many of the qualities that describe college guys.   Justin also enjoys singing old country songs and participating in his music fraternity Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia. He is about 5’10” with brown curly hair, which is starting to grow thin in spots.  Not that Justin is fat, but he is a little pudgy.  When he walks he tends to drag his feet so you can here him coming before he even reaches you.

Even though Justin seems like any other guy on a college campus a few things set him apart from others, one being a green a white stick that helps guide him to his destination.  Justin lost vision when he was just a baby.

Justin came to Morningside in 2008 to originally study computer science.

He said, “I didn’t do so hot my first semester, so I decided my second semester why not do something I love? Music! It’s awesome, it’s fun, and I enjoy it.”  He says he didn’t so well his first semester because he didn’t really know what he was doing in terms of programming.  Justin didn’t want to get into that side of computer science; he wanted to get more involved with the hardware of computers, the more physical side of computers, not software.

Most people can fulfill a degree in four years if not sooner.  Being visually impaired and having to fulfill all the requirements it’s taken Justin a few years longer.

One problem in particular Justin has had to overcome within the last year was facing the decision of going to a class or not that discussed death.  That topic may seem like a very ordinary topic to discuss but for Justin, his dad unexpectedly passed away on February 14, 2012.    He remembers that day saying,

“I was in class and after I got out I had four missed calls and a voicemail from my mom. I figured something was urgent. When I called her back, she said, ‘Justin, your dad has passed away.’ I didn’t believe her at first. Then she went on to tell me what had happened. She said someone would be here to pick me up within the next few hours.”

After Justin came back to school he said he didn’t care; he didn’t care about that class.  He didn’t want to sit in a class and discuss death after one of his family members died.  Today Justin says he has grown to except the fact his dad is gone and his grieving process is healing more quickly.  He speaks about his grieving process.

“Probably for one thing, I’m the oldest and I’m away at school.  I don’t have that constant absence, like if I were at home.  The other reason is because I have never seen him, like what he really looks like. I have this imagine in my mind what he looked like but I’m not sure if that was correct. My brothers, mom, and step mom all knew what he looked like so it’s probably harder for them not being able to see him everyday.  Me not being able to see him my entire life has made it easier to cope with.”

Anyone who has walked around on Morningside’s campus can tell that the campus isn’t visually impaired friendly.    Surprisingly, Justin didn’t choose the college he was going to attend based on how visually impaired friendly it was.  It actually had nothing to do with his decision at all.

You may be wondering by now just how Mr. Dixon became visually impaired.  It all started the day he entered the world.  Dixon entered the world three and a half months early weighing only a pound a half.  When he was born the doctors told his parents he only had a five percent survival chance.  After he was born, he was moved to the NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit), where each day he became a healthier, stronger baby.  Through the next three months everything developed properly except his vision.  His optic nerve was damaged in his eyes and both retinas were detached from both eyes.

“I’m lucky being blind is the only thing wrong with me,” Justin says.

At the age of three, he had surgery to try and fix the optic nerve, but something went wrong in the surgery.  No one is entirely sure what caused it; they have narrowed it down to two things. During the surgery, there was either too much oxygen to his eyes or his eyes were deprived of oxygen.  That unfortunately led him to become visually impaired except for being able to see shadows such as people right in front of him, movement, or to tell if it’s sunny or cloudy out.

Dixon has overcome many obstacles so far in his 22 years of life.  He has learned tasks such as teaching himself to eat, reading braille, walking around places independently, schoolwork, and other everyday activities.

If you see Dixon on campus, most of the time he is alone. He does many things by himself. Back when Justin was growing up he went a school in Vinton, Iowa and went to the Iowa Braille and Sight Saving School where they taught him orientation and mobility.  Justin was taught how to use a cane, how to navigate to certain areas, how to cross streets safely, and how to travel the right way.

Justin further developed being independent the summer of 2005 when he went to another school in Des Moines called Iowa Department of the Blind.  At this school his teachers sent him out on different paths and had to get back to the school on his own.  This was a way of learning to ask for help when he was lost and couldn’t figure out where to go.

Dixon admits it’s easier to go along with someone than going anywhere on his own.  One place he will not go by himself though is the cafeteria at Morningside.  He says if he has no one to go with, he will stay in his room and eat the food he has there.

Someone who accompanies Justin a lot is a close friend of his at Morningside, Andrew Poeckes, and better known as just Poeckes to most.  Many times at supper you will see Justin and Poeckes together because Poeckes serves as Justin’s eyes during this time.  He helps describe the food choices for the meal, gets Justin’s food, drink and silverware and brings his food to him.  After Justin is all settled in for a meal Poeckes then gets his own food.  If Justin wants a refill or more food Poeckes goes and gets it for him.  People with their vision all too often take for granted little tasks such as getting their own food.

What does it feel like to be able to help someone who is visually impaired?  Poeckes says, “I think it definitely has its advantages to learn to think about someone else next to you so you aren’t just off in your own little space. You are always with someone else and thinking about someone else.”

As mentioned above, Poeckes helps Justin out a lot with getting meals.  Have you ever imaged just being someone’s eyes for them describing what every object is in front of them?  Not only getting food for Justin, Poeckes described how it feels to be someone else’s eyes.  “Well first you have to get use to the fact there is another person right next to you.  A particular event that this can relate to was when we were in Italy.  I had to keep looking at the ground to make sure I wasn’t running him into things.  It’s the thought of always having to pay attention to where you’re going.”   

For any visually impaired person, someone with his or her vision often wonders how do they get around by themselves.  For Justin it deals with memorization.  For the first few trips to a new building he asked hall mates to accompany him to his classes.  Once he had paths memorized it became easier.  After he had all of his requirements other than his major out of the way it became even easier when he basically only had to make trips from his dorm room from Roadman to Mac Collins, which is where all the music classes are held.

Other classes during Justin’s earlier years he memorized things for him to know where he was at by the sounds doors made to different buildings.  One of the nosiest doors on campus he explained is the first side door walking to the Mac Collins building.

He says, “That door is squeaky.  When I leave my room, I go outside Roadman South’s door and if the wind is blowing the right way I can hear the door and say to myself, ‘Oh there’s Eppley.’”

Another example of doors is the science center.  He describes that door as fairly quiet.  Justin says he has to start walking right towards it before he can hear it opening and closing.

Since Dixon has been here five years now he’s pretty much got all the paths to different buildings memorized.  Memorizing anything for someone with their vision and someone without is very different.  Justin takes us through the process.

“I’ll have someone lead me there.  I don’t count my steps. I just have someone point out which building is which for the first few times.  Someone will say, ‘Okay, we’re going to the science center’ and I’ll hear a sound of the building and memorize that sound.”

A lot of remembering where buildings are for Justin has to do with just remembering or he isn’t afraid to ask either.

Many people take little things for granted like reading a book, texting, typing, and even eating.  Imagine trying to do these activities without having your vision.  Although it may seem very hard or strenuous Justin does everyday activities like these.  He can text, he can read, he can type, and he can eat.  It’s just a little different than people who have their vision.

Justin texts by speaking into it his iPhone messaging application or if it’s really long he can use a Bluetooth keyboard to type on. He also types the same way on his computer using a program built into MacBook called Text Edit.  Technology has grown to accommodate everyone.  He reads by braille and whenever he needs to order books for class he gets them through a company called RFB and D (Recordings for the Blind and Dyslectic.)  Dixon says, “The company has downloadable books where you just pick the books you need, buy them, and then download them on your computer so you just can just listen to them when you need to.”

Dixon admitted at times it would be tough to stay caught up on readings when there were three or four books for a class.  He also couldn’t always find books that he needed.

Have you ever wondered what it feels like to not be able to see or to walk around and not know where you’re going? Justin described it as best as he can.

“That’s hard for me.  I’ve been blind all my life so that’s all I’ve ever known.  I can see light, shade, shadow, and color.  If light is lit within, say a disco ball or black light, I can tell what color that is.  If it’s just a shirt, I’m not very good at telling what color that is.  The best way to see what it feels like to be blind is to put a blindfold on and walk around with that for the day. Use your senses that you have, smelling, feeling, hearing and tasting.

When a human being is missing something just a sight they become very reliant on another sense.  For Justin he relies a lot on his hearing.  Something interesting about Justin that you wouldn’t know about him if you just looked at him is that he has perfect pitch.  The definition of perfect pitch is the ability to recognize the pitch of a note or to produce any given note, a sense of absolute pitch.

Since Justin’s second semester at Morningside he’s been in choir.  What’s it like having someone in choir who has perfect pitch? It’s not common to come across people who have perfect pitch, in fact only one in every 10,000 people have it.  (ASK WATSON)

A question commonly wondered for anyone who has been without their vision for a while is if they could choose to, would they want it back?  Justin says if given the choice, no he wouldn’t want it back.

“I’ve lived this way for the past 22 years.  I’ve never known anything other than this so if I could change it now, no I wouldn’t.  Now if I were five or 10, maybe I would have a different answer.  With being as old as I am now I would have to relearn everything as crazy as that sounds.”

Many people would be surprised by Justin’s answer but for those who know the young man, it shouldn’t surprise anyone.  He gets around great and deals with what he has.

What are Justin’s impressions of people? Today people often make impressions on the first thing they see of someone. Imagine if you were visually impaired and you couldn’t see anyone. Do you think your impressions of someone would change if you never saw them? Justin says he doesn’t think his impression of people would change.

Exactly how does Justin get impressions of anyone he’s around? Justin says, “Let’s say I’m walking with someone and I have my hand on their arm or elbow, I get a mental image of what that person looks like by just touching that person’s arm or elbow.  Whenever I walk with a girl I get an image in my head of what size she is.”  Chuckling, he continued by saying, “Am I checking them out? Well, maybe but I’m a guy!”

Once people first meet Justin they aren’t sure how to act because he can’t see you.  After they have been around him awhile they realize, Justin is a normal guy just without his vision.  He’s got a one of a kind of laugh, a voice of an angel when he sings and a very kind heart.  Next time you see Justin out walking by himself ask him where he’s going and if you can help him.  You just might learn what it is like to be another person’s eyes for a little bit.

Final Story #3

New build/Renovation:

By 2020, Morningside College should have a bit of a new look to it. The title of this project is named “Vision 2020 Transformation II.”

The goal within the next eight years is to raise $50 million. About $30 million of it has already been raised.  According to Morningside’s website, the money will be used for facility improvements, and endowment and annual scholarship funds.

The money raised will fund a new academic building, which will hold classrooms and a new advising center.  An outdoor plaza will be added around the new building, the science center, and the Learning Center.

The Learning Center will be remodeled as well.  The new academic building and the learning center renovation will be the first big project completed.

The next step to the project will be to renovate Dimmitt Hall and Eppley Auditorium.

The other money raised for this project is going to annual scholarships for students and endowments.

Questions to ask: “How are you using current student opinion to influence your decisions?”

“What are the benefits of adding a building to the campus?”

“Do you think this will affect tuition in the long run for students?”

Food Drive:

Being hungry and not having food to eat is never a good thing.  The only thing worse than being hungry is being a little kid with no understanding of why there’s nothing to eat.

Food 4 Kids is sponsoring a food drive to help children at Whittier Elementary School. At Whittier, 67 percent of the students qualify for free or reduced lunches.

The goal of this program is to get pre-packaged food bags for children over the weekend to keep their bellies full.  There has been such a demand for these food bags; the Backpack program can’t meet the need for them anymore.

Food 4 Kids is a program created by the St. James United Methodist Church.  Right now, this group provides sack lunches to the kids at Whittier on the last Friday of the month.  The groups’ goal is to distribute these food bags every Friday starting in January.  After this goal is accomplished, Food 4 Kids would like to expand to five other needy elementary schools in the Sioux City area.

Food 4 Kids is asking for help from the students at Morningside.  Within the dorms, there will be totes for food collected.  The program accepts cereal cups/boxes, granola bars, snack pudding, juice boxes, individual bags of peanuts, peanut butter filled crackers, fruit cups, fruit snacks, and beef sticks.

The residence halls will be having a competition to see who can collect the most food for each building on campus.  In January, the overall winner will receive a catered meal by Sodexo.   Food collection will begin November 17 and end on December 3.

CAM:

The annual Christmas at Morningside is right around the corner.  The performance is set for November 30 in Eppley Auditorium.

All groups participating have been practicing for a few months now.  The groups performing are Bel Canto, the women’s choir, Singing Men, college choir, choral union (a mix of the three choirs) and a group of elderly people called master choral.  The band also performs by themselves and with the choirs.

The overall concert will last approximately an hour and a half.  A lot of hard work and dedication has been put into this performance.  So break out that Christmas spirit a little early and enjoy some carols by your very own Morningside students.

In May the National Football League referees’ contracts came to an end. When the referees went on strike, the NFL discovered they had a problem because neither side would be coming to an agreement anytime soon.  After the first few weeks of the regular season fans realized how important the regular referees were to the game of football.

Mike Ehn, Laurens-Marathon athletic director, head high school football coach, and a referee himself, said the replacement referees didn’t fail like most fans thought. “I don’t think the replacement refs failed. They were put into a situation where they did not have the experience and the speed of the game was just too fast for them.”

If the replacement referees did not fail, what do people consider a good referee to be? Luke Arnts, a die-hard Minnesota Vikings fan, said “A good referee is some who makes decisions quickly without hesitation.  A good ref needs experience in the league before he has seen and made all the calls.”

According to the book, Psychology of refereeing, “a referee must commit to four responsibilities. One, to see to it that the sporting event takes place in accordance with the rules of the game. Two, to intervene as little as possible and not make themselves the center of attention. Three, to establish and maintain a good atmosphere so as to make the event as enjoyable as possible.  And four, to show an interest in the players.”

On Monday night, September 24, the Green Bay Packers played the Seattle Seahawks, and as time expired off the clock, quarterback Russell Wilson threw a hail Mary and Green Bay safety M.D. Jennings and Seahawk receiver Golden Tate went up and both came down with the ball.  One referee ruled the play as an interception as the other ref ruled it a touchdown, which ended up being the call.

Tuesday, talk began the NFL and the referees could be coming to an agreement after Monday night’s game. By Thursday September 27, the regular referees were back on the field for the Cleveland Browns and Baltimore Ravens game.

It wasn’t an easy process to figure out how to get the referees back.  Of course most of the controversy dealt with money.  According to an article on ESPN, “The tentative pact calls for their salaries to increase from an average of $149,000 a year in 2011 to $173,000 in 2013, rising to $205,000 by 2019.”  The article went on to say, “Retirement benefits will be provided for new hires and for all officials beginning in 2017 through a defined contribution arrangement.”

As of next season, the league has the option of being able to hire referees to work all year compared to right now only working part time.

With all the scrutiny on how bad the replacement refs were it brings up a good question that wasn’t talked about much.  Obviously, there were differences between the regular refs and the replacements, but what were they exactly?

Ehn said, “I think the real referees have the experience and knowledge and that is why they were hired. Because they are best at what they do.”

Over 700 Morningside students packed Eppley Auditorium as the annual “Into the Streets” took place Wednesday, October 3rd.  51 groups helped as they went out into the Siouxland community to volunteer for the morning.

This was my second year volunteering with into the streets and I loved the opportunity to give back to the community I live in. Last year I went with my passport class to Dakota Dunes to remove sandbags from the flooding during the summer of 2011. This year I went with 13 other members of the CHA CHA (wellness group) and campus ministry groups to the third through fifth grade elementary school in Sergeant Bluff.

Each member of our group was sent to a separate classroom where we worked with the teacher and the kids in that class one on one.

One of the members from the CHA CHA group, sophomore Drew Nolan said, “It was great to take a break from schoolwork to give our service to people who really appreciated it.   All the teachers at Sergeant Bluff School seemed very grateful.  It was also fun to be able to go back a few years and play with kids for the morning in P.E.”

I worked with a fourth grade classroom where the teacher had me do busy work for her. I laminated sheets of paper and cut them out. I also sorted box tops for education and put them on sheets of paper. I never really had much interaction with the students but the teacher seemed to really appreciate my help.

I was grateful for the opportunity to help someone who needed it and seemed to appreciate it.  After we got done, it was fun to be able to discuss with the rest of our group what they all experienced.  Even though our group all went to the same place each of us had a different story to tell.  Some listened to the students read, some graded papers for the teachers, and others did busy work for the teachers.  Overall each of us had a great experience working at the Sergeant Bluff elementary school.

The people who wear the black and white stripped shirts on game days might as well be wearing a target on their back. As soon as a fan, player, or coach thinks they made a bad call, the referee is automatically looked at as the bad person.

In May, the National Football League referees’ contracts came to an end the NFL found themselves in trouble because it was apparent the league and the referees were not going to come to an agreement anytime soon.  In fact, that agreement wasn’t made until the last few days of September after the season had already started.  Because the season still had to go on without the regular referees, the NFL began looking for replacement refs across the country.  The replacement referees who filled in came from various jobs such as teachers, real estate agents, lawyers, vice presidents of banks, youth referees, and many college referees.

On Monday night, September 24^th, the Green Bay Packers played the Seattle Seahawks when the replacement referees made a call that has been talked about now for weeks.  The call will go down as one of the most controversial calls in the history of the NFL.  As time expired off the clock, quarterback Russell Wilson threw a Hail Marry and Green Bay safety M.D. Jennings and Seahawk receiver Golden Tate went up and both came down with the ball.  One referee ruled the play as an interception as the other ref ruled it a touchdown.  The rest of Monday night and most of Tuesday was filled with people’s thoughts across the country.  Rich Eisen, an NFL analyst, went to Twitter after the game saying, “We wondered when the replacement refs would cost a team a game. I believe we just saw one.”

After the Packers Seahawks game, talk began maybe this was what the NFL and the referees needed to get the situation figured out.  Fortunately, they did.  By Thursday night September 27th, the regular referees were welcomed with a standing ovation as they made their way on the field to ref the Browns and Ravens game.

It wasn’t an easy process to figure out how to get the referees back.  Of course most of the controversy dealt with money.  According to the article, “Refs due back Thursday night,” it stated, “The tentative pact calls for their salaries to increase from an average of $149,000 a year in 2011 to $173,000 in 2013, rising to $205,000 by 2019.”  The article went on to say, “Retirement benefits will be provided for new hires and for all officials beginning in 2017 through a defined contribution arrangement.”  As of next season, the league has the option of being able to hire referees to work all year compared to right now only working part time.

With all the scrutiny on “how bad the replacement refs were,” it brings up a good question that wasn’t talked about much.  Obviously, there were differences between the regular refs and the replacements but what were they exactly?  And what exactly makes a regular ref a good ref?

Laurens-Marathon’s Mike Ehn, the head high school football coach, the athletic director, and a referee himself said, “I think the real referees have the experience and knowledge and that is why they were hired. Because they are best at what they do.” Ehn went on to say, “A good referee is someone who hustles to get into position, calls a fair game, and is not noticed in the game.  They allow the players to decide the outcome of the game.”

Someone else who might not have quite the experience as Mike Ehn has had with referees but has been watching football since he could hold his head up, Luke Arnts, a die hard Minnesota Vikings fan says, “The regular referees are better because they have years upon years of experience. They have also dealt with and seen every odd situation that has appeared in the game.” Arnts thoughts on what makes a good referee were, “They make decisions quickly without hesitation.  Like I said before, a good ref needs experience in the leagues before he has seen and made all the calls.”

A lot of comparing was been done between the replacement and regular officials.  Fans were used to the way the regular referees called the game.   Many fans seemed to think the replacement refs failed but maybe that wasn’t the case.

Luke Arnts said, “I don’t believe the replacements failed. They did the best job they knew how given the circumstances they were thrown into.  Yes, they made mistakes, but the regulars have made mistakes since coming back too.”

Mike Ehn agreed with Arnts saying, “I don’t think the replacement refs failed. They were put into a situation where they did not have the experience and the speed of the game was just too fast for them.”

No matter if the person who calls a game is a replacement or regular referees, all of them are human.  Not a single refereeing squad has ever had a perfect game.  At the end of the day, they are all people. It’s not the people in the stripped shirts fault for the outcome of the game. Teams win some and lose some and then life goes on.

Dimmitt Hall, on the campus of Morningside College, is located at 3318 Vine Avenue between Rosen Verdoorn Sport Center and Elwood Stadium.  This residence hall can house up to 384 students and appears as a big brick building from the outside. On the inside it’s social with very outgoing students who like to have fun whatever it is they are doing.

Walking up the ancient, antique looking staircases on either of the main entrances you are welcomed by hot, muggy air and depending the time of day, either a very engaged lobby or a dead lobby.   Between the hours of 8:00 am and 4:00 pm Dimmitt is normally a pretty quiet place. When students begin coming back from classes and sports practices, Dimmitt is a social place and doesn’t die down until around one or two am on weekdays. Most students are very friendly always smiling, laughing with one another, and very talkative with anyone they meet in the hallways.

Dimmitt is made of fifteen different halls. Traditional, wellness, freshman, sorority, and fraternity make up the halls.  If you are a resident of a different building or just someone visiting, Dimmitt may seem as if it could consume you and get you lost in all the winding halls.  However when someone breaks it down for you, it’s not so confusing.  The building is broke up into east and west and new and old. To put it simply, anyone who lives on east is a boy and anyone who lives on west is a girl.  Facing the building, the “new” wings go east and west. Both “old” wings face south.

Within some of the halls, they have their own themes such as the Jungle, the Dungeon, and Sunset Strip.  The Residence Life staff tries to spice up the halls each year and naming or giving a theme to a hall is just another way to do so.

Residence Halls, especially Dimmitt, has changed a lot over the years.  Dimmitt Hall was built in 1926 and was named after Lilian E. Dimmitt. She was the Dean of Women at Morningside for 26 years.  It use to be an all woman’s dorm and today is a guys and girls dorm.  To learn about the founder of this building, the formal lounge, on the main floor, has pictures of her and information about who she was.

The formal lounge is one of the most unique places in the whole building of Dimmitt.  It’s one of the places you see when you tour Morningside before even deciding where you’ll go to college. If you live in Dimmitt, the formal lounge is the place you come when you check in to get your keys.  Some times the formal lounge is a place you can come to find a quiet place to study.  Sophomore, Dimmitt resident, Colleen Murray says, “Dimmitt is a great place to live. It’s got places to go when you want to be social and it’s also got places to go when you need a quiet place.  The history of the building is pretty neat too.”

From the history of the building, to the staircases and rooms that make it look historic, Dimmitt is an interesting place to be.  Come check it out!

Dimmitt Hall, on the campus of Morningside College, is located at 3318 Vine Avenue between Rosen Verdoorn Sport Center and Elwood Stadium.  To anyone that isn’t a resident of Dimmitt Hall, it’s probably just an old brick building.  The person who thinks it’s just an old brick building probably doesn’t know how historic Dimmitt really is.

Walking up the ancient, antique looking staircases on either of the main entrances you are welcomed by hot, muggy air and depending the time of day, either a very engaged lobby or a dead lobby.   Between the hours of 8:00 am and 4:00 pm Dimmitt is normally a pretty quiet place. Students will come to and from class and during the day not many students are around.  When students begin coming back from classes and sports practice, Dimmitt’s a social place and doesn’t die down until around one or two am on weekdays.  Dimmitt is also mainly a freshman hall and at night tends to be very social.  Most students are very friendly always smiling, laughing with one another, and very talkative with anyone they meet in the hallways.

Dimmitt is made of fifteen different halls. Traditional, wellness, freshman, sorority, and fraternity make up the halls.  If you are a resident of a different building or just someone visiting, Dimmitt may seem as if it could consume you and get you lost in all the winding halls.  However when someone breaks it down for you, it’s not so confusing.  The building is broke up into east and west and new and old. To put it simply, anyone who lives on east is a boy and anyone who lives on west is a girl.  Facing the building, the “new” wings go east and west. Both “old” wings face south.

Within some of the halls, they have their own themes such as the Jungle, the Dungeon, and Sunset Strip.  The Residents Life staff tries to spice up the halls each year and naming or giving a hall a theme is just another way to do so.

Residence Halls, especially Dimmitt, has changed a lot over the years.  Dimmitt Hall was built in 1926 and was named after Lilian E. Dimmitt, the Dean of Women at Morningside for 26 years.  It use to be an all woman’s dorm and today is a guys and girls dorm.  To learn about the founder of this building, the formal lounge, on the main floor, has pictures of her and information about who she was.

The formal lounge is one of the most unique places in the whole building of Dimmitt.  It’s one of the places you see when you tour Morningside before even deciding where you’ll go to college. If you live in Dimmitt, the formal lounge is the place you come when you check in to get your keys.  Some times the formal lounge is a place you can come to find a quiet place to study.  Sophomore, Dimmitt resident, Colleen Murray says, “Dimmitt is a great place to live. It’s got places to go when you want to be social and it’s also got places to go when you need a quiet place.  The history of the building is pretty neat too.”

From the history of the building, to the staircases and rooms that make it look historic, Dimmitt is an interesting place to be.  Come check it out!

When Hannah Hecht isn’t busy with school, you can find her in a pool, working at the writing center, which is a newly acquainted job, hanging out with friends, playing board games, or watching sitcoms.

Ms. Hecht, a sophomore English major and journalism minor at Morningside College is from Lansing, Kansas.  She chose Morningside because it’s a small liberal arts college that also offers swimming.  Where Hecht comes from in Kansas, there isn’t a big selection of liberal arts colleges that has swimming available as well.

With one reason Hannah picking Morningside being swimming, when their coach, Steve Mohs, left to go to another school to coach, it wasn’t easy for her or her other teammates.  Hecht stated,

“He was the best coach I’d never had. At meets he’d be jumping up and down the whole time.”

She went on to say she’s excited for what the future holds with a new coach and the season ahead.  With everything the team has faced this off season, Hannah, along with her teammates are eager to get back in the water.

Hecht has many other interesting stories, including getting to see the swimming Olympic trials this summer and many other swimming stories.  The most recent and exciting story she has was getting to see President Obama this past Saturday on campus.

If you don’t know Hannah and would like it, she’s a very energetic, fun girl who would give you an interesting story or an ear to listen to if needed. She may even just be able to edit your next paper with her new job!