Media Convergence Initiative

‘Bachelorette’ Contestant Eric Hill Dies in Paragliding Accident

Posted on April 24, 2014 by jumarshall17

Eric Hill, a contestant on the upcoming season of ‘The Bachelorette’ died Wednesday in a paragliding accident in Draper, Utah. He was gliding off a steep cliff in Draper, Utah, on Sunday when his parachute partially collapsed and “swung him into the hillside like a pendulum. A rescue team was called to the scene, and he was transported by helicopter to a local hospital, where he remained in a medically induced coma until Wednesday. The accident occurred post-Bachelorette; he had apparently already been eliminated from the show.

Although he was not far above the ground when he fell and he was wearing a helmet, Hill hit with a substantial amount of speed causing severe injuries. “Bachelorette” producers sent a statement to CNN saying they are “deeply saddened to hear about the tragic passing of our friend, Eric Hill.”

With the upcoming 10th season rapidly approaching, airing May 19, producers are weary of the episodes including the Late Mr. Hill. The executives commented saying “Eric inspired us every day with his passion, his courage and his adventurous spirit, and for that we are very thankful,” the show’s statement said. “On behalf of our cast, crew and producers, we send our love, our thoughts and our prayers to Eric’s family during this difficult time.” To his family he was known as a risk taker but he was no careless. His dream was to travel to every county in 1,200 days but it was interrupted by him filming the show. Unfortunately his dream will never come into fruition.

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A 13-Year Old Boy and 12-Year Old Girl Become Britain’s Youngest Parents

Posted on April 24, 2014 by joecool12

In Britain, a 13-year old boy and 12-year old girl became the youngest parents in Britain. Last Sunday, the girl gave birth, however the girl became pregnant in the sixth grade. Names of the parents were not released and remains anonymous.

It is their choice as a couple to have a child, but can they take care of all the factors required to raising a child? I think they can not, unless their parents help out with the raising of the child.

It was stated by a source (not mentioned), “They’re very into each other, totally in love. She is obsessed with him.She sees this as true love. They want to get married.”

Even though these statements were apparently made by the mother, she is still young in her life. As she develops more in her life, going through the life style of being both a mother and child, she could lose interest in the father. There are people way much older than her that fall out of love due to everyday obstacles in their life, and they have way more experience in their life than her.

This scenario brings up the idea of if the mother will decide to have an abortion performed or give her child up for adoption. If she does not want to kill the child, adoption could be a better choice because another couple could have enough resources to better take care of their child. Either options are possibly not one of her choices that she will make, but whatever option she makes, it would be great for a substantial amount of help to be provided towards the couple in raising their newborn child.

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Lost Warhol art discovered on 30 year old floppy disks

Posted on April 24, 2014 by brianbachman

The Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania has just announced the discovery of multiple lost art pieces created almost 30 years ago by Andy Warhol. These images had been saved to a floppy disk that sat on museum shelves for three decades until a recent successful recovery attempt.

Members of the Carnegie Mellon University Computer club and the Frank-Ratchye STUDIO for Creative Inquiry are responsible for the extraction of the images from the obsolete Amiga floppy disks. This computer club has a large collection of obsolete computer hardware, and used custom software to recover Warhol’s artwork from the disks.

Commodore International had commissioned Warhol to develop art using their Amiga computer hardware, and this artwork varied in style and type. Portraits, doodles, early digital camera shots, and experiments with variations of Warhol’s classic pieces were all found on the disk. A notable piece is a modification of a Botticelli painting of a Venus, however Warhol’s version gives the woman an extra eye.

The floppy disks had been in the museums collection since 1994, however were inaccessible due to the images being saved in an obsolete format.

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The University of Central Florida Police Department Investigates 2nd Criminal Offense in Chi Omega Hazing Case

Posted on April 24, 2014 by rboniniv

On April 4, two pledges of Chi Omega were blindfolded and led into the UCF Arboretum on campus where they were then told to finish an entire bottle of rum before they could leave.

According to the report, several sisters then dropped the pledges off at a campus parking garage where they wandered around drunk with no way home. Eventually one of the pledge’s boyfriend picked up the pair and took them home.

Days after a hazing scandal involving the Chi Omega sorority at the University of Central Florida, has obtained a heavily redacted police report from the incident showing that cops may be going after two different charges. According to the police report, at least one pledge was underage and UCFPD say two offenses were committed: Selling, giving, or serving alcohol to someone under 21 and college hazing with risk of injury or death. Both offenses are misdemeanors which could result in some jail time.

Chi Omega’s national headquarters is reported to have found out about the incident the following day after executive members of the chapter reported it.

“Upon learning of the incident, the Chi Omega national organization immediately informed university officials and the chapter began its internal disciplinary process,” Whitney Heckathorne, a spokeswoman for the national organization told Local 6. “Through this process all three members involved have voluntarily resigned their Chi Omega membership.”

Most of the six page long police report is blacked out, including names of the victims, the sisters involved and nearly all of the details on just what happened that night. The sorority is awaiting a review with the university on April 25. Police are continuing to investigate.

Posted in Business, Crime, Education, General, Odd News | Comments Off

This Is a Blog About My Experience With Writing Blogs On Here For Two Semesters In A Row

Posted on April 23, 2014 by bosimpson

So, I was first introduced to the website last Fall 2013 semester when I was taking RTV2012 with Dr. Malala. I thought to myself, this is so different. What a cool way to get points for a class. I probably wouldn’t have found it so appealing if we had a specific topic to write about each week but the fact that we were just writing blogs to express anything about ourselves or what is going on in the world for points, I thought that was pretty cool. I still have my old bogs from my other class published on here so I have a lot of blogs in my profile now.

If I can somehow keep writing blogs on here and set my profile to private or maybe just detach from my previous courses and fellow UCF students, no offense. Then maybe I will continue to write blogs on here. It’s kind of nice to come on here and vent sometimes but I don’t think I’d want it to be a public page if I was to get more in depth about my life. Most of the blogs that I have written have been about events I’m excited about, my views on things, and sometimes it’s just pure venting. Either way, this assignment is something that stands out from other classes and I enjoyed having it as part of my curriculum.

I have never taken the time to read anybody else’s blog. I guess that’s why sometimes I write things that I probably wouldn’t want others to read…because I assume nobody is looking through my blogs. Often times it’s hard to become inspired and write about a topic every week. There’s sometimes that I can’t think of anything I’m inspired to write but I always do, since it’s for a grade and all. Speaking of grades, I believe I have ended this semester on a great note. I’m feeling great. I have no more worries in terms of school and honestly no other reason to worry about anything else. Everything is going be just fine.

Posted in Education, General | Tagged blogs, express, RTV, school, Semesters, UCF, venting | Comments Off

Beached Sea Animals Find Temporary Homes at the Marine Mammal Center.

Posted on April 23, 2014 by jsjones

The Marine Mammal Center, located in Sausalito, California, has been making quite a remarkable difference in the lives of many seals and other marine mammals.

The non-profit facility, which normally takes in around 700 sea mammals per year, rescued nearly 400 marine animals since the start of the new year. This significant increase in rescues is said to be the result of many factors, including the animals getting stuck too far inland on beaches. Due to the fact that many sea lions and baby seals get displaced from their mothers, they are unable to accurately maneuver their way through the ocean and end up washed up on the California beaches; emaciated and unable to find their way home.

The facility’s leading veterinarian, Shawn Johnson, also described algae bloom as a reason for the sudden surge in marine animals being taken in. Unfortunately for the marine life, domoic acid is released and then consumed by smaller fish which are then eaten by the larger seals or sea lions. The intake of the acid causes serious health problems such as seizures or even memory loss and also results in the animals washing up on beaches.

Without a doubt, such non-profit organizations, such as the Marine Mammal Center, are making great strides towards helping marine wildlife survivor their ever changing environments. Although not all of the animals taken in by the facility survive the health problems they had experienced, Johnson did state that the majority of them are released back into the wild after they recuperate.

Posted in Environment, General | Comments Off

The Price of Fun, How Much Will it Cost You?

Posted on April 23, 2014 by scsmith

So me and a friend of mine went to see the Tampa Bay Rays play the New York Yankees at Tropicana Field last Sunday. The tickets were cheap, cheap enough. The parking usually cost 20 bucks a pop but I managed to find a free parking space a little a ways from the stadium. It being the weekend, the parking was free at the meters, Score! So I did mention our tickets were cheap, they were actually 80 bucks a ticket, but that is the cheapest in the league! Mainly because the Rays suck, oops did I say that out loud?

So far we have spent a 160 bucks total, completely worth it to see Derek Jeter play in his last season. Crossing fingers it isn’t true. And to check out all the new talent the Yankees acquired in the off-season like Ellsbury, and Tanaka. Three innings go by and It’s time for a taditional hotdog and a beer. I get up to go get food for the both of us and I decide to get a sausage dog instead because I remember last year how good they were. I get in line, and as I’m waiting I take a gander at the size of the sausage. I couldnt believe my eyes, the sausage shrunk in half! It was like a baby sausage that was taken away from mamma sausage and sent to death at all places, a Rays game! Poor sausage. The price for this sausage dog was marked at 9 bucks, 9 BUCKS! For that? Are you kidding me? So I made the executive decision to get us both footlong franks, and I make my way over to the other line. As I’m walking over I’m hoping that the hotdog is actually a foot long or at least close to it. I look at the price and its 8 bucks, I say “what a deal!” Just having saw what I saw, I guess it seemed like a deal at the moment.

So after I purchased two footlong franks for 16 bucks and some fries for 5 bucks (I needed variety) I make my way toward the beer station. I took one look that appeared to only last a tenth of a second, because my cheap instincts kicked in and said “Heck No!” 11 bucks for a draft, are you kidding? Ugh! So to make myself feel better I go dress my hotdog with a shit load of toppings to try and get my moneys worth, even though deep down inside I know it is futile. I top it with sauerkraut, onions (even though I hate raw onions) mustard, relish, the kitchen sink, okay that last part I put on the side. I make my way back to our seats.

As I’m sitting there eating my footlong hotdog that is dripping all over the place with crap, I look down at the seats below me and I begin to laugh out loud. This guy orders two Coors Lites without thinking twice. The beer man hands him the two beers and say “that will be 18 bucks.” The guy says “how much?” The beer man replies “18 dollars.” The guy gives the beer man a 20 dollar bill and gets his change and then looks at his wife and says “18 dollars, jeesh!” I’m sure his wife cared. I turned to my friend and said “what a sucker.” Then I thought for a second and said, “well, I guess I’m a sucker too I just paid 8 bucks for a hotdog.” Cue the “Curb Your Enthusiasm” theme music!

I couldn’t believe how much everything costs. I mean its nothing different from year to year, but when I think back 3 years ago a draft beer was only 8 bucks. While that’s still expensive as it is, that’s a 3 dollar increase in three years! Why? I cant believe you don’t make a profit if you sold that beer for 3 bucks, why so much greed? So to go to a baseball game to see the Yankees you pay prime pricing for a prime team like the Yankees. If it was the Toronto Blue Jays, those tickets would have been half the price. Unfortunately the price of the food and beer will stay the same. But if you want to go to a baseball game, my suggestion, drink and eat before hand.

Posted in Business, Economy, Entertainment, Environment, General, Sports | Comments Off

America’s Middle Class is no Longer the World’s Richest

Posted on April 22, 2014 by alandelav

America on top. That is exactly how it has always been. Since the beginning of the 20^th century, America has strived to be the leader in business. It would be an understatement to say that capitalism did not flow through veins of America. However, certain distinctions previously held by America have come under fire. The American middle class has always been the most affluent, until now. Even though the wealthiest Americans are still outpacing many of their affluent global peers, there has been some analyses showing that across the lower and middle-tier income levels, citizens of other countries have received larger raises over the last three decades.

Studies have been showing that middle tier of other countries have not only caught up to the United States, but have passed the US as well. For example, in Canada, after-tax middle class income, which was significantly down in 2000 is now higher than the US. Studies are also stating that the poor in much of Europe earn more than poor Americans.

Even though economic growth in the United States continues to be a strong as many other countries or even stronger, but only a small percentage of American households are benefiting from it. Studies are showing that the struggles of the poor in the United States are worst than even expected. Families who make money in the bottom 20th percentile of income distribution makes significantly less money than a similar family in Canada, Norway, Finland or Netherlands. The amazing thing about this detail is 35 years ago, the reverse was true.

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Paul George and the Indiana Pacers defeat the Atlanta Hawks to even the series 1-1.

Posted on April 22, 2014 by christie jauch

For a second, many people around the world thought the Atlanta Hawks were going to drop the Pacers to 0-2 for the series after the Hawks out played Indiana in the first half. The Pacers then started to put the game out of reach as they went on a 25-2 run heading into the fourth quarter. Indiana did a great job offensively as everybody was making their shots. Power Forward Luis Scola was making a lot of mid-range shots, and finished the game with 20 points and seven rebounds. Point Guard George Hill of the Pacers scored all of his points in the second half of the game and finished with 15 points.

However, the player of the game was All-Star Small Forward Paul George of the Indiana Pacers. George has been played at an All-Star level since the beginning of the season as he scored 27 points with 10 rebounds and 6 assists. This is a huge win for the Pacers, and it will give the players a lot of confidence heading into game 3. The Pacers look like they are getting back to playing hard-nosed basketball after tonight’s win. If the Pacers play like they did in the second half of the game tonight, they’ll definitely knock out the the Atlanta Hawks and move on in the playoffs.

The Pacers are currently 56-26 and have the best record in the NBA. Many sports reporters predicted Indiana to win the NBA championship in the beginning of the season. The Pacers were dominating throughout the regular season, but at times they struggled again some teams. Even after tonight, even though the Pacers won, it’s not a guarantee they will knock the Atlanta Hawks out of the playoffs because the team has been playing poorly defensively for the first two games of the series. Like I’ve already said, if the Pacers played like they did tonight against the Hawks in the second half, they’ll move on in the playoffs.

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Study shows the risk of asteroid hitting Earth higher than thought

Posted on April 22, 2014 by kelly casas

The chance of a city-killing asteroid striking Earth is higher than scientists previously believed, a non-profit group building an asteroid-hunting telescope said on Tuesday.
A global network that listens for nuclear weapons detonations detected 26 asteroids that exploded in Earth’s atmosphere from 2000 to 2013, data collected by the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty Organization shows.
The explosions include the Feb. 15, 2013, impact over Chelyabinsk, Russia, which left more than 1,000 people injured by flying glass and debris.
“There is a popular misconception that asteroid impacts are extraordinarily rare … that’s incorrect,” said former astronaut Ed Lu, who now heads the California-based B612 Foundation.
The foundation on Tuesday released a video visualization of the asteroid strikes in an attempt to raise public awareness of the threat.
Asteroids as small as about 131 feet (40 meters) – less than half the size of an American football field – have the potential to level a city, Lu told reporters on a conference call
“Picture a large apartment building – moving at Mach 50,” Lu said.
Mach 50 is 50 times the speed of sound, or roughly 38,000 mph (61,250 kph).
NASA already has a program in place that tracks asteroids larger than 0.65 mile (1 km). An object of this size, roughly equivalent to a small mountain, would have global consequences if it struck Earth.
An asteroid about 6 miles (10 km) in diameter hit Earth some 65 million years ago, triggering climate changes that are believed to have caused the dinosaurs – and most other life on Earth at the time – to die off.
“Chelyabinsk taught us that asteroids of even 20-meter (66-foot) size can have substantial effect,” Lu said.
City-killer asteroids are forecast to strike about once every 100 years, but the prediction is not based on hard evidence.
B612 intends to address that issue with a privately funded, infrared space telescope called Sentinel that will be tasked to find potentially dangerous asteroids near Earth. The telescope, which will cost about $250 million, is targeted for launch in 2018.
B612 takes its name from the fictional planet in the book “The Little Prince,” by French author and aviator Antoine de Saint-Exupery.