Is Sportswriting Dead?
by Sara on April 27th, 2009
Click here for a link to Stu Whitney’s column on the importance of sportswriting, which appeared in Sunday’s Argus Leader. As a budding sportswriter myself, this column especially resonanted with what I want my stories to be.
-Sara
Columbine: Ten Years Later
by Sara on April 20th, 2009
Upon driving to work this morning, I heard on the radio station here in Sioux Falls that today, April 20, 2009, marks the tenth anniversary of the Columbine shootings.
I remember, as a 12-year-old, watching the TV and wondering why kids not much older than me would open fire on their classmates. I remember watching Rosie O’Donnell’s talk show on television, and as tears fell onto her desk, I was struck by how affected the nation was by the events that took place that day. I loved Rosie, and I was so sad because she was sad.
I know that my 12-year-old brain faltered in its efforts to understand, and to tell you the truth, I’m not sure my 22-year-old brain understands today what motivates children to kill other children.
I clicked onto the Denver Post’s Web site today to see what the Post offered for coverage on the anniversary of the tragic day that took 13 lives. I left the site appalled at the comments that some individuals left below the articles addressing the candlelight vigil that was held Sunday evening. Among comments stating “We Are Columbine,” the mantra recited just ten years ago in the wake of the tragedy, some individuals felt compelled to state that the Denver Post and the attendees of the candlelight vigil should simply move on and forget what occurred at Columbine. Some individuals said that the families should not have to endure yet another reminder of their children’s passing.
I, like many other readers of the Denver Post’s coverage, feel that the sting of losing a child never passes, regardless of the coverage that appears in the Denver Post or the number of candlelight vigils that take place many years after April 20, 1999. I feel angry at those who commented in this vein, for their complete disregard of compassion and understanding that grief is not something that ever ends, but instead, grief is something we all learn to live with, to survive.
Some commentees even asserted that the Denver Post’s package of Columbine coverage was printed in order to garner advertising revenue. As a journalism student, I certainly understand the importance of advertising in running a newspaper, but I also uphold the responsibility of the newspaper to report the truth and to report the events, feelings and values of the community in which the newspaper works. Had the Denver Post not covered the Columbine anniversary, the editorial board would have been berated for their insensitivity and lack of compassion and reverence to the victims’ families and to the metropolitan area that they are responsible for covering.
Still more commentees are begging for equal coverage for all victims who died at the hands of those using guns, and are taking this opportunity to assert their vehement disapproval of the availability of guns and of less-than-strict gun laws in America. While admittedly this is a worthy platform that I tend to agree with (I don’t agree that Americans hold an amendment right to guns for personal use, but feel that the second amendment applies more to militia/battle-type situations), I feel that again, there’s a lack of compassion present here for the victims and their families, and for the community at-large. There’s a time and a place for all criticism, yet I feel in light of a tragedy (and the grief that it obviously holds over the community to this day) commentary on gun laws is inappropriate.
To read the Denver Post’s coverage of the anniversary of Columbine, click here.
To read the full text of the Second Amendment, where the United States takes its guns legislation, click here.
Take a moment to support E15!
by Sara on April 16th, 2009
To show widespread grassroots support for ethanol and the move to increase the base blend up to E15, the American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE) has launched a comprehensive E15 Grassroots Campaign, incorporating many tactics to help our industry overcome the E10 blend wall. Many of our initial-stage campaign activities will be focused on the web. Today, we are unveiling for members our online petition at Ethanol.org. Will you take a moment today to sign your name?
Please go to www.ethanol.org/petition.
The ethanol industry has brought a formal waiver to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, asking for up to 15 percent ethanol to be allowed in gasoline. This allowance for E15 would not only greatly benefit the ethanol industry, it would also mean thousands of new “green” jobs, more clean fuel choices for consumers, and a reduced dependence on foreign oil. It’s time for the 30-year-old E10 limit to be modernized.
As part of our E15 Grassroots Campaign, ACE has created an “E15 Action Center” on its website, containing a lot of useful information about E15 and the EPA waiver. Here you can read about the science backing up the use of higher blends in standard vehicles, a list of frequently asked questions, statements of support from key leaders, and much more. The “Take Action” portion of the Action Center also has links for writing a letter to the editor or a letter to your Members of Congress asking for their support.
“Humanity even for non-humans”
by Sara on April 9th, 2009
Check out this op-ed appearing in the New York Times today; Peter Singer’s views are important because they challenge American conventions about the dominion one has over animals.