Friday, October 28, 2011

Court visit


Journ 300 students talk to lead prosecutor on the 2010 Granby murder case First Assistant District Attorney Steven Gagne (center), Assistant District Attorney Jennifer Handel Suhl and Springfield Republican reporter Fred Contrada after Friday's bail hearing.

Sunday, October 23, 2011

COURT DATE LIKELY TO BE POSTPONED TILL WEDNESDAY -- SO QUIZ ON MONDAY!

The court date is likely to be postponed until Wednesday, Nov. 26.

So, long story short -- I'm going to keep you posted. AS SOON AS the court date is confirmed, meaning IF I hear BEFORE NOON on Monday that it has been moved to Wednesday, we WILL have class and do the quiz and blog presentations tomorrow/Monday (and would not have class on Wednesday).

If the hearing is NOT moved, we will NOT have class tomorrow and would have class, the quiz and presentations on Wednesday.

In either case, I'll let you know by noon Monday, OCT 24.

Could EVERYBODY get back to me about whether they can come or not. There will be a 500-word piece due on whichever event you end up attending.

See below some instructions on how to get to the court, which is on 15 Gothic St., a side street off the main street (also known as Route 9) running through Northampon. I know one of the PVTA busses will take you right into Northampton from UMass.

We should meet and head inside and to the courtroom NO LATER THAN 1:30 p.m. (This is 15 minutes earlier than I said before, but we need to be early to be assured of getting seats. You'll have to go through a metal detector and cell phones absolutely have to be turned off in the court room. You won't be able to bring cameras inside.)

Email me if you have any questions. Talk to you soon!
Massachusetts Ave becomes N Hadley Rd.
0.5 mi
4.Merge onto RT-116 S towardHadley/Northampton.
  • If you reach Roosevelt St you've gone about 0.3 miles too far
1.8 mi
5.Take the RT-9 W ramp towardNorthampton/Pittsfield/Mass. Pike.
0.1 mi
6.Stay straight to go onto Russell St/RT-9 W. Continue to follow RT-9 W.
5.6 mi
7.Turn right onto Gothic St.
  • Gothic St is just past King St
  • Hampshire Law Library in Courthouse is on the right
  • If you reach Center St you've gone a little too far
0.04 mi
8.15 GOTHIC ST is on the right.
  • If you reach Allen Pl you've gone about 0.1 miles too far

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

New iPhone Conceals Sheer Magic

I chose an article called "New iPhone Conceals Sheer Magic" from the New York Times on October 11, 2011.


This article discusses the hype over the new iPhone 4S, though fans were expecting an iPhone 5. It describes all of the new features on the iPhone 4S and what makes it so different than any other phone out there today. Specifically, the new program called Siri is what everyone seems to be talking about. This is considered to be the phone's virtual assistant and is a break through in technology.


I chose this article because cell phones are something we all use on a day to day basis, and the iPhone 4S shows where the technology in phones is headed towards. I've been patiently waiting for the iPhone 5 to come out, and was rather disappointed when I heard it was only going to be a newer version of the iPhone 4, except with better features. But once I heard about Siri, I quickly changed my mind. The article successfully gave important details and good descriptions of the phone. The set up was also interesting when it listed the new features as "things."


A great quote was the ending. " The question isn't what's in a name - it's what's in a phone. And the answer is: 'A lot of amazing technology. And some of it feels like magic.' " I like how it ended with a question and answer. It also made the article come full circle because the first sentence asked, "What's in a name?"


AP Tip: Nicknames -- A nickname should be used in place of a person's given name in news stories only when it is the way the individual prefers to be known: ex. Jimmy Carter


When inserted into the full name of the individual, use quotation marks: ex. Sen. Henry M. "Scoop" Jackson or Jackson is known as "Scoop."


In sports stories/columns, commonly used nicknames may be substituted for a first name without quotation marks: ex. Babe Ruth, Tiger Woods, Magic Johnson


Capitalize without quotation marks with terms like Sunshine State, the Old Dominion, Motown, the Magic City, Old Hickory, Old Glory, Galloping Ghost.