Tiffany Swan

4/09/09

JMC 201

http://www.theonion.com/content/news_briefs/dying_newspaper_trend_buys

The history of newspaper goes back five centuries. In Renaissance Europe handwritten newsletters circulated privately among merchants, passing along information about everything from wars & economic conditions to social affairs. In America, the first newspaper appeared in Boston in 1690, entitled Publick Occurrences. Two more papers made thier appearance in the 1720's in Philadelphia and New York.

American newspapers failing at the fastest rate since the middle of the 20th century. Today's losses leave some communities with no newspaper and alot of people with no jobs. How will the citizens learn about whats going on in their community now? The newspapers' financial problems began before the current recession. Since 2007, newspapers have failed, declared bankruptcy or switched to online editions in Seattle, Baltimore, Cincinnati, Albuquerque, Minneapolis, Chicago, Los Angeles,Dener,and Ann Arbor. So, what are the journalist who lost their job supposed to do? That, is a million dollar question and I feel so bad that they have to go through this bad time. What happen to the newspaper company after all those years? (Another million dollar question)

This is definetly a problem and this makes me question my future. Since I am majoring in jmc, this affects me because who's to say I won't lose my job twenty years from now? What will I do to support my family? Hopefully the journalists who lost their jobs can make a way to support their families and hopefully this doesn't happen again in other states.

Do you want to hear the good news, or the bad news first?

As you may have realized mere seconds after they were uttered out of a young Bod Dylan's mouth: "Times are a changing." What he forgot to mention was how rapidly they are changing, how they would affect the society we live in, and how they would ruin and save lives within the same moment.

It's nothing new to hear about how technology is changing the way the world works. How video killed the radio star, on-line music stores killed the record store, and how on-line media is currently digging a deep grave for print journalism.

I won't try to pretend like I'm not a part of it. The words I write are part of the dirt being thrown on top of the newspapers lifeless corpse.

Clay Shirky mentions in her elaborate essay on the demise of newspaper, that "When someone demands to know how we are going to replace newspapers, they are really demanding to be told that we are not living through a revolution. They are demanding to be told that old systems won’t break before new systems are in place."

Are we in the midst of a revolution? A wrecking ball with too much force to stop?
Who will miss the newspaper the most? What will homeless people cover up with while they're sleeping?

Is the death of the newspaper a pointless death or an inevitable evolution? As more Joe the plumber's pick up their figurative pen and stain the pages of the vast on-line paper, when does journalism turn from a well crafted art-form into a opinionated free-for-all?

When it all comes down to it, I have faith in our technology. Even as the paper begins to dwindle, I feel that something unimaginable will bloom. I feel like we are on the cusp of something beautiful. I feel like they must have felt right before the first newspaper was printed.

till next time-

NickT

The Tribune Has New Clothes

Chicagoans awoke Monday morning to find that their beloved newspaper, The Chicago Tribune, had put on a new outfit.  "It's a whole new day," announced the paper's website. This is the 150 year old paper's first significant reformatting...ever. And despite the Tribune's optimism, one has to wonder if the changes aren't merely on par with a lightbulb replacement in an already condemned house. 

The alterations come in response to several rapid and radical shifts in the news industry. Simply put, people get their news differently than they did five years ago. The availability of online news sources has grown exponentially. The blogosphere has been born. Less and less people are buying papers because they're inconvenient, bulky, and above all expensive. 

Amongst other things, the Tribune is more colorful, bolder and easier to read. The articles are shorter. The sentences are shorter. Even the words are shorter. Pictures seem to be important. Some take up over half of the page. Glancing through the new Tribune, it's easy to notice that the paper is attempting to ride the wave of online journalism that seems to be the only sort of journalism thriving right now. 

A quick look at the editorial section will tell you what Chicagoans think of the Tribune's new suit. From Grant Park to Cicero, the reaction seem be the same. They don't like it. They don't like it one bit. The new Trib is gimmicky, dumbed-down, even shameless. Perhaps this comes as a result of historical Chi-town stubbornness, but one has to wonder what the late Tribune writer Mike Royko is doing in his grave right now.  I asked my mother, a Chicago-native for 30 years, and she seems to have an idea. 

"He's rollin' in it," she said in our phone conversation last night. "I can't even read it anymore. It makes me too depressed." It could be that Chicagoans just need time to adjust to the big pictures, short-sentences, and colorful pages, but I'm starting to think that perhaps the Tribune's latest attempt at salvation may be the paper's final SOS. And one has to wonder exactly what the paper is accomplishing by alienating a reader-base that has always been a constant.  

It's a hard fact for editors to realize, but what's killing the newspaper industry isn't anything that can be fixed in print. The internet is changing every aspect of society and most industries have adjusted. Banking is done online, for free. Shopping is done online, for free. If the media wants to survive in the 21st century, it has to move accordingly. 

Ben Gucciardi. 

         

http://www.chicagotribune.com/chi-tribune-redesign-htmlpage,0,7090729.htmlpage

http://www.newsdesigner.com/archives/002913.php

http://www.publishaletter.com/readletter.jsp?plid=4680

 

The Demise of Newspapers

I’ve never really been that into newspapers. I flip to the comics, maybe the crossword. I’ll read an article if it catches my eye and has good pictures, but I have never been the girl who sips coffee and reads the paper. According to the data, I’m one of a few. Time magazine states that now more than ever, people are reading the paper. So why is it that now more than ever, they’re disappearing?

The new ‘business model’ for newspapers, is really what’s killing them. There are three places that a newspaper stands to make money: one is newsstand sales, the second is subscriptions, and the third is advertising. When newspapers start putting their news up for free online, they are knocking that down to one revenue source: advertising.

When newspapers are forced to rely fully on advertising to make their money, completely new strains are discovered. It used to be that a website could charge visitors by how long they spent on the website. Theoretically, one could still do this, but in reality, the shopper would simply find a new website to use, for free. Once you have put free news online, you rely on who wants to advertise on your website to pay your bills.

By following this business model, the newspaper is cutting out the direct connection they had with their audience. They no longer deliver news to an audience who deliberately seek it, but they are giving it out for free to those who wander upon it. When they cut out the relationship they had with their customers, there is much less of a desire to write soulfully.

With newspapers going bankrupt, they are more open to new ideas, and more likely to form alliances with other newspapers. The news industry is not something that people want run by a “master industry” and bloggers are not an acceptable form of honest journalism. Newspapers could charge a few pennies per article, or a few dollars per month subscription. Obviously, there would be complaining, but eventually most would just click straight through if it was cheap enough. Any form of media could be charged and easily accessed, leading to an enormous amount of revenue. If people rise to the occasion so must the journalist.

Stop The Presses!...No Seriously, No More

"Hey, what were those huge pieces of gray paper called? You know, those massive ones that our parents used to read when we were little? C'mon! My dad use to swear under his breath when he used to check the sports scores on these things...OH YEAH!!! THE NEWSPAPER!!!"

The sad thing is, in 50-60 years this may not be an uncommon question. I remember doing mazes on the back of the Frootloop box when my father used to read the newspaper at the breakfast table. This is no longer the case. Now all the information one could possibly want it right at your fingertips. To be perfectly honest, the internet is giving newpapers a good hard boot.

The Rocky Mountain Press is one of many newspaper that have closed it doors because of low advertising revenue, and new online news sites. It closed its doors on February 27, 2009 because of operating at a $16 million dollar loss. The Rocky Mountain Press had considered online press, but even ad revenue would nto be able to support the debt. The Rocky Mountain Press is the winner of four pulitzer awards, and the proud owners of a sports section, photo section, and writing staff who are voted top 10 in the nation among newspapers each year. This just goes to show that even with a stellar staff no newspaper is safe from shutting down.

If the Rocky Mountain Press is not enough warning to other newspapers, then the Boston Globe most certainly is. In the past years, the Boston Globe has not exactly been making a profit. It is actually $1.1 billion in debt. The New York Times Co. is threatening to shut down the Boston Globe, if the Globe does not pay $20 million in union concessions. Tobe Berkovitz, communications professor at Boston University said, "It is a huge warning shot across the bow of the newspaper industry. If this can happen to the storied Boston Globe, pretty much nothing is safe." The Boston Globe has won 20 pulitzer prizes.

If big names newspapers like these two can be shut down, then online journalism really is on the up and up. Onlin journalism has the all the information of a normal newspaper and then some. It is true that print journalism carries history and tradition with it. However, in the global recession some newspapers are just to expensve to continue printing. In cases like this sometimes it is best to just go with the flow of the times.

Goodbye Newspapers

With the newspaper industry falling deeper into the abyss, it has Americans asking questions. What happened? Is my newspaper in trouble? Without my newspaper, how will I get my news? All very good questions, and I will try to address them in this post.

First what happened? Times changed, to put it simply. Gone are the days where people rush home from work to read the newspaper or do the crossword puzzle at the dinner table. Also, a new generation came to age. I can not speak for everyone even though sometimes I like to think that I do, but I do not know many people whose number one news source is the newspaper anymore. I know my first news source now is the internet for one, my parents' first news source is the news at ten o'clock on the television, and I had to go to my grandpa who said his primary source was his daily newspaper. The main point is this: there are so many new and quite frankly, probably more entertaining ways to get the news.

Is your daily newspaper in trouble? Well, it depends on the paper, but if your paper is a major one, i.e. the Los Angeles Times, yes it is. If the LA Times is in trouble, I am guessing your newspaper is more than likely closing as well. Two major newspapers, The Rocky Mountain News of Colorado (pictured above) and The Seattle Post-Intellingecer have already closed. The Boston Globe is another one in severe trouble of getting closed. The Boston Globe has been around since 1872, has the 14th largest circulation in the nation, and its website is very popular. If The Boston Globe is in trouble with the 14th largest circulation, around for 137 years, what does that say about younger papers with lower circulation numbers? If the Globe has to close, annalysts have said that it would shock the world, even the most pesstimistic of people.

If you still get your news from the newspaper, and your news paper closes, how will you get the news? Fewer and fewer people are getting their news from their newspaper each and every day. It has got so bad in the newspaper industry many successful journalists have had to enter a forced retirement, get bought out, or even just plain left the business. One successful sports journalist, Jay Mariotti left the Chicago Sun Times in August of 2008 stating that he noticed in the Beijing olympics that the newspaper industry was "dying". One of Mariotti's reasons for saying that was that he saw so many bloggers or "citizen journalists" in Beijing, and he was right. A lot of people have turned to the internet to get their news. Mariotti did not stay unemployed for long, he got a job as a blogger for AOL.

With all the ways to get news today, it is no suprise that one had to go, and it does seem like the one that is going is the newspaper industry. We can live without the newspaper now a days with the internet, television, and bloggers. However, a country without a newspaper is a country some are sad to see. One reason for it is that bloggers may not have as much as an obligation to remain objective. Also, just tradition: no daily crossword puzzles or sudouku puzzles. Although if much of the country is already getting their news elsewhere, who will notice and who will care if the newspapers disappear into the abyss?

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/lists/top_10_newspapers_in_trouble/newspapers_in_trouble.html

http://deadspin.com/5042366/jay-mariotti-quits-chicago-sun+times--before-struggling-newspaper-business-takes-him-down-with-it

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/03/25/greg-couch-leaving-sun-ti_n_179274.html

http://www.economist.com/opinion/displaystory.cfm?story_id=7830218

http://www.dailyfreepress.com/staff-edit-global-threat-1.1644709

Joey Ryan

Technology Taking Over

What is black and white and dead all over? Unfortunately, soon enough it may be the newspaper. More and more people are now accessing online newspaper websites to find out what’s going on in the world rather than reading the hard copy. The Seattle Post-Intelligencer printed its last printed newspaper edition Tuesday, and then permanently switched over to an online only news source. Making history, the Seattle newspaper is the largest American newspaper to make this change so far.

Our society is becoming lazy. Sure it’s a lot easier to type in a URL to look up the news, but what about the old-school people who like to physically hold the newspaper and read it? For instance, I think my mom is technologically challenged. She barely knows how to work her own cell phone, let alone a computer. So if the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel decided to just be available on the Web, what would she do? She would be heartbroken without her daily crossword puzzle and not being able to rant about whatever is in the news that day!

It is also worth to point out that what if someone does not own a computer. Yeah it’s hard to believe, but there are people out there that do not find them necessary. Also, if all newspapers did decide to become online news sources only, what would happen if the internet was down? No one would be able to know what was going on in the news! The internet isn’t always reliable.

The end of print editions of the newspaper could effect journalists strongly. Because news is available online, people expect to know what’s going on every second of the day. This means journalists are going to have to spend a lot more time being available to get all of the aspects of the stories right when it happens. A lot of journalists cherish their time to get their article done within a day.

It’s sad to think that newspapers are going out of fashion. It’s especially sad when you think about how hard people in the past worked on inventing the newspaper. Physically having a hard copy allows a person to refer back to it throughout the day wherever. It’s easily transportable, versus carrying a computer around. Don’t let the newspaper die!

I think it's a bit too early to consider newspapers to be dead, but they're certainly on life support. Detroit newspapers cut down to delivering only three days a week in mid-December. After 146 years Seattle's oldest newspaper, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, announced just weeks ago that they were going exclusively online. According to Time, there are also many other newspapers at risk of failing. Some have already written off print newspapers as dead, but I say not quite yet.

There is no denying that with the price of printing and delivering papers there will be a decline in that field. I think it's difficult to picture all newspapers stopping their deliveries or stopping printing all together. With digital information taking command, there will more than likely be more newspapers that switch to an online-only format. If online news were to overtake newspapers, I believe it will take some time.

Some people still rely on the daily paper for their source of news. My family is a prime example. My parents rely primarily on reading the paper every morning and watching the news on TV at night. My grandparents, like many elderly, are even more reliant on newspapers (oops, a stereotype). Even though many people don't read newspapers, I believe they will stick around a while longer due to people like my parents and grandparents.

What does the potential end of print newspapers mean for society? Well, a number of things. If news moves online, not it won't have the availability of the print edition. To access news, people will need a computer or smart phone with internet access, when it was just a print edition, there was no other technology needed to access news. For people that don't have internet access and refuse to adopt it (there are some) it will deny them access to their "newspaper." For the people that do have access to the online edition of newspapers, they will be rewarded. Online news can be updated so it is not outdated by the evening.

Even though it may not seem like a big deal, the newspaper headline after a historic event will be missed by many. Personally, I think the front pages from historic events from things like V-Day for WWII, the Kennedy assassination (see above), or more recently 9/11 have great impact. I love looking at the old pages that my grandparents have saved throughout the years. After everything moves online what are we going to show the next generations, pages that have been saved on our long obsolete computers?

Whether people like it or not though, news is going digital. Maybe not right now, but pretty soon the newspaper will be a rarity. So for those who are old school and pick up the daily paper every morning, appreciate the newspaper smell and getting ink on your fingers, savor your paper, it's an endangered species about to go extinct.

We Couldn't Expect Them To Keep Up

Newspapers are soon to be a forgotten thing in the world we live in today. But it’s such a scary thought isn’t it? To think that our children might have no idea growing up what an actual newspaper is. By that time, with the way that things are progressing right now, everything will have turned into electronic communication, thus using the internet to replace hard copies of a newspaper. The industry will have to change, after all, they can’t call themselves newspapers anymore. They will have to become media outlets, as they change with the times.

Things have been changing for quite some time now. Having been around the Milwaukee area at some point for most of my life, and being interested in Sports I always had read the Sports section in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. That is, the print version of the MJS. It was fun to read, even as a kid. The beauty of it was that it was transportable, you could take it anywhere in read it, and you didn’t need a laptop or smart phone to be able to do it. About two years ago though, I myself stopped reading the print version of the newspaper, and instead just read what was available online.

Something changed though as the years went on, something that showed that the industry was making a very prominent push towards the electronic movement. For years, even when the Journal Sentinel was put up online, the Sportswriters all had been tabbed as ‘columnists.’ There was a search bar under the sports section that led you to choose your favorite columnist so you could read his article for that day. But as the industry has found its way more into the electronic world, these people who are certified to bring us the news we had been used to had been dubbed as ‘Bloggers.’ Now, instead of the choose your columnist feature, the MJS features a page where you can choose the writer you want to read by searching the ‘Blog’ section.

That move right there was crazy for me to see. It showed how we, the citizens of the United States, are evolving into a much more online based community. Computer mediated communications have been taking over for a while now, almost replacing the real world that we once knew. After all, if it wasn’t, then this would not be possible for me to write right now. The companies who owned the newspapers had no choice but to focus more on the electronic based viewership. When the newspaper came out it was intended to give the people what they wanted to see daily. Now, the world seems like it is 100 times faster, and everybody has to have their updated news, sports scores, and weather up to the minute. It is just a sign of the times changing in the world we live in today. And as so many newspapers will go out of business, more electronic based media outlets will form. That’s where the world is heading today.

I think that it will also affect journalists in a very substantial way as well. Now that things are all electronically, they have to be on their toes non-stop, because breaking news could happen at any second. And because they are the experts in their field through the eyes of the citizens, they need to be the ones to break the story when it happens, up to the minute. For a journalist, this could be very frustrating. It would almost make it seem like a doctor, always on call, whenever the opportunity knocks. That’s a good thing and a bad thing in this universe. We as a society are demanding more, and it is just not fair to the journalists to expect them to be able to keep up.

Jimmy Majewski

http://jsonline.com/

http://www.newspaperdeathwatch.com/

http://www.businessspectator.com.au/bs.nsf/Article/Is-the-newspaper-going-out-of-print-9DE3Z?OpenDocument

http://forum.thefreedictionary.com/postsm879_Is-the-Internet-killing-the-newspaper-.aspx

http://boingboing.net/2009/01/16/what-will-you-miss-a.html

Adiós, Au Revoir, Auf Wiedersehen

I first entered the working world at the ripe age of 10, occupation, papergirl. My route consisted of 30 houses, acres apart and two GIANT hills. Thinking back on it, at 9 cents per paper, I was TERRIBLY underpaid! These days I don't see many kids pedaling their bikes around the neighborhood delivering the news. My paper person is an old man in a beat up truck that's missing a muffler, and to be honest, he scares me a little! Sadly, my scary paper person will not have this job for much longer. I received a note in my paper last Sunday (the only day I actually receive the paper strictly for the sales ads) explaining that the Journal Sentinel made a deal with the deliverer of the Journal Times to deliver both the papers, so he is out of a job as of April 25th.

I for one never got into reading the daily newspaper. These days I don't really know of very many people who do anymore. My parents were just talking over the weekend about how they cancelled their subscription because it is easier and less time consuming to just look it up online, or watch the evening news before bed to get a daily update. With that said, I see pros and cons to the decision to bring the newspaper to an end.

There are some major positives that I can see coming from all news reporting being online and television based. For one, it's a huge win for the environmentally friendly folks out there. Nearly four billion trees are cut down annually for paper alone. Just think of all those trees that will be saved if this switch is made. Another positive, these days time is money, and you can't deny the convenience of being able to google a topic or news story and finding information on it in a flash, and at no extra cost. Also, money is saved by the companies reporting the news not having to print the papers. You are able to get news updates about events as they are happening. If a mistake is made in reporting or spelling, it can be corrected in a flash. Lastly, NO MORE BLACK INK ALL OVER YOUR FINGERS AND HANDS!!!

A big negative that would come with this switch would be the loss of jobs. The unemployment rate is high enough! Thousands of people have been laid off already, and we are expected to see more layoffs this year than in 2008! I have read that many attempts of newspapers to shift their operations to online have been failures. I also think about some big events that have happened, how I felt seeing the front page of the paper after 9-11, or when Obama was elected. Will I feel that same effect only seeing it on a computer screen? Also, crazy as this may sound, some people don't have computers, so what happens to them? I guess they still have television news and radio news broadcasts.

Newspapers that have been around for hundreds of years are on their way off the presses and onto the Internet. The Boston Globe, which has been around for 137 years, is knocking on death's door. With the decline in circulation growing larger by the month, the Times Co., which is $1.1 billion in debt, is ready to pull the plug on the printed version. The Globe is projected to lose $85 million this year, after a $50 million loss in 2008. Employees have already encountered many cutbacks to keep this paper alive, and are willing to endure more in order to save a paper that they all believe in. Is it enough though?

With news on the Internet, I feel like I am always in the loop. When I click on the icon for Internet explorer, and the MSN page pops up, right in front of me is an important subject or event that is happening right now. All the latest news, sports and even gossip is just a click away. It just seems like the smartest, most cost effective and logical next step for the times. The younger generation isn't as interested in the newspaper as generations past and it's looking like that the lack of interest is only increasing.

I say get with the times, embrace the Internet! We're doing all the underpaid newspaper carriers worldwide a huge favor.

The paper is just like uh.. gone.

I never read newspapers. I always buy them for the comics and games in the cue section (Journal Sentinel). I used to buy them when I needed a car. I got one by not using the newspaper at all. But now it seems that, if I don't start reading them soon, I will lose out of the chance to. The end of print news is fast appoaching.

Hey, what can one say to something like this? I grew up in the era where the advancement of technology was something that people were beginning to depend on. Now, it's everwhere.
I say, save a tree. Kill the paper.

When people can access online newspapers from their phones, which by the way, many newspapers are now online, what is the point of constantly paying for a service? I say when your time is up, let it be up. Let it be done.

Down with the newspaper.
LEAVE YOUR SPOT IN HISTORY
LET THE WORLD SEE YOU AS YOU WERE

GIRLS WEEKEND

So I had a very exciting weekend. On Friday, me and three of my best friends took a mini road trip up to Oshkosh to pick up one of our best friends, Mia. On the way up there we passed a car full of boys, who later passed up holding up their phone numbers. Considering they looked like they were 12 we just laughed and ignored them. When we finally got there we found out Mia was bringing her boyfriend back home which was nice because I had never met him before! He was really nice! Later that night, we ended up going to a couple parties and running into people that we hadn't seen in a long time. Over the next couple of days us girls just hung out and enjoyed each other's presence. Mia had to leave Sunday, but of course we had to have a goodbye dinner first. Im gunna miss that girl and hopefully she comes down again soon!!

Huhhhhh

I am really starting to feel overwhelmed about school. This weekend I was supposed to do ALOT of homework...but 1 thing lead into another and I didn't do anything! Huhhhhh I can't wait unitl the last day of class.

Blogging is COOL. Blogging is the BEST! Nobody likes the newspaper. 'Cept for the ONION! Hooray Internet!

Reasons why blogging RULES!!!

1. Paper is stupid. Computer screens are sweeeeeet.
2. My arms get tired holding up newspaper. I like to sit with my hand folded neatly on my computer desk. So Comfortable.
3. There isn't a Facebook tab in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
   
4. Commenting is cool. Reddog334 and KarmaKid777 are my best friends.
5. ...Im just kiddin' the newspaper is fun...not.

Check this out! My best bud KarmaKid777 catching some sweeeeet air!

My dog Barleycorn

My dog Barleycorn is a 3 year old Vizsla/Lab mix. I adopted her from a woman in Saukville, WI a year and a half ago.

She had been shipped up from Georgia (where I'm from) along with her four adorable puppies. Her "shelter" name was Millie. I knew I couldn't have a dog named Millie, so I re-named her Barleycorn, which is actually more like a boy's name... but it fits her. She's a sporty little sweet tomboy, who loves to chase squirrels and stalk postal mail carriers for treats.

Gamling is only wrong if you lose

With the NCAA tournament coming to an end tonight when the University of North Carolina Tar Heels play the Michigan State Spartans in the championship game also means the ending of the all important office pool. Some people enter just for fun and pick teams based on who wears green or whose mascot is the coolest and they occasionally somehow win. Some people say that this is a waste of money, like all gambling, I do not, that is if you win. Tonight if the Tar Heels beat the Spartans I finish first in the office pool and win $300, and I do not feel an ounce of wrongness in doing so. $5 that wasn't even mine, my grandma very nicely pitched in for the pool, could turn into $300. Yes, I will give my grandma back her money, but I will keep the rest, and spend it very wisely, that is if North Carolina wins. If Michigan State wins, oh well, it will be like the other 10 years where I lost.

Rashidah's First Real Blog

So....

I'm sitting in JMC class... VERY tired
:(
I would so much rather be home in my bed right now, but hey, as is life
And I'm sitting next to Tiff Tiff
Yay
(Claps hands and smile)
But I really miss Devon though I'm really mad @ him
I can't believe this relationship has had so much strife in such a short amount of time
I hope it's worth it!!

And today after work, low and behold (dramatic music Dun Dun Dun)...
I have two exams to study for
One which is tommorrow might I add

Ahhhh......!!!!!!!
My car is a trillion miles away at the Park & Ride
I miss her
:'(

1. I bought a new cup today
2. I had some really good chai tea today
3. I had a really good veggie burger today

Now, for this exam, I think I will do a lot better than last time.
But I won't know until the D2L site post my score
That stupid site
So disappointing at times

But mow, I think it is time to stop
So there will be more later

~Shidah B.~

Practice Blog

My first blog! How exciting! Unfortunately, I don't have anything exciting to say though...
I've been in class since 8 am, with no breaks, so I'm ready for my school day to be OVER!
Not to mention the fact that I am starving!
This assignment should be a lot of fun!

How UConn Got Screwed

It was amazing the way it worked out. Michigan State wound up making it to the final four, and got the opportunity to play the Huskies of the University of Connecticut in Detroit, Michigan this past weekend. UConn had to play in the west region for one thing, which makes it very hard on the team, considering how far on the east coast they actually are. They managed to come through the West region even with all the allegations of recruiting violations that were brought up in the Nate Miles contraversy.

Even through all of this, the Huskies made it to Detroit where they were forced to take on Michigan State at a "neutral" site, which wound up being right in the Spartans back yard. The Huskies had been underperfoming all game, and with five minutes to go though, they still had a shot. Unfortunately though, the referees decided they were not going to blow the whistle on plays which were obvious fouls committed by Michigan State defenders. Things like this kept happening everytime AJ Price or Kemba Walker attempted to slash to the basket, forcing them to take bad shots, or just get the ball knocked away because of the physicality of the play. When you don't get the calls that are clearly there, it can become frustrating, and you can lose your cool, that is exactly what happened to UConn.

Yes, one could argue that with shooters like Freshman guard Kemba Walker having a dismal night at the line, this ultimately led to their demise. But had things stayed the way they were originally headed, they would have been right there. It's a shame that on the grandest stage in college basketball all year that something like this could happen. But once again, that is just part of the game. So now UConn is forced to suck it up, fight through the recruiting violation allegations, and try again next year. Seniors Jeff Adrien and AJ Price will be replaced in the starting lineup by Juniors Jerome Dyson, and Gavin Edwards. And if 7 foot 3 shot blocking monster Hasheem Thabeet decides to come back, along with another great recruiting class, the Huskies will once again put themselves in a championship run.

Parking Tickets

So I was in Minneapolis over the weekend and decided to bring my car back to school for a week and drive home this weekend for Easter. I parked under Sandburg and decided not to pay because Sundays are free. Well, after class this morning, at 11, I figured I should pay for my first night of parking. Sure enough, the relentless UWM parking police had already tagged me with a $20 ticket. What a great start to the week! I'm sure I'm not the only one that has accumulated a few parking tickets this year. The rest of the week I'll most likely move my car around to random lots and streets to avoid paying for parking under the dorms and getting more tickets. Thanks to UWM police for watching over the lot to make sure if anyone goes a minute over their time, they're instantly tagged with a pleasant little $20 surprise underneath their windshield wiper!

I have $23.00 in my bank account right now.
About two weeks ago my car started acting funny. Soon it was jumping between shifts and stalling at stop lights. Finally, last week, it died completely.
When my mom came and visited this weekend, we had it towed to a garage. Turns out that it needs an entirely new transmission. I cannot even drive it anymore. I have to park my damn broken car in the garage until I move out in May.
My financially gifted father has decided to pull the "I'm Broke" card and completely cop out.
Great.

Having transferred into this school this semester, I do not understand how things work. Turns out that I needed to have contracts into the housing office for next year, about a month ago. I am beyond frustrated. I won't be given the housing I want, I have no car, and I have two ridiculous tests this week.

On the note of ridiculous tests, GRAMMAR.
This professor is such terrible teacher, she makes me want to hang myself from the chalkboard. We get tests once every two weeks, which is barely enough time to learn the material! I am actually failing the class. I have A's in all of my classes except this one. I work my ass off and still nothing comes of it.

As I was saying, beyond frustrated.

Writing Articles

Luckily, Pantherlink crashed this morning so our TA gave us an extension on our article. My article is only four hundred words long, which I recently realized is much much too short. After class, I plan on going to my apartment to chain smoke and beef up my article. I am trying to quit smoking. It is difficult as I have done it ever since I was 10......I am only kidding. I started it when I was eighteen because I was too afraid to break the law. 

When I was walking to school today, I saw a car that was on fire. I think it's funny that cars can actually start on fire.  It's really ridiculous if you think about it. 

Another funny thing is the process of eating. It's hilarious to me that I have to sit down somewhere and put food in my mouth in order to ensure my survival. 

The last thing that is funny is the fact that I will be living with an olympic speed skater next year. 

I'm not sure how much practice I need with this whole blog thing. I run my own blog. It's an art and literature blog. You can access it here: milwaukeetravelogue.blogspot.com

PS. I can't wait for summer because I love tornadoes.