SRU Marching Band Performs in Homecoming Parade

Led by dancers and flag bearers, the SRU Marching band performed at the 2014 Homecoming parade.

SRU School of Rock Float plays live music at Homecoming parade

Joe Karl of Kappa Delta Roh leads the band on the guitar

ROCK Twirlers talk about their parade performance in SRU's 2014 Homecomi...

Sisters Kayla and Karlee Wilhelmina, and Jeanna Pozzuto enjoyed performing for large crowds at the SRU Homecoming parade

SRU's 2014 Homecoming Court greets parade goers

Alpha Kappa Psi students recreate SRU BISS building, Eisenberg, in their...

Along with a timeline of SRU events, an AKPsi member dressed as President Norton for the event.

New Exhibits and Animals draw crowds at the Pittsburgh Zoo and PPG Aquarium

Cigarette Smoking: A Carcinogen and/or a Choice?

Though once a status symbol hanging off the lips of resident "cool kids" and teenagers in every coming-of-age movie, cigarette smoking is becoming more and more obsolete as we have become aware of the health risks of smoking, including lung and throat cancers, emphysema, and low birth weights of infants born to smoking mothers. Since 2000, the percentage of teenagers who smoke is down from 23% to 9% in 2014. Though teenagers have been brought up to know the assorted dangers of cigarette smoking, still 42.1 million American adults continue to light up, even being aware of the dangers. However, 1 out of 3 hookah indulgent college students are unaware that in one session of smoking, they inhale 100x the smoke of a single cigarette. Cigarette smoking kills over 443,000 people a year, so is it worth it to let people continue to kill themselves?

While people have always had a knack at choosing exactly what is most harmful to them, does that make it just to limit their unalienable human rights? Do you remember the 18th amendment? Though I'm glad America sobered up enough to realize that women were capable of voting one amendment later; however, just two after that, the 18th amendment was appealed by the 21st. It is to date the only amendment to be repealed from the Constitution. Why is that? Well it turns out when you tell people not to do the thing that's bad for them, they will find illegal ways to go about doing it, and put people at risk by doing so. If you find that unbelievable, ask yourself how many people that you know have smoked marijuana, because the number of people who have has increased to 35% in 2013. Check out the police blotter  on the online Rocket to see how many underage college students don't care that the drinking age is 21. Though cigarette smoking is inherently dangerous, is it reasonable to limit personal freedoms so that the adult taxpayer doesn't have a choice?

I'm Janelle Wilson, the Jackknife Journalist.

Like the knife for which this blog is named, I promise to deliver news that is quick, useful and to the point.

As technology develops at an astronomical pace, paired with the perpetually growing prominence of social media, it's changing the world of journalism more quickly than I have a say to. In order to become more aware and responsive the the changing world I'm writing in, I've enrolled in new-media journalism.

I'm a junior journalism major at Slippery Rock University, and am the asst. campus life editor for SRU's newspaper, the Rocket.

Aside from this blog, I maintain a personal:

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These are two local papers from my native steel city, complete with dichotomized political views to tickle everyone's fancy,

The right-winged conservatives, Pittsburgh Tribune,

And the leftist liberals over at the  Pittsburgh Post Gazette

In a time where newspapers are quickly becoming irrelevant in comparison to the instantaneous news delivery social media provides, it's a wonder how both of these Pittsburgh newspapers are surviving in such a competitive market. Take a look at both and see if you can figure out how they continue to survive.  

And an escalating power in the market of new-media, 

Buzzfeed

Buzzfeed is like the bastard child of the Huffington Post and Myspace. Born in 2006 as an entirely online media outlet, it utilizes both hard news stories, and miscellaneous other entertainment articles and quizzes to keep the public interested. Once they even reported live and on-location at the Gathering of the Juggalos, which provided for a post that showed what news is leaning toward these days: ordinary common interest and news stories, but trimmed with short and sweet captions, and tons of pictures.