Samantha Massa Comm 303 Blog

Over this semester i have learned so many new things.  AP style writing was 100% completely new to me and starting to write in  AP was a challenge.  However there has been three main mistakes that i have been continuing to make.

1. Passive Voice: When we had to write our midterm about the pink sweater bandit, i used passive voice here and there.  I need to start focusing more on not using passive voice and writing in the present.

2. Numbers:  I am still getting confused as to when i need to use numbers or spell the numbers out.  I made this mistake during a lot of my quizzes during the beginning of class.  I am going to focus more on this for my final so i do not make this mistake again.

3.  My third mistake i frequently make is that i am very very wordy.  I need to not use so many words and make my writing more precise and not so descriptive.  I need to get to the point.  I made this mistake on my midterm and on the feature story that i just recently wrote.

I did my press release on the YMCA swimming lessons and I came across a lot of blogs related to swimming.  I mainly wanted to stay focused on the YMCA and connect the blogs that way.  I also wanted to find blogs that emphasized fitness and health in regards to swimming.  I also wanted to find summer sleep away camps that have lakes where the campers can swim.  Below are the following links:

1. Frost Valley YMCA Summer Camp

2. Rockbrook Camp for Girls

3, Swim Well and Live Well

4. Rob Aquatics Swimming Blog

5. Healthier Swimming

This weekend I was in my car and I was listening to my favorite radio station, Z100.  This station plays all of the hit songs that are newly released.  Whenever the songs are over and commercials are about to start, I always change the station until I find another station with songs on.  However this weekend was different because I actually listened to Z100 present a news story during their song break.

This story was interesting to me because it was about Madonna and her new school that she is opening for orphaned girls.  The introduction of this story answered the questions: who, what, when, where, and why. The radio announcer very quickly stated that Madonna returned to Malawi where she adopted two children to see construction of a school for orphaned girls she funded. They did this by launching a new education campaign with their new technology.

I noticed that this story was different from the ones I am used to reading in newspapers or entertainment magazines.  On the radio the announcer speaks in shorter and more precise sentences.  Rather than drawing out the facts and information, radio announcers quickly get to the point.  I also noticed that this news story did not have any sound bites, which I found to be a little odd since this was a radio news story.

Along with the short sentences, the radio announcer did not use appositions.  Without the use of these, it was a lot easier to understand because it did not slow down the news announcer and I was able to keep up with the story being told. One last thing I noticed was that the first sentence of the story on Z1o0 caught my attention and kept me wanting to listen to more of the story. I thought that this was very important because if the first sentence is not entertaining, the listener will quickly change the station until they find something that will catch their attention.

My favorite Web site to visit is US Weekly because it has all of the celebrity gossip and fashion news that I love.  On this Web site there are plenty of web packages.  For example there are tabs for beauty and style, moms and babies, healthy lifestyle, and Movies, TV and Music.

Within this Web site there are also links that lead to articles within US Weekly.  There are also photos of celebrities posing on the red carpet and all of their fashions Do’s and Don’ts.  On this Website there are also links to interviews and videos of celebrities.

For everyone who loves fashion and loves catching up on their celebrity gossip I strongly suggest that you visit this site!

The Alpha Beta Zeta fraternity has been suspended after the hospitalization of three students who attended a party at the ABZ house this past weekend.

The night of the party junior Press Martin, sophomore Rob Smith and freshman Al Amalek were all admitted into the hospital due to alcohol poisoning. On early Monday morning Martin and Smith were released while Amalek still remains in the hospital listed in critical condition.

This horrible event was not only directly preceded by the death of two students at LSU and MIT also due to alcohol poisoning, but also a reinstatement of regulations regarding alcohol use on campus at the University.

Ironically two weeks ago, University president Harvey Smithville restated his policy about banning alcohol from fraternities houses located on campus.  He stated “Any fraternity in which the members have alcohol will be immediately suspended.  A second offense within a year will result in the banning of that fraternity for five years.”

After learning about this incident president of the fraternity Bart Addison issued a statement supporting Smithville’s regulations: “We wholeheartedly agree with President Smithville that alcohol had no place at fraternities parties.”

However, following that statement he also supported his fraternity by stating: “I do not believe that the entire fraternity should be held responsible for the actions of a few.  I am going to ask President Smithville to reconsider his suspension of the ABZs.”

Recently there has been problems with drinking within fraternity houses and parties.  There are numerous amounts of people who are concerned with the drinking these days because it is leading students to the hospital with alcohol poisoning or even death.

This past weekend there were three student who were admitted to the hospital at different times after fraternity parties.  All three of these students were attending a fraternity party at Alpha Beta Zeta when a number of witnesses said they saw them consuming alcohol.  The amount of alcohol consumption was not stated, however it did lead to these three students with being diagnosed with alcohol poisoning. 

With all of these alcohol incidents occurring mainly within fraternity parties, the University is starting to take action.  Two weeks ago the University President Harvey Smithville banned alcohol from fraternity houses located on campus property or within campus environs.  He stated, “Any fraternity in which members have alcohol will be immediately suspended.  A second offense within a year will result in banning of the fraternity for five years.

However fraternities are not too happy with this new rule.  They feel that these suspensions should not happen just because of a few people messing up.  One of the fraternity brothers stated, ” I am shocked that this incident has occured.  I believed that everyone adhering to the University’s policy.  However, I do not beleive that the entire fraternity should be held responsible for the actions of a few.  I am going to ask President Smithville to reconsider his suspension of the ABZs.” The current consequence with the ABZ fraternity is still under evaluation with a suspsension.

All you have to do is watch a movie and you automatically win $10,000?  That seems very hard to believe doesnt it?  A Bollywood filmmaker has issued a lucrative challenge to horror movie fans.  He is offering a $10,000 reward for anyone who can watch his latest supernatural thriller, alone, in a cinema until the closing credits. 

The way the writer wrote this article was what attracted me to continue reading it.  The title of the article was also very clever because it made me want to read and find out what this money award was all about.  The writer made the article suspensful from the beginning of the article.  This made me want to keep reading to find out if anyone has won the money yet. The article was also written in a simple style, which made it easy to understand and read.  It also was straight to the point, which I liked because the article did not drag on forever.  I have no idea how a movie can be so scary that people cannot sit through the entire movie.  However I suggest you watch it and find out for yourself!

Today in court a suit was filed by Ellie Maston for $100,000 against Amburn’s Produce Market because green beans were left on the floor and she slipped and suffered injuries.

This past April a women named Ellie Maston went to Amburn’s Produce Market and slipped on green beans that were left on the market floor.  This horrible slip left Ellie with a broken hip, mental injuries, and incurred medical expenses and lost income.  While in court her suit she filed against the Market and she won her case.

1. Straight Lead– Apolo Anton Ohno Wins Record Seventh Medal

Short track speed skater Apolo Anton Ohno skated into the Olympic history books Saturday, winning a seventh winter games medal – a bronze in the 1000 meters – making him the most decorated American athlete in Winter Olympics history.

2. Anecdotal lead

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/olympics/2010/02/win_a_medal_now_what.html

When Julia Mancuso skied to the bottom of the Franz’s Run at Whistler Creekside Thursday afternoon, she looked at the scoreboard, saw herself in first, fell to the ground and began kicking her skis in celebration.

3. Direct Quote

Judge: Chris Brown Doing “Really, Really Well”

LOS ANGELES — R&B singer Chris Brown is “doing really, really well” fulfilling the terms of his probation related to last year’s assault of then-girlfriend Rihanna, according to a judge.

4. A lead that does not work

Tiger Woods has made a public apology for “irresponsible and selfish behavior.”

Quotation 1.

Martin Goldsmiths goal this year is to raise $100,000.  This raised money will go toward the radio station which spend about $130,000 on programs each year.  These costs are going up each year and the audience would love to have a lot more things which this raised money would help accomplish.

Quotation 2.

The company has been doing good so far this year and the orders are up 20% from last year.  Many recent laid off employees will be able to start working again because of the large amount of orders.  The company will be expanded to 20 new jobs in the factory.

Quotation 3.

The reaction to the audience last night at the concert was great and it showed that everyone loved the program.  The audience really appreciated the hard work that the orchestra puts into each concert.

Quotation 4.

There are two options this year which are we could raise the union request and use the property tax to pay for it or we can request a pay raise and keep the rates the same.  Although i think the police deserve a raise, most people would think otherwise.