Friday, May 10, 2013
Final Project: Boston Bombing Newspaper Article
Boston Bombings Newspaper
Write Up
At
2:49 pm on April 15th, 2013 during the annual Boston Marathon, two
bombs were detonated and shocked not only the city of Boston, but also the
entire United States of America.
The blasts from these two bombs killed
three people and injured 264. Amongst the 264 injured people, 17 of them were
in critical condition, and at least 10 of them had limbs amputated as a result
of the blast, according to CNN.
“ Shock. Sadness. Horror.
Terrorism.” Those are the first thoughts that Americans had when they heard the
news of the Boston Marathon bombing, according to a new “YouGov” poll conducted by the Huffington post. People’s
initial reaction to the Boston marathon bombings showcased how taken back
people were by news of this tragedy.
Boston
law officials also seemed to be shocked and taken back by this atrocious
occurrence. In the earliest stages of the post-bombing aftermath, CBS reported
that a man that had been “acting suspiciously” running from the scene had been
tackled by civilians, and turned over to the Boston police. This man, however,
was said to have been very cooperative and clearly in no way involved with the
bombings.
It
wasn’t until late Thursday night, April 18th, that police actually
had a real lead on who could have been responsible for the horrific Boston
Marathon bombings. The Huffington post reported that at about 10:20 pm, according to the Huffington Post, while
responding to a disturbance on campus, MIT police officer Sean Collier was shot
down and killed by two suspects. Not long after reports of the shooting, there
were reports of an armed carjacking, again by 2 male suspects.
In
a search for those two suspects, Boston police found themselves in Watertown,
where they spotted the stolen vehicle. Not too long after finding the vehicle,
were the police officers on the scene engaged in a gunfight with the two male
suspects, identified to be the Tsarneaev Brothers. In this hail of gunfire, one
of the alleged suspects, 26-year-old Tomerlan
Tsarnaev, was shot and killed while his younger brother, 19-year-old Dhaka
Tsarnaev, fled the scene and escaped from police.
Following
the events that took place on the night of April 18th into the
morning of April 19th, Boston police began a “manhunt” for the
suspect, Dochart, who escaped after the shootout. During this manhunt, the Huffington Post reports that Boston
enforced a complete lockdown of the city, meaning that the entire public
transportation network, outside selected taxi services, was suspended. Amtrak
service to and from Boston was suspended as well. Watertown, the town where the
shootout occurred, had strict temporary regulations placed on them as well.
Police cordoned off a 20-block radius of the town, as they went door to door
inquiring about the at large suspect.
The
manhunt and lockdown came to an end later that evening, when Dhaka Tsarnaev was
found hiding in a small boat in the backyard of a Watertown residence and
immediately taken into custody by Boston police.
Dhaka
Tsarnaev is currently in custody and under intense US government questioning.
Final Project: Boston Bombings Blog post
The events that took place on April 15th, 2013
were horrific to say the least. Seeing that an event as uplifting and cherished
as the Boston marathon be defiled by bombings, death, and tragedy is truly
sickening. It is always surreal to see horror like that anywhere in the world,
but it hits especially hard when this type of incident happens on the home
front.
I
did not believe the reports of the bombing when I first witnessed it on my
twitter timeline. I did not want to believe it. I was hoping it was just
another sick twisted joke that people like to play on social networks, but
unfortunately it wasn’t.
Seeing
all the pray for Boston tweets coupled with the pictures that were being put up
from the massacre was absolutely heart wrenching, and my prayers and
condolences go out to any one who was affected by this tragic act of terrorism.
Though I was only in the fourth grade, and really too young
to grasp the magnitude of what was actually going on, I found that there was
one similarity in my reaction to the Boston marathon bombings, and the
September 11th plane crashes. The common thread was confusion. On
September 11th, 2001 I was genuinely confused as to what was going
on and what it all meant, while on April 15th, 2013 I was genuinely
confused on how this could happen, and who could be responsible for such a
heartless, live changing, life claiming act of hatred.
To
say the events that took place at the Boston marathon were horrific would be an
understatement. Once again, my prayers and deepest condolences go out to those
affected. If there is one positive, hopefully it is that through this tragedy,
we can unite as a nation, pull through, and push forward like we have time and
time again in the past.
Double Standards (Yes they exist)
I have heard many females, on
twitter and in real life, voice their disdain for the presence of double
standards in today’s society.
Women often declare that the double standard is unfair to the modern
woman, and fosters sexist sediment. The greatest example of why women have such
an issue with prevalent double standards is the “Promiscuity Standard” which is
the famous double standard that states that men who have a lot of sexual
partners are viewed as “The Man” while women who have a lot of sexual partners
are viewed in a very negative light.
As unfair as some of these double
standards appear to be, I believe that they are only frowned upon because of
the negative way many of us interpret them. Personally, I believe that a lot of
these double standards stem from good-natured ideas, and are pure in intention.
PROMISCUITY STANDARD
The fore mentioned promiscuity
standard, for example, on the surface seems to be designed to be desirable for
men, and deplorable for women. It looks as if we are just being unfair to
women, and denying them the opportunity to do what they want without societal judgment.
If looked at in a more positive light, however, can be viewed as women being
held to a higher standard, rather than a double standard. Instead of us thinking
that this double standard is defying women, it should be seen as us glorifying
women. In my opinion, the promiscuity standard stems from society expecting the
most of women, and not wanting them to stoop beneath the pedestal that we have
put them on.
EMOTION STANDARD
There are also double standards
that are detrimental to men in society. One of the most prevalent ones being
what I call the “Emotion Standard.” The emotion standard refers to the double
standard that allows women to be open with their feelings and publically
emotional with acceptance. A woman is allowed to be as influenced by her
emotions as she can, whereas a man who is openly emotional is viewed as “soft”
or feminine in a derogatory sense.
I believe that this standard, just
like the promiscuity standard relative to women, stems from a men being held to
a higher standard, as opposed to a double standard. Society needs strong male
figures to lead society in all aspects. Whether it is on the home front or the
frontlines, society looks towards strong males to be dependable and
accountable. Society expects and demands that males be strong and stolid for
the betterment of the society. This standard is not necessarily ridiculing males who show
emotion as much as it is glorifying the strength of men who do not show it.
SIMBA SAYS:
Best Friends & Girlfriends
I’d like to take this time out to discuss two of the most
important things in the life of a young college mans life, best friends and
girlfriends. Whether it be your girlfriends’ friends or your friends’
girlfriends, the balance of, as well as the correct approach to these two as
they relate to each other is vital to a healthy college lifestyle.
GIRLFRIENDS BEST FRIENDS
As
a man in a relationship, it you have willingly accepted your responsibility to
make your woman happy and deal with all of her emotions, mood swings, and
overall irrationality. You have also willingly accepted your responsibility to
deal with the emotions, mood swings, and irrationality of her best friends,
whether you want to or not.
Your
girlfriends best friends opinion of you is crucial to the success of your
relationship. Don’t believe me? Think about whom she spends her down time with
when she is not with you. Think about whom she goes to for advice when you two
have issues. Think about whom she is posting instagram pictures with when it’s
not cuddling with you. Exactly! Earning approval from your girlfriends’ best
friend is equally as important to earning her fathers approval. A positive
relationship with her best friend results in positive reinforcement from her
most trusted confidant. A negative relationship with her, however, results in a
troublesome pain in the ass.
BEST FRIENDS GIRLFRIEND
This is NOT a good idea.
Your
relationship with your best friends girlfriend is a very interesting, yet
important dynamic. I have found that when dealing with the significant other of
your best friend, that the best course of action is not to get too close. Get
to know the basics of your best friends girlfriend, but not the specifics. It
is important for this to be a very healthy relationship so that she feels
comfortable around and accepted by his friends, because that will make her
happy, and make your friends life much, much easier. It is just as important,
however, to not get too close to your friends girlfriend to the point that you
consider her “your friend” before you remember that she is “your friends
girlfriend” first and foremost.
YOUR BEST FRIEND & YOUR GIRLFRIEND
As
I said in the beginning, these are two of the most important people in your
college life, and their happiness is vital to your emotional wellbeing. When
dealing with your best friend, and your girlfriend, the most important thing is
balance. You have to
effectively allot your time between the two of them efficiently. You do not
want your best friend to think that your girlfriend changed you, and you don’t
want your girl friend to think that you spend too much time with “the guys” and
not enough time with her. Time management is key.
If
you find that perfect balance, as well as make sure that your best friend and
your girlfriend are maintaining a cop esthetic relationship at the least, I
promise you will find your college life a lot healthier, less stressful, and
more fulfilling.
SIMBA SAYS:
Timon
and Pumba were two of the most important people in my life. They were there for
me through thick & thin through my formative years, and for that, I am
forever grateful. When Nala came back into my life, I was fearful that I would
have to make a choice between my best friends, and my girlfriend, but thankfully
I didn’t have to. We all came together beautifully, and it created one of the
greatest bonds I have experienced in my lifetime. I highly recommend making
sure that you maintain these relationships with care.
Monday, May 6, 2013
Strip Season?
I’d like to take a break from my normal life advice posts
and address something out of the ordinary that I saw this past week on the
campus of St. Johns. I was handed an issue of the Torch, the university
newspaper, which was weird enough because nobody reads the Torch. At any rate,
I was instructed to read an article titled “Time for University to Fix The Strip” by Shannon Luibrand, which you guys should check out for yourselves
before you read this blog post.
Let
me start off by saying that I completely respect the fact that Luibrand
fearlessly expressed her opinion and was not restrained in her description of
what she felt was a problem with this university. Just because I respect her
opinion, however, does not mean that I agree with it. I have several problems
with the negative sediment she expressed about “The Strip.”
First
of all, I would like to say that, like Luibrand, I am also a junior here at St.
Johns, and I can honestly say, and previous articles in the torch archives would support, that there is absolutely no change in recent
years to the type of activities that take place on The Strip. The Strip during the early fall
semesters and late spring semesters has always been the grounds for students,
predominately but not limited to students of African American & Latino
decent to congregate, listen to music, and loiter. The Strip is home to every
cookout/barbeque hosted by an African-American or Latino student organization
that takes place at St. Johns university, and this is why I have such a problem
with Shannon Luibrand's article on the university having to “Fix ‘The Strip’.”
I understand that everybody is entitled to an opinion, but
Luibrand's article seemed to be one sided and derogatory. To me it felt like
more of a statement of disgust with the prevailing urban culture that is
present on The Strip. More so than any place on campus, the strip is the place
where there is a true sense of community. All students, even those who have
never met before, can come together and enjoy the warm weather together while
enjoying music and dancing in a carefree communal environment.
Queens
is amongst the most diverse places in the entire country, and St. Johns is
right in the heart of it all. This is why I am so shocked and baffled by Luibrand's
article. To have a preference in atmosphere and environments you choose to be
in is completely normal and understandable. To single out a specific community
that you personally disagree with and shed light on their culture in such a
negative manner, however, is very disturbing. We understand that you are not part
of the people who choose to spend their time indulging in activities the Strip
during cookout season, but that is no reason to bash the people who do.
Nobody
has written any articles slandering the “Hispter-ish” activities that take
place on the Great Lawn, or the intense trading card games that take place in
the D’angelo Center. Instead of spending time constructing derogatory articles
on cultures you do not understand, I suggest picking your papers up, moving
your studies to the library and maybe trying to be a little more tolerant. This
is the twenty first century, after all.
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