Nike Women's Marathon Winner Doesn't Win

NORMALLY, IN A FOOT RACE, THE FIRST PERSON TO CROSS THE FINISH LINE IN THE FASTEST TIME IS THE WINNER. SURPRISINGLY, LAST SUNDAY, AT THE NIKE WOMEN’S MARATHON IN SAN FRANCISCO, THIS WASN’T THE CASE.

ARIEN O’CONNELL, A 24-YEAR-OLD FIFTH GRADE TEACHER FROM NEW YORK CITY, FINISHED THE MARATHON IN 2 HOURS AND 55 MINUTES, ELEVEN MINUTES FASTER THAN THE FIRST PLACE TROPHY WINNER.

SO, HOW COULD THIS HAPPEN, ONE WORD -- 'ELITE'. ALL THE 'ELITE' RUNNERS STARTED THE RACE 20 MINUTES AHEAD OF EVERYONE ELSE. BECAUSE OF HER MODESTY, O'CONNELL DID NOT DECLARE HERSELF AN ELITE RUNNER, WHICH COST HER THE TITLE.

ON MONDAY, TANYA LOPEZ, A NIKE SPOKESPERSON SAID, "AT THIS POINT, WE'VE DECLARED OUR WINNER.

IT LOOKS LIKE, O'CONNELL WILL BE GOING BACK TO NEW YORK EMPTY HANDED, BUT AT LEAST SHE WILL HAVE THE SATISFACTION OF KNOWING SHE WAS THE FASTEST WOMAN THAT SUNDAY MORNING.

Broadcast Style Exercise

NORTHWEST AIRLINES ANNOUNCED TODAY THAT IT IS CUTTING ITS DOMESTIC FARES BY UP TO 40 PERCENT FOR HOLIDAY TRAVELERS.

"WE LIKE TO THINK OF IT AS A HOLIDAY GIFT TO OUR CUSTOMERS”, SAID FRANK DEWITT, CEO OF NORTHWEST AIRLINES.

TICKETS MUST BE PURCHASED BY FRIDAY FOR TRAVEL BETWEEN NOVEMBER 12th AND JANUARY 14th IN THE LOWER 48 STATES, ALASKA AND CANADA.

DISCOUNTS VARY DEPENDING ON TRAVEL DATES AND ARE NOT AVAILABLE ON CERTAINPOPULAR DAYS, INCLUDING NOVEMBER 23rd AND 26th, DECEMBER 23rd AND 26th.

WITH THE DISCOUNTED, NON-REFUNDABLE FARES, A PASSENGER COULD TRAVEL ROUND-TRIP BETWEEN BOSTON AND SAN FRANCISCO FOR $500 ON CERTAIN DAYS.

Math for Journalist

1) A local college releases figures showing that its total budget is $120 million. Of that total, $80 million comes from the state, $6 million from student tuition, and the remaining $34 million from fees, grants and gifts.

It gets 67% of this figure from the state, which is its most significant source. The least significant source is the 5% that comes from the student tuition. The rest of the funding comes from fees, grants, and gifts, which amounts to 28% of the total budget.

2) Your editor assigns you to do a story about prison sentences handed down in cases of aggravated assault. He gives you the following figures from an anti-crime group that is lobbying for tougher sentencing guidelines. The cases represent the people convicted for aggravated assault in San Jose in one month in 2006.

* 22 months is the average prison term for the seven people listed below.

* 12 months is the median for the seven people listed below. In this case the median is a more accurate description of prison terms because of Michael Reese had a term of 7 years which was more than the other 6 terms combined. His term would be considered an outlier that would skew data if set in a graph. He makes the average term 22 months or a 1 year and 10 months, which if looking at the data set one could see that no one but Reese, served more than a 1 year and 2 months.

Name Sentence
Donald Lee 1 year prison, 2 years probation
Richard Smith 1 year prison, 1 year probation
Wesley Mitchell 14 months prison, 1 year probation
Mary Jones 1 year prison, 1 year probation
Juan Rodriguez 1 year prison, 2 years probation
Harold Rothstein 8 months prison, 1 year probation
Michael Reese 7 years prison, 5 years probation

3) The state legislature is considering exempting restaurant food sales from the sales tax in the same way grocery sales are exempt.

State tax sales- 7.25%

Fast food-52 weeks in a year – $260 spent without sales tax. They would save $18.85 a year.

More expensive meal- 52 weeks in a year- $1040 spent without sales tax. They would save $75.40 a year.

AP Style Exercise S-Z

1) When he heard the building plan for the new high school had been rejected, Bill pulled out his stationery to write a letter of protest. (2)
2) Ben really knows his Scriptures, but he knows little about the Talmud or the Shariah. (3)
3) Her home in upstate New York is surprisingly ultramodern and rather unusual for its middle class neighborhood. (4)
4) To celebrate Veterans Day, the anniversary of the armistice that ended World War I, troops of former soldiers will march down Main Street carrying U.S flags. (3)
5) Word-of-mouth has it that Ellen will wind up with the only “A” in the class. (2)
6) When Sara spotted the Louis L’Amour paperback, she asked whose book it was. She couldn’t believe it was John's; after all, nobody reads Westerns anymore. She had no idea he was such a weirdo. (3)

BONUS:
• The man was arrested for brandishing a 12-gauge shotgun outside his home. (1)

AP STYLE EXERCISE (M-R)

1) He hopes to make one billion dollars by the time he’s 40. Already he figures his net worth is between $2 million and $3 million, depending on current stock prices. (3)
2) Lt. Col. John Carpenter was a mid-shipman at the U.S. Naval Academy and served in the 7th Fleet. (4)
3) Twenty-one winners were named two days after the Third Annual Procrastination Awards ceremony. (3)
4) It was a one sided game, and he was a poor loser. After losing the play-off, when his ball went out of bounds, he made an off-color remark that could be heard in the stands. (4)
5) Hundreds of people attended Sunday's race to watch 75 top bicyclists pedal across the finish line. (3)
6) Every winter, the Joneses and the Kinneys pore over travel brochures, planning their summer trip together. This year they’re hoping to go to PANAMA CITY, PANAMA. (3)

Top News

California may seek Treasury financing

It is amazing to see that a country as great and as powerful as the United States has finally been pulled back into reality. The reality of an average Joe or Jane, where tomorrow is uncertain, and good food is a luxury. The illusion of “America the Beautiful” has now turned into a nightmare— everyday we are hit with bad news and our already faltering economy is only getting worst. People, banks, cities and states—everyone is going broke and now after the government just ok’d 700 billion dollars to eat up bad debts. Now, California, the most populous state, my state, needs 7 billion dollars. What happened to America with the strong economy, where everyone came to better their lives. Who is going to bail out America after we run out of money? It is disheartening to think that people— hardworking people, are losing their jobs, their homes and small businesses. So will this cycle of failure ever end? I guess we will all have to wait and see.

News Values

Impact- This news story would matter to many state employees because Gov. Schwarzenegger said their may be delay in payments to these employees if California is unable to get the 7 billion dollars needed.

Immediacy- This is important because it is happening right now, Gov. Schwarzenegger just issued the plea to Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson on Oct. 2.

Proximity- Since this is about California, it would affect me and every other Californian.