Monday 10/31

First off, I'm excited that my hometown of Brookline, NH was mentioned in the snow article. However, like we discussed in class, the article was very jumpy. Its focus seemed a bit off, and I found myself confused on more than one occasion. They had a great picture for the article though on Page One. I liked the profile on the elite runner. It makes me feel more confident about writing a profile on a soldier for TNH later this week.

Durham Police, New Hampshire State Police, and the state wildlife department are searching for Fluffy, the Durham Zoo’s prized Romanian spotted leopard, which recently escaped its enclosure and was last seen last night at closing around 9 p.m. 

The zoo has been closed, visitors - including crying children and scowling adults - have been evacuated, and police are searching the zoo and surrounding area for Fluffy.

"Fluffy would never hurt anyone," one patron said as he was leaving the zoo.

Zoo officials, however, are warning Durham residents that - while generally mild-tempered - Fluffy could react violently and attack.

"Fluffy is a wonderful, warm, gentle cat who has never hurt anyone," said the zoo's chief biologist Kitty Smith. "But if these cats are cornered - or encountered on a dark night - their defense is to kill, and kill quickly."

Smith advises anyone who comes into contact with the black-and-white-spotted, 146-pound leopard to slowly lie on the ground, avoid eye contact, and expect sniffing and licking.

"...Unless she senses fear she's not likely to react violently," Smith added.

Durham Police Chief William Blair said that police forces will be searching the zoo first, then the neighborhood. After it starts to get dark, however, police will have difficulty locating the dark leopard.

"We have got to find her before 3 p.m.," said Blair. "If we don't, it could be a very messy night. These cats are nearly impossible to find in the dark - they can see everything, and we are blind."

Blair added that the police will use deadly force with the leopard if need be.

"If possible, Fluffy will be shot with a tranquilizer gun. But if necessary, we will shoot to kill."

One of Fluffy's fans, James Petronkis of Newmarket, claims he was the one to tell the zoo and police about Fluffy's absence once he arrived at the zoo when it opened at 7:30 a.m.

"Everything seemed normal, until I got to the cage. Then I knew something was wrong right away. Fluffy usually draws the straw up into a nest when she sleeps, but there was no nest - there wasn't even any straw."

According to Petronkis he tried to alert zoo officials of Fluffy's disappearance several times. Officials did not believe him until after they looked through the enclosure. He then hid in the zoo until police found him and kicked him out.

"That's gratitude for you," said Petronkis.

Fluffy is one of five remaining Romanian spotted leopards after the species was hunted in Romania. She is the only female left, and next month she was to be taken to China to mate with a male owned by the Chinese government.

Thursday 10/27

The article on Page One about crows was funny, and a good, light article. However, the lede and next few paragraphs were so cliche. "Crows. That's right. Crows." I feel like I've seen this line in so many articles in the past. I do love the scene of the little old lady packing heat and driving around her town. Another cheesy line in this article was when the writer wrote, "Bingo." Honestly? I do agree with the writer that a delayed lede was the best choice for this story.

Wednesday 10/27

The article on A23, about the cops being arrested for smuggling guns, took way too long to get to a quote. It was very unbiased and was well-written. I just wanted someone to say something before eight paragraphs in. The SAT article on the same page blew my mind seeing as how I took that test 2 years ago. I like how the fact that the College Board hired an ex-F.B.I. chief was included very early on in the article. It made it a great -read-this-now lede.

Tuesday 10/25

I decided to read the article in the business section about Netflix, mostly because of the graphic on B1. I love how the writers included that Reed Hastings ignored a warning from his friend while in a hot tub. IT was just good writing on their part. I also read about the innovation for the thermostat by ex-Apple employees. This article mostly had pros, so it seemed more like a review. If it had more cons - other than price - the article would have been less biased. I did like the lede, although it seemed a little cliche with the "next up: the humble household thermostat" line.

Monday 10/24

I first read the article on A16 about the extravagant wedding. All I could think was, 'so what?' While the article did act as an example of a major gay marriage in New York, I didn't really care about the famous guest list. People outside the wedding didn't even know who the couple were. I then read about horse slaughtering - starting on Page One. This article didn't seem very Page One worthy, maybe it was just a slow news day. I know I'm not affected by it, but some may be. I liked its short, concise lede, though.

Thursday 10/20

The first article I read was about the sad fact that schools cannot afford gym classes/equipment for students. I know I liked gym class as a kid, so I'm glad that some schools are able to get grants. Then I read the article about Ridge Barden, the 16-year-old football player who died. I realize football is a dangerous sport, but I didn't realize that - despite new designs for injury-prevention - football players are still dying. This is especially true for pre-teens and teens.

Wednesday 10/19

I did not like the article about Herman Cain. I thought it was too focused on his personality as compared to other candidates than his stands on the issues. Part of the reason I read the article was to gain some insight on to how serious he is about the presidency and his stands on various issues. While I was disappointed by the Cain article, I approved of the article about the prisoner exchange between Hamas and Israel. The picture on Page One was emotional in that it showed how thin and worn he is after his almost five-year imprisonment with Hamas. The lede did its job in that it tells the facts and draws the reader in for more. I wanted to know more and liked the rest of the article too.

Tuesday 10/18

Today's paper was mainly focused on the Occupy Wall Street movement. The "We're Angry" article was an awesome human interest piece, especially accompanied by the six photos of protestors with signs. I noticed the box on page A3 pointing out a related article and decided to read that too. Yet another good piece, only about a man who's on both sides of the movement. Lastly I read the piece about the Amish attacks and immediately became annoyed with the number of times the writers mentioned how very un-Amish the attackers were being. It was drawn out because of how many times they quoted people saying similar things.

Monday 10/17

Today I read mostly from the National section. First I'll talk about the Line Up Guy article on Page One. The lede was a great delayed lede but the article sort of stopped suddenly. Maybe it's just me thinking this for a lot of articles, but it seemed like, "I don't care what you've done," is a weird way to end the story. The quote didn't seem powerful enough. After that I read the National section. I did like the ending for the Kansas City Sermon article. Lastly, I read the Whale Hunt article. I felt that the writer should've mentioned the animal rights activists earlier. It was more of a narrative story than a news article, if that makes sense.

In class Exercise 10/17

Students from Portsmouth High School may have to go to class in lieu of sleeping in on Saturdays if they misbehave during the school week if a new policy passes.

Yesterday, School Board member Tim Steele asked the School Board to consider accepting a new rule that would make students come in to school on Saturday mornings – from 8 a.m. to noon – rather than serving in-school suspensions during the week.

This new plan would need around $3000 per year for staffing during the four-hour period, and some parents disagree with the plan because of it.

“I work six days a week, including Saturday morning, and it’s bad enough to get my son off to school Monday through Friday,” said Peggy Bacon, one of the parents in attendance at the meeting. “I just don’t think it’s going to make any difference, and the parents are going to pay for it, in higher taxes as well as in ruined Saturdays.”

Bob Farley, of 64 Elm St., said that parents should take responsibility for their children and should teach them to have “respect for rules.”

“Maybe if they have to miss a few Saturday morning cartoons they’ll start wising up,” Farley said.

Lisa Gallagher, a senior and one of the five students at the meeting, disagreed and added that she thinks the policy would only benefit the faculty.

“I think it’s just being done to make life easier for the faculty, so they don’t have to deal with detentions during the week,” Gallagher said. “Anyway, what if someone skips the session? What are they going to do, make them stay all weekend?”

Steele responded that the students would not have to stay the whole weekend; however they “would not be allowed to return to school until the detention has been served.”

One of the examples Steele provided for an in-school suspension is when students are caught smoking on the school’s property. Under the current system, the student would spend the school day in an empty classroom with a teacher and would not be able to make up missed assignments.

Steele hopes that the Saturday sessions would prevent students – not just from smoking on the grounds – from violating school policies.

“I know this isn’t good news for parents,” said Steele, “but I hope the threat of Saturday classes will make the students think twice before breaking the school rules.”

The Board decided to put off the issue until its next meeting, where Steele will have to present more information about in-school suspensions this year.

Tuesday 10/11 - Thursday 10/13

I got a bit side tracked in another class, and was unable to really read the NYT these days. However, I saved them and will write about them now:


10/11: I just want to say I was excited that I could read the numbers on the coffin on the front page, then I realized it was just the date from the day before. Then I tried to look up the word above the date and could not find it, so I assume it is a name. I then read the welfare article because the picture of the child eating in candlelight drew me in. The only problem I had with it was that I wish they had introduced Arthenia Joyner earlier in the article, rather than the end.

10/12: The Chilean Miners article seemed very messy, like I got the sense that something was out of place in the article. I was never really able to place it, though. Other than that, I had an issue with the Taxi Light System article. The end seemed to come to quickly and suddenly it was over. The end just seemed awkward.

10/13: First thing, I love the opening quote for the Family Tensions article on Page One. It stood out to me because it was risky, yet necessary at the same time. However, I think they spent too long on the Greenwood family when they could have had other examples. Lastly, the description in the Suspect in a Terror Plot article, during the lede, was also awesome, especially mentioning that he was speaking in a language his neighbors didn't understand.

Rescue on the Tracks (In-class Exercise)

            A teenage waiter and a police officer rescued 80-year-old tourist Francois Truffaut from a train collision when his car stopped in a railroad crossing in Old Orchard Beach, Maine, this morning.

James Laboke, a 17-year-old waiter at the Eezy Breezy Restaurant, was walking to work when he spotted Truffaut’s 1987 pink Cadillac Seville on the tracks. Laboke, who does not own a cell phone, ran 300 feet to the police station to get help.

            “I never thought about it,” Laboke said. “I just knew I couldn’t let that man get crushed by a train.”

            Laboke told the police that a car was stalled on the tracks and the driver was slumped over the steering wheel, remaining unconscious despite Laboke pounding on the window.

            Captain Janet Paradiso was a mile away from the tracks when she got the call over the radio.  Paradiso arrived on the scene at 6:05 a.m. and could hear the train’s whistle from close by.

            “I knew there was no time,” Paradiso said. “I had to do something.”

            According to Chief of Police Brian Paul, Paradiso slammed her police cruiser into Truffaut’s car and pushed it off the tracks. Thirty seconds later, the train came through the crossing at about 40 miles per hour.

            “It was that close,” said Paul.

            Truffaut is in stable condition but does not remember anything of the incident. Police reports said that the cause of the incident may have been an insulin shock due to Truffaut’s diabetes.

            After Truffaut’s rescue, Laboke went to work as if nothing happened, and did not mention his eventful morning to his boss, Charles Champaigne, who found out what happened from a reporter.

            “It doesn’t surprise me at all,” said Champaigne. “That young man is one of my most responsible employees. He’s just a great kid.”

Tuesday 10/4

Again with the same layout. It's getting boring and looks unbalanced. I absolutely love the lede in the Nobel Prize article, about how the Nobel Prize committee tried to reach him, but never would. At first, I didn't like how they wouldn't mention what he had won the Prize for in the first place. After reading the article through, I find that I agree with the decision. This is because the article was focused more on the decision to award the Prize posthumously, despite rules against it. The changing of the status quo is more important than the fact that he had won the award for his work in immunology.

Monday 10/3

Just as a visual note, I didn't like the layout of the front page. I felt that there was too much text on the right, and would have looked better with the picture in the middle between the two columns. I always wonder how they get in contact with some of their sources. For example, the man who was deported and said he will try to get back no matter what. How do they get sources to give up such information so publicly? It's just interesting. Another thing that annoyed me is that, in the tax breaks article on A1, there were no quotes until page A3. I felt like a quote from, say, Senator Kerry, actually saying what the Times is saying he said would be better.

Scent of a Woman Speech Lede

After listening to the testimony of Charlie Simms, a student at the Baird School threatened with expulsion, and Headmaster Trask said that Simms was not "worthy" of staying studying at the school, Lt. Col. Franks Slade stood in defense of the student.
"But not a snitch," Slade said.

Thursday 9/29

I didn't like the lede for "A Start-up Takes on a Titan." It was way too cheesy saying "a light bulb went off." However, I loved the lede - and the article - for "In a Quiet Village, Catching Up to a Hijacker." I was really interesting that the first bit of information was that he was dressed as a priest (delayed lede). Some of the text could have been broken up to make it easier to read, however, I didn't mind that as much.