Don Blinzer

Don Blinzer is one of the technicians at Avila University, during his busy schedule I was able to grab him for a moment between his time building the new coffee shop in Winfield and shoot him a few of these questions.

Where do you feel more at home?

On campus, I love remodeling stuff. I built my own house 20 years ago, as I used to be an Iron worker.

What’s the fastest you have ever been caught speeding?

I have only got 2 tickets in my lifetime.

            - going 43 in a 35 going downhill

            - The second I was going 35 in a 25 in the winter on my motorcycle, I just wanted to get home.

You dream of owning…?

An island

What is your favorite food and drink?

My favorite food is a tenderloin sandwich; my favorite drink has to craft beers

What do you like most about your job?

I love working with my hands, as my job is never the same it changes on a daily basis

What is the most expensive thing in your wardrobe?

 I do own a tuxedo with tails

Are you married? How did you get engaged?

Yes, my wife actually asked me

What is your favorite work and why?

Moron, because it applies to so many people

What is your best bodily feature?

My height

Do you think alien abductions are real or fake?

I think they are real, were not the only intelligent life form out there

What places do you have left on your bucket list?

We travel on one cruise each year, but I guess I would have to say South America around the Amazon or rain forest

What do you enjoy doing the most?

Going on cruises, sitting around drinking beer relaxing talking; having a good time

What are you currently reading?

My e-mails, I don’t read very often if I do read it’s a service manual, technical book, or I’m either reading nothing special on a plane trip. I would rather watch a movie than read the book

Historical Spring Cleaning

By: Josh Grimes

Everyone has heard of the term “spring cleaning” but where did this national phenomenon come from? Did mom make it up as she opened the windows to let the outside in as she hounded her kids to clean their room? Turns out this “spring cleaning” business has several points of possible origins of practice.

According to research spring cleaning possibly dates back to the Persian New Year that falls on the first day of spring. To this day the practice of “khooned tekouni” by the Iranian people happens before the New Year. Khooned tekouni factually translates to “shaking the house”; during khooned tekouni everything in the house receives a deep clean from the carpet to the ceiling and the doors to the walls. Joining the Iranians is the Scotts on Hogmanay which is December 31^st New Year’s Eve. Scottish practice News Year’s cleaning as this has caught on in Ireland and New Zealand as well along with other countries to the east in North America. Another possible origin of “spring cleaning is in Orthodox nations including Greece as its tradition to clean the house during or prior the first week of lent otherwise known as clean week which corresponds with the Julian New Year on April 1^st.

Other possibilities of “spring cleanings” root can be followed back to ancient Jewish practices of cleansing the house and its’ entirety pre Passover holiday which is in the spring. In honorary remembrance of the Jew’s flight from Egypt after their long captivation; during their eight day long holiday Jews have strict exclusionary rules against anything which has been “leavened”. Leavened food is defined as food made from one of the "five species of grain": wheat, barley, rye, oats, and spelt, in which leavening or fermentation induced by the presence of water has taken place. Food of this definition is supposed to be ridden from all their homes. For the past 3500 years practicing Jews have conducted a “spring cleaning” of their houses as well as a search for all leavened food on the night the holiday begins.

The last possible explanation dates back to the 19^th century in America before the invention of the vacuum cleaner. March is the best time to dust due to the warm weather; without bugs windows are able to be opened as gusty winds can carry dust from the inside of the house out. As well as dust cleaning products used may generate fumes inside the house giving the winds another job of cleaning the air on the inside. Next time spring cleaning comes about you may want to think what you are actually doing does have its purpose in history as several cultures and religions have their own ten cents to debate about the true roots of traditional spring cleaning.

On April 7^th 2011 on the Woodsonia block of Shawnee Kansas around 5:45 am the house of a fireman caught on fire beginning in the attic leading itself to the cars in the driveway with a catastrophic ending. As no one was hurt the house and its belongings received the majority of the trauma. As the left of the house remains untouched the right side was torched from front to back. Neighboring houses looks as if nothing has ever happened, as the Fire Line Do Not Cross tapes the scene from the rest of the neighborhood the aftermath of this tragedy is anything but hidden from the public’s eye.

My name is Josh Grimes, enjoying playing soccer at Avila University as well as living in the Kansas City Metro I have very much enjoyed being a photo journalist this current semester at Avila. Besides school, work, and soccer I enjoy hanging out with my friends, snowboarding in season and buying shoes to fuel my sneaker addiction which leaves my closet full but my pockets empty.

Pulitzer Prizes and Their Symbolism

This Pulitzer Prize winning photograph taken by Stanley Foreman is a prime example of earlier times in history in our United States of America. The white male attempting to stab the african american in this photo shows extreme hate as well as well as demonstrating or representing the USA by puncturing him with the american flag. The American flag stands for so much more than just a peice of cloth with an explanation for the colors. The flag symbolizes freedom and an entire kind of respect especially for our nations soldiers and men of uniform the flag shows what they stand for fight for and give their life for. This picture almost shows disrespect to the people who hold the flag with the high standard of respect of which they do. Rather than sincere disrepect displayed in this picture it is a prime example of what our country has overcome in the form of slavery.

Photos and Their Stories

Fires can happen to any one anywhere at anytime to anyone as in this photograph are eventually easilly controlled.

Anywhere means anywhere as this fire happned in a rural neighborhood in Shawnee, KS.

As you can distinguish, the firehydrant denotes that this is a house of a firefighter; fires can happen to anyone.

On the contrary to being easilly containted and controlled, beginning in the attic this fire took over the ownes cars and prized posessions.

As this solitary scence remains in tact waiting for fire cleanup to begin it is a tragic eyesore for passerbys of the community.

As a life was changed by such a abrupt beginng and end this fire beginng at 5:45 on a thursday has changed the owners of this house forever. Fires can happen to anyone, anywhere, at anytime.

Facebook Vs. Father Time

By: Josh Grimes

Facebook has become a social necessity for the new aged college student.



               

Facebook has taken our generation, country and globe by storm captivating the hours citizens; Americans in particular spend on the computer using the social networking media. Questioning if tagging friends, poking, messaging, liking comments, chatting as well as farming your crops, cooking a hamburger or most recently being able to create your University is healthy for our social lifestyle. Nelson media states that people spent an average of 55 minutes on Facebook a day which averages around to 30 hours a month. This seems to be on the low end of the Facebook usage spectrum as college students at Avila stated they would estimate well over an hour each day on the booming social media gateway. Facebook has changed our lives in ways of communicating as well as a way to spend money along with target market advertising. As Facebook opens many passages as easy to use software makes it come to students and users as almost second nature to continue to update and check their “news feeds” every hour and sometimes even every minute. By interviewing Avila student Matt Birk Facebook use came in a different light through a few questions.

Matt Birk an Avila junior lets us in on some of his Facebook habits.

Talon: “How many hours a week are you on Facebook?”

Matt: “Give or take a few hours a day so I suppose like 25 hours a week.”

Talon: “What do you use Facebook’s social network for?”

Matt: “I use it to keep in touch with friends, family and share online media and I play a few of the interactive Facebook games like College Town.”

Talon: “Have you ever spent money of a Facebook credit account to play games such as Farmville?

Matt: “No spending money on things you can play for free is a lost cause I don’t understand the logic of the people that do, they are just online games?”

Talon: “ Does Facebook seem to be a necessity to the current college student?”

Matt: “Facebook now has so many capabilities that it seems like there really is no downside in using them for what they are for. Facebook is a social tool students use to maintain their social life online among all the chaos of college life. It makes time for people to stay in touch among all the homework, jobs people work and extracurricular activities. Now people don’t even have to call each other or meet up to stay connected.

Talon: “What would you be doing during the time you are on Facebook if you were not such an avid user?”

Matt: “Usually it doesn’t interfere with homework or anything I do that is important, I usually only do it in my spare time when i am not at soccer practice or in class, so maybe watching T.V. or playing video games.” 

As many students such as Matt are able to use Facebook in a positive proactive way to stay connected with peers, many others allow it to consume their daily routine accessing it from their phone as well as local, private and residential computers. Will Facebook eventually carry more value than a social piece to the puzzle? What will they come up with next?

Revolt for a reason

http://ayman.iyobo.com/rUnjHcLdbp8

As the turmoil in Egypt continues orogress has been made. After weeks of protest in the streets, religious unity and a coming to together as a nation the egyption people finally were granted their wish as Presedent Mubarak stepped fown from the presidencey on Febuary 11th. For weeks on end thousands of protesters lined the streets of Egypt asking for change. As its people were angered over the corruption of the political system, poliece brutality agaisnt the citizens of egypt. As the participation between the politcal system in place and the people whom elected its officials came to a recent conclution. The countries constitution has been suspended. A patchwork cabinet will rule the ramaining nation for the coming months untill the election, so that a new government can be installed. A main player in the overseeing of the countries political state is prime minister Ahmed Shafik along with the members of Mubarak's cabinet. The United states has interjected little during the uproar of the country stating that the "will of the people" needs to be noticed in this situation. As the turmoil is slowly declining, the successful rebellion of the people of Egypt has brought to them what they set out to do; asking for change which in turn they will be given.

Submitted Files

State of Our Union

As I am a big fan of president Obama. I was skeptical of bits and pieces of this address much like many others from the past. As much as he talks about domestic spending and cuts for many agencies and sectors of our United States government. How do we plan to get by with cutting billions of collective monies from Departments such as defense? What have we been spending all of this money on? Have we been just wasting it away for the centuries before us, and why do we keep spending money that we can supposedly do without spending, as we dig a deeper hole for ourselves? It seems like Obama has been the first president recently who has even touched on the matter. How we are able to cut millions from many departments in which we really don’t need to be spending. If it is really as easy as he makes it seem then what else are we spending unnecessary monies on? By cutting all of this funding I at least hope that it gets pumped into departments of our nation that really need it. Schools and maybe projects as he mentioned that will make not just the U.S. but the world a safer cleaner planet for generations to come that sounds to me to be beneficial. Biomedical research, information technology and clean energy spending seems to me areas which have finally been addressed that in the future will help us spend notoriously less as well as being cleaner and safer in our everyday lives. As Americans we are a smart country it just baffles me that we are just not realizing that we are spending too much of things we don’t really need.