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”