A Day at a Tattoo SHop

Watching movies in the past or hearing your friends talk about their experience when getting a tattoo can just sound so..hardcore! The common misconception might have been only rocker chicks, gang members, and biker dudes were showing off their elaborate ink work, but now tattoos have become such common nature in today's society.  From butterfly tattoos to the infamous tramp stamps and full sleeves, tattoos are starting to become the art people wish to express on their body. Looking around any college campus or maybe just at home you can find somebody with a tattoo using their body as more of an art project that requires hours of needle pricks, after treatment care, and probably an addiction to go out and get another tattoo.  Though tattoos have become such a common thing to do now a days I'm not so sure I am going to fall under the statistic as to how many college students leave with a degree and some ink work as well. The tattoo is permanent unless you want to spend thousands of dollars like my own brother, Jordan Cassidy, getting tattoos that have absolutely no meaning for him anymore at this point in his life. So my advice for the day is think not once, not twice, but repeatedly before you decide what you want to be a permanent birthmark on your body the rest of your life.

common sense?

Okay so this bill that has been passed to require higher licensing fees for tattoo parlors doesn't end there by no means. The bill that may seem as an inconvenience for some is a way to weed out others according to Andrew, the owner and tattoo artist of Lost Tiger Tattoos in Lansing. This bill high lights some other laws they want these tattoo parlors to abide by as well. Probably the most annoying would be announced check ups from the Health Department to look over everything from your customer records to how you have trash lids placed over every garbage bin. as well as submit to random inspections and train their employees is really what one would call the Health Department as really stepping their game up! Among other laws is the restriction that no artist under the influence of any kinda can perform tattoos or needle work while intoxicated...that would be major bad news. You ask for an I love mom tattoo with a heart and an arrow and instead you get a broken heart with the tattoo artists ex-girlfriend's name in the middle. More commonly though is the person wanting the tattoo being drunk at the time of the artwork being done. From a crazy spring break you want to remember or the next morning you wake up and see a woman's face on your arm and your married, they all happen though Michigan law forbids it.

A Day in the Life of Andrew Maxwell is over

Phew!! What a looonng day!  I am not only talking about the day Andrew spent at class, football practice, and trying to find a spare second in his day to text me updates, but just trying to get a hold of him, let alone throughout the day was a tiring ordeal. If you're sitting next to a football player in class and don't find yourself too intimidated to talk to the big guy, strike up a conversation and ask to have a look at his schedule for the week.(They'll have a written copy because nobody could remember all the things they have at certain times). The Clara Bell Smith Center and Student Athlete Support Services(SASS) help these guys find tutors and provide them a place to print off work and study all hours of the night. Andrew has tutors this semester, but I don't think he's doing half bad with a 4.0 grade-point average as of now. Andrew's classes range from business accounting classes to your statistics class with a sports feel to it.

With the Purdue going well and Maxwell seeing some playing time, practice this week must have been worth it when Maxwell texted me around noon that he was heading to practice and closer to 6p.m. he was happy practice was finally over. Across from Spartan Stadium is the football team's practice field which is guarded by high fences and covering, blocking any outsiders from watching the Spartans prepare for the upcoming game. They have their own set of lights and high platforms where football staff can record practice footage on the day.

Maxwell was ready to fuel up after practice and went to the new and improved Brody cafeteria, if you can even call it your typical cafeteria and grabbed some grub before heading home. At home Andrew was able to relax with him roommate who is a football player as well and watch some Thursday night NFL football on TV.
Maxwell shouldn't expect too many more relaxing moments with a hopeful Rose Bowl game in the future along with finals coming up!

A Couple Straight Arrows

If you're a Michigan State Spartan Alum or current member in the community, you've heard all the hoopla regarding the Michigan State Football team and their extracurricular activities off the field in recent years. If not, I'll fill you in now! Kirk Cousins and Andrew Maxwell are quarterbacks at Michigan State who look like your all-american boys involved in Athletes in Action, did well in school and participate in community outreach. Truth is, they are, but teammates in the past such as Glenn Winston and Myles White are not the straightest arrows MSU has seen.

In recent years Glenn Winston, a former member of the Spartan football team, was not only charged and served jail time for one brutal assault, but has now been charged for a second after being let back on the football team after the first assault. Myles White, along with a handful of other spartan football players were also seen as involved with Winston in the second assault, not to mention White caught for urinating in public. These football players were not able to participate in the Alamo Bowl last year.

The mischief does not end with these football guys, but Dion Sims is now apart of the club. Dion and his dad are among 10 people who face charges regarding over $150,000 of computers stolen from Detroit Community Schools and sold across the country.

It's no wonder Coach Dantonio doesn't take this kind of risk with his quarterback recruiting, and hopefully in years to come the Spartan program will learn from these costly life altering mistakes. Cousins is 1 of 10 finalists for the Wuerffel Trophy and Maxwell was recently named one of Michigan State's Student-Athletes of the Month.

Study Abroad in the British Isles anyone?

"You can't afford NOT to go!" At the meeting today for the UK and Ireland Study abroad opportunity there was Jim Detjen, one of the program leaders, myself, and one other journalism student named Nicole. Soo, not a very big turn out for an event that could be life changing. The six credit program is more specifically aimed at reporting and would include visits to the BBC in London as well as going on ghost tours in Scotland. The five week long program would start in early July and end in early August, but to go you have to have a minimum of a 2.0gpa and have taken JRN 200 or equivalent courses. The trip starts out with you purchasing your ticket to London where the group of students and two teachers would stay for two weeks before flying to Dublin, Ireland for another week. After that the group would take a sightseeing bus ride to Belfast, Ireland and get to see the shipyard where the Titanic was made!!! Next on the trip would be a flight to Edinburgh, Scotland and stay five or six days. Jim made it clear that all of the flights in Europe would be covered with the initial $4,400 program fee. Jim said we would learn about a variety of things such as Birtish media, culture, and history as well as literature and music in Ireland where four Noble Prize winners in Literature are from. Throughout the trip the students and teachers would stay in university dorms and flats where there would be a comfortable size kitchen and living room..so I am told. The deadline to apply for the summer semester abroad is in March, but I think the cost of the trip would put a dent in anyone's credit card if they do not have a scholarship to cover some of the costs. Besides the initial program cost as listed above, the program estimates another $3,390 PLUS TUITION FEES. And yes this was one of the last things Jim covered in the meeting to get ya hooked first. After all of this, I think I've decided I will be doing the sports study abroad program in Australia this coming summer. YIPPE!

Breaking News on Andrew Maxwell

EAST LANSING, MI.- Michigan State University football is performing on the field this year, but this week quarterback Andrew Maxwell was awarded Student Athlete of the Month for his performance off the field as well.

The redshirt freshmen who has seen some playing time this year backing up Kirk Cousins, was given the award on Monday by Mandy Chandler, Assistant Director of Student Athlete Support Services, Maxwell said.

"The award is given out to a few student athletes who may have done community service without us asking them to do so, continuously improving in class, and just going above and beyond," said SASS Administrative Assistant Jewel McJennett.

Maxwell has previously been recognized for academic excellence on the football team for maintaining a minimum 3.0 grade point average, but this semester Maxwell said he is currently earning a 4.0 gpa.

 “It’s a great honor to be recognized in the classroom as well as on the field,” Maxwell said Wednesday after practice. “The classroom is a place where I will continue to do my best to succeed.”

As well as working in the classroom and on the field, Maxwell said he taught international students how to play football at the Old Horticulture building back in September with a few of his teammates.

Holly Sherman, Field Hockey; Yury Ratomski, Track and Field; Nick Bendzuck, Football; and Daneen Haba, Gymnastics were also recognized as Student Athletes of the Month at MSU.

 See how Andrew spends an average Wednesday at MSU!  

My First Published Article

If there is one thing my parents have taught me, it is to be thankful and give someone their two cents when their two cents are do. A big shout out to my mom and dad who helped me see journalism was the major I wanted to stick with and love very much, and to my journalism 200 professor Omar Sofradzija for all his instruction and help. So read on and hopefully this is the first of many!

FIRST PUBLISHED ARTICLE

Felicity Barringer @ MSU

Aspirations for young journalists might be to one day be a columnist for Cosmopolitan, an anchor woman for ESPN, or a reporter for the New York Times. Felicity Barringer was able to achieve the NYT part, but with a degree from Stanford she could probably do anything! Barringer is an accomplished environmental journalist who has worked with the Washington Post as well and covered the Chernobyl explosion in Moscow in 1986. Today Barringer talked to a few aspiring journalists and ones already working in the field about her success, how journalism today is covered, and what we might one day like to write about ourselves. After flying in from Palo Alto, Ca. last night, Barringer munched on a piece of pizza with the rest of us in the small room inside the communication building at Michigan State. One fun fact about the meeting was that out of the 11 people in the room, 5 people were wearing what I see as the stereotypical dark rimmed and square glasses you see reporters wearing. Though Barringer writes for the green-blog, today she remains on staff at the NYT with seven other reporters as a national correspondent for environmental journalism, but she says that does not necessarily limit her to look worldwide or cause her to become "native" and only see what is going on around New York. Barringer is happily married to a former NYT reporter and editor, Philip Taubman, who is working on a book about nuclear threats right now. As of right now he is in Georgia on a trip for business. The meeting was about a half an hour in which Barringer talked mostly about how some environmental journalists end up giving two sides to every story in one story and it really keeps the conflict. The "balance" reporters try and bring to their article ends up doing just the opposite when one side of the story does not have factual evidence to support their claims or does not compare to the impact the other side of the story may have. Barringer also talked about what can cause problems in enviromental writing which usually can relate back to the reporter not continuing to describe the science part involved in the article or maybe not going into enough detail. However, it is an article and a big part of journalism is crunching down information. The meeting was very fun and informational with a few laughs thrown in.

Breaking News Version MSUFH

CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA. - The No. 11 Michigan State Field Hockey team’s season ended Saturday after a heartbreaking loss to No. 3 Virginia, 3-2 in overtime in the first round of the NCAA tournament.

The loss came six minutes into the 15 minute overtime period when freshmen Elly Buckley scored the game winning goal and her second of the game.

This is the second year in a row the Cavaliers defeated the Spartans in the NCAA tournament during overtime.

Eight minutes into the game UVA junior forward Paige Selenski scored on a penalty stroke.

Around two minutes later junior Angie Lucik scored a rebound after Kristen Henn nailed the goal post on a corner play.

MSU took the lead with around six minutes left in the first half when senior forward Sabine Van den Assem scored off a penalty corner with the assist from Lucik and senior Joelle Van Ierland.

Buckley’s first goal of the game came ten minutes into the second half to tie up the match and send the game into overtime.

The Cavaliers outshout the Spartans (22-9) during the game, but the Spartans edged out Virginia (5-4) in corners.

Spartan Freshmen goalkeeper Molly Cassidy finished with 13 saves with sophomore Corey Block making a defensive save for the Spartans, while Virginia goalkeeper Kim Kastuk recorded 4 saves.

The Spartans finished their season with a 15-6 overall record while finishing fourth in the Big Ten. This was MSU’s eighth appearance in the NCAA tournament and fourth consecutive year.

NCAA Here We Come!

Field hockey sticks are going in our travel bags as the Michigan State Spartans are heading to the University of Virginia for the first round of the 2010 NCAA Division I Field Hockey Tournament. We will play No. 3 University of Virginia (16-3) on November 13th at 11:30a.m. Virginia will be one of the hosting teams for the first round of the tournament as Wake Forest, Princeton, and us will be traveling there. The complete NCAA bracket for the tournament also designates the hosting sites. Though my prediction for our first game was either Princeton University or the University of Connecticut, Princeton is in our bracket but will have to beat Wake Forest University. Head Coach Rolf shared his feelings on getting into the tournament this year and first game against Virginia with a State News reporter after the show via podcast.  The UVA Cavaliers are very excited and surprised to be hosting the tournament, but are going to take it one game at a time according to the UVA field hockey website. Last year after beating Delaware in the first round of the tournament, we fell to Virginia in the Elite 8 (2-1) in an intense overtime game. UVA has returned many strong scorers and a high caliber goalkeeper. At Michigan State we lost about 70 percent of our scoring, but we've made it this far and it only takes one shot to make a difference. Before we leave probably early Thursday morning on an airplane, a few of us are trying to get ahead on some late night studying. As we get some studying done and prepare for a  very important practice tomorrow Junior defender Holly Sherman for the Spartans gives her two cents on the tournament and approaching game above.

NCAA Selection Show

Playing a division I sport in college guarantees you only so many games, but tonight the Michigan State Field Hockey team was awaiting the chance to see if we could add at least one more game to our schedule. The NCAA Selection Show for Division I Field Hockey took place at 8p.m. tonight as we got to watch the show in the MSU's Women's Basketball video room in the Breslin Center. We met at 7:30p.m. so we could spend some time filling out our guesses on who would make the 2010 tournament. Inside the Breslin Center we were able to see the practice court for out MSU Men's basketball team with their FInal Four Banners hanging as well as quite a few championship trophies. Last year for the 2009 NCAA Selection Show, Men's Basketball Coach Tom Izzo let us use him video room for the event and even brought a congratulatory cake since we were in the tournament with an automatic bid. Unfortunately, Izzo wasn't able to make it to this year's event. Besides the players showing up for the big event, we awaited the results with our medical training staff, our coaches' spouses and their kids, transportation providers, and a few members of the press with cameras and notepads ready. Our Head Coach Rolf Van De Kerkhof walked around the room with his own Flip video camera filming the excitement before the selection show began to live stream. After a few technical complications the video started at 8:03p.m. and be can see here.

Part 2 Bus'n to Chicago

What was different about this trip than others in the past was our entire team got to travel. Because our team is so large and with budget cuts, normally a few of our freshmen who don't play get left behind.On this bus ride however, I had the chance to interview Camille Lambeau who is from Belgium about what she has learned this year at Michigan State and according to her, American schools are just too easy. What also bedazzled up this bus ride with a change was the 23 posters we had hanging up on all the windows of the bus. They were posters made by another teammate and were suppose to inspire and be creative. Jantine Steinmetz designed my poster and cut out a California palm tree in honor of my home state. Jantine is another foreign player on our team whom we love very much for her outgoing and hilarious personality not to mention her crazy amazing skills! I designed a poster for Jantine that had a few cups on it to hold some Band-Aids for her toes, her favorite vanilla Oreos, hand warmers, Jolly Ranchers, and chocolate candies. After the bus trip we ate a big team dinner at Bravo in Evanston and returned to the Hilton hotel were staying at to have a few meetings. That's what's happening on the bus and off the field.

Off the field

So much of sports is all about when it's game time but the 70 minutes the Michigan State Field Hockey is playing on the field does not capture our time spent on the way to the game. On the road again and back to Northwestern university to play the wildcats' field hockey team for the third time this year, MSUFH knows how to make fun out of four hours spent on a bus. From the get-go freshmen goalkeeper Sara Burnosky  aka Big Red, stole a few fellow teammates' seats in the back of the bus including their pillows and went to sleep and didn't wake up until the bus pulled up to the hotel in Evanston, IL. The movie Wall Street was shown on a few really small tv's but the big attraction was Angela Pagura aka Pags who decorated her face until it was almost completely covered in different colored stickers saying, "Test today," "Project Due," "Study Time," ect. While many girls slept (some on the floor) and others like Kristen Henn and Lizzie Helffrich spent time shopping online because sometimes it feels like that's the only chance we'll ever get to buy new clothes. And that's what happens on a bus ride with MSU field hockey girls. More updates about today's bus ride after our first of many meetings tonight!

Count Your Blessings

Not too long ago I sold raffle tickets at a  Michigan State University home football game. Walking around hours before the game shouting to alumni, drunk college students, and die hard Spartan fanatics to buy raffle tickets that could win them well over a few thousand dollars or in this case a trip to Vegas could leave you with a few new friends, a shirt covered in booze, or maybe a free hot dog. However, convincing people to take their chances against thousands of other people after the same grand prize they are, can be a challenging task. More than a few times I came across people who said, "C'mon what are my chances of winning...how many other tickets have you and your teammates sold today?" My response was, "Well at least buying a ticket gives you chance rather than having no chance at all." 


This week I took a chance, more of a "shot in the dark" attempt, but nevertheless better than no chance at all. For my journalism class I was given the opportunity to write an article on the topic of my choice and I chose to write about bio-engineered skin a.k.a. cloned skin from the very person who needs the new skin whether it be due to skin damage from ulcers or severe burns.
Ya so I could've written about city traffic or green house gases deteriorating our atmosphere, but this topic was one that hit closer to home, a topic that led to me taking that leap of faith, that chance.


Before August 9th, 2010 I didn't know much about burns though I've seen enough embarrassing wife beater tans at the beach in sunny california. I didn't know I'd loose three friends in a car accident while I was at college about to get after the dream we all had of playing our sport in college. And I didn't know I'd be hanging onto daily website updates on how my two other friends in the accident were doing after their latest major surgery, after their amputations, after the removal of their beautiful skin. 


 John Adams, our athletic trainer was taking the kids who hadn't left for college yet up to a running camp in Mammoth, Ca. Natalie Nield, a track star bound for Loyola Maramount University was driving her mom's Ford Expedition as Drew Delis, a University of San DIego soccer player was sitting in the back seat with Derek Thomas bound for Occidental University for football and his girlfriend of three years, Amanda Post bound for San Louis Obispo for track. 


The crash happened on a major freeway heading back towards San Diego from up north when Natalie drifted into the shoulder, corrected and then over corrected too much and sent the Ford flying through the median and slamming into a van carrying around 12 student athletes from California Baptist University who happened to be heading up to the same camp that they just left from. According to reports at the time, the Ford truck burst into flames as other cars swerved to avoid the accident. An off duty officer and his wife saw the accident in their rear view mirror and pulled over to help. They ended up pulling Drew out of the burning car after his foot was stuck for sometime and then helped Derek who was very badly burned. John was knocked unconscious and was air flighted to a burn unit in Reno,NV.


Natalie and Amanda were reported to have passed away at the scene as well as the driver of the other van who only volunteered to take the track team up to Mammoth that weekend. John battled broken ribs, bleeding in his brain, a collapsed lung, broken jaw and teeth as well as smoke inhalation before his family decided after two months he would not want to leave a muted life and would not want to be kept on life support. 


This very moment Derek and Drew continue to fight through surgery after surgery. Though Drew and his family are more private about the extent of his injuries, we are just happy right now that he is awake and with us, and continuing to battle through each moment of adversity.  Derek has undergone more than 15 surgeries as his body is 85% third degree burned. When he arrived at the hospital doctors gave him a 2% chance of survival, but he continues to battle through each surgery while in a medically induced coma and is reported to stay under for about quite a few months more.


The Encinitas community where we are from, as well as people around the world are rallying for Derek's continued recovery, but that does not come without a mountain of medical bills. The Derek Thomas Recovery Fund will go towards the growing number of medical bills and has received donations from many people as well as restaurants, hair salons, and schools, but after researching the Epicel(cloned skin) procedure which Derek is just starting to receive, this will cost the Thomas family closer to one million dollars and that's not counting the previous surgeries, medications, around the clock care, air flight trip, ect.,ect.,ect.


After finding out the cost of this procedure in researching my paper late last week, I saw a picture of a man in military uniform who looked almost completely burned, and in fact he was burned 97% in a car bombing in Iraq and after over 100 surgeries he lived before passing away during an ordinary cosmetic procedure on his face. In his memory the Merlin's Miracles Foundation was set up to help individuals and their families pay for the costly procedures burned patients face.


On the website I decided it wouldn't hurt to take a chance, to take that "shot in the dark" and hope by some miracle chance I hit a very small target and so I sent a message to the organization about the accident that has taken a forefront in so many of our lives. And this is the message I received back after not expecting a response in the first place:


Molly,

First, I'm very sorry for this tragedy. I found a few stories online
and it's truly devastating.

He definitely has a long fight ahead, but if he's strong, like he
seems to be, and with the obvious support he has, he can do it.
Merlin, the namesake of our organization, was burned 97%, overcame the
therapy and grafts, and LIVED for three years, which had never been
done before.

Another burn victim (40%), J.R. Martinez, is now an actor on All My
Children. I work with him closely. Perhaps one day he can go talk to
Derek. He's done it many times, and really seems to be able to
connect, and explain what might be in store for both him and the
families. And he lives in LA. He's gone much farther -- cross country
- to visit and talk with families and patients.

I'm going to check with our board and see what we might be able to do
money wise. Is there a social worker at the hospital handling
donations? Or an account set up?

Please keep me posted.

Brian
Merlin's Miracles


So today I say, remember to count your blessings and take a chance, take that shot in the dark no matter how slim your odds may be, you just might hit the target.  


Molly Cassidy