Rikers, New York City jail complex has failed to meet the basic needs of the prisoners. Since October, it has been reported that 30% of correctional officers cannot work. The prisoners are left alone for hours. The authors opinion is to add more jails specifically for people with mental illnesses who should not be grouped with other prisoners. Another opinion of his is to take some vacant jails and turn them into well maintained jails. The point of the story is our incarceration system is lacking in severe ways.

The target audience of this story is everyone. It is a cry for help. The author demands change to our criminal justice system. I think his main focus is our government officials, because they are the only people who can actually make a change. One of the first things said in the story is 30% of correctional officers are not working, so the author could be trying to get more people to work in jails in prisons. I personally do not want to work in a jail or prison, but is is so important we have people that do.

Because a hefty percent of our population is in jail/prison, and the criminal justice system has been a topic of discussion since forever, the story is news. People need to be aware of how poorly prisoners are cared for and protected. This new public opinion would reduce the number of people incarcerated by 2,000. And that is something we should all want and fight for.

Feature Story Ideas:

1. I could talk to a prisoner about how he is cared for and what it is like living in prison
2. I could talk to Eric Adams, because he plans to replace the dangerous jails with smaller humane jails. And he was just elected mayor.

More than a few NFL teams and players have been fined for violating COVID protocol. The Green Bay Packers were fined $300,000 and its quarterback, Aaron Rodgers was fined $14,000. His failure to follow protocol resulted in suspension from the Chiefs game in which they lost 17-3. The isolation period ends this Sunday, so he could make it back in time for his game against Seattle.

I want to go out on a limb and guess most people in the world know who Aaron Rodgers is and, there is no doubt in my mind every single person in the world is aware of the Coronavirus. This story is definitely news. I could ask every single one of my male friends, and they would all know Aaron Rodgers is suspended for violating COVID protocol. That being said, all of them probably think it’s dumb that he was suspended, but if more and more professional athletes disobey these protocols, the league would suffer and my friends won’t be able to sit on the couch all Sunday and watch football.

I wrote a similar story about professional athletes being punished for not following the rules, and authorities are doing a great job of shutting this problem down. These stories are important for us to read, so we all know the punishments for violating COVID rules.

NFL players and coaches especially can benefit from this article. If they weren’t following the rules before, they definitely want to follow them now.

The news story from New York Times and the broadcast story are about Adele’s new single, but are both written very differently.

First off, the leads are significantly different. A broadcast lead is called a throwaway lead which should be one good sentence. The lead from the NYT story has numbers and rankings from billboards while the broadcast lead was “No more gray skies for Adele fans.”

Another big difference is the visual affect that you can’t get from a news article. The broadcast story had an interesting fact about the location of the music video. It was the same house that she recorded her last hit song “Hello”.

Finally, the purpose of the stories are different. The news story is all about how her album is Num.1 on the charts, and the author compares her views to other top artists from the week. However, the broadcast story is mostly about what her song is about. We learn her song was written for her son, so he can understand why she got divorced.

After reading the article from NYT and watching the broadcast story, I found the broadcast story was more emotional and enjoyable to learn from.

The sun is our energy, warmth, our morning. We wouldn’t exist without it. Recent discoveries from a team of astronomers proves it is possible for a planet to survive without its star.

Dr.Blackman and his team of astronomers discovered the first planet to orbit a white dwarf. A white dwarf is a star that burns up all its energy and explodes. A planet has never survived the explosion of its star, until now.

Astronomers are hoping to catch a glimpse of life on this unfamiliar planet. Using the light that the white dwarf projects, it is possible to actually see if life exists. This brings into play a phenomenon researched by Dr. Lisa Kaltenegger called Second Genesis. It suggests that life may not have survived, instead it started over.

Dr. Kaltenegger, a member of the team that found the planet said… “I find the study exciting because it adds to the growing evidence that planets can survive the death of their star, which leads to intriguing questions about the future of the cosmos, If planets can survive the death of their stars, can life as well?”

Distance is the deal breaker. Planets orbiting at a close distance from their star have no chance of surviving its death. Exactly how far does a planet need to be from its star to survive the explosion?

Joshua Blackman, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Tasmania and lead author of the study had this to say…“If humanity is somehow still around in five billion years, we would probably have a better chance of surviving the sun’s red giant phase on a moon of Jupiter than on Earth.”

I would be packing my bags and heading to Jupiter now, but that is not possible.

However, it is possible for a young man to escape prison for life. The story that holds so much attention right now is the case of Kyle Rittenhouse. The 18 year old was at a police brutality protest in Kenosha, Wisconsin last year. He killed two people and injured a third with an AR-15. Rittenhouse pled not guilty. He said he was using the weapon as self defense.

Rittenhouse was charged with two counts of first-degree recklessly endangering safety and three counts of first-degree intentional homicide. His verdict was not guilty on all five counts.

But what’s really surprising is the prosecutor’s attempt to use the video game “Call of Duty” to incarcerate Rittenhouse.

I asked “so and so” how he feels about a prosecutor trying to use COD against him to incriminate him…

This leaves us with the question “If prosecutors can use violent video games against someone to potentially incriminate them, should these games be illegal?”

Popstar, Travis Scott’s Astroworld concert in Dallas, resulted in 300 people injured. The lethal crowd also killed 10 people from ages 30 all the way down to a 10 year old boy. Scott is facing billions of dollars for the damages and death. People were saying he did not stop the concert when he should have.

I asked 21 year old Sadie Roth, a fan of Travis Scott’s music, who she thinks is responsible for this tragedy, the crowd or scott himself… Do you think there should be an age limit for these types of concerts?

Scott released an apology video for his fans and for his fans who passed away at the Astroworld concert.

*Scott Apology*

I’m Alexis Spier. Thank you for listening to KMSC news broadcast at 7.

who is the next tribal chief going to be?

Chief, Earl Old Person of the Blackfeet Tribe was known for his strong arguments regarding the relationship between the United States and the Native American community. He pushed for the United States government to give his tribe money to start businesses. Chief Earl Old Person is one of the few remaining people with the tribe’s ancestral history. He died at the age of 92 on Oct. 13.

Blackfeet Nation consists of 17,000 members. All of these people are affected by the death of their chief. The entire Native American community will be affected without his persistence to finding finance for his community. Chief Old Person’s death is news. It affects a good amount of people, and being chief is like being a celebrity. And when a celebrity dies, it’s always news.

The author’s intended audience is the Native American community, and more specifically the Blackfeet Nation. Chief Old Person was very successful in supporting his Nation financially. Who will step up next? The author did not include who the new chief is going to be. Will he or she be able to support the community?

Last night, I tried a Chicken Chalupa from Taco Bell for the first time. A new meal needs a new drink, so I also tried the Cherry Twilight freeze.

When I had to think about something new to try, I wanted to try something new from a fast food place I go to regularly. Taco Bell came to mind. I’ve tried most things on the menu, but not the Chicken Chalupa.

The Chicken Chalupa alone is $3.19. There is the option between steak or chicken. I chose chicken, because I like it better, and it is cheaper. The Chalupa looks like a taco with a pita bread-like shell with tomatoes lined up like a rainbow. The shell is nicely floured and tasted just the right amount of sweet. The chicken was chopped up perfectly, but there was too much sour cream that took away the flavors of the lettuce, cheese, and chicken. I might order the Chicken Chalupa again, but I would get rid of the sour cream. The Twilight freeze also is not my favorite.

I have drank three different flavors of Baja Blast freeze: Strawberry, Mountain Dew, and now Cherry Twilight freeze. Strawberry remains my favorite flavor. The blueberry and cherry did not mix well together in the Twilight freeze. It smelled and tasted as if I bought a slushy from Kum&Go. However, it looked pretty. Red and blue colors mixed together with highlights of purple. I will not be buying the Cherry Twilight freeze again.

My experience with this taste test inspired me. I would like to try the same entree from different restaurants and decide which one I like better. My next stop will be Qdoba where I will decide if I like the Qdoba burrito or the Chipotle burrito better.

The Morningside women’s swim team was successful in the 2021-22 season, even though the girls knew there would be no National Tournament. In the KCAC tournament, the team never finished last. On day 1 of the tournament, they finished fifth out of eight. On day two, they finished fourth of eight. And on the last day, they placed third of eight.

The season began at St. Ambrose University on October 8th. The girls finished fourth out of four. They hold their heads high as they have a whole season ahead of them, and more importantly, a NAIA National Tournament.

Sophomore, Grace Holzerland is from Sioux City, Iowa and knew the Morningside Swim coach prior to going to Morningside. He was her coach for her club swim team. She started club swimming when she began middle school, but her parents started her off doing swim lessons at a young age. Morningside was the place for Grace.

“Morningside was an easy choice,” said Grace. “I already knew the coach and I knew I was not going to a division one school.”

Holzerland speaks highly of her first year on the swim team, despite breaking her foot and missing the second half of the season.

“I slipped on ice and the next thing I remember is waking up in the snow,” said Grace. “My teammate, Rachel, was there to save me though.”

All three roommates mentioned how close they are with each other. Grace Holzerland and Maddy Slaughter, her roommate, swam on the same club team before college. Grace’s fondest memory of the swim team is driving back on the bus together from the Conference Tournament in Fremont. Rachel Roose’s favorite memory is of Grace breaking her foot.

“Grace breaking her foot is not my favorite memory of my first year,” Roose said, “it’s the best memory of my life. I was holding her in my arms and she was knocked out.”

After a friend convinced Roose to join the swim team in sixth grade, she loved it and stuck with it. Her first year at Morningside, Roose received the All American title and now holds the record for fastest 50 free time. However, she is not satisfied with just that.

“My first year was not what I wanted it to be,” said Roose. “Yeah, I did earn All American, but I did not get a personal record.”

Teammate and roommate, Maddy Slaughter, was happy with her first year. Although she did not break any records, she was excited to see improvement in her back stroke. Considering Slaughter has an older sister on the Morningside swim team, she wants to put the rumors to rest.

“Coming to Morningside had nothing to do with my sister.” said Slaughter. “Covid took my last season of high school away, and I wanted more.”

The 2021-22 swim season started at St. Ambrose University on October 8th. Holzerland, Roose, and Slaughter are clawing for personal records, but would be content with dropping time on their strokes. Holzerland hopes to complete the season with no injuries, while Roose hopes for another life long memory. Slaughter wishes for success for her and her older sister.

The next Morningside swim event will be on October 30th at Gustavus Adolphus. The next dual hosted at Morningside is November 5th against St. Ambrose at 5pm. There are no restrictions due to Covid, so come to Morningside University, find the Hyper gym, and cheer on the Women’s and Men’s Swim Team.

Caroline Matthews and Connor McCarthy had the perfect wedding after meeting at Stanford. They went on a retreat in the Himalayas and fell in love. The two started a business together to help children get an education. Sounds like the perfect couple.

Love stories are written much differently than other news stories. The tone is much more calm and and even hopeful. I enjoy reading love stories. However, this love story is not news. Although it might strike emotion in many, it is not relatable. Not many people go to Stanford. I also believe not many people go on Buddhist retreats. And to be completely honest, I don’t think it’s a good idea to work with your spouse. I read this and thought aww that was sweet but it does not aspire any real benefit to me.

Prior to becoming a correctional officer, John Gonsler was a police officer. The politics of the job drove him away from the profession. A friend of Gonsler’s dad worked with a corrupt. The sheriff framed his friend’s dad, and was caught and not fired.

“That sheriff is dirtier than a pig’s dick”, said Gonsler.

After his police officer days, he worked as a correctional officer for six months. He worked in a medium to maximum security prison surrounded by criminals outnumbering him 160 to one.

With only the protection of pepper spray, handcuffs, and a radar walkie, Gonsler’s job sounds terrifying. He is in charge of 160 prisoners with three things to protect himself. Speaking of terrifying, he saw a prison mate bench 405 pounds multiple times. A prisoner once put 3 dead birds in the hot pot (pot of water to make tea). Later on, Gonsler investigated and found the prisoner had a suitcase full of dead birds.

One day, a prisoner was asking strange questions that did not make sense, and Gonsler found drugs in his suitcase. The prisoner threatened Gonsler, but a gang of prisoners did not like that. The gang beat the prisoner up violently; his face was messed up. That’s when Gonsler realized the correctional officers do not rule the prison, the prison gangs do.

Within these six months, Gonsler reached out to unabomber, Ted Kaczynski. Kaczynski sent bombs through the mail and killed 3 people and injured dozens of others. Kaczynski received Gonsler’s letter and wrote back to him. He was the only serial killer out of 25 to write back to Gonsler.

“If you want to be pen pals with a prisoner, you have to find an in,” said Gonsler. “Find out whatever topics interest them.”

Gonsler and Kaczynski were pen pals for awhile, and it ended badly. One wrong question and Kaczynski had enough. Gonsler was put on a federal security list for seven years.

“I ended up pissing off the unabomber, and he told his, shall we call them groupies,” said Gonsler. “I received some hateful letters.”

In 2011, Gonsler juggled the idea of being a professor. He taught at Flindt Community College. Gonsler earned his masters from Indiana where he also taught. Morningside stood out to him with its up and coming Criminal Justice curriculum.

His colorful personality, dozens of tattoos, ability to hold a room, and experience with people makes him a different professor. A professor that many students enjoy learning from. This is only his third semester teaching at Morningside University.

“I want to expose my students to the good and bad of all these positions, so they know what path to take.” said Gonsler.

Being a police officer and correctional officer is thrilling and an important responsibility. That being said, Gonsler finds himself responsible for the education of his students. Being a professor is just as thrilling to him.

“I really like teaching the Criminal Justice Intro class,” said Gonsler. “Having that tangible experience of a student saying “I enjoyed your class” is special.”

Last night at 11pm, I walked with my boyfriend to Dimmit where he lives. As we were walking up the steep hill, he said to me “You walk slow.” I do have small strides and short legs that make me walk slower.

I looked at him and said, “Why do I need to walk fast? I’m not in any rush.” Then we got into his room and all his friends were in there, so I left. There is not enough room for eight people in a dorm room.