Jaws news report 4

In a press release from Amity Chief of Police Martin Brody, the shark that has caused the deaths of Christine Watson and Alex Kintner has been caught and killed.

The shark was caught by fishermen Mike Swenson from Medford, Ma.  It was One mile south-southwest of Amity.  Swenson will be receiving the reward of $3,000.

Matt Hooper, a marine biologist from the Oceanographic Institute, Identified the shark as a nurse shark.  Weighing 875 pounds and 11 feet long, nurse sharks, the email stated that nurse sharks are one of the most brutal and violent of all sharks.

Brody stated in the press release that residents of Amity can now rest easy and that all of the beaches will be opened to the public.

“Of course all the beaches throughout our beautiful island will reopen immediately just in time for the flood of visitors just in time for the Fourth of July weekend,” Brody stated in the email. 

Despite the re-opening of the beaches and ensured safety of the residents, the Coast Guard, the Marine Patrol, the Massachusetts State Police, the U.S. Navy, Homeland Security, and the FBI will be monitoring the island.

“Islanders and guest alike should not be alarmed by the presence of shark spotters…They are simply a safety precaution that we hope will put our visitors at ease,” Brody said in the email.

Islanders and visitors of Amity swarmed the beaches, but it took some time for everyone to actually feel comfortable enough to go in the water.  Once everyone finally went in, the day resumed like a normal Fourth of July day.

There was a slight panic when Wayne Winston and Brad Caplan, two 12 year old Amity natives, posed as a shark swimming in the water among the beach goers.  They have been brought back to their parents.  No one was injured during the panic, and the day resumed like normal.

Jaws news report 3

After a meeting held by the Mayor, Chief Brody, and the Amity Board of Selectman, it was decided that Ben Quint, a local fisherman, would hunt down the shark that is believed to be the cause of two tragic deaths.

 Christine Watson and Alex Kintner both died yesterday in what was believed to be a shark attack by the same shark.  The meeting was held to discuss the matter further.

Mrs. Kintner, Alex’s mother, set up a $3,000 reward for anyone who could kill the shark.

The first question to be addressed was whether or not the beaches would remain open.  Chief Brody stated that they would be closed, which caused unrest with everyone attending the meeting.

After much debate and argument over the $3,000 bounty, set up by Alex’s mother, and how long the beaches would remain closed for, Quint interrupted the clamor by scratching the chalk board in the room with his finger nails.

Quint, who is well known among residents of Amity, demanded $10,000 for the shark to be killed. 

“I’ll catch this bird for you, but it’s not going to be easy,” Quint said.  “We got to do this quick…for $10,000 I’ll get the head, the tail, the whole damn thing.”

The mayor stated over phone that Mrs. Kintner would provide the $3,000, and the town of Amity would provide the remaining $7,000.

Shark attack Side bar

While Amity may be faced with a series of shark attacks, that doesn’t make all of the waters surrounding New England dangerous.

According to the Ichthyology at the Florida Museum of Natural History website, there have been 138 unprovoked fatal shark attacks around the world since 1580.  Of those 138 victims, only 43 have been from the United States.

In New England there has only been one fatal shark attack; it was in Massachusetts in 1936. 

Even the number of non-fatal shark attacks is low.  There have only been five non-fatal attacks in Massachusetts, Maine, Rhode Island, and Connecticut combined.  Vermont and New Hampshire have not seen any shark attacks.

There are a total of 54 known species of sharks.  Of those 54 species, the number of non-fatal attacks is higher than the number of fatal attacks.  In fact, many of the shark species have not even had a recorded fatal or non-fatal attack.

Based on the statistics, anyone going to the beaches of New England can rest easy.  Shark attacks do happen in the United State and New England, but they are very rare.

Jaws news report 2

What was originally a perfect and sunny summer day at Village Beach turned into a nightmare when 10 year-old Alex B. Kintner was killed in what appeared to be a vicious and unprovoked shark attack.

His mother, Marion Kintner, is being treated for shock at the Amity General Hospital.  There were no other reported injuries.

Alex had been in the water on a yellow rubber raft at around 2 p.m. when the attack took place.  Shortly after everyone fled from the water his raft washed up on shore with what appeared to large bite marks.  His body has yet to be recovered.

This is the second death to happen today.  Earlier this morning, 17 year-old Christine W. Watson was found dead at a remote part of South Beach. 

According to Dr. Robert Nevin, Amity’s medical examiner, Watson’s wounds resembled that of a motor boating accident.  However there were numerous rumors and speculations that Watson also died of a shark attack.

“We now believe that it may be possible that the Watson death could also maybe have been linked to possible shark activities in the vicinity of Amity,” Amity’s chief of Police Martin Brody said in a press release.  “That investigation is still ongoing.”

A meeting will be held tonight by the Mayor, Chief Brody, and the Amity Board of Selectmen at 6 p.m. to discuss this matter further.

Jaws news report 1

Seventeen year-old Christine W. Watson was found dead this morning at South Beach of Amity Village shortly after 6 a.m.  Watson was last seen alive by college sophomore Christopher P. Hoggenbottam III at around 11 p.m.  Both teenagers had been drinking heavily and may have been under the influence of marijuana.

According to Hoggenbottam, Watson had decided to go swimming at a remote section of South Beach near the South Beach Shoal bell buoy.  The police were notified about Watson’s disappearance around 6 a.m. by Hoggenbottam, who never saw Watson return from the water. 

Watson’s body was found mangled and washed up on the beach after a brief search and was immediately sent to the coroner’s office for an autopsy.

“The body was severely mangled, and the wounds are consistent with a motor boat accident,” Dr. Robert Nevin, medical examiner of Amity Village, said.  “It was a calm clear night, and often fishermen are out fishing.”

There have been no leads on who exactly killed Watson, however there has been some speculation that her death was caused by a shark attack.  Despite this risk the residents of Amity village have been assured of their safety.

“Though a shark attack has not been completely ruled out, we want to assure all residents and visitors on our fine island that they are in no danger,” Martin Brody, Amity’s chief of police, said in a press release.  “Our lovely beaches will remain open for swimming pending the outcome of the investigation.”

Watson was a member of the varsity swim team at Amity High School and a lifeguard at the Amity Island YMCA pool in Oak Bluffs.  No charges have been filed in the case and the investigation in ongoing.

Letter to galomagazine.com

To Whom It May Concern:

I am writing to inquire about the opening for the technology section of galomagazine.com.  Ever since I was a child I have had an interest and passion for pop-culture, technology, and writing, and I believe I would be a wonderful addition to the galomagazine.com team.

           

Before I even began my journalism career at the University of New Hampshire, I would always research about new advancements in technology and look into the new must-have gadgets for the year.  Anything I didn’t know about the technology world I always wanted to find out.

I believe that that is my biggest strength; if there is something I do not know, I will do everything in my ability to find out what it is.  In the journalism field, reporting about the whole subject at hand, not just part of it, is absolutely essential.

  Once I decided that I wanted to be a journalist, I made my own blog that covered games and technology.  Shortly after, I made my own Twitter account that accompanied the blog.  I follow many popular newspapers and online magazines for both interest and so I can learn from them how to improve my writing and reporting.

While I enjoyed blogging and tweeting, I didn’t make my accounts just for entertainment; I made them to make myself known in the journalism world.  The journalism industry is constantly evolving.  In today’s world, the only way to make a name for oneself is to make readers aware of ones presence on the Internet.

            Along side my blog, I have had some of my works published in both academic textbooks and the UNH newspaper.  In my freshman year in college, my persuasive paper about repealing a controversial military law was published in Transitions, a college textbook containing student’s writings for English 401.  To date, I have had three stories published in UNH’s newspaper, The New Hampshire.

            Please find enclosed my resume and application.  You can reach my phone (978-846-3238) or by email (jdkscore@comcast.net).  Thank you for your time and I look forward to meeting with you.  Sincerely,

Joel Kost

             

New York Times: Thursday, November 17, 2011

The lead for story about US marines going to Australia was amazing.  It was short, but full of information.     The read knew exactly what he or she was going to read about in just one sentence.  The closer, however, was no  so successful.  It seemed to trail off into a different topic, talking more about Afghanistan more than the problems with China.

I can't believe that someone would actually try and shoot the white house.  I heard about the story before I read it in the paper, but every time it comes up it is even more shocking.  People have the right to protest, but violence against the white house is just asking to spend the rest of your life in jail.

New York Times: Monday, November 14, 2011

I think it's absurd that convicted felons have the right to regain fire arm rights.  They lost that privilege in breaking the law, so they shouldn't be allowed to own a harmful weapon.  The lead for this story was vey well written, and certainly grabbed me attention.  However, I feel like it didn't fit in well with the rest of the story.  In class we discussed how leads can be "10,000 feet above the ground", not focusing on the bigger picture.  While the story that the lead tells certainly has that "bigger picture", I thought that the rest of the article was going to be about that particular story, not the law as a whole.  It is amazing how much the writer had to say about the situation though.  I was amazed that this article was two whole pages long. I can't even imagine writing a story of that length right now.  I guess that just comes with experience.

Goggles lab, Google X, is a complete waste of time and money, in my opinion.  I would honestly be embarrassed to work there.  While the company certainly has ambition, it doesn't seem like the facility takes the business seriously.  Some of the inventions that they want to make just seem ridiculous.  Now it looks like Google doesn't know what to do with all their money.  The topic itself was annoying, but I really liked the lead.

New York Times: Wednesday, November 9, 2011

The story about the air force was very hard to read, in opinion.  As I was reading it felt like there were a lot of commas, and the sentences seemed to go on and on.  Even the lead was just one really long sentence.  I've noticed that stories that have two writers, like this one, are harder to read then other stories

I was shocked when I read the story about the foreign businessmen who couldn't speak English.  I thought that in order to make a successful living here one would have to speak English, especially 20 years ago when there weren't apps and computer programs to help people learn.  It's always awesome to hear stories like this though.  It shows that there are some people that can make a very successful living here by simply working hard.

New York Times: Tuesday, November 8, 2011

I had no idea that the Michael Jackson case was still going on until I read the main article.  I'm not surprised that his doctor was charged though.  As someone's doctor, you have to make sure that your patient is always healthy, and giving in to the demands is not going to help.  I really liked the lead of the story, but I felt that it didn't really fit in with the rest of the article.  It's a great standalone paragraph, but I just think it's unnecessary.

I can't believe that people are still out of power from last week's storm.  When New England got hit with the ice storm 3 years ago, we lost power for less than a week; I can't imagine what it would be like for ten days.  This story is one of the those stories that no one expects to read since its so long ago, but since it's been over a week since the event, more people would probably want to read it.  That being said, it would make sense to put it more at the beginning of the paper instead of the back, but that's just my opinion,

It seems that everyone is making tablets nowadays, and now that barnes and noble just announced theirs, I'm willing to bet a lot more companies will do the same thing.  Looks like Apple has a lot more competition to put up with.

New York Times: Thursday, November 3, 2011

The article about Japan's defense against tsunamis was the longest article I have ever read.  I thought it was amazing at how much information one person was able to get out of just one topic, and I'm sure the writer could have gone on for many more pages.  However, a story of this length might scare certain readers off, especially since it's a foreign topic and not local.  People are missing out if they do skip the story, but even I was almost tempted to not read it.

I never knew that there were phone apps for dating, and honestly that seems kind of creepy.  People lie about who they are all the time on dating websites, so why would this be any different?  I feel like this could get a lot of people into a lot of trouble.

New York Times: Tuesday, November 1, 2011

I thought it was hilarious that the Times decided to put in another article about the storm and Halloween.  I'm guessing that they did this because they were able to get more information about Halloween cancellation yesterday, but I can't help but think that they put this story in to replace the one from yesterday's paper.  Today's story had very similar information as the other one, but this one was much more entertaining to read.  You could actually get a feel what the writer was trying to say, and there were smooth transitions into quotes.  I feel bad for the kids who couldn't go trick or treating though.  I know that if I was a kid, I would have been really bummed out.

It's terrible to hear about the trial going on in Haiti right now.  That country as suffered so much, and now they have to worry about the outcome of a trial that could have been completely avoided.  I usually get really confused reading stories about foreign affairs, but this story was written very clearly, and the quotes that were used summed up the whole article very well.

The story about homeless people living where protestors do their business was a very surprising story to read.  I never would have guessed that the homeless would find a home there, but once I thought about it it makes sense.  There are always a lot of people at protests, and often times the protests are about money, something that the homeless don't have.  If you could live in an area where it's safe and there are people with similar views, why would you not live there?  

New York Times: Monday October 31, 2011

As I said in class, I thought that the article about the storm was terribly disorganized.  However, it is understandable how a story like this could be poorly structured.  The storm affected such a large area that many disastrous events were bound to happen.  With so much information at your disposal, its understandable that a story could be disorganized.  I thought that photos perfectly showed how strong the storm was.  No one expected it, and we hit everyone hard.

Spotted leopard excercise

Panic struck at the Durham Zoo on Wednesday as armed policemen went searching for Fluffy, a 10-year old female Romanian spotted leopard, who went mysteriously missing from her cage. 

“We have no idea what time Fluffy escaped or where she went,” Gerry Durrell, the director of the zoo, said.  “We are doing everything we can to find her and bring her back.”  According to Durrell the door to her cage was shut and the fencing was not broken and had not been tampered with.

The leopard was noticed missing at 7:30 that morning when faculty began feeding the animals.  James Petronkis, a regular visitor of the zoo, was the first to notice the Fluffy was not in her cage.

“Everything seemed normal until I got to the cage,” Petronkis said.  “Fluffy usually draws the straw up into a nest when she sleeps, but there was no nest- there wasn’t even any straw.”

Petronkis took matters into his own hands and pulled the fire alarm to get the workers attention.  He claimed that they told him not to worry, but after 30 minutes Fluffy was still nowhere to be found.

“…All hell broke loose,” Petronkis said.  “Cops with guns were drawn everywhere.  People were screaming…It was mayhem.”

Fluffy is the only female Romanian spotted leopard left in existence.  Its health and safety was of the utmost concern to both faculty and civilians.

“We love that cat, and we don’t want to lose her,” Durrell said, fighting back tears.

Kitty Smith, the zoo’s chief biologist, expressed similar emotions, but warned every one of the leopard’s potential danger.

“If these cats are cornered, their defense is to kill,” Smith said.  “We urge anyone who encounters fluffy to get slowly to the ground and lay still…Be especially careful to avoid eye contact.”

The Durham Police Department is doing everything they can to keep Fluffy from harming anyone who she may come across.  The Chief of Police William Blair made it clear to everyone at the zoo that their safety comes first before anything else.

“If possible, Fluffy will be shot with a tranquilizer gun.  But if necessary, we will shoot to kill,” Blair said.  “We have asked the New Hampshire State Police and the state wildlife department to help in the search.  In addition, the National Guard will be supplying five helicopters with infrared sensors.  We’re going to find this cat even if it kills us.”

New York Times: Wednesday, October 26, 2011

I don't know a single thing about politics, but the article on the front page made it clear that the people are not happy with our governing body right now.  I'm not really surprised by this finding, but it's interesting to see that an actual study proves that people don't trust the US government.

I was surprised to read that Amazon was suffering a loss of income.  With the new Kindle Fire coming out, I figured that the company would see a huge increase in sales.  However, companies claim that their income has dropped in what seems to be every paper, so I doubt that Amazon will suffer for long, especially after people are buying and downloading apps on the new Kindles.

The photo on the front page that accompanied that haunted house story was an absolute riot.  The looks on those people's faces is priceless.  Photos like these make me want to read more into the story.  I think it's interesting that theme parks depend so much on Halloween themed events to bring in a lot of money.  It's clear how this presents challenges though.  People definitely get scared less easily in this day and age. All the ideas are almost used up.  I also couldn't help but laugh at the closer for this story.  Even after how much the new things scared the interviewed person, she noticed what was old and as phased by it at all.

New York Times: Tuesday, October 25, 2011

It was a pretty dry day for stories in the Times today.  I really liked the story about young children using iPads and other devices.  It's definitely a hot topic in today's society, especially with the millions of advertisements out there now.  I think that three years old is a bit young to be using things like iPads, but then again I didn't grow up in a time where technology was used every second.  Times are changing, so I guess this is what being a little kid is going to be like.  I still think it's important to learn things without technology though.  It's good to be independent from that stuff.

I couldn't help but grin when I read the article about BlizzCon.  Embarrassingly enough, I used to be a huge fan of those games, so reading that article made me feel very nostalgic.

New York Times: Monday, October 24, 2011

The story about the horse slaughtering certainly opened my eyes to the whole debate.  I was completely unaware that it was illegal to slaughter and sell horse meet in the U.S.  However it seems like people that are against the slaughter of horses don't understand that keeping them from being killed for food is making their lives more miserable.  Now, the reader obviously doesn't know this for sure, but that's what the article seems to be saying.

In almost every article of the times, there seems to be some story about Apple.  That company has grown so much in the past few years, and I don't think a lot of people really realize that it's competition is dwindling.  I have no doubt that Amazon's Kindle Fire will give the iPad a run for its money, but there really isn't anything else out there that can compete.  This story perfectly shows how powerful the company has grown.

New York Times: Thursday, October 20, 2011

I thought that the photo on the front page was absolutely fantastic.  It looks like it came straight out of a horror or thriller movie, and captures the mood of the story perfectly.  Reading stories about foreign economic crises really opens your eyes.  The US is in really bad condition, but it's nothing compared to other countries.  I hated the lead though.  It was just one really long sentence.  I wouldn't be surprised if that lead scared some readers away.  However, since it is a huge subject, I wonder if the length of a lead matters?  If the writer knows that everyone will read the story because it is hot news, then does he or she have to worry about things like that?

The story about the young football player was devastating to read.  It's so odd how seemingly normal situations can be fatal.  I thought that the writer used an excellent quote to end the article.  It made the whole article worth reading, in my opinion.

New York Times: Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Reading articles about unemployment puts me in a terrible mood.  It's just another reminder that finding a job after college isn't going to be easy at all.  I thought that the pictures for the story really captured the mood of the story too.  This story is definitely one of my favorites.

I think it's great that there are recent developments in the knowledge of Down's syndrome, but for some reason this story miffed me.  It made it seem that a person with Down's syndrome life is less important than someone else's, as seen in the line that talks about women ending their pregnancy.  This is a very controversial topic that I'm not going to discuss on this site, but the story made me realize that you always have to be careful of what you write about and how you write it.

New York Times: Monday, October 17, 2011

Today's paper had some interesting story topics, but the stories themselves were just really boring to read. I was really excited to read the story about the monument dedicated to Martin Luther King Jr, but it the story veered off at times.  However I really liked the photo that accompanied that story.  

I think that the lead for the story about the Robert Weston is one of the best leads I have ever read.  I think it brilliantly sets up the story, and makes the reader want to know more.  The whole "filler" business that Weston does seems a little sketchy though.  I didn't know that that's how police found people to stand in for police line-ups.

Class excercise: Meeting story

Troublesome students who attend the Portsmouth High School may be required to sit through Saturday morning detentions, if a new proposed policy is accepted by the Portsmouth School Board.  The idea was brought up on Monday evening’s meeting by Tim Steele.

The Saturday session is an effort to reduce the number of in-house suspensions during the school year.  In-house suspensions require students to spend the entire school day in an empty classroom while being supervised by a faculty member.  Students are not allowed to make up any missed class work.  Steele hopes this new program will make sure students won’t miss anymore class time.

Peggy Bacon, a parent of a student who could be affected, did not agree with the proposed 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 should I have to worry about Saturday as well...I just don’t think it’s going to make a difference, and the parents are going to pay for it – in higher taxes as well as ruined Saturdays.”

Steele understands parent’s frustration, but he believes that the new idea will keep students from breaking the rules. Last year close to 154 students served in-house suspensions because of violations of school rules.  He reports that smoking is the biggest problem the high school has.

“I just want to keep students from smoking the high school bathrooms,” Steele said.  “There are other problems, but smoking is by far the biggest one.”

Five high school students attended Monday’s meeting.  Lisa Gallagher, a senior, did not agree with the proposed idea at all.

“In 12 years of school I’ve never served a detention, and I don’t intend to.  But I don’t like this idea,” Gallagher said.  “I think it’s just being done to make life easier for the faculty, so they don’t have to deal with detentions during the week.”

Gallagher also brought up the issue of students skipping the Saturday sessions.  Steele explained that students would not be allowed to return to school if a student skips a Saturday detention.

While the board voted 5-3 to pass the proposed idea, one member abstained.  The issue is now tabled until the next meeting.  Steele was required to return to the next meeting with figures on this year’s in-school suspensions.

New York Times: Thursday, October 13, 2011

Thursday's paper, thankfully, had a lot more to offer than yesterday's paper.  I loved the lead for the story about the multi-race family.  I thought that the quote set up the story perfectly.  However I am baffled that some people actually have the nerve to ask questions like that.  I don't understand why everyone has to be in other peoples business.

I also really liked the summary lead for the story about the ex-navy member.  I'm tired of hearing stories about this kind of discrimination though.  Sure, people will definitely read the story, but it's a shame that it even has to be written about; just let people marry who they want to marry!  Hopefully in the next 10 years problems about same-sex marriage will be a thing of the past.

The story about the BlackBerry's service problem was ironic to me; my room mate has a BlackBerry and was saying that he couldn't access certain wireless features on his phone.  I'm actually surprised that BlackBerry's are still widely used.  Years ago, BlackBerrys were the thing to have.  However now everyone either has an android phone or an iPhone.  The story goes over how shares of the company have gone down by 60 percent, so it will be interesting to what the future holds for the device.  

New York Times: Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Today's paper was surprisingly dry.  After seeing such powerful photos on the front page, I thought there would be a lot of interesting stories, but there really weren't many that I found fun to read.

The story about the Chilean miners, however, does bring up some interesting points.  There's no question that what happened to them last year is absolutely devastating, and it's terrible to hear that they are still going through hardships a year later.  But are the miners really trying their hardest to get jobs again.  It definitely sounds sketchy how Claudio Yanez bought and furnished a new home, but is still recovering.  I'm not making any judgments since I know very little about this situation, but the article definitely got me asking questions.

New York Times: Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Today's paper had a good variety of stories to read.  I hate when the paper only talks about politics for  day. 

The picture that accompanied the drug test story was very powerful.  It paints a clear picture as to what some people are actually going through in this country.  

I am also baffled by the stuttering story.  It is absolutely unacceptable that a college professor won't let a student speak in class because he has a stuttering problem.  It's a teachers job to make sure that the classroom is a comfortable learning environment.  If i student isn't even welcome to participate in class discussions, then that teacher is failing.  I would be seriously disturbing if the professor wasn't punished for this.  I did, however, think that the opening for the story was amazing; it made me want keep reading it.  If it was a summary lead, I probably would have been very bored.

Class excercise: 17 year old waiter becomes local hero

Today started off like any normal day would for 17-year-old James Laboke.  He woke up at 5 a.m., and took his four mile walk to the Eezy Breezy Restaurant where he has a job as a waiter in Old Orchard Spring, Maine.

However, just an hour later, James Laboke would be the savior of 80-year-old Francois Truffaut.

Truffaut is a Canadian tourist who has been coming to Old Orchard Spring ever since he was a child.  While he was driving this morning he suddenly lost consciousness, and his car became stuck on train tracks that come through the small tourist community.  According to the police report Truffaut is a diabetic, and he most likely suffered from insulin shock.  

“I don’t remember a thing,” Truffaut later said at the hospital.

While walking to work Laboke noticed the Canadian-native unconscious in his car, and after pounding on the car door Truffaut still remained unresponsive.  Laboke ran to the police station, where Captain Janet Paradiso was called onto the scene and rammed the car off the train tracks.

The train that comes through Old Orchard Spring arrives to the station around 6:10 a.m.  When Laboke found the car on the tracks, it was already six on the dot.  There was no time to think.

“I never thought about,” Laboke said.  “I just knew I couldn’t let that man get crushed by a train.”

 It took another five minutes for Paradiso to arrive at the tracks.  Just 30 seconds after she rammed the car, the train came through.

“I knew there was no time,” Captain Paradiso said.  “I had to do something.”

Truffaut remained unharmed from the situation and is in stable condition at the hospital.

New York Times: Thursday, October 6th, 2011

Today was a very slow week for the Times in my opinion.  There were very few stories that stood out to me.  The only story I thought had excellent writing and was interesting was the story about Steve Jobs.  I thought the writer organized the paragraphs extremely well.  With so much history, I can imagine that writing a story about the founder of Apple could potentially be very messy.  However this was not the case with this story.  After reading the article, it made me realize how much of a genius and visionary Steve Jobs was.  It's terrible to hear that the world lost someone like him.

New York Times: Wednesday, October 5th, 2011

Another slow paper today for the Times.  It seemed they had a lot of factual stories rather than articles that had some emotional meaning behind them.  I'm sure tomorrow will be different though, since Steve Jobs has unfortunately passed away.

The story about the astronomers and the nobel prize was interesting, but very confusing at the same time.  It baffles me to think how scientists figure these things out.  How does one even start to figure out the secrets behind the universe?

I was really excited to read the article about the new iPhone 4S.  I've recently discovered that I love Apple products, so I'm really excited to get my hands on the new device, especially since it's faster (better quality games: hooray!).  After hearing about Steve Jobs' death, I thought the closer of the article was very ironic.  The last quote read: "It's impossible to replace Steve Jobs,..."  It makes his death even more devastating to hear that his fellow co-workers and competitors are mourning his death.

New York Times: Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Today's paper was MUCH more readable then yesterday's.  I know paper's have their slow days, but there's nothing worse then reading the paper with no good stories.

I thought the lead for the immigrant story was absolutely amazing.  Even though it wasn't a summary lead, the reader knew what was going on, and could feel the fear without actually being there.  The story itself is very sad though.  The United States needs to figure out the immigrant situation, and fast.  I don't take sides in this argument since I don't know much about what's going on, but I do know that this issue has plagued our country long enough.

I was also shocked to read that the contraceptive used in Africa doubles a woman's risk of obtaining HIV.  Science and medicine are scary things; they could help one moment and the next they could be fatal.  I'm glad I'm not involved with things like that.

The murder case in Italy from 2007 completely escaped my mind until I read the article about it.  I never thought that Amanda Knox murdered the victim, but it is still a very sketchy situation.  But imagine having four years of your life taken away in a foreign country.  I can't imagine anything worse.

As a big technology junkie, I thought the story about Apple was very interesting.  I knew that Android phones were always competing with Apple, but I never knew that they were catching up to the iPhone. However, I don't think they are.  I personally own an Android device, and I think the iPhone is a much better piece of technology, and a lot of people I have talked to agree with me.  I don't think Apple has much to worry about, especially since the new iPhone 4S was just announced today (which is a pretty cool new phone).

New York Times: Monday, October 3rd, 2011

I had a really tough time trying to get into today's paper; there weren't a lot of stories that I found interesting. 

The main story on the front page was fun to read, however.  I thought the lead was very powerful, and it gave the reader a great sense of what to expect.  I also thought that the photos that accompanied the story were great.  Overall, this was a great article.

I also enjoyed the article in the business section about the annoying orange.  I used to love those videos, so it's great to hear that it may be getting a lot more attention.

"Scent of a Woman" speech lead

What’s more important:  saving your future at the expense of other while destroying your spirit, or taking the long hard journey to building it? According to Frank Slade, there is nothing worse than an “amputated spirit”

New York Times: Thursday, September 29, 2011

I really enjoyed reading today's paper; it had a lot to offer.  I thought that the paper's main article about the hijacking 39 years ago was very interesting, but not very well written.  The lead was nice, but then it just started taking all sorts of twists and turns.  The organization was terrible, and it was really hard to read.  It's a perfect example of how much organization matters in an article.

Even though I don't live in California, the story about the 35 year old murder scared me!  Just imagining a murderer hiding in my hometown is terrifying.  The writer did a great job making the reader feel like he or she should watch they're step no matter where they live.

As a huge tech geek, the business section of the paper was a blast to read.  Only a couple of days ago The Times said that Amazon was going to unveil it's new tablet, and now they did!  I'm not a huge fan of tablets, but I'm really impressed with the Kindle Fire.  It's basically an Ipad, but $300 less.  How are people not going to buy that?  If it gets good reviews I may find myself saving up for it!  I also thought the new cameras that the paper showcased were rather impressive as well.  Expensive, but impressive.

After yesterday's pictures on the front page, I realized that the photos really do improve the quality of the paper.  Today's paper didn't really have any noteworthy photos, so hopefully next week they will have some good ones!

New York Times: Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Finally! Today's paper had a lot of interesting articles in it.  I thought that the pictures accompanying the story about global government protest were very powerful.  It really gives the reader an idea about what's going on.  This was actually the first purely political story I have read since reading the times so it was a new experience.  It's amazing how much the author of the story wrote about this topic.  It seemed like the information never ended!

I was unsurprised to find another article about gay rights in the paper.  The Times definitely likes to put these in the paper.  Based on my reaction after reading it, it definitely gets a response out of the reader.  I think it's ridiculous that people won't let homosexual couples get married.  I understand that people have their religious beliefs, and they can believe what ever they want, but when it comes to marriage, leave them alone!  It's won't harm you, so why do you care?  It's frustrating that some people can be so single minded.

New York Times: Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Looks like this will be a slow week for the Times; today's paper didn't have anything extraordinary in it.  I hear about politics so much in the news and in everyday life that reading about more politics in the newspaper is just plain unreadable.

I did like the story on the front page about cervical cancer, however.  It's great to know that poorer countries are getting they need in terms of health and medicine.  I also really liked the delayed lead for this story.  I'm starting to see a general patter in the Times; political articles generally get summary leads while articles that tell a story or have a little emotion to them generally use summary leads.  When I think about it, it would be pretty challenging to use a delayed lead for a political article.  People want that kind of information fast, and a delayed lead would be rather boring.

New York Times: Monday, September 26, 2011

Toady's paper had a lot of entertaining articles.  The main story on the front page was very frustrating to read.  I hate when Congress does this to the people of America.  There are people without homes, and what are they doing?  Fighting, as usual.  The democrats and republicans need to set aside their differences for once.  I really liked the delayed lead for this story.  I thought it set up what the reader will expect to read very well.

The Times seems to like writing stories about debate over homosexuality.  The article about the anti-gay group was very interesting.  I see where both sides are coming from, however I feel like the companies involved aren't against homosexuality just because they were involved with the religious group.  Their relationship appears to be strictly business, and nothing more.  I don't agree with the religious groups views, but I still think this whole thing is blown out of proportion.

I'm not surprised to hear about Amazon's tablet; in fact I'm surprised that it took the company this long to reveal it.  It will be interesting to see how Apple deals with the new competition.

Giant jelly fish: delayed lead

Aysia Bennett decided to take her three children to Wallis Sands State Beach for a nice day in the cool ocean water.  What could possibly go wrong for such a nice family trip?   How about a giant 50 pound jelly fish with tentacles 100 feet long?

New York Times: Wednesday, September 21, 2011

I found it ironic that the Times decided to put the articles about the marines recruiting homosexual individuals and the squids that have same-sex sex in the same paper.  Did they do that intentionally?  It makes me wonder about the process of picking out stories for the day's paper.

 It's good to hear that the marines are willing to except homosexual individuals into their ranks.  I was well aware that the marines were the most biased, but it seems that they were willing to put their differences aside for once.  The last paragraph of the sums up the whole story very well.

New York Times: Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Another boring day for the paper, however there were two stories that stuck out to me.  The article on the front page about the website Topix was very powerful.  My home town went through something similar with a website called Formspring.  While it was less dramatic, I know what websites like Topix and Formspring are capable of, and it's infuriating to see how despicable some people can be.  I thought that the very last paragraph was incredible, and really struck and emotional chord for the readers.

The other story I thought was interesting was the main story on the business page about young workers losing their jobs.  I actually thought that the story was terrifying.  Reading articles like that makes me worry about the challenges me and my friends face in the future for finding a job, especially as an aspiring journalist.  The journalism world is a tough place to find a solid first job; I just hope I can keep a job for more than year.  This story also had an amazing concluding quote.  It showed that even in tough times people can find at least a little relaxation, but it also showed how people have such little time for themselves anymore.  It really shows how hard the economy is hitting people.

New York Times: Monday, September 19, 2011

Today's paper was painfully uninteresting.  I don't know what it was, i just couldn't become attached to any of the stories, not even the ones about Google or Facebook.  Now that we've been over the different kinds of leads extensively, I'm trying to figure how to order my paragraphs to make the information I gathered coherent and readable.  It's challenging to figure out how writers do it with the feature articles in the Times, considering how large their stories are.  However I feel like that's where I struggle the most right now, so from now on I'll be focusing on the order of the paragraphs when I read the times.

Giant Jellyfish Causes Chaos in Rye

            Over 100 swimmers were stung by an enormous 50 pound jellyfish today at Wallis Sands State Beach in Rye.  Five children were hospitalized and taken to the Portsmouth Regional Hospital by ambulance.

            The jellyfish, which had tentacles as long as 100 feet, is common around New England waters, but one of that size is virtually unheard of.  “That’s the largest we have around here,” said Robert Royer, aquarist at the Seacoast Science Center.  “I’ve never heard of them getting 50 pounds…” 

            Local New Hampshire resident Alysia Bennett took her three children to the beach for a relaxing day in the sun.  That was ruined when they all came screaming out of the water, crying.  “They were terrified,” she said.

            Medical responders who came to the beach were most concerned with the possibility of severe allergic reactions.  The hospital official reported that there were no serious injuries.

New York Times: Thursday, September 15, 2011

I've never read the paper prior to this class.  After reading the Times for the past two weeks, it's occurred how much violence there is in the world.  I tried to read today's paper without reading any articles that don't involved fighting, disputes, or death; I was done with the paper in half the time it would have normally took.  I was unfortunately forced to go back and read some of those stories in order to actually read the paper for an adequate amount of time.  However I have noticed that stories that involve fighting or death nearly always start with lead summaries.  I feel like this is very effective.  If you  were reading an article about a death, would you want to get the facts right away, or linger on the small facts?

New York Times: Wednesday, September 14, 2011

I didn't find a lot in today's paper that interested me.  Since a lot of the news lately has involved a lot of violence and death I decided to skip over the stories that avoided that.  I found that the article about the increased poverty had an excellent summary lead.  I knew exactly what I was going to read as soon as I read the first paragraph.  Surprisingly there was another article about homosexuality; this time the story was about same sex marriage.  This article also had an excellent summary lead.  While I like leads that tell a story and have a emotional value I'm finding that stories with summary leads can also be fun to read.