This is the inverted pyramid article I wrote for Reporting I. Please note that the McDonald's shooting did not happen. Our professor gave us notes about the fake event and asked us to write the article for educational purposes.
LINCOLN, Neb. – A homeless man shot and killed three customers Monday at a local McDonald’s before being gunned down by the cashier with his own gun after putting it down to pay for his food, according to the police.
John Henry Ross, 42, entered the McDonald’s at 875 N. 27th St around 11 a.m., according to customers. There was a line, and Ross asked the people ahead of him to let him go first because he said that he was real hungry. When they refused, Ross opened fire.
Dawn Sanchez, 22, of Lincoln, the cashier, described Ross as “mad and impatient and angry as hell.” After the shootings, Ross strolled to the counter, according to Sanchez. He ordered a Big Mac, and Sanchez entered the order. Ross placed the .45-caliber handgun on the counter to grab his money. Sanchez grabbed the gun and shot Ross in the chest, according to the police report.
“It was the first time I ever fired a gun,” Sanchez said. “I hate guns. I’m terrified of them.”
For Sanchez, it was a case of self-preservation. “I figured if he killed all those people, he’d kill me, too, just as soon as he gobbled that Big Mac,” Sanchez said.
Responders to the scene included 10 police cars, the SWAT team and two ambulances quickly with the utmost speed, according to police spokesman Patrick Smythe.
Ross was taken to BryanLGH Medical Center West where doctors pronounced him dead at noon, according to the police report.
Smythe said the county attorney will not press charges against Sanchez. Police are still investigating the shooting.
On March 18, I attended Zhao Yong's speech on global education trends, and the following is the article I wrote on that occasion.
LINCOLN, Neb. –Yong Zhao, a global education expert, spoke Tuesday to the local community about the global mistake to value test scores over creativity.
Zhao holds a doctorate in educational psychology and is an associate dean for Global Education at the University of Oregon. The title of Zhao’s speech was “Catching Up or Leading the Way: American Education in the Age of Globalization.” Zhao was the final speaker in the E. N. Thompson Forum’s “U.S. and Them” lecture series at the Lied Center.
Creativity, instead of standardized test scores, should be the educational focus, according to Zhao. He said that when countries emphasize test scores, they create employees, not entrepreneurs. Employees follow orders, while entrepreneurs innovate. According to Zhao, the high level of unemployment among college graduates demonstrates the need for innovative individuals.
The world “has a major paradox to deal with,” Zhao said. “That is a global talent shortage.”
Zhao discussed said that the benefits of the U.S. education system are the varied curriculum systems and more forgiving curriculum, which can help students to develop at their own pace. However, American politicians envy China’s math, reading and science test scores.
These test scores were produced by an education that Zhao compared to a sausage maker. After a rigorous and homogenous program, the Chinese students produce high-test scores, but lack curiosity and confidence, according to Zhao. Therefore, China is left with many employees but a lack of entrepreneurs. China needs the next Steve Jobs.
“By even random distribution, China should have four times the number of baby Steve Jobs born,” Zhao said. “What happened to the baby Steve Jobs?”
In contrast, the U.S.’s more open and forgiving system creates sausages with a few bacons like Henry Ford, according to Zhao.
“With traditional sausage-making education,” Zhao said, “we lose entrepreneur people in two ways. We get rid of nontraditional people and damage their confidence.”
According to Zhao, this historical sausage-maker type of education is a national bet, which is only a prediction of which skills and talents society will find useful. The old gamble has failed, according to Zhao, and the U.S. government’s initiatives like the Common Core aren’t helping.
“The one thing Democrats and Republicans agree on is how to destroy public education,” Zhao said.
The need for education reform is seen in the vanishing middle class, according to Zhao. Although the middle class is the bedrock of American society, the number of traditional manufacturing jobs is steadily decreasing. This portion of society must adapt.
“The new middle class will have to be the creative class,” Zhao said.
Companies are actively searching for qualified people to fill creative positions, and the rate of creative jobs is rising while other sectors are falling, according to Zhao.
Kelli Bruns, a University of Nebraska-Lincoln researcher stationed in North Platte, said that college students “shouldn’t get sucked into” the public mindset that test scores and grades are the most important predictors of success.
Nancy Urbanec, an extension associate assistant at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, agreed with Zhao about the importance of creativity.
“I use creativity to put a twist on new information to get the public interested,” Urbanec said. According to her, students don’t have the opportunity to explore interests until college, and often find creativity intimidating.
Zhao recommended that the government give curriculum decisions back to school districts and teachers, and more schools should focus on students’ interests. When students are internally motivated, they are more likely to be independent, creative and successful.
“The ultimate goal of education is to keep children out of their parents’ basements,” Zhao said.
On March 10, I attended the Lincoln City Council meeting, and this is the article I wrote for that occasion.
LINCOLN, Neb. – After months of discussion, the City Council approved the building of apartments near the Pine Lake neighborhood Monday against local residents’ objections.
The Pine Lake and Edenton Woods homeowners and the Berean Church congregation opposed the decision. They were concerned about the traffic congestion that the highly populated apartment buildings would add to the primarily single home neighborhood, according to Pine Lake resident Ray Atwood.
“One issue: density,” he said.
In addition to concentration concerns, residents worried about trespassers in their communally owned lake area.
Broadmoor chose not to speak during the council meeting.
“We would like to wave a magic wand and make it all work,” said Councilman Jon Camp, who voted against the development. Camp rejected the development because he said that his personal platform of common sense, fiscal responsibility and doing the “right thing” demanded it.
The City Council’s efforts included encouraging the residents and the developer to compromise and listening to the concerns of the affected parties. One compromise was the developers decreasing the number of units from the initial 224 to 147. Another was the developer’s willingness to increase the setback from the Pine Lake community’s property line to reduce traffic congestion.
The city had to approve three resolutions for Broadmoor’s apartment complex. The area was annexed into city limits, the zone district was changed from an agricultural to a residential area, and the developer’s special building permit was approved.
According to Jennifer Rawlinson, a Pine Lake resident, the neighborhood will not appeal the City Council’s decision.
“The Pine Lake Association board will be working to follow-up on the agreement they signed with the developer,” Rawlinson said.
Councilman Doug Emery said that these cases involve an individual’s right to sell land and the neighborhood’s right to choose its neighbors. From Emery’s previous experiences, he predicted that the neighborhood would eventually accept the new addition. Emery commended the parties’ ability to compromise.
“Everybody walks away with something,” Emery said.
