internet stuff

Part 1:

Of the 104 race related hate crimes in 2007, four of them happened in Pullman. Only Seattle (14), Spokane (10), Tacoma (10) and Vancouver (6) had more. Covington also had four hate crimes based on race. The city of Pullman also had one hate crime due to sexual orientation of the 34 reported in the state.

In 2006, Pullman had zero hate crimes related to race but had four related to sexual orientation. In comparison, Spokane (7) was the only city in Washington that had reported more. In all, 37 hate crimes associated with sexual orientation were reported in Washington in 2006.

Part 2:

During the 2008 election in Washington, Christine Gregoire received the most money contributed to her campaign. She received $12,002,778, slightly more than the $11,599,166 raised by Dino Rossi.

The largest donation group other than political parties was anonymous donations. They made up .05 percent of the donated money.

In 2008, forestry and forest products contributed to 33.80 percent of its groups donations to the Republican party. The Republicans received $341,193 compared to $201,558 for the Democrats.

Democrats ($27,875) received more money than the Republicans ($11,830) from lobbyists and public relations in 2008.

Part 3:

Digital voice recorder – http://www.google.com/patents/about?id=iqc4AAAAEBAJ&dq=%22digital+voice+recorder%22&as_drrb_ap=q&as_minm_ap=0&as_miny_ap=&as_maxm_ap=0&as_maxy_ap=&as_drrb_is=q&as_minm_is=0&as_miny_is=&as_maxm_is=0&as_maxy_is=

social networking – http://www.google.com/patents/about id=fVsGAAAAEBAJ&dq=%22social+networking%22

automobile – http://www.google.com/patents/about?id=E9lrAAAAEBAJ&dq=%22automobile%22

WSU Crimson Girls

PULLMAN – Their preparation starts about six hours before kickoff. For the next 10 hours, their job is to smile and keep people entertained. They are seen all over campus. They go to tailgate parties, Hollingbery Fieldhouse, corporate tents and even the President’s luncheon.

After that, they quickly go back and get ready for the game.

“Then we head back to the gym and primp quickly before heading out for four hours of smiling and dancing even when we’re losing 54-6,” Lacey Lingle said.

They are the Crimson Girls and Lingle is one of the captains of the 2009-10 squad.

On top of their constant preparation for Cougar Football Saturdays, the team performs at all Cougar home volleyball matches and is preparing for the upcoming basketball season and the highlight of their season, the Universal Dance Association Collegiate Nationals Competition in Orlando, Fla on Jan. 15-18.

“Nationals is one of the most exhilarating things we do as a dance team,” Lingle said. “It's our only opportunity to compete all on our own. Most of the time we're cheering on other teams, but at nationals we cheer on each other and compete at the apex of collegiate dance competitions.”

With so much to prepare for, the team has to practice five days a week. The team has practice sessions from 5-7 p.m. on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays. On Wednesday and Friday the team has two-hour workouts in a studio in Bohler Gym.

During their practice sessions the team spends the time going over pom motions and game breakdowns for an hour and spends the rest of the time on individual stunts or the routine the team is preparing for nationals.

“At practice we work on our Nationals routine and also on our sideline and half time routines, which we perform at every home football, volleyball and men’s and women’s basketball game,” Lingle said. “Most importantly though, we bond and have fun and laugh a lot.”

The team must submit a video application of their nationals routine by Nov. 3 to enter this year.

Another new challenge for the Crimson Girls is adapting to the coaching philosophy to new head coach, Erica Boruff.

“Our new coach incorporates a lot more strength building into our practices,” said Corynn Fine, third year Crimson Girl and fundraising chair. “She wants us to look strong and fit, not skinny or tiny. Also, she has us practice a lot of "talls and hip-hop tricks, which spice up our Nationals routine.”

Freshman and first-year Crimson Girl Melissa Hallenbeck said the team needs to practice as much as they can to prepare for a tough November.

“We're preparing for basketball season right now. November is our toughest month because we have football, volleyball, basketball and nationals,” Hallenbeck said. “It's tough.”

Members of this year’s squad all stressed the importance of getting back to nationals. Hallenbeck said the team’s goals are to improve on its eighth-place finish at the 2009 national competition and to always stay positive.

“We spend a lot of time together working as a team,” Hallenbeck said. “We dedicate about 16 hours a week to the Crimson Girls dance team, and we have to always give it 100% and work our hardest no matter what. But it’s all worth it for a a successful team thought.”

Special leads

Rush to finish barrier at Howard Hanson Dam before heavy rains
The Seattle Times - Oct. 5, 2009
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2010001508_dam05m.html

This story is an example of a narrative lead. The lead reads:

"In 1949, the Army Corps of Engineers warned that water might seep through the north abutment of a dam being contemplated on the Green River, but the leak 'would be negligible and could be easily controlled.'

It wasn't.

The abutment — a hillside that anchors one side of the Howard Hanson Dam — has leaked almost since the dam began operating in 1961. Engineers have monitored it, worried about it, debated what to do with it and made a series of improvements to control it.

The latest leak, detected after a huge rainstorm last January filled the reservoir higher than ever, prompted the corps to reclassify Hanson as "unsafe" with an "urgent and compelling" need for immediate action. Only 10 of the corps' 650-plus dams fall into that high-risk category."

The newsworthy information does not come until the fourth paragraph in the story. The first three paragraphs are used primarily to set up the background information of the dam and to explain the severity of the situation.

I think this lead is the best choice because it is not just a basic news story so a summary lead wouldn't be enough. Plus the actual event occurred the previous year so it is not very timely and wouldn't be considered hard news. I think this was the best way to go about writing this lead.

Charles R. Cross publishes new, interactive Led Zeppelin book
The Seattle Times - Oct. 5, 2009
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/books/2009991075_ledzep05.html

Another example of a narrative lead.

"On May 11, 1969, Led Zeppelin, then a relatively unknown but up-and-coming British rock band, played a concert in Seattle before a few thousand people at the Aqua Theater at Green Lake, drawing noise complaints from some of the area's residents.

Led Zeppelin, which would become one of rock music's seminal bands, shared the bill that day with Three Dog Night; this paper reported the concert to be a "smashing success." Seattle, said local rock historian and journalist Charles R. Cross, "has always had more of an appetite for hard rock than other cities," part of what he called that "blue-collar, longshoreman ethic."

In fact, Led Zeppelin proved to be a big influence for many local bands that became famous in the 1990s during the city's grunge-music era: Nirvana, Alice in Chains, Soundgarden, Pearl Jam. It was "the template for what a hard rock band should be," Cross said.

Led Zeppelin is the subject of Cross' latest book, "Led Zeppelin: Shadows Taller Than Our Souls," due to be released Tuesday. The title is a relatively obscure line from perhaps the band's most famous song, "Stairway to Heaven," and a reference to the book's premise — that the band has had an outsize influence on rock music, one that could not be fully predicted or appreciated when the band was together. "

The story is about Cross' new book "Led Zeppelin: Shadows Taller Than Our Souls" but doesn't reference the book until the fourth paragraph. The first three graphs are used to explain Led Zeppelin's importance and, specifically, its importance in the Seattle area.

The book would be hard to write a hard, summary news lead about and none of the other special lead types would make sense in this situation. I think the current lead captured what the author wanted to get across better than any other way it could have been done.