Profile Darius Hicks

It was a good game against Grandview and the team did what I knew they could do. We are now excited and preparing for the championship. Darius Hicks has changed from playing on the field to coaching on the side. He still feels the rush of the games and the play but as a coach it’s a different type of adrenalin rush to watch the team do what the all work so hard every week to accomplish.  Darius Hicks is a Morningside College alum a current defensive back coach for the mustangs. Darius is 26 and from Kansas Missouri where he started his football career, he attended Morningside college from 2012- 2015 and started coaching there as a defensive back not very long after graduating. Darius also known as coach Hicks is passionate about football and takes pride in his accomplishments with the team. He relates to the men on the team because not that long ago he was one of them.

Hicks at first found this as a struggle being when he tried to establish authority at when he first began coaching. Yes, the players respected him but some of them went from calling him a teammate to coach with in a year. But he took on the challenge and did not use any scare tactics but just talked to them as friends and let them now that as a coach he will not tolerate certain behavior anymore. With each year it becomes easier for him to draw that line and make it clear to how his relationship with the players should be. He did not take the fun out of it though he still bounded with the player and was opened himself up to be their mentor. Wendy Wilde, Administrative Assistant for

Athletics has watched Darius grow into the coach he is today. Wendy also knew Hicks when he attended Morningside as a player and knew that he would be a good leader and is good with the team now. Wendy talked about how every year he hosts a thanksgiving dinner and cooks everything himself and invited the men on the team who may not be able to go home during break because of weather or because of how far they live. He opens his doors up to them and makes sure everyone takes a plate home because he makes so much. Darius Hick is a man with a big heart and when it comes to his team there is not much, he won’t do for them. Player Anthony Sims is very close with coach Hicks and just feels like not all the people at the school or even some people on the team understand him and his life’s struggles so far.

Anthony who goes by Sims says that he knows he can always go to Hicks because he knows, he understands his struggles and how hard he needs to ball on the field because football has been more than just a sport it’s been his way out. Through his time at attended Morningside Darius has faced a series of struggles with health both personal and with his family. When Darius was a junior both his parents were diagnosed with cancer. He wanted to be there with his family during this hard time financially and emotionally with his older brother who is in a wheelchair being the only one at home at the time. He felt obligated to help as much as he could, so he worked a part time job on his off season and when he didn’t have games or practices. His father did not survive the cancer, but his mother did. This took a toll on Hicks because everything he knew about being a man he learned from his father. With the family supporting each other they all got through that hard death. 5 years later Darius himself was diagnosed with cancer and due to other reasons as well took a break from coaching the mustangs. During that break he did not end his contact with some of the players because he was more than just a coach to them, he was a mentor. Hicks started chemotherapy and caught the cancer early enough that he was able to beat it. Darius not in good health is back with the mustangs and has been having a great season with the team as they go undefeated into the national championship to Louisiana. Darius has high hope for this next game and for the teams future.  

Mathew’s Anecdote

Mathew O’Connell graduated in 2016 from sergeant bluffs Luton high – school. After graduating he attended Kirkwood college but only for 1 year and then he realized that Western Iowa Tech (WIT) was a better fit for him. While at WIT Mathew helped out with the streaming radio that the schools mass communications department had. That as well as him being very involved with the Sioux City conservatory of music which to this day he still goes there and helps the kids elementary aged through early high school with music theory classes. He is not able to commit as much time as he used but his passion for music is still vibrant. Since attending Morningside college Mathew has gotten involved with KMSC and that is Morningside Colleges radio station. 

Mathew still takes every opportunity he can to work with musicians and to talk to others about his experiences that he gained from the helping out with both WIT’s streaming radio station and the Morningside’s live radio station. Mathew knows that there is still a lot to be learned but in the meantime he will be sharing his knowledge with others such as the kids at the conservatory every step of the way. 

In class Press Release

The Midland Zoo has had its limit of loss. With 3 unrelated deaths and 3 different animals we are taking action to each case individually and if there is improvements to be made they are already in the works.

Homer the 16 year old bear and the oldest in the zoo death was a shock seeing as so polar bears live to see 20 or 30 years of age. Homer passed away sometime after his feeding. “Homer was curious and playful polar bear and we will miss him terribly” said zookeeper Sara N Getty. “We will do everything in our power to find out why this bear died Animal welfare and the preservation of species are our primary goals here at the zoo” said Zoo director Chris P. Bacon.

We also are saying goodbye to Regina a 10 year old bob cat who had been struggling with health condition prior till her death. Regina died from renal failure last week. Kenya a 6 year old giraffe has also bid us farewell.

The zoo main focus is to improve the quality for both the animals and the people who visit.

News Comment

Daca which stands for Deferred Action for Children Act; is being questioned and reformed in law. People are now saying that this is illegal, and we should end the hosting of these undocumented people in the US, to help with immigrations poly. 

Many people on the opposing side of this argument think that this will cause a huge negative shift in the economy. So many people who are Daca and Dreamer recipients would be pushed out of the country. These are people who were educated in America and have had jobs here and build families also people who are in our military. 

Deciding whether or not this was illegal from the begging and how to make take the proper steps to respectfully help the country and the immigrants. Is what they are trying to figure out because they have already been sued and those cases did not end in their favor  

Morning Problem with Latrell

Latrell a 6’4, 400 pound African American man his favorite controversial black sweat shirt, sweat pants and black shoes with his hood up and head phones in. Walked into the cafeteria with a resting bitch face and the attitude to match. He and I sat across from each other in the Morningside cafeteria for breakfast and we did not say one word to each other. We take turns peeking at each other and then looking away but no words were spoke as I watched him eat his waffle in amazement that someone could eat something so sweet would be so appetizing to someone this early in the morning. When we existed the building and I started heading left and he right he said Tauna come on which had been the first words spoken to me since before we had entered the cafeteria.

He continued and said I’m still mad at you but I will drop you off at class. I got into the tan Buick which was still warm from when the heat was on from the drive from Latrells house to the cafeteria. He said I’m mad you made me walk in by myself. I said that I had already paid for you to eat and the lady at the front who scans ID’s knew that you were coming in and who you are and all you had to do was walk in and say hi and then come sit down. It’s uncomfortable said Latrell, so what I said i’m not coming to the front just to walk you in, you can just get over it.

He said that I should know what its like to be uncomfortable with something and used the example of me not wanting to stay at his mother house. but I rapidly cut him short and said I still did it multiple times and I just had to get over not being very comfortable with that. I got out of the car and entered the Hickman Hobbs Learning Center AKA the rustic chic Morningside library that looks a lot older on the outside than it does on the inside.

News Comment 11

“Cancel culture” is a topic that has been under debate for quite some time. Some people see “cancelling” someone as holding them accountable for their actions. Others see it as people being overly sensitive.

One main criticism of cancel culture is that it does not allow the person to grow from their mindset or actions, because once someone is cancelled, there is not uncancelling them. There are people who are cancelled for making offensive jokes, and others who are cancelled over accusations of being a sexual predator.

The article names a time when a girl at a catholic school “cancelled” someone for refusing to stop playing R. Kelly in the classroom, who is not only known for his iconic songs like “I believe I can fly” and “step in the name of love”, he is also known for preying on underage girls. 

The main problem with cancel culture is that you never know how petty of an offense it was for you to get cancelled. There are people who were cancelled because of a joke they made a decade ago, it just doesn’t allow room for change. Chris Brown could go decades without getting into trouble and go to therapy and make a complete 180 and people will still call him woman beater. 

There needs to be some sort of middle ground where people are held accountable for the wrong they do, but also provide room for growth. Some people who have done bad things in the past and try to grow from it after being cancelled feed bullied because no matter how hard they try to improve themselves, they will always be cancelled.

News Comment 10

With the current presidential election still brewing up steam in the media and news outlet. The subject of the article was the opioid epidemic and how other candidates are pushing their plan to help the problem and comparing what they want to do to what is currently being done.  

Taking notice of the writing of this article, the publisher start off with the back ground of the epidemic and then goes into specifically Elizabeth Warren’s and her plan. 

It is interesting that they started off with the background in the lead seeing as to most of the other stories would start with the most interesting and new topic like Elizabeth Warrens plan then go into Trumps current plan in place. Also, at the end of the article they speak about how all of the democratic canidates and a briefing of their plans. They just end the article like that which they to me do not sum everything up and this is a overall new journalism format that I don’t think we talked about in class. It was just very informational. 

Science Story

STD’s that were almost extent are now at all-time high. 

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention has had nearly 2.4 million cases of syphilis, chlamydia, gonorrhea reported in 2018. 

These numbers are the highest they have ever been.  

African American men who have sex with other men have been the most popular group to pass on gonorrhea. Which in women show different side effects than it does in men. 

The reasons suspected for the rise of STD’s is there is a rise in condom less sex among men and women. With dating apps being also used as hook up apps, people are being less and less careful. 

People have become naïve, because the worry for STD’s used to be so low but now the risks are back and more dangerous than ever.  

News Comment #7

The article follows a woman who is a care giver who primarily takes care of elderly people. The job can be definitely be draining and does not pay them very much, but it is a high-demand job so she still does it. The author of the article does a good job of not making the paragraphs too long, and also inserted pictures and graphs. This helps make the article easier to read, because it is kind of lengthy. The article does an outstanding job of spreading awareness of how this job is one of the most draining jobs with the least amount of reward, while offering solutions on how to fix it.

https://www.vox.com/the-highlight/2019/8/21/20694768/home-health-aides-elder-care