Month: September 2019

Alex Watters, a hero that created meaning in what he does based on an accident that changed his life forever.

 A trip to Okoboji with friends started as a vacation but turned into a gut-wrenching experience leaving Alex unconscious in the water with a broken spine. A walk to the lake late at night left Alex wanting to swim. He walked out the deck and jumped in, except this time head first. As he hits the water he hit the bottom of the lake and snapped his neck. He explained his only memory was to move. “All my friends thought I was kidding” Alex explained, “When I realized what really happened everything went black”. Waking up in the hospital Alex had his lugs pumped for survival. The next six months Alex had rehab every day along with two surgeries during the six month period.  Alex’s story made the New York Times back in 2012. 

Alex Watters was born in Okoboji, Iowa and has a masters degree from Morningside College. He works in career services, which he has specialized in for the past few years. He also works for city council here Sioux City. 

When asked “would you have the same goal and job if the accident did not happen?” Alex responded, “Not a chance in hell”. He stated ever since the accident he wanted to work with people to get their goals. “There is no better feeling,” Alex says when working with first/second-year students find their path through college or life.

An overloaded ferry in South Korea flipped and killed hundreds of school children. 250 students drowned when the ferry capsized on a school trip to resort island New York Times states.

Phones were found with voicemails and videos recorded saying there goodbyes to their families. Safety precautions have been amplified and officials work on the safety of every aspect of this situation so it can be the last time.

workers accused of lying about overweight cargo and shipment of bags was a factor of the situation. Updated news still being reported as more information is confirmed.

For this assignment, I ate a carrot and will describe for everyone’s satisfaction! The carrot had a dull shiny type look to it. A moist feeling covers the carrot. At the first bite, it was a solid crunch like a broken bone that gave a great satisfying bite. The flavor was dull at first but as I chewed the carrot it gained more flavor. After the bite, it took a while to consume. This carrot left a healthy satisfying taste that will always be remembered as the greatest carrot there ever was. The crunchy yet describable carrot left a moist feeling to my mouth and fingers. The sound amplified with a crunch. Yet there wasn’t much smell it gave a great sweet taste to satisfy your needs.

For Article #1 I chose the topic Vaping and the harms that vaping can do to the human body. This paper was very interesting to write about and came easy to me because of the fact it was something I am interested in. Some parts of the article were hard to connect and hard to determine what facts were right or biased. Separating biased opinions from the articles was the hardest part. Knowing facts and what has happened so far was the main point of the article. 

Getting the attention of others about vaping is the main goal for this article. Reflecting on this article I noticed that the more sources you have the better because you get more in-depth answers and get greater details of what is really happening. Some websites will have different numbers for different tests. 

Overall this article was very interesting to me and brought greater detail to the problem of how vaping is bad for you and the harm that’s causing kids around the world. Recently this problem has grown a large amount so I thought it would be a good topic to write about and very relevant in today’s world. It is recent news and isn’t old news so it connects with a large crowd of people if that’s parents, kids and more.

Scavenger Hunt: Two Objectives

As part of the class, I had two objectives where the answers came from talking to new/random people. The two objectives were to find someone with a breath mint and the second objective was to find a piece of good advice.

For this assignment, I went in the Krone advising center and asked Shari Benson if she had a mint or piece of gum or if she had any good advice to tell me. She laughed and said, “I have a mint right here for you”. No questions were asked as she handed over the mint.

For the second objective, I went in the Buhler Ross front office and asked Rich Crow “if you could give me one good piece of advice, what would it be?” He took a moment to think and process then soon after he asked, “what’s this for?” And I explained it was for a journalism class. He understood and answered with “Never be afraid to ask”. “Asking will never hurt and will only help” Rich said. The two individuals cooperated very well and created good convo.

Runaway train explosion kills 47 and deadly cargo rides the rails. Going 65 miles an hour, the train derailed with no warnings of approachment going through the town.

New York Times states “The runaway train hurtled into the center of town shortly after midnight, with no one aboard to apply the brakes or sound a whistle to warn residents about the deadly cargo bearing down on them. When it reached a tight curve, the freight train lost control. Amid a deafening, horrific screech of rupturing metal, more than a million gallons of fuel spilled and exploded.”

A town of 4700 people consisted of the death of 47. Toxic chemicals and oil spread throughout the area. Soon after, changes occurred for railways leaving inspections and alternative routes a major point in changing safety.

New York Times reports hurricane Dorian located in the Bahamas leaves an estimated 2,500 missing and 50 dead. The category 5 hurricane leaves a devastating shock on the country. Leaving thousands of homes toppled.

This news is catching the attention of everyone. This is one of if not the biggest hurricanes to hit the Bahamas. The updates of the catastrophic event continue to reveal surprising news.

An estimated 4,000 Bahamians fled the island and entered the U.S to escape the hurricane. As families were being reunited with their loved ones their goal was stated, “After lives have been settled and restored, we need the environment to be restored.”

More updates will arise as safety is the main focus for the Bahamians.

News for journalism: Vaping; The Dangers of the product

Vaping, an E-cigarette that has a substance with many unknown chemicals has created a lot of publicity over the past few months. Not only are lung illness rising but deaths caused by this “unidentified” illness are occurring more and more as we speak. Not only adults have caught attention for vaping but the main target audience is teens. At the age of 18, you can obtain a vape/juul. As kids are turning 18 the rise of vapes being bought has increased so much where precautions are being promoted everywhere to get teens to stop vaping.

Matt Richtel and Denise Grady of New York Times reported a link to these illnesses to the deaths of these teens. Indiana announced the third death linked to the illness on Friday. Now up to five deaths, these precautions are advertised daily and the news is getting the attention of everyone. The health risk of vaping is real and dangerous. New York Times states “The Recent rise of acute lung illnesses linked to vaping has deepened concerns about the safety of the devices”. These E-Cigs were intended for smokers to quit by the satisfaction of addiction except with controlled nicotine that doesn’t contain deadly toxins from burning tobacco. In 2018 a survey by the federal government found that 21 percent of high school seniors had vaped within the previous 30 days compared to 11 percent a year earlier.

 Yale medicine announced that the problem with vaping is teens think it’s safe or safer than cigs and that’s the problem. They state “Federal and state officials have reported hundreds of total possible cases of pulmonary disease and several deaths that may be related to vaping. Patients’ symptoms ranged from cough, chest pain and shortness of breath to fatigue, vomiting, diarrhea, and fever, according to the CDC.” This article is trying to prevent the idea of vaping is safe and the awareness of what is actually going into their body.

USA Today announced that five deaths related to vaping have occurred and several others left with lung illnesses. With this brought to our attention, their focus is to state the risks of vaping and the harm it can cause. They also say “The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said 450 cases of vaping-related lung illnesses in 33 states and one territory are now under investigation by state and federal health officials, with the majority of the 58 cases most closely examined involving THC oil”. Preventing these lung diseases is the target for news and will continue to grow.

Vaping has been a rising issue for not only adults but for teens. Teens are the largest audience when talking about vaping if thats a Juul, a vape or more. The vape industry is rising every single day until articles like these come up. Kids are dying and getting lung diseases because of the vape product. Most kids might think its safer than actual smoking but there is a big difference between safer and safe. This article can catch the eye of almost everyone and it really is effective when it is targeting how it can really hurt someone and its not just a fluke. This post gives great detail of what was used, how it was used, and how it is not recommended at all. Articles like this can create a momentum of awareness for the product and what it really does. Their point of view is to get people educated on what is happening and hopefully help them make a decision on what they are going to do moving forward.

Hurricane Dorian is one of, if not the worst hurricane to occur hitting category 5. This catastrophe hit the Bahamas leaving devastating occurrences throughout the island. This hurricane is reaching out to everyone because it is so devastating not only to the Bahamas but to everyone living there, relatives involved and just the fact of how bad this situation really is. In this case, everyone is worried and wondering how this will all turn out so, givin that, the point of view on this story stands that this is a very bad situation that is in need of help. This article gives great detail of what is happening and how the islands are holding up. Nothing is missing in this case because it gives great detail as to how big this hurricane is and what type of damage it is doing. Hurricane Doria is reaching the eyes of many because of the category 5 danger and the damage it has done to the island. Houses being torn down to streets and everything standing covered in water destroying food and water sources for all living there. This will go down as one of the biggest most dangerous hurricanes to occur.