Why are Superheroes so Beloved?

Ever since I was a young kid, I have always been fascinated with superheroes and the idea of being super human. I never thought there would be all of these awesome movies about these characters I grew up with.

I found that the public loves superheroes for a number of reasons. The biggest reason I found was that there is something in all of us that wants to do good. We want to fly around and rescue people from danger and be loved all over the world. As Dr. Prickett puts it, "There is something inherit in us that we want to do good. We want to rescue someone from the burning building or pick up a car." A lot of it has to do with that we can relate to some of these heroes in some ways. Dr Pricket said, "All of a sudden there was this idea that these people had real struggles." I think that a huge part of it is reading a comic book or watching a huge movie is a form of escapism. It is a way for people to leave their daily lives for a couple hours and immerse themselves into these incredible worlds.

Dr. Robert Prickett

While doing research, I visited two comic shops. I thought it was strange that neither of the owners wanted to be filmed and so I did not get a chance to interview them on camera. I asked David of Dave's Comics if the comic book movies affect his business. He said, "We may get one or two readers, but they never stick around." While people do love superheroes, the comic industry does not seem to be doing as well as the movies.

It seems that the most popular heroes are the

Dave's Comics

"big three": Superman, Batman, and Spider-Man. Out of the three, Superman was the most popular. People like Superman because he is pretty much indestructible besides having one weakness.

You can check out people's answers here.

You can also watch my video on love for superheroes here.

Study Hall for Student-Athletes

Study Hall has been at Winthrop since 2005. It has been helping athletes both academically and in other areas of life since. As Claire mentions, "it gives students a quiet place to study", yet it does so much more.

One of the main purposes of study hall is to teach student-athletes how to manage their time correctly. As a student-athlete myself, I have a lot going on with practice and meets. After doing the math, athletes have much less free time than non-athletes. With study hall, it guarantees that we get at least 6 hours of academics a week.

The penalty for missing one's hours varies from coach to coach. For track athletes, we get a warning the first time. With any subsequent warnings, we have to sit out a meet.

The goals of the advisers are to "oversee the academic and personal development of student-athletes" to make sure that they are reaching their highest potential. It is nice to have a secondary adviser because they help pick out the best courses for the athlete before meeting with the athlete's main adviser. You can read more about the advisers and academic services at this link.

I like having someone to consult with about my classes before I am advised because the athletic adviser helps pick out the best professor along with the right courses for an individual. After talking with other athletes, I learned that they too get as much out of study hall as I do.

To learn more about study hall, click here.

Some Good Advice

Creating a vox pop video was quite fun for me. The hardest part of making the video is confronting people you don't know. I got more comfortable with it as I did more interviews.

I wasn't expecting a lot of the reactions I got. One of the fun parts about it is that you never know what people are going to say. Some of them are pretty insightful and most of them are hilarious.

The process was more enjoyable because I was interacting with other people. Also I was more knowledgable of Adobe Premiere.

I ended up getting some great advice. Check out the responses here.

Mclaurin Hall

Until recently, I had never heard of McLaurin Hall at Winthrop. I went to check it out and it is a gorgeous building inside and out.

Since it is home to the College of Performing and Visual Arts, it is filled with beautiful portraits lining the halls and historic models of art on the grounds. It is fun to observe the pictures because there are deeper meanings when one observes them closely.

A peice of art that is especially fascinating is "The Mother", an upside down steal flower that resides in the back of McLaurin. It was created by Jeromy Ross, who attended Winthrop. "The Mother" is hard to miss.








There use to be a basement down in McLaurin that students used for indoor recreation and practicing music. It would be interesting to take a look at it now, but no one is allowed down there.

McLaurin was actually going to be torn down in the 1970's because the building began deteriorating. Thankfully, the governor vetoed the project and the building was reprieved. After many renovations, it became home to the College of Visual and Performing Arts.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MtnXOXttgJg&feature=youtu.be

President Obama Set on Controlling Gun Violence

President Obama is facing heat from Republicans and some Democrats about his new plan to control gun violence.  It is the most ambitious effort any president has taken to achieve stricter gun laws.

Obama wants to achieve this by requiring more information to the federal background check system and put more funding into the Centers for Disease Control to research gun violence. His more in-depth proposals will need to clear congress.

Callie Tyner is a freshman English major at Winthrop University. She agrees with Obama’s plan saying, “It would help prevent mass shootings that are happening more frequently.” She goes on to say, “The average citizen should have the right to carry a gun, only after going through a comprehensive background check and being tested for mental health problems.”

Miranda Stevenson, also a freshman at Winthrop, holds a different point of view. She say’s that, “Only law enforcement and the military should have the right to carry guns. More guns means more violence”.

Concerning the gun’s rights advocates, Stevenson say’s, “They have no right to be upset because gun violence is out of control."

Today, the president plans to put his proposal into action.

Creating Leads

1. Lead: A man was killed this morning by crashing into a fire engine responding to an emergency call.   Two fireman aboard the fire truck were hospitalized, there condition still unknown.
Nut Graph: Luckily, the fire was only a false alarm. It is still undetermined who was at fault. The van was destroyed while damage to the truck was estimated at $50,000

2. Recent studies issued in Washington D.C. show that smaller cars show injury claim frequency and repair losses at 30 percent higher than average, while larger cars show 40 to 50 percent better than average claim records.
Nut Graph: This shows there are advantages to driving big cars as opposed to smaller ones. An old four door van is 41 percent less likely than average to be damaged in an accident.

3. An article in the Journal of the American Medical Association says that hot dogs are one of the most   dangerous choking hazards to children under the age of 4. It is estimated every 5 days, someone in the US chokes to death on one.
Nut Graph: A researcher says "It is the perfect size to block a child's airway". Other dangerous foods includes candy, nuts, grapes, apples, carrots, and popcorn.

4. A family grieves over the wrong body at Kristine Belcuore's funeral after the county medical examiner made a mix-up in the bodies.
Nut Graph: The body in the casket was a corpse that has been unclaimed for a month. The discovery happened after the medical examiners noticed the missing body. Recently, the family received an apologetic call from the medical examiner.

The Life of Andre Grant

Andre Grant is a twenty-year-old student attending Winthrop University. He was born in Fayetville, NC.  As a young kid, Andre travelled a lot of the world since his parents were in the military. He moved from Germany, to Seattle, to Hawaii, to New Jersey living there for three years each. His family finally settled in Blythwood, SC when Andre was in the eighth grade.

           
 Andre first discovered Winthrop at a college fair in high school. Andre was originally planning to go straight into the military. He decided to attend Midlands Tech. and transfer to USC after two years instead. During his freshman year at college, he would frequently visit his best friend at Winthrop. He ended up really liking the school. The size of the school, not being close to home, and it being close to Charlotte were things that really attracted him. Andre transferred to Winthrop his second year of college and is majoring in Digital Mass Media. He is living in West Thompson.

            
Something Andre wants to accomplish at Winthrop is to get involved by doing volunteer work and working with different organizations. He wants to get his name out there. After college, he wants to use the skills he learned in ROTC and his major to get a job in the military. Andre likes to stay at Winthrop on the weekends and does not go home unless he has to. On the weekends, he is usually playing basketball with his friends in the West Center. On Thursdays, he goes to 935, a local night club.

           
 Andre has a diverse set of interests. He likes playing basketball and to run. In his spare time, he plays videogames like NBA 2K12, Call of Duty, and Marvel vs. Capcom 3. Andre has a passion for music. His favorite types of music are old-school rap, R&B, jazz, and occasional rock. He loves anything with a good beat. Andre is a “sneaker head” meaning he collects different shoes like Jordan’s and Nikes. One interesting fact about him is that he can solve a rubix cube very quickly, his fastest time being around 2:40. He drives a 1996 Volvo and customized it by replacing the radio with an in-dash radio, two amps, and an alarm system.

            
Andre is not afraid to speak his mind. He is very blunt and honest with people even if someone does not want to hear it. He is laid back and gets along with anybody. When it comes to work, he likes to get the task done right and in a timely manner. He likes to encourage others who are struggling with problems making him loyal to his friends.