I really don’t like grammar. In fact, I honestly hate it. It is a very good specialty to learn, and definitely being a business major, it would benefit me immensely. That being said, I don’t like learning grammar because I am a face-to-face conversational person and believe grammar is overrated. I understand that their is grammar in conversational context too, but I don’t think it is as noticeable in a conversation.

I find it difficult to understand their, and there; while also learning well or good. It is something that I don’t stress too much, because I don’t feel like it’s that important. I truly have a hard time understanding the proper use of semicolons, and colons. When do I use them for a list? How am I supposed to understand the difference in sentences? Subordinate clauses, and complex sentences confuse me, and make me mad.

I feel like having, not quizzes, but maybe exercises that we go over. I want to learn, and have practice doing it. The best way to learn is practice, but not homework. We are already overbooked with all the classes anyways. I don’t think I can honesty have a pet peeve, because I know that everyone that does have pet peeves gets mad t me. I ruin every grammar usage their is. So, to have a pet peeve would just be contradicting myself.

It was very interesting, and somewhat scary walking up to people and conducting interviews. It got better after the first few, but in the beginning my questions were not as thorough. It was also interesting to notice, I would feed off the people I had already interviewed, and form a better question for the next person. Asking people about something I don’t really know though can be very awkward. I think if I were interviewing them about sports it would have been different. I can talk about sports all day.

Patrick Donlon- “I will not buy the Iphone because I think it is too expensive. I already have a working Iphone, and don’t think its necessary to get the new one. The software though is very cool.”

Will Nystrom- “I don’t like the plastic Iphone because I feel that it is an inferior product to the Iphone 5s. It doesn’t adequately support the whole idea even though it is cheaper.”

Austin Jolly- “I will buy the 5 just because I have an upgrade for the Iphone and currently I’m still working with a four, so it will be nice to have the new one. I am looking forward to the finger identification app on the new phones.”

Jackson Lowery- I wont buy the Iphone 5, because I’ve noticed that the first sample released always has problems. They always seem to be fixing bugs for months after the release. So, if I do, it will not be till months after. Then they’ll be releasing the Iphone 6 I’m sure.

Colin Thomas- “I’d love to be able to get the Iphone 5. It will take some convincing to the parents, but I always try to stay up to date with the technology. So, I believe I will get it. Cant go wrong with the way Iphone does their phones; they have really dominated the industry. If they keep making, ill keep buying.”

Sumun Vasheghani- There is no way I will buy the Iphone 5. I just don’t see the point. When you have the Iphone 5 and you get the updated software, there is nothing different between the phones. No one puts pass codes on their phone anymore anyways, so the idea of the of the fingerprint is not worth the money.”

Jake Blum- “I won’t buy it just because I think it will be the same as the one I have right now. It really doesn’t make much sense for me to buy it.”

We decided to follow this news about technology, because we felt it was important to stay up to date with the newest technology.  The new Iphone is especially interesting to follow because of the competition that is continuing to grow throughout the industry. Now, with all the new gaming systems coming out, it’s important to stay up to date because as college kids, we usually spend a lot of time playing video games. The technology is becoming so advanced in todays society, and we thought it would be fun to follow up on it. I really want to learn how to use the Iphone better, and gain more knowledge so my efficiency on the Iphone is greater. I also want to learn about the gaming systems because there is a very high chance that I’ll purchase one.

I read this article, because it sparked my interest with the recent success of Baylor football, it is exciting to hear that the football alumni are starting to give back to the school. Baylor wouldn’t be where it is now with the support of the alumni football players. I think this story does a good job of showing the excitement from recent players through their quotes.

“We wanted to honor the teams and players that have come before.” said Doug Fertsch. It shows how they want a strong showing from alumni.

“Most of them want to be a part of this.” Abercrombie said. “They app want to be a part of what’s going on right now in Baylor, and were glad to have them be a part of it.” This quote is an example of the excitement and buzz around Baylor.

I wouldn’t want to be quoted in the newspaper because I don’t think my opinions are worth it. I’m really not big on being put in the public.

As I was looking through the Huffington Post, the only articles I was looking for were articles that had to do with Terrorism, attacks on Syria, or the Navy Gunmen. These were topics that have interested me of late due to the seriousness of them. I explored the Huffington Post on September 19, 2013, and thats exactly when the article was published. The outlet talks mainly about how terrorism is evalving and how America is going to take a different stance essentially.

The outlet covers topics anywhere from Business to Politics, but this story really caught my interest. The story talks about how the FBI changed after 9/11 and how the FBI is working towards terrorism right now. It is interesting because of the terrorist attacks in Syria, now they don’t have anything to do with the FBI, but terrorism is still alive. The recent attack at the Navy Yard is a great example, along with the Boston Marathon Bombings. They also talk about the findings in the FBI and whether or not the FBI is doing what they are expected to do, something Comey believed was not factual evidence. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/19/james-comey-fbi_n_3957476.html?utm_hp_ref=politics

I also had a very interesting read on the decision to cut Food Stamps. I’m currently in an Entrepreneurship Social and Economic Development class and thought this was interesting for a report. Food Stamps are a major impact in the economic well being for some people, and the cuts may hurt a lot of people.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/19/food-stamp-cuts_n_3957509.html?utm_hp_ref=politics

The other story of interest was the update of the IOS 7. I was interested in this, because my paper is on this, but also because I recently downloaded it and want to figure out how to do it, and also if it’s worth it. So far, I think it is very worth it.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/19/ios-7-features_n_3953256.html?ir=Technology

I think this media outlet refers to many different people. I feel like it is more designated to the middle class honestly. It tries to focus on smaller subjects that aren’t usually in the main media outlets. I really liked the media outlet, but it was kind of hard to find interesting stories that appealed to me. I think they appeal to a smaller group than the bigger media outlets, which may hurt them.

http://www.dallasnews.com/news/local-news/20130917-gaps-in-background-checks-gave-opening-to-navy-yard-gunman.ece

I think the lead in this story is very well done, because it does a good job of getting to the point quickly. That is something that is from the good writing rules. Although it does go for quite a long time, it is a very effective lead.

“Gaps in how the military conducts background checks enabled the shooter in Monday’s deadly Washington Navy Yard rampage to obtain a high-level security clearance and gain access to protected installations, despite a history of disciplinary problems in the Navy and run-ins with police.”

This is a great example of a short paragraph that introduces a new quote. In the book it mentions that good writers usually start a new paragraph when they quote someone.

“The security investigation in this case doesn’t seem adequate,” said Michael Barrett, owner of Diligent Innovations, a federal security contractor based in Arlington, Va.”

Here I really like the use of the time frame. In the book it says use statistics sparingly, but when used, make them powerful. This is a powerful stat because it shows how long the process is, and why people mess up sometimes.

“The Pentagon faces a backlog of five to six months on background checks, which places pressure on the outside firms that conduct most of them to finish their work quickly.”

This sentence does a good job of not falling into the Common Sentence Errors. They do a good job of making the sentences parallel to each other.

“Yesterday’s tragic and senseless violence highlights the importance of complete, thorough background investigations of the contractors and subcontractors granted access to Navy installations,” McCaskill wrote.”

Writing leads was something I definitely wasn’t used to. Experiencing English classes, writing essays, and research papers were the only types of writing I thought I would be forced to handle during my time at Baylor. Writing leads in an inverted pyramid style was a lot harder to do outside of class without having Dr. Cullar proofread them. Writing leads showed me a way to read news articles in a different way. Leads can give someone the overview of the whole story, with just one sentence, if the leads are done right. Writing leads for the first time definitely made it a little difficult, but I think with practice could become interesting and somewhat fun. They’re difficult to write due to the fact that sometimes it is hard to understand what should go into the lead, which brings values to answering the news values before writing a lead.

I think if I look hard enough, and continue to do it on a continuing basis, I should be able to recognize the inverted pyramid in news articles. just like anything in life, with practice makes perfect. It will be interesting to see if I apply what I learn in this class to my daily life. Listening to other peoples lead sentences gave me a broader understanding of what people are thinking when writing leads. I think as a whole, most of the class is new to writing leads, so it was interesting to see that a lot of the class had the same format as others. It helped to understand a broader view of the classes leads as well.

Today, the Washington Post has some great articles on the Syria attack, and it seemed like this was the most common storyline. On September 11, I evaluated these articles because of the terrorist attacks on New York. I felt like it was a story that related. Today’s article was about Obama’s decision to try and educate America on the destruction that chemical weapons can have on a country. Chemical weapons have been banned in wars, only to be used by ruthless dictators, and most notably Adolf Hitler. But, today we are in the middle of an international crisis, when the Syrian President used weapons on the Syrian rebels.

Obama’s stance is the same stance he used during the shootings in Newton, Conn. He uses the illustration of a father trying to protect his son from damaging gases that the Syrian President, Bashar al-Asaa, used to kill 1,400 people. President Obama wants to speak to the heart of the American people, most notably fathers and mothers. He agrees that attacking Syria is the right stance, but he uses the idea of freedom and liberty to understand the effect that chemical weapons would have on Syria. He wants people to realize the hurt that it would bring, and he uses the illustrations to connect with the American people.

In another article titled “Obama’s war-and diplomacy appeal on Syria presents fresh risks to administration,” the president wants to give diplomacy a chance. He has retracted from his original plans on attacking. The story is about President Obama trying to use diplomatic efforts to get President Bashar al-Assad to hand over his chemicals weapons in exchange for not attacking on Syria. He had to change his efforts because of the overwhelming opposition to his original plan of attack. In another article, “Obama takes Syria case to the public in White House address,” he explains how diplomacy might not prevail in this certain case. He believes that America has the responsibility to react to use of chemical weapons and connects it to his speech about killing innocent children. He believes our leadership of the world is at stake if we do not respond.

I think this media outlet appeals to families, more importantly fathers and mothers, and that they are at risk. He said the United States is at no risk of a Syrian attack. But, it also appeals to the countries that are trying to back the U.S. as well as Syria because they are the most at stake. I believe it did appeal to me because I want to learn more about political affairs. I think its smart for the youth to understand diplomatic affairs and the steps that go are involved with that.

New York Times wrote an article on Tuesday, September 3^rd, 2013 about the U.S. spying on Brazil. The story is about how Brazilian officials are weary to hear the National Security Agency was spying on President Dilma Rouseff. It has angered Brazilian officials among others the Mexican officials, but they were very quiet on commenting on the matter.

“This would be an unacceptable violation to our sovereignty involving our head of state,” Jose Eduardo Cardozo, Brazils justice minister, said in an interview. The N.S.A has been described using computer programs to filter through communication messages that they believe are aides to Ms. Rousseffs. It’s quite an unfolding story seeing how Brazil is the N.S.A.’s most spied-upon countries. This comes during a time when U.S. diplomats have been seeking to gain better ties with Brazil.

The American intelligence unit has been frowned upon because of eavesdropping violations that came about from 1964 to 1985. Brazilian Gen. Sinclair Mayer, the Army’s science and technology department, told the media of their plans to establish underwater Internet cables. These cables are supposed to link Brazil to Europe and Africa, while making it very hard for the U.S. to gain communication from other countries. Along with the underwater traffic, the Brazilian Postal Service has made it more difficult to encrypt messages.

The audience for this is obviously America and Brazil, but more so the countries that were believed to back America on the Syria attack. I believe it hurts relations with other countries. They may believe if America is spying on other countries that they can’t be trusted, and therefore wont back us on the attack. I really enjoyed reading this article, because it was interesting to listen to what the N.S.A is involved in. It’s a very serious matter, and I like reading articles that have to do with diplomatic affairs.

The New York Times has been a very reliable source of news for so many years, and they continue to publish compelling stories. I evaluated this news article on September 3, 2013. The story today was chronicling Diana Nyad’s swim from Cuba to Florida. She swam across the Gulf Stream, a treacherous 110-mile swim, in two-days, two nights and a total of 53 hours.

This swim is amazing in more ways then one. She is the first swimmer to make this swim without the protection of a shark cage. The swim was dangerous, and very brutal on her body. She survived the Florida Straights with very little scratches, but was accompanied by a lot of species. The notable species include: sharks, and jellyfish. Not only that, but Mother Nature played a role by providing a very painful sunburn, and the unpredictable Gulf Stream with waves.

The story is not just amazing, but more so inspiring. Nyad said, “I have three messages. One is we should never, ever give up. Two is you never are too old to chase your dreams. Three is it looks like a solitary sport, but its takes a team. “ This very inspiring from a true story that she has tried to accomplish five times before this. She vowed every time that she failed, that were her last time, but her last time ended up being a success. She’s an inspiration to many athletes around the world. The famous saying, what do you do when you fall off a horse? Get back on it. She put this into practice, and became victorious.

This story appeals to athletes, with many others, but I believe athletes everywhere are inspired. The dedication, the will to win, this is what sports embody throughout the world. Sports, triathlons, and marathons give the world something to cheer for. We embrace these athletes because they teach us lessons of persistence and determination, two great lessons learned. This story appeals too me, because I love sports, success stories like this one. It’s truly remarkable what Diana Nyad was able to accomplish.