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