For some time now, Christians have argued that Harry Potter books are a bad influence toward children with the magic and sorcery theme because it promotes the work of the devil. Now, they might have something to argue about again, this time dealing with Dumbledore’s sexuality.
JK Rowling announced during a reading at Carnegie Hall in New York that Dumbledore, the headmaster of Hogwarts, is gay, according to USA Today.
"I always saw Dumbledore as gay," Rowling said in answer to a fan's question about whether the wizard ever found love, reported USA Today.
The fans reaction was quite surprising to me. According to the article, “The crowd of about 2,000 hardcore Harry fans, who had won tickets through a nationwide drawing, exploded in screams and applause at the news.”
I would’ve expected a different response from the fans, not that the first one is a bad one. But when you look at all the Harry Potter books, it seems like Dumbledore is depicted as a very masculine character who served as a strong father figure for the students, and now being announced that he's gay adds a feminine side to him.
I also didn’t think that announcing Dumbledore’s sexuality was an important move for Rowling because it shouldn’t have mattered. The book allows children to use their imagination and they should be able to picture the characters in their head without wondering what sexual orientation they are. If anything, she added more controversy toward her books and gave another reason for parents to ban Harry Potter books from their homes.
The article also mentions how Rowling wanted to break prejudices in the book since they exist in society, which I can understand. But the book is about flying wizards and a magical school, where does that part exist in society?
If Rowling wanted to come out with a political statement about how everyone should be free to be who they are, then she should’ve done it through some other way, not through a fictional character who fights dark arts.
Saturday, October 20, 2007
Friday, October 19, 2007
So close, but yet so far
When you think great football teams in Florida, usually one big name comes to mind and that's the University of Florida Gators. But yet, another team has made rankings and some media hype over the past couple of months and that's the University of South Florida Bulls. It's too bad that it wasn't the University of Central Florida Knights that got as far (with me going to UCF), but what the Bulls have proven is that a winning streak doesn't last forever.
USF Bulls was beaten by Rutgers 30-27. The St. Petersburgh Times had this on their main page with a picture of disappointed fans over the 3 point upset. The good thing about the coverage of this game is it doesn't all the way focus on how USF Bulls just lost their chance with being part of the Top 10 or the winning the Big East Conference, but it also focuses on the fans who filled almost half of the stadium of the Sun Dome during a watch party.
USF Fans supported their team as if it was a home game with decked-out green and gold t-shirts and hats and went to the South Dome and cheered on the Bulls. Now that's some school spirit. And St. Petersburgh Times captured the whole thing.
"This is the first time they let people come to the Sun Dome, and I think it's cool of the school," told Brian Dillard, a USF sophomore, to St. Petersburgh Times.
It's always interesting to see exactly how crazed fans would show their devotion for their football team, and I think the St. Petersburgh Times did a great job covering it.
In a state where Gators rule the national title, it's nice to see another team get some media coverage and I'm hoping UCF will eventually make it up there. But just like the Bulls, it's still a long road to victory.
Picture by Melissa Lyttle, St. Petersburg Times
USF Bulls was beaten by Rutgers 30-27. The St. Petersburgh Times had this on their main page with a picture of disappointed fans over the 3 point upset. The good thing about the coverage of this game is it doesn't all the way focus on how USF Bulls just lost their chance with being part of the Top 10 or the winning the Big East Conference, but it also focuses on the fans who filled almost half of the stadium of the Sun Dome during a watch party.
USF Fans supported their team as if it was a home game with decked-out green and gold t-shirts and hats and went to the South Dome and cheered on the Bulls. Now that's some school spirit. And St. Petersburgh Times captured the whole thing.
"This is the first time they let people come to the Sun Dome, and I think it's cool of the school," told Brian Dillard, a USF sophomore, to St. Petersburgh Times.
It's always interesting to see exactly how crazed fans would show their devotion for their football team, and I think the St. Petersburgh Times did a great job covering it.
In a state where Gators rule the national title, it's nice to see another team get some media coverage and I'm hoping UCF will eventually make it up there. But just like the Bulls, it's still a long road to victory.
Picture by Melissa Lyttle, St. Petersburg Times
Saturday, October 13, 2007
Racial tension grows
First it was the case with Jenna 6, then it was the noose hung in University of Maryland's campus, now it's the death of Martin Lee Anderson. What these three issues have in common is the racial factor dealing with discrimination against African Americans.
Martin Lee Anderson is a 14-year-old African American who died a day after being punched and kicked by boot camp workers which was caught on video tape, reported by USA Today.
The case was a painful, emotional trial for Anderson's family because they had to watch the video tape of Anderson being punched and kicked in the courtroom. What was even more painful for them was that the boot camp workers who were taken to court for aggravated manslaughter were found not guilty.
The defendants, boot camp workers, defended themselves by saying that Anderson wasn't intentionally beaten up, but rather it was tactics used to discipline juveniles. But after Anderson was punched and kicked, the workers took him outside to the military-style camp and made him inhale ammonia which they said was used to revive him.
Prosecutors, on the other hand, argued that instead the ammonia suffocated Anderson and lead to his death, aside from the punching and kicking he received.
Later on, an autopsy of Anderson revealed that he was suffering from sickle-cell amenia and that was the real cause of his death. But another autopsy revealed that Anderson was suffocated by the ammonia.
If a reader were to read this article and Anderson's race wasn't mentioned, it would just be an article exposing a problem with how juveniles are treated in a boot-camp setting.
"Ninety minutes of deliberation for a child's life, a child who we saw beaten to death on videotape over and over again?" asked Sen. Frederica Wilson, D-Miami to USA Today. "Ninety minutes and not guilty. That's un-American. That is racist, discriminatory, bigotry."
A comment like this introduces race as a factor in this article. It's becoming more frequent in the news that racial crimes are being reported. But what exactly is triggering all these racial hate?
It's the 21st century, about 140 years past since the Civil War, and what should've been settled a century ago is still very much alive today.
"A nation divided against itself cannot stand," said Abraham Lincoln, which is something we are all still dealing with.
Martin Lee Anderson is a 14-year-old African American who died a day after being punched and kicked by boot camp workers which was caught on video tape, reported by USA Today.
The case was a painful, emotional trial for Anderson's family because they had to watch the video tape of Anderson being punched and kicked in the courtroom. What was even more painful for them was that the boot camp workers who were taken to court for aggravated manslaughter were found not guilty.
The defendants, boot camp workers, defended themselves by saying that Anderson wasn't intentionally beaten up, but rather it was tactics used to discipline juveniles. But after Anderson was punched and kicked, the workers took him outside to the military-style camp and made him inhale ammonia which they said was used to revive him.
Prosecutors, on the other hand, argued that instead the ammonia suffocated Anderson and lead to his death, aside from the punching and kicking he received.
Later on, an autopsy of Anderson revealed that he was suffering from sickle-cell amenia and that was the real cause of his death. But another autopsy revealed that Anderson was suffocated by the ammonia.
If a reader were to read this article and Anderson's race wasn't mentioned, it would just be an article exposing a problem with how juveniles are treated in a boot-camp setting.
"Ninety minutes of deliberation for a child's life, a child who we saw beaten to death on videotape over and over again?" asked Sen. Frederica Wilson, D-Miami to USA Today. "Ninety minutes and not guilty. That's un-American. That is racist, discriminatory, bigotry."
A comment like this introduces race as a factor in this article. It's becoming more frequent in the news that racial crimes are being reported. But what exactly is triggering all these racial hate?
It's the 21st century, about 140 years past since the Civil War, and what should've been settled a century ago is still very much alive today.
"A nation divided against itself cannot stand," said Abraham Lincoln, which is something we are all still dealing with.
Thursday, October 11, 2007
Say cheese
As cliché as it may sound, a picture is worth a thousand words and may even be worth a thousand votes. Yahoo displays pictures from the Associated Press that correlate with current events and latest news going on nationally and internationally. And viewers can vote on how great these photos are and they can e-mail them to as many people as they please.
I remember looking at picture of a man who could barely fit into a regular size chair at an airport and then when I clicked on the caption, it described how obesity is a growing problem in the U.S. The text and visual go well together. Readers can read and see how big the problem is.
It’s becoming more frequent for news to become more than just text, but also moving into a visual aspect.
USA Today has a photo gallery which is organized in different news categories like breaking news, sports, celebrities and even space. The category, the day in pictures, are some of the most moving pictures I have ever seen as it depicts issues from the war in Iraq to protests going on in the nation’s streets.
The Florida Times-Union has community photos submitted by Jacksonville residents, as well, as pictures taken by reporters. This gallery displays local events and daily activities.
Some newspapers do not make their photo galleries as visible as USA Today and The Florida Times-Union's in their homepage. It’s a shame because sometimes pictures are able to convey descriptions that words can’t emphasize. They can fill in the missing holes that words leave behind.
An article may be limited in how much words are written, but pictures can take up a lot more meaning.
I remember looking at picture of a man who could barely fit into a regular size chair at an airport and then when I clicked on the caption, it described how obesity is a growing problem in the U.S. The text and visual go well together. Readers can read and see how big the problem is.
It’s becoming more frequent for news to become more than just text, but also moving into a visual aspect.
USA Today has a photo gallery which is organized in different news categories like breaking news, sports, celebrities and even space. The category, the day in pictures, are some of the most moving pictures I have ever seen as it depicts issues from the war in Iraq to protests going on in the nation’s streets.
The Florida Times-Union has community photos submitted by Jacksonville residents, as well, as pictures taken by reporters. This gallery displays local events and daily activities.
Some newspapers do not make their photo galleries as visible as USA Today and The Florida Times-Union's in their homepage. It’s a shame because sometimes pictures are able to convey descriptions that words can’t emphasize. They can fill in the missing holes that words leave behind.
An article may be limited in how much words are written, but pictures can take up a lot more meaning.
Thursday, October 4, 2007
The cost of freedom
Our advanced reporting class contributes to the U-News page of the Orlando Sentinel. This week it featured Lisa Velardi's story on student soldiers returning from Iraq and are now taking classes at UCF. Usually, two of the best stories go into the U-News page, but this time the story on student soldiers was the only one to go in and I can understand why.
The article titled, Student-soldiers have to adjust to life without war, focused on two students, Jason Hatcher and Andrew Zeeb. The lead starts off by making a comparison between the normal lives of UCF students and what Hatcher and Zeeb had to do in a day to day basis. Hatcher spends the day loading Humvees to a cargo plane and Zeeb repairs M16 rifles, while UCF students would usually worry about their class loads and GPAs.
When Velardi makes this lead, it automatically attracts readers to stop and think about their busy life and come to a realization that there are others who do have it worse. As the story unfolds, it puts the readers inside Hatcher and Zeeb's heads. The story includes details of Hatcher spending time in the 130 degree desert of Kuwaiti and missing the rain. Then it leads to a quote from Hatcher that says, "I just walked around in the rain. I was excited to talk to regular people again." I liked this quote because it makes the reader feel a connection to the person.
The story also mentions about how Hatcher and Zeeb have witnessed carside bombings and fellow soldiers' casualties in Iraq, but that has not made them suffer from post-traumatic stress which they are fortunate about.
It's hard to realize sometimes that people going off to fight the war in the Middle East to protect our freedom are people my age and that at one point in their lives, they were laughing at their favorite movie, playing a sport or splashing waves at the beach, just like normal people would do. But they made a choice to go into battle and give up those things so we could enjoy them. And as students, the one thing we aren't really taught in school, is to just stop once in a while and think about what our other fellow students are doing with their lives because as we do worry about our GPA's and classes, there are others who are worrying about just surviving today. And this is just the story to remind us that.
The article titled, Student-soldiers have to adjust to life without war, focused on two students, Jason Hatcher and Andrew Zeeb. The lead starts off by making a comparison between the normal lives of UCF students and what Hatcher and Zeeb had to do in a day to day basis. Hatcher spends the day loading Humvees to a cargo plane and Zeeb repairs M16 rifles, while UCF students would usually worry about their class loads and GPAs.
When Velardi makes this lead, it automatically attracts readers to stop and think about their busy life and come to a realization that there are others who do have it worse. As the story unfolds, it puts the readers inside Hatcher and Zeeb's heads. The story includes details of Hatcher spending time in the 130 degree desert of Kuwaiti and missing the rain. Then it leads to a quote from Hatcher that says, "I just walked around in the rain. I was excited to talk to regular people again." I liked this quote because it makes the reader feel a connection to the person.
The story also mentions about how Hatcher and Zeeb have witnessed carside bombings and fellow soldiers' casualties in Iraq, but that has not made them suffer from post-traumatic stress which they are fortunate about.
It's hard to realize sometimes that people going off to fight the war in the Middle East to protect our freedom are people my age and that at one point in their lives, they were laughing at their favorite movie, playing a sport or splashing waves at the beach, just like normal people would do. But they made a choice to go into battle and give up those things so we could enjoy them. And as students, the one thing we aren't really taught in school, is to just stop once in a while and think about what our other fellow students are doing with their lives because as we do worry about our GPA's and classes, there are others who are worrying about just surviving today. And this is just the story to remind us that.
Tuesday, October 2, 2007
Yahoo to compete with Google
I’ve always heard the term, “Google it!” when someone needs to find out information on something, but I’ve never heard the saying, “Yahoo it!”
Yahoo has upgraded its online search engine in order to compete with Google’s popularity, according to to USA Today. The new search engine is intended to improve Yahoo’s reputation and provide more sources such as links, pictures, videos, etc.
The article states:
In August, Yahoo had a 23% share of the U.S. search market compared with 56.5% for Google, according to the most recent data from comScore Media Metrix. At the beginning of 2005, Yahoo's market share stood at 32%, just slightly behind Google at 35%, based on different measurement techniques used at that time by Media Metrix.
Yahoo isn’t really trying to re-invent itself, according to the article, but rather it’s playing catch-up to other popular search engines like Google and Ask.com and Yahoo’s new search engine is said to be similar to the two.
I rarely use Yahoo anymore because I’m so attached to Google, but I do have an e-mail account with both. When I was in high school, the most popular e-mail accounts were either Yahoo, Hotmail or AOL.com. Now, I’m seeing less of those, and more gmail accounts. I often heard people complaining about how their yahoo accounts do not filter spam very well. Which makes me curious to ask, why doesn’t Yahoo upgrade their e-mail service?
So I dug in little more and I found this article, also by USA Today, about Yahoo’s $350 million purchase with Zimbra Inc. Zimbra is an e-mail service that serves large corporations like Comcast Corp. and H&R Block, Inc.
According to the article:
Yahoo's free e-mail service recently has been losing traffic, according to the research firm comScore Media Metrix. In August, Microsoft's Live Hotmail service attracted 255.3 million visitors worldwide to eclipse Yahoo's e-mail traffic of 254.9 million, which represented a 1% decrease from the same time last year, Media Metrix said.
Google's Gmail ranked a distant third at 82.9 million worldwide visitors, up 64% from last year. Google opened its e-mail service to all comers seven months ago.
"Zimbra's tremendous talent and innovative technology will help to extend our core mail offerings, further strengthening our strong leadership position in this space," said CEO of Yahoo Jerry Yang to USA Today.
I still prefer Google to Yahoo anyday, but one has to wonder, with all these technological advances, will it be enough for Yahoo to catch up to Google? And will the phrase, “Yahoo it!” become a reality?
Yahoo has upgraded its online search engine in order to compete with Google’s popularity, according to to USA Today. The new search engine is intended to improve Yahoo’s reputation and provide more sources such as links, pictures, videos, etc.
The article states:
In August, Yahoo had a 23% share of the U.S. search market compared with 56.5% for Google, according to the most recent data from comScore Media Metrix. At the beginning of 2005, Yahoo's market share stood at 32%, just slightly behind Google at 35%, based on different measurement techniques used at that time by Media Metrix.
Yahoo isn’t really trying to re-invent itself, according to the article, but rather it’s playing catch-up to other popular search engines like Google and Ask.com and Yahoo’s new search engine is said to be similar to the two.
I rarely use Yahoo anymore because I’m so attached to Google, but I do have an e-mail account with both. When I was in high school, the most popular e-mail accounts were either Yahoo, Hotmail or AOL.com. Now, I’m seeing less of those, and more gmail accounts. I often heard people complaining about how their yahoo accounts do not filter spam very well. Which makes me curious to ask, why doesn’t Yahoo upgrade their e-mail service?
So I dug in little more and I found this article, also by USA Today, about Yahoo’s $350 million purchase with Zimbra Inc. Zimbra is an e-mail service that serves large corporations like Comcast Corp. and H&R Block, Inc.
According to the article:
Yahoo's free e-mail service recently has been losing traffic, according to the research firm comScore Media Metrix. In August, Microsoft's Live Hotmail service attracted 255.3 million visitors worldwide to eclipse Yahoo's e-mail traffic of 254.9 million, which represented a 1% decrease from the same time last year, Media Metrix said.
Google's Gmail ranked a distant third at 82.9 million worldwide visitors, up 64% from last year. Google opened its e-mail service to all comers seven months ago.
"Zimbra's tremendous talent and innovative technology will help to extend our core mail offerings, further strengthening our strong leadership position in this space," said CEO of Yahoo Jerry Yang to USA Today.
I still prefer Google to Yahoo anyday, but one has to wonder, with all these technological advances, will it be enough for Yahoo to catch up to Google? And will the phrase, “Yahoo it!” become a reality?
Sunday, September 30, 2007
No smoking please
I’m not a smoker, none of my family members smoke and neither do any of my friends.
This weekend I discussed the issue of smoking with my new roommate. She said her biggest pet peeve is cigarette smoke and she can’t tolerate it. The problem is one of our roommates smoke and whether they will work the issue out or not is between the two of them.
Well that same weekend, I was watching America’s Next Top Model’s new season. As many of you know, it’s a show about young women who want to compete to become models and the winner is usually decided by how well they do in their photo shoots. For the models’ first photo shoot, they were asked to display a glamorous side to smoking and then go back to the make-up room and then come out for a second shot to display the horrible effects of smoking. The models portrayed effects of chemotherapy, emphysema, accidental burns, etc. This was supposed to show youths out there that smoking is not at all glamorous, in fact, it’s the opposite.
America’s Next Top Model is maybe setting these models to be “good role” models. The influence not to smoke could certainly help others to not start or to stop. And there are many more people following these steps and taking a stand against smoking, which could signal smoking to be more unpopular than popular.
As I was searching through non-smoking sites, I came across this article by the Washington Post about how Washington D.C. has banned smoking in 2005 in public spaces, restaurants, bars, etc.
The Washington Post article states:
National anti-smoking activists hailed the vote, saying that having the nation's capital go smoke-free carries great symbolic importance. "It puts an exclamation point on what we see as a national trend," said Daniel Smith, vice president of government affairs for the American Cancer Society.
Washington D.C.’s ban on smoking in public places was a great choice to be made. What could be a better influence? Being a non-smoker and asthmatic, I have to be glad about prominent places/organizations taking a stand against smoking. After all, what good can come from smoking?
Whether it’s the nation’s capital that says no to smoking or a model with scary make-up on, the word is getting out: Smoking is bad for you.
This weekend I discussed the issue of smoking with my new roommate. She said her biggest pet peeve is cigarette smoke and she can’t tolerate it. The problem is one of our roommates smoke and whether they will work the issue out or not is between the two of them.
Well that same weekend, I was watching America’s Next Top Model’s new season. As many of you know, it’s a show about young women who want to compete to become models and the winner is usually decided by how well they do in their photo shoots. For the models’ first photo shoot, they were asked to display a glamorous side to smoking and then go back to the make-up room and then come out for a second shot to display the horrible effects of smoking. The models portrayed effects of chemotherapy, emphysema, accidental burns, etc. This was supposed to show youths out there that smoking is not at all glamorous, in fact, it’s the opposite.
America’s Next Top Model is maybe setting these models to be “good role” models. The influence not to smoke could certainly help others to not start or to stop. And there are many more people following these steps and taking a stand against smoking, which could signal smoking to be more unpopular than popular.
As I was searching through non-smoking sites, I came across this article by the Washington Post about how Washington D.C. has banned smoking in 2005 in public spaces, restaurants, bars, etc.
The Washington Post article states:
National anti-smoking activists hailed the vote, saying that having the nation's capital go smoke-free carries great symbolic importance. "It puts an exclamation point on what we see as a national trend," said Daniel Smith, vice president of government affairs for the American Cancer Society.
Washington D.C.’s ban on smoking in public places was a great choice to be made. What could be a better influence? Being a non-smoker and asthmatic, I have to be glad about prominent places/organizations taking a stand against smoking. After all, what good can come from smoking?
Whether it’s the nation’s capital that says no to smoking or a model with scary make-up on, the word is getting out: Smoking is bad for you.
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
A story unfolds
Our advanced reporting class went to a field trip to the Orlando Sentinel yesterday where we got to sit through a budget meeting in which editors, writers, page/web designers and photographers pitched their ideas about upcoming stories. After the meeting, a few of the Sentinel staff stayed to talk to us. As I was listening to Editor-in-Chief Charlotte Hall talk about the future of journalism, she mentioned that the inverted pyramid way of writing news is fading from newspapers and is more suited for the web, and journalists should start thinking about writing in an anecdotal way to capture readers.
I started thinking about all the stories I’ve read that really grabbed my attention and the one story that popped up in my head was from the St. Petersburg Times, titled,"Mary and Jim to the End." First of all, I first read this story in my news reporting class at Florida Community College. I remember we were discussing feature writing and my professor mentioned the St. Petersburg Times as a perfect example of anecdotal writing. My professor described the St. Petersburg Times as a “writer’s newspaper” because of the narrative and descriptive way they write some of their stories.
Mary and Jim to the End is an article about Jim Morrison from the Doors and Mary Werbelow, a woman he fell in love with before he became famous. The article is fairly long highlighting the years of Jim and Mary’s relationship from 1962-2005. But this doesn’t drag the readers throughout all those years, instead the St. Petersburg Times breaks down the years into segments and keeping only the significant parts of their relationship. It explores the first time Jim and Mary meets and carries the readers until the aftermath of Jim’s death. When I was reading this article in class, I had a hard time listening to my professor’s lecture that day because I couldn’t take my eyes off the story. Reading the story was like having a movie play inside my head, I could see the beach where Mary saw Jim the first time and I could feel the emotion coming from Mary when she had to make the decision to break up with Jim.
St. Petersburg Times writes:
He was drinking hard and taking psychedelic drugs. The darkness she says she had seen from the start was overtaking him, and she didn't want to watch him explore his self-destructive bent. She felt he had swallowed her identity. Whatever he liked, she liked.
"I had to go out and see what parts of that were me. I just knew I had to be away from him. I needed to be by myself, to find my own identity."
This type of writing really takes people in-depth into someone’s thoughts and feelings making the reader feel part of the actual story. Another reason why I loved this article because it introduces quotes perfectly into the article without making it sound awkward or surprising the reader. It flows well enough that each sentence in the story transitions smoothly to the next.
If this is the future of journalism, then I don’t mind. More importantly, I want to be this type of writer. To engage readers to a story by taking them on a journey from the beginning to the end is a more meaningful way of giving insight into someone’s mind.
I started thinking about all the stories I’ve read that really grabbed my attention and the one story that popped up in my head was from the St. Petersburg Times, titled,"Mary and Jim to the End." First of all, I first read this story in my news reporting class at Florida Community College. I remember we were discussing feature writing and my professor mentioned the St. Petersburg Times as a perfect example of anecdotal writing. My professor described the St. Petersburg Times as a “writer’s newspaper” because of the narrative and descriptive way they write some of their stories.
Mary and Jim to the End is an article about Jim Morrison from the Doors and Mary Werbelow, a woman he fell in love with before he became famous. The article is fairly long highlighting the years of Jim and Mary’s relationship from 1962-2005. But this doesn’t drag the readers throughout all those years, instead the St. Petersburg Times breaks down the years into segments and keeping only the significant parts of their relationship. It explores the first time Jim and Mary meets and carries the readers until the aftermath of Jim’s death. When I was reading this article in class, I had a hard time listening to my professor’s lecture that day because I couldn’t take my eyes off the story. Reading the story was like having a movie play inside my head, I could see the beach where Mary saw Jim the first time and I could feel the emotion coming from Mary when she had to make the decision to break up with Jim.
St. Petersburg Times writes:
He was drinking hard and taking psychedelic drugs. The darkness she says she had seen from the start was overtaking him, and she didn't want to watch him explore his self-destructive bent. She felt he had swallowed her identity. Whatever he liked, she liked.
"I had to go out and see what parts of that were me. I just knew I had to be away from him. I needed to be by myself, to find my own identity."
This type of writing really takes people in-depth into someone’s thoughts and feelings making the reader feel part of the actual story. Another reason why I loved this article because it introduces quotes perfectly into the article without making it sound awkward or surprising the reader. It flows well enough that each sentence in the story transitions smoothly to the next.
If this is the future of journalism, then I don’t mind. More importantly, I want to be this type of writer. To engage readers to a story by taking them on a journey from the beginning to the end is a more meaningful way of giving insight into someone’s mind.
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Tech savvy is the way to be
Browsing through UCF’s digital media department, I came across a link for the International Digital Media and Arts Associations (IDMAA). IDMAA is a professional group founded by 15 universities, including UCF, which assists professors, scholars and students alike in their digital media curriculum.
IDMAA’s introduction talks about how around the world, universities are creating new digital media programs that correlate with Art, Computer Science, Journalism, Music, Theater, etc. IDMAA’s purpose is to address upcoming issues with job-related digital media skills, new media that are emerging, upcoming graduate programs in digital media, so on and so forth. There are even conferences that are held in various cities, as well as interest groups and student groups within the site.
I even found a link to this site at Poynter Online where Steve Outing, founder and publisher of Enthusiast Group LLC, blogs about it.
It got me thinking about how digital media is overlapping within almost all industries. It’s not just computer science majors anymore who need to learn digital media, but even journalism majors like myself. This got me regretting picking my minor in Sociology and wishing that I picked digital media. So I opened up the UCF catalog just to see what classes I would be taking if I did minor in digital media and sure enough there is an introduction class called, Principles of Digital Media. As I closely examined the curriculum, classes like Internet Interaction, Internet Software Design and Converging Media immediately captured my attention. These are classes that I could learn a ton from that would greatly benefit me in the future, especially when working in a multimedia news organization.
Even the Orlando Sentinel has taken interest in digital media students. One of the featured news on the UCF digital media department site was the Sentinel’s involvement with the digital media program. The Sentinel has offered a scholarship worth $6,000 available to digital media students for the first time in UCF history. And to top it of, the student who gets the scholarship also gets to choose from three internships at the Orlando Sentinel which are “web producer with Orlando CityBeat, multimedia producer or video producer, or web journalism interim based on their skills and interests,” as stated in the website. The Sentinel is offering this scholarship in “hopes to educate, inspire and expand the real-life experiences of Central Florida’s young professionals who are interested in the growing digital media field.”
So, if I could give advice to journalism majors who are trying to decide on a minor, I would definitely try to persuade them to pick digital media as a minor because most likely, they will need it in the future. I just wished someone would’ve told me that a year ago.
IDMAA’s introduction talks about how around the world, universities are creating new digital media programs that correlate with Art, Computer Science, Journalism, Music, Theater, etc. IDMAA’s purpose is to address upcoming issues with job-related digital media skills, new media that are emerging, upcoming graduate programs in digital media, so on and so forth. There are even conferences that are held in various cities, as well as interest groups and student groups within the site.
I even found a link to this site at Poynter Online where Steve Outing, founder and publisher of Enthusiast Group LLC, blogs about it.
It got me thinking about how digital media is overlapping within almost all industries. It’s not just computer science majors anymore who need to learn digital media, but even journalism majors like myself. This got me regretting picking my minor in Sociology and wishing that I picked digital media. So I opened up the UCF catalog just to see what classes I would be taking if I did minor in digital media and sure enough there is an introduction class called, Principles of Digital Media. As I closely examined the curriculum, classes like Internet Interaction, Internet Software Design and Converging Media immediately captured my attention. These are classes that I could learn a ton from that would greatly benefit me in the future, especially when working in a multimedia news organization.
Even the Orlando Sentinel has taken interest in digital media students. One of the featured news on the UCF digital media department site was the Sentinel’s involvement with the digital media program. The Sentinel has offered a scholarship worth $6,000 available to digital media students for the first time in UCF history. And to top it of, the student who gets the scholarship also gets to choose from three internships at the Orlando Sentinel which are “web producer with Orlando CityBeat, multimedia producer or video producer, or web journalism interim based on their skills and interests,” as stated in the website. The Sentinel is offering this scholarship in “hopes to educate, inspire and expand the real-life experiences of Central Florida’s young professionals who are interested in the growing digital media field.”
So, if I could give advice to journalism majors who are trying to decide on a minor, I would definitely try to persuade them to pick digital media as a minor because most likely, they will need it in the future. I just wished someone would’ve told me that a year ago.
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Protecting the St. Johns River
I have to give kudos to the The Florida Times-Union for producing a series of videos on how significant it is to preserve the St. Johns River.
The videos are named as if they were horror flicks with titles such as, Return of the Green Monster and Honey, I Shrunk our Environmental Footprint. The videos definitely attracted me to click on them and what I expected to be entertaining was something much more.
The video, Return of the Green Monster, started off with images of green algae dominating the St. Johns River, but the more the video played, the more it became clear that the video was more informational than entertaining. The video is very organized in a way that it takes viewers step by step on the problems polluting the river. It describes seven reasons to why the St. Johns is the way it is, with such reasons being: nutrients overload, suffocating streams, hazardous toxins and failing septic tanks. And as each reason is revealed to the viewer, a speaker talks on behalf of the reasons. The speakers varied from community leaders such as, Jacksonville Mayor John Peyton, St. Johns County Commissioner Ben Rich and University of North Florida President John Delaney to experts in the subject like, Forensic Toxicologist Richard Lipsey and Bill Belleville, author of "Losing it All to Sprawl," among others.
Another video titled, Showdown on the St. Johns, describes the Department of Environmental Protection. The DEP is responsible for giving discharge permits to waste plants which limits the amount and time of discharges in the river. The video investigates the violations of some of the discharge permits. There were 294 wasteplant violations that were discovered. This type of video took viewers indepth to witness some of the problems occuring that damages the St. Johns.
The series of videos are excellent examples of keeping the public inform. Not only does it take viewers behind the scene, but it explains the issues in different angles. Two other websites I found helpful also is The River Returns which shows documentary videos of the St. Johns River and even takes you underwater. Another is Vanishing Wetlands by the St. Petersburg Times. This is a cool website that not only includes awesome pictures and articles, but graphics like the cycle of wetlands.
Hopefully these types of coverage raise awareness and call for some much needed changes for Florida's longest river, the St. Johns.
The videos are named as if they were horror flicks with titles such as, Return of the Green Monster and Honey, I Shrunk our Environmental Footprint. The videos definitely attracted me to click on them and what I expected to be entertaining was something much more.
The video, Return of the Green Monster, started off with images of green algae dominating the St. Johns River, but the more the video played, the more it became clear that the video was more informational than entertaining. The video is very organized in a way that it takes viewers step by step on the problems polluting the river. It describes seven reasons to why the St. Johns is the way it is, with such reasons being: nutrients overload, suffocating streams, hazardous toxins and failing septic tanks. And as each reason is revealed to the viewer, a speaker talks on behalf of the reasons. The speakers varied from community leaders such as, Jacksonville Mayor John Peyton, St. Johns County Commissioner Ben Rich and University of North Florida President John Delaney to experts in the subject like, Forensic Toxicologist Richard Lipsey and Bill Belleville, author of "Losing it All to Sprawl," among others.
Another video titled, Showdown on the St. Johns, describes the Department of Environmental Protection. The DEP is responsible for giving discharge permits to waste plants which limits the amount and time of discharges in the river. The video investigates the violations of some of the discharge permits. There were 294 wasteplant violations that were discovered. This type of video took viewers indepth to witness some of the problems occuring that damages the St. Johns.
The series of videos are excellent examples of keeping the public inform. Not only does it take viewers behind the scene, but it explains the issues in different angles. Two other websites I found helpful also is The River Returns which shows documentary videos of the St. Johns River and even takes you underwater. Another is Vanishing Wetlands by the St. Petersburg Times. This is a cool website that not only includes awesome pictures and articles, but graphics like the cycle of wetlands.
Hopefully these types of coverage raise awareness and call for some much needed changes for Florida's longest river, the St. Johns.
Friday, September 14, 2007
Oprah and Obama
Oprah Winfrey has made very clear that she is supporting Barack Obama for the 2008 presidential election.
Winfrey held a gala fundraiser at her Santa Barbara estate where 1,500 guests attended, USA Today reported. Famous guests showed up to the event such as Stevie Wonder, Chris Rock and Cindy Crawford. Tickets to the gala cost $2,300 each so it's no surprise when big names are involve with this kind of fundraiser. With Winfrey's name attached to Obama's, there's definitely going to be perks.
Presidential candidates in the past has had their share of Hollywood-star-type media attention and some endorsements along with it. But how does it really help their platform when a name like "George Clooney" supports them? Other than give them a glitzy, glamorous image.
Although, Winfrey isn't like most celebrities. Don't get me wrong, she's a household name and she could probably buy Hollywood, but her influence extends further than the movie/tv crazed fans that we see screaming outside of TRL. Her show covers day-to-day problems that has affected millions of viewers making her more acceptable among the commoners.
Winfrey's influence has been so widely accepted that even books she reads ends up at the NY Times Best-Seller list.
Marty Kaplan, professor of communications at the University of Southern California told CNN, "People buy books when she tells them to. They will watch her shows, and buy her magazines when she asks them to...So, the question is, are enough of them willing to follow her lead not with a consumer good, but with a ballot cast?"
The article also states that women make up the majority of Winfrey's audience and with her support for Obama's campaign, she could sway more votes out of women which would rival Hillary Clinton.
Could this be the future of presidential campaigns? Celebrities are no longer just for entertainment, but also a political commodity.
Winfrey held a gala fundraiser at her Santa Barbara estate where 1,500 guests attended, USA Today reported. Famous guests showed up to the event such as Stevie Wonder, Chris Rock and Cindy Crawford. Tickets to the gala cost $2,300 each so it's no surprise when big names are involve with this kind of fundraiser. With Winfrey's name attached to Obama's, there's definitely going to be perks.
Presidential candidates in the past has had their share of Hollywood-star-type media attention and some endorsements along with it. But how does it really help their platform when a name like "George Clooney" supports them? Other than give them a glitzy, glamorous image.
Although, Winfrey isn't like most celebrities. Don't get me wrong, she's a household name and she could probably buy Hollywood, but her influence extends further than the movie/tv crazed fans that we see screaming outside of TRL. Her show covers day-to-day problems that has affected millions of viewers making her more acceptable among the commoners.
Winfrey's influence has been so widely accepted that even books she reads ends up at the NY Times Best-Seller list.
Marty Kaplan, professor of communications at the University of Southern California told CNN, "People buy books when she tells them to. They will watch her shows, and buy her magazines when she asks them to...So, the question is, are enough of them willing to follow her lead not with a consumer good, but with a ballot cast?"
The article also states that women make up the majority of Winfrey's audience and with her support for Obama's campaign, she could sway more votes out of women which would rival Hillary Clinton.
Could this be the future of presidential campaigns? Celebrities are no longer just for entertainment, but also a political commodity.
Thursday, September 13, 2007
Not having better pay, keeps the doctor away
Born in the Philippines and having moved here in the U.S. when I was 7 years old, I've neglected to keep track of what's going on in the other side of the world. I haven't been back to Philippines since the age of 12, making that 10 years ago, so it really caught my attention when CNN reported that the Philippines are losing doctors. The CNN news segment titled, "Doctor Drain," talked about how Filipino doctors leaving their jobs to become nurses in the U.S.
For the past three years, 5,000 Filipino doctors have migrated to U.S. to become nurses, said Philippine Secretary of Health Dr. Jaime-Galvez Tan in an article CBSnews.com
"Doctors no longer want to train as a resident or to become specialist, but they'd rather take nursing as a specialty and then move to the U.S.," Tan told CBS.
One of the biggest hospitals in Manila had 152 interns last year, now it only has five, according to the article.
So why the big move?
Better pay. According to an article from San Francisco Chronicle., doctors are paid less than $500 a month in the Philippines. Whereas, here in the U.S., nurses could typically make $40 an hour.
This interests me, not only because I'm originally from the Philippines, but because both of my parents are nurses, with my dad being a nursing professor. They both see the trends in both hospitals and nursing homes that the numbers of Filipino nurses are increasing. My dad mentioned that the hospital he works in, Baptist Medical, has just hired new nurses who were also M.D.'s.
There is also a shortage in the profession of nursing. The San Franciso Chronicle article states:
"The greatest shortage is among registered professional nurses, which comprise the largest segment of all health professionals," said Phyllis Hansell, dean of Seton Hall University's College of Nursing. "Currently, there are 2.6 million nurses in the U.S., and it is forecast that by 2010 an additional 1 million will be needed. Nurses will be required in all health care settings."
Recruiters have found a dependably supply of nurses in the Philippines, where salaries are low, unemployment high and English fluently spoken.
This is good news for health care in the U.S., but bad news for a third-world country like the Philippines. The economony isn't exactly booming and with this type of shortage, it puts more people and healthcare at an even higher risk.
For the past three years, 5,000 Filipino doctors have migrated to U.S. to become nurses, said Philippine Secretary of Health Dr. Jaime-Galvez Tan in an article CBSnews.com
"Doctors no longer want to train as a resident or to become specialist, but they'd rather take nursing as a specialty and then move to the U.S.," Tan told CBS.
One of the biggest hospitals in Manila had 152 interns last year, now it only has five, according to the article.
So why the big move?
Better pay. According to an article from San Francisco Chronicle., doctors are paid less than $500 a month in the Philippines. Whereas, here in the U.S., nurses could typically make $40 an hour.
This interests me, not only because I'm originally from the Philippines, but because both of my parents are nurses, with my dad being a nursing professor. They both see the trends in both hospitals and nursing homes that the numbers of Filipino nurses are increasing. My dad mentioned that the hospital he works in, Baptist Medical, has just hired new nurses who were also M.D.'s.
There is also a shortage in the profession of nursing. The San Franciso Chronicle article states:
"The greatest shortage is among registered professional nurses, which comprise the largest segment of all health professionals," said Phyllis Hansell, dean of Seton Hall University's College of Nursing. "Currently, there are 2.6 million nurses in the U.S., and it is forecast that by 2010 an additional 1 million will be needed. Nurses will be required in all health care settings."
Recruiters have found a dependably supply of nurses in the Philippines, where salaries are low, unemployment high and English fluently spoken.
This is good news for health care in the U.S., but bad news for a third-world country like the Philippines. The economony isn't exactly booming and with this type of shortage, it puts more people and healthcare at an even higher risk.
Saturday, September 1, 2007
Jackpot!
Four people have the winning numbers (8, 18, 22, 40 and 44, with the mega ball being 11) to the estimated $330 Mega Millions Jackpot, USA Today reported today.
According to an article from USA Today, each of the winners is from New Jersey, Virginia, Maryland and Texas and chances of someone getting all five numbers right and the mega ball number is one in 176 million.
Everyone has probably heard some point in their lives that one has a better chance of getting hit by lighting twice or drowning in a bathtub than winning the lottery. That doesn’t seem to have any effect on my mother and her co-workers who repeatedly buy 130 tickets every time there is a jackpot. Each of her co-workers spends to an average of $10-$15 in tickets.
The Florida Times-Union also had an article featured about the lottery winnings. According to the article, a man named Joe Abufarha, a manager for RaceWay, states that business is big when there are jackpots like this. He told the Times-Union, he sold $200 worth of tickets to one customer.
So has the lottery become a new form of gambling, losing more money in hopes of getting more?
If this is so, more people may likely to buy it now than ever before since the jackpot could happen to anyone and not just anyone, in this case, four people. The dream of becoming a millionaire at any given moment can now be a reality if people just picked the right numbers.
According to an article from USA Today, each of the winners is from New Jersey, Virginia, Maryland and Texas and chances of someone getting all five numbers right and the mega ball number is one in 176 million.
Everyone has probably heard some point in their lives that one has a better chance of getting hit by lighting twice or drowning in a bathtub than winning the lottery. That doesn’t seem to have any effect on my mother and her co-workers who repeatedly buy 130 tickets every time there is a jackpot. Each of her co-workers spends to an average of $10-$15 in tickets.
The Florida Times-Union also had an article featured about the lottery winnings. According to the article, a man named Joe Abufarha, a manager for RaceWay, states that business is big when there are jackpots like this. He told the Times-Union, he sold $200 worth of tickets to one customer.
So has the lottery become a new form of gambling, losing more money in hopes of getting more?
If this is so, more people may likely to buy it now than ever before since the jackpot could happen to anyone and not just anyone, in this case, four people. The dream of becoming a millionaire at any given moment can now be a reality if people just picked the right numbers.
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
Miss Teen USA slip-up a big deal?
Miss Teen USA South Carolina Contestant Caitlin Upton, 18, embarrasses herself on Aug. 24 on national television with a confusing and unintelligible answer to the question, why a fifth of Americans are unable to locate the Unites States on a map.
This was a surprising headline to see on msnbc.com, which gives Upton a chance to redeem herself from the humiliation. During the Q&A part of the Miss Teen USA competition, Upton does not entirely answer the question to why some Americans couldn’t locate the U.S. on a map. Instead, she says that she believes that some Americans do not own maps and awkwardly mentions South Africa, Iraq and Asian countries in her answer that completely made no sense.
This probably would have not been news if it wasn’t so popular at youtube.com, where Upton is mocked by many users. Rude comments about being a “dumb blonde” are posted underneath the video of her stammering on her answer. This is probably why MSNBC had her featured on Aug. 28 at the Today Show segment with Matt Lauer and Ann Curry. During the show, Lauer and Curry sympathize with Upton about not knowing what to say when one is overwhelmed on national television. Upton is then given a second chance to answer the question which sounds a whole lot better than the first one.
It’s almost hard to believe that Upton’s mistake has had some type of impact on the news. Everyone makes mistakes and it wasn’t like Upton committed a crime that would doom her reputation, although it is somehow tainted. She happened to have a silly slip-up that everyone has nightmares about like walking around school or work naked. It just so happens that her embarrassing moment was caught on national television. It maybe because Miss Teen USA contestant are presented as almost perfect on the show with their gleaming smiles, competitive GPAs and leadership attitude that when someone like Upton messes up, it makes people feel some type of reassurance that we are only human.
Maybe another reason for Upton’s media attention is that Miss Teen USA contestants are expected to be good role models and when someone provides an unintelligent answer to a question, it influences children that even the not-so-brightest people have a chance in winning numerous prizes, including a scholarship worth up to $100,000, in a well-known, televised pageant. This is probably not the best idea to teach children. The only good that may come out of this humiliating situation is that it may encourage more Americans to take a break from their GPS systems and actually look at a world map.
This was a surprising headline to see on msnbc.com, which gives Upton a chance to redeem herself from the humiliation. During the Q&A part of the Miss Teen USA competition, Upton does not entirely answer the question to why some Americans couldn’t locate the U.S. on a map. Instead, she says that she believes that some Americans do not own maps and awkwardly mentions South Africa, Iraq and Asian countries in her answer that completely made no sense.
This probably would have not been news if it wasn’t so popular at youtube.com, where Upton is mocked by many users. Rude comments about being a “dumb blonde” are posted underneath the video of her stammering on her answer. This is probably why MSNBC had her featured on Aug. 28 at the Today Show segment with Matt Lauer and Ann Curry. During the show, Lauer and Curry sympathize with Upton about not knowing what to say when one is overwhelmed on national television. Upton is then given a second chance to answer the question which sounds a whole lot better than the first one.
It’s almost hard to believe that Upton’s mistake has had some type of impact on the news. Everyone makes mistakes and it wasn’t like Upton committed a crime that would doom her reputation, although it is somehow tainted. She happened to have a silly slip-up that everyone has nightmares about like walking around school or work naked. It just so happens that her embarrassing moment was caught on national television. It maybe because Miss Teen USA contestant are presented as almost perfect on the show with their gleaming smiles, competitive GPAs and leadership attitude that when someone like Upton messes up, it makes people feel some type of reassurance that we are only human.
Maybe another reason for Upton’s media attention is that Miss Teen USA contestants are expected to be good role models and when someone provides an unintelligent answer to a question, it influences children that even the not-so-brightest people have a chance in winning numerous prizes, including a scholarship worth up to $100,000, in a well-known, televised pageant. This is probably not the best idea to teach children. The only good that may come out of this humiliating situation is that it may encourage more Americans to take a break from their GPS systems and actually look at a world map.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)