Finals Week Open Mic Night - Roxx Cybercafe

Joseph Sikorski preforms music from the Scottish Isles at Roxx Cybercafe's open mic night Tuesday, June 7th 2011. (Coulter Loeb/The News Record)


1st year Nick Brown preforms at open mic night at Roxx Cybercafe Tuesday, June 7th 2011. (Coulter Loeb/The News Record)


Andrew Gould, 4th year asian studies major, creates 8-bit music on his Nintendo Gameboy at open mic night at Roxx Cybercafe on June 7th, 2011. (Coulter Loeb/The News Record)


Desiree Miller dances with Andrew Gould, 4th year asian studies major, as he creates 8-bit music on his Nintendo Gameboy at open mic night at Roxx Cybercafe on June 7th, 2011. (Coulter Loeb/The News Record)


Ellie Klug, 1st year at University of Dayton, preforms a spoken word piece at Roxx Cybercafe Tuesday, June 7th 2011. (Coulter Loeb/The News Record)


2nd year Michelle Brandsetter preforms "Slow Dance to 8-Bit" at open mic night at Roxx Cybercafe Tuesday, June 7th 2011. (Coulter Loeb/The News Record)


Desiree Miller (shown) and Nick Naegele, both students at CCM, preform a piece composed by music composition student Carrie Magin at open mic night in Roxx Cybercafe Tuesday, June 7th 2011. (Coulter Loeb/The News Record)

So, what now?

In case you don't have access to any kind of news sources all over the world (in which case reading this would be basically impossible), you may not have heard that Osama bin Laden was killed yesterday.

Also, you may not know this, but, in about 25 minutes, I will have been awake for 24 hours. I apologize if there are any glaring grammatical errors, but Starbucks' Pike can only last me for so long.

The title of this post isn't so much as a question posed to the White House, the Pentagon or any other iconic building in Washington, D.C.

What I want to know is this: What's next? Now that President Obama has officially confirmed the death of the most wanted man on the face of the planet (one whose head was worth $25 million at that), where do we go from here?

Will Al Qaida be disbanded? Will their activities increase? Will straight secular violence completely overtake the idea of a religious war? Will Osama bin Laden become a martyr? What of 9/11? Is it somehow redeemed?

I'm curious to know what others think because, currently, I honestly cannot sum up the consciousness to form any sort of hypothesis without the aid of caffeine.

-Gin

News vs. Sensationalism

The problems the average college student faces are usually put off until after graduation. School loans pile up, exams to study for and relationships that come and go.

While a student newspaper staff is faced with real deadlines, we undergo the same things as a regular student.

Today, we learned of a death. An as-of-yet unidentified man is believed to have fallen off the WLWT transmitter tower on Chickasaw Street. And let me say this now, none of us were scrambling to get to the scene to just see it to see it.

It's a disturbing story. But all the things printed in tomorrow's paper are factual. And we could have printed a lot more, too. But that's where discretionary measures come into play. We actually had someone attempt to sell us video of what the police and firefighters were faced with. For money. Someone was willing to sell footage of law enforcement and other members of the city attempting to piece together of what was once a person. Someone with a life, friends, family and maybe even a pet. Someone who had cares, who perhaps loved, who may have studied for exams and saw those relationships come and go just as we have.

Let me assure you now, it is unsettling. It's disturbing. We went because we are obligated to.

There was a life lost today in what is, under general consensus here at The News Record, a truly shocking and horrifying manner. And it wasn't easy to report. Even as I was editing the story, I was struck by the sheer ghastliness of this entire situation.

We care. We do. But we cannot simply overlook details. Nor do we include details that are simply there for shock value. Frankly, it was disturbing to even imagine the job those who had to report to the scene faced this morning.

So believe me, we do have humanity. We are people who are affected by emotions.

-Gin

Pressin' the Press

I was in Columbus last week.

Approximately 10,000 people were there, apparently. Lots of people were there. I was on the bus up there with a bunch of union workers and it was a hell of a ride.

I will say this: There are some fiery people trying to stop SB5.

Although I refuse to take sides when it comes to the issue of unions' rights, the turnout was something else. The Capitol was packed. While it wasn't the 70,000 people that were in Madison, it was loud. No violence. It was loud, but there was no violence.

It took about 45 minutes to make my way through the crowd of people and get into the building. Into the building..! A huge knot of people were at the top of the steps that led into the lobby and Ohio State Troopers were guarding every hallway and door in sight. Well, not one per door or per hallway, but there were eyes everywhere. Even when walking into the bathroom people watched. That's not to say it was something like a police state or martial law or what have you, but, man, they kept it tight.

Today, protests in Columbus were scheduled once again. And I can only wonder how this entire situation is going to play out.

-Gin

The Campus is The World

After being recently able to get enough pages to print our Nation & World page — which is something I absolutely adore — I've been struck with how truly limited my world view is.

Big news on campus that could potentially affect every person here would mean nothing to a refugee. The refugee probably doesn't even know where Cincinnati is. But we know of the refugees. We sympathize with them and hope for the best for them. Their biggest problem isn't so much waking up and passing a class and graduating. It's not being killed.

I find it strange, really. To think that, right now, there are countries that are struggling in an attempt to reconcile government with society and living in strife and a state of instability many of us can't even imagine.

So, if you have time, read the Nation & World page. And learn! LEARN!

-Gin

Oh The Joys of Work

So, there's something funny going on here. A lot of people are moving on — I don't really know what's up with that. People getting married, getting jobs and, well, people doing other things.

That being said, it's strange to think that our lives aren't really just subjects of stories and what not. When news broke that Congresswoman Giffords was shot, news spread fast. News, man!

But while I was glued to my phone refreshing my New York Times app trying to find every new detail as they occurred, I didn't think about something. Giffords isn't a politician who was shot. Well, I mean, she is, but she's also a person. Who was shot point blank in the head with a pistol. Which is messed up.

I don't want to sound twisted or jaded or hardened or inhuman, but, for some strange reason, something in my head told me that, as a politician, Giffords' shooting was, well, acceptable, if that makes sense. Not acceptable, but expected? Not her specifically, but with all the turmoil in the world, such as the assassination of Salman Taseer by a member of his security outfit and the seemingly counter intuitive reception he got ... things are strange.

But it's nice to be able to step out of the role of someone so desirous of news. Going from one end of the spectrum saying "That's a hell of a story" to "That's the most tragic thing I've heard in a long time."

In a way, removing yourself from the personal aspects of something allows you to analyze things from an objective point of view but also allows you to step into a personal perspective — fully. Perhaps more so than people who skim newspapers for headlines and cutlines.

It's an interesting world we live in, I tell you. Hopefully no comet will come and destroy us all in a year so I can at least delve into some of all the crazy events happening around.

-Gin

Oh, the horror...

I completely turned off my news radar this past weekend.

With a barrage of final papers due, a portfolio of my work to slap together and some other nuances of life, I decided to not give a damn about the world or what was happening in it for two days.

Then imagine my dismay upon entering the office today — for the last issue of Anno Domini 2010 — and learning that our beloved university mascot, the Bearcat, had been detained by UC's finest for heinous misdeeds during Saturday's football contest with Pittsburgh.

Oh, the horror...as Col. Kurtz would say.

We aren't heartless curmudgeons here at TNR. Under our layers of cynicism, there is some semblance of emotion. We do find some stories heartbreaking to report.

We didn't revel in ecstasy when a professor was charged with stalking...or when someone turned Raymond Walters into a shooting gallery...or when a student tossed a desk at Cincinnati cops this past spring.

We didn't laugh when TNR had to run multiple articles about the deaths of three DAAP students earlier this quarter.

Bad news does keep us employed, no doubting that. In our business, sadly, even bad news is good news. Yet it doesn't mean we enjoy the misery of others or even hope for it.

We have hearts here.

So, in an expression of those hearts, we here at TNR wish you all tidings of good cheer, good luck on your exams and a safe holiday.

As much as we love to write, we aren't dreaming of topping off our holidays by having to write up a story of tragedy.

To quote a former Cincinnati news anchor, "Take care of yourselves...and each other."

Remember that as you all have a great holiday season. We want to see you — not write about you — in January.


-James