Life in the ER

     Dim lights, eggshell colored walls, white tiles with splashes of green, and the scent of a freshly cleaned floor, its no other place than the Pottsville hospital. The word EMERGENCY in big red letters awaits you as you walk through the front door. Many believe that the doctors are the important people in hospitals, but really, the nurses are what keeps it going. Robin is one of those people, a nurse at the Pottsville hospital and has been for over 13 years.

     "I love my job, I wouldn't change it for the world," exclaimed Robin, with a slight Cuban accent, as she cleans off her snowman scrubs. Robin, who is tall, gorgeous, and has skin that was kissed by the sun, is constantly busy. She states, on average she sees, between 15-20 patients on a daily basis. With life how it is today, everybody always in a hurry and being selfish, aggressive drivers, its not out of the ordinary for a nurse, like Robin to see such a significant amount of patients in an eight hour period, ranging from the flu, to vehicular accident victims. "My favorite part of my job, is when we see leaving through those doors. I love knowing that we helped that person." She knew she wanted to become a nurse about 30 years when her grandfather was sick and a nurse would come everyday to help him. She said to her grandfather, "Popop, one day I'm going to be that lady so I could take care of you." Robin loves helping people and this is why she excels at her job.

      She states, "I think some people believe nurses are unappreciated, but in fact we really aren't." If one was to ask a civilian casually strolling down the street if they feel nurses are under appreciated, they would probably say yes. "Of course the doctors and surgeons make the big bucks and seems as if they only see the patients for just a moment, but they have much more knowledge than us," Robin voiced. Some may not know, but doctors have almost 12 years of schooling before they can practice their specialty. That is so much more knowledge and experience behind them, compared to a nurse's 4 years of schooling, so it sort of makes sense that a doctor would make a significant amount of money more a than a nurse. She includes, "They also have to take their cases home with them, and remember what patient takes what medication and all of their medical history." Getting into medical school is a tremendous feat itself and not to mention all of the late, caffeine filled nights studying while in med school. Doctors really do a lot of work, it just may seem different because not all people see what goes on behind the scenes. The nurses do the "dirty work" but that is what they signed up to do.

     A nurse has numerous jobs to do, especially in a hospital setting. "My job here is to do charting, which is pretty much assessing the patient, relay messages they tell me to one of our doctors on call, administer a drugs, stay on my toes incase of an emergency, all while keeping a smile on my face," Robin chuckles. Depending on the work environment, the job description of all nurses are pretty much the same, some more high stress, such as ICU nurses, and some more of a relaxed environment like an in home nurse. Robin paces from one room to the next as two patients, one in 239, the other, 242 ring their buzzers. After finishing in 242, she stops to take off her black Dansko clogs to rub her left foot, slides it back on and glides to 239. Clearly in some sort of suffering, she does all this while still keeping a big, beautiful smile on her face, like a child on Christmas morning.


     "I get along with all of our doctors and other nurses, there are some patients that test my last nerve, but I just put a smile on my face and continue to do my job the best I can,"she remarks. "I don't know how to does it, keeps a smile on her face when I know on the inside she wants to scream in their face," added Judy, another nurse at the hospital. To be a nurse, one must always keep their cool and never get frustrated, especially with patients, thats a great way to loose a good job. Working in a hospital is like working in any other place, the coworkers are almost like family. Everyday the same people, and over time they grow on you and eventually becoming best of friends.

     I notice a little wrinkled old man, with white hair walking around in his polka dotted gown pulling his IV stand around, like he was walking a dog. He said he was in there for chest pains, and significantly enough he was in room 239, the same room that Robin respond to just moments ago. Heart disease is the number one cause of death in the US, so it is not uncommon for any person to go to the hospital with chest pains. Carl was his name, and he states that, "The staff at the Pottsville hospital is some of the most friendly people I have ever met." He specifically mentions Robin as "the nicest and most beautiful nurse" that has treated him in his 76 short years on this Earth.  He has traveled all over the world with the Navy, and has seen many hospitals. "I expected them to treat me like another old fart on the street, but they actually took the time to talk to me and made me feel special, its a shame to say, but these people are nicer than my wife" declares Carl with a tiny grin on his aged face. After our talk, Carl waddles toward the elevator which "dings" about every 45 seconds.
  
     Sirens fill the air as a big red ambulance pulls up, and a large, muscular EMT dashes in with a patient on stretcher. "MVA," he yelled in a deep voice. About 4 nurses jump into action as soon as the EMT busted through the emergency room door, a doctor, in a lab coat and gloves in hand, followed not long after. "We need to get him to the OR," demanded the doctor. After everything settled down, the nurses returned to their station. Robin walked over and said, "See what I mean when I said stay on my toes."

 

 

Being a head coach for Women's Lacrosse at Bloomsburg University


"Let's work hard today ladies", that's usually how coach starts off practice. Whether we are inside the gym because of the bad weather, or outside on the turf at Stephen Petit Stadium and a cold, sunny day, coach Shannon Hertz always has us going one hundred miles an hour and giving our all.

Being a head coach for a division II team can be tough at times for her. Coach Shannon is also a mom. With her transition of being an assistant coach at division III Catholic University of America in Washington D.C to Bloomsburg University, Shannon was forced to move to Bloomsburg without her husband who still has a job in D.C. "Being away from my husband and not seeing him a lot is emotionally and physically hard and sometimes draining dealing with my two sons by myself." Her day consists of waking up early to get her two young sons, Jackson and Jayden ready for daycare while managing to get ready for work herself. After she drops the kids off at daycare or the babysitters, she gets into the office and plans her day by laying out a practice plan, and all the paperwork she has to get done that day. With all the chaos, her day never goes according to plan and things like practice usually change. Shannon usually makes practice from 6-8am or 3-5pm, depending on the weather and her schedule. She has to leave her office by 5:30 everyday to go get her kids from day care. Being a head coach means everyday is different. Some good days, some bad.

"There are no days off when you are a head coach because if you aren't on the field coaching, then you are in the office doing emails, and other paperwork." All the paperwork, recruiting, and fundraising; otherwise known as the office part is the least favorite part of Shannon's job. To Shannon this is her least favorite because she would rather be out on the field interacting with the team. "Scholarships are the most stressful part about recruiting because the college itself doesn't have enough money as I would like to give to my players. I believe every player deserves money when it comes to playing at a division II level." In order to keep our scholarships, Shannon stays on top of the teams grades and school work. Each player has to meet with coach every other week for an academic meeting. In these meetings we go over things such as classes, grades, and even life in general. Whenever a team member has a problem or is stressed out about anything, we always turn to Shannon first because she was in our shoes once and understands what we are going through.

Being a head coach was something Shannon always wanted to do. She worked her way to the top and started her coaching career off at her alma mater, Lock Haven University as an assistant coach. After She went to Catholic University of America where she spent three years as an assistant coach. When the offer as a head coach for Bloomsburg opened up, Shannon knew she had to take it. Being a head women's lacrosse was something Shannon wanted to do not only to support her family more, but also for her love of the game. "I enjoy practice more then games" says coach Shannon. She believes the team does most of our improvement in practice and her favorite thing is watching us get better everyday. " When I watch the team play, I notice the lightbulbs going off in their heads and it makes me so happy to know that they are understanding and getting better."

I like division II better then division III because I feel there is more team interaction. For example, in division II teams have fall ball practices and tournaments, where as division III doesn't. This means that there is more room for team bonding. Coach Shannon is all about team bonding. This past fall she divided our team into four separate groups, each group had to come up with team name, theme song, color, and logo. This gave the girls a chance to hangout and bond with girls they don't normally hangout with outside of lacrosse. She has little activities set up for us every once in a while that gives each team a chance to earn points. At the end of the season, the team with the most points, wins a prize. "Team bonding is probably my most favorite thing about coaching because I love seeing the girls interact with one another and make memories with there teammates. When there is a good team bond, it shows on the field and overall the team improves."

Coach Shannon Hertz loves being a head coach even with the hardships that come with it. "My team is my second family and I wouldn't trade them for the world." Shannon's goals as a head coach for the future are to win a PSAC (Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference), and just overall have her team improve each and everyday.

Pink Hands of Hope

Figure 1

     While driving down Trindle Road in Mechanicsburg, PA, various different shops line each side of the lengthy, narrow stretch. However, one store in particular called  Pink Hands of Hope Thrift Store stands out among the rest. "We're located on East Trindle Road. You won't miss us," explains Brian Gaughan, the Co-Founder of Pink Hands of Hope, when interested customers first contact his establishment. Brian’s undeniable charisma and enthusiasm compels most callers to pay a visit to the store. Once they arrive at the store they find Brian’s brief, straight-forward directions were accurate. As the patrons pull into the small parking lot, a supersized white and pink adirondack chair sitting beside a large sign with two  handprints, each one a different shade of pink, lets them know they have arrived at the correct destination. (Figure 1) From the vertical pink stripes adorning the white cinderblock exterior, to the minute details such as the pink paint splattered rocks surrounding the shrubbery near the entrance, the appearance of the store is pleasing  to the eye and has the ability to awaken the girly girl inside of anyone. The front display window decorated on the outside with pink accents encases beautiful wedding gowns. Hanging inside of the front window is also a bright flashing sign letting bargain hunters know that Pink Hands of Hope is open and ready for business.
 
     Inside of the store, a friendly, middle-aged woman stands behind the counter greeting customers with a warm welcome.  Racks full of sweaters, jackets, jeans, dresses, shoes, and every other wardrobe essential span the length of the alternating rosy pink and white cinderblock walls. (Figure 2) Other racks consisting of baby clothes, medical scrubs, and wedding dresses camouflage the neutral, washed out carpeting. Not only does the store sell clothing, but they also sell books, jewelry, purses, furniture, home goods, and holiday decorations. Selling these other items broadens their customer base. The aroma reminds me of my grandparent's basement, stale and musty yet filled with character. The woman tending the counter treats every shopper with such respect, and makes the atmosphere very customer orientated. However, she is not the only one with this attitude. Brian, an average height, gray-haired man, is just as welcoming and willing to share the mission of Pink Hands of Hope.

Figure 2

Figure 3

     On June 1, 2009, Pink Hands of Hope opened in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania after Brian's wife conquered her battle with breast cancer. After Brian's wife endured four major surgeries and chemotherapy over a span of eleven months, they began looking for financial help. "You see pink ribbons all over the place so there's got to be help out there, right?" Brian hypothetically asks. Unfortunately, Brian found that no one was able to help him while his family was knee-deep in medical bills. Brian explains, "I'm middle class with three daughters to support so I started down the path to set this up." Brian and his wife chose to start their non-profit organization, Pink Hands of Hope, to help survivors and women fighting not only breast cancer, but all types of cancer. "Any women that comes in our door that's fighting cancer, we give them free wigs, free clothing, free chemo caps, free prosthetics, and free bras". The sense of pride and satisfaction is tangible as Brian speaks of the work he does with the women who come into his shop. Last year in 2014, Pink Hands of Hope helped 227 women. The ability and plethora of resources to help that many cancer patients and survivors out of such a small store astonishes all who hear the story of Pink Hands of Hope. When patrons and visitors of the store express their admiration of all his work, Brian leads them outside the store to show them the "Wall of Hope." (Figure 3) One side of the building consists of 500 cinderblocks, where all the survivors that Bryan, his family, and volunteers have helped place their handprints along with their names. "The goal is that when somebody comes in and they say, I just got diagnosed with cancer, I'm going to take her out here and show her all the people who beat the disease before her so it offers her the hope that she can beat the disease too." The combination of Brian's charisma as he spoke and seeing all the names of the survivors united is inspiring and makes myself and others want to know more about how we can help.
    
     Pink Hands of Hope mainly depends on the help of volunteers to run the store on a daily basis. While Brian raises money, gets sponsorships, picks up donations, and organizes social events, middle-aged retired volunteers work behind the desk cashing out sales and interacting with customers. From time to time, student volunteers from high schools in the area come in to sort clothes and organize the store. Young kids assist Brian with advertising through Facebook and other social media sites. Since Brian established Pink Hands of Hope as a non-profit organization, they do not have the funds for advertising. Therefore, the majority of their business and exposure come from Facebook, word of mouth, good location, and church partnerships. Churches also hold clothing drives to collect donations for the store. Consignment stores donate clothing once the consignment period ends, and the public drop off donations because the store lacks funds to purchase donation bins. These are just a few examples of how crucial the community's help and involvements is to allow Pink Hands of Hope to continue helping women defeat cancer for years to come.

Building a Park in the Dark

             Nestled in the Pocono Mountains in Northern Pennsylvania, is a small ski resort that goes by the name Big Boulder. As you pull into the parking lot you will notice that the mountain is not very large, only consisting of about 14 trails. You may be asking yourself why you would want to know about this very small resort. Well you will notice that once you buy your ticket from the office in the basement and walk up the staircase to the lifts, that the mountain consists of mostly terrain parks. If you have never been skiing or snowboarding you may not know what a terrain park is. A terrain park is a slope that has a series of jumps, rails, boxes, and other objects to perform tricks on. Now there are many places where you can ride terrain parks but none as good as Big Boulder, at least not in PA that is. That is what makes this resort special.

           Big Boulder's park crew is dedicated to their work and really cares about how their parks turn out. When I interview Tom Schmidt, lead park builder, he said “ We work our butts off to maintain our reputation as the best parks in PA.” You can tell that he is dedicated to his work by the way he sits off to the side of the trails and watches people hit the features and gives them tips on how they may be able to enhance their riding style. But what makes their parks different? Well if you go anywhere else in PA you will notice that there is no “Flow” in their parks. “ We take a lot of time and consideration into making sure that our features flow into each other and there is enough space to make sure you have speed to hit the next one.” said Schmidt. Another nice feature about Big boulders parks are that if you go on a Wednesday there is a brand new park built by Sunday. “ Saturday night after closing and into the opening on Sunday we rebuild all of our parks. Its nice to come back and not ride the same park over and over again.” to go along with brand new parks every couple of days, they also have a variety of parks that range in size.

Figure 2- Love Park

           The biggest part about riding park is not to ride above your skill level. Big boulder does a good job of helping you do that by having a variety of park sizes. Freedom park, the smallest park, is a great choice for beginners. After riding the 2 person lift to the top of the trail you will see that it is not very steep. This helps you to maintain control into features. “ All of the features on Freedom are beginner level. All of the rails are ride on, and the jumps are fairly small.” commented Schmidt. The next park that you may wanna try after graduating Freedom is Boulder Park. Boulder is a midlevel park with gaps to rails and gap jumps. “ This park is probably our most popular because, while it is not easy, most people that come can do most of the feature with ease.” The final park that Schmidt talked to me about was Love Park. This is the largest park that they have. The rails are 15 to 20 feet long with a skate style entry, meaning that you have to enter the rails at an angle. In general all of the feature are more difficult, but none as difficult at the set of three booters at the bottom. These booters (jumps) have a 20 to 25 foot gap to the landing (see figure 2). “ This is the park I enjoy the most. This is where you see all of our park riders busting out all of their biggest tricks. Even some locals show off some pretty impressive tricks on this park.” After see an object flipping through the air I decided to investigate it. I found out that that object was actually Mark Gessner, a local who rides at big boulder quite often. "This park is so sick, we are really lucky to have a place like this so close. Not many places have jumps big enough to land rodeos (540 degree sideways rotation front flip)" These are the people that give Boulder its reputation.

                                       

            Big boulder park may be a small resort but you can easily have a better time here then any where else due to the variety of terrain parks. In Pennsylvania we do not have the best mountains or the best conditions to ride in, but Big Boulder does their best to make the most out of it. Their hard work and dedication has gotten them a good reputation for building parks, so much that they have been hosting the Trans-world Snowboarding “Trans AM” the past couple of years which brings in pros for a park style competition. Thats right you can be riding on the same snow that professionals are riding on, and for a very low price. Big boulder is only $18 for a 3PM-9PM ticket on Sunday night. Maybe the next time you are bored, you will consider Big Boulder Park.

The True Meaning of Teamwork

Figure 1

     When first walking into the office of Head Coach Bill Cleary, the first thing that you come across are three large windows with a red window pane looking out onto the court, overseeing anything that might be going on. Usually, around this time of year he will see either some of the men or women basketball players out there working on their game most of the time. Coach Cleary is in his seventh season here at Bloomsburg University as the women's head basketball coach. At the beginning of a new season no coach knows how well or bad the season is going to be. "Each season is always fun and there are different challenges each year when the season begins", he replies.
     Most of the time time he sits on his computer. As soon as your walk into his office, to the immediate right on his desk the computer sits. Along with his computer is also a mess of papers that deal with team stats, opponent stats, and other materials, such as plays, pictures, DVDs, office supplies, and memorabilia from the past and of his family. Above him are cabinets where he stores all his papers and belongings. On top of the cabinets are pictures from his past seasons and achievements that has has accomplished (see Figure 1). In his office is where Coach Cleary does most of his work for the women's basketball team. While on his computer he does scouting for teams that they play and watches games that they have already played to see what they could better and fix. Coach Cleary says, "Each scout is different, how we prepare for each team is different. Each team is unique with what they do and so we try and exploit their weaknesses best we can".

Figure 2

     The things that Coach Cleary does in his office are very important when it comes to practice and game day. When walking onto the court from the locker room, first thing you notice is the vast gym. The pulled in maroon bleachers span across the entire basketball court. Six baskets surround the gym, he two main baskets are the only two baskets that have shot clocks on top of them. The remaining four baskets are used for when there is not any more room on the two main baskets or if you would just use one of them. When the women practice they all go as hard as they can, so that they all can get better and get ready for their opponent as well. As practice begins they all line up on the baseline that reads in big bold letters painted gold white and maroon saying 'BLOOMSBURG'.
     Before they actually begin practice they stretch and warm up. While they stretch they chit chat about what is going to happen in practice that day.While the coaches are standing in the corner talking about the practice schedule themselves. The girls move from one stretch to next then run down the court and back just once to begin drills that start practice. Breaking off into groups of two's and one group of three and begin shooting at the baskets. Each time you can hear either the ball hitting the rim or swishing through the net. While shooting each girl says "good job" or "nice shot" out loud to one another. There is time on the clock counting down for how long each drill will last. The clock rest high above the gym in the rafters with bright orange lights for all to see .As time expires on the clock they begin scouting for their next team they are about to play. Coach Cleary calls some of players out onto the court to run the plays that the other team will be running. Running  through one or two of their plays and the girls. The starters of the team come out and guard those who are are already on the court (see Figure 2). They run though the plays two or three times to ensure they know how to guard it. There is yelling about who is cutting where on the court, sneakers screeching as everyone is moving, and the sound of the ball hitting the floor when people dribble. At some points Coach Cleary will stop them and make a coaching point about how he wants something to be done. Whether it be a particular way to guard someone or how he wants the girls to rotate when the ball gets passed around. That how one of the teams practices goes, but rarely do they do the same drills two days in a row.
     Just looking amongst all the players and coaches, you can see how well all of them get along with one another. Coach Cleary responds with, "This all started with Coach Decker and myself, this is the environment we wanted to have. Then you have to give the credit to the players for understanding that this is the atmosphere we want to have." It is not that hard to notice this as well. Varying between a game and being away from the sport it is easy to notice how well they get along (see Figure 3).

Figure 3

The women's basketball team, has the greatest group of players and coaches that everyone loves to see play and hang out with any time. Each and everyone of them know how to put a smile on anyone's face or even just be there to help you in a time of need. They are all truly inspirational to anybody who meets them.                 

    

In the Life of a True Hero

     Imagine going to work, saying goodbye to your family, and knowing that there's a chance you might leave them forever and never coming home. Imagine a job that  puts you under intense scrutiny by the media and the community that you swore to protect everyday. Making arrests, dogging bullets, dealing with some of the worst criminals society has to offer, and saving lives as just part of a typical day in the office. It takes a true test of character, will, determination, and devotion to take on such a job as this one. This for tells the job of a true hero, a police officer.
    
     People become police officers for many particular reasons whether it's to serve justice, to protect people, save lives, help people make better choices in life, or just for the vast variety in diversity of job tasks it takes someone who willing devotes their lives to making a difference. Endless possibilities occur when saving the life in the line of duty. Police officers may have to face there fears when battling against a hot fire with black cloud blowing in there face making it hard to breathe while trying to pull a person from a burning car or house fire. They could also serve in a first aid to a shooting where they need to calm the bleeding victim down from their shrikes of pain while compression the bloody wounds and being able to stomach the site of it all. For my father, Police Chief Barry Templin of Douglassville Township Police department, his reason to join was very clear. "I became a police officer because the profession I was in was becoming boring and monotonous. It didn't seem to have a purpose," he proclaimed. "The police profession sparked my curiosity because I would get to give back to our community and I would get to see things that people will never see in a lifetime. No two days are the same. The profession is exiting, and I felt meaning and purpose when it came to going to work."


Chief Barry Templin

     Police Chief Templin has been a cop for 24 years now and a police chief for 10. He stands at 6'4'' and is roughly 275 pounds. Looking into Chief Templin's green eyes and noticing his military crew cut and brown mustache shows his strong, intimidating demeanor as a cop. Then you are slowly relieved but the rushing feeling of his strict but fair attitude when on the job.

     Chief Templin has worked all his life being an officer at Douglass Township. He stated off as a patrol officer made his way through the ranks by becoming a Lieutenant, then a Sargent, and finally when the old chief retired was offered Chief. In the township you will find ten other officers including two secretaries in the office. His officers are very qualified some having a pervious history in the military. One if his officers is also on the SWAT team and very qualified and well trained when it comes to their firearms. The other officers need at least a college degree and Chief Templin is very strict on who he hires to represent his department. This is essentially the crew Chief Templin works when coming into work each day.

Front of Douglass Township police department.

     Chief Templin wakes up early every morning around 6 so he can get into the office by 7. The night  time officers are usually rapping up at this time as the morning shift begins to come in. When coming up onto the station you get a sense of safety and security running through you because you know each officer in that building is willing to do anything within their power to protect you and their community from the evil in the streets. The building has a make up of brick wall and has a sign welcoming you into the station. Tons of cop cars fill the parking lot that the officers take out while on duty everyday of the job. Some include typical patrol cars, jeeps, and a dodge charger typically used for catching speeders. Coming through the door, a secretary, found to the left and a two way mirror to the right. You must know the pad code at the door to actually get you into the station. Once in the station there typically sits three to four officers working at there desks in full uniform. The desks take open up the floor by sitting pushed against the walls going around the rectangular room standing on a brown carpet. Towards the back of the room contain two separate rooms that belong to the Chief and Sargent of the station.

     Each morning starts with roll call where Chief Templin goes over the what happened on the night shift, any updates the officers need informed of, and what to expect and what tasks to handle for the day. After, he then checks the record management system to approve and review calls written by the officers the previous night. Doing all the paperwork contains, to some, the most stressful part of the job. Chief Templin believes the complete opposite. "The main source of stress in this job when I was working the street was the shift work.  Too many times than not, it took away from my personal life" he stated in a lower and sadder tone of voice. "I was unable to attend many family functions and events because I was working.  I dealt with the stress by working out.  Many times I would get done work at 0600 hours and be at the gym at 0630 hours working out to relieve me of my stress." Stress makes it very difficult on officers to cope with when on and off duty. They see the worst society has to offer and need to find ways of coping healthy so it doesn't effect their family life or the life they live off the job.

      Once the record management system has been completed that day, there's a meeting with the township manager to discuss and new or important factors that  go on in the community and need addressing. Also at thee meeting topics, some of the occurrences that are taken place more frequently then others and new methods to handle in order to deter them form occurring again are discussed upon. "The most common occurrences that my police officers face on the street are your routine activities such as: traffic accidents, traffic stops, domestic issues, drug issues, and thefts.  I am in an administrative position so my duties are more in line of keeping the police department running smoothly and making sure the police officers have the tools to do the job." For the chief of police conducting meetings occurs as an essential part of there jobs. Meetings keep the township up and running and all the officers in order. All meetings stay open to the general public to come and listen to how the police are keeping their community running and in order. Attending these meetings brings a sense of relief to the citizens of the community knowing that the township runs as it should and that the officers keep deterring crime in which in return make the streets safe.

     UCR's or Uniformed Crime Reports show another essential job for the Chief to handle. UCR's measure time and place. Uniformed Crime Reports are data collected from the police departments about the arrests and criminal activity in there community. URC's take place once a month. They also represent the primary source of crime rates for the media. As good as the reports on crime state, they may not always come out very accurate. The UCR's weakness shows that not all crimes  report to the police and not every arrest that's made actually go to trail and convict that criminal which can be very discouraging at times. "A thing that discourages me at time in our profession is dealing with the judicial system when writing up the UCR's. At times the end result of a case does not turn out how you wish it would especially for the victim," Chief Templin stated with distaste. When writing up UCR's the Chief gets to see all the crimes that were actually convicted and those they were released and then report it to the State Police so they can log it into their statistics.

Row of police cars at the station.

     Since the UCR's take place only once a month Chief Templin then has extra time on other days to patrol the streets. He usually goes through all the neighborhoods and businesses to make the patrol car seen to the community. Allowing the patrol car to be seen helps to deter crime and build up community relations. While on patrol Chief Templin came up onto a familiar road. "This was my first arrest was, a D.U.I. arrest," he said excitingly."I observed a van drive up onto the sidewalk and crash into the guiderail of an overpass bridge on SR-0073.  The driver fled from the van and I pursued him on foot and caught him later hiding behind some bushes.  The driver was two times the legally limit." This was one of Chief Templin's proudest moments not because of the man who could have veered off the road at any point and harmed himself or someone else on the road, but for the fact that now he felt as though he was finally making a difference protecting the evil from the prey. While going down some narrow woods in the back of the township as the sun started setting you could almost get a sense of sadness and a stern but serious look came across Chief Templin. Across from a small bridge was a dark house in the back of the woods with just a little light shinning in the window. It was a house you would see in a horror movie and think to yourself, why would these idiots head into that house. "The most severe call that I handled was a triple homicide on July 02, 2011.  One of the deceased was a two year old child.  It was very emotional and shocking to every police officer’s psyche," Officer Templin stated with despairing mournful sound in his voice." This gives witness to just one of the many horrible sites that the police come across on this cruel job. On a better note there are also things the chief Templin enjoys doing on the job, mostly with giving back to the community.

     "Some things that I enjoy about police work are running programs that give back to the community such as: the D.A.R.E. program in which we speak to elementary school children about the dangers of drugs, alcohol, and peer pressure; Drug Take Back Initiative program in which the public is allowed to turn in their unused, unwanted or expired medications to be properly disposed; the Premises Alert program in which allows our police department to better handle some-one who is autistic, mentally ill, or has some other mental disability when they come in contact with police by having their information beforehand." Police work contains more then fighting crime or seeing all these terrible acts of violence. Sometimes the most important way to give back to the community involves being there and helping someone in need, helping them learn right from wrong so that they have a chance at  wonderful and successful future.

Police Glock 22 with Chief Templin's badge and cuffs.

     As a ending to the very long day in the life of a police officer chief Templin heads back to the station to finish paperwork, take incoming calls, or clean his weapon, the Glock 22 (.40 caliber). A cops weapon arises as an essential part of him and his duties. Unlike many people think its a last resort in self-defensive when his life or the life of another innocent civilian gets threatened. All cops come extremely well trained when it comes to handling, operating, and shooting the weapon when needed to. During the academy they learn how to operate their weapon to the fullest extent. They know to take it apart piece by piece and re-assemble it once again. They know the in and outs of the weapon and how to handle it with care and precision. They know how to properly clean the weapon and finally how to execute with shooting it so they it may protect them and the citizens of their township. Many citizens and even the media make cops out as the bad guys when having to use their weapon in the line of duty. Police officers receive notification day one in the academy that lethal force and a last resort in order to control crime. Nothing more, nothing less. "I do not have any real feelings about carrying a firearm.  For me its apart of the police officer’s tool bag just like a flashlight and handcuffs would be.  I really do not think about the possibility of taking some-one’s life because that is something that I nor any police officer sets out to do.  I would rather try to work things out and steer whoever it may be on a more righteous and responsible path.  Deadly force is the last resort; however, for protection of life of myself or the victim, yes, I do not have any hesitation on using it."

     The career choice of police officers contain a very demanding job where anything could happen on any given day. It's a choice, a commitment for the strong, determined, and the loyal. Many obstacles need overcoming with being involved in law enforcement to protect yourself and the community you serve every day. Police officers don't look for the glory, the fame, or a spotlight in the papers, they only need to feel the change they make in their community and that's what makes them true hero's.

Behind The Scenes Of Mens Basketball

     When you hear about the Bloomsburg Men's basketball team all you hear about is the coaches and the players you never hear about what happens behind the scenes. When people talk about the basketball team they love to say "How great that player is" or "Wow that coach did a great job preparing them for that game", but who does all the work behind the scenes? The work that goes unnoticed is the work of the team manager. The Manager does all the dirty work, the stuff the coaches, and the players don't have the time to accomplish. Being a Manager is not an easy job you have to do a lot of things that people would never expect. Josh Tanner, the teams manager, puts his free time and effort to better the team and players. His heart and passion are one hundred percent involved in the team, and he loves what he does despite how frustrating it can be at times.




Figure 1

 " I have to help with every practice, most of the time I sit and do the clock but I also jump in and throw passes to the post players." Josh is very enthusiastic during the practices. He likes to get the guys riled up and gets them motivated for the rough practice ahead. When one of the guys would miss a shot he would always say thing like "don't worry man you will make the next". He is always using his encouraging words to keep up the team spirit. he always knows how to stay positive and put a smile on their faces. Sometimes he would stand up and start to clap and yell just to pump them up. Before each practice he has to get everything ready. He had to grab the balls out of the small gloomy white and grey room with some tall metal cabinets(See Figure 1). Then grab the gold jerseys out of the chilly maroon, white, and grey locker room. So that during practice if coach wanted three teams there would be a maroon, white and gold.

Figure 2

     The huge gymnasium known as Nelson Field House beginning to get filled up and all ages coming into the court (See Figure 2). It was game night the huskies practiced all week preparing for this game. There are four sides of the bleachers two on each sideline, and two on the baselines they are all maroon. Josh in his position at the top of the bleachers on the one sideline preparing to film. "I do this so that after the game the coaches can see what mistakes the players have made and what they have done right," Josh said. If it wasn't for his film how would the coaches and players know where they need to improve? Josh is a huge asset to the team , he isn't just the manager, he's the heart of the team.
     Film is one of the toughest things that Josh has to do because it consists of so much movement and parts of it. Not only does he film the game, but after the game put it up on this website that is orange, black, and grey. Not the happiest looking website online, it has a symbol also that looks sort of like a fan with three fins and it is orange. It is a website just for sports either basketball or football are the most common it is used for. Josh has to go anywhere he can to get a computer to use to add the film to that website, and share it to all the players. If he doesn't do that none of the players can watch the film without the coaches.
     No matter if it's a game or practice you will see Josh Tanner there cheering on the Men's Basketball Team. He will be the first up cheering yelling whether the men are winning a game or even finishing a simple drill in practice. Some days more then others when the team needs him more he will be yelling and trying to get the men to smile. He truly is a huge contribution to the team many people don't know how much he does, and he doesn't get the recognition deserves for the hard work he puts in. So next time you are at a game take a look up at the top of the bleachers, and you will see Josh doing his behind the scenes work.