Top 10 Eagle stories of 2017

This archived article was written by: Dean Thacker

Dean Thacker
Staff Writer

2017 was a year for the record books. It was an eventful year for our country and campus. “The Eagle” staff wrote amazing stories this year. These stories were written by staff members, guest writers and even faculty.
This is a ranking of my favorite stories the past year. I should make it clear that these are my opinion and made the decisions on a few criteria: how memorable the article was, how well written it was and which ones were my personal favorites.
Before starting, this is a list of honorable mentions in no particular order:
“Racist jokes are not funny, only hurtful”- Kevin Vanderspek
“Coping with stress as the end of the semester comes”- Alexis Hill
“History of Gibby”- Chelsie Thackeray
“Kneeling: unpatriotic, or freedom of speech?”- Tai Justice
“Facing the facts on gun violence”- Scott Froehlich
The Top Ten Stories of 2017
10. “USU and USUE sexual assaults going up” – Alex Holt
Holt wrote this story as a part of a series about sexual assaults on college campus and at USU Eastern. This series was amazing and full of memorable stories, but this one in particular really spoke to me. Holt focused on the numbers related to sexual assaults, which spoke louder than words.
9. “Why I got a tattoo” – C. Dean Thacker
Is this narcissistic? Probably but this my favorite article that I wrote this year. It is all about breaking free from expectations that are pushed onto us while we were growing up. If you are someone who had strict parents, or you took a different path in life than your siblings, this is a great article to read.
8. “Five essential apps for college students”- Vivika Corona and Alex Anderson
This article is all about what apps will help you as a college student. I really enjoy learning tips that can help me and this article definitely did that. I encourage everyone to read it and download these helpful apps as soon as possible.
7. “ Keep our identity, we are Eagles, not Aggies”- Alex Anderson
Anderson personality shines through in this article. When reading this article, you feel the passion of Anderson as she tells you how she feels. This article was super memorable because it was honest, full of truth and had just enough spice to it. How could we forget it when an article in the same issue was titled “We are Aggies.”
6. “An immigrant’s view on Trump”- Kevin A. Soto
I love stories that make me think, are full of emotion and are written by guest writers. This hit all of those categories. Soto’s personal experiences was great to learn about and it really made me think.
5. “Student fee allocation procedure not followed”-Rachel Bjarnson
Freedom of press is a powerful right to have, even when it is on a small scale. This article made me think and ask questions. If you really care where your student fees go I highly recommend this article.
4. “The boy who cried Trump”- Hannah Coleman
To me, this was one of the most memorable articles of 2017. How could it not be? Coleman, a staff writer, called out another staff member and compared them to the fable, “The Boy who Cried Wolf.” If you like Trump, or hate him, everyone can agree when a news outlet only talks about Trump, it gets really annoying.
3. “Steps for filling out March Madness bracket”-Tai Justice
March Madness is one of my favorite times of the year. I get really into it by rooting for my favorite teams, betting on teams with my friends and watching the games on my phone during class.
This article is my one and only sports article in my top 10 for three main reasons: 1. Because I love March Madness, 2. Because it is super helpful, and 3. Because I really enjoy Justice’s writing. He has some of the best writing at Eastern.
2.”Living the dream my dad talked about”-Renato Magalhaes
When an article speaks to your heart you know it is a great article. You can feel the emotion in the words as Magalhaes speaks of his father.
What makes this story so amazing is how well it is written. Reading it made me feel I was in walking alongside Magalhaes throughout the article. You can feel the pride he has in this country. He sums the article up perfectly. “I am grateful to feel (at) home and I stand for this flag.”
1. “I am that ‘hood rat’ immigrant”- Veronica Tita
This article hit everything on my list of what makes a great article. It is full of passion, it’s memorable, it made me think and it was written by a guest writer.
What I loved about this article is how it made light of a sensitive situation. It was full of emotions as Tita talks about how much her parents worked to give her family a better life.
I loved this article because it made a difference on campus. Because of this article, student leadership will now go through sensitivity training at the beginning of the year. These are the reasons “I am a ‘hood rate’ immigrant” was the best article of 2017.