Category Archives: Kristian Del Rosario

Shark attack halts Australia competition

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By KRISTIAN DEL ROSARIO

During a surf competition in Gracetown, Australia, a shark attacked a surfer. This incident has forced a temporary suspension of the international surfing competition.

The victim was a man in his 30s, the shark bit his leg on Monday morning. He managed to paddle back to shore and a rescue helicopter ferried him to the hospital.

Peter Jovic, a surf photographer told ABC news he witnessed the attack.

“I saw the guy who had been attacked get separated form the surf board and then start to paddle for an inside wave, which he managed to body surf all the way in,” he said. ” They got him to shore and started working on him to stem the bleeding.”

St John Ambulance said in a tweet, “he is conscious and breathing and being treated for leg injuries.”

Trump, Obama not attending wedding

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By KRISTIAN DEL ROSARIO

British royal weddings are usually grand affairs of state. It is a place where presidents and prime ministers rub shoulders with obscure European monarchs. But for Prince Harry and Meghan Markle it will not be the case.

Kensington Palace announced on Tuesday that the royal couple will not be inviting political leaders to the event. This means that President Trump and predecessor Barack Obama will not be there.

British Prime Minister Theresa May was not even worthy of an invitation. Only personal friends of the couple were included on the list as well as a number of ordinary British citizens.

A spokesman for Kensington Palace said, “It has been decided that an official list of political leaders both UK and international is not required for Prince Harry and Ms. Markles wedding. Her Majesty’s Government was consulted on this decision, which was taken by the royal household.”

First Lady Melanie was also not invited, which was confirmed by a White House official.

Unlike the wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge in 2011, this royal wedding is not an official state occasion. It is being regarded as a private ceremony.

This ceremony will take place in St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle, which is a much smaller venue than Westminster Abbey where Harry’s older brother Prince William married Kate Middleton.

This was covered in a very informative matter. Not many people know how royal weddings work so it makes people understand what the guest list is normally composed of.

Arizona man kept Utah teen as ‘pet’

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By KRISTIAN DEL ROSARIO

A man accused of kidnapping a teen girl from St. George, Utah, and taking her to his home in Arizona where he allegedly forced her to be his “pet” has been charged with human trafficking.

Raymond Burk, 38, who already faces charges in Arizona, was charged Monday with human trafficking of a child and aggravated kidnapping. These are both first degree felonies.

This 17-year-old girl in June 2016 posted messages on the internet stating she wanted someone to pick her up due to being depressed. Burk replied to the girl claiming he lived somewhere else and would come pick her up so she could stay for two days with him.

The girl told Burk she was 18 when in reality she was 17. After about 45 minutes traveling with Burk the girl became concerned.

Burk then told the girl “he was going to keep her as his pet indefinitely,” according to court documents.

For more than a week in Phoenix, he sexually abused the girl. Burk hit the girl when she said she was going to call her dad.

Burk was arrested in Arizona for investigation of five counts of sexual conduct with a minor, one count of aggravated assault and one count of kidnapping.

If it weren’t for the girl secretly finding a phone and calling the police she would probably still be there.

This story was reported in a very informative manner. It was honest and very detailed, it included details on the physical abuse the girl suffered.

Patients seek cause of glioblastoma

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By KRISTIAN DEL ROSARIO

In Fort Pierce, more than a dozen people have been diagnosed with glioblastoma. This disease affects about 13,000 people in the U.S each year. It is an aggressive and deadly form of brain cancer.

In this town of just 45,000 people, patients and their families want to know if there is something leading to their illness.

Eleven patients or surviving family members met each other through word of mouth over the last year and realized some interesting common trends. They live at most seven miles apart, the majority are within five miles of each other, and some lived on the same street at some point.

In one of the cases two patients even lived in the same house through over a span of 20 years. The 11 current cases that have been discovered were diagnosed within the last 5 years affecting people younger than three years old all the way to their 70s.

These families being affected are struggling immensely with financials and the bills are piling up.Some have paid more than $50,000 since their diagnosis.

The goal of these group of people is to find out whether or not there is an environmental factor making them sick.

Most of the glioblastoma patients have moved to new homes over the years and The Florida Department  of Health in St. Lucie County recently met with the support group of glioblastoma patients.

They will be offering them any available services due to the overwhelming amount of payments some patients have.

This story was covered in a very informational manner with lots of research on the people involved in the case. I feel like this story could be perceived as weird and crazy, but once reading it, I noticed it’s not just irony.

Cirque du Soleil performer dies after fall

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By KRISTIAN DEL ROSARIO

A Cirque du Soleil performer died Saturday night during a performance held in Tampa, Fla.

The Cirque du Soleil Entertainment Group stated that aerialist Yann Arnuad fell more than 15 feet while performing during the show ” VOLTA”. He immediately received medical attention and was taken to a hospital where he later died.

Daniel Lamar, president and CEO of the entertainment company said in a statement, “The entire Cirque du Soleil family is in shock and devastated by this tragedy. Yann had been with us for over 15 years and was loved by all who had the chance to know him.”

The last two performances of VOLTA have been cancelled due to the tragic events.

Julien Martinez was in the audience Saturday night and told CNN affiliate WFLA that he witnessed the accident. He noticed that the performer was straining to hold onto the rope.

“It was awful,” he said of the fall. “You heard all the cries of the audience. There were children there and they were freaking out.”

” it kinds of colors our opinions of what is going on behind the scenes,” Martinez said. “What is the cost of our entertainment at that point?”

This is the second tragedy to happen to one of Cirque du Soleil performers. In June 2013, 31-year-old acrobat and aerialist Sarah Guillot Guard died after a fall during a show in Las Vegas.

After this incident, the Nevada Occupational Safety and Health Administration cited Cirque du Soleil and casino for violations which resulted in both facing thousands of dollars in fines.

The news media covered this story in a very respectful manner. This is an issue that could be reported in a hateful way due to people not agreeing with acrobats being made to do unsafe stunts.

The reporting was also informative; when reading it, I felt as if I was there witnessing it myself.

Spotify and Apple battle for users

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By KRISTIAN DEL ROSARIO

Spotify has been around since 2008, when it was released Ken Parks (the chief content officer from its founding until 2015) was asked ” Why wouldn’t Apple just kill this thing while it’s still in the cradle?” The simple answer to this was: Because Apple probably didn’t think it needed to.

When Spotify first started, Apple’s iTunes store had a dominant position in the music industry when it came to downloads, not streaming. Spotify was competing against less dominating services such as Pandora.

When Apple released a service called Apple Music, it was not viewed as an existential threat. Spotify believed its focus on algorithms to personalize the music experience was a better bet than Apple’s push for human curators.

Although, in 2017 Spotify had a net loss of $1.5 billion, more than double the amount from the prior year. Those losses would once have been unfathomable for a startup, but Spotify was able to raise billions in debt despite them.

Today both Apple Music and Spotify are widely used by people all over. It is a personal choice as to which is more your cup of tea.

Since Spotify has been around longer, there are people who had no interest in using Apple Music when it came out. Although, for Apple enthusiasts who weren’t apart of Spotify, Apple Music became more attractive.

This was reported in a very informative matter displaying facts regarding both companies, which I found useful because I had no idea about Spotify having a decrease in subscriptions. The reporter didn’t side with one company at all.

UM probes sorority hazing allegations

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By KRISTIAN DEL ROSARIO

The University of Miami’s Delta Gamma Beta Tau chapter was put on cease and desist last week due to hazing allegations. The president of the organization, Emily Gerstein, sent an email out on Feb. 27 to all members saying to cease all meetings, recruitment activities, social functions, educational programs, formals, community service/philanthropy, and involvement in intramurals.

The Miami Hurricane was the first news outlet to report it and the newspaper did not state the right facts. The story first said that videos of DG sisters were sent by Delta Phi Epsilon, a few days after this story appeared, officials from the group’s advisory board denied the allegations.

Abby Washer, Panhellenic president and a former sister of DG, made it clear to them that the cease and desist had nothing to do with videos because deans did not have videos in the first place. Washer also said the Greek community was informed only of “general allegations” against DG.

At first, The Miami Hurricane made assumptions regarding the allegations by not generalizing them, this was only changed due to Washer contacting them.

In the end, the truth is that the deans put the sorority under these guidelines in order to conduct a proper investigation on the matter. Since this was announced other news outlets such as The Miami Herald, Local 10 News, NBC Miami and others have reported on the issue.

Although, the news media have not done a great job reporting the matter because they have made it seem as if the chapter has been “shut down,” which is not the case. The cease and desist just temporarily prohibits the chapter from all activities.

There have been no new updates, but members of the sorority have been very disappointed with the way the matter has been reported due to the lack of facts and respect.

NRA uses Leslie Knope in pro-gun tweet

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By KRISTIAN DEL ROSARIO

Former stars of the hit NBC show “Parks and Recreation” are furious at the National Rifle Association for tweeting a GIF of a scene from their series.

After the tragic events that happened at Marjory Stonemason Douglas High School, students, faculty and parents of victims gathered at CNN Town Hall on Wednesday. They gathered for questions and answers with Florida lawmakers.

The NRA tweeted a message of support to the official spokesperson, Dana Loesch, who was at the event.

“Thank you for begin the voice of over 5 Million #NRA members.” read the tweet. A GIF showing one of the main character of the show, Leslie Knope was put as an attachment.

It demonstrated Knope pointing and saying, “Thank you.” Knope is famously played by Amy Poehler who did not mince words when she heard about the tweet.

Moments later the co creator of the show Michael Schur tweeted, “Hi, please take this down. I would prefer you not use a GIF from a show I worked on to promote your pro- slaughter agenda.”

Poehler does not have a Twitter account, but requested Schur to post a message for them. “Can you tweet the NRA for me and tell them I said f**k off?”

The news media covered this story in a very honest and raw way providing the facts about the situation and how it was a chain effect. Tensions are very high right now in regards to anything involving guns because of the high school shooting.

Although, the news media did manage to keep their coverage respectful and honest.

Nikolas Cruz: What we now know

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By KRISTIAN DEL ROSARIO

On Feb. 14, 2018, a mass shooting took place in Parkland, Fla., at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.

A 19-year-old by the name of Nikolas Cruz was accused, after bringing a rifle to school, of killing 17 people and injuring even more. After students and neighbors traded stories of their experiences with him, the puzzle pieces came together.

Cruz had recently been expelled and the stories about him fell within the bands of typical teenage mischief making. He was taken into custody shortly after the massacre and was accused of 17 counts of premeditated murder.

The authorities released the names of all the victims on Thursday. These individuals were teachers and students, the kinds of people who bring a school to life.

The mother of one of these victims said she had a message for President Trump.

“President Trump, we need action, we need change, get these guns out of the hands of these young kids and get these guns off the streets,” said Alyssa Alhadeff.

The president who generally opposes new gun restrictions ahs focused on mental illness during mass shootings and did so again on Thursday on his Twitter account.

“So many signs that the Florida shooter was mentally disturbed, even expelled from school for bad and erratic behavior. Neighbors and classmates knew he was a big problem. Must always report such instances to authorities, again and again,” Trump said.

Cruz had no criminal history before the shootings according to the state law enforcement records but his childhood was certainly troubled.

His father passed away in 2004 while his mother recently passed away in November.

“He had emotional problems and I believe he was diagnosed with autism. He had trouble controlling his temper. He broke things. He would do that sometimes at our house when he lost his temper. But he was always very apologetic afterwards,” stated Paul Gold, Cruz’s neighbor.

In the end, all of this is no excuse for what he has done and the city of Parkland is now trying to heal.

This story included lots of detail in order for the reader to get more of an idea as to why something like this happened. It was covered in a very raw and honest manner not sugar coding. Overall, I think it was very well reported.

Juuling: Worse than a cigarette?

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By KRISTIAN DEL ROSARIO

On Feb. 7, 2018, college students and active Juul users went crazy on social media. Rumors started circling around saying that kids were being diagnosed with lung cancer at the age of 19 due to using their Juul excessively.

This statement is not true due to the fact that lung cancer takes years to develop.

The text message circulating said, ” Announcement: one of Chris friends from college has never smoked weed or cigs but for the past year he has been an addictive Juuler like constantly which is basically like all of us and he was just diagnosed with lung cancer and his lungs are completely black, and he’s 19 and he’s probably going to die. Scotty and a few of my guy friends have thrown their Juul away.”

Despite the chain mail nature of this story, students across the nation took action. This screenshot was posted on Twitter, which then proceeded to spread through college campuses such as our own. Twitter users started creating a Twitter thread by posting videos of throwing their Juul out into the street or smashing them with hammers.

A clinical professor from UCLA’s David Geffen School of Medicine by the name of Dr. Kien Vuu stated that it is unlikely that Juuling has a short term carcinogenic effect. It usually takes a long time from an exposure of a carcinogen before cancer forms.

“The contents within Juul capsules are unknown in many cases, so it is possible for people to develop bronchitis, bronchiolitis, or forms of acute lung injury which can be severe. The carcinogenic effects of these additional substances long term are unknown at this point; so to say that the contents of Juul has no carcinogenic effects would be unjustified- we just don’t know” he said.

At this point, the route of the rumors are unclear but it is said it could have something to do with an New York University study released last month claiming that vaping can result in an increased risk of heart disease and cancer.

This story was portrayed in a great manner due to supplying screenshots of what was posted on Twitter including the original texts. Including scientists with the real answers also answers the question for readers when learning about this issue.

Fired for being pregnant

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By KRISTIAN DEL ROSARIO

In June, Whitney Tomlinson, a 30-year-old single mother and packer at a Walmart Distribution Center in Atlanta, told her supervisor she wasn’t feeling well. She was experiencing morning sickness, which made her supervisor require her to get a doctor’s note in order for her to have a break.

The doctor was not able to identify any worrisome pregnancy complications, but suggested her to avoid heavy lifting while at work. After getting a note from the doctor, she handed it to her supervisor who then sent her to human resources.

She thought she would be granted a break, but it was not the type of break she had sought. It was not legal, according to a new complaint filed by Tomlinson to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

Tomlinson was told to apply for an unpaid leave from her job, she was surprised and angry and was curious as to what she had done wrong. Her supervisor told her because of her “restrictions,” she was a “liability” and asked her to call a third party claims management service.

Walmart’s human resources told Tomlinson that she was not permitted to return to work until after she gave birth and she would need to apply for a formal unpaid leave of absence to avoid losing her job.

In 1978, Congress passed the Pregnancy Discrimination Act. This made discrimination based on pregnancy and childbirth related medical conditions illegal.

Elizabeth Gedmark, a senior staff attorney and director for A Better Balance, said that Walmart’s treatment of Tomlinson was a violation of this act and that she needed restrictions to prevent problems before she started.

The news media have portrayed this story in a respectful but worrisome manner due to the immense detail about the issue. Stories don’t try to protect Walmart’s reputation because, at the end of the day, the business was unjust toward this worker.

Women are sexually harassed at work and it’s why women are discriminated against for being pregnant at work and it’s what needs to change.