A Sign of the "Times"

This week in the NY Times I was excited to see a story that pretty much directly related to UNH and some of the dining policies we have here. This story is the one I will talk about for Wednesday. As for other stories, there were a lot about the swine flu, which I did read, but will not focus too much on in this blog entry. Maybe just a little bit...

Monday- Today is the day I will talk about the swine flu. In this article I read today it stated that the US Health Department has declared the swine flu a health emergency. While reading this story, which stated that some health officials worry that this could become a pandemic, I was thinking a lot about the opinion of two of my friends that journalists are always blowing things out of proportion and trying to scare people. Yes, it is true- most of the news reported on is not good news, but I still don't believe, especially in regards to the coverage of the swine flu, that journalists are blowing things out of proportion. They are using the word pandemic, etc. because they are the appropriate words to use in this situation. And this all sounds really scary because it is! If journalists didn't report on stuff like this, the same people who are now accusing them of just trying to scare people would accuse them of not telling the truth and providing the public with the most accurate information. Readers cannot always have it both ways.

Tuesday- Today I tried to avoid the swine flu and read about the sorry state of the economy. The article I read specifically discussed the future of General Motors, and it really made me realize that the economy does not seem to be getting any better. According to the article, in order for GM to remain a viable company (which may still need to file for bankruptcy), it will have to cut 21,000 jobs, close 13 plants, and cut its huge number of 6500 dealerships almost in half. And this is happening to one of the biggest and once most successful companies in the United States! If GM cannont survive in this economy, who can? Scary stuff... maybe I should have stuck with the swine flu.

Wednesday- Okay, today I only read a little about the swine flu and stayed away from the economy and instead focused on a front page story that really related to UNH. This story was about many northeast universities are going trayless. I have long been a hater of "trayless Tuesdays" (which were actually mentioned in this article!), mainly because I often have a lot of small bowls holding my food. Without a tray, I have to make tons of trips in an overly-crowded dining hall, or I try to carry it all and drop something (which is absolutely mortifying, trust me). But after reading this article, I did start to feel a little guilty about by love of trays. I had never really believed that going trayless could actually help that much, but apparently it can- saving huge amounts of water, food, and money. Go figure. I guess I can probably deal with trayless Tuesdays, since it really does seem to help both the environment and the economy- two things that could really use some help right now.

Thursday- Today I read a story online about the debate among the members of the Republican party after the departure of Senator Arlen Spector about whether the party should purge itself of moderates or seek to broaden its appeal by being more moderate. This is a very interesting question, and as someone who usually thinks of herself as more Republican than Democrat, at least in issues of the economy, health care, and security (though not so much in social issues), I think it is important for Republicans to embrace more moderate ideals. Times are changing, and I think there are probably a lot more Republicans, like me, who are not against abortion and gay marriage and would be more likely to continue supporting the Republican party if they too went with the changes that are begging to be realized.

Beaches Remain Open After Shark is Caught in Amity Waters

After a town hall press conference yesterday afternoon announced a 4th of July closure of Village Beach, an early morning announcement by Police Chief Brody has reversed that decision.
In a press conference this morning Brody said that Amity’s Village Beach will remain open to the public this 4th of July weekend. This decision came after a shark was caught and killed by two fishermen one mile south-southwest of Amity this morning at 1 a.m.
According to Brody, the fishermen caught the shark, identified as a rare and dangerous nurse shark, after trolling the waters with a 25-lb. turkey. Brody also said that the shark has been identified as the one that took the lives of two Amity beach-goers on July 2 and 3.
The first victim, Wendy Watson, 16, was attacked and killed the night of July 2 after entering the water alone. Her body was found washed up on Village Beach yesterday morning. The second victim was 10-year-old Alex Ferguson, who was attacked and killed yesterday afternoon while playing in the water with friends.
Brody said in the press conference that he is sure this shark is the same one that attacked and killed Watson and Ferguson, but said that the shark’s stomach contents were not checked for human remains.
“We didn’t look,” Brody said. “We thought that would be disrespectful to the dead people’s families. We didn’t open the body up- we already know it is the shark.”
Brody said that it was the opinion of shark expert Matt Hooper, a marine biologist from the Woods Hole, MA, Oceanographic Institute, that convinced him the shark caught this morning is the one who killed the two victims.
“I trust Matt’s judgment,” Brody said. “He is known around the world as the foremost shark expert- if he says this is the shark, then this is the shark.”
However, Brody did say that while the shark caught is very rare, there is a possibility another one could be in the waters off Amity Beach.
“We will have shark spotters and law enforcement around, but I doubt that there is another one of these sharks in these waters,” Brody said.
The decision to leave the beaches open for this 4th of July weekend is good news for Amity’s many business owners, who were angered over the decision to close the beach on the biggest weekend for tourism on the island.
The business owners were facing large crowds this morning on the newly-opened beaches, where the presence of law enforcement, shark spotters, and an ocean empty of swimmers were the only signs of the previous days’ shark attacks.
Beach-goers did enter the water eventually, but were soon forced back to the sand when a fin was spotted swimming through the water. After crowds of people ran screaming out of the water, it was discovered that the fin was cardboard- a hoax planned and performed by two young boys.
Despite this scare, Brody said that he hopes citizens of Amity and tourists alike will enjoy the beach this weekend without worries, but said that if anyone does think they have spotted a shark to call 1-800-sharksee.

A Sign of the "Times"

This week in the Times there were a lot of interesting stories, as usual, and I read a lot of them. The following, however, are the ones that stood out or effected me the most.

Monday- Today I read a story about the United States boycott of the United Nations conference on racism. According to the article, the boycott came after it was decided that this conference would just be a repeat of the first one eight years ago where critics say the meeting was used as a platform to bash Isreal. While U.S. groups in support of Isreal are very happy with the decision to boycott the conference, a lot of civil rights and African-American groups are very upset with the United States' boycott.

This story really caught my eye because I just think it is very sad that the world cannot come together as one to try and discuss racism, a prominent issue in the world today. It is unfortunate that people would use this meeting to talk about issues in the Middle East, and lose focus, and key members of the United Nations, in the process.

Tuesday- Today I read a story that truly shocked me. It was about how the Chinese government is trying to get millions of Chinese citizens to change their names. According to the article, the name changes come after the Chinese government decided to change the ID cards that every citizen must carry with them. These new cards would be embedded with a chip that would be read by a computer, and these computers cannot read some of the more obscure symbols of the Chinese language. It is for this reason that the government wants some citizens to change their names.

I thought that this story was just rediculous, and it really made me realize what it would be like to live in a communist country like China. I cannot believe that, first of all, Chinese people need to carry an ID card with them everywhere (not just to drive a car), and it made me even more surprised to hear that the government might try to control what characters/symbols a person can use when naming their child.

Wednesday- Today I read an article about Philip Markoff, the Craigslist killer, who went to BU Medical School and who supposedly killed one woman and robbed another. This story really caught my eye for several reasons- one, the close proximity, two, I know several people who live in Boston and even go to BU, and three, he seemed so normal. This was a kid who was engaged and an honor student and who had plenty of friends who never saw who he really was. This really made me think about just how many criminals probably seem like really nice, normal people and it kind of scared me.

Thursday- Today I read a story online about how the U.S. Treasury Department is preparing for Chrysler to file for bankruptcy. This would be the first automaker to file for bankruptcy and would hurt tons of lenders who hold $6.9 billion of the company's debt. The article also said that G.M. could also be filing for bankruptcy soon.

This article really stood out to me mainly because it is just another sign of how bad the economy is right now and how much it is effecting even the biggest companies. This really worried me since if big companies like Chrysler are filing for bankruptcy, I don't see how smaller companies and recent college graduates can really survive in this economy. It kind of makes me wish I didn't have to go out into the real world someday.

Young boy's death marks the second attack at Village Beach in as many days

On this 4th of July weekend, Village Beach was teeming with families and the water was full of playing children when a young boy was attacked this afternoon while floating on a raft.

The happy shrieks of the boy's friends playing around him soon changed to screams of parents rushing to pull their sons and daughters from the blood-filled water. No other injuries related to this attack have been reported.

The young boy, identified as Alex Ferguson, 10, of Mayfair Court in Amity, is believed to have been killed, although his body has still not been recovered. The raft he had been floating on at the time of the attack floated ashore with what Police Chief Martin P. Brody claims looked like a bite taken out of it.

In a press release, Brody said that the attacks appears to have been a "vicious and unprovoked shark attack", although he stresses this has not been proven.

The boy's mother, Marian Ferguson, who was at the beach when her son was attacked, is currently being treated for shock at Amity Hospital where her condition is listed as fair.

Brody said that he believes the death of Wendy Watson, whose body was discovered washed up on Village Beach this morning severely mauled, may have also been linked to a possible shark attack, although the investigation of her death is still ongoing at this time.

A press conference held by Brody, Mayor Farley, and the Amity Board of Selectmen will take place today at 5 p.m. in Town Hall. At that time, a request will be made by Chief Brody to close all the beaches on the island.

Teenage girl attacked and killed at Amity Beach

The Amity Police Department is investigating the death of a teenage girl whose body was found washed up on Amity Beach this morning. The cause of her death is currently unknown.

The girl, identified as Wendy Watson, 16, of 23 Sharkstooth St. in Amity was last seen alive leaving a beach party with an unidentified male at around 11 p.m. yesterday.

According to her companion, Watson entered the water at a remote section of the beach and did not return. Her companion then notified police that Watson was missing.

A brief search by police resulted in the discovery of Watson body, which was severely mauled by an unknown attacker. Her body is currently undergoing an autopsy and no charges have yet been filed in the case.

Though a shark attack has not been completely ruled out as the cause of Watson's death, the beaches on the island will remain open for swimming and the police assure that swimmers are not in danger.

A Sign of the "Times"

This week’s New York Times had some articles in it that really demonstrated a few ways in which the economy is affecting our country and really hit home with me.
Monday- Today I read an article that really troubled me about how the Obama administration has a plan to end the subsidized loan programs for college students and redirect the money to scholarships for needy students. While the intentions of this plan are obviously good, it really worries me since I receive both unsubsidized and subsidized loans and without them I don’t know if I could afford to go to school. I am sure there are many other students like myself who also need these loans to go to school, and I feel as though this plan will merely hurt middle class students, who are already given far less money than most actually need, even more.
This plan, which would make spending on Pell government grants necessary, is also just another example, many critics of the plan say, of the Obama administration’s desire to expand government. This also worries me, as this was one of the things I did not like about Obama’s plans for running this country.
Tuesday- Today I read a story about how the two major labor federations have decided to work together with the Obama administration to try and reform the immigrations system. The current plan for this reform includes legalizing the status of illegal immigrants already working in the U.S. and opposes any new programs that would allow employers to bring in new immigrants to work temporarily. While I am not sure if I agree with automatically legalizing the status of illegal immigrants already in the country, I do think this is a good step in the right direction. Our country was built by immigrants, and they are obviously an important part of our country’s culture, but I do think that our government has been far too lax in the way it deals with illegal immigrants. I believe that while anyone who wants to live here should be able to, they should do so legally and not take advantage of our great country and all of its benefits. It is not fair that illegal immigrants can come in and work without paying taxes- it hurts those people that are living in this country.
Wednesday- Today I read a story about another way the economy is affecting people in the U.S. The story I read was on the front page of the Times and talked about how many students are giving up music and other artistic pathes in life in order to pursue a more practical job that will be more likely to earn them money. The story focused on a young girl from Newark, Ohio, who is at the top of her class and a very talented violinist, but who instead of following her dream of going away to school for four years and becoming a music teacher, is working at Sonic and thinking about taking a two-year nursing program at a local tech school. While this is a perfectly fine path to follow in life and will certainly help her to be successful, I think it is really sad that students feel they must give up music and other artistic dreams in order to survive in this economy.
It also made me think about my high school, where the music and art programs were always the last to be given funds. My high school spent $10 million on a new football stadium and gives almost nothing to the music department. The music parents have had to create a committee to raise money for almost everything the department needs. This is just another very sad sign of the times.
Thursday- Today I read a story about how many colleges are asking for more help from donors in order to meet the financial aid that incoming students will need. With more and more students applying to colleges, especially state schools in an attempt to save money, and more and more of these students in need of financial aid, many schools are finding it very hard to keep up. This story really made me realize just how hard the economy is hitting students and schools. Sometimes I think that being at school, I am kind of isolated and don’t realize just how bad the economy is. I don’t know what gas prices are, or grocery prices are when I am at school- I take the bus or walk and eat in the dining hall. To me, everything just seems free. But this article really made me open my eyes to the kinds of problems schools and students like me are currently facing because of the economy.

A Sign of the "Times"

This week in the New York Times one of the major things I noticed was that there were more stories that did not involve the economy than usual. I am not sure why this is, but I definitely welcomed it and read a lot of other very interesting stories.
Monday- Today I read a blog online that really caught my eye about Levi Johnston, the would-have-been husband of Sarah Palin’s daughter Bristol. The story goes on to say that Johnston went on the Tyra Banks show and talked about his relationship with Bristol Palin. The Palin family was apparently outraged by his “quest for fame” and the governor’s office even put out a statement stating their disappointment over his choice to appear on the show. What really interested me in this story however, was that the author seems to think that because Gov. Palin went public with her message to Johnston it is a sign that she may be preparing to run for office again in 2012. The story also said that by highlighting that Bristol was going to “take responsibility” and “campaign for abstinence” she sees this whole situation could be a trouble area with conservative voters. I think that it will be very interesting to see if Palin does attempt to run again in the next election and what voters’ reactions will be.
Tuesday- Today I read a story about NY health officials who has called for a tax on drinks with sugar. The officials say that a tax of only one penny per ounce of sugary drink would decrease consumption by more than 10% and also raise $1.2 billion dollars in NY alone. While this seems a little extreme, it also does kind of make sense to me. There is a tobacco tax, so why shouldn’t there be a tax on something else that harms the health of American citizens such as sugary drinks? I don’t know how people will feel about this plan, since so many Americans drink soda, but I think that if it were ever to be put into effect, there could be a very substantial improvement in the health of many Americans.
Wednesday- Today I thought it was very interesting that there were two stories on the front page involving the situations and discriminations facing the gay community in both the United States and Iraq. In Vermont, a veto on the bill to allow gay marriage was rejected, while in Iraq, newly admitted gays are being strongly persecuted and even murdered. I was so shocked by the situation facing gays in Iraq. Obviously there are people in the United States who are very against not only gay marriage but also homosexuality in general, but I never would have imagined just how violent people could be just because someone is gay.
I did start to think about how there have been murders of homosexuals in the U.S., however, the situation in Iraq seems to be much more extreme. For example, the most shocking aspect of this story, to me, was that some of the murders and other crimes being committed against gays are being committed by their own families, who believe that they have been shamed.
Thursday- Today I read a story about how a group of pirates in the Indian Ocean captured an American merchant ship’s captain. This story says that these modern pirates are motivated by money, and are not interested in politics, religion, or killing people. This story really caught my eye because it is not often that you hear about pirates these days. I think that many people think of them as something that happened hundreds of years ago and are now in movies, but the fact of the matter is that they are a big risk. I was also amazed when I read that this is the first time in 200 years that pirates captured an American vessel. I think that this story is very important for people to read, since I think it is important for people to be aware that pirates continue to be an actual risk even today.

Many of the 90 employees of the Lakes Region Facility prison may soon find themselves without a job as the prison prepares to close its doors this June.
Paul Cascio, a lieutenant at the State Prison for Men and president of Local 255 of the New England Police Benevolence Association, which represents the DOC sergeants and officers, said that the DOC cannot afford the layoffs as there are already 100 vacant jobs in the state penal system.
“The risks to public safety are imminent and evident, so we would say that laying off people is not a good idea," Cascio said.

New Lead for Laconia Prison Story

Many of the 90 employees of the Lakes Region Facility prison may soon find themselves without a job as the prison prepares to close its doors this June.

Paul Cascio, a lieutenant at the State Prison for Men and president of Local 255 of the New England Police Benevolence Association, which represents the DOC sergeants and officers, said that the DOC cannot afford the layoffs as there are already 100 vacant jobs in the state penal system.

“The risks to public safety are imminent and evident, so we would say that laying off people is not a good idea," Cascio said.

A Sign of the "Times"

This week in the New York Times there were a lot of very interesting stories. I read about the economy (of course!) and warnings about a computer virus that could be coming our way. These are just a couple of the stories I read in the Times this week.

Monday- Today I read all about the chairman of G.M. quitting in a deal with the Obama administration. Supposedly, Obama’s auto task force asked the chairman, Rick Wagoner, to step down as a condition for continued aid for the auto industry from Obama’s administration. This personally worried me because I feel as though it shows that the government clearly has a great amount of power over private industry. I feel like even though the Obama administration did not technically force Wagoner to step down, they still used their power and their influence (by using the continued aid for the auto industry as a bribe in a way) to control private business. I believe that in a country like America, private industry should be separate from the government, and while the government does have some rights to regulate businesses, I think that Obama overstepped his power here.

Tuesday- Today I read a story online about how North Korea was planning on trying a few U.S. journalists. The two journalists have been detained in the communist country and will be tried on charges of perpetrating hostile acts against the country, a crime that in North Korea that is punishable by years in a labor camp. The two journalists were detained when they were caught illegally entering North Korea from China. This story really caught my eye since I want to be a journalist someday. This story is very frightening, as these journalists are trapped in a foreign country where they have virtually no rights. This story also really made me think about how lucky we are in America as journalists. Here, we have the freedom of the press, and while we cannot tell blatant lies about someone, we are totally free to write whatever truth we please- no matter what it says about anyone, government or not.

Wednesday- Today I read about the conficker worm, which has spread around the world very quickly in the past few months. According to the article, the software made an apparent attempt to download commands from a server at an unknown internet location a few days ago. The program would aggressively send out spam e-mails and “denial of service” attacks on Web sites or networks. Recently Microsoft offered a $250,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of Conficker’s author or authors. This really worried me as it seems as though this virus could really harm a lot of computers and basically shut down internet sites. Seeing as our society depends so much on computers and the internet today, this article really made me nervous and I will definitely be paying closer attention to the e-mails I receive.

Thursday- Today I read a story about a former University of Colorado professor who was fired after he wrote an essay that called September 11th victims “little Eichmanns”, after the Nazi who was called the architect of the Holocaust. His essay also stated that the United States brought the attacks of September 11th upon itself. Today a jury found that he was wrongfully fired and he was paid $1 in damages. For the professor, Ward L. Churchill, it was not about the money but about his right to freedom of speech and freedom of the press. I personally think that the jury made the correct judgment in this case. Even though the things that Churchill said were clearly awful and offended a lot of people (and rightfully so), this is America. And in America we have the right to say what we believe and to state our opinions without fear of persecution.

If an oil spill were to occur in Portsmouth Harbor, response teams would be readier than ever. And if University of New Hampshire professor Nancy Kinner gets her way, many other bays and harbors around the world will soon be more prepared as well.
Kinner and her colleagues at the Coastal Response Research Center (CRRC) at UNH have developed a tool that greatly increases the efficiency of oil spill clean-ups, a tool that is currently being used in Portsmouth Harbor.
Sitting in her office, surrounded by maps of various harbors and oil spill trajectories, Kinner credited a summer job at the Shoals Marine Laboratory on Appledore Island for first introducing her to the field of bio-engineering- the field that eventually brought her to the CRRC.
At the laboratory, Kinner was “bit by the science bug” and never looked back. And today, oil spill response teams are very glad she didn’t.
The tool Kinner developed works to bring together all of the information needed to properly respond to an oil spill on one map. This map can then be used to coordinate an efficient clean-up of the spill.
Before this tool was developed different groups of responders, such as oil spill companies, environmentalists, and clean-up crews, would have to gather their own data and combine forces later, Kinner said.
With the new tool, however, the data that was once scattered in many different places is now all together. With one click, responders can bring up a map displaying possible oil spill trajectories, species that could be affected by a spill, and where equipment that is used in clean-ups is being stored.
Kinner also stated that in addition to increasing a response’s efficiency, the new system is extremely simple to use. The tool is based on Google Maps and requires no special training to operate.
While most students at UNH may not hear about many oil spills, they are much more common than many people believe.
“It depends on where an oil spill occurs,” Kinner said. “If an oil spill happened here, all hell would break loose. But in Lousiana, where there are many oil refineries at sea, thousands of spills occur every year.”
Kinner also said that the majority of these spills are not caused by ships leaking oil, but by storms that damage the huge containers where the oil is stored.
While Kinner knows that her tool is greatly needed now to help clean-up oil spills, she also believes it will be even more important in the future. With traffic increasing in the Arctic, Kinner says that oil spills may become even more common, greatly increasing the need for this new tool.

The Future of Journalism

Before taking a newswriting class, I would tell people, "I am a journalism major, but I don't want to write for newspapers or anything. I want to write books- newspapers are a dying breed." Recently, however, I learned just how untrue that was. After several weeks of finding stories and writing them, I have grown to love writing news stories and really hope to do this as a career. And last week when Steve Damish, a journalist who graduated from UNH, came to talk to my class, I realized how wrong I was when I said that newspapers are a dying breed.

Sure, more and more publications are going online or at least posting online content and videos. But why does this have to be a bad thing? If you ask me, this is a great thing, and does not mean that the original paper form of newspapers will soon be going out of style. So, to do my part to contribute to the field of journalism and the future of newspapers, I am making a few commitments.

I commit to becoming a journalist who always tells the truth. I commit to finding compelling stories that actually matter to my audience and will help to keep the public informed. I also commit to finding news stories that give people hope, since I personally come out of reading a newspaper or watching television news feeling like I have recently developed an ulcer. But most importantly, I commit to helping to evolve the field of journalism. People cannot expect that newspapers won't change at all, but I definitely no longer think that they will die out. Still, I think journalists of the future need to be open to change and not be afraid of the internet or videos or technology in general. Because when it comes down to it, things change. And I just hope that newspapers can keep up. Because I expect that in the year 2100, when people are being driven to work in their self-directing flying cars, they will be using that time to read a newspaper.