Final Story Idea

I will be writing my final article on the federal increase in cigarette excise taxes. I hope to localize this national issue and focus on its effects in the area.

Assignment #4 Topic

I will be writing my assignment #4 on police checkpoints and the overall increase in police activity in this country. My position will be an attack on such actions.

Story Assignment #3 Idea

I will be writing a human interest story on the current economic crisis with an emphasis on unemployment and its effects on various families.

In-class exercise: Interviewing

For young Jimmy Kennedy, it has always been about sports. Growing up in Milstott, and later Columbia, Illinois meant going to Cardinals games and playing high school baseball.

Now age 20, Kennedy has foregone his big league dreams in exchange for an education at Southern Illinois University - Edwardsville where he majors in mass communications. Still recounting his memories as a strong-armed shortstop for the local high school, including the horror of cracking his ribs during an acrobatic play in short left, Kennedy now watches from the stands at Busch Stadium. When it isn't baseball, it's hockey as he roots for the St. Louis Blues, even proudly proclaiming he "watches them religiously on the internet."

Attendance certainly isn't a problem for this proud devotee of St. Louis sports. "I went to over 30 Cardinals games and close to 20 Blues games," says Kennedy. Ultimately though it is neither baseball or hockey that garners the most interest in this young man but rather a different sort of sport: golf. "I played golf all through high school and won the conference golf tournament as an individual," he boasts. Multifaceted as both a fan and athlete, Jimmy Kennedy continues to dazzle both on and off the field.

First Article Idea

I plan on writing my article on a speech being given by Doris Kearns Goodwin at SIU February 5th. I have tickets to the event and an invite to a special pre-speech interview with Mrs. Goodwin via my HIST 400 class. I hope to interview Mrs. Goodwin herself before the speech, students attending the event, and administration hosting the event. Mrs. Goodwin is a Pulitzer Prize winning author, New York Times bestseller, and esteemed orator, it should be a good show!

In Class Assignment: 1.26.09

An SIU-Edwardsville student is being treated at Anderson Hospital today after what police believe was a two to ten story fall down a trash chute in a university dormitory. The student, Thomas Schwanke, an 18-year-old freshman, was found at 7:40 A.M. this morning.

Witnesses who recall seeing Schwanke that night say he had been drinking prior to the fall which police believe occurred around 2:00 A.M. this morning. Mary Rouse, the university's Dean of Students, worries that the incident once again raises concerns about alcohol abuse on the campus.

Hospital officials refused to elaborate on Schwanke's condition or the injuries he suffered.

First Post

Opening post...