Amity Attack - first story

Sometime between the late hours of Sunday night and the dawn of Monday morning, a senior at Amity High School was brutally killed in an attack by an unknown assailant.

Chrissie Watson, 17, was last seen alive leaving a beach party with Christopher P. Hoggenbottam III, a student of Trinity College and former resident of Amity Island.

Hoggenbottam explained to authorities that Watson opted for a late night swim and entered the water at a secluded section of beach near the South Beach Shoal bell buoy. Watson encouraged Hoggenbottam to join, despite both teens being under the influence of alcohol and possibly marijuana.

Initially, Hoggenbottam informed Amity's police chief that he believed Watson may have drowned; however, the victim was a member of the Amity High School varisty swim team and a lifeguard at the local YMCA pool in Oak Bluffs, making this suggestion unlikely. Furthermore, the discovery of Watson's mutilated corpse indicated that her death was not the result of an accidental drown.

According to authorities, the body was found at 8:00 a.m. on Monday morning by police deputy Jay Hendricks.

Although the chief of police claims there has never been a shark attack in Amity, the fact remains that something murdered the victim in such a way that her body was "very mutilated, badly decomposed and dismembered."

Currently, there are no persons of interest, only witnesses who police hope can recount enough of the story to piece together what happened.

Additonally, there is no evidence that suggests a weapon was used and no weapons have been recovered at this point in the investigation.

Authorities insist it is perfectly safe to go in the water, with the chief of police stating he would let his own children swim in the ocean at this time.

However, caution must be taken, as an attack this violent warrents safety measures to be increased.

Scavenger Hunt

1. No, this reporter had never personally heard of a carillon. However, we (our group of three from class) found out that it is a musical instrument set of bells that are usually associated with a bell tower. Likewise, we found that a cariloneur is the player of a carillon, an instrumentalist if you will. Yes, UNH has a carillon and it is located in Thompson Hall but used to be operated out of the Alumni Building. The cariloneurs are named Guy Eaton and Peter Erquhart. Eaton currently oversees the entire carillon system/processes and Peter Erquhart programs music.  According to Karen Gilbert, the bells are now simply a recording.

2. Our group could not find anyone who ran in the Boston Marathon. A few administration employees said they knew of a few people who were there but no one specifically running in the race.

3. Moreover, our group could not find an exact number of dogs registered to the Town of Durham in 2012. The number associated with the registration was manned by a robot and we could not come in contact with anyone to answer our questions.

4. The wind tunnel on the UNH campus is 20 feet wide, 8 feet high, and 236 feet long. It is located in the Flow Physics Facility which is next to the Campus Police building. We could not find the longitude or latitude but an interesting fact about the facility is that it is the biggest of it's kind in the world. 

5. There are 25 flavors of ice cream at the Dairy Bar and only 3 flavors of frozen yogurt or "froyo." Diana Guy, an employee at the shop said her favorite flavor was an ice cream called Grand Central Station. However, no conclusion was reached on how the weather affects ice cream sells. 

6. According to Mary from the New Hampshire State Climate Office, the record high and low temperatures in Durham on April 17th, 2004 were 65.8 degrees fahrenheit (high) and 25.5 degrees fahrenheit (low). 

7. The Swasey swimming pool is an indoor pool located in the UNH recreation center otherwise known as 'The Field House.' We found that it is full of roughly 250,000 gallons of water; however we could not find anyone to answer our questions regarding it's temperature and a sample of water was not collected.

Mark Cuban and Brittney Griner

The remark of Dallas Maverick's owner Mark Cuban regarding ex-Baylor basketball player and now member of the Phoenix Mercury in the WNBA made a stir for the right reasons.

Cuban suggested that if Brittney Griner was available at the right time in the right position during the NBA draft, he would consider taking the female athlete.

Griner's senior season ended with Baylor's loss in the most recent NCAA women's basketball championship; however, her playing days have just begun.

The star athlete offered gratitude at Cuban's apparent interest, yet she opted instead to play at least one year in the WNBA. Griner was selected with the first overall pick in the WNBA draft by the Phoenix Mercury tonight.

While there is no offer by the Mavericks and nothing more than a causal comment from the ever-vocal Mark Cuban, the notion of possible gender-neutral professional sport is provocative.

Boston Globe 4/15/13

In loo of the tragic events that happened in Boston today, I decided to write about a more encouraging and uplifting Boston Globe story.

As the need for transplantable organs rises, scientists have begun experimenting with a new way of saving those in search of transplants.

Scientists at the Massachusetts General Hospital Center for Regenerative Medicine have successfully "grown" or generated a working kidney by use of a deceased rat's organs.

Now these kidneys, for all intents and purposes, are simply rebuffed rat kidneys. However the process, which involves using a special soap to remove the kidney of it's dead cells and inserting healthy cells from a donor rat, successfully produced a product to be transplanted into a rat.

Still in a rudimentary stage, the results show the reduced function of the recipient rats when using the new kidney. Yet, this promising step forward in the field of organ transplants could one day impact the lives of sick and dying people.

NCAA Championship

As March Madness comes to a close, two teams remain out of the 64 original tournament contenders.

The 2013 NCAA basketball championship will feature Louisville (34-5) vs. Michigan (31-7), two of the most talented teams of the past year.

Louisville is coached by the hall-of-famer Rick Pitino and lead by junior guard Russ Smith. While Michigan has its plays called by coach John Beilein and is commanded by sophomore point guard Trey Burke.

Both Louisville's men and women's basketball teams are playing in national championship games, and the men's team is undoubtably inspired by the gruesome injury to their player Kevin Ware.

They have been the best team in college basketball since late January, and were a number one seed headed into the tournament.

However, Michigan has earned their spot in the finale and will certainly do everything they can to prove their worthy of national glory.

Paratransit Fare - Boston Globe

Four arrests were made in Boston as police targeted senior citizens and disabled individuals who were protesting fare increases for the paratransit system known as The Ride.

The organizer, Carolyn Villers, who is the director of the Massachusetts Senior Action Council, was arrested this monday afternoon.

Stopping traffic, and blasting a cowbell, the protestors blocked motorists from driving down Beacon Street outside of the State House.

The conditions debated on the transportation budget have been deemed "woefully inadequate" by advocators and users of The Ride.

As the increase of fares continues to be deliberated, expect angry protests from those affected.

Boston Globe - North Korea

A few weeks ago, North Korea reportedly tested a miniature nuclear explosive device, and their development is not stopping there. The country reiterated this Saturday that they are in "a state of war" because of a truce rather than peace treaty signed by the country and the United States after the completion of the war between the two nations in the 1950's.

In early March, the U.S. and South Korea established a joint military exercise that the Northern nation took as a threat. Additionally, after the most recent nuclear test by the North Koreans, the United Nations imposed more sanctions against the country, which they undoubtably took as imposing on their freedom.

Certainly, conditions between our countries are not encouraging, with the two societies seeing far from eye-to-eye.

Kim Jong Un, who took over after the death of his father Kim Jong-il, ordered all his missile units to be on standby. Moreover, he declared that if provoked, North Korea will not hesitate to attack the United States and South Korea with "nuclear-tipped long-range missiles."

Though the threats may ring hallow, something must be done to ease the tension between the United States and North Korea. Nuclear war would not only destroy any nation involved, but would have detrimental effects on the world as a whole.

Kevin Ware - Leg Injury

Louisville basketball player Kevin Ware suffered a disturbing leg injury against Duke University in the Elite Eight round of the 2013 NCAA Tournament.

The injury was reminiscent of the one sustained by Washington Redskin's player Joe Theisman in the 80's.

Ware attempted to block a Duke player's shot near the three-point line. He landed awkwardly on his leg which proceeded to buckle almost immediately. The severity of leg injury actually caused some of his teammates to fall to the ground and a few were forced to tears.

Not only did his leg snap but according to Louisville coach Rick Pitino, "the bone's 6 inches out of his leg."

Ware was transported to a Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis where he is surely heavily medicated to "ease" his pain.

Weekly Blog Post - Finding a Story

As we are midway through the semester, and have written multiple news stories, I can look back on my work so far and consider the strengths and weaknesses of the writing. The biggest thing I seem to be struggling with is finding the heart of a story and presenting it in a way to grasp the reader's attention. Although I may have a solid general idea for a piece such as the new inclusion of table games in Maryland's first casino; however, the story lacks a voice and usually just reads as facts. I would like to be able to add a more personal touch to the writing so that the reader can picture the events as though they were there. 

Additionally, since a interesting and insightful news story must have a group of people that drive the point, its important to get good quotes from the right people. Although a quote from the director of marketing or human resources may be helpful, it does not always add that sense of purpose to the story. Sometimes, the quotes drag on and do not add any sense of personality to the piece, instead dulling it out. 

My focus is to find the most relatable and interesting aspect of a story idea, while using strong detail to describe the story. For example, rather than writing about the casino itself I could focus on a specific crowd that the table expansion will bring, as Professor Marsters suggested "the three little old ladies" that are now visiting the casino. This includes a personal touch to the story instead of simply listing facts and data that could be found easily online.

Weekly Boston Globe Post

Eddie Beatrice needed a kidney transplant if he wanted to survive a severe bacterial infection, and he found a donor through Facebook. Beatrice from North Reading, MA, used the internet and a Living Kidney Donor Network page on Facebook to track down Kelly Wright. Wright posted a message saying she wanted to donate a kidney and through the social media website, Beatrice found a kidney match and beat death.

This addresses an interesting notion about the growth of technology and its helpfulness in society. Not only can we research endless information, but the expansion of things like the internet can help establish connections that may have never been. It brings people from all over the world together; creating connections through a virtual society. We are able to develop new things through technology and help humanity, even so far as to save a life.

French Connection

A suspected hitman murdered four victims before being pursued and killed by NYPD detective Jimmy "Popeye" Doyle.

The police officer was investigating a heroin smuggling operation before the shooter earned his attention. According to witness testimony and official police documents, this Saturday's events unfolded as follows.

The first shot was fired early in the afternoon this past Saturday on 52nd Avenue outside of Franklin Park. The first victim, Betty Badluck, was struck by this shot and killed instantly; however, police believe the bullet was meant for officer Doyle.

Officer Doyle proceeded to pull out his standard issued pistol as two more shots rang out, narrowly missing him.

The officer took for safety behind a tree as the assailant fired off another round from his sniper rifle.

A fifth and final shot was aimed at the tree before the officer rolled his way to side wall of the building from which the shooter was firing from the roof.

Officer Doyle then ran into the building where he emerged on the roof to find the suspect's rifle and empty shells.

Forcing the man to flee, the suspect evaded capture on the El train tracks. The suspect then got on a train marked 4572 where he began terrorizing those on board.

Officer Doyle commandeered a citizen's vehicle to pursue the train from the street below.

On board, Sunny Grosso, a subway policeman began to follow the sketchy suspect but was shot and killed in front of the train's passengers.

Afterwards, the suspect forced his way into the control room of the train and took the conductor Peter Howe hostage. He demanded that the train not be stopped at the next station, which brought attention to the situation and encouraged the remaining subway policemen to ask questions.

Policeman began to knock on the control room door and in a state of shock, Howe died from a heart attack.

The suspect then emerged from the control room where he encountered three subway policemen. One of the police, Sam Clemens, attempted to talk down and apprehend the criminal but could not do so and was subsequently shot and killed.

The train then came to a screeching halt as the assailant forced his way through the doors.

With Officer Doyle still following from the streets below, the suspect would not flee another crime scene.

The two met face to face under the El at the 35th street entrance. Officer Doyle aimed his weapon at the suspect and ordered him to stop as he turned to run. The criminal did not heed the officer's warning and was shot in the back, falling down the stairs to his death.

Portsmouth School Board

The Portsmouth School Board met at 7:30 on Monday evening to discuss implementing a new Saturday detention system that would force students to forfeit their beauty sleep

Police Chief's Son DUI - Globe

A headlining story of the Boston Globe website deals with the arrest of Boston Police Commissioner Edward F Davis' son for operating a vehicle under the influence. His son is 22-years-old, above the legal age limit, and is now seeking substance abuse treatment. This is not a violent crime, and many people commit such a violation daily without any media attention, but the person involved makes the story newsworthy. I find the media scrutiny in the United States to be rather intrusive, as celebrities and other high-profile figures have their private lives laid out from all to see. It is almost impossible to hide from the media if you are of interest, which goes to show how obsessive our culture can be the lives of the renowned.
Now I am all for media reporting and believe that news is an essential piece of our society if we want to remain educated and intelligent people. The prying into private lives of others seems like a breach of privacy. However, as long as the information is true it can be reported on and published, a right that makes our country great.

Leads - Strength/Weakness

Each style of lead has it's benefits and downsides, as most depend on the type of story and message that is ultimately to be conveyed. A summary lead may be a shocking or important piece of information that the writer wants to grasp people's attentions. A delayed lead might be intended to slowly draw the reader into the story, as the reporter wants to leave a little mystery to the initial statement. Lastly, the anecdotal lead is designed to set the scene and demonstrate to the reader what the overall message is about without directly coming out and saying it. Each lead eventually will reveal the news or the point of the story; however, they all have very different ways of establishing this news.

The summary lead has the significant information immediately available but it could be an overload to the reader. I also find it to be the least interesting because although it garners your initial attention, it reveals the whole point of the article right away.

The delayed lead adds a little more foreshadowing and leaves a little room for questions after the beginning paragraph. Like the summary it opens with important and noteworthy details right away, but it leaves out a detail that further draws the reader. However, I still find this technique to not be the most interesting of the three because the missing information is usually in the next paragraph and everything is revealed.

Lastly, the anecdotal lead helps build the story and establish a basis of what the reader should expect as he learns more about the characters and the point of the article. Some may grow tired of reading the information and wonder what the point is; however, I believe it connects the reader to story and gives a personal touch to news in a way that summary and delayed leads cannot.

Cancer - Boston Globe

One of the most troubling and complex diseases of the modern era has undoubtably been cancer.  Millions are diagnosed and many of them ultimately die from the illness.

According to the Boston Globe, a firm called Verastem Inc. is now preforming clinical trials on patients with ovarian cancer testing a new drug named VS-6063. The "small-molecule" drug will attack cancer cells that are resistance to traditional cancer treatment such as chemotherapy. Researchers believe that in order to prevent cancer cells from surviving and replicating you must reduce the production of FAK, a protein produced in the body.

When I read this article I felt a sense of connection to the subject. When I was 11-years-old my Mom was diagnosed with breast cancer but luckily she has been in remission for nearly ten years since. As she recovered I began noticing more things related to the disease, as public awareness rose and more charities addressed those suffering from cancer. However, besides my connection to the illness, I have always found it fascinating how difficult it is to cure. The seemingly intelligent cells learn to adapt to treatment and become immune to certain aspects of the drugs or therapy.

Thankfully there are people like Sean J. Morrison the director of the Children's Medical Research Institute in Dallas who dedicate their lives to fighting a deadly disease. Those that are apart of this scientific research feel confident that they have found something that better reduces residual ovarian cancer cells. This Boston Globe article discusses in-depth the research being done while demonstrating the positive strides that science is making to help cure this sickness.

Boston Globe

One thing that strikes me about The Boston Globe is its range in topics covered and the in-depth coverage of each topic. At the top of the page they have the categories news, metro, arts, business, sports, opinion, lifestyle, magazine, insiders, and today's paper; each having sub links that open up to roughly 50 other categories and articles to choose from. It's almost overwhelming and hard to decide which choice should be made, yet it's also encouraging to see the extent of this news coverage. Not only are important sections coverage thoroughly such as politics and business, but subjects such as sports have just as much focus. The amount of articles also is also interesting because it shows how many writers are staffed by this newspaper.

Snow Anecdotes

This past weekend the house in Lee was empty, all occupants had left for the upcoming "Winter-storm Nemo". These roommates were not gone for fear of how bad the storm would hit, in fact they were hoping the precipitation would accumulate. One of the roommates was on the outskirts of Lincoln, NH; the other three in Burlington, Vermont. Yet all four would wake up at 5:30 a.m. for a nine hour session of playing in the snow.
To most, an upcoming snowstorm means it is time to hunker down with necessary supplies and wait out the storm. But others are excited at the promise of falling flakes, intending to make use of the snow and ski or snowboard. And many of this minority head out to the slopes a few days ago to make the best of extreme weather conditions.

Summary to Delayed lead

Original Story = http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1527289-lebron-james-breaks-another-incredible-record-tuesday-night-vs-blazers

He is the best player in the world, more and more stats say so. Coming into the league as one of the youngest players, he didn't even get the chance to experience college. Constantly compared to Michael Jordan with the debate growing and growing with each basket made. With such an extraordinary skill level, he makes slam dunking look easy, as one may forget he has to jump 10 feet into the air.

In the fourth quarter, Lebron James dunked an alley-oop scoring his 29th and 30th point, a feat he has achieved often; however, these 30 points were not like any other. The Trail Blazers could not stop James from reaching the history books, as he became the first player in the league to record six straight games with 30-plus points and at least 60-percent shooting. He may not be royalty but the nickname "King James" certainly has some merit behind it.  

Mile Hill Road Accident

On Tuesday evening, three people traveling on Mile Hill Road in Belmont, Massachusetts were involved in an automobile accident. Mile Hill Road, which has no streetlights, has a history of car crashes including a fatal one that occurred in the same spot in 2005. The driver, seventeen-year-old Jamie Peterson managed to escape from the car; however, the two young female passengers were not as lucky and were both taken to Memorial Hospital in Belmont.

According to a witness named Tom Carroll Jr. who was driving behind the Peterson's Mustang the driver was under the influence of alcohol as empty Budweiser beer cans were found on the ground after the crash. However, no police report has been filed and it is not clear at this time how the beer cans got there. Another witnessed named Josie M. Crandall who lives on Mile Hill Road told police she saw the Mustang headed north around 9 PM before it crashed.

The two injured girls are unknown at this time, according to Lieutenant Judith Barkus of the Belmont Police Department. One was in stable condition upon arriving to the hospital; however, the other was airlifted to Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. A spokesperson with Mass. General confirmed that the victim from the crash was being treated for a brain injury but would not identify her.

Beast Eats Two, Then Pays the Price

Elisabeth, a young girl known to some as "Little Red Riding Hood" and her grandmother survived after being eaten by a wolf in a cottage deep in the woods. Fortunately both were discovered by a huntsman in the afternoon hours when he cut the wolf open revealing the two traumatized victims.
As thoughtful as Elisabeth's bread, sweet butter, and wine was, it could not stop the two from being deceived and subsequently eaten by a starving wolf. According to police reports, the malicious wolf convinced the young girl to travel off the path to pick wildflowers as he continued on to the grandmother's cottage. By pretending to be the women's granddaughter, he entered the house and promptly ate the ill and elderly victim. As the afternoon continued, the wolf lay in the grandmother's bed waiting for the young girl to arrive at the cottage. When the time came, he tricked the child into believing he was her sickly grandmother, despite her questioning of his "big, hairy ears and bright shinny eyes". She too, fell victim to the wolf's hunger scheme and eventually both grandmother and granddaughter were reunited in the creature's stomach.
Luckily, the beast would not prevail, as his loud snores alerted a nearby huntsman who began investigating the disturbance. Noticing something out of the ordinary, the huntsman cut open the wolf to reveal both victims that although terrified, were still alive.

What is News: Group Discussion

Many of my classmates had insightful interpretations on news and how they gain their information. Katie H. told us she got her news mostly through television because her roommate puts it on every morning. I agreed with her because I too watch the news; however, only when it comes on or is put on, as I find it hard to sit down and watch the news daily especially because it is usually negative. It was interesting; however, that she watches the news everyday because I would have thought television news to be lost on most of our generation. Katie G. on the other hand gets most of her information through the internet, the most popular news source of our time. Her homepage is MSNBC and she frequents twitter to hear the voice of the people and their take on news worthy information. She often finds herself clicking on various links to read more, which shows a lot not only about her curiosity but her willingness to find out more, a trait that is impressive. I too agreed with her stance, as most of the information I hear is through the internet such as sites like Facebook, ESPN, and CNN. Emily looks at news from a convenience point of view, as she has many news applications on her phone such as Pulse. This makes it very easy to check the news regularly, as your phone is typically on you all day. This source Pulse has many categories making the news less dry and more interesting to read about according to her. Lastly, Ken relies on the Daily Show or other television programs for most of his information, as he likes their exciting spin on the news. All of my classmates made interesting and truthful points about the news, how they get it, and what the sources mean to them. I found each answer to be insightful in a certain way and found myself wondering which is better: the less focused but quickly informative footage news or the sometimes duller and requiring more attention news story or article?

What is News?

I believe news is the transfer of information from one source to another. Whether this is through verbal communication, viral, or otherwise; news is information that is revealed from one to another. Typically news is revealed to the public from a higher source such as a television station or a press conference; however, if I tell my friend of something important this can be considered "big news" to him. Therefore, I see the term "news" as the idea of informing another individual or more of something they did not perviously know. News is very important to establishing honesty and trust, unfortunately it can often be biased or the facts diluted. It is essential that news be reported promptly and truthfully otherwise we would remain less educated and naive about the world. 

Initial Post

Hello, my name is Sam Burch and this is my blog for English 621: News Writing. I am a sophomore at the University of New Hampshire and I am majoring in English Journalism with thoughts of minoring in Kinesiology, which is the study of human movement. I look forward to this course and the upcoming semester because I have not had much experience with news writing and hope to further my grasp of the subject. I enjoy writing and journalism has always been an interest of my therefore I hope this class will help me grow as both a writer and a journalist. I enjoy anything to do with music or the outdoors and my hobbies include skiing, ice hockey, hiking, canoeing, or any other activities taking place in nature. I hope that one day I can take my love of writing and nature and combine the two.