Loan repayment company

For my feature story covering student loan repayment, I'm going to cover is the Indian Health Service. According to their website, "The purpose of the IHS Loan Repayment Program (LRP) is to obtain health professionals to meet the staffing needs of the IHS in Indian health programs."

Students can sign a contract and work full time in the IHS clinic for 2 years. In return, the Loan Repayment Program (LRP) will repay all or a portion of the applicant's eligible health professionals educational loans or tuition expenses.

Applicants are eligible to have their educational loans repaid in amounts up to $20,000 per year for each year of service.

After calling the IHS office, I reached a voicemail answering machine and left a message with my information. Hopefully I will receive a call back soon.

Feature stories

A feature story is often written to describe an event or information of less-than-earth shattering importance. The story does not follow the typical news story format, can be much longer in length and allows writers a chance to showcase their more creative writing talents.

A feature lede must entice the reader into the piece. For shorter feature stories, writers may decide to use summary ledes which serve as a brief summary of the following story instead of focusing on the 5 W's.

Writers also have the option of using an anecdotal lede. These require that the writer carefully isolates the major point of the story and then finds an anecdote that makes that point simply and clearly.

The third option, a narrative lede, presents a story to the reader but typically run longer and include dialogue and quotes and set up scenes.

For stories that focus on a specific place, person or group of people, a writer should use a descriptive lede. Good descriptive ledes include only those details that support the main point of the story.

A question lede should only be used if the question will catch readers completely off guard and therefore entice them into reading the article.

In a Washington Post article describing the nearly tragic story of a woman and her lost engagement ring, the writer uses his skill of suspense to keep the reader on the edge of their seat. The feature story is written almost as an adventure tale.

The narrative lede exaggerates the severity of the event and does not give the 5 W's but is short and enticing.

The nutgraf is the third paragraph and reads: When a woman loses her engagement ring in such a freakish fashion, society goes into crisis mode, as it should. By yesterday afternoon, 29 hours after the hole-in-one, a crowd has gathered in the 1700 block. Four Potomac Electric Power Co. guys, including two diverted from exploding-manhole-prevention duty, have removed two sidewalk grates and are taking turns sifting through muck 20 feet below. They know this is a major chance to be heroes.

Revised lede

Towson University students consciously conquer and avoid credit card while relying on their OneCard for campus expenses, says the schools website.

Proofreading

I never thought I would be able to honestly say that I enjoyed proofreading until after class on Wednesday. I learned how important it was to read something three different occasions with three different focuses. I think the process is much more practical and efficient and a lot less time consuming.

Reading the newspapers and going on an adventure outside was the perfect way to clear my mind so I was ready to proofread each different element of the story. I will definitely use this process in the future.

News story

Towson physicians held a press conference in opposition of a bill being considered by the Maryland State Legislature that will not require motorcyclists to wear helmets.

The press conference occurred on the front lawn of Memorial Hospital on Monday morning. It consisted of about 50 physicians from Towson, Johns Hopkins University Hospital, Mercy Hospital, and Greater Baltimore Medical Center.

Ironically, the conference was interrupted by ambulances rushing a motorcyclist to the emergency room who was involved in a two-car accident.

The number of serious head injuries caused by motorcycle accidents in Maryland is over 70 percent less now then when the helmet law was adopted 25 years ago, said Dr. Karl Sodergreen. He explained that reduction is directly related to the passage of the law.

The doctors collected nearly 400 signatures so far on the petitions and hope to have at least 500 by the time they send it to the legislature and it is considered on Wednesday.

Dr. Hector Rivera said a study from last year about health-care costs related to motorcycle riding by the by the state medical society showed that emergency room costs alone could go up more than 45 percent if the helmet law is repealed.

Nineteen-year-old Grady Smith, the motorcyclist injured in the accident, suffered a broken arm and several broken ribs. His doctor was quoted saying his injuries would have been much worse if not wearing a helmet.