By Toni Skalican
Summary Lead: KALAMAZAOO, Mich.--Five Kalamazoo College seniors' perceptions of themselves and the world were transformed by their study abroad experiences, and on Friday morning, Oct. 12, they shared their stories at a new chapel program called Jama.
Backup quote: "My Thai parents asked, 'Why aren't you eating'" said Kara Purcell, who read aloud excerpts from a journal she kept while in Thailand.''
Nut Graph: All of the seniors spoke about their inital discomfort in foreign countries, however, each senior learned to cope with anxiety and grow from their experiences.
Supporting Information: [Examples of two more students who were uncomfortable in study abroad at first.]
Inclusion of audience reaction: His insight recieved hearty laughter from the audience, which was comprised of nearly 150 K students.
Transition: Nevertheless, once past first impressions, the seniors were able to learn from their new surroundings.
More Supporting Information: [Explanations for how each of the three seniors learned to cope, with supporting quotes from their speeches.]
Thursday, October 25, 2007
Saturday, October 20, 2007
Ahson Obit
War Hero Dies at 79
By Toni Skalican
KALAMAZOO, Mich-- Jeffery R. Ahson, a Navy war hero of WWII, died of emphysema last night in his home.
"Ahson was a genuine American hero," said Jeraldine Fyfe, a representative from the Office of Navel Public Relations. In the 1942 Battle of Midway in the Pacific, Mr. Ahson crossed the burning deck of the USS Emery to save four of his fellow military officers, persisting through the battle to shoot down three enemy planes. He was awarded a Purple Heart and a Navy Cross for this bravery, and he was promoted from his post as petty officer to Ensign.
Mr. Ahson was born in Chico, Calif., in 1927. He served in the military for four years.
His accomplishments include service at legion post 712 and VFW post 4206. He was also promoted once more while in the mililtary to Commander.
After retiring from the Navy in 1946, Mr. Ahson came to Kalamazoo and served as a firefighter for 20 years. He retired from the fire department in 1966, and became a car salesman for 19 years. He finally retired for good at the age of 58.
Mr. Ahson remained active in the religious community, as an usher at John Calvin Presbyterian Church and a member of Gideons International.
His hobbies included the restoration of a 1924 fire truck with friends, a vehicle he drove to local elementary schools to parade for students; and playing checkers, as a member for the National Checkers Association.
Mr. Ahson is survived by his wife, Therese Alpert; a son, Richard D. Ahson of Phillipsburg, Kan.; two daughters, Angela Molino, of Omaha, Neb., and Lela Stalling of Pipecreek, Texas.; five grandchildren, and five great-grandchildren. He is also survived by brother Henry Ahson, of San Francisco, and two sisters, Judith Eaker of Reedsville, N.C., and Shirley Soloman of Newark, N.J. The family requests no flowers.
Viewing will take place Friday at Littleton Mortuary from 4-5:30 p.m., and again from 7:30-9 p.m. Services will be held at 10 a.m. on Saturday at the mortuary, followed by burial at Memoral Park Cemetary.
By Toni Skalican
KALAMAZOO, Mich-- Jeffery R. Ahson, a Navy war hero of WWII, died of emphysema last night in his home.
"Ahson was a genuine American hero," said Jeraldine Fyfe, a representative from the Office of Navel Public Relations. In the 1942 Battle of Midway in the Pacific, Mr. Ahson crossed the burning deck of the USS Emery to save four of his fellow military officers, persisting through the battle to shoot down three enemy planes. He was awarded a Purple Heart and a Navy Cross for this bravery, and he was promoted from his post as petty officer to Ensign.
Mr. Ahson was born in Chico, Calif., in 1927. He served in the military for four years.
His accomplishments include service at legion post 712 and VFW post 4206. He was also promoted once more while in the mililtary to Commander.
After retiring from the Navy in 1946, Mr. Ahson came to Kalamazoo and served as a firefighter for 20 years. He retired from the fire department in 1966, and became a car salesman for 19 years. He finally retired for good at the age of 58.
Mr. Ahson remained active in the religious community, as an usher at John Calvin Presbyterian Church and a member of Gideons International.
His hobbies included the restoration of a 1924 fire truck with friends, a vehicle he drove to local elementary schools to parade for students; and playing checkers, as a member for the National Checkers Association.
Mr. Ahson is survived by his wife, Therese Alpert; a son, Richard D. Ahson of Phillipsburg, Kan.; two daughters, Angela Molino, of Omaha, Neb., and Lela Stalling of Pipecreek, Texas.; five grandchildren, and five great-grandchildren. He is also survived by brother Henry Ahson, of San Francisco, and two sisters, Judith Eaker of Reedsville, N.C., and Shirley Soloman of Newark, N.J. The family requests no flowers.
Viewing will take place Friday at Littleton Mortuary from 4-5:30 p.m., and again from 7:30-9 p.m. Services will be held at 10 a.m. on Saturday at the mortuary, followed by burial at Memoral Park Cemetary.
Sunday, October 14, 2007
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C04E1D91F30F935A35753C1A9619C8B63
spon=&partner=pe
rmalink&exprod=permalink
Alexandra Boulat, 45, War Photographer
By DOUGLAS MARTIN
Published: October 6, 2007
Alexandra Boulat, an award-winning photographer known for a clear, descriptive style and a knack for making emotionally moving, often idiosyncratic images of people affected by war, died yesterday in Paris. She was 45. She died after suffering a brain aneurysm in June and falling into a coma from which she never emerged, her friend Gary Knight said.
Alexandra Boulat's obituary, written by Douglas Martin, is brief, concise, and well-written. It gives Boulat's identification, age, unfortunate cause of death, background, and survivors. We can assume that her address, services, and burial are left out because her family wanted the information to remain private.
The photograph in the top right was one of Boulat's--she was a talented photojournalist.
spon=&partner=pe
rmalink&exprod=permalinkAlexandra Boulat, 45, War Photographer
By DOUGLAS MARTIN
Published: October 6, 2007
Alexandra Boulat, an award-winning photographer known for a clear, descriptive style and a knack for making emotionally moving, often idiosyncratic images of people affected by war, died yesterday in Paris. She was 45. She died after suffering a brain aneurysm in June and falling into a coma from which she never emerged, her friend Gary Knight said.
Alexandra Boulat's obituary, written by Douglas Martin, is brief, concise, and well-written. It gives Boulat's identification, age, unfortunate cause of death, background, and survivors. We can assume that her address, services, and burial are left out because her family wanted the information to remain private.
The photograph in the top right was one of Boulat's--she was a talented photojournalist.
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Blogpost-Week 3
A controversial Sunday New York Times article that hit close to home...
Thou Shall Not Kill, Except in a Popular Video Game at Church
By Matt Richtel
Published: October 7, 2007
First the percussive sounds of sniper fire and the thrill of the kill. Then the gospel of peace.
Across the country, hundreds of ministers and pastors desperate to reach young congregants have drawn concern and criticism through their use of an unusual recruiting tool: the immersive and violent video game Halo.
The latest iteration of the immensely popular space epic, Halo 3, was released nearly two weeks ago by Microsoft and has already passed $300 million in sales.
Those buying it must be 17 years old, given it is rated M for mature audiences. But that has not prevented leaders at churches and youth centers across Protestant denominations, including evangelical churches that have cautioned against violent entertainment, from holding heavily attended Halo nights and stocking their centers with multiple game consoles so dozens of teenagers can flock around big-screen televisions and shoot it out.
The alliance of popular culture and evangelism is challenging churches much as bingo games did in the 1960s. And the question fits into a rich debate about how far churches should go to reach young people.
Far from being defensive, church leaders who support Halo — despite its “thou shalt kill” credo — celebrate it as a modern and sometimes singularly effective tool. It is crucial, they say, to reach the elusive audience of boys and young men.
(The article spans two pages, so I just gave the lead and a little background information. If you want to read the whole article, it is in my "shared" news in the top right corner.)
The topic of this article may seem a little weird. If you're unfamilar with this new strategy by churches, you may wonder how and why many Protestant churches are encouraging an extremely violent video game as a way of getting more young people to attend church.
And while it's odd, I've actually witnessesed this phenomenon. There was a boy at my high school--the son of a minister--who, instead of asking friends to come to service with him Wednesday night, would ask them to come to a Halo tournament; conveniently held in the Sunday school room of his church.
The Halo method, as twisted as it is, worked. Large groups of boys would go play Halo, and even girls would follow, unsuccessfully attempting to get attention from the massive population of teenage boys. But suddenly everyone was Christian and attending church at least two days per week.
And the hypoChristians began to dominate my school, throwing their judgements left and right. The short Bible lessons they were taught in between Halo games made them intollerant of all other students who did not attend church. It did not matter that they were attending their church for the wrong reasons.
I'm not religious, but I can still see that this situation is corrupt. Churches bribing kids to come with violence? What do you think?
The kicker to the story:
Mr. Barbour, the youth pastor at the church, said the game had led to a number of internal discussions prompted by elders who complained about its violent content. Mr. Barbour recently met for several hours with the church’s pastor and successfully made his case that the game was a crucial recruiting tool.
In one letter to parents, Mr. Barbour wrote that God calls ministers to be “fishers of men.”
“Teens are our ‘fish,” he wrote. “So we’ve become creative in baiting our hooks.”
Thou Shall Not Kill, Except in a Popular Video Game at Church
By Matt Richtel
Published: October 7, 2007
First the percussive sounds of sniper fire and the thrill of the kill. Then the gospel of peace.
Across the country, hundreds of ministers and pastors desperate to reach young congregants have drawn concern and criticism through their use of an unusual recruiting tool: the immersive and violent video game Halo.
The latest iteration of the immensely popular space epic, Halo 3, was released nearly two weeks ago by Microsoft and has already passed $300 million in sales.
Those buying it must be 17 years old, given it is rated M for mature audiences. But that has not prevented leaders at churches and youth centers across Protestant denominations, including evangelical churches that have cautioned against violent entertainment, from holding heavily attended Halo nights and stocking their centers with multiple game consoles so dozens of teenagers can flock around big-screen televisions and shoot it out.
The alliance of popular culture and evangelism is challenging churches much as bingo games did in the 1960s. And the question fits into a rich debate about how far churches should go to reach young people.
Far from being defensive, church leaders who support Halo — despite its “thou shalt kill” credo — celebrate it as a modern and sometimes singularly effective tool. It is crucial, they say, to reach the elusive audience of boys and young men.
(The article spans two pages, so I just gave the lead and a little background information. If you want to read the whole article, it is in my "shared" news in the top right corner.)
The topic of this article may seem a little weird. If you're unfamilar with this new strategy by churches, you may wonder how and why many Protestant churches are encouraging an extremely violent video game as a way of getting more young people to attend church.
And while it's odd, I've actually witnessesed this phenomenon. There was a boy at my high school--the son of a minister--who, instead of asking friends to come to service with him Wednesday night, would ask them to come to a Halo tournament; conveniently held in the Sunday school room of his church.
The Halo method, as twisted as it is, worked. Large groups of boys would go play Halo, and even girls would follow, unsuccessfully attempting to get attention from the massive population of teenage boys. But suddenly everyone was Christian and attending church at least two days per week.
And the hypoChristians began to dominate my school, throwing their judgements left and right. The short Bible lessons they were taught in between Halo games made them intollerant of all other students who did not attend church. It did not matter that they were attending their church for the wrong reasons.
I'm not religious, but I can still see that this situation is corrupt. Churches bribing kids to come with violence? What do you think?
The kicker to the story:
Mr. Barbour, the youth pastor at the church, said the game had led to a number of internal discussions prompted by elders who complained about its violent content. Mr. Barbour recently met for several hours with the church’s pastor and successfully made his case that the game was a crucial recruiting tool.
In one letter to parents, Mr. Barbour wrote that God calls ministers to be “fishers of men.”
“Teens are our ‘fish,” he wrote. “So we’ve become creative in baiting our hooks.”
Friday, October 5, 2007
Exercise 1, Pg 181
MERIDIEN, Conn -- A ban on radar guns by the Connecticut State Police went into effect yesterday, due to a study showing a possible link between the use of radar guns and the occurence of cancer.
"The feeling here is to err on the side of caution until more is known about the issue," said Adam Berluti, a state police spokesman.
The ban affects 70 radar guns, which will be withdrawn from service. The move is considered the first of it's kind by a state agency.
It comes two months after three municipal police officers in Connecticut filed workers' compensation claims, saying that they had developed cancer from using hand-held radar guns.
The ban was ordered as a precaution when researchers continue studies on the possible link. "The whole situation is under review," said Berluti.
"The feeling here is to err on the side of caution until more is known about the issue," said Adam Berluti, a state police spokesman.
The ban affects 70 radar guns, which will be withdrawn from service. The move is considered the first of it's kind by a state agency.
It comes two months after three municipal police officers in Connecticut filed workers' compensation claims, saying that they had developed cancer from using hand-held radar guns.
The ban was ordered as a precaution when researchers continue studies on the possible link. "The whole situation is under review," said Berluti.
Wednesday, October 3, 2007
Hard News Lede
The New York Times
Wednesday, October 3, 2007
A1
Clinton Steals Obama's Fund-Raising Thunder
By Patrick Healy
A major dynamic behind the fight for the Democratic presidential nomination -- fundraising -- shifted yesterday as Senator Hilary Rodham Clinton's campaign announced that it had beaten Senator Barack Obama in donations since July, stripping him at least temporarily of a crucial political advantage.
This hard news lede is a summary lede. It answers the "five W's" right from the start. The 'who' is Senator Hilary Rodham Cinton, the 'what' is that Clinton has beaten Barack in fundraising donations, the 'where' is in the United States, (which is indicated in the statement that this is the "Democratic presidential nomination,") the 'when' ranges from July to yesterday, and the 'why' is so that Clinton will have political advantage.
Wednesday, October 3, 2007
A1
Clinton Steals Obama's Fund-Raising Thunder
By Patrick Healy
A major dynamic behind the fight for the Democratic presidential nomination -- fundraising -- shifted yesterday as Senator Hilary Rodham Clinton's campaign announced that it had beaten Senator Barack Obama in donations since July, stripping him at least temporarily of a crucial political advantage.
This hard news lede is a summary lede. It answers the "five W's" right from the start. The 'who' is Senator Hilary Rodham Cinton, the 'what' is that Clinton has beaten Barack in fundraising donations, the 'where' is in the United States, (which is indicated in the statement that this is the "Democratic presidential nomination,") the 'when' ranges from July to yesterday, and the 'why' is so that Clinton will have political advantage.
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