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.
Monday, May 18, 2009
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
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.
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.
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
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.
Monday, May 4, 2009
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
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
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
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.
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.
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
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.
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.
Friday, April 3, 2009
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.
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