By Khrystyna Halatyma
Features Editor
“Snip Here”  

The Brief: The 200-ft Matilija Dam near Ojai, California was ‘vandalized’ by artists who graffitied on a dotted vertical line down the majority of the dam, with scissors at the top. Their message is clear and simple; get rid of the dam. Although the term “vandalized” usually has a bad reputation, Jeff Pratt, Ventura County’s public works director, said it definitely helps raise awareness and everyone he’s talked to is ok with it. The dam has been a problem from the start when it was built with a flaw in 1947. The main reason for the dam was to control floods and water storage but it has an earthquake fault and holds back about six million cubic yards of silt, which is depriving sand to beaches downstream. The only reason the dam has not been taken down already is because of the cost, an estimated more than $140 million. 
My Opinion: First of all, props to all involved. This dam is 200-ft tall and the artists managed to draw a straight line dotted line down the majority of it, that takes some serious skill. I like graffiti, when done right it can be entertaining when walking through a downtown city and in this case, the graffiti sends a good environmental message as well.
Source: http://articles.latimes.com/2011/sep/19/local/la-me-dam-scissors-2 0110919

Real “Life” Weekend at Bernie’s
The Brief: Up until now if you’ve seen the movie, “Weekend at Bernie’s” that’s all it has been- just a movie. On August 27th Robert Jeffrey Young, 43, showed up at his friends house in Denver to find him unconscious and unresponsive. Instead of calling an ambulance or the police, Young called his friend Mark Robinson, 25, put their friends body in their car and drove off to a bar. The pair went to have drinks, a burrito restaurant, diner and a strip club; all the while using money they withdrew from their friends credit card to finance their night. The trio got back after four a.m., and finally flagged down a police car after they had set the body on a bed at the house. When police arrived at the scene they declared the body officially deceased.
My Opinion: Young and Robinson are idiots. Where the heck do you get the idea to go out with your best friends dead body instead of calling an ambulance to see if he could be saved? It’s not as if they are young and stupid, these are 43- and 25-year old men we’re talking about. All I have to say is if adults are looking down on teenagers, disappointed in our generation, well maybe they should check on what their generation is doing before dissing teens.
Source:
http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2011/09/real-life-weekend-at-bernies-in-denver/