6-3 Traip Academy

Traip Academy in Kittery, Maine could be in serious jeopardy due to the current talks about budget cuts in the area. They are weighing the pros and cons of possibly sending their students to neighboring Marshwood High School which has the capacity to accommodate Traip's entire student body which is a mere 280. Kittery's school system is over budgeted and under populated, and it's a legitimate argument that the consolidation plan makes sense financially. Out of the four schools in Kittery, Traip is the smallest and the most inefficient. Marshwood only enrolls 880 students and it has the capability to enroll 1,100 so the youth of Traip Academy can fit comfortably within its walls. While maintaining great education, the Maine Department of Education is trying to cut costs as much as possible. Several districts, according to the Maine Department of Education, have said to save $2 million dollars in one year since the beginning of this attempt at cutting costs. People in the small town of Kittery are not too happy about losing some of these teachers and school programs to the budget cut. Since I personally know some terrific Traip graduates I’m pulling for the school to make it through this trying time so the graduates don’t lose their alma mater.

6-1 STRANGE PLANETS!

On March 7th at 2pm you can explore new worlds at the Jordan Planetarium! The presentation is going to be very informative and explains things that you don't hear about in everyday conversation such as the science of detecting planets and the way that NASA's new space probe, Kepler, can see far beyond our wildest dreams. They say astronomers have found upwards of 300 planets orbiting around really distant stars but most are hardly visible. It also will show you how the discover "invisible" worlds and what the alien life on them must be. I've never been to a planetarium but this sounds like pretty cool stuff to me. The Jordan Planetarium is located on the second floor of Wingate Hall. The planetarium has a 20 foot dome suspended over 45 seats that shows approximately 1000 stars, planets, and other celestial objects to over 8,000 visitors every year.

5-1 Ryan Hegarty: Profile story

Ryan Hegarty is a sophomore at the University of Maine. In his second year here in Maine he has become a standout defense men for the university's men's ice hockey program. Hailing from Arlington, MA he has taken a long exciting route to finally end up playing for the Maine hockey team. When he was 17 he got the chance to represent the USA by playing for the NTDP (National Development Program) U18 hockey team in Ann Arbor, Michigan. This team is full of all the best 17 year olds the country has to offer so it is a huge honor. "Playing for the program was a super cool feeling, it let's you know you are on the right path to where you want to be" Said Hegarty. He was right because while playing there he committed to play for the university of Maine. After the season ended he was all geared up to come to Maine the following year. Between the time he left Ann Arbor and came to Orono he got some good news. Ryan was selected in the 3rd round of the 2008 NHL entry draft by the Anaheim Ducks. When I asked the Arlington native how he felt when he found out he got drafted he replied "I felt like my head was going to explode with joy, it was a real big honor for me and the people in Anaheim have to so nice to me since". This year Ryan has been a rock defensively for the men's ice hockey team in Maine. As their regular season is winding down he is getting excited for playoffs "playoffs will be a lot of fun, hopefully we can get home ice and play the first round at the Alfond it would be awesome for our fans".

2-1

http://mainecampus.com/2010/01/24/sirman-black-bears-shut-out-ntdp-under-18-team-in-exhibition/?ref=hp

I thought that this article was very well written by Steven McCarthy. You can tell by reading the article that he has an extensive knowledge of what he covers and has mad much experience in the topic prior to writing this article. The author touches on what would seem to be a small point to a regular fan and explains how big a a deal it really was. A major example of that was when he talked about the goal tending match up for the night,

"His (Sirmans') counterpart was Jack Campbell, the goalie of record in Team USA’s 6-5 win against Canada in the Word Junior Championships gold medal game on Jan. 5.

Sirman is from Ontario. (Canada)

“It kind of motivated me a little more to play a little better,” Sirman said. “Didn’t want to lose twice.”

The author picked great players to interview after the game so that readers could get the perspective of the players that were at the top of their game that night such as Shawn Sirman, Brett Carrier and Will O'Neill. He got some really good quotes to keep the readers attention. His story kept in a solid time line and wasn't jumping from idea to idea. Overall I would say this was an excellent article.

CMJ236 Intro

Hi, my name is Scott Darling. 1st time blogger. So about me, I'm a Sophomore from Chicago Illinois with a major in mass. communications and a minor in child development. I'm a big fan of movies, i've probably seen every movie made..... twice. Maine is a bit of a culture shock for me being from Chicago but I have really enjoyed my time here so far. I think this class will help me become a better writer and it will show me how to look at different angles of situations.