Photo of the day - January 27, 2021

Nick Krisman is ready to fire a pitch over the plate — Nick Krisman, a three-sport St. Joseph-Ogden standout and a member of the Heartland College baseball team, fires a pitch at Franzen Field during their quarterfinal playoff game in Gifford on August 2, 2008. Krisman earned the win after Royal beat Gifford-Flatville in a exciting, nine-inning affair, 11-10.

Guest Commentary: Happy to see documented immigrants come to America

by Glenn Mollette, Guest Commentator

Americans can expect more immigrants to enter our country in the months and years ahead. Most Americans aren't opposed to more citizens. Many of us are not favorable to undocumented foreigners roaming about our country.

I've been to Mexico and a few other countries. I've always had to show my passport and answer questions when entering another country or coming back to America. It only takes a few minutes. Many years ago, my sons and I stood in a line of about a hundred people coming back to San Diego from Tijuana, Mexico. We showed our Driver's license back then and came on back into the country. No one even asked for identification when we crossed into Mexico.

I'm happy to see documented immigrants come to America. They will come and they will work. In our area of the country we have a growing population of Hispanic farmers working our farmland. There are Hispanic restaurants popping up in every town. Asian restaurants, nail salons and more are on the increase. The best little food joint in our community is owned by a Hispanic immigrant and his family. They are the hardest working restaurant people I've ever seen.

Immigrants who document and come the legal way to America are coming here for a better life.

They are not coming to sit on their backsides and collect our food stamps, welfare and whatever minimal amount of income they can obtain. Most of them come to help their families, send money back home and to achieve the American dream. They don't come to be poor Americans. Many of these immigrants who are business owners often struggle and pay the price with many hours of hard work to stay open. For most of them, paying their workers $15 an hour will mean less hired labor and more hours of labor for the owners to try to keep their businesses open.

Steve Geis, from our town had this to say recently about his documented grandfather coming to America:

"Over 100 years ago my grandfather immigrated to the U.S. from Germany. He came here via Ellis Island where it was documented where he came from as well as the destination he was going to. He said, "We know the name of the ship he was on, and names of all of its passengers. He and the many others did what was required of them to become legal citizens. Locally, we found copies of his naturalization process. He and most other immigrants did it correctly!"

He added, "I would say welcome to anybody who would follow the procedure and become a fellow citizen of our great country."

America is not opposed to legal immigrants. Most of us are opposed to undocumented people crossing our border illegally. We are opposed to anyone from any nation who might come with any intent to harm our country.

Let's continue to keep America a beautiful country for legal immigrants and a safe, free place for all.

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Dr. Glenn Mollette is a syndicated American columnist and author of American Issues, Every American Has An Opinion and ten other books. He is read in all 50 states. The views expressed are those of the author and are not necessarily representative of any other group or organization.

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This article is the sole opinions of the author and does not necessarily reflect the views of The Sentinel. We welcome comments and views from our readers.

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Photo of the day: January 26, 2021

After taking the baton, Migee Kim runs the anchor leg of 4x100 — Sprinter Migee Kim takes the baton from teammate Ashley Shroyer during the 4x100m relay at the 2007 News-Gazette Honor Roll Meet at the University of Illinois track and field complex. The Rockets finished in fourth-place with a time of 52.61 thanks to speedy efforts of the duo.

Parkland fall Dean's List includes students from all six communities

Despite the challenges due to the COVID-19 pandemic at start of new academic year last fall, more than 40 area college students received recognition for their performance in the classroom and online while attending Parkland College.

Recipients named to the Dean's List must earn a minimum grade point average of 3.5 on a 4.0 grade scale for the semester to receive this honor. Student enrolled in fewer than 12 hours can make the Dean’s List by achieving a 3.5 cumulative GPA for 12 or more hours during the current academic year.

Fall 2020 Dean's List

OGDEN

Zach David
Adam Frerichs
Caleb Johnson
Kenly Taylor

PHILO

Karson Ewerks
Marlena Finical
Kaitlyn Fink
Kia Freese
Ella Godsell
Peter Manrique
Tori Patton

ROYAL

Peyton Crowe

ST. JOSEPH

Jenna Albrecht
Danielle Almaraz
Emily Bigger
Abigail Burnett
Chloe Duckett
Avery Edwards
Emory Ericksen
Kameren Goodell
Erin Henkelman
Miranda Lindsey
Rebecca Long
Caroline Moore
Alivia Norem
Grant Siegmund
Tyler Slagley
Anna Wentzloff

SIDNEY

Tucker Catron
Amy Ellis
Ruskin Hovde
Zeth McCloud
Kaitlyn Pruetting
Katelin Roberts
Sydney Schurvinske
Elysabeth Short
Enoch Wells

TOLONO

Alexis Benskin
Vivian Brown
Abigail Charleston
Hannah Fridgen
Chelsie Helmick
Megan Henry
Cassidy Kamradt
Rachael King
Hallie Lutz
Peyton Miller
Jana Ping
Rakesh Sharma
Jillian Stadel
Erin Stevens
Chayton Townsend
Kristina Trame
Mikayla Wetherell

Did you graduate from college with an undergraduate or advance degree in December?
Tell us about it!

If you were on this semester's Dean's List and your name were omitted from our list above please know it was not intentional. University communications and public affair offices typically provide or make available lists of fall and spring graduates by zip code. Quite often students living off-campus supply their school address in the city they live while attending school as their contact address instead of their hometown address. If you supplied the institution with a different home address, and would like to have your name added to the list hometowns we cover above, email us your information to editor@oursentinel.com.

Journalism scholarships available for students, application due Feb. 22

by Adriana Gallardo, Ash Ngu and Mollie Simon
ProPublica

We are proud to announce our sixth annual scholarship program. This year we are teaming up with The Pudding, a visual essays online publication.

ProPublica, with additional support from The Pudding, will be sponsoring need-based scholarships for 25 students to attend an eligible journalism conference in 2021 and/or to contribute toward journalism related expenses such as subscriptions to news publications, software, FOIA fees, or equipment (think cameras, recorders, etc.).

Anyone who is a permanent U.S. resident is eligible to apply. We especially encourage students from an underrepresented group in journalism — including people of color, women, LGBTQ+ people and people with disabilities — to apply.

The $750 scholarships will go to students who would otherwise be unable to attend conferences or purchase supplies to support their education and ongoing reporting.

The following conferences offer great opportunities for networking and professional development, especially for those just starting out in journalism. Scholarship recipients will also have the opportunity to meet ProPublica and The Pudding staff throughout the year at conferences (virtual or in person). Check out last year’s scholarship recipients.

You can apply for the scholarship here. The deadline is Feb. 22. Students have the option to select a conference as part of their application. We understand many have yet to announce dates and that formats may change, but we would still like to know which you are interested in attending.

AAJA, Asian American Journalists Association. Location and dates TDB.
AHCJ, Association of Health Care Journalists. Austin, Texas, June 24-27.
IRE, Investigative Reporters and Editors. Indianapolis, June 17-20.
JAWS, Journalism and Women Symposium. New Mexico, Sept. 24-26.
NABJ National Association of Black Journalists. Houston, Aug. 18-22.
NAHJ National Association of Hispanic Journalists. Virtual, July (exact date TBD).
NAJA, Native American Journalists Association. Phoenix, Sept. 15-19.
NICAR, The National Institute for Computer-Assisted Reporting. Virtual, March 3-5.
NLGJA, Association of LGBTQ Journalists. Location and dates TBD.
NPPA, National Press Photographers Association (Northern Short Course). Location and dates TBD.
ONA, Online News Association. Location and dates TBD.
SND, Society for News Design. Location and dates TBD.
SRCCON, organized by OpenNews. Location and dates TBD.

Every year, we share what ProPublica is doing to increase the diversity of our newsroom and of journalism as a whole. These scholarships are a small but important step to help student journalists from underrepresented communities take advantage of everything these conferences offer.

High school, college and graduate students are welcome to apply. You must be a student at the time of application, but it’s OK if you’re graduating this spring.

Questions about the application process? Want to contribute to our scholarship fund to send more students to these conferences? Get in touch at adriana.gallardo@propublica.org.

This story was originally published by ProPublica on January 20, 2021. ProPublica is a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative newsroom. Sign up for The Big Story newsletter to receive stories like this one in your inbox.