Sports Reporter Discusses His Passion of Writing and Sports

Matt Vantour, a sports reporter for the Daily Hampshire Gazette, discussed his passion of writing and sports to a group of journalism students. He discussed his origins and difficulties he faced while writing for sports.

The newswriter, age 47 from Westborough, MA, spent his college years at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. He always loved sports and writing, so he wanted to write about news.

After graduating, he started to write for the Recorder. An aspect of sports writing that he to achieve is to tell the honest truth of reporting on sports.

“I would rather lose my sources than lose my readers,” said Vantour.

Vantour started his journalism at the Daily Collegian, the student-run newspaper in UMass. It was not until his second semester of his freshman when he decided to attend a sports meeting. For Vantour, it was a intimidating at first, but quickly got along with the writers and editors.

“These people knew what they were doing, and I wanted to be a part of that,” said Vantour.

The Town of Amherst Gets A Full Month of Arbor Day

For this year, the town of Amherst will not be getting just Arbor Day, but an Arbor Month instead.

On Monday, the Town of Amherst Select Board approved the plan for a series of events commemorating Arbor Day. An event will take in every Saturday of the month of April.

The Arbor Month to stress the importance of community efforts to plant and preserve trees.

“Without trees in towns, the town wouldn’t be so attractive,” Alan Snow, Division Director of Tree and Ground of the Department of Public Works in Amherst.

The first event will be a tree planting on North Pleasant Street will take place on Apr. 9. In collaboration of two UMass fraternities with the Public Shade Tree Committee, the event will plant ten trees in North Pleasant Street.

On Apr. 16, there will also be a Arbor Day in Amherst Sustainability Festival  

On Apr. 23, students of the Stockbridge School of Agriculture will participate in an Arbor Day of Service. The day will consist of climbing, pruning, and planting trees

Through these events throughout the month of April, Snow hopes to educate people the need to protect and preserve trees from any potential harm.

The Public Shade Tree Committee hopes that the events 

“There is very little funding and attention in the community (of the importance of trees),” said Snow.

“The Public Shade Tree Committee is the voice of the people,” said Snow.

The Amherst Select Board encourages citizens of Amherst to participate in efforts

When asked if Arbor Month could be annual,

“I am just one guy,” said Snow

“Trees are sucking the pollution around us,” said Snow.

 

Temperature Sets Records Across New England

Average temperature during this winter has been ranked warmest in recent year across New England.

Record average temperatures were set in nearly all Northeast states. The cities of Boston and Hartford, the average temperature of this winter was ranked second warmest. In Worcester, this winter ranked third warmest.

For Amherst, this winter is rank second warmest since 1835, with the average temperature 32 degrees Fahrenheit.

For most locations, the three warmest winters on record occurred during the past 15 years.

 

Possible Story Ideas

1. A profile on food banks
2. A story on the Amherst Community Connections
3. A story on Food Recovery Network
4. A story on Craig’s Place

Mastery Beat Brainstorm

Questions:

1. What is the main factor of homelessness? How does it affect others?
2. How do different organizations in the Pioneer Valley combat hunger and homelessness? How do they success?
3. Are there any policies that are in place that contribute to economic deprivation? How do people become homeless?
4. How does this issue affect the development of children?
5. What are opportunities that are available for impoverish people?
6.  What is the overall experience?

Sources:

1. Hwei-Ling Greeney
2. Food Bank of Western Mass. communication department
3. Craig’s Doors
4. Amherst Survival Center
5. Northampton Survival Center
6. MASSPIRG

NYT v. WSJ: New Hampshire Primaries

The New Hampshire 2016 primary and the Iowa caucuses results demonstrated to voters how viable candidates are as the nomination process continues throughout the rest of the country. It is the responsibility of the press to inform the public of information in a way that favors a particular candidate. It is an obligation that journalists create an atmosphere in which individuals absorb information and arrive to their own conclusions.

The New York Times article on the results of the New Hampshire primaries is titled “Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders Win in New Hampshire Primary,” written by Patrick Healy and Jonathan Martin. The article revolves around the fact that non-establishment candidates from both the Democratic and Republican parties winning in margins. The Wall Street Journal published an article titled “New Hampshire Exit Polls Show Anxious Voters Eager for Change,” written by Aaron Zitner, made a similar observation. For the most part, both article Nothing about the political leanings of either newspaper suggested any bias towards any candidate or party. The Times article have devoted its second half the Democratic side of the presidential race and on the appeal of Sanders among young and independent voters. The Wall Street Journal article have focused on the rise of Trump as a viable presidential candidate despite attempts to dent his population by establishment candidates like Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio.

The Times article went in detail on the two Democratic candidate trying to maintain each other dominance in New Hampshire. The article highlighted Sanders in a favorable light after winning among young and independent voters. Especially surprising after the Times endorsed Clinton.

For the Wall Street Journal article on the primary results, it focused on Trump’s victory over his Republican rivals and the anger and frustration that voters on both political parties possessed. Both Trump and Sanders catered to voters that are fed up with the current state of the political system. Sanders is calling his campaign a “political revolution,” calling for taxing Wall Street. Trump managed to channel his message to win the votes of college graduates, independents, and every age groups except seniors than his rivals.

After reading both articles, I found that both newspapers tried to keep their biases in order. I believe the most important thing about these primary results is that readers could take the information and formulate a conclusion without the author trying to force it upon the reader. Both articles highlighted the successes of two non-establishment candidates, but there is room for other to surge. With more primaries and caucuses left in the presidential race, more surprises and upsets are still on the way.

Student Profile: Hanna Cole

All writers aspire to make their worlds and visions come true. For Hannah Cole, creative writer is a way for her to express herself.

Meet Hannah Cole. She is currently majoring in English and journalism. She is from Billerica, MA and is 19 years old. A thing that is interested the most is creative writing.

Hannah spends her free-time reading fictional novel and poetry. She often reads terrible romance novels.

“I am an extreme student because I like writing so much,” Hannah said.

When Hannah started college, she had her mind set to study medicine. On her first semester, she was taking biology, chemistry, calculus, and a medical ethics course. She was also taking a fiction writing seminar at the same time. While she was doing badly to do well in her science courses, Hannah earned an A in her writing semester. It was then when she decided to switch her major to English.

Her parents were initially shocked by the switch.

“My parents started to be proud of the switch because they know that it is something that I wanted to do,” Hannah said.

Hannah’s obsession of writing started in a young age. In elementary school, her teacher, after taking notice of her desire to write, recommended Hannah to join in a short story contest. Her short story entry, which was titled “Alleredinc,” retold the story of Cinderella in reverse (hence, the spelling). Cinderella was beautiful in the start of the story, but, as the story progresses, she becomes ugly at the end.

Hannah describes herself as a self-critical person. She often tries to find new ways to improve her writing skills. She does this by taking journalism courses. She hopes to become an editor in the future to improve romance novels.

“My mind is always going,” Hannah said.

She also hopes to write a novel and have it become a New York Times Best Seller

With every piece of writing she reads, Hannah tries to imagine herself in the writer’s perspective. She analyzes the author’s writing decisions, such as wording choices.

Being the middle child, Hannah felt frustrated on the deprivation of attention from her parents. Her older sister was the problem child after dropping out of high school. Her younger brother received the all the attention from her parents.

“It’s always tough when you’re the middle child.”

This situation led Hannah to appear more shy. As a result, she looked to creative writing as an outpour her thoughts and feelings.

“Because I am stupid. I just read fairy tales and get lost into it all.”

Hannah’s favorite book is “On Writing” by Stephen King, a memoir of his experiences as a writer. She read the book during your sophomore year of high school. She fell in love with it ever since. The book provides tips on mastering the craft of writing.

Hannah tries to find motivation in her passion of writing by thinking the craft is something that most people overlook.

“People are always busy, so who reads for pleasure anymore,” Hannah said.

Governor and Commissioner Held Press Conference on the Boston Marathon

Boston, MA – The governor and police commissioner urged citizens to aid them in their search of the culprits of the Boston Marathon at occurred hours earlier.

In a press conference held at the Westin Copley Plaza, Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick and Boston Police Commissioner Ed Davis where he announced that a third explosion took place at the JFK Library.

Davis has not confirmed any specific information on the third bombing. He is also not sure that the bombing is related to the previous two bombings.

“We are not certain if these events are related, but we are treating as if they are,”

Governor Patrick also provided a brief summary of the events that have occurred thus far.

“We don’t have the whole picture, but we have a good deal of information,” Governor Patrick said.

Two simultaneous explosions occurred near the finish line of the marathon. While people were fleeing from the scene, a large number of bags and parcels were dropped in the scene. Every bag is currently inspected for the potential of another device.

“At just point, we have not found another device,” Commissioner Davis said.

The Commissioner also urged people to stay away from crowed areas.

“People should be clam, but they should understand that this is an ongoing event,” Commissioner Davis said.

Both Governor Patrick and Commissioner Davis urged people for any certain information on the events that took place. Tips lines were established for families searching for victims, 617-635-4500. Individuals with any information on the perpetrators can call 1 800 494- TIPS.

Governor Patrick has confirmed that President Obama sent the support and full cooperation from the FBI to assist on the  discovery of the perpetrators.

When asked if the attacks in Boston was motivated by terrorism, Davis did not have a definitive answer.

“We are not definitive on this right now,” Commissioner Davis said. “You can reach your own conclusions based upon what happened.”

 

 

Local House Fire Resulted in the Deaths of Two Children

A house fire ended in tragedy after causing the deaths of two children Saturday evening.

According to Tony Sullivan, the Amherst fire chief, two children, Krista, age 5, and Jeremy, age 3, were playing with matches.

The fire occurred on the residence of Johnnie and Jacqueline Lewis,  at 1840 Maldren Avenue in downtown Amherst.

The fire broke out at around 9:15 pm. Firefighters reported to the scene at around 9:30 pm when Ann Capiello, a 19 year old UMass student and babysitter of Krista and Jeremy, called 9-1-1.

Capiello was babysitting Krista and Jeremy when their parents went out for a dinner and movie to celebrate their 10th anniversary.

Capiello was watching television in the living room when the children were playing with matching and attempting to light a candle in Krista’s bedroom.

 

Sanders Speaks to Thousands at the Mullins Center

Vermont senator and Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders held a rally in the Mullins Center Monday evening.

Despite falling behind in the Nevada Democratic caucus by his rival former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton by, the rally managed to bring out around 9,000 attendees, according to the Massachusetts Daily Collegian.

Massachusetts is one of the eleven states holding a Democratic primary or caucus on Mar. 1 or Super Tuesday. A recent poll conducted by Emerson College had both Sanders and Clinton tied at 46 percent in Massachusetts.

“This state is gonna help lead our nation forward towards a political revolution,” Sanders said.

Sanders noted that despite starting the presidential race as political unknown, he is now tied with Clinton in delegate count.

“In three state elections, we are tied with Secretary Clinton in delegates gained, 51 to 51,” Sanders said.

Sanders engaged in his usual stump speech on the issues of income inequality, establishment politics, a broken criminal justice system, and the need of immigration reform.

“More people in jail in the United States of America than any other country on Earth,” Sanders said.

Sanders took a moment to describe the differences between him and Clinton. An important difference that Sanders highlighted was that he does not have a Super PAC.

“We do not represent the interests of the millionaire class, we don’t represent Wall Street, we don’t represent corporate America, we don’t want their money,” Sanders said.

Sanders stated that despite not having a Super PAC, he managed to fund his campaign from small donations with contributions averaging $27 dollars.

“What happened in the last nine and a half months, we have received four million individual contributions,” Sanders said.

Sanders also addressed the issue of money having a strong influence in the political system.

“The American people need to ask one simple question,” Sanders said. “If these contributions from powerful special interests have no influence over the candidate, then why are they making these huge contributions?”

Sanders criticized marijuana policies that led to the arrests of many young people.

“If some kid in Massachusetts today gets arrested for possession of marijuana, that person will likely have a police record for their entire life,” Sanders said. “It is also a racial issue because it turns out that whites and blacks use marijuana about equally, yet blacks are four times likely to be arrested.”

Sanders also highlighted the importance of making public colleges and universities tuition free, stating that the value of a college degree is as important today as a high school degree was decades ago. He also spoke on the issue of high student debt..

“This is crazy stuff,” Sanders said. “People should not be punished for getting an education.”

Sanders closed the rally by discussing the importance of a political revolution and urging young people who had never engaged in the political system before to vote on Tuesday.