RIP

A few days ago, we lost a great man who impacted the world.
He worked to guard South Africa's economy through his presidency and fought for the civil rights of his people. Rest in peace, Nelson Mandela.

Conor Geraghty
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/12/05/nelson-mandela-dead-dies-south-africa_n_1699777.html

Clever marketing idea?

    The owner of a Schlotzsky’s Deli and Cinnabon location knew his employees needed to act more professional, be nicer to customers, be more efficient and smile. He has temporarily shut down his restaurants to give his employees some much needed job training. Additionally, he placed a sign over his marquee advertsing the fact that he is closed for a few days to give his employees "attitude adjustments." Perhaps we'll be seeing more of these openly honest signs in the future.


http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/deli-owner-closes-doors-teach-lazy-staff-lesson-article-1.1538210

Posted by: R. Tudjan

Sacrifices

Archaeologists uncovered over 80 skulls of women who were probably sacrificed in China thousands of years ago. They were not found individually, but in a mass grave that may have been apart of the ceremony.  Keep in mind, skulls were found, not bodies.  I'm wondering what kind of ceremony is accepted that is so violent?

This is not the first occurrence like this in China. They have a history of human sacrifices.  Kings and Emperors would sometimes want to be buried with their servants - even if the servant was alive at the time of the passing.  In this case, the servant would be killed or buried alive to suit the passing wishes of the Emperor....

I don't understand...

-Madison Dillard

http://www.foxnews.com/science/2013/12/02/skulls-found-in-mass-grave-in-china-reveal-ancient-female-sacrifice/

Girl Getting Expelled Over Natural Hair

Vanessa Van-Dyke, a 12 year old girl is getting expelled from her school over her natural hair...
She attends Orlando's Faith Christian Academy. She has had the same hairstyle for months now and has been getting bullied over her puffy and large hair for months.  Faculty at the schools is seemingly blaming Vanessa and threatening her enrollment in the Academy.  Vanessa likes her hair and to cut it off would be a loss of identity for her. The school is saying that her hair is a distraction...  Vanessa's mother made an interesting point.  She essentially asked why kids pimples were not considered a distraction?

I understand implementing rules but her hair was not a problem for months...and now she is facing expulsion.  Ridiculous.  


-Madison Dillard

Christopher Gray, a friend to all, was killed on November 18th by Jonathan Sellers and an unknown 16 year old boy. He walked into his home while it was getting robbed and the robbers beat him to death. When Gray entered his home the 16 year old boy went into the kitchen and grabbed a hammer. Shortly after Sellers and the 16 year old boy "jumped out" on gray and began to chase him into the alley. They then pushed him down and started hitting him in the head with a hammer. When officers were dispatched to Grays home they found him on the ground barely breathing. Life-saving measures were attempted but unsuccessful. 

Gray was an amazing father and also a role model to the youth in Milwaukee. He was a loving guy and positive things were always said about him. It was shocking to all that he was murdered. It saddens me to say he lost his life over an Iphone, XBox 360, and two laptops. 

How Does My Buns Look?

Russia has a new way of integrating the public into marketing the upcoming winter Olympics in Sochi. Riders who seek a free ticket for the metro ride can get one but it comes with a cost- a physical cost. Riders have to do 30 squats in two minutes in public.

I think that this is a very intelligent marketing method to promote health, a national event, and the transport system in Russia. A great form of public relations as well.

There are no penalties if riders do not complete the task. They end up paying for the ride. How far will you go for a free ride?

Buns if Steel

Posted By: Mila

Google Takes a Stand

It's no secret that there are disgusting individuals that are among us..
Some of those people are pedophiles.

Google is taking a stand against these sick individuals: making it difficult to search inappropriate links.  It is still in the early changes, and they cannot completely block it, but they are making positive steps.  Microsoft and other companies are following this trend  :) It's so nice to see big companies that are compassionate towards global/national issues!

http://www.foxnews.com/tech/2013/11/18/google-announces-software-to-block-searches-for-child-porn/?intcmp=latestnews

Madison Dillard

You Have an Accent.

     Accents may seem foreign to some of us, but it is basically how one enunciates words and projects ones' voice. Try taking speech classes or singing classes, you will learn how the projection of your voice can change the way you sound. 

     I go on a daily basis where I get comments about my accent. Sometimes I get mocked, and other times, I get asked questions that take me aback. One prominent question that I have been asked is, "Oh, you speak English?". I become gobsmacked when I am approached by questions like this because it is offensive.  

Me being my sassy self, I will respond by saying, "Oh my, you speak English as well. Glad I found someone who speaks my language". People get offended by my response and often do not know how to respond to it. 

   It is interesting to see how society is conformed to mono culture, and mono perception. This does not pertain to the masses, but what makes us as a society or even as a human being to stick to our ethnocentrism? 

     

-Mila

Local Couple Dirty Dances Their Way to TV

Local newlyweds who surprised their reception guests with an interesting spin on a first dance caught the attention of ABC's Good Morning America. Drake and Terra Otto decided to incorporate their interest in the movie, Dirty Dancing, into their wedding celebration, by replicating the famous final dance. The music and their moves were captured on video and it went viral on cyberspace. ABC saw it and invited the couple out to New York. The Ottos agreed and last Friday, they "Dirty Danced" - fancy lift and all - on Good Morning America!

Posted by: R. Tudjan

A world where children are no longer safe..

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel just posted this article about a armed felon at Children's Hospital of Wisconsin, it is sad that not only are we not safe, but we can no longer feel safe at places such as hospitals. People are more and more often being arrested for firing guns at so many different places it is sad that more and more often these places are somewhere that children used to think were safe places. As a child I always thought Schools, Hospitals, and Police Stations were safe, with all of the violence children can no longer know where, if anywhere is safe.

http://www.jsonline.com/news/report-shots-fired-at-childrens-hospital-b99142691z1-231935841.html

What I learned in News Writing

When I first began writing for this class, I thought it was going to be great considering I have done well in previous writing classes. I quickly learned that this type of writing is much different. It took a lot of work to learn and get used to the AP style. After re doing a couple different stories I feel as though I am finally getting the hang of it. I think that all of the little exercises we have done in class help little by little improve our skills even if we don't realize it right away. I am glad that I took this class because being a communication major you never know where you are going to end up. Although I don't plan on journalism, I may end up in a position where I need to know AP style. I look forward to getting even more familiar with this style of writing.

-Amanda Kalupa

Typhoon

In the Philipines, there has been a deadly typhoon leaving many dead or homeless.  This particular typhoon is referedd to as Haiyan.  Its winds reached to almost 200 mph - which was more powerful than Hurrican Katrina.  The death toll is still in process but at this time almost 2000 are dead and 3000 have injuries.  Although these are tragic, the first estimated death toll was 10000 - outrageous!  

Relief efforts are in effect so try and supply food, water, housing and medical care for those in need.  We need to come together and help one another.  All we have is ourselves.

Here is a link to the video: http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/11/12/21417940-typhoon-haiyan-philippines-president-says-death-toll-could-be-far-lower-than-worst-estimates?lite

Here are a few links if you want to help with relief efforts:
http://care.org/emergencies/typhoon-haiyan?autologin=true&s_src=donate-form&s_subsrc=redcpcg_typhoonhaiyan&cr=typhooninphilippines&gclid=CN7ol-uR4LoCFeYWMgodCzQA5A

https://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/donate/truenorth/onetime_philippines.cfm?source=AZD131101D01&q=general_C_US_Haiyan&source=AZD131101D01&gclid=CJaOr4SS4LoCFaxDMgodPDQA1A&mpch=ads

Madison Dillard

Keeping Current 255

Graduation is approaching fast for me and I'm still trying to determine what I want to do with my life. After taking this news writing class I can narrow down my list and cross off a few jobs i was once interested in. i know i will not enjoy being a journalist! I wouldn’t enjoy writing about the sad things that goes on in the world every day. I also wouldn’t like being assigned to different topics; I would want to stick to a specific beat. I think writing the lead is the most difficult part for me because you have to intrigue the audience so they can read the whole article. I’m glad I took this class it was like a mini internship and showed me things I will have to do on the job.

Kayla Slaughter

What I've learned from Newswriting Class

Tannette Elie's classroom is a whirlwind of power points, discussion, debate, nut grafs, leads, extra curricular meetings, and conversation, making it a little difficult to pick a favorite tid bit to write about for our blog. However, I'd have to say the most pertinent thing I've drawn from this class is a new style of writing.  I used to love to start my essays out with questions, it's a simple attention-getter and easy to think up; Ellie, on the other hand, makes us think up different, and more interesting leads.  I would scatter my facts and information through out my papers, where as now I choose to use a nut graf to sum it all up in a paragraph or so. It's helped me a lot in my speech class as well, helping me build strong thesis statements and organizing my main points clearly and concisely.  This class draws upon your current pool of knowledge on how to write a paper or short story, and helps you sharpen and refine it in ways I would have never thought or known of with out this class.  Bravo Tannette, Bravo.

Posted by: Cody Garbers

Comm. 255

I first enrolled in this course mainly because of interest, and that it was something I've never tried before. I'm a communication major and I thought this course looked a lot more interesting than taking another plain, composition course. I've always faired pretty good in comp. courses, so I was positive I'd succeed in this class.
Little did I know I knew almost nothing about news writing. Writing in AP style is a different world and I totally thought I was going to be lost. I struggled on the first writing assignment and was almost sure this semester was going to be a chore. Adjusting out of writing in the first person and including my personal opinion was the hardest thing to overcome. The AP style quiz was difficult and really showed me that I don't know as much as I thought I did, but I ended up learning a lot more after I took it.
I have now found and learned a whole new side of writing and I don't regret taking this class on bit. I'm continuing to learn more each week and I'm looking forward to see how I finish off this semester.

~Matt Tomaszewski~

Comm. 255

Overall, I think it was a great idea to take this news writing course at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside. After repeatedly taking the AP style quiz, I have come to realize that I am not as good of a writer as I thought. I learned when to capitalize certain words and when not to. I have also learned when to spell out numbers in a story and when to leave them as they stand. I hope by the time I am finished with this course I am a better writer than I was before taking the course. My favorite aspect of the class is being able to get feedback on our assignments before getting the final grade on them. I've never had the opportunity to have a system like that in the past. I think it is very helpful to have this system because it allows improvement to grow. This is how teaching should be done and I am privileged to be apart of this class.

Conor Geraghty

What I've Learned in Comm 255

Throughout the semester in our Comm 255 class we've learned several things that have made us all improve overall as journalists.  This is a lot of information to take in, and is a difficult process but I’m glad that we have been exposed to this because it helps strengthen our writing abilities.  The most important thing in my opinion that we've learned is that writing news stories is an ongoing process with a lot of give and take.

When I wrote and turned in my first draft of the Obituary I thought I had it all figured out wrote the perfect paper, but after I got it sent back to me I realized that there were several mistakes, so I fixed them and then read my Obituary back and the revised version was so much better than the original.

I've also seen with the coaching buddies activities that we've done that hearing somebody else’s opinion on your writing also helps in the writing process.  Sometimes you may not see a mistake or an omission and you need another person’s view on content so peer editing is a very important tool.  I’m glad that we've done these activities because it has made us all better writers in the process, and hopefully the improvement continues throughout the rest of the semester.

-Tanner Saarnio

What I learned during a News writing assignment

For our speech stories that we had due, I went to a local speech contest held in Racine, WI. My niece was one of the contestants, so I went with my family and also got a homework assignment out of it. The speech my niece gave was entitled, "Tomorrow's Promise." It gave examples of procrastination and what the listeners can do to help their procrastination. This, too, helped me as I am a huge procrastinator.
During her speech I listened closely, not only because I'm related to her, but because I also needed valuable information in order to write our speech stories. It was there that I realized all of the trials and tribulations reporters go through, especially covering a speech. Speeches go by so fast and it can be quite difficult to get quotes word for word, unless you're recording them.

Through our class, I have learned to pay special attention to details - whether it be how you’re writing with AP style, or how much you have to focus in order to get valuable information. I think going out and reporting on an actual story, as if we were real reporters, helped me truly understand what it takes to be a reporter.

- Dana Mrazek

To be or Not to be a Writer.

     The past two months have been a colossal struggle for me in this class. Getting acclimated to AP style and being exposed to various styles of stories have been a huge challenge but a rather large learning opportunity. Although I hate AP style with a passion, I see the benefits of getting familiar with it, since press releases use it.

     I absolutely enjoy our group work and group presentations, since it allows room for creativity. The recent one being the presentation that we did last week. The activity allowed us to be in a reporter's shoes, especially that of a broadcast journalist's.

     I particularly enjoyed the profile stories since it allowed me to interact with a subject. It felt good to be a reporter again. I say again since I used to work for the Journal Times. In order to get good details for the interview, I had worked on the questions that consisted of open ended questions and non double barrelled questions. I had set up a face-to-face interview as well, since I wanted to see the emotions that went along with the responses. I learnt that this made a difference since the in person interview made me have a memorable interview. Another key component to remember is to write down all the responses. I made little notes as I was getting responses from the interviewee.

     What helped me tremendously in this assignment was editing the paper after reading aloud. When you read aloud your work, you get to listen to how your writing actually sounds. I have grown to like this class as opposed to the first few weeks. Comm 255 is definitely not like other Communication classes that I have taken. Most of the Communication classes require one to write, research, and reflect based on theories, amongst others.

     I look forward to the next class and hope that we will touch base on broadcast journalism and even writing press releases since I am minoring in Public Relations. On a side note, although I worked for the Journal Times, my beat was focused on night life and I never really used AP style. I see the huge difference in professional journalism and what I was covering for the Journal Times.

-Mila 



     

What I Have Learned

I am a Communication Major and am taking this course (Comm 255) along with one another communication course now.  The other class I am taking is Comm 295.  In that course we are determining the six different learning outcomes of the department and are learning how we can apply our skills once we have graduated.  About two months ago we had guest speaker, Ben Kasica, and his team talk to our class about his company, Skies Fall.  Skies Fall is a media company in which they cover broadcast, film, photography, television, etc.  They spoke a lot about internships and what kind of assets one must possess in order to be noticed.

Around that time I needed to find a speech to cover for Comm 255 - our class!  I was intrigued by the discussion that was given by Kasica and saw he was coming back to Parkside to give another talk, but to a larger group of students.  He went more in depth and gave a lot of valuable information, and as a result of attending that speech, I decided I really wanted to get an internship with his company.  I began to pursue it.

About a month ago for my Comm 295 class I had to interview a Parkside Alumni.  I interviewed Meridith Jumisko who does public relations for Kenosha!  She gave me the rundown of her average day and how she uses her communication skills; she writes articles, creates ads and organizes events.  Cool stuff!

Ben and I continued talking about what kind of a project I could work on in the internship so that I would actually be learning something as opposed to the mundane tasks most interns get stuck with.  The main idea for that right now is for me to head up community events so that Skies Fall can connect with the Kenosha/Racine area.  The more I thought, the more I realized it was what Meridith was doing - public relations!

The writing skills that I am learning in Comm 255 are helpful for me should I choose to work closely with news sources.  I will be able to organize events in a way that would intrigue a reporter to write a colorful article - thus enhancing the image of the company!  Since I have learned how to look at a story from the perspective of a reporter, I will be able to do a better job if I get this internship!

Both classes have helped shaped my view of writing and public relations. Without Comm 255, I would not have attended the second speech, thought to apply for an internship or had a more well rounded idea of public relations!


Madison Dillard

Asteroid Strike!!

            Attack of the Asteroids!!

     I found a very interesting article that I thought would make a good blog post, I wrote an essay on this topic.

After a deadly asteroid exploded over the city of Chelyabinsk, Russia last year, a team of scientists led by Dr. Peter G. Brown of the journal Nature are now trying to figure out if the earth has become more vulnerable to these strikes.

      A hypothesis has been formed by scientists at the journal Nature that claim asteroid strikes could start occurring every ten years or so instead of every one hundred years. Brown, who is a Physics and Astronomy professor at University of Western Ontario, made a statement saying, “the prospect really makes a lot of people feel uncomfortable.”

      In a different study done by scientists at the journal Science, the asteroid strike in Russia was studied and protecting our planet has become an important topic. Defense options like deflecting asteroids away have been discussed as well as raising awareness.

       The United Nations has been involved with studying asteroids and they have come up with some options for the future that the General Assembly has taken into consideration. The first, an international asteroid warning system and the second, an attempt to seek space engineers that will develop asteroid deflecting technology. 

Keep looking for more articles in the newspaper and be sure to tune in to the New York Times for great articles.

~Matt J

Gone Missing...

Every time I see new information about this story I am amazed that something like this can happen. A woman in California went missing from a hospital 17 days later she was found dead, in the stairwell, in the SAME hospital! There were many searches, none off which were fully complete. The question I have is had the woman been found earlier could she still be alive today?
- Ashley Peitz

http://www.cnn.com/2013/11/07/us/california-body-in-stairwell/index.html?hpt=us_c2

My experience in News Writing

Throughout this semester and being in my Communications News Writing experience it has been very interesting. After trying to take the AP Styles quiz I learned that I am not very good at English! Hopefully I can keep improving and get better. I believe that the exercises have helped me improve in my writing and that my papers are getting stronger. I like the constructive feedback on my papers and I hope to continue for the rest of the semester. I enjoy being able to re-submit papers that are not up to standard at first and improve them to make them great. I am excited to finish the rest of my papers strong.

Abbie McMillan

My experience in news writing!

During the course of this semester, we have learned about many different things! The inner workings of a newsroom, how to be a reporter, how to investigate a story, how to write in AP style, and how to pull your hair out in under 10 seconds while taking an AP style quiz for the fifth time! But the most interesting thing that I have learned during the course of this class was how much work goes into each and every newspaper written, all around the U.S. and the world! Starting from 6 A.M. when the editor is selecting what to post online, throughout the day with meetings to plan the day, planning stories, then more meetings, editing, retyping, more editing, then to be finalized with photos and graphics, and finishing with a second check to make sure it is ready for the morning. And oh to be the makeup editor, checking the wires for any late breaking news until 1 A.M. Oh the agony, oh the stress, oh woe is the life of a reporter/news writer and the whole team behind the scenes! Kudos to you!

THE END.

Posted by: Chad Garbers

Rest in Peace DiVonta'e Beamon

Previously a University of Wisconsin-Parkside undergraduate student,  DiVonta'e Beamon, known for being a family man, a genuine friend and a good man past away on Friday, October 18th. DiVonta'e was born on January 27th 1992 in his hometown of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He graduated in 2010 from Vincent High School and attended the University of Wisconsin-Parkside for his undergraduate. Divonta'e enjoyed being with his family, friends and playing basketball. His college friends hosted a bake sale in his memory last Thursday at school where all proceeds went to the family to help cover funeral costs. The funeral service was at 10:00 am at Holy Redeemer Institutional COGIC last Friday.  According to his family and friends Divonta'e was loved by many, missed by more and that he is now an angel of God.
 





(Written by Abbie McMillan)

Holiday Shopping Season

Have you been thinking that Holiday themed items and sales promotions appeared earlier than usual? If so, you aren't imagining it! Retailers did this intentionally, all in an effort to get shoppers to notice. Since Thanksgiving falls later in the month than it has in recent years, retailers felt that they needed to push sales a bit to get us shopping earlier! Did it work?

Posted by: R. Tudjan

No Shave November

A woman in England has polycystic ovary syndrome which causes her to grow unwanted facial hair.  For the month of November she is letting it grow out to show support of her condition and to show that it is nothing to be ashamed of!

It is always nice to see people who are real and dont hide due to the pressures of society.  I am extremely proud of her!  I hope we, as a nation, can seek to possess the "balls" she has and be ourselves.  ;)

The link is below if you would like to see her embracing her condition in a short video clip!
http://www.foxnews.com/health/2013/11/06/woman-decides-to-grow-out-mustache-and-beard-for-movember/

MADISON DILLARD

Privacy at Stake?

Get your nose out of our business.

I found this article rather intriguing and appalling at the same time. I am curious to know why are government agencies interested in requesting information that pertains to the public. It definitely steps into our rights and bridges the fourth amendment.

Technology has advanced swiftly allowing us to connect at multiple levels and allowing us freedom.If technology allows freedom and democracy more than before, I cannot help but to think if the government is trying to control its nation to gain super power. Are we becoming a policing state?

If global agencies are requesting information, this should alert us that there is a bigger scheme happening and as the public where we contribute to taxes, and as human equals, we should be aware of how our privacy and rights might be in jeopardy.

Posted By:
Mila

Antioch homicide

In Antioch, Illinois, my hometown, their was a homicide of two women last week in a popular apartment building on main street. The police are searching and want to question Bill Varner, connecting him to the homicides. Varner was last seen driving a 2002 Chevy van. But just this weekend he was caught by state police in North Dakota after robbing a church. He was brought back to Lake County and was charged with murdering his mother, Dorothy Varner, 82, and another woman Peggy Henderson, 61.


- Taylor Vaughn

Kenosha Man Arrested For Dangling Child From Overpass

A Kenosha man dressed as a clown dangled a child upside down from an overpass after coming home intoxicated from a halloween party. Police were called after a women saw the 33 -year-old  man dragging two kids into a wooded area at 2a.m. It's said that the man, Antonio Brown, forced the the 8 and 13-year-old kids to drink alcohol and he dangled the younger boy over the ledge after he tried running away. As Brown dangled the boy he said, "If you try that again, I'll drop you". The two boys are his girlfriend's children and he was charged with second-degree reckless endangerment and child abuse. This just goes to show how low and worthless people are, and that they should be no where near a children.

-Matt Tomaszewski

Possible New Jobs in Kenosha!

There could be a possibility of nearly 3, 300 permanent jobs being created by establishing a casino in Kenosha, WI. The proposition was brought forward by the Menominee tribe.

Gov. Scott Walker is still contemplating on this though. The article " Walker says decision on Kenosha casino coming soon" on The Journal Times talks about how Gov.Walker is having doubts about approving this since there were reports provided by Milwaukee officials saying that there are job losses and loss of revenue in the tribe's existing casinos.

This is a great proposition since the number of people surrounding Kenosha area is rather large. The implementation of a casino will bring back crowd into Kenosha and possibly into Racine, a neighbouring town. Racine located a few minutes from Kenosha was once known as "little Chicago" and now it is struggling to bring in crowds. Although the nightlife is bustling, the casino could complement both the towns and even hustle in crowds from Milwaukee boosting the economy. After all, the Metra is located in downtown Kenosha and can easily bring in more crowds from various parts of Illinois.

Casino in Kenosha

Posted By: Mila DeChant

Who is the ObamaCare Cover Girl?

Obama put out an add for ObamaCare in which there was a young girl to the right of the ad.  Twitter and other media outlets began writing awful things about the girl: forcing her face to be removed from the ad.  Her personal information would not be given out, but her name is believed to be Adriana.  Many Americans are upset with the new policy, so instead of attacking the real problem they attacked a potentially fake girl.

It is suspected that her photo is actually a compilation of many faces.  Real or not, Adriana's face was replaced with four ways in which Americans can sign up or receive information about the new policy.

I believe that her identity should continue to be protected (in the event that she is real).  America, should we be attacking the girl or the policy?

-Madison Dillard

Link: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/10/28/plot-thickens-mystery-obamacare-covergirl-goes-awol/

Wondering if it is Safe...

Reading this article on CNN really opened my eyes so I thought I would share, a ride operator is charged after an accident on a ride at a fair. The ride operator tampered with the ride and 5 were hurt. Until reading this I would not think twice about going on a ride at a fair. It is sad what people do to innocent others for no apparent reason. It is also sad that we have to stop and think about every decision we make, like is it going to be safe to go on this ride? 

Ashley Peitz 

http://www.cnn.com/2013/10/26/us/north-carolina-state-fair-incident/index.html?hpt=us_c1

Another Discovery of a Lifetime was Found in Calif.

For the second time in a matter of days a discovery of a lifetime was found in Oceanside Harbor, Calif. A 13-and-a-half foot-long oarfish was found washed up on shore. Oarfish live in water depths of up to 3,000 feet so this occurence is very rare. Oarfish can grow up to 50 feet and usually only come to the surface when they're injured or dying. Little is known about their habitats or life cycle and this is only the second one found. It's said that it kind of looks like a giant eel or snake. Most people had new clue what is was.
-Matt Tomaszewski

14 yr. Old Kills Math Teacher

A 14 yr old student killed his math teacher at the school and disposed of her body in the woods behind the school.  Her family had called her in missing, as well as the boys family.  She was dead by that time and the boy was in a nearby town.  They have recording of the boy beating and subsequently murdering the teacher.

This teacher was known for going the extra mile for students, so it is still unclear as to why this student would commit such a heinous crime.  Not much has been decided at this point other than the student was in her class and he will be tried as an adult in court.

Check out the link below:
http://www.cnn.com/2013/10/23/justice/massachusetts-danvers-schools-closed/index.html?hpt=hp_t1

Madison Dillard

The Question of Safety in Our Neighbourhood.

The article $200 Taken from Coin Jar in the Journal Times boggled me. Where do people get the courage to go into someone's home and steal? It makes me think twice about who is watching me in my neighbourhood. It builds paranoia within anyone if our once safe neighbourhoods are no longer safe.

Should we install cameras in our streets, homes, and yards to protect ourselves? Do you think we will go into a police state with crimes on the rise?

Posted By: Mila DeChant

Robbery in Racine!

I cannot help but to think what is happening to Racine? It was once known as the bustling city "Little Chicago", and now it is infested with crime rates. The following article that the Journal Times reported identifies two men who robbed a 17-year-old at gunpoint.

What is happening to the safety of our local community? It is shameless to rob a teenager, especially when the economy is struggling. It makes me think about my own safety when I am in Racine. What can we do to be safe in the streets?

Robbery in Racine

Posted By: Mila DeChant

Marilyn Monroe and Plastic Surgery

It has been spread that Monroe had plastic surgery between 1950-1962!

She was always recognized for her natural beauty and sex appeal.  She was noted to have plastic surgery on her chin and nose.  It was much more of a scandal back in the day than it is now.  Her medical records are being released for the highest bidder.  HIPPA regulations state that medical records can be released 50 years after the death of the person - Monroe died 51 years ago.

This information is not changing now people perceive Monroe!  She will always be remembered of a prominent and beautiful woman!

-Madison Dillard

Who is to Blame?

I found this article very interesting, at two Walmart locations in Louisiana this weekend the food stamp program had a glitch, anyone who received food stamps had an unlimited balance on their cards, this happened at other local grocery stores, but Walmart is the only store who chose to accept food stamps at the time, other stores said they could not accept food stamps until the glitch was fixed. Some people took advantage of this glitch and racked up hundreds of dollars worth of free food, and now the discussion is who is to blame, the food stamp program or Walmart? If you ask me I would say that Walmart is to blame since all of the other stores stopped accepting the food stamps for the time being.

Who do you think is to blame??

http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2013/10/walmart_stuck_with_the_bill_after_glitch_causes_food_stamp_shopping_spree.html

By: Ashley Peitz

Wealth Inequality in America

"The correlation between accumulation of capital and rate of wages is nothing else than the correlation between the unpaid labour transformed into capital..." Karl Marx

As a society, we are uneducated on the topic of wealth inequality in America. The bottom 80 percent of the nation's population has only seven percent of it's wealth where as the top one percent of our nation's population has 40 percent of its wealth. 

The disproportionate distribution of money in America has been separating rapidly over the last twenty to thirty years. In 1976 the richest 1 percent took home 9 percent of the national income. Comparatively speaking in 2012 the richest 1 percent had nearly tripled, taking 24 percent of the national income.

To continue with the inequality, the top 1 percent owns 50 percent of the country's stocks, bonds and mutual funds where as the bottom 50 percent only own .5 percent of the country's stocks, bonds and mutual funds. After educating each other on the facts the next step is to ask ourselves why this is happening and what to do about it.

- Abbie McMillan

Want more details? Check out this video for more in depth learning. 

Reckless homicide charges

Two men were accused of providing the heroin that caused the overdose death of 21-year-old Alexandra S.The two men were charged with reckless homicide; Hayes 27, was charged because he was the supplier and Berg 21, was her friend that convince her to engage in these activities.

-Kayla Slaughter

What Does the Fox Say?

With over 120 million views on YouTube, this video has jumped to the sixth spot on the Billboard Top 100 Chart in the U.S. The Norwegian brothers Vegard and Bard gained fame overnight with the help of social media. Has marketing been innovated via social media?

The video was uploaded in September, and within a month these brothers have reached fame in America.

What Did The Fox Say?

Posted By: Mila DeChant

American Killed in Egypt!

I found this article titled "American Held in Egypt Killed Himself, Officials Say" by Hubard and Shiekh on the New York Times. The article talks about how an American, James Lunn, was detained by the police in Egypt and was later found dead. It was later found that Lunn had hung himself.

What captivates my attention is that I read this news on BBC over the weekend, and it had stated that Lunn was detained because he was out during the curfew time. Curfew was implemented to ensure safety in the streets of Egypt, but this was not mentioned in New York Times. What occurred to me is that when foreigners travel to Egypt or to any country, they have to get visas in order to enter the country. This is a procedure that alerts the government that you are on travel or business by the aid of an official visa. If the Egyptian government knew that Lunn was a foreigner travelling in Egypt, why was he in captivation? There have been other incidents where various foreigners have been jailed in Egypt. Doesn't the visa validate that they are tourists and they cannot be harmed or be detained?

This intersects into the United Nations laws. My speculation is, if Egypt is trying to alienate itself from other countries, or is trying to start a war with various countries to gain super power?

Are we really safe while travelling to other countries? If a visa does not verify that you are a tourist entering a country legally, what else would protect foreigners?



Is it safe for foreigners to travel?

Posted By: Mila DeChant

University of Wisconsin- Parkside Student Body Leaders Fight For Shared Governance

Somers - Parkside Student Government advocates for shared governance with campus administrators. The recently elected student body leaders, President Sepanski, Vice President DeChant, and Speaker of the Senate Beth, shared in a recent press conference that they are strongly advocating for shared governance.

"We want students to be educated on where their student dollars are going", shared Speaker Beth.

"I have been with PSG since my freshman year, and I have seen administration try to strong arm the students. This is a public state university, and students pay segregated fees. They should have a say in how the campus is run", expressed President Sepanski.

"This semester, we as an Executive board are committed to establishing treaties that acknowledge that students have equal rights to policies, and governance. We are bringing awareness to students on how they have the voice to change campus life", expressed Vice President DeChant.

"We urge all students to attend weekly PSG meetings on Mondays at noon and weekly Student Life Committee meetings on Mondays at 5 p.m", expressed President Sepanski.

P.S. I wanted to see if this is a good layout for speech stories. Hence, did a short interview with my colleagues to do this again.

Posted By: Mila DeChant

You are being tracked.

I found this article on New York Times titled "A Senator Raises Privacy Questions About Cross-Device Marketing" written by Cain Miller. The article speaks of how a lawmaker had requested the Federal Trade Commission to investigate online advertisement companies that track consumers across devices.

After reading this article, a lot of concerns sprouted for me personally as a content user. I identify that technology allows us to connect and have access to contents, but where can we draw the line of privacy intrusion? Market surveys in the form of advertisements are often used by many online shops, but how can we differentiate that it is strictly for business and not to profile users virtually? FCC controls or tracks our usage via the internet and phone lines. Will advertisers eventually collaborate with FCC to tap into mobile services to advertise?

Another concern that sprouted from this article is that, do we truly own our rights to privacy with the swift propagation of technology?

New York Times Article

Posted By: Mila DeChant

The hash tag culture has been taking over social media recently. It has evolved from a trending perspective to a popular culture. The following article http://socialmediatoday.com/kenmueller/1613406/hashtags-proper-use, speaks on a how to be mindful about using hash tags. Do you think, you as a user, this popular culture is a fad or is a media phenomenon that will lead to new innovations?

Mila DeChant

Real Life Iron Man

The army is creating a real life Iron Man suit....at least according to Relevant Magazine.

The suit will be equipped with a strength booster, night vision, the ability to repel bullets, etc.  There is a computer inside the suit and gives the user "spidey senses."

I wonder if young men who idolize Iron Man will begin to start enlisting in the army?

-Madison Dillard

Next month features a popular wedding date

A unique date on the calendar has many couples planning weddings on a Tuesday! November 11, 2013, also known as 11/12/13, has become rather popular with math enthusiasts, members of the military and those who just want an easy anniversary to remember.

If anyone out there wants to be married on a sequential date, you have one more chance – 12/13/14. This date falls on a Saturday, so it is already expected that at least 20,000 couples will be married on that date. I hope that everyone who wants to get married on a unique date like that has planned far in advance!

Posted by: R. Tudjan

Passenger with NO flying experience lands plane

A passenger with no flying experience safely landed a small airplane at a British airport after the pilot became deathly sick. The plane was carrying only two passengers and one of them got up and took charge. It's said that he flew the plane over the airport a few times before landing with a huge thump. While he was trying to land he was being talked to over a radio by two flight instructors. Nobody was injured, but the sick pilot later died. No names were given and the reason for the pilots death has not been released.

I thought this was very strange without a lot of information, but interesting enough to share. If I was in this situation I'm really not sure how I would have handled it!

-Matt Tomaszewski

Change in $100 Bill

The $100 bill is the most counterfeited bill in the United States.  There is a new $100 bill that is 3-D, has a raised blue ribbon and a bell that changes colors!  There are some bills with certain serial numbers on them than are worth up to $10,000 at an auction!

Obviously, the hope is that with these new features to the $100 bill, there will be less counterfeit money being used. - Madison Dillard

Hate Crimes in Racine

This morning I was reading the Journal Times and found an article of a 17 year old girl who has been harassing her gay neighbors. She has been yelling anti-gay slurs to them, throwing her trash on their lawn, and even threw a rock at their car and shattered the window. This has been going on for weeks, and finally the cops were able to step in and do something about this. She will even be charged as an adult, despite only being 17.
You can read the full article here: http://journaltimes.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/teen-facing-hate-crime-related-charges/article_6dbd390a-2ce9-11e3-898e-001a4bcf887a.html

I personally think this girl is too young and naive to form such a strong opinion without experiencing much of life. Hate crimes are wrong in general, and becoming an epidemic in recent years and have caused many suicides throughout the United States. With law enforcement stepping down and educating the public, I think that we can help reduce these occurrences.

- Dana Mrazek

"Prisoners"

I recently went to the movies to check out the movie that recently came out, obviously named "Prisoners". This movie was absolutely spectacular in every aspect ranging from the plot to the series of events that unfold throughout the movie. I'm not going to say too much about the plot of the movie so I don't ruin it for others, but I do want to talk about what an amazing piece of art it is. I believe they had a great cast, Hugh Jackman is always an amazing actor in any action movie, this one particularly I think he did a great job at making every little nuance of his body language echo that of a hurting, angry, revengeful father. Terrance Howard and Jake Gyllenhaal both also have very deep, very interesting parts in the story plot, and they both do an incredible job at showing what it's really like to be dealing with kidnapping victims and kidnapping police experts. If you're really into suspense movies, then this is a must.

One aspect of this movie that I found most interesting is how the it shows what real monsters people can become when they're put into incredible and frightening situations. Whether you're a strong minded family man, or already have a little bit of crazy in you, the fragility of the human mind to intensely emotional and dramatic situations is ever present.

So if you're the type of person that's in to suspense filled action movies with a great cast of characters and a plot twist or two to boot, then this is the movie for your weekend. I've also attached a link to the International Movie Database's entry for this movie so you could all check it out. Enjoy!

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1392214/?ref_=ttfc_fc_tt

Posted by: Chad Garbers

Taco Fridays!

I tend to have love affairs with tacos, and I would like to share my affair with you. So I invite you to join me in my search for mouth watering tacos every Friday at 1 pm. I love tacos, hot tea, and roughage. #tacoparty

Posted by: Mila DeChant

Additional Fully Staffed Ambulance Proposed for Kenosha's North Side

Kenosha alderman, G. John Ruffolo, is stressing the need for an additional fully staffed ambulance on the city’s north side, at Station 6 (2615 14^th Place). This is something he’s been trying to do for the past 16 years now, but as Kenosha is estimated to have a 40 percent increase in population growth, this is increasingly more important. Alderman Ruffolo has asked for this staffed ambulance to be presented to the mayor about being included in next year’s budget.

This news is especially important to the UW-Parkside community because Kenosha Fire Department’s Station 6 services campus. 

Posted by: R. Tudjan