The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2012 annual report for this blog.
Here’s an excerpt:
600 people reached the top of Mt. Everest in 2012. This blog got about 2,200 views in 2012. If every person who reached the top of Mt. Everest viewed this blog, it would have taken 4 years to get that many views.
One in a billion: A boy’s life, a medical mystery uses a combination of text, video and audio to create a compelling message to the viewer. Often times text seems very distant to the viewer, it is easy to read over words without letting them sink in. By using audio and video, the viewer is able to match the words to images and sounds, which captures the reader’s interest and brings the text to life.
Audio: Nicolas Volker: A young boy whose mysterious disease is marked by holes that develop between his intestine and skin
The authors used audio of Nicolas Volker to enrich the story through bringing the main character of the story to life. The entire series is about a sick little boy named Nicolas Volker. It is very easy for viewer to forget that Volker is just like any other 4-year-old boy. However the audio successfully characterizes him and reminds viewers that he is still an innocent child.
In the audio, Volker is laughing about batman. His light and cheerful demeanor is inspiring because of his painful illness. His words also connect to the text where the author wrote; “Nicholas Volker is a short, blue-eyed 4-year-old who loves Batman and squirt gun fights and steak – on the rare occasions when he’s not restricted to a feeding tube.” By combining the text that states his love for batman with Volker’s voice explaining his love for batman, the characterization of Volker is improved and the story overall is enriched.
As a potential media writer this passage taught me the importance of using multi-media. Multi-media can help enrich the story through pairing images, video and audio to the text. An image can illustrate the sunset, the sound of a boy laughing can characterize a little boy, and a video of a riot can explain the urgency of the issue. If used correctly, multi-media can capture the interest viewers by bring a story to life.
Everyday journalism and Public Relations journalism are different in a number of ways. The main difference between the two types of media is found in their ultimate goals.
Public Relations press releases ultimate goal is to generate good will towards its client while normal journalisms ultimate goal is to inform the public.
The main goals of working in public relations for an organization includes but is not limited to:
BYU recently had a crisis of its own to handle, as the university dealt with a student athlete violating the university honor code.
Sophomore center Brandon Davies was dismissed from the Cougars basketball team because he had sex with his girlfriend before marriage, a violation of the universities honor code that is heavily based on Mormon principles.
The university did not release many statements, rather just anecdotes towards the public that stated the situation and the dismissal of the sophomore center.
In the future, the university can do a better job of releasing a statement for the public to read.
The recent convocation on the campus of Elon University offered students an opportunity to hear NBC news anchor Brian Williams and other panel members speak on important issues of today.
The panel conversation offered students with a lot of ideas, and one liners that resonated through so many attendees.
Eboo Patel, the founder and executive director of Interfaith Youth Core, offered an inspirational quote that gave hope regarding religious acceptance and standing for what you believe in.
“When the night is most dark, the stars shine the brightest.”
David M. Walker, another panelist who is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of the Comeback America Initiative, had an intriguing quote that put our Nations debt into perspective for everyone in the audience.
“Every American owes over $200,00 with our nations allotted debts.”
David Levin, who is the co-founder of Knowledge is Power Program (KIPP), also offered words of inspiration to all in attendance.
“Once a kid likes coming to school, believes they can do it, then anything is possible.”
Levin also spoke about the right attitude and approach to have while working through life.
“Work hard, be nice. We work to improve character and the academics.”
David Gergen, who has advised four presidents and works for CNN, also had a message for Americans in regards to facing our problems.
“We have become so addicted to not facing up to our issues, but instead let them stay, fester and let them grow.”
Gergen also made an analogy regarding facing our issues head on.
“Americans are good when a wolf is at the door, but not so good when termites are in the basement.”
The convocation was an incredible experience for all who attended. The members of the panel offered insight into issues of today while also providing thoughts on possible solutions.
Gergen had the quote that summed up the solution process in simplest terms.
“It takes a long time to get hard work done.”
While it is not what people may have wanted to hear, it is simply the truth and something we all should think about.
The students of Elon University had a chance to have a question and answer period with NBC news anchor Brian Williams the day after his convocation speech.
The Q&A period lasted about 50 minutes, and had students ask questions ranging from Williams’ personal success to any advice he could give for students to achieve their own.
Williams prefaced the Q&A period by giving some background information on his own life, mainly that he was a college dropout who achieved success because he had a “fire burning inside” to become a journalist.
Students asked simple, but riveting questions to Williams, who always seemed to have the perfect answer.
The question that seemed to be asked most often, each student phrasing it in their own terms, was simply “what advice to you have for us students as aspiring journalist?”
Williams did not take much time to reflect and think about an answer, rather just speaking the truth, speaking bluntly and honestly.
“Hang on and keep pushing. If you have a fire burning inside you to be a journalist, stay after it.”
Williams continued on to explain his point further.
“If you know you want to be a journalist, do not let anything stop you. But the minute you start question yourself, having other careers that you may want to pursue, you’re done.”
Williams related that reference to his own life, speaking about how he was a volunteer firefighter who had dropped out of college, but still stuck after his incredible dream to become a news anchor.
The question and answer period with Brian Williams allowed students to have first hand insight into what it takes to become successful in the field of journalism.
Brian Williams, a college dropout, is a testament to his own advice. Hang on and keep pushing. If you have the passion and fire to become a news anchor, you can do it.
It’s an exciting time on the campus of Elon University as NBC News Anchor Brian Williams prepares to visit the southern university on April 7 and 8.
Williams will be conducting a panel discussion involving other notable public figures such as David Gergen and Shirley Ann Jackson.
This is not only an exciting time for the campus because of the public figures who will be around Thursday, but more so for why they are coming.
Elon’s Communications department continues to excel and expand, becoming one of the top programs in the country. So for the University to have such prominent figures in the media coming to speak on campus is an exciting time.
Studying Radio Broadcast, I again turned to radio news that intrigued me the most, sports radio.
I tuned into the Scott Van Pelt Show on ESPN radio and listened to the broadcast for the majority of the two-hour segment.
The show in general is more of a talk show than radio news, but still offers a segment in which time is spent discussing sports issues of today along with advances into upcoming segments.
In particular, Scott Van Pelt and his co-host Ryen Russillo discussed the upcomingNCAA Mens Basketball National Championship game that will be played tonight and gave a rundown of injuries and statistic comparisons.
After they provided viewers with news on the game, Russillo had a 30 second segment or so that served as an advance for an upcoming interview with ESPN College Basketball Analyst Jay Williams.
Now studying broadcast news reporting, I wanted to begin with my passion, sports.
ESPN New York is currently airing a story on New York Jets backup Quarterback Erik Ainge, who recently has had more problems off the field then on it.
Ainge was interviewed by ESPN New York reporter Rich Cimini, regarding Ainge’s recent admission to a drug and alcohol addiction that he now is taking head on.
The story began with a rundown of Ainge’s addictions and how they started when he was just 12 years old.
The story was very free flowing, with Cimini more or less guiding the interview and Ainge taking it in the direction he felt necessary.
Cimini seemed to be comfortable in his role as the interviewer and never seemed phased or uncomfortable with the direction of the interview.
The 2012 “prophecy” has taken the world by storm now more than ever with the recent natural disasters.
First came the strange winter weather patterns in the Northeast along with the horrific flooding in Australia. Then it was been a tornado that touched down near Mobile, Ala. and Louisiana, whirling through the cities with no regard for business structures. And then there was the devastating tsunami and earthquake that rattledJapan and grabbed the rest of the world’s attention during the process.
The recent disasters bring to life the looming discussion that the world could suffer serious damages, or in fact end, come 2012.
The discussions of 2012 arose due to interpretations and predictions discovered in theMayan calendar.
The Mayan civilization was extremely advanced in engineering, mathematics and astronomy, along with an incredible understanding of time and space.
The Mayans used a variety of calendars to track time in linear progressions within cycles. Their findings lead them to the culmination of two calendars which equated to5,125.36 years.
With all those numbers, all that information, where does that leave us? Why do those numbers pose any significance to our lives? We can start with the fact that the final day of the calendar lies on December 21, 2012.
The most recent of the sporadic natural disasters menacing all parts of the globe hit Japan last week, leaving its people to fight for their survival, imparting those who watched to question the future of theirs.
With the revelations from the Mayan calendars coupled with the reoccurring devastating natural disasters, mere speculations quickly turned to food for thought.
Heads are certainly turning at Elon University, where employees and students alike are beginning to ponder what the future holds.
Robin Fogleman, an assistant director at the Varsity Grill on Elon’s campus, has taken notice of the recent tragedies to strike Japan.
“What’s going on over in Japan,” lamented Fogleman, “it’s scary. The news keeps getting worse.”
Japan was first jolted by an earthquake registering an 8.9 on the Richter magnitude scale with more devastation soon to follow.
A tsunami warning was issued for countries all around the Pacific ocean following the earthquake, and even caused a whirlpool to form in the earthquake and tsunami aftermath.
The deadly combination of the earthquake and tsunami has left parts of Japan in ruins, demolishing buildings and homes, taking countless lives in the process.
“If my house and my family members houses were destroyed,” said Fogleman, pausing for a minute to collect her thoughts, “I don’t know what I’d do. There would be no where for us to go, no where to live. Where would my kids go to school?”
Fogleman acknowledged the lingering theories of 2012, whatever the year may hold. She was careful with her word choice, but still had a claim to make.
“Someone, or something, is trying to get our attention,” said Fogleman. “There needs to be peace between the people of this world and peace with the Earth, before it’s too late.”
Foglemans thoughts were shared by another employee at Elon.
Pat McCaskill, a cafeteria worker at Elon’s McEwen Dining Hall, had more to say on something, or someone who may not be too happy with the human race.
McCaskill identified herself as a devout Christian and someone who believes things truly do happen for a reason.
“God is disappointed with us as a whole,” said McCaskill. “He created our world and is upset with how we are treating it. We have a merciful God. He would not do this unless his people were doing something wrong.”
McCaskill’s view, while strongly religious and not shared by everyone, is one to consider.
Whatever is in store for our Earth in 2012 remains unknown. But with the recent tragedies around the world, people are beginning to think about all possible scenarios, good or bad.
It is clear that Americans like to eat. If we want to keep it that way, then we need to care about climate change. That was Elizabeth Kolbert’s main point Thursday night.
Kolbert, who is the author of two books and has most notable work in the fields of climate change and global warming, spoke to an eager group of Elon students last night regarding climate change and the future of food.
“Do you like to eat?” asked an inquisitive Kolbert of the Elon student body.
As she qualified her statement to mean in the simplest form, students became instantly intrigued and even started to learn forward in their seats.
Climate change, commonly known as human induced climate change, measures the amount of carbon dioxide taken out of the ground and the amount sent into the atmosphere in forms of carbon dioxide.
Americans are guilty of the amount of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere, especially in forms of coal and oil.
Measuring the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere started out difficult, but in 1950 a machine was created that measured the amount of carbon dioxide in parts per million.
With this machinery available to measure the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, the numbers have been on a very steady upward rise.
If the consistent rise of carbon dioxide continues in the atmosphere, the world could experience an average temperature increase of 10 degrees Fahrenheit by the year 2100.
Other issues arising from the level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere can be found in the Artic Ice Caps. Between the years 1979 and September 2010, the Artic Ice caps have become substantially smaller.
By 2030, the Artic Ocean could be entirely ice free.
As a result of the carbon dioxide levels affecting the atmosphere, it is also affecting the crops of the world.
The floods and droughts of Pakistan have been linked to global warming. The droughts are leading to less and more expensive crops.
The same issues have arisen in China and Russia, and now, may have reachedCalifornia.
The west coast state is looking at a possible agricultural absence in the pending future.
“We’re looking at a scenario were there is no more agriculture in California,” quoted Kolbert from a California representative.
From the speech of Kolbert, it was clear to her, and should be clear to us all, that until we stabilize greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, the climate and agriculture patterns will continue to change.
The Los Angeles Lakers and San Antonio Spurs finished playing late Sunday afternoon. A recap of the game was up on ESPN shortly after it ended.
The recap on the World Wide Leader of Sports website offered photographs from the game, video recaps and written analysis.
The Associated Press was responsible for the release of the article, and it wasted no time explaining the story in the lede.
“ Kobe Bryant agreed it might have been the Lakers’ best game so far.”
The article also offered 64 photos taken before, during and after the game, along with a 1:04 video of highlights.
Twitter is an example of a non-traditional multimedia source.
Coming into popularity among business’ and independent professionals, the site offers users a chance to follow companies and access constant updates on a daily basis.
The site also offers video clips, photographs and access to other websites in embedded links posted in tweets.
Recognitions to Crisis
The Alamance Burlington Board of Education met on Monday night to discuss the budget situation, and the board of committee’s agreed on a final proposal that will use an allotted $11.2 million during the 2011-2012 school year.
The bad weather did not stop a good turnout for the February meeting, audience members ranging from middle school award winners to attendee’s seemingly old enough to be grandparents.
Del Burns began discussing the current budget situation as a “weighty matter” and one that would be addressed as the meeting progressed.
The meeting interrupted its discussion on the budget issue for the recognitions portion, the most notable winner being Joy Cantey.
Cantey has been teaching at Graham Middle School since 2002, teaching both sixth and eighth grade language arts. Cantey earned her bachelor degree of middle school education from University of North Carolina Greensboro and her masters in special education from Elon University. The Alamance Burlington School System and 15 other counties recognized Cantey as the Region 5 Middle School Association Teacher of the Year. In attendance supporting Cantey were her husband and her infant son who apparently grew weary of the meeting, sleeping comfortably in his father’s arms.
The committee refocused its discussions on the pending budget issue.
Del Burns continue speaking on the issue, describing substantial reductions that would take place and actions taken to date to meet those reductions.
The meeting held during the first week of January saw the previous budget process suspended and the meeting held during the second week of the month focused on administrative measures used to reduce the budget, mainly freezing certain positions.
The board was adamant about the efforts extended to ensure the use of this money because of the loss of federal stimulation money for the upcoming school year. It is safe to say that the committee planning ahead was a smart move.
Recent Construction on Elon Campus Causes Classroom Disruptions
Many students are not quite sure what is actually being constructed across the street from the McEwen building, but they are sure that the construction is causing its share of problems.
The construction started a few weeks ago when construction workers infamously demolished the former Pendulum building.
Students sitting in class across the street that day had the opportunity to experience the demolition first hand. The students sitting in class heard the thunderous clash as bricks tumbled to the ground while other students recorded the action up close.
The recent construction hasn’t been completely in favor of everyone however. Many students have complained that the construction serves as a distraction while attending class, while others do not seem to know much about the construction at all.
As a Business Major, Sophomore Michael O’Gara still has one class in McEwen and has more than noticed the ruckus coming from across the street. While acknowledging that the demolition and construction was pretty cool to see, he also recalls numerous problems it has caused.
O’Gara has recounted many occasions in which the construction across the street has caused disruptions in the classroom. Aside from the constant noise filtering into the room, it also disrupts the attention and note taking of the class.
“The construction causes the entire building to shake at times,” recalled O’Gara. “And once the projector starts shaking back and forth, it becomes difficult to take notes and follow what the professor is teaching.”
The construction is not just disrupting classes, but is apparently disrupting elevator rides as well.
O’Gara recounted a time when he was heading to class and decided to take the elevator up to the second floor because of an ankle injury.
“I decided to take the elevator up to class because I was on crutches, and then the elevator just started to rumble and shake,” recounted O’Gara. “I thought I was going to die.”
O’Gara was not the only student who showed animosity towards the current construction situation.
Doug Williams, a second year student at Elon and Broadcast Journalism majoralso has his opinions on the construction. Williams’ opinions differ slightly from others simply because of his lack of knowledge of the situation.
William’s discussed how the construction did not impact his one class in McEwen, simply because it was at 8 a.m. and focus on anything is hard to come by that early.
“Waking up early for an 8 a.m. already takes a toll on me,” said Williams. “I have a hard time paying attention to the professor that early, yet alone any ruckus coming from anywhere else.”
Williams was never truly impacted by the construction nor knew much about the construction, having little to say on the subject. However another student had a little more insight on the construction and the new buildings coming to campus.
Luke Lesourd, also a second year Broadcast Journalism major, has one class in McEwen. And while Lesourd claims the noise of the construction does not bother him, he did acknowledge that it interferes with the teaching.
“I can’t say that the noise is an actual distraction, but the constant shaking and rumbling of the projector does make it difficult to take notes,” said Lesourd.
Aside from the noise and rumblings the construction causes, Lesourd is excited about the rumor of Chipotle Mexican Grill being apart of the new complex.
“Rumor has it Chipotle is coming to campus next semester,” said an excited Lesourd. “And I love Chipotle!”
It’s safe to say that the current construction offers a lot of excitement and buzz around the campus, in regards to the new possibilities.
But for now, it is hard for students and professors alike to look past the disruptions and distractions the noise of the construction is causing.
The Charlie Sheen fallout as traveled through news stories like a whirlwind. But there is a point in time when we need to stop and say, “when is too much, too much?” Some feel like that time is now.
Much like Chapter 8 discusses, a news story covering the overload of Sheeninformation describes the hype with links and short phrases.
The lede itself runs ten words, wasting no time informing the reader with the purpose of the story.
The second paragraph describes Sheen’s rants during appearances his made on television and radio interviews alike, while also offering a link within the story while describing why CBS abruptly cancelled his hit show Two and a Half Men.
The following paragraphs continue to allow readers access to his interviews via embedded links and a link to his publicist website. The news regarding his publicist and the fact that he resigned was in bold, following a quote from him that read “I’m unable to work effectively as his publicist.”
The final paragraphs of the news story confront the issue of a Sheen overload.
Many publicist and representatives of news stations insist that Sheen is going through a sort of “mental disturbance,” and feel there constant publicity of Sheen’s blowups are starting to wear thin and become unfair.
The coverage was called “excessive, and even dangerous” by some news outlets and others urging the rest of the media to “use their journalism to identify the people around Charlie who can actually get him into a rehab facility — against his will if necessary — and then start badgering them to do something.”
Links, bold phrases and photographs were used throughout the news story to help bring the overall message across to the readers, hopefully slowing down the overwhelming Sheen-a-polooza.
At around midnight, Elon students began marching around campus in celebration of the death of Osama Bin Laden, here is the exclusive footage.
Elon hosts CELEBRATE this week, a week dedicated to “student achievements in academics and arts.” Today, students and faculty participated in SURF (Student Undergraduate Research Forum) Day, where many students, in a variety of majors and concentrations exhibited their specialized research.
Senior Art History/Creative Writing major and Lumen Prize scholar Maggie Pahos shared about her discoveries while studying in Ghana, Africa. She shared portions of her project (to be exhibited in a museum in Ghana next Fall) including research and findings through her blog, FreePostageFromGhana, and the cultural photography and video she captured while she was there.
About 50 students and faculty members of Elon University gathered in a small classroom in the university’s business center to listen to the Senior College Fellow discuss her realizations upon returning to the United States and how she coped with her re-immersion into Western culture.
“It was not easy,” said Pahos.
Now, Pahos searches for those “crucial elements”, that common denominator, within all students at Elon who have studied or plan to study abroad. These elements are the presiding factors which determine how each individual relates to their experience studying abroad.
Pahos suggested two factors that definitely play a huge role in the way students understand and digest their own experiences. They are:
Taking these factors into consideration, Pahos provided some useful advice for students studying abroad:
Strelow: Exploring Species Boundaries
Stranahan: Antidepressant Prozac’s Effect on Zebrafish
Elon students Bryan Strelow and Lauren Stranahan captured their audience as they delivered biology research presentations at Elon University’s SURF day.
Elon junior Stranahan, a biology major from Chapel Hill, discussed the antidepressant, Prozac, and it’s effect on zebrafish. Antidepressants are the most widely prescribed drug in the United States, and Prozac is the most water soluble out of all of them. Prozac has been used in many aquatic development experiments, which intrigued Stranahan to examine the effect it has on zebrafish.
Stranahan chose to use zebrafish for several reasons because they:
Prozac, an antidepressant
Strelow studied eight traits in each specie. Some of them include:
Strelow not only educated the Elon audience that attended his presentation, but “it was one of my most rewarding experiences at Elon. It’s interesting to see real results,” said Strelow.
“It is gratifying to see tangible results from your work,” Strelow said.
Both Strelow and his audience learned a lot through his research. Strelow learned a lot about himself as a student through this research, and his audience benefited by learning about his findings.
Acris gryllus
Acris crepitans
Strelow and Stranahan’s research presentations were original in the sense that they deviated from any sort of original research experiment. Every audience member gained a sense of knowledge about these two topics that have not been given this opportunity, would of probably never learned about.
Today at the Student Undergraduate Research Forum otherwise known as SURF, students presented their findings after semester’s worth of research.
Senior Biology major Kevin Clark Harrison presented at the 1:00 p.m. session with a piece entitled Heart Disease: Myleoperoxide Lipid Oxidation Product Determination. Mentored by faculty member Dr. Kathy Matera, Harrison’s goal was to try and see if heart disease could potentially be prevented in the future by limiting the binding and oxidation of certain lipids.
Lipids, fat cells in the body, burst upon oxidation allowing cholesterol to enter the body and block major arteries. By using myleoperoxidase, an enzyme that is a catalyst in the body, it can affect the structures of other molecules preventing heart disease.
In short, Harrison’s research alluded to the fact that heart disease could potentially be prevented by observing the binding of molecules to active sites and adding myleoperoxidase.
The second presentation featured senior Biology major Erin Keim from Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. In her session entitled Directional Selection in the Mitochondrial DNA od Lizards Cause by Living in Extreme Environments. Part of Keims experiment was to test two different hypotheses. She first sought to answer whether or not reactive oxygen species increase mutation rates in genomes. The second question addressed was whether or not there was selection within mitochondrial DNA that allowed them to live in certain temperatures. In order to complete her study, Keim used two different types of lizards.
At the end of the experiment Keim found that selection is not neutral but rather purifying. Her final results showed that is directional selection in genes that causes a higher trend of mutation.
Both students expressed immense passion for their topics and found great joy in doing their research even though it proved to be difficult at times.
Media Writes 2011 