Searching for Lizzi

The days of Elizabeth “Lizzi” Marriott’s disappearance were compiled of devastation. For Nate McNeal, the unexpected visit of Greenland police at his doorstep initiated not only dumbfound loss but burning dedication in his excruciating search for a missing friend.

In the slow pace of the work day at Target, McNeal, 20, could be found in time-wasting antics by the fitting rooms. A coworker in her matching red shirt and khaki pants wandered over, approaching with a genuine smile as McNeal recalls showing no hesitance in inviting Lizzi to join him.

During their work just four months ago, the two kindled a friendship which sparked and flourished from conversation. Lizzi’s best quality described by McNeal was her sincere and genuine interest in others. The ability to open up to Marriott seemed natural for McNeal. In his wit and humor, the two related in kindness and laughter.

“She would ask you about your day and remember tiny details you told her about some ranting, and sit there intently listening to your stories,” said McNeal.

After four months of constant texting, October 8 was the last day McNeal saw his friend in person. This day, Marriott had been on a field trip to Odiorne Point exploring the tide pools of the East-Atlantic coast.Texting Marriott, McNeal recalls his friend’s kindness as she told him of her incident which resulted in soaking shoes, going into the water to help pull up her fallen lab partner.

In her soaked shoes, dripping with bravery and fortitude, Lizzi found herself at McNeal’s doorstep in his offering of a dry pair. In the comfort of his home, the two planned to get lunch for the upcoming Wednesday, incidentally just the day after her disappearance.

In continuance of their conversational routine, the two expressed nothing out of the ordinary as they texted that night and all Tuesday morning with prospects of seeing each other Wednesday.

That Tuesday evening, Lizzi was on her way off the UNH campus as a student commuter. It was that night when the messages to McNeal stopped. Looking at his phone, the last message received from Lizzi to McNeal was in lieu of his new haircut, replying in laughter and complement.

Wandering through the day, the silence from Lizzi left McNeal uneasy about their failure to see each other in the plans they had previously made.

After reports from Target of Lizzi’s disappearance from work, McNeal recalls being disturbed from his sleep by a knock at the door. Rolling out of bed, McNeal approached the door where Greenland officers stood with grim news. Reporting the news and asking of any noticeable changes in behavior, McNeal responded to the police in dumbfound honesty.

“She definitely wasn't the type to run away, especially because she had made plans with me [yesterday]
and with her girlfriend later in the week,” said McNeal.

The devastation of her disappearance left McNeal in a surreal state, as though living out the plot of a budding mystery show of dramatic horror.

“Her silence suddenly made sense to me and I couldn't help but think the worst, that I was the person in the beginning of those shows, that this interview was the start of her final story.”

In the pains of hopelessness but reflection of Lizzi’s immense good nature, McNeal mustered a burning dedication to his friend in the start of a lengthy search. Hearing of her final text in Dover, NH, McNeal describes having an extra set of eyes out looking for Lizzi couldn’t hurt.

Driving through the back roads of Dover Point, the afternoon sun glaring behind, McNeal hunted for her car in the bustling town.

“It was driving me crazy as I was passing all these side roads, thinking that she could be down any one of them but if I looked through all of them I wouldn't make much progress further; but if I missed one of them and she had been there, I would never forgive myself.”

Wrestling with these thoughts, McNeal pushed his search to downtown Dover. Passing in and out of roads, he found himself in the eerie Mills and abandoned lots. The overwhelming weight of Lizzi’s possible suffering in these areas pushed his search further.

McNeal’s driving barely ceased as ideas sparked in his head of where to find her abandoned vehicle. Coming to the Greyhound station, the sea of cars provided both a sense of optimism and persistence in McNeal as he check every car in the overcrowded lot.

“I decided to check the greyhound station because that's a place to hide a car in plain sight with everyone leaving their cars over for weeks at a time. I was strangely optimistic at the start of the search
simply because of the sheer amount of cars there, but as I got through aisle after aisle of cars my optimism dwindled. When the final aisle proved fruitless I was so frustrated.”

Continuing on, McNeal found himself in the Portsmouth parking garage, running up every level, examining every car in determination. Reaching the very top, the sun had set and the darkness of the night left a sense of defeat which rested heavily on his shoulders as the search in his return home.

At the news of her murder, McNeal showed little surprise but heavy grief as his new-found friend was so quickly taken away. Recalling his search nearly a month after her disappearance, Mcneal left a message to Lizzi, as well as her community, as he reflects on the fragility of life and the darkness of the world which resonates without her.

“Elizabeth Marriott, a few days ago while I was driving around frantically trying to find you, I saw one of the most beautiful sunsets I had ever seen, and it was very calming and strangely relieving. Now knowing what I know, I find this to be a wonderful coincidence; a resplendent collage of colors and light saying goodbye to me. Rest in peace friend, I'm sure I'll see you again.”

 

Sensitivity in the Newsroom: A Drawn-out Explanation

This past weekend I had planned to write a news story on certain events of Elizabeth Marriott's death. This wasn't something that was set in mind as soon as I had heard the reports she was missing. The plan to write this story happened by chance... as most of my news stories seem to come together. When first hearing about Lizzie, it seemed like another tragedy story that would come and pass with the mountain of tragedies that occur everyday, but of course this one was closer to home (being a UNH student as well as a female commuter). 

Needless to say the reports of her disappearance put my parents on high alert in fear of a rampant commuter snatcher that would be lurking in the dark shadows of A lot as I ventured unattended to my car at 8 p.m. But this didn't seemed like an event I even considered writing about. Tragedy stories like these require a lot of sensitivity in the case of interviewing, an amount of sensitivity I did not think I could handle at my current stage as an aspiring yet naive journalist. The thought of speaking with her parents, especially after the notification of her death, seemed incredibly intimidating. I couldn't imagine confronting the mourning couple about their recent loss, let alone ask them detailed questions about their emotions and sorrow. 

It wasn't that I lacked the curiosity, I think humans have this natural pessimistic desire to understand other people's sorrows, some morbid curiosity... or at least I do. But there was definitely a sense of crossing a very personal barrier, a sense of entering the privacy of one's thoughts and inquiring details about their tears. I think the idea of interviewing about the loss of a loved one is a path you have to tread softy, because initially you are inquiring about the reasoning behind their tears. Simply put: "why are you crying?" I don't want this to seem like I am question their reasoning for grieving in a sense that they shouldn't be. Of course they should be. But to ask that question, it helps others to gain a sense of who Lizzie was and, most importantly, what she meant to others. 

Now, this is one of the main tasks that journalists should always keep in mind and master. The relationship between a journalist and their story should be very personal, interviewer and interviewee and relating that relationship to the rest of the world. But that's what we have to do: relate the important details of events to the public in order to gain an understanding of the emotions of everyday life. 

As Joe Battenfeld shared with us in class this past Wednesday, with the tragic experience of accidentally informing a family of their son's death (highlighting just how fast news travels these days), dealing with stories of tragedy, the severe topic of life and death, can be exhausting. But when I encountered a very old friend of mine, one that I have missed dearly and had not had an actual conversation with for over three years, all by random happenstance it was a shock to learn that he was a close friend with Elizabeth "Lizzie" Marriott. Now any journalist would see this as a perfect opportunity to get into the head of someone who shared a closeness with Lizzie, greater than an interview with someone off the street who had heard about the story through a friend or Facebook status. And I had planned to nab that opportunity as it was something of incredible chance. But this is where the struggle arose of crossing that personal barrier. It was a moment where, as a journalist, I had to balance my desire for a story with the sensitivity of having our first conversation since losing contact somewhere along the lines of: "how was your grieving process?" Of course I would have hopefully worded that a bit better in the interview. 

So, after class on Wednesday, as the other students plopped their news stories in the pile of weekly submissions, I found myself with an orange slip in hand, my name and date written on the back, setting that free pass on the stack of 8x12 papers in place of the story I couldn't muster the courage to write. Now, I don't want to end this blog entry sounding completely defeated. Journalism can be tough, especially in the aspects of tragedy, but emotions are a part of everyday life and do require a sense of extreme dedication and understanding. Although I was not able to confront this story under certain circumstances, that does not mean I will overlook this experience. Because I do plan on writing that story, whether it is graded or not. Writing about and more importantly reporting about emotions is a very personal and unique experience and in relation to my friend, his perspective has a lot to offer in the frame of Lizzie's death and I think it's writing about these perspectives that make stories like Lizzie's important and impacting. 

On a final note, which may not be totally relevant to the final point I'm trying to make, I just wanted to leave a quote from that friend that was posted as a Facebook status, one that leaves me inspired to continue growing as a sensitive journalist while covering tragic events... "Elizabeth Marriott, a few days ago while I was driving around frantically trying to find you, I saw one of the most beautiful sunsets I had ever seen, and it was very calming and strangely relieving. Now knowing what I know, I find this to be a wonderful coincidence; a resplendent collage of colors and light saying goodbye to me. Rest in peace friend, I'm sure I'll see you again." 

Proposed School Board policy threatens to drag misbehaving students away from weekend cartoons, parents out of bed, and tax increases in response to possible required Saturday school.

School Board member Tim Steele highlighted the importance of disciplining students during the School Board meeting this past Monday evening. In the form of a Saturday morning session policy, the new disciplinary measure would require students to attend from 8 a.m. until noon for several weekends during the year.

Local parent, Peggy Bacon, expressed concerns for this proposal as it would inconvenient her own work schedule.

“I work six days a week – including Saturday morning – and it’s bad enough to get my son off to school Monday through Friday. Why should I have to worry about Saturdays as well?” said Bacon.

Contrary to Bacon, resident Bob Farley expressed his approval of the new rules.

“Parents can whine all they want about this, but maybe it’s time parents in America were made to take a little responsibility for their kids,” said Farley. “Parents aren’t teaching their kids any discipline, so the kids have no respect for rules. Maybe if they have to miss a few Saturday morning cartoons they’ll start wising up.”

Steele expressed hope that the new policy would reduce in-house suspensions, particularly to those found smoking on campus. “The new program,” said Steele, “would mean that the student would miss no class time.”

In response to this proposal, student and senior at PHS Lisa Gallagher shard her opinion on where the benefits and disadvantages would lie.

“In 12 years of school I’ve never served a detention, and I don’t intend to. I think [this idea] is just being done to make life easier for the faculty, so they don’t have to deal with detentions during the week,” said Gallagher. “Anyway, what if someone skips the session? What are [teachers] going to do, make them stay all weekend?”

According to Steele, students who skipped the Saturday School session would not be allowed to return to school until the detention has been served.

The thirty-minute discussion ended with a board vote of 5-3 to table the issue. The meeting will continue on March 7 with Steele providing figures on in-school detentions for the current year.

“I know this isn’t good news for parents,” said Steele, “but I hope the threat of Saturday classes will make the students think twice before breaking the school rules.” 

Rant of the Politically Uninterested...

In lieu of catching up on the presidential debate this past weekend, I must say that my overall disinterest in politics has gorged itself, full to bursting of complete annoyance with each of these candidates. To be quite honest, I'm going to say something that will probably enrage the few who may take some time to look at this blog, but even though this is considered one of the most heated elections: I have not kept myself very much informed. 

What I mean to say is that I do not go out of my way or even take time in my leisure to look up much development in the presidential election. Tis blasphemy, I know! But in all honesty I've never been interested in politics. I'm not entirely sure why... it could possibly be the fact that I do not enjoy watching two people emphasizing grandiose hopes with vague blue prints while highlighting the faults of their opponents. But as I said I do not keep up with the politics of today so all of these opinions could be considered invalid or ill-supported... and I can accept that. 

But in retrospect of what many might think across the board, I could easily say that political candidates should depend not on their ability to highlight the negatives in each other but rather have the focus on the actuality of hard, solid plans, to remain above all of that petty nonsense that should be reduced to kids in grade school fighting over who has the best set of crayons which are both manufactured from Crayola.... (that analogy may be a bit of a stretch). But even beauty pageants seem to have more decency! 

I've become exhausted by this epitome of division in man. Even watching the debate on Youtube there laid an ad stamped in the corner: "Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan want to take away a woman's right to choose... paid for by Obama Victory Fund 2012"... UGH. Ad after ad and the imperial ton of "I approve this message..." it's become so mundane that I've just grown to put it all on the back-burner of my mind, if not tune it out completely. 

I know most of my generation does not feel the same way as I, counting on how the majority, if not only, political information I get would be from the rantings of my friends and co-workers. But while watching the debate, it seemed as though the candidates continuously went back and forth on the same issues, vagueness as their weapons in battle, and whoever could shout the loudest or interrupt Jimmy most often (Romney >.>), would win the political prize... 

But like I said, I do not keep myself much informed on this subject so I condone the possibility of completely disregarding my outside or maybe even "overly-neutral" opinion on the matter. But that's what this is: the sole opinion from the "politically ignorant". All I know is that debate was head-ache inducing and I lack the utter patience to indulge in it. 

Food for thought...and laughs:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPgfzknYd20

Girls in the Game Room...

Well-secluded on the first floor of the Memorial Union Building, the Games Room upholds its standing as a meeting ground for a diverse community of students. From its Xbox consoles to Playstation's, Wii and Kinect, this room attracts both regulars and newbies to its gaming universe. But what kind of universe is it?

Charles Arena, 5th year senior at UNH, has been a dedicated contributor to the Games Room since his sophomore year at the university. Looking for work, his passion for gaming led him to the first floor of the MUB where he has currently been working as a Games Room attendent for nearly four years. 

When asked of the certain students that travel in and out throughout the day, Arena seemed to notice mostly male regulars who have dedicated their leisure time to plopping down in front of a screen and working on their saved games. 

Stephen Cote, Junior at UNH and regular to the Games Room, can be found shooting targets in Call of Duty. 

"It acts as a way for me to relieve stress. Although it may not be the most productive use of my leisure time, I love to come here and lett off some steam," said Cote. 

Surveying the Games Room on a typical Monday afternoon, there are male gamers scattered around an Xbox or Playstation. But where do the girls fit in?

"I see two kinds of girls in here playing games: a lot of girls getting dragged in here by guys who really don't want to do it... or girls who are really into it," said Arena as he discusses the types of females that he sees throughout his work shift.

When asked if he ever had girl gamers contributing to his online gameplay, Cote spent a few minutes pondering.

"To be honest I don't think I've ever played with a girl online. I rarely see girls in [the Games Room] and if they are they're probably playing Mario Kart or Rock Band, or that stuff," said Cote pointing to the 2 girls indulging in the interactive and not-so competitive Dance Central for the Xbox Kinect.

Josh Blake, part-time student at UNH, recounts his sisters as huge contributors to the gaming world. 

"My sisters love gaming and they're totally open about it. They're extremely competitive when it comes to video games and sometimes it's a little intimidating, but I think it's awesome that we can connect on that level."  

Morgan McCormick is a long-time female gamer and speaker at a harassment panel at PAX East, a gaming convention that took place this spring in Boston. She discussed the types of stereotypes and negativity she has experienced in the gaming world as a female player.

"I've always loved video games since I was a kid. This panel was a major opportunity for me to express my sentiments and experiences as a female gamer in a world dominated by men. It's sad that harassment exists for females in this area. Gamers can be a terribly kind and understanding group but they can be upsettingly the opposite as well."

When thinking about certain stereotypes of females in the gaming world, Adam Konopka, Sophomore and computer science major listed certain stereotypes of female gamers that he's heard based on their role in the gaming universe. 

"Stereotypes I'd say is they are bad skill wise (I wouldn't say that's true). It's said they don't play games with a lot of violence, such as Halo or Gears of War, that they're not as aggressive, but I disagree. Tons of female gamers are on [Call of Duty] and such."

Konopka is currently working on creating his own online video game that he hopes will reach gamers on all levels.

"The community needs female gamers and they have a lot to offer to the gaming world. Males should do our part by not treating female gamers differently, and females should do theirs by not wanting to be treated differently (for better or worse). If we all just look at the game for the competitive aspect, while still remembering that it's a game, we can all have fun."

The MUB Games Room advertises itself having something for everybody, and better yet it's all free for students.   

Info. Overload

I think the news has always been one of the greatest aspects of society, one that could be considered in constant demand. As a kid the news seemed like something distant, irrelevant, out of my interest, or just plain scary... but the list could go on. I guess you could say as kid I would get my news from “annoying” blurbs of information that interrupted mine and my mother’s bonding time over alternative hits on the radio. 

But as I got older I found more and more interest in the news, specifically local news. I guess the attraction was not only hearing real life stories with possibly exaggerated drama, but I also had a subtle desire to see someone from town I knew winning an award or getting arrested for drug use...whichever seemed more likely. What interested me in the news the most was the reality of it, real life people, real life emotions, real life events. But I think nowadays, news is in such a constant demand that it has become almost too casual for my generation and I think content and accessibility are huge factors in that. 

With the explosion of wireless interfaces, smart phones, unlimited blogging, facebook, twitter, wikipedia... news has gone over a major transitioning based on the basic forms of media. It’s become a bit overwhelming for our generation I think, so much information spewing in and out constantly, not just from the television or the newspaper which require a sort of dedicated time, but news that follows us around in our pockets. It’s easy to take that for granted. I think back before this explosion, the news acted as a sort of break from the mundane routines of life, to come home and sit down with family or relaxing alone, the news was a way to reconnect with the world after a long day at work. 

Now I feel that getting information has grown a part of our mundane routine, constantly at our access. It’s as if we’re at a point where instead of setting that time away with the newspaper or the 9 o’clock news on tv, I think around that time my generation is already exhausted from the amount of less newsworthy content we’ve absorbed throughout the day. It’s not that major news events are less intense or meaningful, it’s just that the news viewers themselves have become so disinterested by the idea of setting away time for something of which could easily be accessed later whenever we choose. 

It’s like when I have an alternate reading assignment for class. It’s not graded and I know I already and will always have the book on my shelf, I find myself saying I could read it whenever I wanted really... but when I have the time. And it gets put off for something more personally concerning or relevant... or in this case graded (keeping up with that horrible analogy). I think my overall point is with the immense amount of news and information that seems to merely come and go, it’s our responsibility, not only as perspective journalists but as general members of society, to go looking for that important news... past all the crap on our social “news” feeds of kids complaining about parents and politicians.