Monday, December 7, 2009

Alleged Shark Situation

After several days of terrorizing the beaches in Amity, the shark that has caused multiple deaths to Amity citizens, has been captured and killed by several local fisherman off the coast of southwest Amity.

The fisherman will receive a $3,000 reward for their bravery and selfless efforts to catch this marine beast.

Just days ago, the shark was responsible for the death of Wendy Watson, a teenage citizen of Amity, and Alex Kintner, a 10-year-old, also from Amity.
The shark was caught one mile of the southern coast of Amity, and in between the beaches in which the two attacks occurred.

When the shark was brought ashore, it was inspected by marine biologist Matt Hooper from the Woods Hole, Mass. Oceanographic Institute. Hooper, who is one of the world's foremost experts on sharks, determined that the shark was a Nurse shark, which is notorious for its brutality. Its species is responsible for the deaths of hundreds of swimmers along the East Coast in recent years.

All beaches in Amity will reopen immediately, just in time for the Fourth of July celebrations.

Beachgoers should not be alarmed by the presence of shark spotters from the Coast Guard, Marine Patrol, the Massachusetts State Police, and other organizations. They are present for precautionary safety purposes only.

The beach population was hesitant to enter the water in light of the recent attacks, but as soon as everyone realized it was again safe to swim, everyone jumped at the opportunity to go into the water.

Amity Mayor Bob Farley urged TV cameras that the alleged shark attacks were in the past, and that it was perfectly safe to enter the water.

During the recreation period, two children with a cardboard fin as a hoax scared everyone out of the water, alerting the authorities immediately. When police and Marine Patrol boats reached them, they discovered the children, pulling them from the water and taking them into custody. They will have to do public service as part of their punishment, since they aren't old enough to be tried as adults.

Village Beach was chaotic as everyone ran from the water at once, stumbling and falling over each other in order to reach safety. Visitors and residents alike were not happy to find out this was all a prank pulled by a couple of kids.

If local citizens or visitors should spot anything remotely resembling a shark, do not hesitate to notify the authorities as soon as possible. The number to call is 1-800-sharksee.

Sunday, December 6, 2009

Editor Meetings

The meetings I had with my editor weren't really as helpful as I would have liked them to be. I'm always looking for ways to improve my writing, AP style usage and professional technique. But Makisha wasn't very confident in herself to help me out. She thought that I basically knew everything I needed to know; more than she even did, because I work for TNH. I didn't agree, because she's been through more of the journalism program than I have, so I figured she knew more about the basics that I lack. When we did meet, we talked about some ideas I had for stories and how I could improve one of them with a different angle on quotes. We met a total of two times. Overall, I thought it was a good experience having my work critiqued by someone who has been through the program, but lacked the confidence to help me improve on my work quality.

Thursday, December 3, 2009

New York Times - Dec. 3, 2009

Another installment from the N.F.L. was in today's New York Times about how the league looks to try and prevent players from making their situations worse after suffering head injuries during games. The league announced that if a player is to suffer a head injury during a game and show the slightest signs of a concussion, then they are to remain out for the entirety of the game, regardless of whether or not the feel apt to coming back in or not. My feeling is probably the same as just about everyone else's on this subject, and came be summed up in three words: it's about time. For years, players have experienced serious mental and cognitive disabilities, which can easily be blamed on traumatic head injuries suffered during their playing days. They probably didn't get the proper treatment, and went right back in as soon as they felt up to it, which in turn only made it worse for themselves. This way, they can prevent any long-term damage by not experiencing head injury after head injury out on the field, only making the situation worse.

Also somehow, and I'm not totally sure how, a story made it on the front page about the types of gates department stores and shops in New York City use when they shut down at night. It doesn't seem like this story would be that big of a deal, but apparently the city wanted to switch all closing security gates to the ones you would typically find in malls that allow a passerby to see into a store. They want to do away with the old-fashioned garage door gates, because vandalizers have taken advantage of them by covering them in street art, making the city look trashier and run-down. The matter was voted upon on Monday, and the Council elected to get rid of the old gates completely. It seems like a very random front page article with little relevance to anything.

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

New York Times - Dec. 2, 2009

It's a little worrysome when discussing national security to read a story in the New York Times about a couple who actually CRASHED a dinner party at the White House, of all places. How is this nation supposed to feel safe when the Secret Service outside one of the most heavily-guarded houses in the entire world falters and lets in two suspicious dinner guests, who clearly weren't even on the invitation. I don't know what they must have slipped the security guard standing outside of the White House gates, but whatever it was, it made him overlook the fact that they didn't have an invitation to one of the most prominent dinner get-togethers in all of America. The Salahi's (the couple who "crashed" this dinner party) claims they were invited, despite the fact that several sources confirm that they were specifically told NOT to show up, because they didn't have room to fit them in. It's one thing that two people who just wanted some attention and their 15 minutes of fame, but what if someone with a bomb strapped to their chest walked right past national security and blew the entire Obama administration up? It's a horrible thought, but after this can we rule it out? I don't think so.

On another note, I found it somewhat comical that Comcast, who doesn't even have complete control yet after purchasing NBC Universal, already has plans to make Versus a serious competitor with ESPN for sports cable. Let me start by saying that will never happen, and if it does than we can all just give up on the world of sports, because if there's no hope for ESPN, which is essentially sports, then the world of athletics is in for a complete and unnecessary change. No one who follows sports wants any other station to compete with ESPN, because everyone who likes sports LOVES ESPN. Comcast doesn't have the resources to post a competitor, especially Versus, which barely covers any national or professional sports as of right now. If ESPN were around forever, every sports fan would be happy.

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

New York Times - Dec. 1, 2009

There were some very interesting stories in today's issue of the New York Times. I really enjoyed reading the piece on the front about how some cops in New York City have started carrying around fake badges so they don't lose their real one's. I understand that they don't want to lose their real badges, because there's a penalty for losing it, which is something like loss of 10-day's pay and a ton of unnecessary paperwork. But if the cops aren't following the rules, is that a good example for everyone else in the city? And now they can't use the excuse "no one knows that we do this," because it was just on ther front page of the New York Times, so everyone's looking for it now. There's really a very small difference between the real and fakes badges, but less paperwork if lost. It never looks good if police are the one's getting in trouble for something stupid like carrying a fake badge.

One of the more talked-about stories of the week was the headlining story for the day, about Maurice Clemmons, the man who shot and killed four police officers in Seattle just days ago. The article is about how Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee is very lenient in granting clemency to convicted fellons, allowing them to go free easily. Well, it turns out he was the one who granted Maurice Clemmons clemency, and now it will be the primary argument against him come the 2012 elections, where he was expected to be ther Republican frontrunner. He has a past of granting easy clemency to those convicted, for reasons no one really knows.

On a side note, it was announced today that Maurice Clemmons was shot and killed by a patrolling officer in Seattle. He was found in a stolen car at 2:45 a.m. and was shot after he refused to stop squirming in his car and show his hands. Others may be arrested in aiding the hiding of Clemmons.

Monday, November 30, 2009

New York Times - Nov. 30, 2009

Today's New York Times featured stories in about as many different varieties as one could fit on the front page. I read a story about Obama needing to supply more troops overseas in order to bring the ones that are currently over there home in a plan to withdraw completely from the war in thr Middle East. I read a story about a man who discovered the peat land in Indonesia was giving off a great amount of harmful gases to the environment, and wants to help improve the water quality in the Kampar Peninsula. I read a story about a man who is feared by high school athletic departments because of his ambitious attitude toward equality for girls athletics. I read a story about the sales of alligator skin diminishing this year after a dismal year last year. My point is that there isn't a real hard news story in here, other than the Obama piece. Nothing really jumps out at the reader when they scan the front page for any big events or stories they need to read. Maybe it's just because there wasn't anything really newsworthy for today's issue, but I feel that editors and publishers could have put together a few more interesting story ideas. Not that many people care about extremely expensive alligator skin except...people who can actually afford extremely expensive alligator skin. I thought it was a poor effort to try and appeal to the majority of the American public. I think that it would be better if they tried to focus the lead story on American issues, not foreign issue like tree harvesters in Indonesia. I know I'm not qualified to make that call, but that's what I would do if I had a say in what was printed in the Times.

Another Death in Amity

In the early afternoon on July 2, another death occurred at an Amity beach, but this time it was a 10-year-old male resident that was the victim of what appears to be a vicious shark attack.
Alex B. Kintner, of Mayfair Court, was swimming with his friends in the waters off Village Beach at 2 p.m. yesterday, when he and his floatation raft disappeared from the surface of the water.
This is the second of what appears to be related shark attacks in the last two days. Village Beach and South Beach (where the first incident occurred) are seven nautical miles apart. However, the police department has stressed that these attacks have not yet been confirmed as shark-related.
Witnesses of the event, including police chief Martin Brody, said they saw Kintner floating in the water when he suddenly disappeared and was not found. No body was recovered, but when the floatation raft Kintner was using drifted ashore, there appeared to be a large bite taken out of it.
Alex’s mother, Marion Kintner, is currently being treated for shock at Amity General Hospital after being present during the time of her son’s disappearance. She is listed in fair condition. There were no other injuries reported from the incident.
Police now believe that the Watson death, which occurred at some point last night, may be related to the possible shark activities in Amity.
A meeting was held last night to discuss the order of operations dealing with the potential shark activities. Chief Brody plans to close the beaches until further notice, while the department will bring in spotters for the Amity beaches to watch for sharks.
The Kintner family has placed a reward for $3,000 for the capture of the perpetrator. Fisherman Ben Quint has submitted an offer to the town’s administrators for $10,000 to hunt down the shark thought to be the cause behind these deaths.
The administration has taken Quint’s offer under advisory, and will discuss the offer behind closed doors.
In the meantime, Amity Mayor Bob Farley and chief Brody have issued their deepest sympathies and most sincere condolences to the Kintner family for their loss.