Ink Exchange

The novel Ink Exchange is the second novel by Melissa Marr set in the mysterious world of faery. It is a companion novel to her bestseller Wicked Lovely, in which readers are first introduced to the mysterious world of faery.

Leslie is a teenage girl. she is trying to live a normal life, but since her mother has left the family, her father has become a chronic drunk and her brother a druggie. She finds herself working hard to pay the bills, having almost no money for herself. Her brother has even used her to help him get money. Leslie feels that she needs a symbol of something that is hers and hers alone. Therefore, she goes to one of the tattoo artists in town, someone she has come to know pretty well after looking at tattoos for several months. Feeling that she needs something out of the ordinary, she chooses a tattoo from his private collection, one that will belong to her and only to her. But little does she know that others are interested in the same tattoo and as a result, her. She has no idea how much the tattoo will actually change her life.

Irial is the king of the dark fey. The fey live in the same world as the mortals, yet they have their secrets and strange habits, for they are not always visible to humans. The dark fey have a strange need. They do not have emotions and they must feed off of the emotions of fey. Yet the emotions must be dark not light and happy. A peace has settled now between the Winter and Summer courts so the sinister emotions that the former winter queen, Beira, so readily channeled they are starving and weak. Irial must find another way to feed off of others in pain, like the mortals, in order to prevent a war in which all the odds would be against his court. So he prepares to connect Leslie to him through the tattoo that she is about to receive. once she is bound to him, he will be able to feed off of her emotions and the emotions to the mortals near her will be channeled through him to her.

But their are two little factors that he did not count on when he chose Leslie for his girl. One was that her friend Aislinn was queen of the Summer Court and that she would do everything in her power to help her friend. The second is the presence of another fey, Niall, in Leslie's life. Niall has worked in the Summer Court as an advisor to the king for nine centuries, but he had a previous history with Irial in the Winter Court. He becomes very attracted to Leslie as he guards her like Aislinn has asked. Inside, he wars with his desire to have her close to him like he used to do with mortals and his consciousness telling him not to hurt her. He remains true to Leslie throughout the novel, even after she has been claimed by Irial.

I would strongly recommend this book to any teenager. Its a great read and it will keep you interested every moment of the novel. Go and read it instead of sitting here in front of the computer.

A World Without Journalism

People may think that journalism is a mediocre field that really has no effect on their life. But if you can, imagine a life without journalism. Journalists are free from the government. According to dictionary.com, journalism is "the occupation of reporting, writing, editing, photographing, or broadcasting news or of conducting any news organization as a business." If there was no journalism, we would live in a world of oblivion and ignorance. Journalism is the backbone of our country, the United States of America. Citizens of the U.S. have the responsibility to make an informed decision when voting for a public office. When we vote for high public offices like the president, the news media is in on every single move that they make. Without the freedom journalists have to collect information, we would be at a loss for information.
I remember when I first realized what the importance of journalism is in the U.S. when my mom made me and my brother watch All the President's Men on PBS. The two journalists in the story were the key factors to unraveling the Watergate Scandal and guiding the evidence towards Nixon, resulting in his resign, just prior to the vote of impeachment by the Congress, in which all odds were against him. Without the essence of journalism and the free press, our country would cease to exist as the world leader that we are today, for the people would not have the opportunities that they do in this world today

Inverted pyramid article on the AirFrance crash

Early Monday morning, an AirFrance flight from Rio de Janeiro to Paris, France disappeared from radar over the Atlantic Ocean and debris was found in the area where the plane last made contact by the Brazil Air Force.

France 228 people were aboard the plane and all are suspected to be dead. Brazil believes that they have the technology to find the jet, since they have the technology to dig twice to three times the depth they think that the plane has sunk.

The cause of the crash is yet unknown but it is known that the plane was flying through an area known for storms. As a result lightning is being considered as a cause for the crash. If that is confirmed, it would be the worst plane crash since 2001 (not 9/11).

Officials have said that it is very unlikely that any survivors will be found. Brazil is hopeful that they will be able to recover the black boxes although France is skeptical that they will be able to find anything.

Terrorist attacks have notbeen ruled out yet by the French government. If the black boxes are found, they will provide more information to why the plane crashed; however, limited information is available at this time.

Brazil is doing everything in its power to try to locate the plane and its black boxes and has a number of aircraft and naval vessels searching the sea for the downed plane.

Dance Mock Shell

http://www.dance4it.com/ballethistory.htm This website gives a nice summary of ballet, not only its history but also some of the highlights of the dance form. It is a good spot to start to taking a look at ballet.

http://www.centralhome.com/ballroomcountry/history.htm This website provides links to articles on the history of many of the different ballroom forms of dance

http://www.historyworld.net/wrldhis/PlainTextHistories.asp?historyid=ab82 This website provides a general overview on dance, its role in different cultures, and its evolution from its earliest forms to what it has become today.

http://dance.about.com/od/famousdancers/tp/Famous-People-in-Dance.htm This website provides information on many different dancers from Anna Pavlova and Martha Graham to Fred Astaire to Patrick Swayze and Micheal Jackson (yes he actually is listed there).

http://dance.about.com/od/typesofdance/tp/Dance_Types.htm This website provides short descriptions of different types of dance styles from ballet to hip-hop to country western as well as links to more information on the styles.

http://www.dance4it.com/greatdancers.htm This website provides short descriptions on many different dancers, even more than the website above.

The Teen Friendly Play

What can I say? Teenagers have been deprived of good cultural lessons because the theater is just not cool anymore. A New York theater company has decided to change this though. They are going to premier a simple play written by a teenager for his fellow teenagers. It deals with issues regarding

• school
• sports
• social life

and other common problems students may face in high school. The play is called, Too Old for the Innocence Yet Too Young Too Understand. The play has been widely received by many of the friends of cast members who watched yesterday's dress rehearsal. One person said "It's very realistic. No fantasies, or made up dramas and I promise they don't just break out in song for no reason. All the music comes from Ipods and boring teachers." The play opens tonight on Broadway.

*This is a fictional story written to illustrate the different techniques in online journalism.

How Newspapers Impacted the American Revolution

Newspapers played a major role in the move toward revolution and the changing opinions of people as the American Patriots prepared for war.

Many Americans had no cause to be angry at the British Government five years before the war at the time of the Boston Massacre. John Adams, our second president and a major advocate for independence, defended the British soldiers who fired at the colonists on March fifth. And history dictates that the soldiers were provoked and they had no intention of killing colonists, it was just one hit to many. Yet we look back on the incident as a time of brutal killing in which the British soldiers are at fault because of one engraving that was widely published throughout the time. I post it here because it clearly displays how a single picture can spread and change opinions of an event with just a few distorted facts. By the way, this engraving was done by silversmith Paul Revere of Boston.

The engraving of the Boston Massacre was probably one of the first articles that inspired a nation to rebel. But pamphlets published also helped, including the famous and well-known Common Sense by Thomas Paine. Many newspapers also became strong supporters of the revolution and may likely have been run by well-known Patriots, including the Pennsylvania Gazette by Benjamin Franklin. Look at novels that focus on the American Revolution and you will notice that many of them are centered on a newspaper. One of the more famous ones is Johnny Tremain by Esther Forbes, which is read by schoolchildren across the country. The Boston Observer, the paper featured in that book, is the center of many of the early rebellions and the words gets out through their paper and codes that are inscribed within it.

Papers would change in late years but there is no way that you can deny that they had an immense effect on the American Revolution and what would happen to our young country in the years afterward.

News websites: USA Today vs. Boston Herald

HOME PAGE: Both newspapers have an appealing and enticing home page, filled with pictures that go along with stories. Stories at the top of the page deal with the entire nation and national politics, such as what the president is doing, war news, and information on space work, which will continue to fascinate people for years to come on USA Today's website. The Boston Herald posts more local stories at the top of the page, including news about the cities sports team, and other more local news. USA Today draws a more wide based group of people in, posting a picture with nearly every other headline. There are less categories to go through and the stories focus less on any particular area but more universally focuses on the world at large. Boston Herald focuses primarily on Boston and only attracts readers from the Boston area. There are much fewer national stories and almost no international stories, although the site does attract younger people looking to follow sports and celebrities. USA Today focuses more on the national and international front and it attracts anyone who is more interested in looking at the world as a whole.

AN ACTUAL STORY: The story is easy to read and a picture is usually included with ads running down the side on USA Today. I did not find it easy to reach the comments but it is most probable that people more inclined to find them would find it very simple or that my computer was simply not working right. The Boston Herald had fewer adds running down the side but no picture was included with the story although links were provided for related stories. It was very easy to comment on the story and the story was very current. Overall the story was relatively well presented.

OVERALL: Overall, navigation was relatively simple on both sites. USA Today had more people pictures and general news on it, but The Boston Herald was easier to be involved with and probably attracts the attention of younger people in the Boston Area more easily. Personally, I would be more inclined to read USA Today, but I am more interested in politics then sports and entertainment.

To view:
The Boston Herald: http://www.bostonherald.com/
USA Today: http://www.usatoday.com/

twitter comments

The following are posts from twitter. The first three are from CNN Breaking News, the second three from The New York Times and the third three from Barack Obama.

"GM says it is notifying 1,100 dealers that it will end their contracts with the automaker."

"Kenyan judge sentences white aristocrat to 8 months in prison for shooting dead a suspected poacher on his family estate."

"U.S. soldier in Baghdad kills four fellow troops before killing himself, senior defense official tells CNN."

http://twitter.com/cnnbrk

"4 Accused of Plot to Bomb Synagogues in the Bronx http://bit.ly/oDXYm"

"Flu Closings Failing to Keep Schoolchildren at Home http://bit.ly/qBmon"

"At Least 61 Dead in Iraq Bombings http://bit.ly/YjxTY"

http://twitter.com/nytimes

"The President will deliver remarks on new auto emission and efficiency standards at 12:15 ET. Watch the live stream: http://bit.ly/19qtmw"

"President Obama needs you to tell Congress why health care reform can't wait: http://bit.ly/5Ahqi #obamahealthcare"

"Declare your support for the President's 3 core healthcare principles: http://bit.ly/TBxqY Please RT using #obamahealthcare"

http://twitter.com/BarackObama

I think that twitter is a fad. Why should people want to know what is going on in everyone else's life? I do think that it is a great idea for news companies though so that people will be able to stay informed wherever they are. However, within a period of a few months, I think that it will fade off and average people will only continue to use it for news updates and not to post their entire life. The simple fact is, people don't care what you are doing right now.

Christy by Catherine Marshall

Over vacation, helping my mom clean out her parents' house and we came across a book that she suggested I read (we actually came across several, the house was full of books). It was an old book that she had probably read as a kid. I took it, more because she had suggested it than it really looked interesting. But it was a true example of the phrase, "Never Judge a Book by Its Cover." Not only did I like it but I loved it. The book was Christy by Catherine Marshall.



Christy was a bestseller when it first came out in the 1960s. Christy is about a nineteen year old girl who goes to teach in a one room schoolhouse before the first World War, as part of a mission project. She is from the city of Asheville in North Carolina, which is a modern city. Cutter Gap, where she goes, is a backwards community who considers that anyone not from the mountains is a foreigner.



At first, Christy is amazed by the conditions that she sees these people putting up with in their towns. But as time passes she begins to build lasting bonds with her students and the others who work at the mission, the founder, Miss Alice and the pastor, David Grantland. Christy sees that many of her students have been deprived of what is one of the most necessary conditions for confidence and proof of love, physical contact. She begins to show how much she cares for each of her students by trying to spend a little bit of extra time with each and she is amazed by the growth that she sees in them.

Christy also takes the initiative and tries to improve the materials and possibilities her students have by writing letters and soliciting to wealthy people. Christy is able to successfully get wire for a telephone wire to be build and works diligently to start taking a few students up to board at the school.

Not everyone in town are thrilled with the changes Christy has made. Some are, like her dear friend Fairlight Spencer. Yet she and David start to notice some corruption in the town. When they discover that liquor has been hidden in the schoolhouse for blockading purposes, things really get tense. While David tries to discover who has been breaking the law right under his nose, other events occur, including vandilism of the church alter, new school books, and abuse to the missions horse.

Things are only beginning to quiet down when an epidemic of typhoid occurs. the epidemic forces Christy to put everything she knows about herself, the people at the mission and in Cutter Gap, as well as the doctor, Neil McNeil, whom to her very surprise she finds herself confused and flustered in his presence. She must make a choice, Cutter Gap or Asheville, safety or danger, David or Neil.

Inverted pyramid article

Yesterday, flames soared through the Jesus Christ Church of Latterday Saints in Cambridge around ten thirty in the morning.

The church, which is off Mormon denomination, was conducting a service when the fire alarms went off. All five hundred people in the building made it out and no one was inured.

It is believed that the fire started in the attic of the church. Parts of the roof were destroyed but the white steeple remained standing after the fire was put out.

The church was full to capacity when the fire alarms went off, due to a special service that was being broadcast through satellite from their headquarters in Salt Lake City.

It is being considered a miracle that none of the five hundred people sustained any injuries at all during the blaze.

Many books were rescued from the church with the help of parishioners at the Quaker church across the street, who formed a book line along side the Mormons.

The church has plans to rebuild, say parishioners and former governor of the state, Mitt Romney. He had attended the church when he was in the state. Their spot in Cambridge will not be empty for long, although they will be neighboring churches for a while until they can rebuild.

The Differences in Dance and Sports

Dance and sports are often put into different categories by students and parents alike. But what really separates them from one another. Is it the fact that sports tend to be affiliated with public schools and dance is outside of the school? Why does dance tend to get a second rate opinion in school systems as well as by gym teachers in school?

I am a dancer. I am not good at sports at all. I stink at them. But I happen to be a respectable dancer and relatively good in ballet class. I have been on Pointe for three years and can do a fair performance on it. My parents have paid to have me in dance classes for the past ten years.

What about sports students? I am not saying that they are not good or that they are all stuck-up, but that seems to be the stereo-type we have assigned them. Sports players show there skills at more regular intervals then the dancer because they have games at least once a week, while dancers build up to specific shows. Sports players apply their skills to different situation in every game while dancers master skills to apply and perfect in a single dance, in one practiced and perfected situation.

So let's say that sports participants have to use skills of application more effectively then dancers and on more regular of a basis. But dancers have to use skills of counting and mathematics to keep in time with other dancers and the music. If they do not listen and flow with the music, then the entire dance is lost and bad.

Both dance and sports stress teamwork. Teams that work together tend to do better than "I" teams. Dancers have to constantly be in unison with one another. Not being in unison gives the dance a bad look, because dancers want to look like one. Working with others builds team work skills no matter what you are working on.

There are many other similarities between dance and sports, more than you would really think possible. In fact, the thing that makes them different is not the base work that they put into it, but the final product that they create.

For my blog post today, I am reflecting on one of this year's Pulitzer Prize winner, Patrick Farrrell, who won in the category of Breaking News photography. He took these pictures of victims of hurricane Ike, which struck the poor country of Haiti in the fall. Here are several pictures. They are horrifying and realistic. Look at them for as long as you can and then reflect on if you would have been able to take the picture of someone like that. I'm not even going to tell you what they are about right now.

These photos are about ordinary people in Haiti after the hurricane. Do you think that you could have taken pictures of such misery, hurt, and pain? I know that I could not take those pictures. The top one is of a four year old girl who weighs only sixteen pounds. The second is of pregnant women in labor waiting to get into a clinic, with family watching through the gates. The third is of a woman getting up before labor pains subside, so that another woman can have her bed to give birth. The fourth is of a man holding a young injured girl. The fifth displays children laid out on the ground after they died during the hurricane. The sixth is of a young boy pushing a stroller in an attempt to salvage it. the final one is of an adult holding their dead child.

I comment the photographer, Patrick Farrell for being able to take these pictures and declare him deserving of the Pulitzer Prize.

Tiger Thief at Franklin Park Zoo

Yesterday, thirty-two year old Charles Ray of Milton attempted to abduct a tiger cub from Franklin Park Zoo in Dorchester.

Charles Ray was apprehended before he left the zoo and the tiger was safely returned to its habitat. Ray is to be charged with larceny of no less than $250.

Boston Police Spokesperson Chuck Logan gave an account of the incident at a press conference last night.

According to zookeeper’s, Ray lured the tiger to the edge of the cage wit a picture of a female tiger. Once the cub, Tony, was close enough to the cage, he shot it with a tranquilizer gun.

Ray took the cub out of its habitat and placed it in a knapsack, given its relatively small size at such a young age.

Ray was arrested as he was leaving the zoo and zoo employees reclaimed possession of the tiger cub.

Eyewitnesses say that Ray was crying as he was put in to the police cruiser. Between sobs, Ray managed to say, “But that Tiger liked me. He was purring before I injected him.”

Security at the zoo will not be increased as a result of this incident

Routes to travel from North to South

Over vacation, in order to visit my family in the South Eastern part of the United States, my family drove down to Valdosta, GA. Valdosta was only a base though, for we also traveled to Dothan, AL, and neighboring areas. However, to stay interested in the ride, we took different routes each way.

The way down, we traveled on Interstate 95, one of the more popular routes. We left in the after school on Thursday and drove to a hotel on the New Jersey turnpike, almost parallel to Philadelphia, where stayed the night after making minimal stops. The next morning we drove into Washington D.C. and visited the Smithsonian Museum of American History, despite the crowds of schoolchildren beginning their vacation.

That night, after the museum closed, we continued our drive down towards Richmond, where we stopped for the night, leaving D.C. around six o'clock and arriving at the hotel around nine, nine-fifteen that night, after stopping for dinner at Cracker Barrel.

After eating a continental breakfast at our hotel and getting back on the road by about eight-thirty, nine o'clock in the morning, we traveled through the remainder of Virginia and to quote my brother, "The fat part of North Carolina."

As a result of a good advertising gimmick produced by an attraction just south of the North Carolina border with South Carolina, we stopped a a Mexican themed tourist trap called "South of the Border." After many creative signs posted along the highway, we were forced to settle with outrageous prices ($3.25 for a single taco) and crappy food. The one highlight of the attraction, though, was the ability to look out over the highway and surrounding areas from the brim of the sombrero marking the location of the attraction. It cost a single dollar per person.

We then continued our drive until we reached a suggested dining area, still in South Carolina, but near the city of Savannah called Jasper's Porch. It had excellent Southern food and a relaxing nature rock around a little pond. If you ever travel this way and go to the restaurant, I would recommend that you save room for their homemade Coconut Creme Pie.

After dinner, we drove for the final leg of our journey on back roads to the town of Hahira, which is near Valdosta. It would be another week before we headed north again.

Heading north we traveled in the western part of the states. Traveling first through Athens, my mother made a point of showing me the University of Georgia, as I am a ninth grade student. We then Tellulah Falls in Northern Georgia, which is a beautiful look into the natural world. After Tellulah Falls, we continued north.

We were forced to stop before Asheville, NC, which had been our original destination, due to car trouble. You have to be very careful what roads you take with a small car in the mountains and if you are going down the mountain, make sure that you put it in a lower gear, or you might end up with a tired vehicle. We were driving a heavy loaded P.T. cruiser and had to stop less than half an hour after a tiring detour up and then back down a mountain.

The next day, we had intended to travel the Blue Ridge Parkway but were disappointed to learn that the ride from North Carolina to Virginia took about twelve hours and regretfully we did not have that kind of time. So we took the interstate, and to our surprise, the ride was still pretty one, nicer than Interstate 95.

We stopped once that day, at a lodge called Peaks of Otter, a little ways up on the Blue Ridge Parkway near the town of Buchanon, for a country buffet. It was a nice lodge with beautiful views and pretty good food. The drive up and then back down was a good mountain road, but would be easy with an SUV and experienced mountain driver.

That night we stopped in Winchester, Virginia. The next day we headed home with no stops. It was a Monday and we headed up through Allentown, Pennsylvania and then east to the Interstate 287. We crossed the Tapan Zee bridge, bypassing New York and then headed home on Interstate 95 through Connecticut and Rhode Island before arriving at our home in Massachusetts. With several stops, we reached home around 6 o'clock and went about our normal lives at home. My brother even went to his Boy Scout meeting, which started at seven o'clock.

Disgraced Journalist Jayson Blair

Yesterday, Jayson Blair resigned from a position as journalist at the New York Times after reports that some of his articles were fabricated.

The twenty-seven year old was a national reporter for the Times who used plain fiction and odd behavior to liven his stories up a bit.

The Times is reeling from the holes the Blair scandal has exposed in their system of editing. Never was he asked to identify anonymous sources of which entire stories were based to his editors. It appeared that it was extremely easy for Blair to fabricate his stories.

Several months before his resignation, Blair took a leave of absence when he was warned that his job was in danger, but a few months later he found himself back up at the top. Loopholes in the system of fact checking allowed Blair to make it to the top of the ladder instead of simply scraping by near the bottom with his lies.

The New York Times has printed an apology to its readers that is four pages long and has asked people to please not lay blame on the editors because they were deceived, same as the readers.

The Blair scandal proves that unethical journalists will always exist. His story comes to light after reports that writers for the New Republic magazine Ruth Shalit and Stephen Glass also plagiarized or fabricated stories for their papers. However the system of fact checking must become stronger and less porous so that stories of plagiarism and fabrication of news stories become less frequent and on lower scales.

Self-assesment of term 3 work in Journalism

I have done my work for term 3 completely. My spelling and grammar are mostly correct but I could be a little more creative in finding ways to illustrated the different forms of writing in journalism and create more creative, relevant, and to the point stories for each type of writing for both my blog and my stories for the school newspaper.

Music Review

Country artist produced the album Reba Duets in the fall of 2007 in collaboration with many other popular artists including Rascal Flatts, Vince Gill, Faith Hill, Justin Timberlake, and pop artist Kelly Clarkson.

The album includes eleven newly released songs, all featuring Reba and a different second artist.
The opener for the album "When You Love Someone like That" is a song done with Leanne Rimes, following the typical country pattern of a broken heart. Reba portrays an older more experienced woman while Rimes plays the role of a girl just recently coming into the world.

Reba performs many love songs with the male artists being perhaps about a divorce as "Every Other Weekend" is with Kenny Chesney, or about a budding relationship such as "Does the Wind Still Blow in Oklahoma" performed with Ronnie Dunn. She ends the album with a final love song "Break Each Other's Hearts Again" with Don Henley.

Some of the songs done with the female artists are about a bad relationship yet several are worthy of mention for the emotions they stir in the first time listener. The song "Sleeping with the Telephone" with Faith Hill, is a song about a military man and a police officer and the emotions of the women while they wait for them to come home.

The song "Everyday People", done with Carole King, is a wonderful portrayal of the good of people in this world. It begins with seniors in college fixing homes in needy areas during spring break. It then proceeds to tell of a woman who can not afford health care when she gets sick because she is a single mother with several kids and how her neighbors came up with money to help. The final verse begins with the lyrics, "Little girl takes her Mama's hand/and walks inside saying 'please don't cry'/ as the people who built this house just for them/ laugh through the tears as the family moves in." This song shows and highlights the good in many people and many types of good deeds that people will perform and can do.

Her eleven song album is very good and will be admired by her previous fans as well as new ones. Each song is unique and shows a different light, both of the accompanying artists and Reba. The album itself is a good showcase of voices in country without it being a miscellaneous, unorganized soundtrack. I would recommend the album to any fan of her previous albums, movies, or TV series Reba.

self assessment of hourglass story

I have good spelling and punctuation--4. My organization is pretty good--3. My creativity might need a little work--3. I have good quotations and they are in the correct format--4.

Bike Rider Killed in Truck Crash

Bicyclist Sandra Martine was traveling cross country with the intention of raising money for poverty stricken children in third-world countries when a tractor trailer driver lost control and hit the sixteen year old girl, Tuesday evening.

Thirty year old Harold Young, lost control of the vehicle when he saw a toddler running towards the street and swerved in an attempt to avoid the infant who was stopped by a family member before she reached the street.

Sandra Martine was riding cross-country with a charitable organization which opened hostels for riders of the group to stay in each night while they traveled cross-country to raise money for the charity of their choice.

According to fellow riders, Sandra was a ray of sunshine during the long ride.

Sandra began the ride in mid-June with the intent of finishing it by the beginning of August. She was a straight A student who felt passionately about the ability of one person to help change the world.

“When Sandra told me she wanted to go on this ride, I was really worried about her but I knew I had to let her go because this was what she really wanted to do,” Sandra’s mother told reporters in and emotional interview.

Trip members told us that Sandra was a bright member of the group the whole ride. She and fellow rider Mike Smith had left the group and headed off to the grocery store to purchase dinner when the trailer hit her.

“Sandra and I had left the hostel and I stopped for a moment to adjust my packs. She continued riding but paused a few yards down to wait for me. I saw the truck swerve over the line and saw it barreling towards her and yelled for her to look out. But the truck was too loud, I think, and she was hit before she or I could even respond,” Mike Smith said.

The trip leader said that this was a first for the organization. “We normally remain on the bike trails with the exception of trips to the store at night. It’s a terrible tragedy and will now travel in large groups all the time.”

Smith, as well as residents in the area, called authorities immediately but Sandra was pronounced dead at the scene.

The driver says he had the sincerest of sympathies for the family of the child and will do all that he can to help. Right now, it does not appear as though any charges will be pressed against him, although a court order may come out for the families of infants on major roads in the town to put up three foot fences in the front of the house to prevent any more accidents like this one.

*This is a fictional story and derived from my imagination.

Self-assesment of interview

Two Strengths: My puncutation and spelling were good.
Two Areas of improvement: My sentences could use more variety and my angle should be better defined in my questions.

Personal interview

East Bridgewater High School Freshman Meghan Lee shared her experience and hopes for this summer with me about the Project Contemporary Competitiveness (PCC) at Bridgewater State College.
Q: What classes did you take last year? What did you like about them?
A: The year before I took Marine Biology and scrapbooking. I took only two but signed up for four because your choices are listed in order of preference and then chosen. I liked Marine Biology the best (last year). Scrapbooking was cool because i got to bring something home with all my memories in it.
Q: What would you say was most memorable about PCC?
A: Everything was really fun. My top two memories would be number one when we dissected the shark in Marine Biology. Everyone left class except me and Elena. The second memory would be when the freaky magician came and did a lot of cool tricks, including sticking a nail in his eye and eating fire.
Q: What do you plan and want to do this summer?
A: I hope to get into PCC again this summer. I had a really great time last year. The applications should be coming back next week. Other than that, I want to play tennis.
Q: What classes did you sign up for at PCC?
A: I signed up for the Green team, Digital Photography, PCC Website, and Microbiology. I signed up for the Green Team and Microbiology because they are science-related. I want to do something with science as a career. I signed up for the other two because I like working with computers and they sounded like fun.
To view Meghan's blog go to http://futrbio.blogspot.com/

Rudy--Inverted Pyramid Article

In the final game of the season, a walk-on player, Rudy, Number 45, made a tackle in the final seconds of the Georgia Tech at Notre Dame game.
The game was the first he was allowed to dress for after a rally by his teammates.
The offense made a long pass so that Rudy could get on the field with the defense after a cheer went up by the fans and his teammates on the sidelines.
Notre Dame won the game 24 to 3.

A Sign of Spring

This weekend the New England area experienced their first glimmer of spring in a long time. The temperatures hit sixty degrees and the Cape Cod Canal bike way saw bikers and pedestrians fill its paths.
I went to the Canal to go for a walk with my family before having lunch. About a mile into my three-and-a-half mile walk, I took my coat of and tied it around my waist, continuing my walk with only a t-shirt on. my uncle was able to look across he canal and see where we were standing on the trail from his work site. Several family members were able to spot him standing on a porch on the other side of the canal.
We did see several bikers although the trail was filled mainly with pedestrians. Therefore the end of the walk nearest the railroad bridge was the most crowded, although I did not travel all the way to the end. We stopped at the rest stop in the middle and were picked up by my father and brother, who had returned to fetch the car halfway through the walk. The buildings remained closed as well as the restrooms inside, so portapotties were the only relief system for walkers that day. The trail way was not prepared for a large turnout of walkers this early in March, yet the fact that so many people came was a sign of the spring that is sure to be soon in coming.

Mission Possible: A response to the article from East Bridgewater Star

Central School music teacher, Mrs. Layton, and her two high school boys spent their February vacation in Honduras, a third world country. They took streamers, clothing, hygiene products, school supplies, and small musical instruments to pass out to the children in Honduras.
When you read a story about a church group reaching out in a community way beyond their walls it is very touching, especially to read that teens are excited and enthusiastic about going. Anybody able to read this article is probably pretty lucky because they have a computer and internet access. But so many people in this wide world to not enjoy the things we take for granted everyday. The most important one is probably a free public education. We are all forced by the government to go to school and our families have to send us. We also have child labor laws that place restritions on where we can work, what we can do for work and how long we can work for. To be given an education and protection is a great gift from the government and the people of the United States are extremely lucky for it. My church worked wth orphans of Kenya and discussed how although they are given free education, they must get new ones before going back to school.
The gift the Laytons and the rest of their church are giving to the people of Honduras is one that is largely appreciated. One of the comments in the article made by Mrs. Layton was that when she gave a child a piece of candy, he sucked on it for a moment before passing it on to the next child.
for article go to http://www.wickedlocal.com/bridgewatereast/news/x1237123591/Mission-Possible

Back to School

The days pass slowly by for students returning to school after a vacation. It means returning to work and writing those papers you should have done while you were off.
Students at East Bridgewater really through themselves back in the swing of work and are now looking at course sign ups for the next year. They have to have made their preliminary decision by March third.
The next vacation is several weeks away, as well as the next day the students get off. It will be a long couple of week for students at East Bridgewater High School as well as across Massachusetts.

soft leads from news articles

"Sled hockey is one of many winter sports becoming more popular among athletes with physical challenges, such as spinal cord injuries, limb amputations, cerebral palsy and multiple sclerosis. In recent years, snow sport equipment makers have adapted equipment, and ski resorts have expanded opportunities for those with disabilities. Health experts say the trend has multiple benefits, both mental and physical."
The above is the nut graph of the paragraph because it explains what the rest of the article will be about.
For rest of article go to http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2009-02-22-winter-sports-disabled_N.htm

"That's a good question these days, now that thousands of people are finding themselves with pink slips and the need to let colleagues and contacts know they are moving on and -- perhaps more important for job seekers -- how they can be reached.
The farewell e-mail has suddenly become commonplace, a new art form in the electronic age. Yet like so many aspects of the Internet era -- how to unfriend on Facebook, how much to reveal on a personal blog -- the technology has gotten ahead of the etiquette. There are, quite simply, no rules."
This is the nut graph of the article because it describes what is happening and what people are doing when laid off, sending out farewell emails instead of notes.
For the rest of the article go to http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-farewell-emails23-2009feb23,0,2828454.story

"Anderson is certainly no longer a General Motors town, but it is the proud home of the Wigwam, the second-largest high school athletic venue in the world. That status -- and the bragging rights that go with it -- are threatened because the city's school district is in a $5-million budget hole. A special committee is considering shutting the Wigwam to cut costs."
This is the nut graph of the article because it describes why the Wigwam is in trouble and what it is.
For the rest of to the article go to http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-wigwam23-2009feb23,0,2625019.story

"But less than three miles south, in the once-quaint Mexican town of Palomas, a war is being waged. Over the last year, a drug feud that has killed more than 1,350 people in sprawling Ciudad Juarez has spread to tiny Palomas, 70 miles west, where more than 40 people have been gunned down, a dozen within a baseball toss of the border. More -- no one knows how many -- have been kidnapped, and the Palomas police chief fled across the border last year and has asked for political asylum.
Now Columbus is on edge. A haven for baby boomer retirees seeking cheap living, small-town values and blissful, if unpolished, solitude, Columbus can't quite believe that a bloody brawl has broken out on its doorstep. The anxiety increased recently when Columbus disbanded its five-member police force after a local political squabble, putting its safety in the hands of the county sheriff based half an hour away. Many are ruing the decision. Angry and fretful residents packed a recent village trustees meeting to argue the case."
These two paragraphs are the nut graphs because they explain what is going on in the Mexican town as well as the people of Columbus's fear of what will happen in their own town.
For the rest of the article go to http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-bordertown19-2009feb19,0,7443711.story

"The stuff is a simple mixture of table salt and tap water whose ions have been scrambled with an electric current. Researchers have dubbed it electrolyzed water -- hardly as catchy as Mr. Clean. But at the Sheraton Delfina in Santa Monica, some hotel workers are calling it el liquido milagroso -- the miracle liquid."
This is the nut graph of the article because it explains what the 'miracle water is made of, leading up to the descriptions of the rest of the article.
for the rest of this article, go to
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-magicwater23-2009feb23,0,2307567.story

5 Soft Leads

"Guess what poll the governor has posted?
Your opinion of a 19-cent gas tax? (Wrong.)
Your opinion of local aid cuts? (Wrong again.)
Should he run for re-election? (Still wrong.)
For the coin collectors, the governor has posted a poll asking what you’d most like to see on the back of a Bay State commemorative quarter."
From Boston Herald "A Quarter for your Thoughts" http://www.bostonherald.com/blogs/news/city_desk_wired/?p=1967&srvc=home&position=recent

"It’s the kind of prim summer dress women once wore to church 30 years ago. Except Liz McDonough is standing in a dingy mob hangout, purse on her arm, white high heels on her feet. And she’s trading a coy glance with a monster named Whitey Bulger.
Two of the other gangsters flanking her in this classic state police surveillance photo are dead: Liz’s boyfriend, Angiulo lieutenant Nicky Giso, and Winter Hill front man George Kaufman.
The fourth thug is Stephen “The Rifleman” Flemmi, who is going to die in prison."
From Boston Herald "Emerging from Haze of Drugs, Thugs and Crime" http://www.bostonherald.com/news/columnists/view.bg?articleid=1153919&srvc=news&position=4

"Maybe Thomasena A. Grant of Boston has a very hungry baby at home."
From Boston Herald "Boston Police Blotter" http://www.bostonherald.com/news/police_logs/view/2009_02_21_Boston_Police_Blotter/srvc=news&position=also

"SEOUL, South Korea — Dashing through a kaleidoscopic tour of the far East in her first outing as U.S. Secretary of State, Hillary Rodham Clinton is back in full campaign mode.
But instead of selling herself as a presidential candidate, Clinton is pitching the still-emerging foreign policy of her former rival, President Barack Obama."
From Boston Herald "Frenetic Clinton hits Asia Running"http://www.bostonherald.com/news/international/asia_pacific/view/2009_02_20_Frenetic_Clinton_hits_Asia_running/

"With economic news getting worse every day, how are we supposed to stay a hopeful, resilient society?
President Obama is our chief planner (the stimulus plan is his baby after congressional Republicans renounced it), our commander in chief (he’s sending 17,000 more soldiers to Afghanistan), our chief spender ($2.9 trillion at last count). And now he is our cheerleader in chief.
From Boston Herald "Road to Recovery Littered with Speed Bumps" http://www.bostonherald.com/news/opinion/op_ed/view/2009_02_22_Road_to_recovery_littered_with_speed_bumps/

podcast

http://vikingjournalism.termee.com/elaine.mp3

Print Plus Example Article- Mild Weekend for Boston Area

Saturday Feb. 7th and Sunday Feb. 8th, the Boston area experienced the first days of over 45 degrees Fahrenheit for 2009.

In some areas, temperatures reached 50 degrees. The mild air was a welcome break from the cold weather that the area has been experiencing.

The weekend's weather makes Bostonians wonder if the groundhog saw his shadow or not on February second, Groundhog Day. A nine-year old girl commented "It smells like spring," when asked about the warm weather.

It is expected to cool down a bit on Monday before the mild air returns for the rest of the week. t the moment their is no snow in the forecast, only rain for the rest of the week.

related links:
http://www.intellicast.com/Local/Weather.aspx?location=USMA0046
http://www.wunderground.com/US/MA/Boston.htmlOn

Ethics in Journalism

Today, in my journalism class, we read a story to illustrated a journalists decisions regarding his own interpretation of the code of ethics for journalism. A police officer had committed suicide while on duty in hopes of getting compensation for 'death in the line of duty.' The journalist discovered that the officer had committed suicide. He was told by the detective, though, that although the man had committed suicide, his family had been going through some tough times. If he reported the fact that it had been suicide and not murder, than the family would not receive the money an officer's family receives for their death. He followed the code of ethics and reported the truth. A journalist's job is to report the truth and not lie to the public and as a result he followed this rule and said that it was suicide.
Another rule in the code of ethics is to minimize harm. The journalist knew that the family was struggling and as a result of the death, losing a source of income. He chose to possibly cut off a source of income for the family by reporting the story. A few months later, he discovered that the family had received compensation for the death of the officer. The journalist had to decide whether or not to report this story. He chose not to because he wanted to minimize harm. He did not want to see innocent people thrown into a worse situation because he reported this story. They got help from their husband/father's former work. The journalist knew that they most likely needed help and he did not want to harm an already grieving family anymore.

Print verses online news

Today, citizens can find news articles online as well as the traditional way, print newspapers. Both forms of media have advantages and disadvantages. The easiest to access is probably a newspaper. In the paper, stories are limited and more relevant to the area in which they are published. Every area from town to country can publish a newspaper. Online news tends to be more broad based. Stories relevant to a particular town or district can be harder to find, while more international stories are published. Bizarre stories can also be found online, a lot more than you will find in your local newspaper. The Internet has one final advantage. If you pay for Internet access, you can access the news stories for free. These are the advantages and disadvantages to two of the most popular forms of news.

Five direct leads for journalism

Today, at East Bridgewater High school, a new semester began and the electives of most students switched because it was the halfway point of the year.

The dance team at Capachione School of Performing Arts in East Bridgewater is performing at the preshow for the Boston Celtics game, Wednesday, January twenty-eighth.

Due to a snowstorm on Wednesday, many southeastern Massachusetts schools cancelled school for the day.

President Obama gave his first formal interview as President of the United States to a Arabic based television network, Tuesday, to try to improve relations with the Muslim world.

Robots sent to Mars two years ago found evidence of bones in a small cave last night, as well as tools used by the organism that lived there, proving that live could once be sustained on the fourth planet from the sun.