A "New Age" Candidate

By Tessa Leone

Zach Tillion, a recent high school graduate of Abraham Lincoln High School in Des Moines Iowa has just announced his candidacy for the upcoming school board election.

" 100: That’s how many days I’ve been out of the school district. I know the perspective of a student better than many other candidates."-Zach Tillion. He plans to offer a fresh set of ideals and values to Des Moines Public Schools. He has spent countless hours volunteering for political candidates, leading local protests, and organizing school related awareness programs.

"84% 74% and 65%: That’s the percentage of our kids that have been graduating recently. If elected to the board, making that percentage go back up would be my number 1 priority."-Zach Tillion. Zach plans to use his age to promote the importance of a high school diploma. Allowing students to identify with a peer rather than listen to an elder might just be the angle that will allow the school board to reach its students and decrease its drop out rates.

Zach and his growing followers have began promoting his campaign on student targeted pages such as facebook and myspace. He has multiple links and groups allowing people to reach him and join his cause.

The election is on Tuesday September 8th. To find voting information for your district click here.
To register click here.

If Zach succeeds he will be the youngest candidate to be elected to the Des Moines School Board.

(Photo Credit: WHO TV)

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Multimedia Magazine

By Ryan Franker

An online magazine (FLYP) found a new way of reporting the news, while catching the reader's interest and eye. The magazine is using traditional reporting and writing but then adding animation, audio, video, and interactive graphics to an article.

The company hasn't been putting out articles for a long time, so it is still an experiment. But they believe that the magazine will do well since they are giving the reader the right to choose how they want the news presented to them. You can either turn the page, like it is a real magazine, or listen to an interview from that article. There are numerous ways of getting the news from this web magazine. They are making it easier for people to understand what the writer is trying to say, because they have so many options on how to get the news. The magazine is trying to find new ways of reporting the news. They have to keep up will the readers and how they like their news presented to them.

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Boy who cried blood

By: Mallory Tandy

Calvino Inman, a 15-year-old boy from Rockwood, Tennessee, stepped out of the shower and realized something was wrong, he was crying blood! Calvino's mother rushed him to the hospital as soon as she saw what was wrong with him. By the time they got to the hospital the tears had stopped and the Doctors could not see what the family was trying to explain to them. A few days later while Inman was on a camping trip, the bloody tears came back.

Inman had an MRI, a CT scan and an ultrasound, but none of the results came back abnormal. Inman's mother recalls the doctors telling her "We don't know how to stop it" and "It just has to run its course." These are words that no parent wants to hear when their child is sick.

A director of the University of Tennessee's Hamilton Eye Institute whose name is Dr. Barrett G. Haik says the possible answer could be the condition called haemolacria. This condition happens when someone has had a serious head injury or extreme trauma of some sort. There was no obvious cause in Inmans case.

Experts think Inman will undergo many tests from specialists such as opthalmologists and hematologists. He may also need to have a psychological evaluation to see if maybe the bloody tears were actually a hoax. Could the boy have been watching the new, HBO series True Blood, and was inspired by the vampires who cry blood? Or is Calvino Inman an actual medical mystery? In Calvino Inman's case, the cause may never be discovered.

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News Applications for Your Location

By: Chris Mars

With more mobile phone users choosing a smartphone as their weapon of choice we are seeing a huge increase in the capabilities of mobile Web and applications available to users. This developing technology opens the door for news organizations to provide even more accurate information to subscribers.

The development of mobile web-friendly buttons, bookmarks and applications can be created for quick navigation and updates desired by mobile web users. The iPhone offers applications ranging from Pacman to Pet Vet Records, applications useful to all members of the family. On top of these new connection tools the use of GPS and location-based applications makes the information seen by the user even more specific. These location-specific applications can potentially be used to warn of severe weather and news in the area including breaking news.

With a decrease in newspaper readers and news seekers in general, these are new opportunities for news organizations to reconnect with their viewers, readers, and subscribers. Cutting through the clutter and offering shortcuts to news should generate more interest and more availability to users on the go. Hopefully news organizations will catch up with this new media craze and deliver the news people want to the palm of their hand.


Mobilizing for mobile: Are news organizations lagging?

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Vander Plaats Announces Official Run for Governor

By: Bethany Christenson

Republican Bob Vander Plaats will announce his official run for Iowa governor on Monday. This is Vander Plaats third run for governor. He feels that current Iowa Governor Chet Culver is leading Iowa into the wrong direction and he can lead Iowa back into a more conservative direction.

He previously campaigned in 2002, when he lost in the GOP primary, and in 2006, when Jim Nussle chose him as a running mate. They were defeated by Culver and Lt. Gov. Patty Judge.

Vander Plaats is ready to deliver his message and says we should return to "Iowa values".

What are "Iowa Values" exactly? Vander Plaats says that they include values of marriage and families. He is obviously referring to the 2009 decision to allow same-sex marriages become legal in Iowa.

Vander Plaats is also opposed to the spending done by Chet Culver in his plan to repair roads damaged by flooding or deterioration from years of use.

Vander Plaats used be a CEO of a nonprofit group, but he now heads a planning and development agency in Sioux City. He also head former presidential candidate Mike Huckabee's Iowa headquarters in 2008.

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=200990906005

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Internet Advertising World Sees Major Change

By: Amy Johnson

Not long ago, when one thought of advertising for a company, the first thing that would come to mind are television commercials or ads in the margins of a newspaper. Now that the Internet has taken over, even that is seeing changes. According to a new report, one out of five ads shown on the Internet is viewed on a social networking site – a site such as MySpace and Facebook. Those sites symbolize 21 percent of the ads on the Internet in the United States, MySpace and Facebook being more than 80 percent of ads. Before this, major sites such as Yahoo or AOL were the big market advertisers.

Why such a change? First, it is quite useful for more companies to advertise on something as fast and expanding as the Internet. Millions of people all over the world use the Internet more than once a day. It is cost efficient. Companies get their name and product out to a bigger, more broad group of people for much less than advertising through television and/or big city newspapers.

Also, it makes sense that more brand name companies are expanding their advertising to social networking sites. Facebook and MySpace are used daily by millions of people, especially the younger generation who are more apt to look closer at the ads and buy the items being advertised. It is also much cheaper to advertise on a social networking site than on one such as Yahoo or AOL (according to analyst Jeff Lindsay). Why not start putting advertisements on sites where more people visit daily if it is going to cost the company less money? For brand-name mega-companies, it fits.

http://www.reuters.com/article/internetNews/idUSTRE5805QX20090901

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Forgotten Past Equals Future Problems For Bosnia

By: Meghan Vosberg

In the 1990s the country of Bosnia was plagued with war. Homes were burnt to the ground. Families were separated. And rape was introduced as a fighting tactic. But why should a war from fourteen years ago, in which over 100,000 people killed matter today? Plus does it matter that the majority of those oppressed in this 3 1/2 year war were Muslim?

When you think about it, Bosnia is not near the top of our "Countries we need to worry about list," especially when it's compared with Iraq, Afghanistan, and North Korea. Ever since the Dayton accord ended the Bosnian war everyone assumed that the issue was resolved and everything is now peachy keen. This is not the fact in today's Bosnia."The economy has stalled, unemployment is over 27 percent, about 25 percent of the population lives in poverty, and Bosnia remains near the bottom of World Bank rankings for business development."http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/65352/patrice-c-mcmahon-and-jon-western/the-death-of-dayton"

Bosnia was a "project" of the 90's. The Clinton's did many services to the country. A street in Sarajevo is even named after Hillary. Over $14 billion dollars was used in international aid. But with our own country in recession, and health care being a subject of issue, should we still try to help other countries in need?


http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/06/weekinreview/06kulish.html?hp=&pagewanted=print

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