Student Hero-Simone Smith

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She brings acts to Winthrop to entertain students and brightens the days of less fortunate.

Simone Smith, daughter of Yvonne and James Smith, commutes to Winthrop from Fort Mill five days a week.

After school, Smith works as a Millcrest Park Apartments in Fort Mill as a leasing consultant. She also is on the board of DiGiorgio Student Union (DSU) at Winthrop and brings different musical acts and comedians to Winthrop.

But around this busy schedule of work, class and extracurricular, the junior integrated marketing major drives to Charlotte to feed and nurture the needy.

Smith works with a youth group called Deep in Charlotte. Her activities involve playing with orphanages, cleaning up neighborhoods and passing out brown bag meals.

Volunteering with people gives you a closer connection to them and Smith said they feel like her family.

“It’s a good time to get to know people more than just hang out and superficial ‘Hi How are you doing’ and then leave,” Smith said. “You really get to see peoples’ hearts and how much they care. It makes me feel like I’m doing something worthwhile.”
Smith’s favorite volunteering experiences are when they help the homeless.

“You are out in the open and people are coming to you,” Smith said. “You know they want your help, and you get amazing stories.”

Each person she meets has a different story and varied pasts.

“You meet homeless people who used to be millionaires, or you meet homeless people who think they are Hitler,” she said.
Deep goes into the uptown of Charlotte with paper bag lunches.

They also go and play orphan children and show them love.

“They don’t have the parents that are there to be around them all the time,” she said. “We want to be there and show that they are loved and cared for.”

Smith has also protested abortion and washed children’s feet for Samaritan’s feet.

After washing their feet the children were given shoes.

Smith enjoys volunteering because it gives her a chance to meet people but also be selfless.

“To volunteer, it makes me feel like I am doing something outside of myself so it makes me feel unselfish,” she said. “I feel like I’m helping someone else and hopefully being that good thing during the day because you never know how someone’s day has been.”

Student Hero slideshow- Simone Smith

Simone Smith, junior Integrated Marketing Communication Major, is a student hero.

The Fort Mill, S.C. native volunteers with her youth group Deep that feeds the needy, cleans up in the community and in nature and raises money for different causes.

Below is a slide show that shows Smith's volunteer work with Deep as well as the group fellowshiping as a whole.

In the slideshow you will see Smith's group taking paper bag lunches to the homeless, washing children's feet and giving them shoes for Samaritan's Feet, cleaning up trash in the woods and raising money.

Simone Smith Hero Project

Simone Smith is a 20-year-old Integrated Marketing Communications major at Winthrop.

Not only does she do marketing homework and come up with advertising ideas, she also makes time to feed the hungry and play with orphans.

Smith volunteers with a college youth group called Deep. Deep is not affiliated with one specific church.

The group helps out their community by feeding the hungry, showing love to orphans and spreading the word of God.

Smith said she has only been working with her youth group since June 2010, but she already feels like they are part of her family.





Check out the podcast of the interview

New product to help with anit-aging, joint health

Oxis is offering the latest health goods on the market.

Their anti-aging products, nutrition bars and joint health products are just a few items that the company offers to give consumers good health, according to oxis.com.

Oxis's goal is to help disorders and diseases related to:
•Brain health
•Immunity against diseases
•Anti-aging/skin health
•Inflammation
•Detoxification
•Blood sugar regulation
Source: Oxis.com

Their products are made of all natural ingredients, making it safe for you to use and won’t harm the environment.

Products contain L-Ergothioneine, also known as ERGO, which is a powerful antioxidant. These antioxidants fight off "free radicals," which are oxygen and nitrogen particles in the body. The free radicals overwhelm the body and disrupt the body's functions, according to Oxis.

Oxis uses the Ergo and glutathione to act like naturally occurring antioxidants to get rid of the "free radicals," according to Oxis research.

According to Oxis's website, they are planning on advertising two products this summer: Ergo-Pur, a pure form of antioxidants, and Ergo-Plex, a product that will be beneficial for joint health.

Oxis is also planning nutrition foods and beverages, according to their website.

You can buy penny stock in Oxis.

For more information, visit www.oxis.com.


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FOIA in South Carolina

Winthrop mass communication professor, Larry Timbs, has a clever way to avoid submitting Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) forms.

“My approach to people not giving me information was to say ‘If you don’t give me what is entailed under law, I will write an editorial asking what you are keeping hidden,’” Timbs said. “I had the power of the press worked in small communities and the agency didn’t want people against them.”

However, Timbs found that communities in states like Kentucky and Iowa were much more open with their information than in South Carolina.

“Every year at the school I went to in Iowa, the student newspaper printed several pages of everyone’s salary,” He said. “At Winthrop, everything is very ‘hush, hush.’ I have filed two FOIAs since I have been down here.”

A woman from Orangeburg, S.C. was refused the incident report that involved a traffic accident her daughter was involved in. Since the mother was not the victim, she wasn’t allowed to receive the incident report even though she owns the property where her daughter lives, according to an article from Times and Democrat.

However, the South Carolina FOIA says law enforcement incident reports are public information and are available whenever the public requests one.

“Any member of the public can look at police incident reports,” said South Carolina Press Association Executive Director Bill Rogers. “Law enforcement is allowed to take some highly personal information, such as the names of rape victims and undercover operations, but they can’t take out everything.”

Another issue dealing with South Carolina information laws is the Department of Transportation keeping secret incident reports from how many wrecks occur on damanged high ways.



The department said damage claims are being taken the number of claims and the cost to taxpayers doesn't have to be released under the state's open records laws.

However, the South Carolina Press Association said attorney-client privillage has nothing to do with the number of claims and this information can be released.

From looking at the cases, it seems that South Carolina is much more guarded with their information than other states.

Obama News Analysis

During his election and campaign, Obama seemed to be the one of the most popular presidential candidates. Voters trusted him and felt he was their friend with his messages of change and piece.

After the 2008 Presidential election, Obama had an 79% approval rating, according to CNN polls. But with one year of office under his belt, how are voters feeling now?

Obama's approval rating has dropped to 48% approval and 47% disapproval, according to the most recent Gallup poll.

What has happened with the warm, fuzzy feelings Obama originally left with Americans? In his first days 100 days of office, Obama seemed to only accomplish his basketball bracket for March madness, but obviusly his other actions are what have dropped his approval rating.

The healthcare reform bill, sending more troops to Afghanistan and the recent Christmas Day terrorist attacks on Christmas Day are a few of the reasons that Americans are turning against the president, according to CBS news.

“President Obama has been walking the public opinion tightrope represented by the 50 approval job approval line since about mid-November, with his rating wavering between 47 approval and 53 approval,” said Gallup’s Lydia Saad in her analysis for Politico.

How can Obama raise his approval? It seems the global economic crisis is on the minds of more Americans than health care reform. Jobless Americans need

The Huffington Post compares Obama's approval rating to Bill Clinton, who had at 52% approval rating at the end of his first year as president but also says that there were not as many democrats in favor of Clinton at the start of his presidential term.

Obama's approval rating at this point is only higher than Ronald Reagan's which was 49% in 1982, according to Politico.

Maybe Obama's ratings will go up if he concentrates more on the recession. According to CNN polls, 82% of Americans still say the economy is in bad shape.

Deadbeat parents have debts

One-thousand dollars.

That is what you can receive by turning in one of York County’s “deadbeat parents” using their Crime Stoppers program.

“Deadbeat Parents” are a list of parents who have abandoned their families and owe child support, according to York Country Sheriff’s Office website.

Through Crime Stoppers, residents of York County can anonymously report evidence about criminals. All patrons have to do is call the York County Crime Stoppers at 877-409-4321 and report any of the following:
-Sighting of suspect
-Car description
- Location of Sighting of suspect
-If saw crime occur

Some suspects that residents can look out for are the “deadbeat parents.” A list of these are located on the York County Sheriff office. The list shows a picture or drawing of the missing parent, how much they owe and how long they have been gone.

-Jewon Davis, 26, of Rock Hill, has been missing since 1999, which is longer than any of the other parents. He owes $16,714.00.

-Tyrone Glover, 35, of Catawba, has been missing since 2007. He owes the most amount of money at $105, 699.64.

-Danny Ray Jerald Taylor, 29, of Clover, has also been missing since 2007. He owes $49, 744.80