http://twitter.com/coughlinaw8/statuses/1040515031

press release: 11/21/08

Contact:  Andrew Coughlin

Burger Planet

Voice Phone Number: 207-776-0432

Fax Number: 207-942-8100

Email Address: Andrew.Coughlin@umit.maine.edu

Website URL:  http://www.umit.maine.edu/~Andrew_Coughlin/3A1F89CF-004C4D19-3A1F89CF

 Jayne Petersen to Head Burger Planet’s New Healthy Menu Options

 

 Burger Planet has hired fitness guru Jayne Petersen to promote its latest move to add healthier menu options for its customers. Petersen is most notably known for her role in helping famed talk-show host Opal Whitcomb lose over 75 pounds. Petersen will highlight the release of Burger Planet’s new gourmet salads, fruit packages and white meat chicken breast in a series of promotional appearances and commercials across the country.

Company CEO James E. Muellenbach III is pleased to have Petersen join the company’s campaign toward a healthier lifestyle. “I want our customers to realize that Burger Planet is committed to offering healthy choices on its menu,” said Muellenbach, “The hiring of Jayne Petersen fits perfectly in the company’s overall focus on healthy lifestyles.” Burger Planet will be looking to bring women in their 30s and 40s back into their restaurants with these new healthy options.

Moderation will be the focus of Petersen’s Burger Planet campaign. Burger Planet’s traditional entrees such as the Saturn and Hemisphere fries are O.K. according to Petersen, as long as the consumer uses moderation. “Well, I emphasize a message of moderation,” said Petersen, “Women can have a burger and fries now and then as long as they are active and also try some of Burger Planet’s exciting new menu choices, such as the fruit packages.”

Petersen will be featured with Burger Planet icon Corny the Clown in a new television commercial set to air on May 14. Corny the Clown will also be touring nineteen locations with Peterson, distributing nutritional packages as well as providing health advice to consumers.

Burger Planet, founded in 1934, has served over 52 million customers. They have quickly become the leader of the quick service restaurant industry and will continue to stay on top with their new approach to healthy living and Jayne Petersen’s commitment to the company.

For More Information Contact: GOD

new assignment

For the next assignment I will be covering the poaching of moose in Acton.

Nate Stormer: Rhetoric and Language

Nate Stormer was the first guest speaker on Monday in CMJ 236. Mr. Stormer spoke about online media news sources and their move to a more interactive approach to the news. Online sources have incorporated an inter-textual aspect to their articles, giving the reader articles related to the featured topic as well as various ads and newspaper promotions while reading.

Mr. Stormer also brought up the topic of newspapers targeting certain audiences. By targeting a particular audience, this affects the content the writer puts in the article.

One important aspect of journalistic writing Mr. Stormer explained was objectivity. People have the basic desire to know and to tell. People read to find things out, not for fun. It is up to the writer to maintain objectivity while keeping these facts in mind. Objectivity for the writer means containing your own wants within the story set against the best available information. The writer should remain neutral and cover every aspect of the story so readers can form their own opinions about the topic.

In journalist writing, the universal audience should kept in mind, according to Mr. Stormer. The question posed here was, what would a reasonable person understand? Mr. Stormer suggested keeping language simple and effective so that it can be understood by the reader.

When dealing with a specialized topic, the reader should limit specialized terminology and ask experts to describe words that not be common knowledge.

Creating scenes is also important when writing for the mass media. This means establishing the who, what, when, where and why. The writer must maintain a balance of accessible and common language. This will help the reader through the story.

Mr. Stormer finished up his guest lecture with metaphors. Every word you use in writing could potentially have a metaphor. It is important to expand your vocabulary in order to get away from over-using certain metaphors.

These tips given by Mr. Stormer help teach the major aspects of rhetoric and language used in journalistic writing.

Local government coverage

I am choosing local government as my beat. I am a public administration major and all of my classes cover this topic. I have had exposure to how local goverments operate in town meetings as well as how they handle local issues.

Internet usage in public schools

http://www.ncsl.org/programs/lis/cip/filterlaws.htm

It’s interesting to see that only 21 states have adopted internet filtering laws. With internet usage so prevailent in schools these days, every state should have policies in place to prevent minors from accessing sexually explicit or obscene material. Libararies also have similar standards, thanks to the supreme court ruling in 2003. This ruling is similar to the No Child Left Behind Act in a way. States must meet certain requirement in order to keep their federal funding under NCLB. States who receive funding under the Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA) must also follow guidelines or risk losing funding.

Maine Statute of Limitations

Title 15: COURT PROCEDURE — CRIMINAL

Part 6: MAINE JUVENILE CODE

Chapter 503: JURISDICTION

§3105-A. Statute of limitations

1. Expiration of limitation; defense.  It is a defense that prosecution was commenced after the expiration of the applicable period of limitations provided in this section, except that a prosecution for the juvenile crime of murder or criminal homicide in the first or 2nd degree may be commenced at any time. It is a defense that prosecution was commenced after the expiration of the applicable period of limitations provided in this section, except that if the victim had not attained 16 years of age at the time of the crime and the juvenile had attained 16 years of age, a prosecution for the juvenile crime of unlawful sexual contact under Title 17-A, former section 255 or section 255-A or gross sexual assault under Title 17-A, section 253 may be commenced at any time if the attorney for the State first presents evidence based on DNA, as defined in section 2136, to the court in a closed hearing that implicates the defendant in the crime by a preponderance of the evidence.

[ 2005, c. 87, §1 (AMD) .]

2. Limitations.  Prosecution for juvenile crimes other than murder or criminal homicide in the first or 2nd degree are subject to the following periods of limitations.

A. A prosecution for conduct which, if committed by an adult, is a Class A, Class B or Class C crime, shall be commenced within 6 years after it is committed. [1987, c. 222, §2 (NEW).]

B. A prosecution for conduct which, if committed by an adult, is a Class D or Class E crime shall be commenced within 3 years after it is committed. [1987, c. 222, §2 (NEW).]

C. A prosecution for conduct specified in section 3103, subsection 1, paragraph B, C, D, E, F or H must be commenced within one year after it is committed. [2005, c. 87, §2 (AMD).]

[ 2005, c. 87, §2 (AMD) .]

3. Limitations not to run.  The periods of limitations shall not run:

A. During any time when the accused is absent from the State, but in no event shall this provision extend the period of limitation otherwise applicable by more than 5 years; [1987, c. 222, §2 (NEW).]

B. During any time when a prosecution against the accused for the same juvenile crime based on the same conduct is pending in the Juvenile Court of this State; or [1987, c. 222, §2 (NEW).]

C. During any time when, notwithstanding that the court lacks jurisdiction for a reason stated in Title 17-A, section 10-A, subsection 1, an adult prosecution against the accused for the adult offense based on the same conduct is pending in the District Court or the Superior Court. [1987, c. 222, §2 (NEW).]

[ 1987, c. 222, §2 (NEW) .]

4. Commencement after dismissal.  If a timely juvenile petition is dismissed for any error, defect, insufficiency or irregularity, a new prosecution for the same juvenile crime based on the same conduct may be commenced within 3 months after the dismissal, even though the period of limitation has expired at the time of the dismissal or will expire within the period of time.

[ 1987, c. 222, §2 (NEW) .]

5. Elements; commencement of prosecution.  For purposes of this section:

A. A juvenile crime is committed when every element of the crime has occurred, or if the juvenile crime consists of a continuing course of conduct, at the time when the course of conduct or the defendant’s complicity in the conduct is terminated; and [1987, c. 222, §2 (NEW).]

B. A prosecution is commenced when a juvenile petition is filed. [1987, c. 222, §2 (NEW).]

[ 1987, c. 222, §2 (NEW) .]

6. Lesser included crime; effect.  The defense established by this section does not bar a conviction of a juvenile crime included in the juvenile crime charged, notwithstanding that the period of limitation has expired for the included juvenile crime, if, as to the juvenile crime charged, the period of limitation has not expired or there is no such period, and there is evidence which sustains an adjudication for the juvenile crime charged.

Free Writing: This weeks news

The Plum Creek development plan in Moosehead Lake has been backed by the LURC. This is significant because it gives the planners of the development the go-ahead to start building the almost 120 new homes it has been planning for over four years. The agreement reached with the LURC also set aside hundreds of thousands of acres for preservation in the Moosehead region. However, the development is still facing strong opposition from many local residents and conservationists. They feel that the development will open the gate from other such projects across the state and the intregity of Maine’s forests will be lost. They are also concerned that the Moosehead Lake region will be subjected to more development along the lands were not preserved in the LURC deal.  This is the largest development project Maine has ever seen and has grabbed national attention.

To Catch a Criminologist: Interview with Professor Steven E. Barkan

 

 

When people think of professionals in the field of criminology, they assume that these individuals live by the books when it comes to the law. However, in the case of Professor Steven E. Barkan, you will come to find that even those who side with the law get into trouble.

 Barkan has been through the criminal justice system, having been arrested back in the 70’s for protesting. This event took place at a federal building in Washington. Barkan and several other protestors chained themselves to the front door of the building and were arrested for obstructing an entryway to a federal building. All charges were ultimately dropped against Barkan and his fellow protestors, but this event greatly changed his outlook on America’s criminal justice system.

Professor Steve Barkan uses the phrase “a conservative is a liberal who has been mugged. A liberal is a conservative who has been arrested.” Given this statement, it is interesting to see Barkan’s view of the criminal justice system from his standpoint as a professor of criminology. After his arrest, his views of the police changed, as he witnessed his friends being beaten by the police as they were dragged off to jail. Police brutality was something he had never seen before and led him to like the police less.

Barkan also had thoughts of one day becoming a lawyer. These thoughts quickly faded at his trial when he saw the way the lawyers used evidence against him. They claimed the protestors were blocking the only entrance to the building, when in fact there were three other doors that had been locked by the authorities so that Barkan would have to be arrested from his actions. So Steve concentrated his studies on sociology and criminology.

His interest in the field first began in graduate school when he earned his Ph.D. at the State University of New York at Stony Brook. He was particularly interested in law and society and the quirks of the legal system. Also while in graduate school, Barkan was asked to teach a class in criminology, as there was a shortage of teachers in the field. This teaching job would land the professor first and only professional job, teaching at the University of Maine. He has now been at the university for over 30 years and is the head of the sociology department. He has had several publications and continues his research in criminology, deviant behavior, law and society, collective behavior and social movements. Professor Barkan is also the only academic criminologist north of Augusta. This means he is interviewed quite frequently by the media and students conducting independent studies on his views of criminal justice.

 

His research has shown him the complexity surrounding America’s criminal justice system. He sees it as a flawed system, due to what he called “forces beyond on control.” These forces have to do with the amount of money being spent on our justice system and the gross overpopulation of our prisons. Billions of dollars are spent every year combating the inmate population, and while crime has dropped in recent years, the number of inmates in prisons continues to rise. Professor Barkan sees very few positive aspects in the current system we have running for this country. The solution he hopes to find lays in his research of public and how they interact with the criminal justice process.

Steve’s view of the media’s role on how the public view crime is that they focus primarily on violent crime. According to Barkan, violent crime only makes up about 20 percent of all the crimes committed each year in America. The majority of crimes are property and white collar crimes. With the media portraying violent crime in the news, the public has become more afraid of falling victim to these types of crimes. Barkan also suggested the biases media places on minorities and people of color in this nation.

Technology has helped Professor Barkan in his analysis of law and public. The major advance he has seen since joining the academic field is the use of computers. In his earlier years as a researcher quantitative data related to criminology studies were difficult to access and took much more time to compute by hand. Now with the ease of the intraweek, files and data can be accessed instantaneously and stored in archives for future reference.

The field of criminology is growing rapidly according to Barkan. There is a nation-wide need for criminologists in both the professional and academic arenas. In Maine the need isn’t so great due to the low crime rate but the rest of the country is exploding with opportunity. Barkan also expressed the changes he sees coming for his field. Criminology is slowly dividing into an issue of sociology vs. biology. Both disciplines are heavily involved in dealing with criminal justice matters. This will bring a new breed of criminologists that will extend the expertise of researchers like Barkan.

For anyone interested in joining the criminologist profession, Professor Barkan suggests at least a master’s degree and Ph.D. in the sociological sciences.

 

 

Professor Steven Barkan can be reached by telephone at (207)581-2383 or by email at
barkan@maine.edu

Lyrics

“Angel’s Son” by Sevendust (2001)

Life is changing
I can’t go on without you
Rearranging. I will be strong
I’ll stand by you

(You were fighting everyday)
(So hard to hide the pain)
(I know you never said goodbye)
(I had so much left to say)

One last song
Given to an Angel’s Son
As soon as you were gone
As soon as you were gone

I have a new life now
She lives through you
What can I do
Feel so alone now
I pray for you
We still love you

I can’t believe you’re gone

I can’t believe

 

Lead Singer Lajon Witherspoon of Sevendust lost a good friend in December of 1998. James Lynn Strait of the band Snot died in a tragic car accident and in 2001. As he was exiting the freeway on Highway 101 in California, his Ford Tempo collided with a truck and he was killed instantly. Strait’s dog, Dobbs, was also killed.  Witherspoon had a very difficult time dealing with Strait’s death and dedicated the song “Angel’s Son” to his fallen friend. Strait battled with addiction to drugs and alcohol for many years and his addictions were known to many of his friends and family. Lejon certainly knew of Strait’s addiction problems and his fight to deal with these issues. He saw that Strait was in pain and never got a chance to console his friend before his untimely departure. Witherspoon’s career has taken off in the past few years as the lead vocalist of Sevendust. He also is a single parent, raising one daughter. Strait’s death is still a constant reminder to Witherspoon of how quickly someone can be taken from us.