Sunday, February 26, 2012
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
The Life of Rachel Cerbone - a tale of the ages
It was that faithful day in 8th grade that led her to the seventh floor of the library for class today. Her English teacher, Ms. LeBow, introduced Rachel Cerbone’s class to Shakespeare and from there, Cerbone recalls, “I became intrigued by writing, and literature, and knew I wanted to write.” As a sophomore journalism major at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, it is clear that after this realization, Cerbone has stuck true to her interests.
It all began on November 21, 1992 in Reading, Mass., when Cerbone was born. It was within the first six months of her life that Cerbone and her family moved into the house she still calls home within the town. “I love my house. It’s yellow,” Cerbone said.
About Reading, Cerbone says: “It’s a pretty small town so everyone knows everyone’s business. I liked it, though because I had a big group of friends that all lived pretty close in my neighborhood.”
Cerbone went on to explain: “It’s [Reading’s] pretty boring and most of the people that live there wouldn’t have much to say about it. But, it’s a safe town… has a good high school, a good education system.”
Cerbone found dancing as a way to deal with this lack of stimulation in the town. “I’ve danced since I was in fifth grade. It’s what a dedicated a lot of my high school career to,” Cerbone said.
In recalling high school, Cerbone says it was a lot of fun: “The faculty was really cool.”
Cerbone’s graduating class at Reading Memorial High School was comprised of 1200 students who also witnessed great change for the school.
“It’s really funny because the high school was in complete ruins for so long: tiles misplaced, ceilings falling apart, the gymnasium was disgusting. But, during my freshman year, the whole school was under mass-construction and by my sophomore year, it was completely renovated.” Cerbone continues: “They had cardboard for walls. My Spanish class was literally a cardboard box in the gymnasium.”
Upon graduating from UMass, Cerbone hopes to go into magazine writing, fashion journalism, or to broadcast on E! News.
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
Karissa Gadbois: A Memorable Past and Bright Future
With big plans and an infectious laugh, Karissa Gadbois sits
in class mindful of where she’s been and where she plans to go.
Born in
1991, Gadbois was born in New Bedford, Mass. and moved to Dartmouth, Mass. at
just two years old. She’s lived in the same house in Dartmouth her entire life.
“I love
Dartmouth,” she said. “It’s a small town, everyone kind of knows one another.”
Growing up
in the north end of Dartmouth with her younger sister, Jocelyn, and younger
brother Thomas, Karissa experienced childhood only with those living nearby due
to the separation of elementary schools and was naĆÆve to the “unknown” south
end.
It wasn’t
until high school that she ventured into the south end of Dartmouth and those
who inhabited the remote area. As she became comfortable in high school, she
found the majority of her friends residing in the south end.
“A lot of
my friends think I’m a freak for loving Dartmouth high school, but I love it.” She
expressed, with great passion, the life and friends she loved and missed from her
teenage years.
Too, within
that remote, alien area she came to become very familiar with, was Padanaram, a
“beautiful” village in south Dartmouth, home to stars TĆ©a Leoni and David Duchovny.
“I
used to work at Stop & Shop and TĆ©a came through my line,” Gadbois said. “I
was thinking that I’m going to steal her credit card receipt that she had to
sign…and then I did.”
Stop &
Shop wasn’t quite Gadbois’ plans for the future, however. A junior at UMass
Amherst, Gadbois works as a Resident Assistant in Pierpont hall in the
Southwest residential area. “It’s a lot of work and it’s time consuming, but I
really like my residents and being able to make connections with a lot of
people.”
Gadbois plans to move to Boston
after graduating and work for PricewaterhouseCoopers, a public accounting firm
in the financial district, Boston, hopeful for an opportunity to add and
subtract as well as write.
Real Life Pleasantville: From the Eyes of Lizzy Justesen
To many, the town of Fairfield Conn. brings images
of a classic, coastal town to mind. That depiction seems to be correct,
according to sophomore journalism major and natural conservation resource minor
Lizzy Justesen.
Lizzy described her upbringing in the town of
Fairfield as “super safe.”
“I lived on the beach, it was great. I loved it
there. It was awesome.”
Fairfield’s beaches border the Long Island Sound,
which Lizzy lovingly refers to as “the most disgusting body of water in the
United States.”
Lizzy recalls many of her fondest memories to be on
the beach, or hiking in the forests that comprise a large part of Fairfield.
“There’s a pretty nice balance of both, if you want
the beach it’s there, but if you woods there’s that too. I spent a lot of
weekends hiking and just wandering around in the woods.”
Aside from beaches and woods, Lizzy described
Fairfield as a classic “white picket fence” type of town.
“Everyone knows each other or what is going on.
There is definitely a small town feel to it,” says Lizzy.
This could be somewhat surprising considering the
town’s population of about 50,000.
“My
graduating high school class had a student body of about 1,500, but you still
knew who everyone was.”
From an outsider’s perspective, Fairfield may seem
like a “yuppy” place to live. With everyone dressed in preppy clothing, it is
easy stand out.
“I had dreadlocks my freshman year of high school,”
says Lizzy
“People noticed if you were different. I guess I
was what you could call the ‘bad seed’ of the school. I mean I played field
hockey and had dreadlocks. People knew who I was.”
“Its an
awesome high school” says Lizzy.
Fairfield also has a prime location between New
York and Boston.
“I don’t really like the city but it was great
being able to just hop on a train and go into New York for an event or a
concert. There was a train station right next to the high school so it was
really easy.”
Perhaps some of those concerts include going to see John Mayer, who is fellow
alum of Fairfield high school, along with actor Justin Long.
Sorry about the picture Lizzy!
Troland Prevails from Unsettling Town
Troland Prevails from Unsettling Town
In a town plagued with sex offenders and the occasional naked chicken killer, Middleboro, Massachusetts is where Jess Troland calls home.
Once known as the cranberry capital of the world, Middleboro is the second largest town in Ma, and a mere 20 minutes away from the Bourne Bridge into Cape Cod. Although in close proximity with the beaches, Troland explained Middleboro in one word: "boring."
Troland recounted her childhood days spent at the town park with her younger brother Brendan. Although she spent much of her childhood singing, Troland still found time to take swimming lessons offered by the town it the Olympic sizes swimming pool at the park.
A scenic rural town, Middleboro may have a utopian image to a passerby. What visitors don't realize is that Middleboro has a darker side.
"There were three sex offenders living in my neighborhood," recounted Troland.
Sadly, sex offenders in the neighborhood were only where the stories began. Troland recounted a story of a deranged man in her town who nakedly killed chickens in an obscure mental state.
With such an interesting surrounding culture, it is no surprise that Troland chose a private high school in Darmouth over Middleboro High School.
When asked about her experience at Bishop Stang, a private Catholic high school, Troland said, "I loved it, it was the classic high school experience."
Troland was quite active in her school’s music program. Being a part of the a capella choir, she also created her own ensemble with 2 teachers and 3 other students. Her younger brother Brendan played drums for the group.
Troland has since moved on from the town, and is now currently a sophomore journalism major at the University of Massachusetts.
"I know Middleboro will always be a place I can go back to, but for now, it's time to go exploring," said Troland.
Amen, sister.
In a town plagued with sex offenders and the occasional naked chicken killer, Middleboro, Massachusetts is where Jess Troland calls home.
Once known as the cranberry capital of the world, Middleboro is the second largest town in Ma, and a mere 20 minutes away from the Bourne Bridge into Cape Cod. Although in close proximity with the beaches, Troland explained Middleboro in one word: "boring."
Troland recounted her childhood days spent at the town park with her younger brother Brendan. Although she spent much of her childhood singing, Troland still found time to take swimming lessons offered by the town it the Olympic sizes swimming pool at the park.
A scenic rural town, Middleboro may have a utopian image to a passerby. What visitors don't realize is that Middleboro has a darker side.
"There were three sex offenders living in my neighborhood," recounted Troland.
Sadly, sex offenders in the neighborhood were only where the stories began. Troland recounted a story of a deranged man in her town who nakedly killed chickens in an obscure mental state.
With such an interesting surrounding culture, it is no surprise that Troland chose a private high school in Darmouth over Middleboro High School.
When asked about her experience at Bishop Stang, a private Catholic high school, Troland said, "I loved it, it was the classic high school experience."
Troland was quite active in her school’s music program. Being a part of the a capella choir, she also created her own ensemble with 2 teachers and 3 other students. Her younger brother Brendan played drums for the group.
Troland has since moved on from the town, and is now currently a sophomore journalism major at the University of Massachusetts.
"I know Middleboro will always be a place I can go back to, but for now, it's time to go exploring," said Troland.
Amen, sister.
Macy Wang
Twenty-five year old visiting scholar Macy Wang, politely declined to comment on the article relating to Tibet that one of her classmates had chosen to present in class.
Her visit to America has exposed Macy to political criticism that is much different than what she is used to back home.
"Not everything America accuses China of is accurate or even true," she said.
"There is a lot of hypocrisy in the idea that Americans criticize China on humanitarian grounds. Are some nationalities more human than others? I think it's kind of obnoxious actually," she said.
Macy has had little trouble in adjusting to her new life here. "I was really lucky to have the opportunity to come here. One of my professors once told me that the best way to see China was to leave the country. I think they were right."
Another one of her teachers suggested she use a common American name, as so many visiting East Asian students now do. This has become a common practice in recent years, to overcome the difficulty most Americans have in pronouncing Chinese names. Macy's English is surprisingly fluent for a native of China who has been here for less than two months.
Journalism 300 is one of the classes that Macy is taking on her one-semester visit to Amherst and the United States.
English being her second language, a subject like Journalism can be quite difficult. Macy says that she was lucky "I have a really nice and helpful teacher. Journalism 300 is a class I was really nervous about, but Professor Mary Carey has a calm approach. With somebody different, I would have been a lot more nervous I think."
Her visit to America has exposed Macy to political criticism that is much different than what she is used to back home.
"Not everything America accuses China of is accurate or even true," she said.
"There is a lot of hypocrisy in the idea that Americans criticize China on humanitarian grounds. Are some nationalities more human than others? I think it's kind of obnoxious actually," she said.
Macy has had little trouble in adjusting to her new life here. "I was really lucky to have the opportunity to come here. One of my professors once told me that the best way to see China was to leave the country. I think they were right."
Another one of her teachers suggested she use a common American name, as so many visiting East Asian students now do. This has become a common practice in recent years, to overcome the difficulty most Americans have in pronouncing Chinese names. Macy's English is surprisingly fluent for a native of China who has been here for less than two months.
Journalism 300 is one of the classes that Macy is taking on her one-semester visit to Amherst and the United States.
English being her second language, a subject like Journalism can be quite difficult. Macy says that she was lucky "I have a really nice and helpful teacher. Journalism 300 is a class I was really nervous about, but Professor Mary Carey has a calm approach. With somebody different, I would have been a lot more nervous I think."
Chris Doherty
The minute rural town of Hudson, NH is home to rising sophomore Chris Doherty; a young aspiring Jack Edwards. Chris dreams to one day be a play-by-play commentator for the Boston Bruins.
Chris moved to "the ghost town that is Hudson," as he described from Lowell, Mass. when he was only a child at the age of 6.
His new home had a country type feel as he mentioned that there was a farm with cows and donkeys on the same grounds as the towns high school.
A highlight in the town's history is when his high school baseball team made it to the state championship and had a police escort from Hudson to Manchester, NH.
He often calls the men's basketball and hockey games and is currently a proud member of the Mullins Militia here at UMass.
Chris has had the chance to announce the UMass vs Vermont Frozen Fenway hockey game on January 7th of this year and "it was life changing and a once in a lifetime opportunity," said Doherty.
Luis Fieldman Mini-Profile
Luis Fieldman was a journeyman at a young age.
Originally born in Los Angeles, he moved to the east coast after two years. His family landed in Longmeadow, Mass.; a town known for having the highest per capita income in the western part of the state. However, at age 7, his stepfather, a union organizer, relocated to Costa Rica, and the family followed.
Fieldman was able to attend a European school in Costa Rica so he could comfortably speak English, but it wasn’t a seamless transition. “I lived in a good neighborhood, but the majority of the town was almost slums,” said Fieldman. “It kinda opened my eyes to the world at a young age.”
He hinted that the move might have had a positive impact on him, “It made me realize the world wasn’t perfect, especially coming from Longmeadow.”
After living in Costa Rica for three years, the family moved back to Massachusetts, and has resided in Wilbraham since. His stepfather now does IT work for the Northwestern District Attorney. Luis cites stability as the reason for this change. His father "wanted something that would allow him to settle down,” Fieldman said.
Now, Fieldman is a high school senior with interests focusing in political science and journalism. He’s seen quite a bit of what the world has to offer, but he yearns for more, “I just want a chance to explore for myself.”
And he’s headed in the right direction.
Moving
from Easton, Mass. created a brand new start for Steve Hewitt. At age two, he
had only known the town of Easton and he began his new start in the town of
Taunton.
With
48 square miles, it is “one of the largest towns in Massachusetts,” Hewitt
said.
Hewitt
also pointed out that it is known as the Silver City, because it is a historic
center of the silver industry in the 19th century. It is also one of
the oldest towns in the United States. There is also an annual light display in
December also giving it the nickname, Christmas City.
Despite
the positive nicknames the town has aquired, Hewitt’s large town houses diverse
types of people, which has led to much room for stereotypes and misconceptions,
he said.
Hewitt
said there was two parts of town called the Weir and Whittenton, named for
certain streets in the area, which have gangs toward the opposite side of town
that he lives. He had always known to steer clear of the dangerous area, and
stay on the west side where he lives.
“There are a lot of robberies and killings
which occur on the east side of town, but they don’t really go into the west
side,” he said.
He believes outsiders do not have the greatest
perspective of his hometown.
“There’s
not much to do in Taunton, to be honest with you,” Hewitt said.
Instead
of going to Taunton High School, where the east siders’ attended, Hewitt chose
to enroll in a regional high school, where more of the west siders’ attended
and five towns attend. He enjoyed his time playing mid-field on his school’s
soccer team. He was on the varsity team from his sophomore to his senior year.
After
college at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, he does not want to return
to his hometown of Taunton, but to move to a more metropolitan area like Boston
to pursue a career as a sport writer.
“I’ve
always enjoyed living there, but there’s a time where you need to say good-bye
and move on,” Hewitt said.
Ryan Bemis
Ryan Bemis lives in the rural town of Wilmington, Mass, best known for being where the Stanley Cup Champion Boston Bruins practice. Bemis lives just 5 minutes from the Ristuccuia Arena (practice rink) and lived even closer prior to moving after 6th grade.
Moving was a small change staying in Wilmington. It may have actually been a good thing being just 2 minutes from his best friends house. "One of us calls the other and the next thing you know, we ended up on the basketball court," Bemis said.
Bemis played basketball and baseball through the his whole life, maybe not a part of the high school teams, but they have always been important to him.
The town around him seems to have changed since "Remembering looking around and seeing trees everywhere to all of the trees being replaced by buildings and houses," said Bemis. People from outside Wilmington believe "It is a forest town trying to impersonate a city," Bemis said. He believes that is reasons varying from the way people dress to how the town has been changing over the years.
Currently, Ryan is a sophomore at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and hopes to get out of Wilmington when he graduates because, "The drug use throughout the town brings the whole mood down and I would prefer a cleaner environment."
Ryan studies film studies at UMass and hopes to make a living writing film reviews.
Monday, February 13, 2012
Speech paper tips/In-class blog assignment
Speech paper tips:
- Lead should do more than just say the event occurred; should be direct and reader friendly
- Double- and triple-check name spellings! It’s Rachael with an extra A!
- AP style is to NOT capitalize academic subjects and job titles unless the title comes RIGHT before the job holder’s name
- In general, write in past tense
- News stories do NOT have essay-style conclusions
- Keep your opinions/judgments out of the story. Don’t editorialize or make grand claims
In-class blog assignment: JOURN 300/Interviewing for information, meaningful content and quoteworthy quotes
Assignment: Interview a classmate about his or her home town. Get a basic feel for the city/town. For instance, how big approximately? Urban or rural? What is it known for? How do people there describe it? How is it described by outsiders?
Make it personal. Ask your subject to recall a moment he or she may recall when he/she reflected on the nature of the town. Did he or she always want to leave there? Does he/she want to go back?
Identify some QUOTEWORTHY quotes. Don’t just throw the quotes in. INTRODUCE them. Look for specific, concrete, colorful details. AVOID clichĆ©s. Think about every word. Think about the tone etc.
Spell check. Proofread. Post it on the class blog.
Example from a past class:
Moving from the Bronx to White Plains, NY at age 5, Shamique White was surprised at how small her new town was. (DOESN’T JUST SAY THE SUBJECT IS FROM WHATEVER CITY/TOWN BUT ESTABLISHES THE THEME OF THE PIECE, WHICH IS ABOUT THE EXPERIENCE OF MOVING FROM A BIG CITY TO A MORE SUBURBAN COMMUNITY/INTRODUCES THE FOLLOWING QUOTE.)
"I called it a ghost town," she said.(KEEP PARAGRAPHS SHORT FOR READABILITY AND IMPACT.
When she was young, White would spend her summer days playing at the park down the street from her home with other kids from her neighborhood when she was in White Plains. (CONCRETE IMAGE)
But on most weekends, sometimes for weeks at a time, White would go to the Bronx to go to church with her grandmother. (CONCRETE IMAGE)
"I went to school in White Plains, but I didn't hang out in White Plains," White says of her younger years. (MEANINGFUL QUOTE)
As she entered into middle school and then on to high school, White Plains began to grow more metropolitan. Lots of people moved from the city to her town and commuted to work in New York City, only a half hour south. Businesses also began to flourish in a downtown section that had a city-like feel. But the town still maintained some of its rural charm in certain neighborhoods. (GOOD DEMOGRAPHIC INFO PUTS THE SUBJECT’S PERSONAL EXPERIENCE INTO CONTEXT.)
The kids of White Plains joined into one public high school after being in five different elementary schools and two middle schools. White made close friends in high school, where the arts and basketball and track were popular activities for students.
Even though White went back and forth between the Bronx and White Plains at first, she still calls White Plains home. (NICE ENDING, BRINGS US BACK TO THE THEME. THE PIECE HAS A NARRATIVE “ARC.”)
- Lead should do more than just say the event occurred; should be direct and reader friendly
- Double- and triple-check name spellings! It’s Rachael with an extra A!
- AP style is to NOT capitalize academic subjects and job titles unless the title comes RIGHT before the job holder’s name
- In general, write in past tense
- News stories do NOT have essay-style conclusions
- Keep your opinions/judgments out of the story. Don’t editorialize or make grand claims
In-class blog assignment: JOURN 300/Interviewing for information, meaningful content and quoteworthy quotes
Assignment: Interview a classmate about his or her home town. Get a basic feel for the city/town. For instance, how big approximately? Urban or rural? What is it known for? How do people there describe it? How is it described by outsiders?
Make it personal. Ask your subject to recall a moment he or she may recall when he/she reflected on the nature of the town. Did he or she always want to leave there? Does he/she want to go back?
Identify some QUOTEWORTHY quotes. Don’t just throw the quotes in. INTRODUCE them. Look for specific, concrete, colorful details. AVOID clichĆ©s. Think about every word. Think about the tone etc.
Spell check. Proofread. Post it on the class blog.
Example from a past class:
Moving from the Bronx to White Plains, NY at age 5, Shamique White was surprised at how small her new town was. (DOESN’T JUST SAY THE SUBJECT IS FROM WHATEVER CITY/TOWN BUT ESTABLISHES THE THEME OF THE PIECE, WHICH IS ABOUT THE EXPERIENCE OF MOVING FROM A BIG CITY TO A MORE SUBURBAN COMMUNITY/INTRODUCES THE FOLLOWING QUOTE.)
"I called it a ghost town," she said.(KEEP PARAGRAPHS SHORT FOR READABILITY AND IMPACT.
When she was young, White would spend her summer days playing at the park down the street from her home with other kids from her neighborhood when she was in White Plains. (CONCRETE IMAGE)
But on most weekends, sometimes for weeks at a time, White would go to the Bronx to go to church with her grandmother. (CONCRETE IMAGE)
"I went to school in White Plains, but I didn't hang out in White Plains," White says of her younger years. (MEANINGFUL QUOTE)
As she entered into middle school and then on to high school, White Plains began to grow more metropolitan. Lots of people moved from the city to her town and commuted to work in New York City, only a half hour south. Businesses also began to flourish in a downtown section that had a city-like feel. But the town still maintained some of its rural charm in certain neighborhoods. (GOOD DEMOGRAPHIC INFO PUTS THE SUBJECT’S PERSONAL EXPERIENCE INTO CONTEXT.)
The kids of White Plains joined into one public high school after being in five different elementary schools and two middle schools. White made close friends in high school, where the arts and basketball and track were popular activities for students.
Even though White went back and forth between the Bronx and White Plains at first, she still calls White Plains home. (NICE ENDING, BRINGS US BACK TO THE THEME. THE PIECE HAS A NARRATIVE “ARC.”)
Thursday, February 9, 2012
Monday, February 6, 2012
Chapters 2 & 3 worksheet
CHAPTER 2: COMPONENTS OF THE STORY:
1) What's most important: A) accuracy B) getting both sides on the record C) a lively writing style?
2) Which is the better description and why: A) She was unusually tall. B) She was an inch over 6 feet tall.
3) Give of examples of A) a firsthand account B) secondhand account C) thirdhand account
4) Should the reporter make it clear in the story whether an account is firsthand, second or third? Is there a scenario in which you would not need to attribute information?
5) Explain A) on the record B) on background C) on deep background D) off the record
6) Which sentence would you pick to follow this one: The temperature reached an all-time high yesterday at noon. A) The air conditioning failed at UMass. B) The mercury hit 102 degrees, breaking the April 10, 1968 record of 98 degrees. C) Dogs howled and cats slunk under bushes looking for shade.
7) True or False: Objective journalism is the reporting of the visible and verifiable.
CHAPTER 3: WHAT IS NEWS?
1) Who said this in 1883: "Always fight for progress and reform, never tolerate injustice or corruption, always fight demagogues of all parties, never belong to any party, always oppose privileged classes and public plunderers, never lack sympathy with the poor, always remain devoted to the public welfare, never be satisfied with merely printing news, always be drastically indpendent, never be afriad to attack wrong, whether by predatory plutocracy or predatory poverty."
2) Describe a news story that fits each of the following criteria for what is news: A) Information about a break from the normal flow of events, an interruption in the expected, deviation from the norm B) INformation people can use to help them make sound decisions about their lives.
3) Give a example of a news story that exemplifies each the following criteria (for a total of 9 stories):
A) Timely
B) Impact
C)Prominence
D) Emotional proximity
E) Geographical proximity
F) Conflict
G) The Unusual
H) Currency
I) Necessity
4) What are some other factors that play into the selection of news published?
1) What's most important: A) accuracy B) getting both sides on the record C) a lively writing style?
2) Which is the better description and why: A) She was unusually tall. B) She was an inch over 6 feet tall.
3) Give of examples of A) a firsthand account B) secondhand account C) thirdhand account
4) Should the reporter make it clear in the story whether an account is firsthand, second or third? Is there a scenario in which you would not need to attribute information?
5) Explain A) on the record B) on background C) on deep background D) off the record
6) Which sentence would you pick to follow this one: The temperature reached an all-time high yesterday at noon. A) The air conditioning failed at UMass. B) The mercury hit 102 degrees, breaking the April 10, 1968 record of 98 degrees. C) Dogs howled and cats slunk under bushes looking for shade.
7) True or False: Objective journalism is the reporting of the visible and verifiable.
CHAPTER 3: WHAT IS NEWS?
1) Who said this in 1883: "Always fight for progress and reform, never tolerate injustice or corruption, always fight demagogues of all parties, never belong to any party, always oppose privileged classes and public plunderers, never lack sympathy with the poor, always remain devoted to the public welfare, never be satisfied with merely printing news, always be drastically indpendent, never be afriad to attack wrong, whether by predatory plutocracy or predatory poverty."
2) Describe a news story that fits each of the following criteria for what is news: A) Information about a break from the normal flow of events, an interruption in the expected, deviation from the norm B) INformation people can use to help them make sound decisions about their lives.
3) Give a example of a news story that exemplifies each the following criteria (for a total of 9 stories):
A) Timely
B) Impact
C)Prominence
D) Emotional proximity
E) Geographical proximity
F) Conflict
G) The Unusual
H) Currency
I) Necessity
4) What are some other factors that play into the selection of news published?
Profile assignment and some sample profile leads
PROFILE assignment: 1,000 words (include word count)
First draft due: Feb. 15
Final draft due: March 5
The profile:
Nice profile lead in the Daily Hampshire GazetteBob Flaherty: Northampton police officer bikes by day, teaches salsa dance by nightTuesday, September 22, 2009
NORTHAMPTON - You can see glimpses of it in the way the officer moves.
The subtle flair he employs to pull over a motorist on Main Street, from the hips, like a ref tossing a flag. The way he pops the kickstand on his Trek mountain bike and slowlyswashbuckles away, stocky and muscular, readjusting his bulletproofvest and the nylon belt that holds his flashlight, handcuffs, extraammo and 40-caliber Glock.
Chico Jimenez, 52, has been a Northampton cop for 21 years, the last10 as a member of the bike patrol. He works the day shift, in thedowntown sector.
But on Friday nights, Jimenez works a shift of another kind. Swing shift, you could call it. Jimenez is teacher and practitioner of salsa, the sultry, flirtatious, hip-to-hip, face-to-face dance of the tropics....Continued at Gazettenet.com
Koby's team: Motherhood forces Northampton teen, a hoop standout, to sharpen her gameBy Jim Pignatiello02/21/2009
NORTHAMPTON - Cassy Sicard sat alone in the passenger seat of her mother's car outside JFK Middle School with her mind racing.
Tests earlier that day in May 2006 confirmed she was 7½ months pregnant. She was trying to wrap her brain around the challenges ahead.
"What am I going to do about school?" the 15-year-old freshman at Northampton High School wondered. "What am I going to do about basketball? What are my (friends) going to think?"
Sicard's AAU basketball team, the New England Explosion, was practicing inside the school's gym. But she couldn't bring herself to walk in and give the news to coach Perry Messer and her teammates, many of them friends since first grade.
"That was the hardest thing," Sicard said. "I had to have my mom (Erin Crowley) go in and tell" Messer and the rest of the Explosion.
Along with the initial worry and embarrassment, Sicard felt she had let her teammates down and was concerned about their reactions.
Then she got her answer.
The entire team, having just learned from Crowley that Sicard was outside, stormed out of the gym toward the car.
"Everyone was coming out in tears and they were all hugging me," Sicard said. "They were all telling me that they were there for me, that they love me and that they love the baby."
By the time Crowley returned to the parking lot, Sicard's teammates "were pretty much all in the car with her and then they brought her into the practice with them," Crowley said.
(Daily Hampshire Gazette) AMHERST - The question is not why Bart Bouricius loves bugs.
"The real question is what got someone not interested in bugs. If you're not afraid of them, learning about them is quite interesting," said Bouricius in an interview Thursday.
Bouricius' exotic bug collection is interesting enough to get him an invitation to the "Late Night with Conan O'Brien" show Monday, as "spider wrangler" for Mark "Dr. Bugs" Moffett, dubbed the "Indiana Jones of entomology" by National Geographic magazine.
NEW YORK MAGAZINE: profile of Jon Stewart:
It’s hard to top a kick in the nuts.
Especially when the kicker is Linda McMahon, the Connecticut Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate. Pure comedy gold.
Jon Stewart watches the tape and doubles over with laughter. He and fifteen of The Daily Show’s writers, producers, and performers are gathered around a 40-inch flat-screen TV inside the show’s Eleventh Avenue offices early on a Thursday morning in August. Creating a segment for tonight’s Daily Show around this footage, from one of World Wrestling Entertainment’s harmless little skits, would seem to be easy. Maybe they can just run the nut shot repeatedly. Along with another clip of McMahon, the co-founder and former CEO of WWE, chugging a beer and drooling foam down her cheek.
Except that the goal here isn’t simply topping the kick in the nuts—it’s using the scrotum slam in the service of a larger point. Oh, Stewart & Co. enjoy a lowbrow laugh as much as the folks over atSouth Park; heck, next week they’re publishing a book that includes some excellent masturbation jokes. But Stewart and The Daily Show became America’s sharpest political satirists by aiming at least a little bit higher.
First draft due: Feb. 15
Final draft due: March 5
The profile:
- should be of a person who is accessible to you for an interview but not someone who is a close friend or relative. (We'll discuss exceptions)
- should have an angle that becomes apparent in the lead and/or nutgraph. In a sentence, what is the main point of this profile?
- should include the following information 1) full name 2) age 3) where he/she grew up 4) family details (what did his/her parents do? how many siblings? is he/she married with kids, for instance? 5) brief physical description 6) one or more scenes of the subject in action 7) what the subject stands for/believes in, 8) occupation 9) hobbies or interests 10) quotes from others ABOUT the subject
Nice profile lead in the Daily Hampshire GazetteBob Flaherty: Northampton police officer bikes by day, teaches salsa dance by nightTuesday, September 22, 2009
NORTHAMPTON - You can see glimpses of it in the way the officer moves.
The subtle flair he employs to pull over a motorist on Main Street, from the hips, like a ref tossing a flag. The way he pops the kickstand on his Trek mountain bike and slowlyswashbuckles away, stocky and muscular, readjusting his bulletproofvest and the nylon belt that holds his flashlight, handcuffs, extraammo and 40-caliber Glock.
Chico Jimenez, 52, has been a Northampton cop for 21 years, the last10 as a member of the bike patrol. He works the day shift, in thedowntown sector.
But on Friday nights, Jimenez works a shift of another kind. Swing shift, you could call it. Jimenez is teacher and practitioner of salsa, the sultry, flirtatious, hip-to-hip, face-to-face dance of the tropics....Continued at Gazettenet.com
Koby's team: Motherhood forces Northampton teen, a hoop standout, to sharpen her gameBy Jim Pignatiello02/21/2009
NORTHAMPTON - Cassy Sicard sat alone in the passenger seat of her mother's car outside JFK Middle School with her mind racing.
Tests earlier that day in May 2006 confirmed she was 7½ months pregnant. She was trying to wrap her brain around the challenges ahead.
"What am I going to do about school?" the 15-year-old freshman at Northampton High School wondered. "What am I going to do about basketball? What are my (friends) going to think?"
Sicard's AAU basketball team, the New England Explosion, was practicing inside the school's gym. But she couldn't bring herself to walk in and give the news to coach Perry Messer and her teammates, many of them friends since first grade.
"That was the hardest thing," Sicard said. "I had to have my mom (Erin Crowley) go in and tell" Messer and the rest of the Explosion.
Along with the initial worry and embarrassment, Sicard felt she had let her teammates down and was concerned about their reactions.
Then she got her answer.
The entire team, having just learned from Crowley that Sicard was outside, stormed out of the gym toward the car.
"Everyone was coming out in tears and they were all hugging me," Sicard said. "They were all telling me that they were there for me, that they love me and that they love the baby."
By the time Crowley returned to the parking lot, Sicard's teammates "were pretty much all in the car with her and then they brought her into the practice with them," Crowley said.
(Daily Hampshire Gazette) AMHERST - The question is not why Bart Bouricius loves bugs.
"The real question is what got someone not interested in bugs. If you're not afraid of them, learning about them is quite interesting," said Bouricius in an interview Thursday.
Bouricius' exotic bug collection is interesting enough to get him an invitation to the "Late Night with Conan O'Brien" show Monday, as "spider wrangler" for Mark "Dr. Bugs" Moffett, dubbed the "Indiana Jones of entomology" by National Geographic magazine.
NEW YORK MAGAZINE: profile of Jon Stewart:
It’s hard to top a kick in the nuts.
Especially when the kicker is Linda McMahon, the Connecticut Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate. Pure comedy gold.
Jon Stewart watches the tape and doubles over with laughter. He and fifteen of The Daily Show’s writers, producers, and performers are gathered around a 40-inch flat-screen TV inside the show’s Eleventh Avenue offices early on a Thursday morning in August. Creating a segment for tonight’s Daily Show around this footage, from one of World Wrestling Entertainment’s harmless little skits, would seem to be easy. Maybe they can just run the nut shot repeatedly. Along with another clip of McMahon, the co-founder and former CEO of WWE, chugging a beer and drooling foam down her cheek.
Except that the goal here isn’t simply topping the kick in the nuts—it’s using the scrotum slam in the service of a larger point. Oh, Stewart & Co. enjoy a lowbrow laugh as much as the folks over atSouth Park; heck, next week they’re publishing a book that includes some excellent masturbation jokes. But Stewart and The Daily Show became America’s sharpest political satirists by aiming at least a little bit higher.
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