Monday 3/ 29

I just wanted to point out that the NY times does a consistent job of providing a public forum for people, whether they are editorials, letters to the editor, or an entire opinion section on the newspaper's website. It is obvious that the paper is not only open to public forum but it encourages it. A paper could have a place where people can state their opinions on certain matters, but not really encourage people to do so, but the NY times shows that it wants people to share their opinions and they want to use outside sources that may have a better knowledge about a certain subject than what they can find out. Such forums are very helpful for a newspaper, and while one would attempt to stem that in order to prevent news that they do not want to publish, it is clear that the Times embraces this element.

Thursday 3/25

I focused my attention today on the article about the recent arrests of Al-Quaeda members and how the Taliban have promoted a fighter to fill the spot of one of the arrested. I noticed that the journalists did not sugarcoat this story and make it sound like this fighter is any less qualified than his predecessor. The journalists are not influenced by the government who might be trying to make it sound like there is indeed progress. The progress is obviously stunted by the fact that the person we arrested was so easily replaceable. The journalist reports the news, and doesn't try to fake how well the war is going, but instead presents the citizen with truths about how although we have made great strides, they may not be good enough, since the Taliban is able to recover from our blows. This shows that the press is independent of governmental influence and that they are directing the citizens towards truth, no matter how hard it may be.

Wednesday 3/24

Even before I knew that I would have to apply the Elements of Journalism to this week’s entries, I was prepared to write about the page that informed readers of how the new health care will affect different kinds of people. Now that I am tying it in with the Elements of Journalism, this is a wonderful example of a lack of bias in the news and a journalist’s loyalty to the citizens. Instead of some sort of commentary of why or why not the new policy on healthcare is going to either save our country or absolutely destroy it, the journalists are offering straight truths about how this will affect its citizens. This shows a lack of bias in the journalist, since they can’t exactly just insert their opinions on what they think will happen, and similarly, the article is not slanted towards one side.

Tuesday 3/23 NY times

I thought that the Arizona story was a great local story that could zoom out and be a part of a larger picture. The problems that many people are facing because of the prices of housing is a country-wide problem and I think a lot of people should take the problems of each family to heart. Also, there was a very interesting article on a Ukraine priest who thought that having a family made him better suited for his job and helped him relate better to other people. Now since the whole scandal with the priest and the deaf boys is going on, it really brings to light the question of if celibacy is not the best way for priests to live their life and if we need to move forward religiously in order to avoid scandals in the Church.

Monday 3/22

Back from break and already I feel a little out of touch with the news, not exactly keeping up with anything other than healthcare over break. Congratulations to President Obama for passing his healthcare bill. I like Obama’s defense of his bill in the quote “This isn’t radical reform, but it is major reform.” I have a feeling that now that the bill has been passed, it is only going to be in the news more. I also found the article about what cost the healthcare will bring to Obama and his party, and whether it will be positive or negative. We cannot tell right now, but it is certain that this subject is going to be newsworthy for a very long time.

City Debates Closing of Local Airport

In light of the struggling economy, the Biddeford community is faced with a controversial decision of whether the Biddeford City Airport should remain open, or close down due to financial reasons.

The Biddeford City Airport, open since 1951, is seen by many to be a financial burden for the town, costing between $47,000 and $72,000 in the past three years to run, according to records in the city manager’s office. Compared to the annual $56,000 the airport takes in, the profit is not enough.

“Money is the biggest thing,” said Roland Pelletier, who has lived next to the airport for 25 years. “If it was self-supporting, fine. Let it go on.” Roland continued to express his hope that the referendum will educate people. “We can’t afford to support operations that don’t support themselves.”

According to Tom Bryand, the airport manager, there are 47 planes based at the airport, about half owned by corporations. The airport makes its money from mostly sales of gas, property taxes, and land leases.

In the recent years, the airport has become some form of a playground, with pedestrians, motorcycles, four-wheelers and ATV’s all using it as a recreational area.

“They just use it as a backyard, and that’s against regulations,” said Bryand.

Bryand is not the only one who has been affected by people who do not see the airport as what it is. Phillis Landry, a private pilot, had to abort a takeoff five years ago because of neighborhood kids running out in front of his plane.

Biddeford City Airport has attempted to combat these violations by enforcing no-trespassing rules. This, and the issue of safety have been controversial issues with the town for years now. When the airport began enforcing federal safety regulations in fear of losing Federal Aviation Administration funding, the airport began cutting down trees for safety reasons.

“Sure this started out as a fight about trees and public access,” said Paul Archambault, the chairman of Shut Our Little Airport (SOLA) . “But it’s not just about that anymore. Now it’s about money too.”

The property, which is worth $1.6 million, according to the City Assessor’s office, has the potential to provide other important services to the town.

“What would we really like to do?” said Archambault. “We’d like to see it shut down for good. Maybe put an industrial park in there.” Archambault also thought that the property would do well as a wind farm. “That’s the kind of progress we’d like to see.”

However, according to Landry, the Biddeford airport is still a great resource for pilots like himself and business people who fly into the airport.

“I’ve been flying out of this airport for 25 years” said Landry, whose plane, the Cessna Sky Pilot 180, is kept at the Biddeford Airport. “If I couldn’t fly out of here, I’d have to go to Sanford or Portland.”

Critics of the closing also argue that the airport has historical significance as well. Charles Lindbergh is rumored to have once stopped there looking for directions to Old Orchard Beach.

When asked to comment, John Bubier, the Biddeford City Manger said, “The City Council really hasn’t come down on one side of the issue or the other. I think they’d prefer to have the voters settle this one.”

This decision is to be put to a vote on June 4.

March 10 Times

I was worried going through this paper that I was going to find nothing that I found interesting enough to write about. All the headlines seemed boring, and like I had heard them all before, and none of them caught my eye. Then, came page A22, and my luck turned right around. I read the article about the man who slipped past an airport security checkpoint in order to kiss his girlfriend goodbye before she got off her plane, causing the airport to be evacuated on its busiest day. Though I understand the need for this kind of security and how there can't be any exceptions, the whole thing just seems very odd to me. Of course it was wrong for him to pass by security to kiss his girlfriend, but the frenzy that this story has created has been absolutely insane. It's just a normal guy who happened to make a mistake and now he is paying for it, both in punishment and unrelenting media attention. I also was drawn to the article about the extortion plot against David Letterman for his affair with Stephanie Birkitt, and how the man has now received a jail sentence for his actions. This one only struck me because Stephanie Birkitt is from my hometown, and I have been following the story for months now.

March 9 New York Times

Since I had never read about the Academy Awards in the Times, the angle they took on covering the event was much different than what I expected. There was no "best dressed" or "worst dressed" and not even a lot of commentary on the winners of each category at the Oscars. Rather, they made an intelligent analysis of the structure and filming of the event, and how this affected viewers and ratings. It truly seemed like an analysis of the oscars, from George Clooney's glum face to the Meryl Streep jokes, and the 10 best picture nominees. It was refreshing and made me feel a little better about focusing on an article about the Oscars, rather than, say, health care.

March 4 New York Times

There was some great stylistic choices in the article about movie stars that immediately caught my eye. Two paragraphs down, (after a good lead) the article cuts down a paragraph saying:

How bad is it?
Pretty bad.

I thought this choice was very effective and I was reminded that all of my articles do not need to be cookie cutter articles, and that I do have the freedom to play around with the structure of my piece a little more.

The article about facebook ads caught my eye also. As an avid facebook user, anything that has the two words "facebook" and "off key" in the headline made me interested to read more. The article is well put together and I found myself easily being able to read it, and connect it to my own life, since I too have been subject to these kind of ads, and it was interesting to find something that I knew about in the news.

March 3 New York Times

All the reports seem to be repeats of the reports in Haiti. They were already stretching for stories about Haiti, and now that the earthquake has happened in Chile, it's like the same stories are going to be told, except replacing a few names and the country Chile with Haiti's name. I was particularly impressed with the article about the young girl who was molested in India, and how this incident is causing the "middle class to take on the powerful" This article is so effective because it is not only an article about a young girl being molested in India (which is newsworthy by itself) but it goes one step further by making a comment on the social system of India and how crimes like this happen all the time but no one can do anything because of their class system.

March 2 New York Times

One of the articles I found rather interesting was Obama's backing of districts that fire teachers who fail to bring their students up to the standard educational requirements. "Our kids only get one chance at an education and we need to get it right," Obama said on the topic. I think that his involvement in bringing up the educational system of our country will do wonders in our progress. If education is as important to an individual's success as it is made out to be, more students with higher educations will naturally bring our country up to another level. Another thought I had was wondering how many times President Obama's name is mentioned in the newspaper. Through his treatment of so many issues in our country, he himself is newsworthy, the next newsworthy topic. I have a feeling that not a day goes by in the New York Times that Obama's name is not mentioned.

Drinking on College Campuses

Today, two New Hampshire college officials met to discuss the controversial issues of drinking on college campuses and whether it is, or is not, as bad as most make it out to be.

Anne Lawing, the Senior Assistant Vice President for Student Affairs at the University of New Hampshire believes that in the last 20-25 years, alcohol awareness has increased as it became more socially acceptable to talk about it.

Sheila Lambert, the Coordinator of Wellness at Southern New Hampshire University, maintains that perceptions from the media and the surrounding community about college drinking creates a misconception about the amount of alcohol college students consume.

Both Lawing and Lambert agree that drinking has been a part of college campuses since they can remember.

“Students have been drinking as long as we’ve had students,” said Lawing.

However, although drinking is common on college campuses, the two officials believe that it is not something that can be ignored or simply accepted.

“We are concerned about the frightening levels of problems around alcohol,” said Lawing, naming off sexual assault, academic problems, vandalism, drunk driving, and death as just few of the many issues surrounding alcohol. “Frankly, we’re tired of all these problems.”

In light of the concerns of college drinking, New Hampshire colleges work in collaboration to address issues and collect data throughout the state.

Although many believe that college drinking is out of control, Lambert has evidence that proves otherwise. In a study conducted by colleges throughout the state, it was discovered that the majority of college students drink in low risk ways, consuming 4 or fewer drinks in a week.

“Do not engage in the misperceptions,” Lambert said. “The data supports not all students drink in high risk ways.”

The two came together after heightened awareness of alcohol problems were seen by Hanover police, worried about the amount of drinking done at Dartmouth College. New undercover programs were put in place in order to track who served underage students alcohol.

Experts believe that this tactic could be more harmful than helpful, driving drinking underground and making students less likely to call an ambulance if a friend needs help.

Lawling believes that college students can still have a positive college experience without the need to drink.

"Methods have to be put in place to curb underage drinking on campus," she said.

Thursday Feb 25 NY Times

It truly is scary the way that the world is now preparing themselves for earthquakes. Seeing the devastation in Haiti, countries are now preparing for what would happen if an earthquake happened to hit their country. We wonder if it is going to be a a continuous streak of earthquakes or if the earthquake in Haiti is the end of it. As much as I hoped that the paper would interest me more than yesterday's did, I find myself unable to connect to many of the headlines. Everything seems very negative, rather than positive news that perhaps we need in a time like this.

Wednesday Feb 24 NY times

I was very surprised by the anti-smoking article in France. I looked up the pictures of the ads, and frankly, I don't know if they are doing their job. Equalizing smoking with sexual submission, while a scary concept, isn't the kind of message that would go the farthest in promoting anti-smoking. Maybe it will work on the French youth by making smoking seem like something that only naive people do, but it is pretty offensive. This day's paper for me was overall just okay, with relatively interesting stories, but nothing new that really caught my eye. I'm hoping that tomorrow's paper is better.

Tuesday Feb 23 NY Times

For once, news on Obama's healthcare caught my attention in a positive way, not a negative way. It's good to see something that seems like it actually might make a difference by tackling it head on. The front page article about the drug fight had a great delayed lead- "For the melanoma patients who signed on to try a drug known as PLX4032" the clinical trial was a last resort. Their bodies were riddled with tumors, leaving theme almost certainly just months to live" It continues on to use personal stories to tell the story about these people who have suddenly recovered because of this certain drug. More articles on Haiti continue, now covering the issue of missing limbs. I wonder at what point the news on Haiti will die out. I also found the article about the gay broadway show extremely interesting and relevant. Most of the time, the news covers political aspects of homosexuality, rather than what it really is about, which is love. I'm glad to see that the paper and broadway shows are both covering this issue