Sunday, January 31, 2010

Journal Entry #3

To Save A Life, a new faith-based inspirational film opens this Friday to limited theaters across the country. It is said to deal with real life issues that teens face such as drugs, alcohol, social acceptance, and pregnancy. The cast and production crew is hoping that the film will reach out to people to help them deal with their troubles. They are hoping the film will “empower teenagers to be a messenger of hope by reaching out and befriending someone in trouble.”


Original Article:

http://articles.latimes.com/2010/jan/21/entertainment/la-et-save21-2010jan21

Monday, January 25, 2010

Exercise 2, Story 2, Chapter 9

There was a dreadful accident that occurred on Interstate 790 at 6:45 a.m. in the morning. The incident happened when two tractor-trailers collided and started a chain reaction crash involving a total of four tractor-trailers and 14 cars. According to Sgt. Albert Wei of the police department, two people driving cars were killed and twenty other people were injured and taken to the hospital. Tony Sullivan, the local fire chief, was told by one of the ambulance drivers that four of those 20 injured are seriously hurt and had injuries that are life threatening. Sullivan stated that his firefighters had to cut the roofs off three of the cars to free the drivers and passengers that were trapped inside. All five ambulances from the fire department were called on the scene along with ambulances from four nearby citys’ fire departments and the “Life Flight” helicopter from Memorial Hospital in Andover. The helicopter was used to fly two seriously injured people to the Trauma Center in Statesville, which is 50 miles away. Sullivan said the scene of the accident looked like a war zone and that he had never seen anything that bad in the 18 and a half years he’s been with the fire department. The accident, which happened in the northbound lanes, closed the entire highway, north and south and is still closed at 10 a.m. Wei said he had no idea when the interstate would be re-opened and that the police department is still investigating the accident.

Sunday, January 24, 2010

Journal Entry #2

Public health officials stress that the “choking game”, practiced by 1 in 20 eighth graders in Oregon, was hazardous and could lead to brain damage, long-term neurological disability and death. Adolescent health managers and specialists are extremely concerned that so many kids are practicing this “game”.

Original Article:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/23/health/research/22choke.html?ref=health

Thursday, January 21, 2010

The Do's and Don'ts of Leads

I have had a lot of trouble with writing leads and to me, they really have got to be simple, easy to understand, and outlining the entire story in just one or two sentences. Don't write too much and give away minor details in your lead. But also, don't write too little that people don't really know what the story is about. Make sure that the lead is quick, powerful, and leaves the reader interested to learn more about it.

Sunday, January 17, 2010

Journal Entry

The Food and Drug Administration is concerned about health hazards from a component of plastic bottles and other packaging called bisphenol-A, or BPA. They concerned about the effects it has on the brain and behavior of infants and children. The FDA is now investigating BPA and it’s effects.


Original Article: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/16/health/16plastic.html?ref=health

Monday, January 11, 2010

Introduction

Hi! My name is Alyssa Peterson. I'm a PSEO student and am loving every minute of it. I currently go to ARCC part-time online and part-time at North Central University, a bible college in downtown Minneapolis. I work at Caribou Coffee as a barista and in my free time I like to hang out with my friends and am very involved at this ministry I work with. I really enjoy writing and am excited to see with this class if journalism is the right "fit" for me! I am looking forward to meeting all of you guys in your blogs. :)