script

AP STYLE POLICE

AT RISE: The scene opens with PERSON 1 Facebook chatting with PERSON 2

PERSON 1: (types while speaking out loud) Hey!  Guess what!  My cousin got arested last week!  
PERSON 2: (types while speaking out loud) what?
PERSON 1: arested!  He committed a felany!  
PERSON 2: I think you mean arrested.  With two r’s…and felony.
PERSON 1: Whatever.  Yah, he’s acused of asalt and burgly!  He has to hire an atorknee.
PERSON 2: You mean accused. And assault…and burglary…and Attorney.  Dude, your knowledge of AP Style is atrocious.
PERSON 1: I don’t give a shit!!  Who cares?!?
PERSON 2: I care!!  You need to follow the 2010 AP Style!
PERSON 1: What are you?  The AP Style Police?  

The Screen flashes with awesome music and the words AP STYLE POLICE
Scene changes to POLICE OFFICER for AP Style.

POLICE OFFICER: Yah, I’ve been with the AP Police for two years now.  I was always really good at AP Style in college.  Instead of becoming a journalist like everyone else, I decided to use my knowledge for the enforcement of AP Style.

RADIO: We’ve got a 22 on 102 State Street.  

POLICE OFFICER: (into radio) Roger, I’m on it.  (to the camera) 22: a misuse of AP Style.  (shakes head) people just don’t take AP Style.  It makes me so angry.  

POLICE OFFICER rings doorbell of PERSON 1’s house.  

PERSON 1: Coming! (opens door) Oh…hello officer…Have I done something wrong?
POLICE OFFICER: I’ll say you have!  It’s been reported that you have been misusing AP Style.
PERSON 1: …You have got to be kidding…
POLICE OFFICER: Oh so you think this is funny?!  You think AP Style is a joke?!?!
PERSON 1: Um…yes?
POLICE OFFICER: Do you even know how to spell habeas corpus?
PERSON 1: Um…H-A-B-E-O-U-S—C-O-R-P-S-E?
POLICE OFFICER:  Oh…my…god!  I have never seen such a hideous display of AP Style misuse.  It’s H-A-B-E-A-S – C-O-R-P-U-S!!!!  And you’re under arrest!!!  

PERSON ONE runs off.  POLICE OFFICER chases after him, tasers him to the ground.

PERSON 1: AHhhhhhhgahrhedafhaogs.
POLICE OFFICER: You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to speak to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be appointed to you. Do you understand these rights as they have been read to you?  
PERSON 1: Ahhhhgaghahregdhosf
POLICE OFFICER:  I’m taking that as a yes.  (handcuffs person 1 and drags him away)

Scene changes: POLICE OFFICER is driving again.

POLICE OFFICER: well that’s all settled.   He was indicted with a first-degree misuse of AP Style.  Hehe yes he will be in prison for a long time.
RADIO: We’ve got a 15 on 213 South Maple Lane.
POLICE OFFICER: (into radio) Roger, I’m on it.  (to camera) 15:  a domestic AP Style dispute.  Gotta check it out, maybe settle the disagreement.

POLICE OFFICER comes into yard.  BOYFRIEND and GIRLFRIEND are arguing.  

(BOYFRIEND and GIRLFRIEND are yelling at each other saying things like “you’re wrong” and “I’m right” etc)
POLICE OFFICER: Hey guys, take it easy!  What’s the argument about.
GIRLFRIEND: This idiot thinks subpoenaing is spelled S-U-B-P-O-E-N-I-N-G, when it’s obviously S-U-B-P-O-E-N-A-I-N-G!!
BOYFRIEND: That’s WRONG!!  It’s S-U-B-P-O-E-N-I-N-G!!  -A-I-N-G is just stupid!!
GIRLFRIEND: No no no!!!  You are wrong!
(they resume yelling at each other, screaming things like “you’re stupid” and whatnot)
POLICE OFFICER: Folks folks!  Calm down!  I can settle this.  She’s right.  It’s S-U-B-P-O-E-N-A-I-N-G!!  

GIRLFRIEND starts celebrating and BOYFRIEND starts being sad and stuff. POLICE OFFICER walks away.

POLICE OFFICER: All in a day’s work.

Screen flashes AP STYLE POLICE one last time.  CREDITS

25 Great Story Ideas

For the listening exercise, I actually ended up at two places. I started out sitting outside of Olmsted on one the metal benches there and just observed and listened. First off, it was surprising the amount of people outside. People were sprawling in the grass, talking to friends or just soaking up the sun. Nearly everybody was wearing shorts and enjoying the good weather. They talked about senior year, finals, sleep, work, and many more topics.

I also noticed that a lot of people were coming from Aliber Hall after classes and migrating to Olmsted. I had originally planned on just staying outside of Olmsted for the exercise, but my curiosity won over. I walked into Aliber Hall and stood outside room 101, pretending to read a newspaper. People entering class talked about how much they didn't want to be there. People coming out talked about how happy they were to get out of class. Some people did a crossword puzzle, and they had resorted to guessing random words and filling them in to see if they fit the blanks.

At first I found the exercise really awkward. I felt like a creeper, listening in on their conversations. I also at first thought the exercise was failing because people were talking about the most mundane things you could imagine. At first, I didn't think I'd hear anything close to a story. I don't know what I was expecting, to hear stories about a professor who got arrested or something? Anyways, I was disappointed at first because the conversations didn't seem all that interesting. But as I listened, I realized that there were stories here. These are the 25 stories I came up with from this exercise:

1. Senior year- what do seniors do now that they're done with college? Grad school, work, vacation?
2. Senior year (part 2)- where are seniors going to go when they graduate? Will they go back to their hometown, stay in Des Moines, go somewhere new?
3. How to keep in touch with friends after graduation.
4. How to keep in touch with friends just over the summer.
5. Sleep- whether to wake up earlier to accomplish things like homework or showering or to just sleep til the last possible minute.
6. A study on sleep in college. Why do students feel it's necessary to stay up all night? Are they always studying or doing homework? Has sleep become a competition about how few hours you can get and manage to keep your eyes open?
7. How to stay awake in class when you've pulled an all-nighter.
8. Finals- concerns about difficult tests and grades.
9. How do you pass a final if you haven't attended any classes?
10. How well does someone have to do on an exam to raise their grades?
11. Crossword puzzles- maybe just something fun and upbeat about people who write them, people who do them everyday, etc.
12. Alzheimer's Disease- Many people suffer from Alzheimer's and it can run in the family. But there are ways to combat Alzheimer's by strengthening the brain through crosswords, puzzles, chess, etc.
13. How do people deal with a relative with Alzheimer's? What type of strain does that put on family relations?
14. How do people with Alzheimer's go through their daily routine?
15. Drinking in College- how does it affect student grades?
16. How do you sober up after drinking all night?
17. A focus on students who don't drink til their 21 or in college. How do they resist temptation? Why don't they drink (religious reasons or just personal decision?)
18. Summer! What are people doing during break?
19. Summer classes- why aren't there more offered?
20. Are summer classes easier than normal classes?
21. Transferring Students- why are they transferring from Drake? money?
22. How had the tuition increase affected next years enrollment?
23. A girl who is transferring to a different school because she bought a dance studio in a different town in Iowa.
24. Student run businesses.
25. Drake Campus during the summer (I almost imagine this more as a photo article)- what takes place during summer? just classes? do organizations still meet? is the campus more or less dead?

Democracy or Fascism?

On April 23, 2010, Governor Jan Brewer signed off on the new Arizona immigration law. It was immediately met with protests from many people, and even President Obama criticized it.

However, Most Americans want to see change in America's immigration policy. But is the new law too harsh? In a poll conducted by the New York Times/CBS News, 51% of the participants in the poll thought that the new law was pretty good. 36% thought it went too far. 9% thought it could be harsher, and 4% had no opinion about it [conducted April 28 through May 2 with 1,079 adults, and with a margin of sampling error of plus or minus three percentage points].

According to the New York Times, critics of law have said that the new law was "the broadest and strictest immigration measure in generations, would make the failure to carry immigration documents a crime and give the police broad power to detain anyone suspected of being in the country illegally." Opponents have also called it an open invitation for harassment and discrimination against Hispanics regardless of their citizenship status.

Mexico's Foreign Ministry said in a statement that it was concerned about the rights of its citizens and their relation to Arizona. Quite frankly, the Foreign Ministry has reason to be concerned. I remember another leader who required a certain ethnic group to carry around papers, and they could be severely penalized if caught without them. That leader's name was Hitler. Cardinal Roger M. Mahony from Los Angeles said that the new power being given to the authorities were like that of Nazism.

A lot of the people in our class voiced concern or anger for the new law. In fact, I think everyone did. While we all agree that the law is too harsh, I can't help feel we are really removed from the situation living in Iowa.

How does Iowa stand up where diversity is concerned? Iowa schools rank 45th of 51 in diversity of students. In 2006, the schools in Iowa are 86% white students, 5% are black, 6% are Hispanic, 2% are Asian, and 1% are Native Americans. In Polk County, 77% of the students are white, 10% are black, 9% are Hispanic, 4% are Asian, and 0% are Native American. At Drake University, 73% of the students are white, 3% are black, 2% are Hispanic, 4% are Asian, and 0% are Native American.

In Arizona, 45% of students in school are white, 5% are black, 41% are Hispanic, 3% are Asian, and 6% are Native American. Look at the huge difference between Iowa and Arizona. Just something to think about amidst the rants.

Sources:
http://www.cappex.com/colleges/Drake-University-153269
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/24/us/politics/24immig.html
http://projects.nytimes.com/immigration/enrollment/iowa/polk
photo courtesy of http://www.nydailynews.com

The Action is at Jimmy Johns

A large crowd gathered outside of Jimmy Johns in anticipation for $1 sub sandwiches. Jimmy Johns created this deal for Customer Appreciation Day on April 23 from 11-2 p.m. The crowd of students and residents of Des Moines waited along the sidewalk between Jimmy Johns and 24th Street for about 15-30 minutes.

Some students felt that the sandwich wasn't really worth the wait, but they enjoyed a change in their routine. At least it wasn't Hubbell. Other students didn't mind waiting for a discounted sandwich.

"It was worth it for us," said Molly Devnne, a student who waited in line for about 15 minutes.

It wasn't all fun in games waiting in line. One student passed out while waiting for her sandwich. The fire department arrived swiftly and made sure she was OK. She then left with her friends, presumably to her dorm/home or to the doctor's.

In the end, a lot of people enjoyed buying discounted sandwiches despite the long wait. When you're in college, you've got to save money wherever you can.

Drake BSC Budget Cuts Doesn't Pass!

April Fools! No budget cut for the Board of Student Communication this year! On April 1, the Senate conducted their meting to vote on the 2 percent cut for BSC. Over 20 people attended to observe or debate this motion. This was the largest crowd the Senate has ever seen, according the Times-Delphic.

The motion failed 6-17. Most of the senators voted down the motion itself as soon as it was brought to the table. The Senate still recognized that there are still flaws in the BSC that must be addressed. Another option was to making the BSC's budge a line-item separate from the student activity fee, which would give the BSC more say on how much money they receive.

According to a survey conducted by David Wright (associate dean of the School of Journalism and Mass Communication), there were $21,000 in legitimate needs for each of the publications.

It's amazing what a large turnout and thoughtful surveying can do. According to the editors of the publications, they were not necessarily made aware of the funds available to them. Many journalism students were outraged by the idea of taking away resources that are used to produce things that the whole campus reads and enjoys.

Personally, I'm overjoyed that the student body mobilized to make their case in a reasonable, well-thought out way. Lately, it just seems when we protest, we need screaming, yelling, obscenities, and maybe even some veiled threats! Maybe now we can leave the torches and pitchforks at home and bring our brains to protests instead.




Sources:
The Time-Delphic Vol. 128, NO. 40. April 8, 2010

Bianca Lopez: A Thousand Miles From Home

Imagine moving from your long-time home town for the first time. Now imagine that distance being over 1,000 miles from your home, family, and friends. You've imagined the experience of Bianca Olvera Lopez.

Bianca Olvera Lopez, a first year magazines major, never thought that she would leave California for college. She especially did not think she’d end up approximately 1,676 miles away from home. This changed when she attended a journalism college convention in Anaheim, California.

David Wright, the Associate Dean of the School of Journalism, called her over to the booth himself, and he started to tell her about Drake and Iowa. She told him she wasn’t leaving California, but when she looked into Drake some more, she changed her mind.

“Drake sort of came to me, and that’s why I decided to come here,” said Bianca. Another reason for choosing Drake was because they had a specific Magazine Journalism program; the colleges in California did not.

Despite this unique connection with Drake, Bianca may not be here much longer. With the tuition increase, Drake will be more expensive than it already is. Even with the scholarships she received from Drake, the schools in California she considered were still cheaper. Besides that, she really misses California and her friends and family.

Bianca’s parents have not been completely happy with her choice of college or career. They struggled with the idea of her going out of state, especially so far away. In addition to the distance, Bianca’s mother always had the hopes of her becoming a doctor. Bianca shared that dream until she got involved in the yearbook during her freshman year at Anaheim High School. She discovered her passion for journalism, especially for the layouts and design. It was then that she realized the medical career was her mom’s dream, not hers.

If Bianca leaves Drake, she will go back to California to finish her college education. However, she will remain in the journalism program because that’s what makes her happy.