JRN 200: Your Friday 6/3 Homework

First, be sure to read all the following blog posts that were posted today, most of which are regarding the MORE LEDES exercise. The biggest way we learn in this class is by reviewing our work, so it's critical you carefully review each and every blog post, in addition to the graded versions of your stories which I have emailed back to you (which contain specific comments to your work).

Now, on to the rest of the weekend homework:

For your next JRN 200 reading assignment, you will be asked to read Chapter 10 (p. 210-232) in Reporting For The Media, 11th Edition, by Monday morning.

If anyone has problems meeting that deadline, or if you have any other questions or concerns whatsoever, please contact me by email, phone or in-person.

Also, please review chapters H through P in your AP Stylebook by no later than Monday morning.

You also have one last ledes assignment that will be due no later than 9 a.m. sharp Monday morning to omars@msu.edu. Your slug will be FINAL LEDES. I'm providing the items below. From here on out, though, your writing assignments will come from the RFTM text. I'll simply provide you page and assignment numbers, and you'll be responsible for having the book and looking up the content from which to write your assignment.

Here's the content, for each of which you need to write a lede of 32 or fewer words, in 75 minutes or less, total:

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1.    For the last 62 years, Olivida Saleeby has lived with her husband, Wesley, in their home at 1961 Elizabeth Lane, a structure originally built by her parents. The couple has been married all 62 of those years, immediately moving in with her parents after their honeymoon and later inheriting the house. Last week Wesley died, and his body remains unburied in a funeral home. Olivida on Thursday night asked the East Lansing Zoning Board at its regular weekly meeting for permission to bury her dead husband in their back yard. By a vote of 7–0, board members refused. Olivida explained that she has no other living relatives, deeply loved her 81-yr.-old husband, and wanted her beloved husband to remain near her. He died suddenly and unexpectedly of a heart attack. Board members rejected her plea and explained burial in a residential neighborhood would set a bad precedent and bring down property values.

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2.   It was just one of those days for state Representative Constance P. Wei. Wei is the representative for the 86th District. Wei, who lives at 206 North Wabash Avenue in East Lansing, is a proponent of limited government. State representatives have been trying to pass a ban on using cell phones while driving. Wei thinks it is an infringement on individual rights. “All this is is Big Brother telling you what to do,” she said. Advocates of the ban say it is an issue of safety. They point to a recent accident in which five people were killed in a two-car accident. The driver who caused the accident was a 48-year-old man who was talking on his cell phone while trying to pass another car on a two-lane stretch of road. Witnesses said the man swerved into the path of the other car and the two vehicles collided head-on. Two of the five people killed were children. The state legislature has never backed a ban on cell phone use, but other states have instituted successful bans. Opponents of the ban, including Wei, claim the ban will not affect safety because forcing people to pull off the road and get out of their cars to talk on the phone could be more hazardous. In addition, opponents say that the state cannot ban all distractions drivers create, such as eating, reading or applying makeup while driving. Proponents of the ban want it to take affect in January of next year. Wei was on her cell phone Wednesday as she was driving home. She was talking to state representative Peter Mackey, 89th District, about postponing a vote on the bill banning cell phone use while driving when her Cadillac Sedan de Ville struck the rear of a car driven by Michael Jeffreys, 41, of 2781 Collins Ave. in East Lansing. Jeffreys suffered minor injuries and was taken to Mercy Hospital. He was treated and released. Police said the accident occurred at 5:37 p.m. at the intersection of 29th Street and Melrose Avenue in East Lansing. Jeffreys was stopped at a traffic light. Wei did not see the red light or the cars stopped in front of her and rammed the rear of Jeffreys Toyota Camry. Police said the Camry suffered severe damage. Wei's Cadillac sustained an estimated $8,000 in damage.

Good luck, everyone!