Japan Club Movie Night

Ban the Butts?

About.com Civil Liberties provides arguments to both sides. Tom Head, the author of the article, said that it most likely would be constitutional to ban cigarettes federally. Another argument Head presents is the fact that cigarettes pose a major health risk to the smoker as well as the people around them. The other side of the argument Head presents is that people have the right to harm themselves as well as cigarettes being a major part of the economy. A USA Today article provided information on the health benefits of smoking bans. After smoking was banned in public places hospitalizations for heart attacks fell an average of 15%. Hospitalizations for strokes fell 16%, and hospitalizations for respiratory diseases fell 24%. The article also mentions the reduction in health care costs resulting from smoking bans.

The article from project-syndicate.org promotes an alternate solution. They recommend reducing the amount of nicotine in cigarettes to reduce the addictive quality, as well as making the cigarette more alkaline to make the smoke less easily inhaled. An article that came from the Baltimore Sun stated cigarettes shouldn't be banned because people have the right to engage in risky behaviors. They said you might as well ban dangerous activities such as football and rock climbing. My Health News Daily states that even though cigarettes kill 450,000 people a year, it would be impossible to enforce a total ban on cigarettes due to pressure from big tobacco companies, the cost of enforcement, and the inevitable rise of a black market. New York Times article "Battle of the butts" discusses expansion of the smoking ban in shared living spaces such as apartments and condominiums to prevent fires caused by smokers.

Mayor in Japan Saves Town Devastated by Earthquake, Tsunami, and Nuclear Meltdown

In an act of desperation, 55-year-old Mayor Katsunobu Sakurai of the city of Minamisoma Japan posted a youtube video pleading for help for his devastated town. In March 2011, Japan suffered a nuclear disaster due to a major earthquake and tsunami which put many towns surrounding the Plant in great danger. Although half the town followed evacuation orders, 20,000 people remained in their homes or shelters, and were forbidden to leave. This meant food supplies were dangerously low as the people that delivered food weren't allowed to enter the town. As the Japanese government was ignoring the plights of the town, Sakurai felt he had no choice but to ask for help over the internet. He was surprised when people from all over the world sent supplies to the town. 

If I were to interview him, I would ask him how his town is doing today.

Time magazine article

ABC News article

New York Times article

AOL News article

NPR article

I chose these sources because they are reputable news sources that I am familiar with. 

Picture of Katsunobu Sakurai 

First Blog Entry Ever

My name is Bethany Snedden. This is the first time I've ever made a blog. I attend Slippery Rock University. For my New Media Journalism course our first assignment was the creation of a blog. I'm interested in seeing how it goes. I'm a Communications/Public Relations major as well as a sophomore. I wasn't exactly sure what to expect with this class but so far I'm pleased. I've taken so many classes I feel don't have much to do with my potential future career but this one is much more in line with that. For my job I would like to promote non-profit organizations through various social media sites. 

I've never taken anything like this class before. I like how it's hands on applied learning as opposed to sitting in a lecture and memorizing information. Despite being an avid internet user I've never done the majority of the things that I will do in this class. The only thing I'm really familiar with is Facebook, and there are even many things I don't know how to do on there.

The creation of this blog showed me just how much I don't understand about the internet, and how much I took for granted. I'm looking forward in this class to learning to do many things I've never done before. 

I chose the site CNN.com for my traditional media link because this is a website that I go to at times to see the news for the day. 

I chose RT news for my new media link because I go here often. This site is more independent than liberal or conservative and has more information on world news.