COURT CASE

Ben Barker
News Gathering
COURT STORY

            Entering the courtroom the mood was immediately established as relaxed and orderly. Judge Judith Fabricant sat in the back of the room peering over her thick glasses at the attendees of the continued court case of Christopher Johnson who was pleading guilty of armed robbery. The jury’s leather chairs sat empty on the left side of the room while the court officers stood in the front right side looking on as Judge Fabricant prepared for the sentencing.

            Johnson’s family sat in the back, looking tired and disheveled quietly discussing the bail money they had posted with one of the court officers who informed them that the judge would clear it up after the sentencing had taken place.

            Johnson’s lawyer, trying to shorten his initial sentence, reminded Judge Fabricant of the information discussed in the previous sentencing. Johnson was trying to shorten the sentence recommended by the commonwealth, which had been upward of two years in prison.

            After a short discussion, including Judge Fabricant establishing that Johnson had a “history of drug abuse related to crime,” the sentence was set at one to two years in prison.

            “I have a broken wrist,” Johnson mumbled as he was handcuffed and escorted out of the courtroom. The family was informed that they would not be able to receive their bail money at the time due to a $150 fee that they would have to pay first. Clearly not being able to pay the fine, the visibly upset family left the room, followed by their lawyer.

Profile: Kelsey Osborne

You probably know her as the girl who tells you how many layers to put on in the morning before you go outside. That's Kelsey Osborne, the weather reporter for "Good Morning Emerson." Originally from Long Island, New York, Osborne now lives in the Marriott Hotel in Boston, Massachusetts as an 18-year-old freshman broadcast journalism major at Emerson College.

For Osborne, journalism wasn't always the future. In high school, she never took a film or television course. Instead, she passed her time with theater, as well as living with her four younger brothers. When she began to explore colleges, Osborne immediately chose Emerson. "It's the first school that I visited and I just really loved it." However getting accepted wasn't as easy as she had hoped. Originally deferred, Osborne was disappointed, but never have up hope. After a long wait, she received her acceptance letter from Emerson, and headed to Boston.

Upon her arrival to Emerson. Osborne was again disappointed when she realized that she would be living in the Marriott Hotel instead of one of the campus dorms. However, after seeing the way that the hotel was arranged, and meeting the other freshmen that lived there, she embraced her living situation. "I thought I would hate it, since I'm not exactly on campus. Plus, I don't really have the full college experience, since I don't have a roommate. Even with all that though, I really love it. I've really bonded with the people on my floor, and having my own room definitely has its perks. Maid service once a week is a godsend."

Of the freshmen that Osborne has bonded with, she considers Angelica Davila, Sarah Greenbaum, and Steve Waechter her best friends. "Kelsey is hilarious. She's really easy-going and usually happy, and she's a really supportive friend. I know that if I ever had a problem, she would be there to help." says Davila.

Although Osborne is happy to be living in the Marriott this year, she has decided to try something different as a sophomore. "...I probably won't live there next year because I would have to move to the Colonial half way through the year if I did." She is planning on living in one of Emerson's other residence halls: The Little Building, Piano Row, or the soon to open Colonial Building.

As a freshman, Osborne wasted no time in pursuing her dream career as an Entertainment News reporter. By both writing for "The Beacon" and being an on-air personality for "Good Morning Emerson", she is well on her way to reaching her dream job of being a "Perez Hilton or less corny Ryan Seacrest..." Although she loves contributing to "Good Morning Emerson," she admits that being in studio and ready to go by 7:30 AM can be challenging. "... getting up early is really tough! I'm really nervous about going on live... but I'm sure as time goes on I'll improve... at least I hope so!"

This semester has given Osborne new experiences. She is enjoying her new classes, which, in addition to Newsgathering, include Dress Codes, Earth Science and Nature, and Culture and Identity. She has also changed her eating habits. Since switching her meal plan, she has been using the dining hall much more frequently than last semester, when she mostly ate at the Max or the Emerson Cafe'. Osborne is excited to enjoy the rest of her time here before school lets out for the summer.

Scene Setting Story

Barker

1/29/09

Scene

"You're no match for my powers!" were the first words that greeted me when I entered my 12th floor Piano Row dorm Thursday afternoon. I walked in to see exactly what I had expected. My roommate, Ben Austin lounging on his bed in his usual jeans and T-shirt attire, browsing his computer, completely unfazed by the beautiful Boston scenery that awaited just outside the window next to him. And our good friend Ryan wearing his usual Boston Bruins winter hat sits in my desk chair, his normal gaming location, while he plays the classic N64 game "Blitz 2001." The inside of the room alone would tell you that a sports game would be completely appropriate to be on the television. Jason Varitek sits above my head while Kevin Garnett and David Ortiz are stuck to the window. Fenway Park decorates the door, and an autographed copy of A-Rod slapping the ball out of Arroyo's hand tops it all off. "You're no match for my powers!" the game repeats again, this time drawing a response from Ryan. "Oh my God, a 65 yard return."

Although Ryan's room is eight floors below, his guitar, clothes, DVD's and video game's all litter the 1208 suite as if it were his own. Sneakers and books hide the carpet, making jumping from bed to bed the most common means of transportation within the room. No words are spoken between the two until Ben becomes bored with his laptop and wants in on the video game.

"I CHALLENGE YOU!" Ben declares as the two set up the grade. When the game does not start, Ryan takes out the cartridge and blows into it vigorously, hoping that this will somehow fix the problem. The rivalry begins once again and as the game progresses the insults heat up. "HE WAS ON FIRE DAMNIT!" Ben stands up and yells as he throws the football right into the arms of one Ryan's defenders. This amuses Ryan as he shouts in his usual high pitched voice, "You're never going to catch meee!" As if the setting needs anymore evidence that these are two typical college freshman boys, the conversation about football inevitably turns to food. "I want an apple strudel" I hear Ryan grumble as I make my exit.