Pit bulls get a better name thanks to foundation

Shoppers of Mantis Pet Supply in Ypsilanti were greeted Saturday afternoon to a room filled with barking dogs, all looking for homes. Romeo, an American Pit Bull Terrier, fostered by Joanie Wazney, pulls on his leash in an attempt to chase the store cat, unaware of activities happening around him. “He is so concerned with that cat. He has been going after it all afternoon,” Wazney said, while Romeo continued to pull, almost breaking lose.
Joanie Wazney, founder of The Buster Foundation, has been working under the name since 2002 to help educate the public about the misconceptions given to the pit bull breed. “I started the organization because I felt that even though pit bulls are shunned upon, they are still animals and not all of them are aggressive animals,” she said. The foundation, which also doubles as a charitable rescue group, is dedicated to helping re-home surrendered pit bull and pit bull breed mixes. “The Buster Foundation's mission is to help dispel the myths surrounding the American Pit Bull Terrier (APBT), reeducate the public as to the truths about the APBT and help to re-home as many dogs as humanely possible,” Wazney said as Holly, a white and brown pit bull terrier visited with a family, looking to adopt another dog into their family.
Holly was brought into the rescue just a few months back after having been on the run for almost five weeks. After finally being caught by animal control, Holly weighed a mere 35 pounds. On Christmas day, Holly gave birth, with the help of her foster mom, Heather Damon, to eleven still-born puppies. “After carefully removing them and tenderly covering their tiny little souls to ready them for disposal, I tearfully cleaned up after Holly each time another lifeless form appeared, thinking to myself, Merry Christmas, I now have another pity story to add to my memoirs,” Heather wrote on The Buster Foundation website. “It’s really hard to watch someone or something go through such a traumatizing event, its reasons like this that I volunteer extra time to save dogs like her.”
The foundation, which has no acting shelter, runs with the help of foster families who care for the dogs out of their own homes and pockets. The dogs in the custody of Wazney and her foster families are either dogs that have been abandoned by their previous owners, strays taken in by animal control or are just in need of a fresh start. In all, the foundation currently has twenty-two dogs being fostered with many more requests each day. The group meets three times a week, to showcase the dogs in their care and hope that an appropriate home comes along.
Paul Bellottie, a resident of Allen Park, traveled to Ypsilanti to speak with Wazney about becoming a volunteer. Bellottie, who is unable to foster a pit bull due to a law passed in December that forbids new pit bulls to be brought into the city limits, feels that the laws passed recently in his town are based on stereotypes of pit bulls. “If a pit bull bites a child, it is headline news, but if any other breed does the same, no one hears about it,” he said, while petting another dog that had been taken out of her cage to socialize.
While the end was not as successful as Wazney had hope and no official adoptions were made, many potential families came to visit. “We have a very rigorous adoption policy, so that we know our dogs are going to great, forever homes. Apathy, fear and ignorance are the reasons that I have some of the very best dogs in the world in my care,” Wazney said.

Choose hope over fear

The website I drew out of the hat was The Huffington Post, which I might add, I have never seen. With this being a new experience of visiting the site for the first time, I found the entire page a little boring. There was very little color, just the basic white background, black font and a little red here and there. With the inauguration coverage some four hours old, newer stories have surfaced, such as Ted Kennedy collapsing at the inaguration luncheon. The paper is also focusing a lot on the "HuffPost Ball." While the picture on the homepage of The Huffington Post shows President Obama, his wife and two daughters at the event, they give only links to articles surrounding the event. I believe the audience The Huffington Post is trying to reach is clearly those interested in the inauguration and stories focusing on the event itself. I think the site could be meant for older readers, since the site is not overloaded with pictures, colors, and articles, making it easy for readers to enjoy. Obviously viewers of the site are reading the articles based on the 7,441 comments that have been left on just the inauguration portion of the site.

If I was the editor of this newspaper, not just focusing on the inauguration itself, but the website as a whole, I would definetly add more color and make it seem a little busier. The layout is pretty simple as well, nothing compared to CNN.com or FoxNews.com.

The differences between Brett's website, Drudgereport.com and Thehuffingtonpost.com are quite a few examples. Brett's website, The Drudge Report does not write its own material. The website contains links pertaining to inauguration stories, however, it does not have writers employed. The stories containing information on the inaugration have links that send readers to Yahoo!News.com, Breitbart.tv and independent blogs. The website is very cluttered, confusing and as much information that is provided, none is written by Drudge Report staff.

A change is coming

Times are obviously changing. The economy is a disaster, the poverty levels have risen, and news that was once printed solely on paper is now primarily found on the Internet. With this in mind, jobs have begun to diminish, including those within the media industry, which have caused some to head back to school in order to broaden their skills. On page six of "The Art of Editing," the chapter speaks of journalists having to take on other jobs they may have not experience in. "Journalists may train in one medium, go to work upon graduation in another, and at some point change to a third or fourth career, depending on job opportunities at the time." While I consider my medium to be print, I am able to easily change my medium to the World Wide Web because of the generation I have grown up in. However, because print seems to be disappearing, so do the jobs that are already filled in the field, which means workers who are currently working in the field of print, are having to switch over to the World Wide Web.

Chapter 2 continues on to introduce a section on “Credibility and the Media.” A survey conducted by Urban & Associates of Sharon, Mass., found many different results. Findings such as “the public suspects that the points of view and biases of journalists influence what stories are covered and how they are covered," were discovered within the survey. While I don’t believe this is true of smaller newspapers, such as The Flint Journal, I do believe it has more to do with major news media, more so television than newspapers. For example, companies such as those under the control of Rupert Murdoch.

The facts of life

"I am watching over you from the stars/Don't be scared, I know exactly where you are/And there is a piece of me and it's burning in your heart/Even death could never tear us apart."

-The Higher, "Rock My Body"

Here is my formal introduction to begin this newly formed blog for those of you who may not know me personally. I am Jessica Mora. I am 22-years-old and still live with my parents. If you are living in the same economy as myself and similar in age, you are probably in the same boat. I am a senior at the University of Michigan-Flint, majoring in journalism. I have earned my minor in creative writing, so at least I have that under my belt. If you have not already noticed, I am involved in the music scene or at least I try as hard as I can to be. Music is a big passion of mine and I hope to continue on in life, gaining as much knowledge as possible.

I write for The Michigan Times, going on my second year now. I write mostly about the ever-changing music scene and every so often, some stories that are left over. I work full time at Buffalo Wild Wings, I work part-time at Petsmart, and I go to school full-time. When I actually have free time, I do a little bit of promoting at The Crofoot in Pontiac. I also, however not lately, write for my neighborhood blog, The Mott Park Blog. Feel free to e-mail me, instant message me or just walk up to me to talk anytime.