Meeting Story Excercise

Some students dread going to school for five days a week, but some could be facing six days of school with a new policy in motion from the Portsmouth School Board.

School Board member Tim Steele has put in motion to approve a new policy that a new rule be instituted requiring students who disciplinary problems during the week to return to school for a special Saturday morning session that would run from 8 a.m. until noon several weekends during the year.

With the Saturday morning session in effect, it would require an allocation of about $3,000 per year for staffing, Steele told the School Board. The new policy left people with negative and positive remarks to the proposal.

Peggy Bacon, a parent, said she did not think the proposal was a good idea.

“I work six days a week—including Saturday morning—and it’s bad enough to get my son off to school Monday through Friday,” Bacon said. “Why do we need a change? I know my son isn’t perfect, and I know he’ll probably wind up on the Saturday list at some point, but I’m not going to force him to go. The parents are going to pay for it in higher taxes as well as in ruined Saturdays.”

Well even though higher taxes will be implemented, Steele responded that the new program would mean that the student would miss no class time if her or she received in-house suspensions.

Resident Bob Farley praised the idea of the new policy because it teaches young adults discipline.

“Parents can whine all they want about this, but maybe it’s time for parents in America were made to take a little responsibility for their kids,” Farley said. “Parents aren’t teaching their kids any discipline, so the kids have no respect for rules. Maybe if they have to miss a few Saturday morning cartoons they’ll start wising up.”

One of the common in-house suspensions being given from Portsmouth High School to students are smoking violations. In 1995, 154 students received in-house suspensions, requiring to spend a school day under close supervision of a faculty member in an empty classroom.

Steele said the new program would mean that the student would miss no class time.

“I know this isn’t good news for parents, but I hope the threat of Saturday classes will make the students think twice before breaking the school rules,” Steele said.

Breaking out of the awkwardness

We all go through this stage in our lives, if not numerous times a day. I'm referring to the awkward moments. In the past almost 20 years of my life, I have been in very awkward situations. Whether it was avoiding to be caught doing something I shouldn't have been doing, trying to make conversation with someone who wouldn't give me the time of day, watching an unexpected sex scene of a movie with your parents, the list goes on. I'm sure you all have had some form of awkward moments in your past, but the real awkward stage I'm on is trying to talk to people for my article assignments.

I always thought it would be casual going up to someone and making conversation. But, we are in the age of technology where everyone looks to avoid awkward moments by looking to their phones. I see it today, and I will sure see it tomorrow. Last night I attended an event for the article I am writing for News Writing 621 and I felt it to be very awkward going up to people looking for quotes. I am a social butterfly and well I just think to the majority of people that see a person like me flock to them with my voice recorder in hand, they already are in a more awkward position. Yet, it's not all too bad. I reassure the person I am talking to that I am writing an article on the event, and would love to get your insight or opinion on it if you're comfortable doing so. Once I throw out those words to them I feel like it's much easier on them, but the moment is still awkward because not many people experience that everyday especially on campus at least in my opinion.

The whole point of this blog post is that I feel like we are all in the same position more than the other. However, it takes practice, guts, balls to do what we do and that's getting quotes from strangers. Not only do I feel like this will better my social skills, but it will give me more confidence each and every time. So if you want to break out of the awkwardness you got to do it more, and always reassure that person you're interviewing that they don't have to answer if they are not comfortable with it. To tell you the truth, each person I have interviewed never backed off! At the end of the day, we all want to be heard.

Another great opinion article that touches home

Throughout my readings so far in The Boston Globe, the one area I have really been drawn to are the opinion articles. Everyone has an opinion, but why do I find myself wanting to know a newspaper writer's opinion? Well, it first starts with what the article is about. Being a kid who grew up in the city streets of Boston for the first 12 years of my life, I was always interested about where the culture is going and how things are changing. This previous article I read was about how the number of kids in Boston are steadily decreasing due to the high end costs of city living. I can totally relate to this article, so I jumped on it (not literally), because it drew my interest. Like any article, some get read mainly because it draws a certain person's interest like how I am always reading the latest sport article by the second. As I began to read this opinion piece, I admired the language. For an example:

"CITIES ARE hot. After decades of decline, demographic, and economic trends now favor urban living as a denser, greener, hipper alternative to suburban sprawl." ~ Renee Loth

These are the first two sentences of the piece, and it may seem like just two sentences, but the language really makes it interesting. The style choice of capitalizing "cities" and "are" jump" out at me. Their is also an argument hidden between these lines, and that is how urban areas are becoming the better choice to live in than suburban areas. So why? That's the question I want to find out, and it allows me to keep reading.

As I continue to read the first two paragraphs, I think that this article is going to be about how cities are more richer than suburban areas, until I get to the third paragraph:

"Boston is at the vanguard of this trend — a thriving, brainy, magnetic metropolis the mayoral candidates were sure to celebrate in the recent preliminary campaign. But all of this dynamism obscures another, not-so-positive trend in Boston: the incredible disappearing family." ~Renee Loth

Even though Boston has all these good things going for it, there is the major problem that is revealed and that is the "disappearing family." 

What makes this article so great in my opinion (no pun intended), is how well this piece is structured. The article brings about the good things about Boston, but then towards the middle it talks about the big problem it has. With the mayor candidates down to two, it brings up a big problem that needs to be addressed, and whoever can bring up the best answer could be the new mayor of Boston? Not only does this piece talk about the opinion of making more affordable housing, but it brings up the voting in the mayor candidate race. So this article hits two birds with one stone, and I think that makes it a pretty good piece.

Loth uses good factual evidence to her argument. Numbers don't lie. Everyone loves numbers, and with the facts at the realm of the argument, it makes the reader more prone to the idea that "Hey, she is right." 

What makes this opinion article work

Excerpt from an opinion article from the Boston Globe on why Boston City Hall should be torn down:

"City Hall is so ugly that its insane upside-down wedding-cake columns and windswept plaza distract from the building’s true offense. Its great crime isn’t being ugly; it’s being anti-urban. The building and its plaza keep a crowded city at arm’s length. It disperses crowds, instead of gathering them together. It creates an island of inactivity, several blocks long and wide, in the middle of what is otherwise a bustling commercial district. It’s as if the complex’s architects vowed to make up for the bawdy sins of Scollay Square by creating a space that no one would ever want to congregate around. The primary function of cities is clustering people together, but City Hall goes to great lengths to repel them." ~ Paul McMorrow 

At first read of this excerpt I felt bad for City Hall due to McMorrow's verbal lashing of how ugly it is, but on second read I was in agreement. McMorrow won me over with this opinion not only for this excerpt, but the logic he puts into the piece which makes perfect sense. This building is not only seen as ugly, but it is out of place and prevents the usual city construction of clustering people together. 

Next excerpt:
"The costs of letting City Hall stand are far steeper now than they were in the urban renewal era, when downtown land was at a surplus. Downtown Boston is running out of office tower development sites. Boston only has six major office development sites left downtown. It needs to find new room to grow. City Hall and the surrounding plaza could easily yield four new towers in a part of town that’s desperate for new land, and urbanize a part of town that’s been dark for half of a century. That’s not a political platform. It’s a map to the city’s economic future." ~ Paul McMorrow

The conclusion to this piece hits home. McMorrow ties in the economic perspective, and in this time in age, economy is striving to be get better and what else won't make people not agree with this when its put in the perspective of more jobs? Four new towers created in its place makes room for jobs, and makes it more city like and in place with its surroundings. If Boston wants to get more companies in the city, they need to make smart decisions, and McMorrow has the right plan in mind.

What makes this opinion article good is how McMorrow looks at different perspectives to why it should be torn down and it's positives. Economy is huge in this day and age, and for economy to be the major idea McMorrow focuses on, makes this idea of tearing down Boston City Hall a good decision.

Monkey Business - ENGL 621.01 In-class article

Monkey Business

All lights were out as the Wyoming licensed plate blue Lexus ES 300 left the parking lot Tuesday night behind the Tin Palace on Main Street in Durham, NH with a curious Susan Smythe lurking behind in her police cruiser.

Smythe, a Durham police officer was on her nightly watch when the event came about. Her first judgment of the person behind the wheel was a drunk driver, because the car was not only swerving back and forth along the yellow median line on Madbury Road, but the lights were out too.

After she pulled the car over, she got out her flashlight and began pacing towards the drivers side door expecting to see a person.

“I looked in the window expecting to see a low life drunk driver slumped over the wheel, but I saw a chimpanzee look over at me and grin,” Smythe said.

This mysterious event has hit national headlines with investigators trying to puzzle the pieces to how a chimpanzee ended up behind the wheel of this vehicle.

Police were able to track the vehicle to an unknown owner in Cheyenne, Wyoming. The car was reportedly stolen late Saturday night early Sunday morning, and wasn’t seen until Tuesday night almost 1,900 miles later on the other side of the country in Durham.

Durham Police Chief Bo Diddley followed up by identifying the chimpanzee as a 3 year- old named Oliver Twist. The chimpanzee started his journey by escaping the Lander Zoo in Lander, WY Saturday morning, finding his way to Cheyenne, WY later that night, which left the roughly remaining 48 hours for Twist to arrive in Durham.

“We’re not sure what he was doing in a Lexus from Wyoming, but we’re looking into it,” Diddley said.

Removing the chimp from the vehicle went smoothly as a Durham Zoo official fled to the scene in his pick-up truck, where he carefully transferred him to the zoo with no incidents.

Oliver Twist remains in the Durham Zoo as of today, with many investigators still trying to make sense of this mystery.

The most interesting things I find in newspapers

I have been reading The Boston Globe for awhile now since the subscription and one thing I really think is interesting, and attracts readers to simply "read" is the insight opinions by some of the writers who write about sports, entertainment, opinion pieces. Entertainment is so huge in our culture, and what is really interesting about these articles is how they all rate things. For an example, the Emmy's are coming up and I had just recently read a piece on the predictions for the winners during the awards. People love hearing people's opinions, especially to those of media power like writers for well-known newspapers, talk shows, radio, etc. The entertainment section must be one of the most popular sections of the paper, mainly because television plays a big factor in our lives and we all have our own vices of television shows we obsess over. So, it just makes it really interesting for me as a reader to see how the Globe makes this section interesting. Little things like "predictions", "reviews", "insight", and all those other judgments make the reader more involved in the piece. I know TNH has been using little things like random question surveys answered by the writers that attract the popular crowd to relate to, which is fun to read. I feel like these little things newspapers do make the read that much interesting, and I will continue to find myself reading them everyday.

Sports writing: my hobby.

When it comes to writing sports, one must be prepared to break down every phase of the game.
what makes writing a sports article so interesting is that anything can happen over the course of the game. Sometimes you get a good idea how a game is going to turn out, for instance a No.1 overall seed plays a No.16 seed and almost everyone feels that the No.1 seed will come out on top based on their ability to claim the title as number one. Game summaries most of the time is just taking notes of what happens in the game like goals, big plays, clutch moments, injuries, milestones, etc. Game summaries seems repetitive, but they don't have to be. I feel like when I write game summaries I try to make it different each time. I try to pick out key moments or unexpected moments like two players getting into an argument. As well as sometimes there are times where a game I am covering is a total blowout, so instead of focusing on the score I try to zone in on a particular player who stood out and focus the story around that player. Sports news is always being read in the newspaper, and people discredit sports journalists on the level that it is not important. But, almost every person spends some time on the television watching a sports event, like the every Sunday ritual season of football. Getting away from the stress of our lives, sporting games are always an option to get into. People love sports, and to those die hard fans, they need the most up to date news on their favorite team. I love sports, and I love writing about them, but I know I need to get into other stories than sports. It just becomes a hassle sometimes when you can't find a decent story, or even the resources to support it. Looks like another sports article is on the way, but it will be my last one for awhile. I will try harder to get a story on campus that is not affiliated with UNH sports, however it doesn't mean sport stories are less important!

Journalism and my dream.

According to Wikipedia, "Journalism is the activity, or product, of journalists or others engaged in the preparation of written, visual, or audio material intended for dissemination through public media with reference to factual, ongoing events of public concern." Good to know. But, it is not the definition that drives me or inspires me to be a Journalist some day. It's the passion of writing, collecting stories from the wide-range of people around us, and letting the public know of things that are important to the world. Ever since a little kid I was always admiring people, and the stories they all share. We are all different from one another, but yet we can still relate. We are human. Connecting with one another is a powerful thing, and this connection is something I want to pursue on page. There are so many interesting stories out there, and it is up to the Journalists to go out and find that story. It is a challenge, and I love challenges and setting forth a goal to accomplish. My dream isn't just to get labeled as a Journalist. My dream is to become a person people will remember positively. I want to write a book and for it to get published. I want to work for a well-known newspaper. I want to get into sports talk. I want to be all these things, but I know it is up to me to go out and pursue that. Maybe someday my story will be in print for others to see just like all the greats that came before me. 

How I Am Adapting to Writing News

Writing news is easy, right? Well, it turns out it is harder than I thought. In order to writing news, you have to know what you are doing. One must gather credible information, which means going out and finding the news, then going out and finding sources that relate to the particular story you are writing about. The lead must be an eye-grabber for the reader, and you must have good quotes that further your story, rather than delay or setback the news. I am still trying to get the hang of writing disciplined with the right AP style, which is another challenge because there are just so many rules! It can be stressful. Other than the challenge of finding the right sources to reach out to when writing the story, it has been fun. Just recently I had to change my story for the week, because my sources were just not good enough, or were not available. But, I will either continue the story for a feature article in class, or run off it with a different idea. Also, I need to go outside of the box with news stories. I tend to stick at what I know best, rather go out and find something I am not familiar with. I will try that for my new story for the upcoming week. I will continue to read "Inside Reporting", and get familiar with the AP Stylebook, and just maybe I will be a little bit better than I was writing my last article!

My Boston Globe Observations

I have been reading the Boston Globe more than ever since buying this subscription, which was mandatory. But, I am glad I was forced to do it, because I might have not invested in this being a stingy, money saving college student. The past class we discussed about what makes a great lead, what defines a lead, and also the struggles of finding that lead. Well, I have been looking at leads more than ever now, and when I read the Globe I find good intriguing leads that grab me by the eyes and push me further down into the article. Now, those are great leads. These leads inspire me to do just that, because if you do not have a great lead, you probably won't be able to get the audience to read your article, unless they really do have all the time in the world to read countless articles of a newspaper. In this day in age, the odds of finding an audience like that is close to impossible. Also, during my readings of the Globe, I was able to notice a constant formula. It starts of with a good lead, fulfilling the Who, What, Where, When, and usually succeeding the How and Why later in the article. Quotes are drawn in purposely at the control of the article. What I mean by this, is that the person who is writing the article carefully chooses the quotes that make sense in that particular moment of the piece. Another thing to is that most of these articles either have a title that tells you what that article is about, or the article has a title that really interests you. I enjoy eye-grabbing title's, and I know the sports section of the Globe has some!

College Night Life on Weekends ( Why is it a newsworthy story?)

Now on to another story......

Finding a news story around campus is really hard. It took me practically all week to find something that can be newsworthy. So what is it? Well, since the weekend has arrived, my ideas for a story became more and more clear around the basis of a campus weekend. Night life. Yep, there you have it. When you think of night life on a college campus, you think about parties. The thing is this is newsworthy, because the idea I am trying to drag out in an article as a big picture idea is simply the night life here at UNH, and the tough choices of college students on their decision making. When it comes to sources around this story, I will be reaching out to students on the party scene, UNH campus police, and the UNH health center for any answers regarding the night life, and it's dangerous effects on students. So, why is this something people want to read? That's easy. Students would flock to an article about night life, because they are intrigued by it. Students eagerly anticipate the weekend, and to sink their eyes onto an article that talks about the night life is inevitable. The students can relate to this news about night life, and for the older crowd, it would spark a more understanding of what is going on during the night life here at UNH, and if there increases in party scene, violations, or is the school slowly heading in the right direction by decreasing. This is news because it happens all the time, and to grab a reader and possibly enlighten them on the subject through the lens of police force, health specialists, and students from experience, it could possibly get them to make smart decisions and be aware of their surroundings when they go out at night on weekends.

My News Source

When it comes to a popular news source the first thing I check is Twitter. Social media has been huge in the past few years and it has been known for getting the news out faster than most popular news sources. People are the power in spreading news, and to update a status on Facebook or tweet on Twitter only takes seconds with a smartphone. Being a new owner of a smartphone, I find myself constantly streaming Twitter and Facebook, as well as reading articles on ESPN. What I need to know everyday is really selfish and or irrelevant to what really matters, like world problems. Instead of finding out about my own country, I spend more time looking at the news headlines in sports, music, and hobbies I enjoy. Once in a great while, I catch up with the world news. Most recently, I read an article off The Boston Globe about Syria, and I found it much rather interesting. I need to be up on anything news more, instead of picking and choosing what interests me, because if I want to be a Journalist I need to find the story that is interesting to the people and not myself.

In class, I learned about a lot from the students. What there interests are, and what they enjoy doing the most. I recall most of them acquiring their news through social media, magazines, and majority of headlines on the Web. The Internet is really the new age, which troubles me as a person who wants to write for a living. Finding a job after college seems harder than it would be for an Engineer major, but writing is my passion and I will continue to follow that. I plan on learning a whole lot in this class, and broaden my skills in writing, acquiring information and making good stories for the people. I totally got sidetracked with this second post, but I will be posting on here more I promise. Can't wait to get back into class next Monday!