News Final Alayna Snedden Period 6
Topic: Hurricane Matthew Title: Hectic Hurricane “My sister on the day of the hurricane lost power and Wi-Fi,” sophomore Tanya Silcott said. “Then her fence blew down and there was a huge oak tree in her backyard; it fell down on her house. It was so sad because she lost everything in her home and most stuff in her home got wet from the rain. We had to go and replace some of the things in her house like her roof and fence.” Hurricane Matthew has swept through the lives of many and some are still feeling the effects. Starting in Haiti, Matthew has raised Haiti’s death toll to 300 but is expected to be around 800 people according to ambassador Peter F. Mulrean. In the US, the death toll has increase from 13 to 21 lives lost. Matthew is no longer a hurricane but has been deemed a post-tropical storm. “Well it was chaos at the stores to get food and gas,” junior Yarelis Vazquez said. “But once everyone was in their houses it was just a waiting game.” As people ripped through the stores they bought hurricane supplies such as water, canned goods, and plywood. People were preparing for the worst and some did not get any damage at all. 46 percent of University students did not experience any power outages while only nine percent experienced other damage. 27 percent lost power for either one to two days. 18 percent lost power for three to four days. “They exaggerate the storm [more] than it really was, there was a lot of debris and power outages,” Vazquez said. “But besides that it was really fine once the coastal people were evacuated, [and] for Deltona it was okay for the most part.” Orange City, Deltona and Debary all experienced different occurrences from hurricane Matthew. For most cities it depended on where you live. Some students and staff experienced no issues while others had to leave town to avoid being trapped by flood damage. “My house was fine but one of my friends that lives six minutes away had serious damage,” Vazquez explained. “[When we] lost power it went on and off a couple of times then was off for thirty minutes; [afterwards] it was all fine.” The horror stories of the damage that hurricane Matthew has caused and the lives that were lost are slowly adding up. Even though lives in the United States have been lost, most of the deaths caused by Matthew comes from Haiti. Haiti along with other cities along the US coast are still picking up the pieces. Flood, wind and other debris wreckage is being accounted for and there is an estimated ten billion dollars in damage. Businesses closed to protect their workers and to keep people away and indoors for the hurricane, but that also results in money lost. Either way someone is in charge or repaying the debt that businesses were supposed to have obtained through the days lost. In the end, the storm passed though for most students and staff and no injuries or deaths, caused by hurricane Matthew, were reported from University high school.
Analysis This article was by far the most interesting and investigative I have ever been involved with. At first I thought it would be a simple article about the repercussions of hurricane Matthew. Later I discovered it would evolve, much like a hurricane, to much more than that after I began interviewing people. As I went around finding people who were affected, I heard some interesting stories. I wanted to make sure this article was really good so the student body would understand what happened all across the county. I attempted to get at least one source from each local city including Deltona, Orange City, Debary, and Deland to get as any angles as possible. Demonstrating good journalism through importance was a priority because of how many lives the storm affected. If good journalism was not used, the issue could have been seen as more dramatic or like it was nothing at all. A balance of the two is what can allow the reader to be informed while still having that emotional connection. If I had to change something about the article I would have written more and interviewed more people from each city. Getting a well rounded angle with a lot of information, and personal experiences, is the most important part of any article.
Topic:Dyn Cyber Attack Title: Internet Outage On Friday October 21, the entire east coast of the United States had an internet outage due to a Dyn cyber attack. Businesses shut down, and citizens were unable to access main sites and social media as internet outages flooded the east coast due to a Dyn cyber attack on Friday Oct 21. “I would be able to function normally for about a day but then I would lose my mind because almost everything I do involves the Internet in some way,” senior Delayney Larsen said. Dyn is an internet infrastructure company and was the main target for the cyber attack. The attacks came from Distributed Denial of Service, or DDoS. The first attack occurred at 7:10am but Dyn recovered in about two hours. The second attack started at noon while the third was reported just before 4pm. At 6:17pm, Dyn made the announcement that the problem has been resolved and the system was restored. “If the internet was out, I could not do work for my classes such as gym, multi media, and personal finance,” freshman Alexander Snedden said. “For my spare time it could affect watching videos or playing games.” During these times many citizens were blocked from accessing websites and social media apps like Twitter, Netflix, Spotify and Amazon, unless they used cell data to do so. “I would consider myself internet obsessed, yes, but that’s not a bad thing in my opinion,” Larsen said. “I don’t let it hinder my grades or anything and it helps me bond with friends and family and keeps me connected to the world around me and helps me learn. It also just helps put a smile on my face everyday. Whether it’s a YouTube video or a dumb meme I can always find something online to make me smile.” CNN has reported that DDoS mainly targets individual sites and all they really did was slow internet access. “An internet outage would be absolutely terrible,” freshman Haleigh Booth said. “It’s hard talking to friends without internet because most people have iPhones.” What originally started the outage was a flood of requests from tens of millions of IP addresses that disrupted Dyn’s system. The FBI is still investigating who is responsible for the attacks, but no one has claimed them yet.
Analysis In this article I was most proud of the information I gave out and the information I found in my research. When researching the Dyn cyber attack, I had to work really hard to find reliable sources who provided trustworthy information. Many news sites either gave too much information, some was irrelevant, or not enough. When I came across information I had to take that to the next step of fact checking. Digging around and fact checking are extremely important to demonstrating good journalism. Sorting everything by importance took a majority of the time because this article is a hard news piece. Style was also relevant because I had to format it in a way that still seemed interesting to the reader. I decided to use the internet to my advantage; most teenagers are obsessed so I went around to find out what an internet outage would mean to them. Things I would change about my article would include interviewing more and different sources along with sticking to the topic. Every once in awhile, I noticed that I would wonder off topic and it ultimately confuses the reader.
Topic: Post High School Plans Title: What’s your route? No senior is a stranger to the tough decision making process of where they plan on going after high school. Everyone dreams of their perfect future, but how they endeavor to make that future a reality is entirely different. “I have always wanted to go to college,” senior Katherine Justus said. “I thought about going into the military but I cannot do that because there are certain boundaries with my medication. My medication cannot be shipped overseas.” From polling 64 students, 88 percent said they plan on attending college after high school. Five percent plan to join the workforce and seven percent plan to join the military. “I am not planning on staying at Winn Dixie, just waiting for a better job offer with better pay,” former student Tiffany Case said. “I came to the decision of the workforce because I graduated and need to save up for college as soon as I can.” Soon after graduation, students encounter the biggest opportunities of their life, often choosing their career as well. While most students know what their plan is from a young age, there are still some that do not know even after graduation. “[Joining the Marines] was the perfect opportunity for adventure in my life,” senior Tevin Embry said. “I plan on doing a lot of traveling, experiencing the world and getting my body in the best shape of my life with grueling training.” It is strange that people who are still considered minors and ‘unable to think for themselves’ are forced to choose what they are going to do the rest of their life. Even though making a life changing decision can be tough, it is always a good idea to have a backup plan and to know your passion. “My minor would definitely be in business if I chose to major in nursing because of the fact that I need that backup,” Justus said. “Nursing is a great field [and] a very demanding field, but if I do choose to pursue my career at Publix and work up into management through that, then I would definitely want business as my minor.” Whether or not someone plans on going to college, working or joining the military, everyone will be making a meaningful contribution to society. Some even hope to someday change it, building a bigger and brighter future for everyone.
Analysis I am most proud of my angle on the post high school article. This article is one of my favorites because I can relate to the seniors I interviewed and to how they were feeling. Planning for the next step in life is always difficult, but it was inspiring to see what they were hoping to become. I believe that I demonstrated good journalism by getting a wide variety of people and jobs. Some of the students I spoke to were going to college, others were either joining the military or working. To broaden my field I searched within my own workplace. I interviewed a girl named Tiffany who I was working with at the time. I knew she was a former UHS student and she was currently in the workforce. She was the perfect person to get an opinion from since she had already graduated and was already tracking in her future. That is when I learned that sometimes it is good to think outside the box and speak to those who are already experiencing their life, not just people who are planning on doing something. Since my article was a feature, I would have definitely written more if I was to go back and change something. This topic was extremely important to me and I believe that I could have elaborated more and given more student stories and plans.
Personal Essay: Enter Title Within recent years technology has grown extremely popular in all aspects of life. Before the general public had access to technology, most technology would reside in hospitals or research facilities. Now that everyone has access to technology and the internet, people have more capabilities than ever before. One major example of how technology affects our generation is by causing people to turn mindless. When people go onto their phones they enter a different world, specifically their world. They get consumed, chewed up by their social media or texts. When they walk while on their phones it usually ends in chaos. For example, one woman was texting and walking in the mall and was not paying attention. Due to her lack of attention, she fell into the mall’s fountain located in the center of the mall. Later she decided to sue the mall because the security guards nearby laughed at her instead of helping her. Regardless of whether or not the security guards were wrong, it was still her fault that the accident occurred and it was all because she was not paying attention. Technology can be one of two things, helpful or hurtful. Having access to the internet can help further our society by keeping research going and by furthering education. It can be hurtful by distracting people, especially those who are considered obsessed with their devices. Being obsessed with a device usually starts because of stress or boredom. If the device becomes a distraction it can lead to forgetfulness or even becoming distant from friends and family. Even though most reasons seem negative with how technology is affecting us, there are a lot of examples of how technology benefits us. It furthers our education system, allows for a broader expression of creativity, and allows us to explore worlds beyond our own. Currently, students can see videos and pictures from across the world without ever having to leave the couch. Social media is one of the biggest platforms for students along with one of the most popular forms of interaction. Social media has transformed throughout the years along with the students. Some students have become antisocial and distant because of social media. While, on the other hand, some people will use social media to meet up with old friends or temporarily catch up on someone’s life. Either way, the people of our generation can make the daily choice of which route they want to travel down. Another example of how technology is affecting our generation is within schools. Our education systems are starting to realize how important and involved our generation is with technology. For that schools are now including technology within our curriculum. Schools across the nation are putting BYOT (Bring Your Own Technology) classrooms to use by involving school projects and other assignments with them. Some schools have even provided iPads for student use within the classroom. The iPads are usually used for students who do not have their own technology; that way when students use the iPads they can take part in the interaction of the classroom. In addition to that, schools have provided different classes with full computer labs. Classes such as digital media, engineering, newspaper and yearbook have access to these labs. For students who do not take part in any of these classes, there is an alternative. The media center, or school library, is usually almost always equipped with a computer lab. These computers can be used by any and all students for any different reason. If someone has a research paper or an essay to do, they can type it there.
Schools have also been providing online software in addition to devices. Microsoft and Adobe programming is included within different school classes. Programs like InDesign, Word, and PowerPoint are just some of many other programs now available to students. Students having access to these programs can allow students to become more creative and more interested. A student’s capacity now has no limits thanks to these programs and other softwares. Within the science world, different forms of technology and devices have been studied for health reasons. Something as small and as simple as a cell phone can hold eighteen times more bacteria than a public toilet. In addition to that, cell phones can built up radiation over time. Too much exposure to radiation can and will lead to health problems down the road. Since the use of technology is fairly new, scientists have not seen the long term effects of radiation within devices. Devices and technology are not specifically good or bad for a person, but deciding how you will treat technology can trade back to how it treats you.