Final Draft Editorial #3

New hospital could create jobs and push attention towards local concerns
Abby Richter

There has been a lot of talk going around Good Samaritan Hospital about a new hospital being built in Kearney. It’s not being built by the city, but rather a group of frustrated doctors are who are taking matters into their own hands. The doctors said they are irritated that Good Samaritan Hospital and its parent, Catholic Health Initiatives, have been slow to re-invest in patient care and therefore they are planning to build a new hospital with their own income.

A new hospital in Kearney should be built because it would bring more attention to local concerns and it would create more jobs. Good Samaritan Hospital is the only level two trauma center for 450 miles, which means that it is hard for them to really concentrate on the local community when they are busy with surrounding cities as well as the city of Kearney.

Good Samaritan believes a second hospital would pose a threat to their team of neurosurgeons, open-heart surgeons and more. Traumas happen at anytime during the day, and Good Samaritan feels as though a second hospital would pull this team of well-qualified surgeons away from immediate care for their trauma patients. But, wouldn’t a second hospital actually help with cases Good Samaritan doesn’t have room for and be able to have more of a focus on the needs of local patients?

Since Good Samaritan is busy with the surrounding cities of Kearney, a second hospital could really focus their attention on the local community and help with cases Good Samaritan doesn’t have room for. Peggy Stults, a local resident of Kearney thinks a new hospital would have a positive impact on the city. "It would help the people on the south side," Stults said. "If there were a big emergency they wouldn't have to take so long. So, I think it's a great idea."

Along with being able to focus on the local community, a second hospital could create new jobs. Even though Nebraska hasn’t been hit as hard as some other states by the recession, anything that would create new jobs would help our community. If a new hospital can stimulate our economy, then why not build one, especially if it isn’t going to raise our taxes? A new hospital would also drive competition that would lead to competitive pricing and lower costs for patients.

The doctors planning to build this new hospital also stated a physician-led hospital would be more efficient because they won't have to be told what to do by a large, outside corporation. "Processes and quality are best driven by the people directly impacting that care, the nursing staff, the physicians, and not imposed from another level, from the top down so to speak," said Dr. Sean Denney.

Maybe Good Samaritan shouldn’t be so concerned about how this new hospital would jeopardize them, and start looking at how it could be beneficial for them and the community.

Resources

Hervert, Kevin. "Some Kearney leaders not convinced 2nd hospital best for all." Kearney
Hub. 04 Nov 2009. Kearney Hub, Web. 24 Feb 2010. .

"Reaction to Proposed Kearney Hospital." Nebraska.TV. 25 Jan 2010. NTV, Web. 24 Feb
2010. .

Scheidies, Carolyn R. " Can Kearney Nebraska Sustain Another Hospital Beside Good
Samaritan Hospital?." Associated Content. 09 Nov 2009. Associated Content, Web. 24 Feb 2010. .

"Second Hospital in Kearney, NE?." Acute Care, Inc.. 18 Oct 2009. Acute Care, Inc., Web. 24
Feb 2010. .
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Claims

Policy Claim- A new hospital in Kearney should be built because it would bring more attention to local concerns and it would create more jobs.

Factual Claims- Good Samaritan Hospital is the only level two trauma center for 450 miles.
- The doctors planning to build this new hospital also stated a physician-led hospital would be more efficient because they won't have to be told what to do by a large, outside corporation.
- Along with being able to focus on the local community, a second hospital could create new jobs.

Casual Claims- Since Good Samaritan is busy with the surrounding cities of Kearney, a second hospital could really focus their attention on the local community and help with cases Good Samaritan doesn’t have room for.
-A new hospital would also drive competition that would lead to competitive pricing and lower costs for patients.

Value Claims- Good Samaritan believes a second hospital would pose a threat to their team of neurosurgeons, open-heart surgeons and more.
- Traumas happen at anytime during the day, and Good Samaritan feels as though a second hospital would pull this team of well-qualified surgeons away from immediate care for their trauma patients.

Why would a new hopistal in Kearney be beneficial?

So Good Samaritan Hospital thinks a new hospital in Kearney would be a bad idea because it would jeopardize their excellent team of neurosurgeons as well as as their open-heart surgeons in their trauma center. But have they really looked at how it could actually help them and be beneficial to the community?

A new hospital in Kearney could create new jobs and help put more focus towards our local patients. Good Sam is the only level two trauma center for 450 miles, so it is hard for them to put a lot of focus on the city of Kearney when they are busy with all the surrounding cities as well.

A new hospital could really dig down deep and help out local patients with even just mild health problems. The best thing about all this is since the frustrated doctors who are taking this matter into their own hand are building the hospital with their own income, our taxes won't be raised.

Along with all that, a new hospital could create new jobs. Nebraska isn't being hit as hard as some states by the recession, but anything that would create new jobs would be beneficial to our community. Also by having two hospitals competing, it would drive competitive pricing and therefore lower the overall costs for patients.

Good Sam shouldn't be so concerned about how this new hospital is going to hurt them, but they should be looking at how it can help them and the community of Kearney.

Jessica Simpsons Dad Freaks out

So you think Jessica Simpson would be old enough to take care of herself now?

Well...her father Joe Simpson has taken matters into his own hands as he called up he former boyfriend John Mayer to rip his butt for a comment he made about Jessica in an interview for Playboy magazine.

Mayer referred to Simpson as a "sexual napalm" in the interview. What in the world does that mean? I sure didn't know so I took it into my own liberty to look the word "napalm" up.

Napalm-is a thickening/gelling agent generally mixed with gasoline or a similar fuel for use in military operations. The term napalm is a combination of the names of its derivatives (coprecipitated aluminium salts of naphthenic and palmitic acids).^[1] Colloquially, napalm is used as a generic reference to several flammable liquids used in warfare, often jellied gasoline.^[2] "Napalm B" is the modern variant of napalm and, although chemically different, is often referred to simply as napalm.

Well, I guess he is referring to her as a sexual fireball? Haha, I don't know.

Basically John is screwed with ever dating Jessica again because her father didn't like him in the first place and he sure as heck don't like him anymore after making a reference about his daughter in bed.

The way I see it is that we all know Jessica is a big girl now and she can do what she wants so maybe her dad should stay out of her business. If I was her age and my dad pulled some crap like that I'd be furious and embarassed. I mean, being called a "sexual napalm" can't be that big of an insult?

If you want to read more, check it out! http://www.music-news.com/ShowNews.asp?H=Jessica-Simpsons-dad-blasts-John-Mayer&nItemID=32683

I wish I could do that

As I was making my daily surf on YouTube I came across this video. Absolutely amazing. This kid is like 6 or 7 years old and he can basically shred on the electric...

He had to have started when he was like 2....

I wish my parents would have started me that young on the guitar because if I could have played like that when I was that young I'd basically be a Jimi Hendrix by now! Well maybe not quite like Hendrix, but you get the point I'm trying to get across....

This video shows that learning something new is a lot easier when your six or seven then when your 20. I think the reason for this is that by the time we are 20 we get frustrated when things don't come for us easily, but when you're little, you have all the time in the world and there is no reason to get frustrated because if you don't like it then you just quit and move onto something else!

How how I miss being little....

New Hospital in Kearney raises issues

So im going to go off topic of my music theme and blog about a local issue here in Kearney...the talk about building another hospital because some physicians are fed up with Good Samaritan Hospital management

There are pros and cons to this situation, but the main concern is that with Good Samaritan. Good Samaritan is the only level two trauma center for 450 miles. The team includes neurosurgeons, open heart surgeons and more. The concern with this is that bringing a new hospital in could jeopardize this team of great surgeons. Patients are coming in at all hours in the trauma center at Good Samaritan and if this well qualified team of surgeons is preoccupied with other duties at another hospital the care for patients that need immediate attention might not be up to standard.

Another concern is that since this new hospital would be physician owned, their main concern would be making profit and therefore they would just cherry-pick the least complicated, most profitable procedures and serve only the patients most able to pay.

The doctors who want to build this new hospital say that's not the case. They said a new hospital could actually help with cases that Good Samaritan doesn't have any room for.

A new hospital could actually be a good thing for patients because it could drive more competitive pricing and lower costs. It could also create jobs and help out the economy. Even though Nebraska hasn't been hit incredibly hard by the recession, any kind of job opening would be helpful.

Is Lady Gaga a Hermaphrodite?

I know it seems that I diss on Lady Gaga a lot and I am not dissing on her at all in this matter, but the buzz going around is that Lady Gaga has man parts as well as woman parts...

Apparently her male genitalia made an appearance at the music festival in Glastonbury, England. I have researched numerous websites to find out if this rumor is true and have looked at many pictures. I can't find a definite yes or no though.... I did come across this quote that I found on two websites that supposedly came from her,

“Its not something that I’m ashamed of, just isn’t something that i go around telling everyone. Yes. I have both male and female genitalia, but i consider myself a female. Its just a little bit of a penis and really doesn’t interfere much with my life. the reason I haven’t talked about it is that its not a big deal to me. like come on. its not like we all go around talking about our vags. I think this is a great opportunity to make other multiple gendered people feel more comfortable with their bodies. I’m sexy, I’m hot. i have both a poon and a peener. big f*cking deal.”

I then cam across that Lady Gaga denied to Barbara Walters that she is a hermaphrodite on 20/20 but she doesn't mind the rumors....

I don't know what to think, but by looking at some of the pictures I seem convinced that Lady Gaga is a hermaphrodite. I guess you'll have to make the judgment yourself...We all know that this pop star likes to stir the pot so who knows whether it's true or not....she probably just sits back and laughs as we all try to figure it out...

SuperBowl 2010--The Who just aren't who they used to be

I don't know what anybody else thought of the halftime show during the Superbowl, but I thought The Who kind of stunk it up.

Roger Daltrey, the lead singer, sounded like he was trying to sing after just getting done running a marathon. He sounded out of breath and I felt like he was yelling the lyrics. It wasn't singing...it was like shouting with style.

Pete Townsend, the lead guitarist and back up vocalist just needs to give the singing up. If he was trying out for American Idol, he probably would have gotten one of these comments from Simon Cowell, "You might possibly be the worst singer I have ever heard." He was out of tune and very flat. His guitar playing wasn't all that impressive either. He still has the arm spin in their, but he should probably make sure he is hitting the right chords when doing it....maybe his sight is bad because he is so old.

Honestly, the best player out of the whole band might have been their drummer who looked like he could have been their grandchild.

I guess I thought they could have picked someone a little more up-to-date for the halftime show. I mean, The Whoo have only came out with one new album in the past 25 years.....and they just aren't WHO they used to be anymore.

Final Draft Editorial #2

The Extinction of Music and Art Education
Abby Richter

What stimulates children’s minds? What teaches them discipline? What is it that gives them a sense of pride and accomplishment? It’s a simple answer—music and art. Not only does music and art help with educational purposes, but it also helps children in their adulthood, career and emotional well being. Why is it then that the state of Nebraska is making their education cuts towards music and art? It’s because music and art are not a part of the governments standardized testing like reading, math and writing are. This resorts to schools in Nebraska being pressured to make their first budget cuts at music and art education.

The government of Nebraska should look at cutting other things in our state budget before we go taking art and music out of children’s lives. Republican Governor Dave Heineman said in his State of the State address that one of his biggest priorities is strengthening our education system. But, by taking away art and music, is our education system really going to be strengthened?

According to ‘Champions of Change, the Impact of the Arts on Learning,’ (the most comprehensive study done of students involvement in the fine arts and how it relates to academic success) students who are not involved in fine arts have more than double the chance of dropping out of high school by the 10th grade. From this research one can conclude that taking away art and music education in not strengthening our education system, but hurting it. As Martin Rayala, art, media and design consultant for the Department of Public Instruction at Wisconsin, said, "There are seven ways to communicate information, and words and numbers are only two of them. The other five are movement, sounds, images, objects, and spaces, all of which are provided through the arts.”

Are we actually going to save money by cutting art and music out of our education systems? Studies show that schools that cut these programs actually end up spending more money because without art and music there is a decrease in morale and attendance and an increase in vandalism and disruptions. Therefore, this ends up in hiring more staff for discipline reasons and paying for vandalism damages.

What the state of Nebraska needs to be doing is looking at what else we can do for budget cuts before resorting to cutting music and art our of our education system. Why don’t we have all employees take a two week unpaid vacation at their convenience to balance our budget? Or maybe we should cut 3% from everybody’s budget. That small amount could add up to a lot.

As the Nebraska Coalition for Music Education states, “Besides the obvious pleasure music adds to our lives, recent research shows participation in music study uniquely enhances abstract reasoning and problem solving skills. Music education aids development of reading and language skills as it promotes higher self-esteem and improves psychomotor skills and athletic ability.”

Without art and music education our society is going to lose its creativeness. Pianist Van Cliburn States, “"Music helps improve discipline and concentration, and it develops a sense of spiritual consciousness." Now try to imagine a world without that.


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Resources

Eric , Hines. "Art and Music Department Budget Cuts, What it Means for Your Child and
What You Can Do as a Parent." Articlesbase. 22 Apr 2008. Articlesbase, Web. 10 Feb 2010. .

Kyle, Michaelis . "Dave Heineman: No Ideas, No Vision, No Problems." New Nebraska
Network. 19 Jan 2010. New Nebraska Network, Web. 10 Feb 2010. .

"Nebraska Coalition for Music Education." Nebraska Music Educators Association.
Nebraska Music Educators Association, Web. 10 Feb 2010. .

Ryan, Hurley. "Cuts in Arts Programs Leave Sour Note in Schools." Wisconsin Education
Association Council. 2004. WEAC, Web. 10 Feb 2010. .

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Claims

Policy Claim- The government of Nebraska should look at cutting other things in our state budget before we go taking art and music out of children’s lives.

Factual Claims- -Republican Governor Dave Heineman said in his State of the State
address that one of his biggest priorities is strengthening our education system.
-According to ‘Champions of Change, the Impact of the Arts on Learning,’ (the most comprehensive study done of students involvement in the fine arts and how it relates to academic success) students who are not involved in fine arts have more than double the chance of dropping out of high school by the 10th grade.
- As the Nebraska Coalition for Music Education states, “Besides the obvious pleasure music adds to our lives, recent research shows participation in music study uniquely enhances abstract reasoning and problem solving skills. Music education aids development of reading and language skills as it promotes higher self-esteem and improves psychomotor skills and athletic ability.”

3. Value Claim- From this research one can conclude that taking away art and music education in not strengthening our education system, but hurting it.

4. Definitional Claim- "There are seven ways to communicate information, and words and numbers are only two of them. The other five are movement, sounds, images, objects, and spaces, all of which are provided through the arts.”

5. Casual Claims- -Therefore, this ends up in hiring more staff for discipline reasons and
paying for vandalism damages.
- Without art and music education our society is going to lose its creativeness.

What can be cut from our state budget besides music and art education?!

Music and art are what stimulate a child's mind. It teaches them discipline as well as gives them a sense of pride and accomplishment. It also helps them in their career building in their adult life.

So why the heck are we taking art and music education out of our education system in the state of Nebraska. Well, we all know that we are facing some budget cutting issues, but their real reason for it is that music and art are not a part of government standardized testing. You would think they would be a part of that considering they contribute to five of the seven ways we communicate.

Republican Governor Dave Heineman say that strengthening our education system is on of his biggest priorities. But seriously....lets think about this....are we really strengthening our system by cutting music and art education out of our children's lives? I don't believe so. Lets take a look at some facts...

Students who are not involved in fine arts have more than double the chance of dropping out of high school by the 10th grade. I don't really see how that is helping the system. As Martin Rayala, art, media and design consultant for the Department of Public Instruction at Wisconsin, said, "There are seven ways to communicate information, and words and numbers are only two of them. The other five are movement, sounds, images, objects, and spaces, all of which are provided through the arts.”

And schools can forget about saving money by cutting art and music because studies have shown that taking away music and art actually increases vandalism and disruptive behavior which therefore leads to spending money on discipline teachers and vandalism damages.

We need to look at the alternatives...
Maybe we should have all employees take a two week unpaid vacation at their convenience to balance our budget. Or maybe we should cut 3% from everybody’s budget. That small amount could add up to a lot.

That's just a thought...but it sure makes more sense to me to take action on one of those options rather than taking the one thing away from children that lets their mind be creative.

Simon Cowell is leaving American Idol to possibly be replaced with Howard Stern

Most of us are familiar with the foul mouthed Howard Stern from his program on satellite radio...and the rumor is that he will be taking Simon Cowells spot on American Idol. Ha...this could be interesting....

If you think about it, Stern would probably be a good replacement for the Cowell considering he could probably be just as straight forward and rude as Cowell. He even think so himself by this comment, "If I do say so myself, I can't imagine anyone else but me replacing [Cowell]," Stern said. "I mean, how else are they going to make that show work? Who knows how to broadcast and who knows how to be interesting? And who's not afraid to speak their mind?"

Stern actually makes jokes about American Idol on his satellite radio program a lot, but he states, "A $100 million to judge a karaoke contest? Yeah, I think I would do that show for $100 million. It would be the best thing that happened to me. What a cush job: $100 million for four months. Who wouldn't take that?"

They have to match his already well off salary thought for him to even consider it. "They'd have to pay me a ton of dough, because I already make a ton of dough," he said. His contract right now with satellite radio is $500 million for five years, which is a reasonable amount of doe!

I don't what will be better though....I might miss Cowell and his comments such as, "You might possibly be the worst singer I've ever heard," up againsts Sterns that would consist of 'Hey Fantasia, you're not getting little boys hard. You look like you stepped out of a cartoon. ... They want a Britney Spears or a Rihanna. Little boys are scared that you are going to sit on them. You're out. ... You've got to go clean up your act. Get a haircut like Rihanna if you want little boys [to get excited about] you," (which was actually stated by Stern).

Could make for an interesting change if you ask me! Check out this article for more in depth information on this! http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1631483/20100208/story.jhtml

Why isn't this girl famous?!

I follow this girl on YouTube and I happened to come across this video of her and a friend doing an acoustic cover of "Just Dance," by Lady Gaga. I happen to believe that it is just amazing!

It takes a lot of talent to take a song like this and turn it into an acoustic version. I wish people like this would get recognized in the Music industry. I seems like to get anywhere in the music industry anymore, you either have to have money or a famous name.

Take Ashlee Simpson for instance. If it hadn't been for her sister, she would have never been famous for the fact the she was caught lip-syncing on SNL and was booed off the stage. It just amazes me how having a famous name or lots of money can get you in the music industry so much easier.

If I were a record producer or record company, I would be sitting at my computer all day listening to all the young talent out there on YouTube. I bet they would be amazed at what they would find. I'm sure some record companies have been doing this, but I believe it needs to happen more! Check out this video :) It's great....

Education Budget Cuts in Nebraska--Music and Arts

What makes our world so creative? Art and music. Not only do these subjects make our society a creative place, but they are also beneficial to students in school. According to a study done by the "Champions of Change," 82.6% of 8th graders earned mostly As and Bs who were involved heavily in fine arts versus 67.2% earning As and Bs who were not. Another finding was that 30.07% of the respondents who participate in fine arts perform in community service where only 6.28% of the respondents who do not participate in fine arts perform community service.

The fine arts don't just teach children how to play an instrument or draw a picture but they "help stimulate the creative part of the child's mind, teach discipline, instill a sense of pride, accomplishment, and self-worth."

So why is Nebraska making the budget cuts in this area? It's because they aren't government tested like reading, math and writing. According to Martin Rayala, art, media and design consultant for the Department of Public Instruction, "studies show that schools that cut arts programs end up within the next three years spending more money on education, and their test scores in other areas actually go down."

This has been a problem in our state of Nebraska. The NCME (Nebraska Coalition for Music Education) has been trying to get a hold on this problem. There motto is "We believe that music programs should be part of the academic core of essential skills and available to all students, not just those who are gifted or privileged. And that music study promotes cultural awareness, enhances the quality of our lives, and is essential to the survival of any civilization. Besides the obvious pleasure music adds to our lives, recent research shows participation in music study uniquely enhances abstract reasoning and problem solving skills. Music education aids development of reading and language skills as it promotes higher self-esteem and improves psychomotor skills and athletic ability."

If our state doesn't get a hand on this issue, music and art education will be eliminated from our school systems, and with music and art only available to the priviledged our society will become impoverished. If you want to check out the NCEM website feel free too! http://www.unl.edu/NMEA/ncme.html#imaginelife

Grammy's are becoming more of a show than awards ceremony

I don't know about anybody else, but I get pretty excited every year to watch the Grammy's--and i don't get excited to see the awards...I just want to see all the performances! But is this such a good thing? I mean, it is a night dedicated to awarding our creative and outstanding artists, so should the main focus be on the performances? I guess that is up to the person who is watching it.

Take this for example--Beyonce took home 6 Grammy's, which is more than any other woman has received in one given night. Her song "Single Ladies" won song of the year, but she had to have her collaborators go on stage to except it because she was busy getting ready for her performance. I don't know about her, but If I were to win dong of the year I sure as heck would want to be on stage to except it! Also, four of her other awards were given to her before the event was actually televised...so to many, Beyonce was just another face in the crowd that night, but in reality she made history.

Don't get me wrong, the performances this year were absolutley a hit as they do a wonderful job of pairing up our new artists with the verterans of music such as Lady Gaga and Elton John, but jeez...isn't Beyonce making history in the past 52 years a big deal? I guess I think so, but some may beg to differ.