These pages will be used to post/share the work of students in Jour201 0801: headlines, ledes, broadcast pieces, online journalism and other work required in the course.
“America, lets start right away, we can get this done,” said President Obama during his State of the Union Address on Tuesday, planning to tackle issues such as climate change, legal immigration, and national poverty levels in the upcoming year.
Delivering his State of the Union Address Tuesday, President Barack Obama urged Congress to take bipartisan action, and focused on the economic growth and the stability of the middle class.
"We must not make promises we cannot keep, but we must keep the promises we've already made" said President Obama Tuesday night in his State of the Union address that focused on job creation, education augmentation, and deficit reduction.
President Barack Obama delivered his State of the Union Address Tuesday, urging bipartisan action as the key factor in achieving the growth of the middle class among several other issues including immigration reform and market based energy solutions.
President Obama articulated his progressive agenda in his State of the Union address on Tuesday, focusing in particular on Democratic solutions to the nation's economic, immigration, and gun-control issues.
WASHINGTON, D.C.-Attendees gave a standing ovation at President Obama's first State of the Union Address of his second term of office Tuesday evening, after he announced new proposals across several fields .
Republicans and Democrats alike gathered in the U.S House Chamber Tuesday night to listen to Obama deliver his State of the Union address which covered several agendas, including tax reform, education, and national security.
President Obama applauded the improving national economy and called for support from Congress on energy, education and other issues in his State of the Union Address Tuesday.
WASHINGTON-- President Obama called upon the American people Tuesday to continue bipartisan efforts to improve the union; promising to protect the nation's future generations through investments in education and clean energy, and to fight for the "rising...middle class," with a minimum wage increase and tax on the wealthiest citizens.
President Obama delivered his State of the Union Address Tuesday, notifying the country of his second-term plans to call for bipartisan support on national issues of immigration, gun-control, and economic development.
President Barack Obama spoke to the American public in the annual State of the Union address late Tuesday, covering topics such as the economy, immigration, climate change, budget negotiations, gun control, and most notably a $9 minimum wage.
In his State of the Union Address delivered Tuesday, President Barack Obama discussed issues such as immigration, climate change, economic development, and gun control.
President Barack Obama stressed a smart government that will reform tax codes, immigration, gun laws, infrastructure, and jumpstart the economy in the State of the Union address Tuesday.
President Barack Obama used his State of the Union address Tuesday to inform the American public on how he plans to get the economy back on track: new initiatives aimed at developing more jobs for citizens.
Urging Congress to help the recovering economy and rising middle class, President Barack Obama discussed his plans to raise the minimum wage, as well as work towards other economic and environmental reform in his State of the Union address Tuesday.
Throughout my healthy 19 years of life, I have had a handful of significant experiences that have truly helped to create the person that I am today. This event, which happened over the past summer (July 2012), permanently changed my outlook on life. It was a hot summer night in Southern Maryland. A few friends and I were relaxing on my back porch, laughing about old memories over a couple of beers. The mood was calm and tranquil; in between breaks in conversation you could hear the cars passing on the highway in the distance. As the trees danced quietly in the breeze, time seemed to crawl along…until a loud bang brought us all back to reality. Confused and curious, we decided to run to the source of the noise. All sense of relaxation and tranquility was replaced with confusion and urgency as we were unsure what caused the sound. An explosion? A gunshot? We rushed to the answer. Running down my street, headed to where we guessed the blast came from, we ran into my neighbor. He was also running, out of breath, and mumbling. In a state of shock he just spits out, “His arm, man! JJ’s arm is messed up. We crashed,” while pointing up the street. He then ran off and left us even more confused and curious. Later, we find that he was running to his house to get help. Naturally we ran to where my neighbor pointed, even faster than before. About 100 yards down the street we come across the scene: a one-car crash. It is an overwhelming feeling to be staring at a tangle of metal and grass, topped with sparkling glass confetti. The forces of physics and the frailty of the human body meet in such graphic manner. Through the hole where the car window once was I saw the driver’s ligaments holding his arm together; torn muscle and shattered bone. I pulled out my phone and dialed 9-1-1, focusing on the three numbers as my fingers shook from the adrenaline. I asked the driver who he was and where he was from, trying to keep him conscious as he drifted in and out of blackness. “I was trying to be a hero. I’m not a hero,” he replied to my questions. We waited for minutes until the paramedics arrived to fly the driver to a shock and trauma center via helicopter. His screams of agony are a memory I wont be able to forget. It was horrible to hear such pain but not be able to provide comfort. My neighbor returned while we were waiting for the helicopter to land and we were able to get a better understanding of what had happened. In a drunken state, the driver decided he was fine to drive and my neighbor agreed and rode along. On the return trip, just a few hundred yards from the destination, the driver decided to speed up for no apparent reason. He lost control of the car, drifted off of the road and into the trees, bounced off of the trees and rolled the car once, then finally smashed through a street light. The trail of destruction was visible from where we were waiting. Grass and mud decorated the pavement while broken glass shimmered from the flickering streetlight. The images and sounds of this night I will never forget. They have influenced the way I now think and make decisions, especially concerning alcohol and driving. Needless to say, none of my friends drove that night. Last I heard of the situation, the driver’s arm is in recovery but still might have to be amputated.
Blog: Significant Experience in Life Agnes Varghese
The summer of 2012 will forever be known as the summer that changed my life. In June of that year, I embarked on a journey to Chennai, India, along with 12 others, on a missions trip of a lifetime. I wanted to go on this trip because it would expose me to aspects out of my comfort zone, and give me the opportunity to help others. Once we landed, we headed to a home named Prathyasha for children who were HIV infected/affected. Some members of the team were first apprehensive about staying with children who had a serious disease, but whatever worries they may have had quickly faded once they got to know these beautiful kids. We stayed at this orphanage for nearly two weeks, integrating into Indian life, and the lives of the children at the home. Each and every one of these children was incredible. The amount of love that came from them made my heart swell with joy. It was amazing how little they needed to make them happy. Sometimes, all I would have to do is smile, and they would get excited right away. We asked one of the women that ran the home, “What if we just donated the money from our plane tickets instead of coming here, would that have been more helpful?,” and she said “Not at all.” It’s not money that these kids need, its love and attention. People are wary about coming to this orphanage because of the disease that these children have, so they donate money instead, but it is important to understand that there is a very little chance of anyone catching anything from these children. The situation would have to be quite extreme for that to happen. Our team then realized that it was our responsibility to go out and educate others about this issue in the future in order to show that there should be no fear when working in a situation like this. In order to assist the orphanage, we tried to do activities to enhance the home, to help the kids have fun, and to assist them with their education. We were able to plant trees in the front yard, make a clothing line, construct a goal post, frame pictures that the children made, take the kids to the mall/movies/arcade, help the children with homework, and do fun activities with the kids such as arts and crafts, sports day, water balloon toss, and tie-dying. Hopefully, they will always be reminded of us when they look at the things we did, because we will always be reminded of them by the smiles on their faces that were etched forever in our minds and hearts. Coming on this trip, I was looking for my greater calling in life. When I reflected on the journey, I realized that one of my purposes was to help those in pain. For example, with the children at this home, we usually never saw them sad. They were always running around with huge smiles on their faces, but I got the chance to see some of the children in pain. It was indeed one of the most moving experiences in life. There was a boy named Badhri. He was one of the strongest kids that I had met at the orphanage. He always looked confident and made sure that the other kids were taken care of, but sadly he was one of the sickest kids there. He had one of the lowest blood cell counts in the home. He constantly had nose bleeds, and I saw him one day crying because he was in pain from a fever. I took him up to his room so that he could sleep for a while, and I promised him that I would be there when he woke up and sure enough, I was there when he opened his eyes. The look on his face when he saw that I was still there and didn’t leave him meant the world to me, because I knew that he was really happy. Moments like that, I would never take back for the world. All in all, this was an amazing trip. I was able to meet wonderful children, work with a great team of people, and find out a little more about my calling in life. I hope to one day go back to the orphanage and see these beautiful children again.
Significant Experience It was the day I had been waiting for, two years in the making. It was all or nothing. That day was to prove if I was worthy or not of being a writer. That day was to prove if I was truly one of the best. During my last two years of high school, I joined a cultural program called Act-So, a competition/mentor program ran by the NAACP for high school students, which helps youths develop their skills and strengths. Going into Act-So as a 16-year-old junior, I still had not discovered where my talents lie. I watched all of my classmates float around with amazing talents to bring to the world. It seemed as if everyone had a niche, but me. That was soon about to change. My friend introduced me to Act-So in January 2011. I decided that I wanted to compete in one of the humanities categories. On my first day, I met with the humanities mentor, Ms. Whitlow. Ms. Whitlow, a freelance writer for a local newspaper, seemed intimidating and serious. The other competitors in the category already had ideas for their work. I only had an old journal, which kept my deepest thoughts. For Ms. Whitlow to get a feel of my writing skills, she wanted to read one of my papers. I decided to give her my “best” poems to read, which was about an ex -boyfriend of mine. After she read it, she took off her glasses, wrinkled her nose, and said, “Try to come back with something more concrete next week.” From that day on, I knew it was going to be a difficult and long journey. Over the next few months, my friend and other mentors told me repeatedly that new students usually do not make it to the national competition. That, however, was not my goal. I just wanted the judges to give my work a chance, and I wanted to progress from their critiques. Most of all, I wanted to grow as a writer. I decided to do a poem comparing my urban neighborhood to a jungle, and an essay on the beauty of African American women. I wasn’t looking for a gold medal, but that’s what I got. On the day of the state award ceremony, I received gold medals for both my poem and my essay, which meant I would be going to Los Angeles. I was not ready for the excitement and talent that awaited me in Los Angeles. The levels of talent I came across inspired me. Being among many creative thinkers only pushed me to want to go deeper into my thoughts and uncover the apex of my talents. That year, I did not win a medal at nationals; however, I did not expect to. It was only the beginning. I woke up on a beautiful Sunday morning in Houston, Texas. “This is it,” I thought. I had gone through a rough senior year, but yet, here I was again, at nationals. This time, I was at the national competition for the play and the poem I had written. This time I had confidence. It wasn’t about the money I could win, it wasn’t about the iPad I could win; it was about knowing that I was good enough to do anything and be successful in everything I chose to put my heart into. During the awards ceremony, I tapped my foot and held my stomach in apprehension. Finally, the host moved on to the humanities categories. For playwriting, I did not receive anything. My heart dropped. Once the host moved onto poetry, I couldn’t breathe. “For the bronze medal in poetry, from Newark, New Jersey…” My group started screaming before I even realized I won. “Sharon, it’s you! Go!” I started running and crying. I couldn’t believe I did it. I did it for my city, for my parents, but most importantly, I did it for me. Although being in Act-So was a two-year turning point, it was an experience I will never forget. From being in Act-So, I discovered that my gift to give to the world was through my writing. After Act-So, I have never again had a doubt in my mind about how talented I truly am. I realize there are many, many people in the world who are much better than I am; however, Act-So has given me the foundation and the confidence to go after my goals and dreams. Because of Act-So, I plan to always compete with myself for the best product, and I plan to take my dreams with me until I am living them.
Significant Experience: Hurdling over my Inhibitions
It was freshman year. I had decided to join the spring track team last minute, hoping to get in shape and spend more time with my friends who were already on the team. A self-competitive girl, sprinting to make or break a certain time helped me exercise and provided the motivation for me to work harder in each successive practice and race. My coach, however, saw me not only as a sprinter, but also as a long-distance hurdler. Nervous about my ability to sprint and jump simultaneously, I was hesitant to run the 300-meter hurdle race in our track meets and thus opted out whenever possible. Then the day came. It was our last track meet of the season before championships, and my coach had once again signed me up for the 300-meter hurdle race. Seeing the concerned look on my face, he calmly pulled me aside. “Katelyn, I know you’re nervous, and you can choose not to run this event today,” Coach Paul said. ”But this is the last meet of the season. This is your last chance to run this race before championships, and you might as well try it out. If you fall or do horribly, I’ll never make you run it again.” I smiled, warming up for the race and trying to forget about the nervous butterflies in my stomach. It was almost time for the event, and I was just hoping to make it over the six hurdles and across the finish line as soon as possible. As my competitors from the other team and I lined up in our track lanes, the track and field athletics official slowly raised his arm into the air. Then he pulled the trigger of the cap gun, and the race began. I launched over the first hurdle and then the second. My mind was racing to the next hurdle, remembering to maintain my pace and to not hesitate before jumping. I made it around the last bend, the finish line in sight. As soon as I was over the last hurdle, I sprinted as fast as I could for the last 10 meters, crossing the finish line in 53 seconds. I whipped around, confused and surprised: I had won the race. The audience cheered and laughed, recognizing my disbelief in the race’s results. My coach walked up to me and gave me a hug, smiling from ear to ear and repeatedly saying, “I knew you could do it.” Still overwhelmed, I could not help but to realize the significance of the race. By taking the risk to run the hurdle event, I stepped outside of my personal limitations and learned that a little experimentation is needed in order to succeed in life. With each successive hurdle, I was breaking down my mental inhibitions and enabling myself to reach for the next goal. Though the race lasted less than a minute, it has influenced my life tremendously by keeping me determined to work my hardest, even if the goal seems impossible at first.
In my life, thankfully, I have not experienced any traumatic events that have shaped who I am today, but there have certainly been several positive experiences that have allowed me to become the best person I can be at this time in my life. One experience that I hold close to my heart is when the fellow members of my high school dance team and I won Maryland state champions. Since I was young, dance has been something that is extremely important to me, and holding such a high accomplishment still makes me proud. Accomplishing this with an amazing group of friends made the experience even better. When I was a freshman, my team also won state champions, but what made it so special when I was a senior was that I was captain of the team. Practices leading up to the day of the championship were grueling. I can remember dreading the end of the school day because that meant intense work awaited me. Our coach gave no mercy on us during these practices, which allowed us to become better dancers before the competition. As the captain, I couldn’t show how tired my mind and body were. I had to stay strong for my team. The day finally came to compete. We all piled in our cars to make the half hour trip to Baltimore, Maryland. I was nervous the entire day. This was my last chance to win the state championship before I graduated high school. I was even more nervous because this was the first year we had choreographed our own dance. Confident in our abilities, our coach decided we could come up with our own dance to showcase our originality. Beginning to warm up for our dance, I couldn’t shake the butterflies that filled my stomach. I couldn’t believe how nervous I was. My coach sensed my nerves and came over to talk to me. She said, “Katie, don’t worry. You’re an amazing captain. Win or lose, you should be proud of yourself.” With a deep breath of relief, I let the butterflies go and gathered my team together. My adrenaline started pumping as our time to compete slowly snuck up. Taking the floor, I pushed all my anxiety to the back of my mind. As soon as I heard our parents and families cheering for us, I forgot what I was nervous about in the first place. When the music started, I danced with more enthusiasm than I have ever danced before. I could feel the synchronization between my teammates and I; I could tell this was the best performance we had ever given. When it came time for awards, my team and I sat on the stage as we all held hands. I could feel the anticipation racing through my body. Third and second place were announced, and it was time to award first place. I squeezed my eyes shut and the hands I was holding. “And the winner is Fallston High School.” Tears began streaming down my face. I couldn’t believe we had won. I stood up to retrieve the trophy and took it back to my team. Hugging and screaming, we all congratulated each other. I was so proud of my team and myself in that moment. Winning state champions with my team taught me a lot about what it means to work together. Without each other we would not have been able to accomplish the great feat we did. We were able to choreograph our own dance and perform it better than the other teams in the competition. This experience showed me the impact a team can have and the importance of sharing your experiences with others. If I didn’t have my team to calm me down, my nerves would have affected my performance. Winning Maryland state champions is something I will never forget.
In the summer of 2009, I went to Cleveland, Ohio for a weeklong mission trip with my church. Working with a program called Inward Bound, other high school students and I worked on various projects, including painting houses and serving food at a homeless shelter. I attended the trip largely with the intent of spending time with friends. Little did I know how the experience would come to change my priorities.
The motto at Inward Bound was “Live simply so others can simply live.” To fulfill this notion, all of those attending the trip were asked to relinquish their cell phones, iPods, and other electronic devices for the week. Doing so allowed us to pay more attention to our friends who were right in front of us rather than seeking third party sources of entertainment. Also in the spirit of living simply, we ate minimalistic meals. While these small sacrifices may not sound like a big deal, it helped me realize the luxury of the meals and technologies that I was accustomed to in comparison to what others could afford.
One of our first projects involved serving dinner at a homeless shelter. We finished by a eating meal with the residents and listening to their stories. Before my trip, it was all too easy for me to associate homelessness and poverty with nameless individuals whose backgrounds I knew nothing about—or worse, judgments based on assumptions. But listening to them talk made me recognize that people who needed to resort to homeless shelters were often subject to circumstances that I could not even fathom. I learned the importance of being accepting and generous of people in all conditions.
The residents in the homeless shelter were not the only ones who taught me a lesson. When we painted the home of a poor elderly woman, she offered to buy us a meal. Despite our refusals, she took it upon herself to order Chinese food for all 30 of those who were working on the project. I was so touched by the woman’s generosity; we were helping her because she had so little resources to begin with, yet she was more than willing to sacrifice some of her small funds for our sakes. I realized that if this woman was willing to give money away, I surely could do more in my life to help others.
I came home from Cleveland with a new sense of generosity and consideration. My parents recognized the difference in me, commenting that I was more willing to help them and complained less. While of course it is natural to become jaded to everyday luxuries, I sometimes remind myself of my experience that summer, and my compassionate perspective returns.
October 12, 2007: The worst day of my almost 20 years of existence. That particular Friday morning of my freshman year of high school started out like any other. Waking up at 5:45 AM, getting all of my school supplies together, eating a light breakfast, and piling into my dad's truck at 6:45 AM. Then it happened. At 6:53 AM, we were less than two minutes away from reaching the school when my dad received a phone call. My siblings and I thought, at first, that it was just my mom calling to let one of us know that we forgot something. My dad put down the phone and we could tell by the shakiness of his voice and the look on his face that it was serious. It turned out to be news that shook my entire extended family, and we received it from one of my aunts. "Your cousin, Kevin, was hit by a drunk driver last night and is in the ICU," was all he said. My siblings and I sat in silence. What was there to say? We had just learned that one of our family members had just been the victim of what we later learned was a drunken hit-and-run. My dad dropped us off at school and my sister and I walked in together, silently. My friends couldn't even get me to say a word until I was already through the first class of the day. When I finally did talk, I mumbled something about how my cousin was just hit by a car. I droned on the rest of my school day in a stupor, waiting for the end of the day so that I could go home and just be away from everyone. When we finally got home, my dad opened the door and let us in. He told us that my mom had already gone to the hospital to be with the rest of our 40-person family, and that we'd be leaving shortly to join them. I sprinted up the stairs to my room and dropped my book bag on the ground. I began to cry uncontrollably. "WHY?! WHY KEVIN? WHY?! What did he do to deserve this?" I yelled, slamming my fists into my bed. I am not sure whether I was sad, in a rage, or a combination of both, but all I knew was that my cousin was likely going to die in a matter of days. My dad came up to my room to calm me down, and after a few minutes I settled down a bit, and he told me that we were leaving in 15 minutes to go to the hospital. At 4:30 my dad, brother, sister and I arrived at Sinai Hospital in Baltimore and entered the building. We took the elevator up to the third floor, where the ICU is located. Kevin's younger brother, Daniel, who is two years older than me, greeted us with a massive hug and tears streaming down his face. I will never forget his face at that moment; it was almost surreal when he hugged me, I remember not feeling like I was completely there, as if I were watching myself do everything. We spent the rest of the evening there with my entire extended family in a small conference room just outside of the ICU. All of us were in shock, most of us: crying. There was only one element of that day that made it bearable in the hospital: my best friend’s mom was an RN at Sinai and was on-duty that day. Of all of the people that were there that day, she was the most comforting. We learned that evening that by the time Kevin had been brought in to shock trauma, he was already brain-dead. By the time we arrived at the hospital, he was surviving almost solely on life support. Seeing him, held together by stitches, with numerous tubes sticking out of him is the second image from the day that will never leave my mind. Two days later, he was taken off of life support. Two days later, I lost my cousin to a vehicular manslaughter.
That day I made a promise to myself that I would never touch even car keys if I had alcohol in my system.
My mother, brother and I were in the grocery store when I realized that my family would never be considered socially normal. Josh, being four years old at the time, was throwing a tantrum in the middle of the candy aisle when my exhausted mom refused his request to buy the giant Reese’s bar he held clenched in his hand. When she forcefully grabbed his shoulder and scolded him for his bad behavior, a woman approached my mother and pulled my brother out of her clutch, wide-eyed and horrified that my mom would yell at a child that was not even her own.
Little did this random stranger know, the black child crying in the wake of his punishment was being reprimanded by a woman who had been his adoptive mother since his infancy. My mother is the only mother my little brother had ever known, despite the difference of pigment in their skin.
This same confused reaction to my integrated family has continued past the adoption of my little sister, Michele, and into our teenage years. When I take my brother out to dinner to catch up, the waitress wrongfully identifies our playful sibling banter as flirting, and asks us how long we’ve been dating. When my sister and I go to the mall together, I’m questioned about how often I babysit for her family.
This type of response has never bothered me, however, because I know that my family is family. I have never had to be taught to love my siblings because they were a different race. Our bond extends past color, or bloodline, or genetics. Stereotypes or stigma do not get in the way of our relationship, which is extremely rare in this society of racial prejudice.
Though both my brother and sister have mental and social disorders due to their experiences prior to their adoption, I have never struggled in accepting them into my family. Just like you continue to love anyone that hurts you, I will always love them as my siblings. All of my childhood memories are filled with their presence; whether it be the time Michele cut all of my favorite Barbie’s hair off, or when Josh had to get a shot at the doctor’s and I cried in fear of him getting hurt.
When people discover my family situation, I’m always asked strange questions like, “Do they feel accepted by your family?” or, “Is it weird for you that they’re black?” or, “How could you love someone that’s not your own?” I never understand the context of these questions, or how people could believe that I would love my siblings less because they weren’t ‘mine’ or of my race. I usually cannot even answer these questions, because most are too ridiculous to even deserve an answer.
No matter how outsiders view our relationship, my view is not complicated or confusing. They’re my siblings, and that statement does not need any more explanation.
My entire academic life in elementary school was built on a lie, for the most part. In first grade, we were all assigned different books to bring home and read aloud to our parents. Once we could successfully read the book, we would turn it in and take out a more difficult book to bring home. There were three levels of difficulties for the books; green being the easiest, purple being intermediate, and blue being advanced. On the day our teacher, Ms. Stewart, was passing out these books, I stared at the small book she handed me, and had no idea what any of the words in it meant. I was never really good at reading, or learning, or really school for that matter. Yet for my friends in the class, reading just came naturally to them. All I could tell was that the book was about picnics, because there was a tree, a blanket, and a basket on the small, green, plastic cover page. When I went home to try and read the story to my mother, I could only read about half of the words in the book. It was filled with obscure food-words that no first grader would possibly be able to read, like “pepper”, “sandwich”, or “mustard”. No matter how long I took to try and pronounce the words, I simply could not get the sounds out of my mouth. I was incredibly embarrassed for myself and had felt like a failure. The next day in school, I watched as the other kids went up to exchange their books for a higher level. Jennifer, Adam, Elizabeth, and even Dustin walked to exchange their easy green books for the scholarly purple books. I watched as they stood up, proud and confident, and took a new book, as if the purple books were symbols of intellectual grandeur. So when it was my turn to tell the teacher if I needed a harder book to practice reading that week, I lied. I told her yes, I did in fact read the green book flawlessly and needed that new harder purple book to read. I could barely finish a sentence in the green book, but I didn't want to be behind all of my friends. I remember walking home from my bus-stop after school, being incredibly nervous about having to tell my Mom why I got a new book when I couldn't even finish the picnic one. The amount of guilt I had for lying about the reading exercise completely consumed me. I couldn't think of anything else other than my academic sin. I felt like I didn't deserve what was given to me. Despite my inability to read at an advanced level, the lie had kept me on the advanced track. So from that point, half motivated from fear of punishment, half from determination to read well enough, I practiced reading for what seemed liked hours at a time. Soon I was in the first grade English class for just advanced readers all because of my lie, which forced me to adapt to the difficulty and hoping that some of my classmates’ intelligence would rub off on me. While at the beginning I definitely did not deserve being on a higher level reading level, the extra challenge put me on course to being actually capable of reading purple books. Soon I was reading just as good as the other kids. From here on, I would always value the importance of honesty and genuinely working hard. People always say fake it until you make it, and I think that is exactly what I did in first grade reading class.
“You never realize what you have until it’s gone.” It’s a commonly used expression, but oddly enough, it doesn’t really take meaning until you’re put into a situation where it’s the only set of words you can wrap your head around, until it resounds so loudly that your head begins throbbing.
That was precisely what went on in my head this past Thanksgiving when I took my first trip out of the country. I visited my mother’s homeland—El Salvador. The experience was surreal to say the very least. Until the moment I stepped foot off that plane, I had never experienced a world in which paved roads weren’t commonplace. I had never experienced a world where coverings for your feet weren’t commonplace. I was in an entirely different dimension, and I wasn’t all that sure that I liked it.
Throughout the week, I continued to see things and experience things I had never seen or experienced before. Utilities and practices that seemed rudimentary and necessary for survival were nowhere to be found. The first time I bathed without warm water was excruciating. I wondered how my cousins, each at least five years my junior, managed to withstand such bone-chilling temperatures on a daily basis. At first I pitied them, but as the week went on, I realized that the only person that merited any kind of pity was myself.
As time went on and I continued to see how little my cousins had, I also saw how much more they had in character. They appreciated everything they did have and never envied anyone that had what they didn't. What they lacked in physical toys they made up for in imagination. They didn't need the newest Barbie or the latest Nerf gun to have a good time. All they needed were their heads and each other.
As I left them on that final Sunday, I found myself crying the entire plane ride home. Partly because I would miss all the amazing people that I met, but primarily because I would miss their outstanding outlook on life. I came back to the States as an entirely different person. I now understand that nothing is granted. I now understand that life is infinitely greater when you look at what you have and you relish in that. The world is an astounding, beautiful place, but sometimes you have to rid yourself of all beauty to realize just how great it truly is.
This past January, during the university’s winter break, I went to visit my best friend at her university. While this may seem like a completely normal thing to do, it is actually a bit unusual. My best friend goes to the University of Toronto, in the heart of the Canadian city, and I had to go there alone. I’ve traveled a lot during my life and I’ve traveled internationally a handful of times, so I’m used to going through security and customs. However, I’m always with my family. I did not realize how different the dynamics are when you are traveling alone. There is a lot more downtime to fill when you do not have two younger sisters begging you to play Mad Libs with them. It did not help that my flight to Toronto got delayed three times, ultimately leaving two hours after it was supposed to have left. The two hours I spent in the airport terminal were only made worse by my parents, who constantly texted me if I was on the plane yet. I got on to the plane and into the country perfectly fine, and arrived by bus at my best friend’s off-campus dorm, which happened to be a refurbished hotel. It was so nice and there were elevators, something I tend to appreciate more often now that I live on the top floor of an elevator-less building. There is another factor that made this trip all the more significant. Despite being friends for more than decade, my best friend and I had never had a sleep over. My best friend comes from a family who does not allow the children to have sleepovers for religious reasons. I was a poor college student visiting another poor college student in a different country for four days, so her parents gave me permission to stay in her room. While I was there, I got to experience living in a thriving city and the school system of a different country. I visited my best friend during her first week of classes, so I had to go with her despite still being on my winter break. We would walk through the bitter cold and biting wind for 20 minutes to get to her classes, all of which were five times the size of this class. I got to meet some of her college friends, and everyone assumed that I went to there with them, which I thought was weird. Once her school day was over, we would head back to her room, and then go out to get dinner at Eaton Centre. Eaton Centre is, in the simplest terms, the Canadian Times Square. There are bright lights and billboards on the side of every building, restaurants galore, and a shopping mall that the square gets its name from. My best friend’s dorm was two blocks away from it, and it was my favorite place I went to in all of Toronto. After four days of sleeping on my best friend’s floor, it was time for me to go home. Leaving her dorm before the sun had risen, I got arrived back here in D.C. with just enough time to get Saturday brunch with my family. The visit may have gone quickly, but that’s okay. I’m already planning next year’s visit.
Coming of age — a gradual, drawn-out process marked by momentous experiences, ranging from thrilling successes to unfortunate failures. At 16, I underwent one such transitional experience: my first real summer job. Admittedly, it was far from the first job I’d ever held. I had worked as a soccer referee since age 12 and had been a dishwasher and waiter at a banquet hall for the past two years, but those were merely weekend occupations, good for enough money to put a down payment on a pack of gum but not much else, as my brothers and I liked to joke. Thus, when I entered the Human Resources office at local amusement park Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom to fill out a job application the summer before my junior year of high school, I eagerly anticipated the prospect of a regular paycheck. I’d also like to think I grasped, at least on some level, the implications my application held with regard to growing up — that I was maturing and looking to contribute to society. But as I peered down at my application, I quickly realized any contributions to society would be quite meager indeed. “A guest pays for a $6.99 meal with a $10 bill. Circle the correct amount of change.” “If an angry guest approaches you and begins yelling at you, what would you do? A. Yell at the guest to calm down, B. Tell the guest to leave the area, C. Refer the guest to your supervisor.” “List your three most recent criminal offenses, if any.” These were the manner of questions that appeared on the application. Confident the bar would be set fairly low, I checked off lifeguard under desired position and handed in my form. Two weeks later, back in the Human Resources office, I met with the head of waterpark operations. “So, you wanna be a lifeguard?” she asked. “Yes,” I responded. “Deep or shallow water guard?” she asked. “Deep guards get paid ten cents more.” “Deep,” I responded, a little concerned at the lack of screening for swimming ability. “OK,” she responded. “Go get your uniform. Training starts next week.” That was that: after receiving an ill-fitting swimsuit and attending a few training sessions, ostensibly designed to weed out those who had never learned to swim (several seemingly hadn’t) and teach us the rudiments of CPR, I was officially a Dorney Park lifeguard. The job itself proved far from what I had expected. Never before had I witnessed such acts of belligerent stupidity, poor parenting techniques, and general self-indulgence all in one place. Never had I (if the rumors held true) swam in water two-thirds urine and one-third feminine hygiene products. My job, as I saw it, consisted of three major components: saving GIDs (guests in distress) from drowning in approximately one to five feet of water, informing guests they could not, in fact, flip others’ inner tubes while on the lazy river, and cleaning up all manner of bodily fluids and excretions from sidewalks, wave pools, and the giant octopus in Lollipop Lagoon. Perhaps the only duty I managed to completely avoid that summer was aiding pregnant women who underwent labor and delivered their babies at the waterpark (a task that fell to my brother on one occasion; he earned a “special bead” for his service). Understandably, I quickly became disillusioned with Dorney Park. Lifeguards worked long hours on days that routinely topped 100 degrees in temperature, performing thankless work for generally thankless guests. My brother and I discussed quitting a number of times, but for some reason, we could never quite bring ourselves to follow through. In retrospect, I’m glad we didn’t. Looking back, that summer provided us with some of our funniest on-the-job stories, gave us the opportunity to earn steady pay, and taught us some valuable skills (though the relevance of obstetrics is still in question). Begrudgingly, I now admit my time as a lifeguard at Dorney Park proved a formative experience that marked an important step in my coming of age.
As Beverly and I made our way through the crowded space between the audience seats and the information booths by the wall, I wasn’t sure whether to be hopeful or terrified. After two month’s involvement in Ballroom at Maryland, and a month and a half of practicing together, the two of us were headed to the staging area for our first competition event. We had danced in a mock competition a few weeks before, filing onto the floor with a dozen other newbie couples and going through the motions we had learned in class, but this was no practice. From the invigilators’ dais stretching across the far side of the room to the announcer’s booming instructions and the droves of dancers in their costumes, everything radiated pomp and professionalism. All the upper-level couples, and many of my peers, looked calm and confident. I may have been wearing the right clothes, but I felt increasingly out of place.
The crowd thinned out as we reached the deck captain, who directed us to a lane between two rope lines where dancers were queuing up for newcomer waltz. The first dozen couples walked on and we moved closer to the head of the line. I ran through my steps in my head, trying to assure myself that I remembered what little I had been taught, and tried to relax. And then it was our turn.
Leaving the line for the open floor, I felt like a new ship being launched into the ocean. My anxiety fell away as I extended my free arm to present myself and plastered a requisite smile on my face. I navigated to a clear space on one of the long sides of the floor, so there would be more distance before I needed to turn a corner, and stood a few yards apart from Beverly in what I hoped was a regal pose. The room was silent. Then the announcer: “And, waltz music, please.”
Some orchestral arrangement began, and I quickly identified the first beat and moved into frame with Beverly. One, two, three, one, two, step, and we were off, wheeling slowly down the side of the floor. My smile threatened to morph into a grimace of concentration and my shoulders tried to shoot up from the correct position; I tensed my muscles and hoped my frame was still good. We reached the corner of the floor and I led us around it, stumbling slightly in front of one of the judges. Other couples cluttered the short side of the room, everyone trying to maneuver to the next straightaway. Another quarter turn and we were clear again, dancing past the noisy Maryland cheering section, who screamed out our number as we went by. Each second felt like an age, but when the music faded after a minute and a half I felt like we had barely begun. I spun Beverly out of frame and we presented to the audience, then strode confidently off the floor through a break in the spectators’ seats.
Back behind the audience again, I felt relieved, but there was no time to cool down; we headed back to the deck captain and lined up for quickstep. After muddling through that dance, we performed a decent tango and got a callback! The second tango round was as far as we got, though, and I retired to a seat to watch most of the other Maryland couples progress to quarter- or semifinals. I was disappointed to have fallen from the pack so early – a feeling I would experience again the next day during Latin dancing – but watching my friends succeed at newcomer and higher levels inspired me to practice harder so I could come back strong next time. Though I am still not as good as most others, I have become immeasurably better since that competition last November and am committed to staying in Ballroom. I still feel a bit uncomfortable at comps, but I now feel like part of the community and relish the challenge to improve myself.
For as long as I can remember I have greatly appreciated Japanese culture. I dont know whether it is the quirkiness of their pop culture or their fascinating history but I knew that i had to go to Japan sooner or later to experience everything first hand. Due to its distance from my home it seemed impossible that we would take a family trip there any time soon and traveling with friends was unthinkable at the time since I was the only one who had this passion. This all changed when i was casually listening to a song by John Mayer. One morning he sang the words "plan a trip to japan alone" and thats when i knew if I ever went to Japan it would be by myself. I asked for lonely planet guide book to Tokyo and Japan for Christmas and began planning my solo trip. I finally asked my father for the ultimate graduation gift: a ten day trip traveling to multiple cities in Japan, alone. It took me months to finally convince my parents i was responsible enough to take this journey by myself half way across the world in a country where the language and culture was completely different. When i arrived to the Tokyo airport thats when i realized the enormity of my decision. my first few hours in japan consisted of trying to figure out the train system and where the location of my hostel was. No one spoke english so communication consisted of hand gestures and a horrible pronunciation of japanese words by my part. Despite all the problems I encountered, including running out of money, being locked out of my hostel at night, and getting lost in a Kyoto neighborhood, this trip I took last summer is probably one of the most significant experiences of my life. I had to learn how to be alone for long periods of time only opening my mouth to ask for directions, and even then i could only say a few words. When i encountered europeans/american travelers, i felt at home immediately even though they were strangers. I believe i was very successful at surviving in another culture and this trip has inspired me to dedicate myself to either travel journalism or foreign correspondence. It made my move to the United States easier and less scary. My solo trip to Japan was the first time i considered myself a responsible adult capable of surviving alone in this world.
On September 1st, 2011, I left on a journey to Israel. I had little knowledge of what I would go through on my program, but I was confident that it would be a positive experience in the long run.
Entering my senior year of high school, I had no clue where I’d be the following year. Would I be in school? Would I be traveling? Would I have a job? I didn’t have a clue. When the golden opportunity presented itself, however, I took it. I applied to colleges and after deciding to attend Maryland, I got permission from the admissions office to hold my spot until Fall 2012.
But I digress, I flew to Tel Aviv with 39 other Canadians and Americans on a program called “Workshop 61.” Once there, we met up with 5 Dutch teenagers our age and 4 “madrichim” (Hebrew word for “guide”).
As a group we were all secular Jews who were all excited for the gap year. We began by going to Kibbutz Ein Dor in the northern part of Israel. A kibbutz is a Hebrew word that roughly translates to “commune”; it’s a small town of around 300-700 families that live by socialist values (money sharing, working together, etc.).
On Kibbutz Ein Dor, we learned about Jewish history in informal discussion groups led by 23-year old Americans and Canadians who had moved to Israel. We also learned Hebrew and worked with other people on the kibbutz.
After 3 ½ months living there, the 45 of us split into two groups and went to live in a large house in two separate cities. There, we lived together. We cooked for ourselves, cleaned for ourselves, ran activities for ourselves, and bonded together like a family.
We also went to schools in the region to volunteer with Jews and Arabs to build towards a peaceful tomorrow. These experiences will forever stick with me.
What makes this experience so special is that almost nobody goes on gap years anymore. I was the only one in my graduating class of 350 people to go on a gap year!
Why was this experience such a turning point in my life? I put off college for a year. I lived independently from my parents while learning to become self-sufficient. I lived with a group of people whom I miss very dearly.
Lastly, and most importantly, I took advantage of my year away from school to grow as a person. I compare myself now to the person I was prior to this trip and feel so much more mature and confident.
Throughout the year I kept a blog. If you would like to visit the site, go to http://www,workshop61.wordpress.com/
The most significant experience of my life thus far occurred four days before the start of my sophomore year of high school. I remember the day vividly. It was a typical New Jersey August day, 97 degrees and the humidity was unbearable. It was the day I had been preparing for for the entire summer, soccer fitness tests.
Throughout middle school and my freshman year of high school, I struggled with my weight. To be brutally honest, I was fat. It affected my confidence and was the cause of great emotional stress. Then, in June of my freshman year, our soccer team had a meeting for information regarding next year's fall season. The fitness testing stuck out to me, ominous because of my subpar physical condition. Although I was apprehensive about the 2 miles in 14 minutes requirement, I made it my goal to be able to complete it. That summer, I dedicated myself to running and getting in better shape.
I distinctly remember lining up on the track and hearing laughter from some of my teammates that I was even attempting the requirement. To them, it seemed laughable that I believed I could achieve the fitness tests standard. Yet, 13 minutes and 20 seconds later, I finished the test, coming in third among the entire team. That moment when I crossed the finish line was the most significant moment of my life. I had worked to rid myself of the insecurities of being fat and achieved my goals.
Fast forward to fall of my senior year in high school. I no longer played soccer. Although the fitness test was for soccer, only the memory of running all summer stuck with me. I was now the captain of the Cross-Country and Track and Field teams. In winter of my senior year I was the lead-off leg in a relay that broke a school record. Running was, and still is, the thing I most identify myself with.
I often think back to that hot August day when I changed who I was. Without that fitness test, I truly believe that my life would be much different today. I would still be overweight, timid, and afraid to set goals for myself. Running is part of me, and without the fitness test three years ago, I doubt it would be.
Some people tell me that I’m too trusting. Some people tell me I’m too naïve. They tell me my views are unrealistic and that I’m a dreamer. And at times, perhaps I am, but I don’t see how I could be anything but that.
Last summer I had the opportunity to spend four days with hundreds of people who dream, just like me. In an atmosphere unlike any other, surrounded by love and hope and friendship, I knew I could never be cynical of this world. Our world can be beautiful and magical and truly good.
At the Best Buddies Leadership conference, I technically learned how to be a good leader for my high school’s Best Buddies chapter—but I learned more than that. I learned what it was like to be immersed in a culture that is so inspiring and currently so progressive, that I could picture the way I want my world to be.
Best Buddies is an international volunteer movement dedicated to establishing the inclusion of people with disabilities, through one-to-one friendships and leadership and employment opportunities. I couldn’t be more proud and dedicated to this movement.
Though the people in attendance may just have been a small percentage of our world’s population, I know that each person there was inspired. They, just like me, were inspired by the total acceptance of each individual, the joy that was uncontrollably evident, the celebration of every success, and the love that filled each room.
Though the real world may not be as positive as Best Buddies events tend to be, it will be a chain reaction. Best Buddies’ mission of acceptance has since become my mission, and will stay that way until Best Buddies is no longer a needed—when our world has become one large, accepting Best Buddies Conference.
I have always wanted to visit Ethiopia. Located in the Eastern region of Africa, Ethiopia is one of the most beautiful places in the world, or so I’ve heard. I visited once when I was 5-- too young to remember or appreciate its beauty, its people, or its culture. I went again when I was 15 and loved it. Visiting the capital, and its surrounding cities, I realized the major difference between Ethiopia and the United States was the way of life. I realized how wasteful the United States really was. The thing that surprised me the most, was that there were people struggling to access clean drinking water. It was such a shocking thing to see. People here in the US have clean toilet water, and there were people in the world struggling to access safe water to drink. I was so upset and wanted to see what I could do to help. After coming back to Washington, D.C., I knew had to find a way to make a difference. I learned about a non-profit organization, Charity: Water, that works to bring safe drinking water to people in developing countries by building water wells. I made a goal to raise $1,000 to send to Charity: Water, which allows donators to choose which country to send the money too. I asked friends and family to donate. I placed donation boxes at a number of local stores. I went to my church to ask for donations. I also wanted to spread awareness of the issue so I gave a presentation to students in my high school. I made flyers and passed those out too. I was really passionate about this because water is a necessity to life and realizing that people did not have water to drink just because of their environment was saddening. I really consider the trip to Ethiopia a great learning experience and a great turning point in my life. I ended up raising $800. I vowed to commit myself to community service and be aware of the world around me.
Winter is taking a desperate swipe in the Washington region today, as it dodges the continuing of springlike days and delivers to us what is expected to be an intense snowfall different than any storm we’ve seen this season.
Although it was close to 50 degrees yesterday, airlines are busy canceling flights today at the region’s major airports, including Reagan National, Dulles International and Baltimore-Washington International Marshall.
From Washington Post, Saturday, March 9 "Md. Senate passes offshore wind power bill" The state senate passed Governor O'Malley's offshore wind energy bill Friday after the bill failed to go through the past two years. It would allow the state to seek out a private developer to build a field of windmills off the coast of Ocean City. This victory of O'Malley's comes after his bill to repeal the death penalty advances to the House of Delegates.
UPDATED: Windmills may soon be seen from the seashores. The state senate passed an offshore wind energy bill Friday that would allow the beginning of a search for a private developer to build off the coast of Ocean City. Governor O’Malley backs this bill, as he has for the past two years. This victory comes soon after the advancement of his death penalty bill to the House of Delegates
Print Version CAIRO (AP) —An Egyptian court on Saturday confirmed the death sentences against 21 people for taking part in a deadly soccer riot but acquitted seven police officials for their alleged role in the violence. Suspected fans enraged by the verdict torched the soccer federation headquarters and a police club in Cairo in protest (USA TODAY).
Broadcast Version Port Said soccer fans set the soccer federation headquarters and a police club in Cairo on fire to protest a verdict after a deadly soccer riot. The court decision sentenced 21 people to death, most being Port Said fans, but acquitted seven police officials for their roles in the violence that left 74 people dead.
Updated Broadcast Version Port Said soccer fans torched the soccer federation headquarters and a police club in Cairo to protest a verdict after a deadly soccer riot. The court decision gave death sentences to almost 21 Port Said fans and acquitted seven police officials for their roles in the violence.
One man was killed and another seriously injured in a fiery, head-on car crash in southern Anne Arundel County early Saturday, authorities said.
Broadcast Version:
Authorities say that police are still investigating a head-on collision that has one man in critical condition at an area hospital and another man dead.
Police are still investigating a fiery head-on collision that occurred Saturday morning in southern Anne Arundel county that left one man dead and another in critical condition at an area hospital.
PRINT VERSION: An occupant of a vehicle taken in a carjacking was shot and wounded in the District on Saturday night when the car was driven into a pursuing officer who was on foot, authorities said. (Taken from the Washington Post)
BROADCAST VERSION: Authorities say that three juveniles were taken into custody yesterday night after stealing a car. One of the carjackers was shot and wounded by police after driving the car into a police officer on foot.
Authorities say that three juveniles were taken into custody last night after stealing a car. Police shot and wounded one of the carjackers after the juveniles drove the car into a police officer who was on foot.
Print version (Washington Post): Arlington County police were investigating an early Sunday morning crash that left a 21-year-old Leesburg man dead and two others injured.
Broadcast version: A 21-year-old Leesburg man is dead and two others are injured after a car crash that occurred early this morning. Police say they are investigating the accident.
Revised broadcast version: A 21-year-old Leesburg man is dead and two others are injured after a car crash that occurred early this morning. Police are investigating the accident.
Print Version (Washington Post): Should Richard Trogisch, principal of the District’s selective and sought-after School Without Walls Senior High School, be able to hire his wife Cynthia?
Broadcast Version: School Without Walls principal, Richard Trogisch, is challenging the District ethics manual and drawing objections from parents for wanting to hire his wife as the assistant principal.
Print Version (Washington Post): Pepco, the electricity supplier for the District and suburban Maryland, announced Friday that it is seeking a $52 million rate increase for its city customers, despite lingering questions about the utility’s performance in big storms. The proposed 6 percent increase, which would require the approval of the D.C. Public Service Commission, would add $5.89 to the average monthly residential bill, increasing it to about $100, Pepco Region President Thomas H. Graham said. Broadcast: City customers anticipate pricier bills from Pepco, the electricity supplier for the District and suburban Maryland, after the company announced Friday that it is seeking a $52 million rate increase. Pepco Region President Thomas H. Graham says the proposed 6 percent increase would add $5.89 to the average monthly residential bill, increasing it to about $100. The proposal requires the approval of the D.C. Public Service Commission, and many questions still linger about the utility’s performance in big storms.
Broadcast Re-Do: City customers should anticipate an increase of almost six dollars on their monthly Pepco bills. The electricity supplier for the District and suburban Maryland announced Friday that it is seeking a 52 million dollar rate increase. Pepco Region President says the proposed six percent increase would increase the average monthly residential bill to about 100 dollars. The proposal requires the approval of the D-C Public Service Commission. Many questions still linger about the utility’s performance in big storms.
PRINT (Associated Press): LONDON — A rough, whitish block recovered from an Elizabethan shipwreck may be a sunstone, the fabled crystal believed by some to have helped Vikings and other medieval seafarers navigate the high seas, researchers say.
In a paper published earlier this week, a Franco-British group argued that the Alderney Crystal — a chunk of Icelandic calcite found amid a 16th century wreck at the bottom of the English Channel — worked as a kind of solar compass, allowing sailors to determine the position of the sun even when it was hidden by heavy cloud, masked by fog, or below the horizon.
BROADCAST: Franco-British researchers say the Alderney Crystal found in a 16th century English Channel shipwreck may be a sunstone, a fabled crystal said to have helped Vikings navigate.
Vikings may have determined the sun’s position, even when it was not visible, using the crystal’s birefringence property, which splits light beams in a way that can accurately reveal the direction of a light source.
Researchers say they may have discovered a fabled Viking crystal in an English Channel shipwreck.
Vikings may have used the so-called sunstone to navigate. The Alderney Crystal has properties that allow it to reveal the direction of the sun's light, even on cloudy days.
Print (Washington Post): With an ear-ringing roar, the matte-gray fighter jet streaked down Runway 12 and sliced into a cloudless afternoon sky over the Florida Panhandle. To those watching on the ground, the sleek, bat-winged fuselage soon shrank into a speck, and then nothing at all, as Marine Capt. Brendan Walsh arced northward in America's newest warplane, the F-35 Lightning II.
The F-35 has features that make pilots drool. It is shaped to avoid detection by enemy radar. It can accelerate to supersonic speeds. One model can even take off and land vertically. Onboard electronic sensors and computers provide a 360-degree view of the battlefield on flat-panel screens, allowing pilots to quickly identify targets and threats.
Broadcast Rewrite: The American military is unveiling the newest addition to its top-of-the-line, multi-billion dollar aerial defense industry: the F-35 Lightning II fighter jet. Production of the Lightning II continues in spite of the military budget cuts being made by the government.
Pilots of these jets will enjoy the many technical features that set this fighter apart from its predecessors - namely, its on-board electronic equipment. Among other tech-specs are the flat-panel screens that provide a 360-degree readout of the battlefield, simplifying pilots' jobs tenfold.
Print (Washington Post): With an ear-ringing roar, the matte-gray fighter jet streaked down Runway 12 and sliced into a cloudless afternoon sky over the Florida Panhandle. To those watching on the ground, the sleek, bat-winged fuselage soon shrank into a speck, and then nothing at all, as Marine Capt. Brendan Walsh arced northward in America's newest warplane, the F-35 Lightning II.
The F-35 has features that make pilots drool. It is shaped to avoid detection by enemy radar. It can accelerate to supersonic speeds. One model can even take off and land vertically. Onboard electronic sensors and computers provide a 360-degree view of the battlefield on flat-panel screens, allowing pilots to quickly identify targets and threats.
Broadcast Rewrite: The American military is unveiling the newest and costliest addition to its multi-billion dollar aerial defense industry. It’s called the F-35 Lightning II fighter jet.
Several models of the fighter jet are in production in spite of the many military spending cuts being made by the government.
The jet is still in its testing stages, but pilots already ogle over the many technical features that set it apart from its predecessors. Among other tech-specs are the flat-panel screens that provide 360-degree readouts of the battlefield to simplify the pilots’ jobs. All variations of the Lightning II can also fly at supersonic speeds, and one can even take-off and land vertically.
Print (Washington Post): A former spokesman for al-Qaeda and son-in-law of its founder, Osama bin Laden, was captured overseas and secretly brought to New York this month to face a criminal trial for allegedly conspiring to kill Americans, U.S. officials said Thursday.
Sulaiman Abu Ghaith was initially detained in Turkey last month but was taken into U.S. custody in Jordan while he was being deported to Kuwait, U.S. officials said. He is expected to appear in federal court Friday in the Southern District of New York.
Broadcast: U.S. officials say Osama bin Laden's son-in-law, a former al-Qaeda spokesman, will face a criminal trial Friday in New York for allegedly conspiring to kill Americans.
Officials say Sulaiman Abu Ghaith was detained in Turkey last month, but was taken into U.S. custody in Jordan while being deported to Kuwait. He was brought to New York in secret this month for his federal court appearance.
U-S officials say Osama bin Laden's son-in-law faces a criminal trial in New York. The former al-Qaeda spokesman will be tried Friday for allegedly conspiring to kill Americans.
Officials say Sulaiman Abu Ghaith was detained in Turkey last month, but was taken into U-S custody in Jordan while being deported to Kuwait. He was brought to New York in secret this month for his federal court appearance.
Print (Washington Post) WARREN, Ohio-- A sport utility vehicle carrying eight teenagers crashed into a guardrail Sunday morning and flipped over into a swampy pond in northeast Ohio, killing five boys and a girl, state highway patrol said.
The Honda Passport veered off the left side of a road and overturned just south of the city Warren, about 60 miles east of Cleveland, Lt. Anne Ralston said. Investigators say it came to rest upside down in the swamp and sank with five of the victims trapped inside. A sixth who was thrown from the SUV during the crash was found under it when the vehicle was taken out of the water.
Broadcast: Breaking Update: WARREN, Ohio-- Warren school officials say grief counselors are on site this morning as classmates mourn the death of six teens killed in an SUV accident this weekend.
State highway officials say that six are dead and two are injured after the speeding Honda Passport carrying eight teenagers veered off the road and hit a guardrail, landing upside-down in a swamp Sunday morning.
Warren, Ohio school officials say counselors are on site this morning as students grieve the death of six teens killed in an S-U-V accident this weekend.
State highway officials say the fatal accident occurred when the speeding Honda Passport veered off the road and landed upside down in a swamp Sunday morning.
Print (Washington Post): Almost 1.9 million parking tickets were issued in the District in fiscal 2012, according to data that AAA obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request. Though that amounted to about 125,000 fewer tickets than the year before, more people who received them paid the fines, so the bottom line of $92 million in revenue remained the same as in fiscal 2011.
Broadcast: According to data acquired by the AAA through a Freedom of Information Act request, $92 million in revenue have been attained due to the nearly 1.9 million parking tickets that were issued in the District during 2012 fiscal year.
Triple-A announced that 92 million dollars in revenue have been made off the nearly 2 million parking tickets that were issued in the District during the 2012 fiscal year.
Although that number is 125,000 fewer than the previous year, equally as much money was acquired as those who received the tickets ultimately paid the fines.
Print (Washington Post): SEOUL — North Korea said Monday that it had “completely scrapped” the 1953 armistice agreement that ended the Korean War, following up on a threat made days earlier and increasing the prospect of a strike against or a skirmish with the South, analysts said.
Broadcast: Analysts say that there is an increase in the prospect that North Korea will strike against South Korea after the North “completely scrapped” the 1953 armistice agreement that ended the Korean War.
Analyst say there is an increase in the prospect that North Korea will strike against South Korea. North Korea says they... quote... completely scrapped the 1953 armistice agreement that ended the Korean War.
PRINT (DIAMONDBACK): The launch of a new bike share program on the campus, originally scheduled for this semester, has been tentatively pushed back to the fall because of unexpected costs, DOTS officials said.
BROADCAST: DOTS officials say the new bike share program on campus scheduled to begin this semester has been pushed back until the fall as a result of unexpected costs.
Sharing your bike will have to take a rain check! University Transportation Officials say the new bike share program on campus will have to wait until the Fall, thanks to unexpected costs.
From USA Today, Sunday, March 10. PRINT VERSION: WARREN, Ohio — A sport utility vehicle carrying eight teenagers went off the road Sunday and landed in a pond, killing six teens and sending two to the hospital, Ohio highway police said.
BROADCAST VERSION: Ohio Police say that six teens died and two teens were injured after an SUV carrying them veered off the road and landed in a pond.
Lead In: Six teens are dead after a fatal car crash. Lead: Ohio Police say that six teens died and two teens were injured Sunday after an S-U-V carrying them veered off the road and landed in a pond.
Print: WARREN, Ohio- Two boys were able to walk away after a car crash at 7 a.m. Sunday morning in which the SUV they were riding in flipped over a guardrail into a nearby swamp, killing six of their friends.
Broadcast: Investigations are still taking place into what caused a SUV car accident yesterday morning in Warren, Ohio, injuring two and taking the lives of six teenagers.
PRINT Angela Bailey was six months pregnant when she was convicted of credit card fraud and sent to the Harford County Detention Center in Maryland.
Three months later, as she lay in an ambulance transporting her to a hospital to deliver her baby, prison guards handcuffed her and manacled her legs.
BROADCAST The Maryland legislature is the scene of a heated debate over pregnant prisoners’ rights.
Delegates are considering banning the practice of shackling women prisoners up until the delivery of their babies. The discussion comes after a consensus that the state must take a definite on the issue instead of limiting the use of hand and leg-cuffs.
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ReplyDelete“America, lets start right away, we can get this done,” said President Obama during his State of the Union Address on Tuesday, planning to tackle issues such as climate change, legal immigration, and national poverty levels in the upcoming year.
ReplyDeleteDelivering his State of the Union Address Tuesday, President Barack Obama urged Congress to take bipartisan action, and focused on the economic growth and the stability of the middle class.
ReplyDelete"We must not make promises we cannot keep, but we must keep the promises we've already made" said President Obama Tuesday night in his State of the Union address that focused on job creation, education augmentation, and deficit reduction.
ReplyDeletePresident Barack Obama delivered his State of the Union Address Tuesday, urging bipartisan action as the key factor in achieving the growth of the middle class among several other issues including immigration reform and market based energy solutions.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeletePresident Obama articulated his progressive agenda in his State of the Union address on Tuesday, focusing in particular on Democratic solutions to the nation's economic, immigration, and gun-control issues.
ReplyDeleteWASHINGTON, D.C.-Attendees gave a standing ovation at President Obama's first State of the Union Address of his second term of office Tuesday evening, after he announced new proposals across several fields .
ReplyDeleteRepublicans and Democrats alike gathered in the U.S House Chamber Tuesday night to listen to Obama deliver his State of the Union address which covered several agendas, including tax reform, education, and national security.
ReplyDeletePresident Obama delivered his State of the Union address on Tuesday, focusing on his plans for economic growth, education, and gun control.
ReplyDeletePresident Obama applauded the improving national economy and called for support from Congress on energy, education and other issues in his State of the Union Address Tuesday.
ReplyDeleteWASHINGTON-- President Obama called upon the American people Tuesday to continue bipartisan efforts to improve the union; promising to protect the nation's future generations through investments in education and clean energy, and to fight for the "rising...middle class," with a minimum wage increase and tax on the wealthiest citizens.
ReplyDeletePresident Obama delivered his State of the Union Address Tuesday, notifying the country of his second-term plans to call for bipartisan support on national issues of immigration, gun-control, and economic development.
ReplyDeletePresident Barack Obama spoke to the American public in the annual State of the Union address late Tuesday, covering topics such as the economy, immigration, climate change, budget negotiations, gun control, and most notably a $9 minimum wage.
ReplyDeleteIn his State of the Union Address delivered Tuesday, President Barack Obama discussed issues such as immigration, climate change, economic development, and gun control.
ReplyDeletePresident Barack Obama stressed a smart government that will reform tax codes, immigration, gun laws, infrastructure, and jumpstart the economy in the State of the Union address Tuesday.
ReplyDeletePresident Barack Obama stressed the need for bipartisan support on important national issues in his State of the Union Address Tuesday.
ReplyDeletePresident Barack Obama used his State of the Union address Tuesday to inform the American public on how he plans to get the economy back on track: new initiatives aimed at developing more jobs for citizens.
ReplyDeleteUrging Congress to help the recovering economy and rising middle class, President Barack Obama discussed his plans to raise the minimum wage, as well as work towards other economic and environmental reform in his State of the Union address Tuesday.
ReplyDeleteSignificant Experience
ReplyDeleteZack Tribino
Throughout my healthy 19 years of life, I have had a handful of significant experiences that have truly helped to create the person that I am today. This event, which happened over the past summer (July 2012), permanently changed my outlook on life.
It was a hot summer night in Southern Maryland. A few friends and I were relaxing on my back porch, laughing about old memories over a couple of beers. The mood was calm and tranquil; in between breaks in conversation you could hear the cars passing on the highway in the distance. As the trees danced quietly in the breeze, time seemed to crawl along…until a loud bang brought us all back to reality.
Confused and curious, we decided to run to the source of the noise. All sense of relaxation and tranquility was replaced with confusion and urgency as we were unsure what caused the sound. An explosion? A gunshot? We rushed to the answer.
Running down my street, headed to where we guessed the blast came from, we ran into my neighbor. He was also running, out of breath, and mumbling. In a state of shock he just spits out, “His arm, man! JJ’s arm is messed up. We crashed,” while pointing up the street. He then ran off and left us even more confused and curious. Later, we find that he was running to his house to get help. Naturally we ran to where my neighbor pointed, even faster than before.
About 100 yards down the street we come across the scene: a one-car crash. It is an overwhelming feeling to be staring at a tangle of metal and grass, topped with sparkling glass confetti. The forces of physics and the frailty of the human body meet in such graphic manner. Through the hole where the car window once was I saw the driver’s ligaments holding his arm together; torn muscle and shattered bone.
I pulled out my phone and dialed 9-1-1, focusing on the three numbers as my fingers shook from the adrenaline. I asked the driver who he was and where he was from, trying to keep him conscious as he drifted in and out of blackness.
“I was trying to be a hero. I’m not a hero,” he replied to my questions.
We waited for minutes until the paramedics arrived to fly the driver to a shock and trauma center via helicopter. His screams of agony are a memory I wont be able to forget. It was horrible to hear such pain but not be able to provide comfort.
My neighbor returned while we were waiting for the helicopter to land and we were able to get a better understanding of what had happened. In a drunken state, the driver decided he was fine to drive and my neighbor agreed and rode along. On the return trip, just a few hundred yards from the destination, the driver decided to speed up for no apparent reason. He lost control of the car, drifted off of the road and into the trees, bounced off of the trees and rolled the car once, then finally smashed through a street light. The trail of destruction was visible from where we were waiting. Grass and mud decorated the pavement while broken glass shimmered from the flickering streetlight.
The images and sounds of this night I will never forget. They have influenced the way I now think and make decisions, especially concerning alcohol and driving. Needless to say, none of my friends drove that night. Last I heard of the situation, the driver’s arm is in recovery but still might have to be amputated.
Blog: Significant Experience in Life
ReplyDeleteAgnes Varghese
The summer of 2012 will forever be known as the summer that changed my life. In June of that year, I embarked on a journey to Chennai, India, along with 12 others, on a missions trip of a lifetime. I wanted to go on this trip because it would expose me to aspects out of my comfort zone, and give me the opportunity to help others.
Once we landed, we headed to a home named Prathyasha for children who were HIV infected/affected. Some members of the team were first apprehensive about staying with children who had a serious disease, but whatever worries they may have had quickly faded once they got to know these beautiful kids.
We stayed at this orphanage for nearly two weeks, integrating into Indian life, and the lives of the children at the home. Each and every one of these children was incredible. The amount of love that came from them made my heart swell with joy. It was amazing how little they needed to make them happy. Sometimes, all I would have to do is smile, and they would get excited right away.
We asked one of the women that ran the home, “What if we just donated the money from our plane tickets instead of coming here, would that have been more helpful?,” and she said “Not at all.” It’s not money that these kids need, its love and attention. People are wary about coming to this orphanage because of the disease that these children have, so they donate money instead, but it is important to understand that there is a very little chance of anyone catching anything from these children. The situation would have to be quite extreme for that to happen. Our team then realized that it was our responsibility to go out and educate others about this issue in the future in order to show that there should be no fear when working in a situation like this.
In order to assist the orphanage, we tried to do activities to enhance the home,
to help the kids have fun, and to assist them with their education. We were able to plant trees in the front yard, make a clothing line, construct a goal post, frame pictures that the children made, take the kids to the mall/movies/arcade, help the children with homework, and do fun activities with the kids such as arts and crafts, sports day, water balloon toss, and tie-dying. Hopefully, they will always be reminded of us when they look at the things we did, because we will always be reminded of them by the smiles on their faces that were etched forever in our minds and hearts.
Coming on this trip, I was looking for my greater calling in life. When I reflected on the journey, I realized that one of my purposes was to help those in pain. For example, with the children at this home, we usually never saw them sad. They were always running around with huge smiles on their faces, but I got the chance to see some of the children in pain. It was indeed one of the most moving experiences in life.
There was a boy named Badhri. He was one of the strongest kids that I had met at the orphanage. He always looked confident and made sure that the other kids were taken care of, but sadly he was one of the sickest kids there. He had one of the lowest blood cell counts in the home. He constantly had nose bleeds, and I saw him one day crying because he was in pain from a fever. I took him up to his room so that he could sleep for a while, and I promised him that I would be there when he woke up and sure enough, I was there when he opened his eyes. The look on his face when he saw that I was still there and didn’t leave him meant the world to me, because I knew that he was really happy. Moments like that, I would never take back for the world.
All in all, this was an amazing trip. I was able to meet wonderful children, work with a great team of people, and find out a little more about my calling in life. I hope to one day go back to the orphanage and see these beautiful children again.
Significant Experience
ReplyDeleteIt was the day I had been waiting for, two years in the making. It was all or nothing. That day was to prove if I was worthy or not of being a writer. That day was to prove if I was truly one of the best.
During my last two years of high school, I joined a cultural program called Act-So, a competition/mentor program ran by the NAACP for high school students, which helps youths develop their skills and strengths. Going into Act-So as a 16-year-old junior, I still had not discovered where my talents lie. I watched all of my classmates float around with amazing talents to bring to the world. It seemed as if everyone had a niche, but me. That was soon about to change.
My friend introduced me to Act-So in January 2011. I decided that I wanted to compete in one of the humanities categories. On my first day, I met with the humanities mentor, Ms. Whitlow. Ms. Whitlow, a freelance writer for a local newspaper, seemed intimidating and serious. The other competitors in the category already had ideas for their work. I only had an old journal, which kept my deepest thoughts. For Ms. Whitlow to get a feel of my writing skills, she wanted to read one of my papers. I decided to give her my “best” poems to read, which was about an ex -boyfriend of mine. After she read it, she took off her glasses, wrinkled her nose, and said, “Try to come back with something more concrete next week.” From that day on, I knew it was going to be a difficult and long journey.
Over the next few months, my friend and other mentors told me repeatedly that new students usually do not make it to the national competition. That, however, was not my goal. I just wanted the judges to give my work a chance, and I wanted to progress from their critiques. Most of all, I wanted to grow as a writer. I decided to do a poem comparing my urban neighborhood to a jungle, and an essay on the beauty of African American women. I wasn’t looking for a gold medal, but that’s what I got. On the day of the state award ceremony, I received gold medals for both my poem and my essay, which meant I would be going to Los Angeles.
I was not ready for the excitement and talent that awaited me in Los Angeles. The levels of talent I came across inspired me. Being among many creative thinkers only pushed me to want to go deeper into my thoughts and uncover the apex of my talents. That year, I did not win a medal at nationals; however, I did not expect to. It was only the beginning.
I woke up on a beautiful Sunday morning in Houston, Texas. “This is it,” I thought. I had gone through a rough senior year, but yet, here I was again, at nationals. This time, I was at the national competition for the play and the poem I had written. This time I had confidence. It wasn’t about the money I could win, it wasn’t about the iPad I could win; it was about knowing that I was good enough to do anything and be successful in everything I chose to put my heart into.
During the awards ceremony, I tapped my foot and held my stomach in apprehension. Finally, the host moved on to the humanities categories. For playwriting, I did not receive anything. My heart dropped. Once the host moved onto poetry, I couldn’t breathe.
“For the bronze medal in poetry, from Newark, New Jersey…”
My group started screaming before I even realized I won.
“Sharon, it’s you! Go!”
I started running and crying. I couldn’t believe I did it. I did it for my city, for my parents, but most importantly, I did it for me.
Although being in Act-So was a two-year turning point, it was an experience I will never forget. From being in Act-So, I discovered that my gift to give to the world was through my writing. After Act-So, I have never again had a doubt in my mind about how talented I truly am. I realize there are many, many people in the world who are much better than I am; however, Act-So has given me the foundation and the confidence to go after my goals and dreams. Because of Act-So, I plan to always compete with myself for the best product, and I plan to take my dreams with me until I am living them.
Significant Experience: Hurdling over my Inhibitions
ReplyDeleteIt was freshman year. I had decided to join the spring track team last minute, hoping to get in shape and spend more time with my friends who were already on the team. A self-competitive girl, sprinting to make or break a certain time helped me exercise and provided the motivation for me to work harder in each successive practice and race. My coach, however, saw me not only as a sprinter, but also as a long-distance hurdler. Nervous about my ability to sprint and jump simultaneously, I was hesitant to run the 300-meter hurdle race in our track meets and thus opted out whenever possible.
Then the day came. It was our last track meet of the season before championships, and my coach had once again signed me up for the 300-meter hurdle race. Seeing the concerned look on my face, he calmly pulled me aside.
“Katelyn, I know you’re nervous, and you can choose not to run this event today,” Coach Paul said. ”But this is the last meet of the season. This is your last chance to run this race before championships, and you might as well try it out. If you fall or do horribly, I’ll never make you run it again.”
I smiled, warming up for the race and trying to forget about the nervous butterflies in my stomach. It was almost time for the event, and I was just hoping to make it over the six hurdles and across the finish line as soon as possible.
As my competitors from the other team and I lined up in our track lanes, the track and field athletics official slowly raised his arm into the air. Then he pulled the trigger of the cap gun, and the race began.
I launched over the first hurdle and then the second. My mind was racing to the next hurdle, remembering to maintain my pace and to not hesitate before jumping. I made it around the last bend, the finish line in sight. As soon as I was over the last hurdle, I sprinted as fast as I could for the last 10 meters, crossing the finish line in 53 seconds.
I whipped around, confused and surprised: I had won the race. The audience cheered and laughed, recognizing my disbelief in the race’s results. My coach walked up to me and gave me a hug, smiling from ear to ear and repeatedly saying, “I knew you could do it.”
Still overwhelmed, I could not help but to realize the significance of the race. By taking the risk to run the hurdle event, I stepped outside of my personal limitations and learned that a little experimentation is needed in order to succeed in life. With each successive hurdle, I was breaking down my mental inhibitions and enabling myself to reach for the next goal. Though the race lasted less than a minute, it has influenced my life tremendously by keeping me determined to work my hardest, even if the goal seems impossible at first.
Significant Experience
ReplyDeleteKatie Takacs
In my life, thankfully, I have not experienced any traumatic events that have shaped who I am today, but there have certainly been several positive experiences that have allowed me to become the best person I can be at this time in my life. One experience that I hold close to my heart is when the fellow members of my high school dance team and I won Maryland state champions. Since I was young, dance has been something that is extremely important to me, and holding such a high accomplishment still makes me proud. Accomplishing this with an amazing group of friends made the experience even better.
When I was a freshman, my team also won state champions, but what made it so special when I was a senior was that I was captain of the team. Practices leading up to the day of the championship were grueling. I can remember dreading the end of the school day because that meant intense work awaited me. Our coach gave no mercy on us during these practices, which allowed us to become better dancers before the competition. As the captain, I couldn’t show how tired my mind and body were. I had to stay strong for my team.
The day finally came to compete. We all piled in our cars to make the half hour trip to Baltimore, Maryland. I was nervous the entire day. This was my last chance to win the state championship before I graduated high school. I was even more nervous because this was the first year we had choreographed our own dance. Confident in our abilities, our coach decided we could come up with our own dance to showcase our originality. Beginning to warm up for our dance, I couldn’t shake the butterflies that filled my stomach. I couldn’t believe how nervous I was. My coach sensed my nerves and came over to talk to me. She said, “Katie, don’t worry. You’re an amazing captain. Win or lose, you should be proud of yourself.” With a deep breath of relief, I let the butterflies go and gathered my team together. My adrenaline started pumping as our time to compete slowly snuck up. Taking the floor, I pushed all my anxiety to the back of my mind. As soon as I heard our parents and families cheering for us, I forgot what I was nervous about in the first place. When the music started, I danced with more enthusiasm than I have ever danced before. I could feel the synchronization between my teammates and I; I could tell this was the best performance we had ever given.
When it came time for awards, my team and I sat on the stage as we all held hands. I could feel the anticipation racing through my body. Third and second place were announced, and it was time to award first place. I squeezed my eyes shut and the hands I was holding. “And the winner is Fallston High School.” Tears began streaming down my face. I couldn’t believe we had won. I stood up to retrieve the trophy and took it back to my team. Hugging and screaming, we all congratulated each other. I was so proud of my team and myself in that moment.
Winning state champions with my team taught me a lot about what it means to work together. Without each other we would not have been able to accomplish the great feat we did. We were able to choreograph our own dance and perform it better than the other teams in the competition. This experience showed me the impact a team can have and the importance of sharing your experiences with others. If I didn’t have my team to calm me down, my nerves would have affected my performance. Winning Maryland state champions is something I will never forget.
In the summer of 2009, I went to Cleveland, Ohio for a weeklong mission trip with my church. Working with a program called Inward Bound, other high school students and I worked on various projects, including painting houses and serving food at a homeless shelter. I attended the trip largely with the intent of spending time with friends. Little did I know how the experience would come to change my priorities.
ReplyDeleteThe motto at Inward Bound was “Live simply so others can simply live.” To fulfill this notion, all of those attending the trip were asked to relinquish their cell phones, iPods, and other electronic devices for the week. Doing so allowed us to pay more attention to our friends who were right in front of us rather than seeking third party sources of entertainment. Also in the spirit of living simply, we ate minimalistic meals. While these small sacrifices may not sound like a big deal, it helped me realize the luxury of the meals and technologies that I was accustomed to in comparison to what others could afford.
One of our first projects involved serving dinner at a homeless shelter. We finished by a eating meal with the residents and listening to their stories. Before my trip, it was all too easy for me to associate homelessness and poverty with nameless individuals whose backgrounds I knew nothing about—or worse, judgments based on assumptions. But listening to them talk made me recognize that people who needed to resort to homeless shelters were often subject to circumstances that I could not even fathom. I learned the importance of being accepting and generous of people in all conditions.
The residents in the homeless shelter were not the only ones who taught me a lesson. When we painted the home of a poor elderly woman, she offered to buy us a meal. Despite our refusals, she took it upon herself to order Chinese food for all 30 of those who were working on the project. I was so touched by the woman’s generosity; we were helping her because she had so little resources to begin with, yet she was more than willing to sacrifice some of her small funds for our sakes. I realized that if this woman was willing to give money away, I surely could do more in my life to help others.
I came home from Cleveland with a new sense of generosity and consideration. My parents recognized the difference in me, commenting that I was more willing to help them and complained less. While of course it is natural to become jaded to everyday luxuries, I sometimes remind myself of my experience that summer, and my compassionate perspective returns.
Significant Experience
ReplyDeleteTim Meehan
October 12, 2007: The worst day of my almost 20 years of existence. That particular Friday morning of my freshman year of high school started out like any other. Waking up at 5:45 AM, getting all of my school supplies together, eating a light breakfast, and piling into my dad's truck at 6:45 AM.
Then it happened. At 6:53 AM, we were less than two minutes away from reaching the school when my dad received a phone call. My siblings and I thought, at first, that it was just my mom calling to let one of us know that we forgot something. My dad put down the phone and we could tell by the shakiness of his voice and the look on his face that it was serious. It turned out to be news that shook my entire extended family, and we received it from one of my aunts. "Your cousin, Kevin, was hit by a drunk driver last night and is in the ICU," was all he said.
My siblings and I sat in silence. What was there to say? We had just learned that one of our family members had just been the victim of what we later learned was a drunken hit-and-run.
My dad dropped us off at school and my sister and I walked in together, silently. My friends couldn't even get me to say a word until I was already through the first class of the day. When I finally did talk, I mumbled something about how my cousin was just hit by a car.
I droned on the rest of my school day in a stupor, waiting for the end of the day so that I could go home and just be away from everyone. When we finally got home, my dad opened the door and let us in. He told us that my mom had already gone to the hospital to be with the rest of our 40-person family, and that we'd be leaving shortly to join them. I sprinted up the stairs to my room and dropped my book bag on the ground. I began to cry uncontrollably. "WHY?! WHY KEVIN? WHY?! What did he do to deserve this?" I yelled, slamming my fists into my bed. I am not sure whether I was sad, in a rage, or a combination of both, but all I knew was that my cousin was likely going to die in a matter of days. My dad came up to my room to calm me down, and after a few minutes I settled down a bit, and he told me that we were leaving in 15 minutes to go to the hospital.
At 4:30 my dad, brother, sister and I arrived at Sinai Hospital in Baltimore and entered the building. We took the elevator up to the third floor, where the ICU is located. Kevin's younger brother, Daniel, who is two years older than me, greeted us with a massive hug and tears streaming down his face. I will never forget his face at that moment; it was almost surreal when he hugged me, I remember not feeling like I was completely there, as if I were watching myself do everything. We spent the rest of the evening there with my entire extended family in a small conference room just outside of the ICU. All of us were in shock, most of us: crying.
There was only one element of that day that made it bearable in the hospital: my best friend’s mom was an RN at Sinai and was on-duty that day. Of all of the people that were there that day, she was the most comforting.
We learned that evening that by the time Kevin had been brought in to shock trauma, he was already brain-dead. By the time we arrived at the hospital, he was surviving almost solely on life support. Seeing him, held together by stitches, with numerous tubes sticking out of him is the second image from the day that will never leave my mind.
Two days later, he was taken off of life support. Two days later, I lost my cousin to a vehicular manslaughter.
That day I made a promise to myself that I would never touch even car keys if I had alcohol in my system.
Significant Experience
ReplyDeleteMy mother, brother and I were in the grocery store when I realized that my family would never be considered socially normal.
Josh, being four years old at the time, was throwing a tantrum in the middle of the candy aisle when my exhausted mom refused his request to buy the giant Reese’s bar he held clenched in his hand. When she forcefully grabbed his shoulder and scolded him for his bad behavior, a woman approached my mother and pulled my brother out of her clutch, wide-eyed and horrified that my mom would yell at a child that was not even her own.
Little did this random stranger know, the black child crying in the wake of his punishment was being reprimanded by a woman who had been his adoptive mother since his infancy. My mother is the only mother my little brother had ever known, despite the difference of pigment in their skin.
This same confused reaction to my integrated family has continued past the adoption of my little sister, Michele, and into our teenage years. When I take my brother out to dinner to catch up, the waitress wrongfully identifies our playful sibling banter as flirting, and asks us how long we’ve been dating. When my sister and I go to the mall together, I’m questioned about how often I babysit for her family.
This type of response has never bothered me, however, because I know that my family is family. I have never had to be taught to love my siblings because they were a different race. Our bond extends past color, or bloodline, or genetics. Stereotypes or stigma do not get in the way of our relationship, which is extremely rare in this society of racial prejudice.
Though both my brother and sister have mental and social disorders due to their experiences prior to their adoption, I have never struggled in accepting them into my family. Just like you continue to love anyone that hurts you, I will always love them as my siblings. All of my childhood memories are filled with their presence; whether it be the time Michele cut all of my favorite Barbie’s hair off, or when Josh had to get a shot at the doctor’s and I cried in fear of him getting hurt.
When people discover my family situation, I’m always asked strange questions like, “Do they feel accepted by your family?” or, “Is it weird for you that they’re black?” or, “How could you love someone that’s not your own?” I never understand the context of these questions, or how people could believe that I would love my siblings less because they weren’t ‘mine’ or of my race. I usually cannot even answer these questions, because most are too ridiculous to even deserve an answer.
No matter how outsiders view our relationship, my view is not complicated or confusing. They’re my siblings, and that statement does not need any more explanation.
Significant Experience
ReplyDeleteJeremy Snow
My entire academic life in elementary school was built on a lie, for the most part.
In first grade, we were all assigned different books to bring home and read aloud to our parents. Once we could successfully read the book, we would turn it in and take out a more difficult book to bring home. There were three levels of difficulties for the books; green being the easiest, purple being intermediate, and blue being advanced.
On the day our teacher, Ms. Stewart, was passing out these books, I stared at the small book she handed me, and had no idea what any of the words in it meant. I was never really good at reading, or learning, or really school for that matter. Yet for my friends in the class, reading just came naturally to them. All I could tell was that the book was about picnics, because there was a tree, a blanket, and a basket on the small, green, plastic cover page.
When I went home to try and read the story to my mother, I could only read about half of the words in the book. It was filled with obscure food-words that no first grader would possibly be able to read, like “pepper”, “sandwich”, or “mustard”. No matter how long I took to try and pronounce the words, I simply could not get the sounds out of my mouth. I was incredibly embarrassed for myself and had felt like a failure.
The next day in school, I watched as the other kids went up to exchange their books for a higher level. Jennifer, Adam, Elizabeth, and even Dustin walked to exchange their easy green books for the scholarly purple books. I watched as they stood up, proud and confident, and took a new book, as if the purple books were symbols of intellectual grandeur.
So when it was my turn to tell the teacher if I needed a harder book to practice reading that week, I lied. I told her yes, I did in fact read the green book flawlessly and needed that new harder purple book to read. I could barely finish a sentence in the green book, but I didn't want to be behind all of my friends.
I remember walking home from my bus-stop after school, being incredibly nervous about having to tell my Mom why I got a new book when I couldn't even finish the picnic one. The amount of guilt I had for lying about the reading exercise completely consumed me. I couldn't think of anything else other than my academic sin. I felt like I didn't deserve what was given to me.
Despite my inability to read at an advanced level, the lie had kept me on the advanced track. So from that point, half motivated from fear of punishment, half from determination to read well enough, I practiced reading for what seemed liked hours at a time. Soon I was in the first grade English class for just advanced readers all because of my lie, which forced me to adapt to the difficulty and hoping that some of my classmates’ intelligence would rub off on me.
While at the beginning I definitely did not deserve being on a higher level reading level, the extra challenge put me on course to being actually capable of reading purple books. Soon I was reading just as good as the other kids. From here on, I would always value the importance of honesty and genuinely working hard. People always say fake it until you make it, and I think that is exactly what I did in first grade reading class.
Significant Experience
ReplyDeleteAlexandra Turcios-Cruz
“You never realize what you have until it’s gone.” It’s a commonly used expression, but oddly enough, it doesn’t really take meaning until you’re put into a situation where it’s the only set of words you can wrap your head around, until it resounds so loudly that your head begins throbbing.
That was precisely what went on in my head this past Thanksgiving when I took my first trip out of the country. I visited my mother’s homeland—El Salvador. The experience was surreal to say the very least. Until the moment I stepped foot off that plane, I had never experienced a world in which paved roads weren’t commonplace. I had never experienced a world where coverings for your feet weren’t commonplace. I was in an entirely different dimension, and I wasn’t all that sure that I liked it.
Throughout the week, I continued to see things and experience things I had never seen or experienced before. Utilities and practices that seemed rudimentary and necessary for survival were nowhere to be found. The first time I bathed without warm water was excruciating. I wondered how my cousins, each at least five years my junior, managed to withstand such bone-chilling temperatures on a daily basis. At first I pitied them, but as the week went on, I realized that the only person that merited any kind of pity was myself.
As time went on and I continued to see how little my cousins had, I also saw how much more they had in character. They appreciated everything they did have and never envied anyone that had what they didn't. What they lacked in physical toys they made up for in imagination. They didn't need the newest Barbie or the latest Nerf gun to have a good time. All they needed were their heads and each other.
As I left them on that final Sunday, I found myself crying the entire plane ride home. Partly because I would miss all the amazing people that I met, but primarily because I would miss their outstanding outlook on life. I came back to the States as an entirely different person. I now understand that nothing is granted. I now understand that life is infinitely greater when you look at what you have and you relish in that. The world is an astounding, beautiful place, but sometimes you have to rid yourself of all beauty to realize just how great it truly is.
This past January, during the university’s winter break, I went to visit my best friend at her university. While this may seem like a completely normal thing to do, it is actually a bit unusual. My best friend goes to the University of Toronto, in the heart of the Canadian city, and I had to go there alone.
ReplyDeleteI’ve traveled a lot during my life and I’ve traveled internationally a handful of times, so I’m used to going through security and customs. However, I’m always with my family. I did not realize how different the dynamics are when you are traveling alone. There is a lot more downtime to fill when you do not have two younger sisters begging you to play Mad Libs with them. It did not help that my flight to Toronto got delayed three times, ultimately leaving two hours after it was supposed to have left. The two hours I spent in the airport terminal were only made worse by my parents, who constantly texted me if I was on the plane yet.
I got on to the plane and into the country perfectly fine, and arrived by bus at my best friend’s off-campus dorm, which happened to be a refurbished hotel. It was so nice and there were elevators, something I tend to appreciate more often now that I live on the top floor of an elevator-less building.
There is another factor that made this trip all the more significant. Despite being friends for more than decade, my best friend and I had never had a sleep over. My best friend comes from a family who does not allow the children to have sleepovers for religious reasons. I was a poor college student visiting another poor college student in a different country for four days, so her parents gave me permission to stay in her room.
While I was there, I got to experience living in a thriving city and the school system of a different country. I visited my best friend during her first week of classes, so I had to go with her despite still being on my winter break. We would walk through the bitter cold and biting wind for 20 minutes to get to her classes, all of which were five times the size of this class. I got to meet some of her college friends, and everyone assumed that I went to there with them, which I thought was weird.
Once her school day was over, we would head back to her room, and then go out to get dinner at Eaton Centre. Eaton Centre is, in the simplest terms, the Canadian Times Square. There are bright lights and billboards on the side of every building, restaurants galore, and a shopping mall that the square gets its name from. My best friend’s dorm was two blocks away from it, and it was my favorite place I went to in all of Toronto.
After four days of sleeping on my best friend’s floor, it was time for me to go home. Leaving her dorm before the sun had risen, I got arrived back here in D.C. with just enough time to get Saturday brunch with my family. The visit may have gone quickly, but that’s okay. I’m already planning next year’s visit.
Coming of age — a gradual, drawn-out process marked by momentous experiences, ranging from thrilling successes to unfortunate failures. At 16, I underwent one such transitional experience: my first real summer job.
ReplyDeleteAdmittedly, it was far from the first job I’d ever held. I had worked as a soccer referee since age 12 and had been a dishwasher and waiter at a banquet hall for the past two years, but those were merely weekend occupations, good for enough money to put a down payment on a pack of gum but not much else, as my brothers and I liked to joke.
Thus, when I entered the Human Resources office at local amusement park Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom to fill out a job application the summer before my junior year of high school, I eagerly anticipated the prospect of a regular paycheck. I’d also like to think I grasped, at least on some level, the implications my application held with regard to growing up — that I was maturing and looking to contribute to society.
But as I peered down at my application, I quickly realized any contributions to society would be quite meager indeed. “A guest pays for a $6.99 meal with a $10 bill. Circle the correct amount of change.” “If an angry guest approaches you and begins yelling at you, what would you do? A. Yell at the guest to calm down, B. Tell the guest to leave the area, C. Refer the guest to your supervisor.” “List your three most recent criminal offenses, if any.” These were the manner of questions that appeared on the application. Confident the bar would be set fairly low, I checked off lifeguard under desired position and handed in my form.
Two weeks later, back in the Human Resources office, I met with the head of waterpark operations. “So, you wanna be a lifeguard?” she asked. “Yes,” I responded. “Deep or shallow water guard?” she asked. “Deep guards get paid ten cents more.” “Deep,” I responded, a little concerned at the lack of screening for swimming ability. “OK,” she responded. “Go get your uniform. Training starts next week.”
That was that: after receiving an ill-fitting swimsuit and attending a few training sessions, ostensibly designed to weed out those who had never learned to swim (several seemingly hadn’t) and teach us the rudiments of CPR, I was officially a Dorney Park lifeguard.
The job itself proved far from what I had expected. Never before had I witnessed such acts of belligerent stupidity, poor parenting techniques, and general self-indulgence all in one place. Never had I (if the rumors held true) swam in water two-thirds urine and one-third feminine hygiene products.
My job, as I saw it, consisted of three major components: saving GIDs (guests in distress) from drowning in approximately one to five feet of water, informing guests they could not, in fact, flip others’ inner tubes while on the lazy river, and cleaning up all manner of bodily fluids and excretions from sidewalks, wave pools, and the giant octopus in Lollipop Lagoon. Perhaps the only duty I managed to completely avoid that summer was aiding pregnant women who underwent labor and delivered their babies at the waterpark (a task that fell to my brother on one occasion; he earned a “special bead” for his service).
Understandably, I quickly became disillusioned with Dorney Park. Lifeguards worked long hours on days that routinely topped 100 degrees in temperature, performing thankless work for generally thankless guests. My brother and I discussed quitting a number of times, but for some reason, we could never quite bring ourselves to follow through.
In retrospect, I’m glad we didn’t. Looking back, that summer provided us with some of our funniest on-the-job stories, gave us the opportunity to earn steady pay, and taught us some valuable skills (though the relevance of obstetrics is still in question). Begrudgingly, I now admit my time as a lifeguard at Dorney Park proved a formative experience that marked an important step in my coming of age.
Significant experience
ReplyDeleteNate Rabner
As Beverly and I made our way through the crowded space between the audience seats and the information booths by the wall, I wasn’t sure whether to be hopeful or terrified. After two month’s involvement in Ballroom at Maryland, and a month and a half of practicing together, the two of us were headed to the staging area for our first competition event. We had danced in a mock competition a few weeks before, filing onto the floor with a dozen other newbie couples and going through the motions we had learned in class, but this was no practice. From the invigilators’ dais stretching across the far side of the room to the announcer’s booming instructions and the droves of dancers in their costumes, everything radiated pomp and professionalism. All the upper-level couples, and many of my peers, looked calm and confident. I may have been wearing the right clothes, but I felt increasingly out of place.
The crowd thinned out as we reached the deck captain, who directed us to a lane between two rope lines where dancers were queuing up for newcomer waltz. The first dozen couples walked on and we moved closer to the head of the line. I ran through my steps in my head, trying to assure myself that I remembered what little I had been taught, and tried to relax. And then it was our turn.
Leaving the line for the open floor, I felt like a new ship being launched into the ocean. My anxiety fell away as I extended my free arm to present myself and plastered a requisite smile on my face. I navigated to a clear space on one of the long sides of the floor, so there would be more distance before I needed to turn a corner, and stood a few yards apart from Beverly in what I hoped was a regal pose. The room was silent. Then the announcer: “And, waltz music, please.”
Some orchestral arrangement began, and I quickly identified the first beat and moved into frame with Beverly. One, two, three, one, two, step, and we were off, wheeling slowly down the side of the floor. My smile threatened to morph into a grimace of concentration and my shoulders tried to shoot up from the correct position; I tensed my muscles and hoped my frame was still good. We reached the corner of the floor and I led us around it, stumbling slightly in front of one of the judges. Other couples cluttered the short side of the room, everyone trying to maneuver to the next straightaway. Another quarter turn and we were clear again, dancing past the noisy Maryland cheering section, who screamed out our number as we went by. Each second felt like an age, but when the music faded after a minute and a half I felt like we had barely begun. I spun Beverly out of frame and we presented to the audience, then strode confidently off the floor through a break in the spectators’ seats.
Back behind the audience again, I felt relieved, but there was no time to cool down; we headed back to the deck captain and lined up for quickstep. After muddling through that dance, we performed a decent tango and got a callback! The second tango round was as far as we got, though, and I retired to a seat to watch most of the other Maryland couples progress to quarter- or semifinals. I was disappointed to have fallen from the pack so early – a feeling I would experience again the next day during Latin dancing – but watching my friends succeed at newcomer and higher levels inspired me to practice harder so I could come back strong next time. Though I am still not as good as most others, I have become immeasurably better since that competition last November and am committed to staying in Ballroom. I still feel a bit uncomfortable at comps, but I now feel like part of the community and relish the challenge to improve myself.
Significant Experience
ReplyDeleteFor as long as I can remember I have greatly appreciated Japanese culture. I dont know whether it is the quirkiness of their pop culture or their fascinating history but I knew that i had to go to Japan sooner or later to experience everything first hand. Due to its distance from my home it seemed impossible that we would take a family trip there any time soon and traveling with friends was unthinkable at the time since I was the only one who had this passion.
This all changed when i was casually listening to a song by John Mayer. One morning he sang the words "plan a trip to japan alone" and thats when i knew if I ever went to Japan it would be by myself.
I asked for lonely planet guide book to Tokyo and Japan for Christmas and began planning my solo trip. I finally asked my father for the ultimate graduation gift: a ten day trip traveling to multiple cities in Japan, alone.
It took me months to finally convince my parents i was responsible enough to take this journey by myself half way across the world in a country where the language and culture was completely different.
When i arrived to the Tokyo airport thats when i realized the enormity of my decision. my first few hours in japan consisted of trying to figure out the train system and where the location of my hostel was. No one spoke english so communication consisted of hand gestures and a horrible pronunciation of japanese words by my part.
Despite all the problems I encountered, including running out of money, being locked out of my hostel at night, and getting lost in a Kyoto neighborhood, this trip I took last summer is probably one of the most significant experiences of my life. I had to learn how to be alone for long periods of time only opening my mouth to ask for directions, and even then i could only say a few words. When i encountered europeans/american travelers, i felt at home immediately even though they were strangers.
I believe i was very successful at surviving in another culture and this trip has inspired me to dedicate myself to either travel journalism or foreign correspondence. It made my move to the United States easier and less scary. My solo trip to Japan was the first time i considered myself a responsible adult capable of surviving alone in this world.
On September 1st, 2011, I left on a journey to Israel. I had little knowledge of what I would go through on my program, but I was confident that it would be a positive experience in the long run.
ReplyDeleteEntering my senior year of high school, I had no clue where I’d be the following year. Would I be in school? Would I be traveling? Would I have a job? I didn’t have a clue. When the golden opportunity presented itself, however, I took it. I applied to colleges and after deciding to attend Maryland, I got permission from the admissions office to hold my spot until Fall 2012.
But I digress, I flew to Tel Aviv with 39 other Canadians and Americans on a program called “Workshop 61.” Once there, we met up with 5 Dutch teenagers our age and 4 “madrichim” (Hebrew word for “guide”).
As a group we were all secular Jews who were all excited for the gap year. We began by going to Kibbutz Ein Dor in the northern part of Israel. A kibbutz is a Hebrew word that roughly translates to “commune”; it’s a small town of around 300-700 families that live by socialist values (money sharing, working together, etc.).
On Kibbutz Ein Dor, we learned about Jewish history in informal discussion groups led by 23-year old Americans and Canadians who had moved to Israel. We also learned Hebrew and worked with other people on the kibbutz.
After 3 ½ months living there, the 45 of us split into two groups and went to live in a large house in two separate cities. There, we lived together. We cooked for ourselves, cleaned for ourselves, ran activities for ourselves, and bonded together like a family.
We also went to schools in the region to volunteer with Jews and Arabs to build towards a peaceful tomorrow. These experiences will forever stick with me.
What makes this experience so special is that almost nobody goes on gap years anymore. I was the only one in my graduating class of 350 people to go on a gap year!
Why was this experience such a turning point in my life? I put off college for a year. I lived independently from my parents while learning to become self-sufficient. I lived with a group of people whom I miss very dearly.
Lastly, and most importantly, I took advantage of my year away from school to grow as a person. I compare myself now to the person I was prior to this trip and feel so much more mature and confident.
Throughout the year I kept a blog. If you would like to visit the site, go to http://www,workshop61.wordpress.com/
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ReplyDeleteThe most significant experience of my life thus far occurred four days before the start of my sophomore year of high school. I remember the day vividly. It was a typical New Jersey August day, 97 degrees and the humidity was unbearable. It was the day I had been preparing for for the entire summer, soccer fitness tests.
ReplyDeleteThroughout middle school and my freshman year of high school, I struggled with my weight. To be brutally honest, I was fat. It affected my confidence and was the cause of great emotional stress. Then, in June of my freshman year, our soccer team had a meeting for information regarding next year's fall season. The fitness testing stuck out to me, ominous because of my subpar physical condition. Although I was apprehensive about the 2 miles in 14 minutes requirement, I made it my goal to be able to complete it. That summer, I dedicated myself to running and getting in better shape.
I distinctly remember lining up on the track and hearing laughter from some of my teammates that I was even attempting the requirement. To them, it seemed laughable that I believed I could achieve the fitness tests standard. Yet, 13 minutes and 20 seconds later, I finished the test, coming in third among the entire team. That moment when I crossed the finish line was the most significant moment of my life. I had worked to rid myself of the insecurities of being fat and achieved my goals.
Fast forward to fall of my senior year in high school. I no longer played soccer. Although the fitness test was for soccer, only the memory of running all summer stuck with me. I was now the captain of the Cross-Country and Track and Field teams. In winter of my senior year I was the lead-off leg in a relay that broke a school record. Running was, and still is, the thing I most identify myself with.
I often think back to that hot August day when I changed who I was. Without that fitness test, I truly believe that my life would be much different today. I would still be overweight, timid, and afraid to set goals for myself. Running is part of me, and without the fitness test three years ago, I doubt it would be.
Some people tell me that I’m too trusting. Some people tell me I’m too naïve. They tell me my views are unrealistic and that I’m a dreamer. And at times, perhaps I am, but I don’t see how I could be anything but that.
ReplyDeleteLast summer I had the opportunity to spend four days with hundreds of people who dream, just like me. In an atmosphere unlike any other, surrounded by love and hope and friendship, I knew I could never be cynical of this world. Our world can be beautiful and magical and truly good.
At the Best Buddies Leadership conference, I technically learned how to be a good leader for my high school’s Best Buddies chapter—but I learned more than that. I learned what it was like to be immersed in a culture that is so inspiring and currently so progressive, that I could picture the way I want my world to be.
Best Buddies is an international volunteer movement dedicated to establishing the inclusion of people with disabilities, through one-to-one friendships and leadership and employment opportunities. I couldn’t be more proud and dedicated to this movement.
Though the people in attendance may just have been a small percentage of our world’s population, I know that each person there was inspired. They, just like me, were inspired by the total acceptance of each individual, the joy that was uncontrollably evident, the celebration of every success, and the love that filled each room.
Though the real world may not be as positive as Best Buddies events tend to be, it will be a chain reaction. Best Buddies’ mission of acceptance has since become my mission, and will stay that way until Best Buddies is no longer a needed—when our world has become one large, accepting Best Buddies Conference.
The Water Crisis
ReplyDeleteBy Bethlehem Horn
I have always wanted to visit Ethiopia. Located in the Eastern region of Africa, Ethiopia is one of the most beautiful places in the world, or so I’ve heard. I visited once when I was 5-- too young to remember or appreciate its beauty, its people, or its culture. I went again when I was 15 and loved it. Visiting the capital, and its surrounding cities, I realized the major difference between Ethiopia and the United States was the way of life. I realized how wasteful the United States really was. The thing that surprised me the most, was that there were people struggling to access clean drinking water. It was such a shocking thing to see. People here in the US have clean toilet water, and there were people in the world struggling to access safe water to drink. I was so upset and wanted to see what I could do to help.
After coming back to Washington, D.C., I knew had to find a way to make a difference. I learned about a non-profit organization, Charity: Water, that works to bring safe drinking water to people in developing countries by building water wells. I made a goal to raise $1,000 to send to Charity: Water, which allows donators to choose which country to send the money too.
I asked friends and family to donate. I placed donation boxes at a number of local stores. I went to my church to ask for donations. I also wanted to spread awareness of the issue so I gave a presentation to students in my high school. I made flyers and passed those out too. I was really passionate about this because water is a necessity to life and realizing that people did not have water to drink just because of their environment was saddening. I really consider the trip to Ethiopia a great learning experience and a great turning point in my life. I ended up raising $800. I vowed to commit myself to community service and be aware of the world around me.
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ReplyDeleteFrom the Washington Post 3/6/13
ReplyDeleteWinter is taking a desperate swipe in the Washington region today, as it dodges the continuing of springlike days and delivers to us what is expected to be an intense snowfall different than any storm we’ve seen this season.
Although it was close to 50 degrees yesterday, airlines are busy canceling flights today at the region’s major airports, including Reagan National, Dulles International and Baltimore-Washington International Marshall.
From Washington Post, Saturday, March 9
ReplyDelete"Md. Senate passes offshore wind power bill"
The state senate passed Governor O'Malley's offshore wind energy bill Friday after the bill failed to go through the past two years. It would allow the state to seek out a private developer to build a field of windmills off the coast of Ocean City. This victory of O'Malley's comes after his bill to repeal the death penalty advances to the House of Delegates.
UPDATED:
DeleteWindmills may soon be seen from the seashores. The state senate passed an offshore wind energy bill Friday that would allow the beginning of a search for a private developer to build off the coast of Ocean City. Governor O’Malley backs this bill, as he has for the past two years. This victory comes soon after the advancement of his death penalty bill to the House of Delegates
Print Version
ReplyDeleteCAIRO (AP) —An Egyptian court on Saturday confirmed the death sentences against 21 people for taking part in a deadly soccer riot but acquitted seven police officials for their alleged role in the violence. Suspected fans enraged by the verdict torched the soccer federation headquarters and a police club in Cairo in protest (USA TODAY).
Broadcast Version
Port Said soccer fans set the soccer federation headquarters and a police club in Cairo on fire to protest a verdict after a deadly soccer riot. The court decision sentenced 21 people to death, most being Port Said fans, but acquitted seven police officials for their roles in the violence that left 74 people dead.
Updated Broadcast Version
DeletePort Said soccer fans torched the soccer federation headquarters and a police club in Cairo to protest a verdict after a deadly soccer riot. The court decision gave death sentences to almost 21 Port Said fans and acquitted seven police officials for their roles in the violence.
From the Washington Post; (Print Version):
ReplyDeleteOne man was killed and another seriously injured in a fiery, head-on car crash in southern Anne Arundel County early Saturday, authorities said.
Broadcast Version:
Authorities say that police are still investigating a head-on collision that has one man in critical condition at an area hospital and another man dead.
Police are still investigating a fiery head-on collision that occurred Saturday morning in southern Anne Arundel county that left one man dead and another in critical condition at an area hospital.
DeletePRINT VERSION: An occupant of a vehicle taken in a carjacking was shot and wounded in the District on Saturday night when the car was driven into a pursuing officer who was on foot, authorities said. (Taken from the Washington Post)
ReplyDeleteBROADCAST VERSION: Authorities say that three juveniles were taken into custody yesterday night after stealing a car. One of the carjackers was shot and wounded by police after driving the car into a police officer on foot.
Authorities say that three juveniles were taken into custody last night after stealing a car. Police shot and wounded one of the carjackers after the juveniles drove the car into a police officer who was on foot.
DeletePrint version (Washington Post):
ReplyDeleteArlington County police were investigating an early Sunday morning crash that left a 21-year-old Leesburg man dead and two others injured.
Broadcast version:
A 21-year-old Leesburg man is dead and two others are injured after a car crash that occurred early this morning. Police say they are investigating the accident.
Revised broadcast version:
DeleteA 21-year-old Leesburg man is dead and two others are injured after a car crash that occurred early this morning. Police are investigating the accident.
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ReplyDeletePrint Version (Washington Post):
ReplyDeleteShould Richard Trogisch, principal of the District’s selective and sought-after School Without Walls Senior High School, be able to hire his wife Cynthia?
Broadcast Version:
School Without Walls principal, Richard Trogisch, is challenging the District ethics manual and drawing objections from parents for wanting to hire his wife as the assistant principal.
Print Version (Washington Post):
ReplyDeletePepco, the electricity supplier for the District and suburban Maryland, announced Friday that it is seeking a $52 million rate increase for its city customers, despite lingering questions about the utility’s performance in big storms.
The proposed 6 percent increase, which would require the approval of the D.C. Public Service Commission, would add $5.89 to the average monthly residential bill, increasing it to about $100, Pepco Region President Thomas H. Graham said.
Broadcast:
City customers anticipate pricier bills from Pepco, the electricity supplier for the District and suburban Maryland, after the company announced Friday that it is seeking a $52 million rate increase.
Pepco Region President Thomas H. Graham says the proposed 6 percent increase would add $5.89 to the average monthly residential bill, increasing it to about $100. The proposal requires the approval of the D.C. Public Service Commission, and many questions still linger about the utility’s performance in big storms.
Broadcast Re-Do:
DeleteCity customers should anticipate an increase of almost six dollars on their monthly Pepco bills. The electricity supplier for the District and suburban Maryland announced Friday that it is seeking a 52 million dollar rate increase.
Pepco Region President says the proposed six percent increase would increase the average monthly residential bill to about 100 dollars. The proposal requires the approval of the D-C Public Service Commission. Many questions still linger about the utility’s performance in big storms.
PRINT (Associated Press):
ReplyDeleteLONDON — A rough, whitish block recovered from an Elizabethan shipwreck may be a sunstone, the fabled crystal believed by some to have helped Vikings and other medieval seafarers navigate the high seas, researchers say.
In a paper published earlier this week, a Franco-British group argued that the Alderney Crystal — a chunk of Icelandic calcite found amid a 16th century wreck at the bottom of the English Channel — worked as a kind of solar compass, allowing sailors to determine the position of the sun even when it was hidden by heavy cloud, masked by fog, or below the horizon.
BROADCAST:
Franco-British researchers say the Alderney Crystal found in a 16th century English Channel shipwreck may be a sunstone, a fabled crystal said to have helped Vikings navigate.
Vikings may have determined the sun’s position, even when it was not visible, using the crystal’s birefringence property, which splits light beams in a way that can accurately reveal the direction of a light source.
Researchers say they may have discovered a fabled Viking crystal in an English Channel shipwreck.
DeleteVikings may have used the so-called sunstone to navigate. The Alderney Crystal has properties that allow it to reveal the direction of the sun's light, even on cloudy days.
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ReplyDeletePrint (Washington Post):
ReplyDeleteWith an ear-ringing roar, the matte-gray fighter jet streaked down Runway 12 and sliced into a cloudless afternoon sky over the Florida Panhandle. To those watching on the ground, the sleek, bat-winged fuselage soon shrank into a speck, and then nothing at all, as Marine Capt. Brendan Walsh arced northward in America's newest warplane, the F-35 Lightning II.
The F-35 has features that make pilots drool. It is shaped to avoid detection by enemy radar. It can accelerate to supersonic speeds. One model can even take off and land vertically. Onboard electronic sensors and computers provide a 360-degree view of the battlefield on flat-panel screens, allowing pilots to quickly identify targets and threats.
Broadcast Rewrite:
The American military is unveiling the newest addition to its top-of-the-line, multi-billion dollar aerial defense industry: the F-35 Lightning II fighter jet. Production of the Lightning II continues in spite of the military budget cuts being made by the government.
Pilots of these jets will enjoy the many technical features that set this fighter apart from its predecessors - namely, its on-board electronic equipment. Among other tech-specs are the flat-panel screens that provide a 360-degree readout of the battlefield, simplifying pilots' jobs tenfold.
This comment has been removed by the author.
DeletePrint (Washington Post):
DeleteWith an ear-ringing roar, the matte-gray fighter jet streaked down Runway 12 and sliced into a cloudless afternoon sky over the Florida Panhandle. To those watching on the ground, the sleek, bat-winged fuselage soon shrank into a speck, and then nothing at all, as Marine Capt. Brendan Walsh arced northward in America's newest warplane, the F-35 Lightning II.
The F-35 has features that make pilots drool. It is shaped to avoid detection by enemy radar. It can accelerate to supersonic speeds. One model can even take off and land vertically. Onboard electronic sensors and computers provide a 360-degree view of the battlefield on flat-panel screens, allowing pilots to quickly identify targets and threats.
Broadcast Rewrite:
The American military is unveiling the newest and costliest addition to its multi-billion dollar aerial defense industry. It’s called the F-35 Lightning II fighter jet.
Several models of the fighter jet are in production in spite of the many military spending cuts being made by the government.
The jet is still in its testing stages, but pilots already ogle over the many technical features that set it apart from its predecessors. Among other tech-specs are the flat-panel screens that provide 360-degree readouts of the battlefield to simplify the pilots’ jobs. All variations of the Lightning II can also fly at supersonic speeds, and one can even take-off and land vertically.
Print (Washington Post):
ReplyDeleteA former spokesman for al-Qaeda and son-in-law of its founder, Osama bin Laden, was captured overseas and secretly brought to New York this month to face a criminal trial for allegedly conspiring to kill Americans, U.S. officials said Thursday.
Sulaiman Abu Ghaith was initially detained in Turkey last month but was taken into U.S. custody in Jordan while he was being deported to Kuwait, U.S. officials said. He is expected to appear in federal court Friday in the Southern District of New York.
Broadcast:
U.S. officials say Osama bin Laden's son-in-law, a former al-Qaeda spokesman, will face a criminal trial Friday in New York for allegedly conspiring to kill Americans.
Officials say Sulaiman Abu Ghaith was detained in Turkey last month, but was taken into U.S. custody in Jordan while being deported to Kuwait. He was brought to New York in secret this month for his federal court appearance.
U-S officials say Osama bin Laden's son-in-law faces a criminal trial in New York. The former al-Qaeda spokesman will be tried Friday for allegedly conspiring to kill Americans.
DeleteOfficials say Sulaiman Abu Ghaith was detained in Turkey last month, but was taken into U-S custody in Jordan while being deported to Kuwait. He was brought to New York in secret this month for his federal court appearance.
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ReplyDeletewhoops
Deletelol
DeletePrint (Washington Post)
ReplyDeleteWARREN, Ohio-- A sport utility vehicle carrying eight teenagers crashed into a guardrail Sunday morning and flipped over into a swampy pond in northeast Ohio, killing five boys and a girl, state highway patrol said.
The Honda Passport veered off the left side of a road and overturned just south of the city Warren, about 60 miles east of Cleveland, Lt. Anne Ralston said. Investigators say it came to rest upside down in the swamp and sank with five of the victims trapped inside. A sixth who was thrown from the SUV during the crash was found under it when the vehicle was taken out of the water.
Broadcast:
Breaking Update:
WARREN, Ohio-- Warren school officials say grief counselors are on site this morning as classmates mourn the death of six teens killed in an SUV accident this weekend.
State highway officials say that six are dead and two are injured after the speeding Honda Passport carrying eight teenagers veered off the road and hit a guardrail, landing upside-down in a swamp Sunday morning.
This comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteWarren, Ohio school officials say counselors are on site this morning as students grieve the death of six teens killed in an S-U-V accident this weekend.
DeleteState highway officials say the fatal accident occurred when the speeding Honda Passport veered off the road and landed upside down in a swamp Sunday morning.
Print (Washington Post):
ReplyDeleteAlmost 1.9 million parking tickets were issued in the District in fiscal 2012, according to data that AAA obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request. Though that amounted to about 125,000 fewer tickets than the year before, more people who received them paid the fines, so the bottom line of $92 million in revenue remained the same as in fiscal 2011.
Broadcast:
According to data acquired by the AAA through a Freedom of Information Act request, $92 million in revenue have been attained due to the nearly 1.9 million parking tickets that were issued in the District during 2012 fiscal year.
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DeleteD.C. drivers watch out!
DeleteTriple-A announced that 92 million dollars in revenue have been made off the nearly 2 million parking tickets that were issued in the District during the 2012 fiscal year.
Although that number is 125,000 fewer than the previous year, equally as much money was acquired as those who received the tickets ultimately paid the fines.
Print (Washington Post):
ReplyDeleteSEOUL — North Korea said Monday that it had “completely scrapped” the 1953 armistice agreement that ended the Korean War, following up on a threat made days earlier and increasing the prospect of a strike against or a skirmish with the South, analysts said.
Broadcast:
Analysts say that there is an increase in the prospect that North Korea will strike against South Korea after the North “completely scrapped” the 1953 armistice agreement that ended the Korean War.
Analyst say there is an increase in the prospect that North Korea will strike against South Korea. North Korea says they... quote... completely scrapped the 1953 armistice agreement that ended the Korean War.
DeletePRINT (DIAMONDBACK): The launch of a new bike share program on the campus, originally scheduled for this semester, has been tentatively pushed back to the fall because of unexpected costs, DOTS officials said.
ReplyDeleteBROADCAST:
DOTS officials say the new bike share program on campus scheduled to begin this semester has been pushed back until the fall as a result of unexpected costs.
Sharing your bike will have to take a rain check! University Transportation Officials say the new bike share program on campus will have to wait until the Fall, thanks to unexpected costs.
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ReplyDeleteFrom USA Today, Sunday, March 10.
ReplyDeletePRINT VERSION:
WARREN, Ohio — A sport utility vehicle carrying eight teenagers went off the road Sunday and landed in a pond, killing six teens and sending two to the hospital, Ohio highway police said.
BROADCAST VERSION:
Ohio Police say that six teens died and two teens were injured after an SUV carrying them veered off the road and landed in a pond.
Lead In: Six teens are dead after a fatal car crash.
DeleteLead: Ohio Police say that six teens died and two teens were injured Sunday after an S-U-V carrying them veered off the road and landed in a pond.
Print:
ReplyDeleteWARREN, Ohio- Two boys were able to walk away after a car crash at 7 a.m. Sunday morning in which the SUV they were riding in flipped over a guardrail into a nearby swamp, killing six of their friends.
Broadcast:
Investigations are still taking place into what caused a SUV car accident yesterday morning in Warren, Ohio, injuring two and taking the lives of six teenagers.
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DeleteInvestigations are ongoing into the cause of a fatal S-U-V accident yesterday morning in Warren, Ohio.
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ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeletePRINT
ReplyDeleteAngela Bailey was six months pregnant when she was convicted of credit card fraud and sent to the Harford County Detention Center in Maryland.
Three months later, as she lay in an ambulance transporting her to a hospital to deliver her baby, prison guards handcuffed her and manacled her legs.
BROADCAST
The Maryland legislature is the scene of a heated debate over pregnant prisoners’ rights.
Delegates are considering banning the practice of shackling women prisoners up until the delivery of their babies. The discussion comes after a consensus that the state must take a definite on the issue instead of limiting the use of hand and leg-cuffs.