Since I haven't taken but one other journalism class, I really don't hav e much of a portfolio. However, here are some stories that I wrote in JOMC 53 (Newswriting).

February 18, 2002

Firefighters rescued a Chapel Hill woman and her two daughters from a ledge when a fire erupted in her apartment above Brinkman & Sons Sporting Goods early Monday morning.
Eleven Chapel Hill firefighters responded to the fire at 945 Maynard St. around 1 a.m. After saving Mary Westerman, 24, and her two daughters from a second story ledge, it took firefighters about 20 minutes to extinguish the blaze.
Westerman said she woke up and smelled smoke. She then heard a muffled explosion in the living room.
"When I opened the door to the living room it was just a wall of flames," Westerman said. "I didn't see how we were ever going to get out. That is when I thought about the bathroom window."
Westerman went to the bedroom and got her to daughters. She used her arm to break the bathroom window. Westerman cut her arm as she was pulling the children out onto a ledge 15 feet above the ground. Both children escaped safely.
Westerman was treated at UNC Hospitals.
Chapel Hill Fire Chief Daniel Jones said highly combustible material in the living room caused the fire to spread quickly. The cause of the fire is still under investigation.
Jones said the fire caused damages totaling $40,000. The apartment was destroyed and Brinkman & Sons Sporting Goods suffered some water damage.
Charlie Brinkman, owner of the building, said that the damages would be covered by insurance. Westerman, a secretary at Estes Hills Elementary School, and her children are staying with Brinkman and his wife until they can get resettled.

February 11, 2002

For many University student organizations, February is a time to apply for student government funds. However, some organizations do not receive the amount of funding needed to support the group.
Drew McLelland, associate publisher for the campus magazine Blue & White, explained the process for asking the Student Treasury for funds.
Organizations must first appear before the student treasury finance committee. The finance committee either approves or cuts requests and then passes its suggestions on to Student Congress. The Student Congress makes the final decision on the amount of funding that is given to each organization.
McLelland said that about 50 student organizations apply for Student Government funds each spring. The amount that organizations request exceeds the Student Treasury budget, however.
This year the budget ranges from $160,000 to $180,000. With so many groups asking for funds though, this money does not go far.
"Blue & White usually asks for more funds than we need," McLelland said, "because the assumption is that the Student Treasury will cut some of our requests."
McLelland believes that the process of requesting student funds is unfair. "The Student Government funds that Blue & White receives are inconsistent from year to year. Sometimes even though the budget is larger, the funds given to each organization may decrease from the previous year."
Organizations should not worry, however. Further actions can be taken by any student organization that feels that its needs will not be covered by the funds the Student Treasury originally approves. Organizations can apply for additional funds in both fall and spring semesters during a process called subsequent appropriations.

March 6, 2002

Allan Maurer grew up listening to blues music playing on the jukebox in his father's bar in Bloomingsburg, Pa. Now Maurer, a resident of Durham, N.C., has a Ph.D. in musicology and recently brought a treatment idea that he likes to call "Better Breathing with the Blues" to the attention of Duke Medical Center.
Maurer, who has played the harmonica for 10 years, said he first fell in love with the sound of blues music.
"Then I began to love that such a beautiful art form could come out of misery and pain," said Maurer.
Maurer, also an employee at Duke told researchers at Duke that he thought playing the harmonica could help people who suffer from lung diseases breathe easier. About a year after he stopped smoking, Maurer, 54, discovered that playing the harmonica helped him breathe easier and stop coughing.
Usually people with breathing difficulties go through a treatment called intermittent positive pressure breathing (IPPB). IPPB is a treatment in which patients breathe deeply and hold their breath in order to increase breath capacity.
Maurer said that researchers taught participants different breathing techniques used in playing the harmonica.
Playing the harmonica as a treatment appeals more to many patients because it is fun. However, playing the harmonica should be used along with other treatments, such as IPPB, to increase lung capacity.
The harmonica treatment is also very inexpensive. Maurer said that the harmonicas used in the project cost only $6. Harmonicas are a convenient and portable treatment.
Maurer said that the treatment takes a number of weeks to work. The patient must learn to breathe through the harmonica and learn certain techniques before the treatment will begin to work.
"You don't have to know every technique," said Maurer. "You just have to play."
Maurer said that this treatment is not right for everyone.
"Many people think that playing the harmonica is easy," said Maurer. "It is not. There are some people who just cannot learn how to play the harmonica."
Maybe that is why researchers used soundproof therapy rooms.

March 4, 2002

A janitor discovered the body of a seventh grade student in the girls' bathroom of Grey Culbreth Middle School Monday afternoon.
Chapel Hill Police Chief Gregg Jarvies said the student, 12, had a gunshot wound to the head.
Jarvies said an announcement had not been made earlier because the girl's parents were traveling out of the country and had to be notified.
The girl's name is being withheld because of her age.
"We did confirm that the young lady died almost instantly from a wound to her head," said North Carolina's Chief Medical Examiner John D. Butts.
The gun used by the girl was registered to her father. Police are not sure if depression played a role in the incident.
Neil Pedersen, superintendent of the Chapel Hill-Carrboro School System, has called in psychologists to help other students deal with the student's death.
"We plan to have an assembly at 9 a.m. Tuesday to talk about the student's death and to encourage students who may feel depressed to talk with their parents, a friend, teachers, or school counselors," said Pedersen. "We must let them know that they have other choices to resolve their problems or issues."
Pedersen encourages parents to attend the assembly with their children.
Mary LaScala, a local psychologist, will be one of the psychologists leading assembly. LaScala works with the Chapel Hill-Carrboro School System to provide counseling services to students.
"I talked with several students who knew the young woman. One told me that she had talked about killing herself, but her friends didn't take her seriously," said LaScala. "We need to let teens know that they are not violating a confidentially when a friend threatens to harm themselves."
The incident is the second suicide in the Chapel Hill community in the last two years. Last September, a student at a private school hanged himself on the school grounds during lunch.
"Youth suicide has become a national public health problem of epidemic proportions," said Rosemary Hutchinson, director of the Mental Health Association of Orange County.