Kulongoski’s Eco-Friendly Economy Booster

http://www.oregonlive.com/politics/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/news/1215487536291830.xml&coll=7

With gas prices rising and the economy in a downturn, Governor Ted Kulongoski released a plan that involved a rise in eco-friendly jobs to help turn the economy around. With Oregon’s unemployment rate around 5.6%, the impression is that Oregon has dodged the economic downturn in terms of jobs lost. However, Kulongoski believes that green technology can bring high tech jobs to thousands of Oregonians and help stimulate the Oregon economy.
Harry Esteve, the author of this story for The Oregonian, used a part from The Graduate to get the reader’s attention and show how times have changed as far as technology goes. Since popular movies are not used in many hard news stories, the opening drew me into the story and made me want to keep reading. The author also did a great job of explaining why the Governor’s plan could be a success and how it could fail. He used excellent quotes from experts on both sides of the argument which gave readers a chance to decide on the issue with information from both sides of the perspective. He also ended the article with a great quote from Kulongoski that basically summed up his entire argument for green technology.
Personally, I believe that green technology could be a great way to increase jobs and help the environment. However, I believe Governor Kulongoski may be reaching a little too far in how much the program will stimulate the economy. The jobs involved would be high-wage, which is good for stimulating a weak economy, but that also means that there will be relatively few jobs to go around in the beginning.

Nick Symmonds heads list of Oregonians going to Beijing

http://www.nbcolympics.com/trackandfield/news/newsid=144223.html#peking+ducks

Although this story is one of the truly great stories to come out of the U.S. Olympic Trials in Eugene, I felt like the author could have done a better job in conveying the message. Nick Symmonds, Andrew Wheating and Christian Smith, all three of which train in Eugene, ended up qualifying for the Olympics in the 800 meters, sending Hayward Field into a frenzy. With running being so big in Eugene, the hometown crowd couldn’t have been more proud of the three runners. The lede of the story began with the names of the three runners which was not the biggest part of the story. If I was the author’s editor, I would have had them begin with either the fact that three runners made the Olympics in the city they train in or the fact that 30,000 people showed up to watch, even though Hayward Field is only supposed to hold 16,000 after the renovation.
Even though I believe the story could have been written better, it shouldn’t take away from how special that night was at Hayward Field. Before the race began, there was excitement in the air knowing that a University of Oregon student and two members of the Oregon Track Club Elite had a real chance at qualifying for the Olympics. At the festival outside Hayward Field, people jammed in front of two Jumbotrons to see the action. When the race was over, the cheers could have been heard as far away as Portland.