| Jam Band.mp3 |
Thursday, October 4, 2007
Musicians...
The day started stress free because for the first time in history I had a story picked out before 12:30. I was going to cover a private Rudder concert. Rudder is a new jam band. All I had to do was go to LeMoyne College, listen to the band, ask a few questions and I would be set, right? Of course not. When I arrived I found out that the show was not scheduled for one o'clock, it was at two. I decided that it would be okay and I should be late. Well not only did I have to wait an hour, the musicians were late. The Show did not start until 2:15. The band was genuine, friendly and very talented. After receiving about fifty phone calls from Jordan, I figured I had a story and it would be okay if I snuck out fifteen minutes early. I got back to Newhouse at 3:00. Put my stuff together and was done by 3:30. Some people say impossible... but I think not. Because my group was amazing, got their stuff done and then worked together to pull it all together in the end, we had a successful newscast. A great way to start the weekend!!
My piece- still a little green...
| Alexander-Urban Fo... |
I want to start out by saying that while I am pleased with my interview, I think there are about a billion things I would do differently with my story, but, alas, I think that's how it always goes.
All in all, I think this was the least stressful week for me. Unlike in previous weeks, where I am running in the door at 3:30 or later and racing around like a chicken with my head cut off to get my story done by deadline.
Today however, was more like a walk in the park. After I had a couple of misses when it came to story ideas, I finally got a "that's an okay idea" response, which to be honest, was good enough for me.
I was still pretty nervous about the story. I haven't had very good luck with getting ahold of the original stories I plan to do. However, luck was on my side this afternoon, and all I had to do was call and set a time.
When I arrived at Dr. Nowak's office, I was a little nervous again. I don't think I'm stupid, but I'm always a little wary about meeting researchers, because I feel like they will look at me like I am stupid. Again, I was lucky because the guy I talked to was really eager to talk to me. He was really excited when I told him I taught outdoor survival skills to kids for the past few summers, and that I really liked trees.
He gave a pretty good interview too. He told me information I didn't know before, and every time he told me something about his research, he would retell me the information in terms that the average person would understand. I really appreciated that.
Unfortunately, he was a little soft spoken, so after I played with the levels on Audacity, there was quite a bit of background static.
I was back in the classroom well before two o'clock, which is definitely a first for me. For the first time, I was able to have Professor Nicholson look over my story before I recorded it, and that was a huge help. I even think I spoke slower, because I was far less stressed out.
Basically, today was the easiest story for me to get, and when you couple that with the least stress filled editing period, I think I maintained the better part of my sanity today. Hooray!
All in all, I think this was the least stressful week for me. Unlike in previous weeks, where I am running in the door at 3:30 or later and racing around like a chicken with my head cut off to get my story done by deadline.
Today however, was more like a walk in the park. After I had a couple of misses when it came to story ideas, I finally got a "that's an okay idea" response, which to be honest, was good enough for me.
I was still pretty nervous about the story. I haven't had very good luck with getting ahold of the original stories I plan to do. However, luck was on my side this afternoon, and all I had to do was call and set a time.
When I arrived at Dr. Nowak's office, I was a little nervous again. I don't think I'm stupid, but I'm always a little wary about meeting researchers, because I feel like they will look at me like I am stupid. Again, I was lucky because the guy I talked to was really eager to talk to me. He was really excited when I told him I taught outdoor survival skills to kids for the past few summers, and that I really liked trees.
He gave a pretty good interview too. He told me information I didn't know before, and every time he told me something about his research, he would retell me the information in terms that the average person would understand. I really appreciated that.
Unfortunately, he was a little soft spoken, so after I played with the levels on Audacity, there was quite a bit of background static.
I was back in the classroom well before two o'clock, which is definitely a first for me. For the first time, I was able to have Professor Nicholson look over my story before I recorded it, and that was a huge help. I even think I spoke slower, because I was far less stressed out.
Basically, today was the easiest story for me to get, and when you couple that with the least stress filled editing period, I think I maintained the better part of my sanity today. Hooray!
And of course, I can't forget to thank the wonderful Team C. Everyone was really supportive, and I know it was tons of work for Annie and Mura. You guys did a fantastic job, and although the final newscast was a little stressful, you guys did marvelously. Well done Team C. We rocked as a team!
What A Rush
Before I get to the good part (the newscast), I have to start with the weekly neverending story to find a story. After emailing Professor Nicholson at least six times on Wednesday with futile wrap ideas, I finally settled on a story about a proposal for artificial turf at Fayetteville-Manlius High School. Not a great story but a current one nonetheless. It took me until about 1:30 to conduct the interview with the assistant principal, and by the time I got back to 480 it was about 2 pm. So I had an hour and a half to write the story, find my bite, and voice the tracks.
I took care of everything for my wrap by about 3:20 pm, about 35 minutes before Team B's cast. It wasn't until I was done my wrap that the real fun began. After being in a state of calm most of the day, I could sense the tension rising as precious moments passed by. Jordan was busy writing stories and trying to quickly organize the stories and bites on to the carts, Lara was trying to assemble all the stories as the anchor (and conduct a phoner as well), and Noel had to get her story done in a ridiculously short amount of time. That last half-hour had some of the most hectic minutes of school I can remember.
Long story short, we got it done. After getting everything together, I was actually very nervous in the booth and I wasn't even doing anything. Since we had done so much in that last half-hour, seeing it all come together was such an adrenaline rush. Major props to the team. Jordan did a great job of organizing everything and getting stuff onto carts (and timing the show perfectly), Lara had barely looked at the scripts before reading them and didn't miss a beat, and Noel must have gotten her wrap done in record time because she didn't come in until relatively close to deadline and still cranked it out. All in all a solid effort all around.
Hopefully things will be just as good next week. And hopefully the Phillies will still be playing by then, but they're actually going to have to win some games first before that happens.
I took care of everything for my wrap by about 3:20 pm, about 35 minutes before Team B's cast. It wasn't until I was done my wrap that the real fun began. After being in a state of calm most of the day, I could sense the tension rising as precious moments passed by. Jordan was busy writing stories and trying to quickly organize the stories and bites on to the carts, Lara was trying to assemble all the stories as the anchor (and conduct a phoner as well), and Noel had to get her story done in a ridiculously short amount of time. That last half-hour had some of the most hectic minutes of school I can remember.
Long story short, we got it done. After getting everything together, I was actually very nervous in the booth and I wasn't even doing anything. Since we had done so much in that last half-hour, seeing it all come together was such an adrenaline rush. Major props to the team. Jordan did a great job of organizing everything and getting stuff onto carts (and timing the show perfectly), Lara had barely looked at the scripts before reading them and didn't miss a beat, and Noel must have gotten her wrap done in record time because she didn't come in until relatively close to deadline and still cranked it out. All in all a solid effort all around.
Hopefully things will be just as good next week. And hopefully the Phillies will still be playing by then, but they're actually going to have to win some games first before that happens.
What a rush!
So after the chaos that was my story last week, I was pretty pumped to have had an interview set up with a documentarian visiting S.U. Professor Nicholson gave me the thumbs up, and I was good to go until 10:45 last night when I got an email that she canceled on me. So I decided to do a story about the anniversary of the Sputnik launching, which I had only known about because my Bio TA mentioned it in recitation.
The story was a little stressful because I didn't actually get to do my foner until almost 3:00, and then I had issues with my travel drive, but I was really happy with the outcome. I was glad I had written all my other copy stories and as much of the Sputnik story as I could before the foner. Of course I forgot to save my story, print out everyone else's, and didn't have time to cart my bite, but that's why we work in TEAMS...which is really great. I was in the booth when I had to be and in the last few minutes, A.J., Noel and Jordan rushed in there with the last few things we needed. For that, I am extremely grateful. Then I somehow managed to read through the entire newscast without too many problems. (Except for saying "moral" instead of "morale," but you got to roll with the punches.) What a rush! Everything magically worked out so well, we ended it with a group hug. We're so lame, but what a great class.
The story was a little stressful because I didn't actually get to do my foner until almost 3:00, and then I had issues with my travel drive, but I was really happy with the outcome. I was glad I had written all my other copy stories and as much of the Sputnik story as I could before the foner. Of course I forgot to save my story, print out everyone else's, and didn't have time to cart my bite, but that's why we work in TEAMS...which is really great. I was in the booth when I had to be and in the last few minutes, A.J., Noel and Jordan rushed in there with the last few things we needed. For that, I am extremely grateful. Then I somehow managed to read through the entire newscast without too many problems. (Except for saying "moral" instead of "morale," but you got to roll with the punches.) What a rush! Everything magically worked out so well, we ended it with a group hug. We're so lame, but what a great class.
Surprisingly smooth
Over all I think today went really well, which makes me kinda nervous for next week. As a producer the fact that my reporters ( Matt and Andrew) got there stories done early made everything so much easier and so did the fact that my anchor (Jameson) got a phoner on the first try. When it came to making the rundown all the stories that I felt were important just kind of managed to fit together logically. There was an important local story, then a local event that connected to a state story, this got us on another state level story that also had a science element and then another science story, then we wrapped it up with a local feature story and voila! We had A block. Going last really helped with the timing, we had time to go through the entire script and get an idea of actual time before Jameson went on and I think that made a huge difference. But I still think we could have been ready to go at the first time slot, it just wouldn't have been as smooth. I hope next week goes as smoothly.
complete 180
What a difference a week makes. After a disaster last Thursday, this week's story went much smoother. I started looking for stories Wednesday, and my first idea to preview the Bob Dylan concert got shot down. So then I went on Channel 10's website and found a press conference was going on this morning about the Ann Davis homocide. I figured that should be acceptable, and I got it cleared.
Once I found out all the details I was set to go. I got to the Syracuse PSB at 9:30 this morning. I didn't get hassled at all and I was allowed to go right in and await for the press conference to start. Being the pessimist that I am, I was expecting the press conference to be canceled, or I wouldn't be able to get in. So I was amazed that I was back in my dorm by 11 with all my sound and ready to go.
Went to class at 12:30 and got to work. Finished my wrap around 3:00, and I think I did a good job. I was really happy that I worked hard to find a good story, and that I turned it into a good wrap (I think). I was even happier when the other three in my team did such a good job, and we were set well ahead of our newscast time. The newscast went great, and I couldn't be happier with the first official week we did it. Go team CitrusTV.
Once I found out all the details I was set to go. I got to the Syracuse PSB at 9:30 this morning. I didn't get hassled at all and I was allowed to go right in and await for the press conference to start. Being the pessimist that I am, I was expecting the press conference to be canceled, or I wouldn't be able to get in. So I was amazed that I was back in my dorm by 11 with all my sound and ready to go.
Went to class at 12:30 and got to work. Finished my wrap around 3:00, and I think I did a good job. I was really happy that I worked hard to find a good story, and that I turned it into a good wrap (I think). I was even happier when the other three in my team did such a good job, and we were set well ahead of our newscast time. The newscast went great, and I couldn't be happier with the first official week we did it. Go team CitrusTV.
My day
The night before I didn't work hard enough and found a couple of potential stories until Annie sent me the idea of doing a story on Banned Book Week by going to the Lavender Inkwell Book Store on North McBride Street, wherever the heck that is. I decided to just walk there at 12:30 without Nicholson's approval or a date with the owner of the store, bad call. I walked about two and a half miles to God knows where and when I got there a nice woman kindly informed me that her brother, the owner, might be back in an hour - 0 fer 1.
On the walk back, I called Annie about four times and Nicholson half made fun of me, half tried to make me do a story about the heat (because we all know THAT would have been exciting.) Eventually we gave up on that - 0 fer 2
Thirty-three hours later I staggered into the classroom dripping sweat and Annie hooked me up with a sweet story about the West Virginia game. I sauntered on over there and got the interview with my new best friend Pat Campbell - 1 fer 3, and as they say, the rest is history.
P.S. The "history" is that Mura killed the anchor job and Annie and Katy were awesome at their respected jobs. I am happy with the result.
On the walk back, I called Annie about four times and Nicholson half made fun of me, half tried to make me do a story about the heat (because we all know THAT would have been exciting.) Eventually we gave up on that - 0 fer 2
Thirty-three hours later I staggered into the classroom dripping sweat and Annie hooked me up with a sweet story about the West Virginia game. I sauntered on over there and got the interview with my new best friend Pat Campbell - 1 fer 3, and as they say, the rest is history.
P.S. The "history" is that Mura killed the anchor job and Annie and Katy were awesome at their respected jobs. I am happy with the result.
Team D Getting it Done
I enjoyed today's class. Amy J, Matt, and Africk worked together really well and I look forward to working with them again next week. Amy got the rundown done really quick and set it up really well. I was a little concerned coming into class about getting a phoner because I had some ideas originally but they ended up not being timely. So I came to class with one idea of calling Laes Gross who works in the marketing department for the athletic department. I would talk to her about the attendance of the upcoming game against West Virginia. Andrew returned from Marshall Street with an idea of doing a phoner with Jim Walsh since Dan Maffei was down on Marshall Street for a rally against Bush's veto. I made a huge mistake during the phoner though which was really poor on my part. I called Jim Walsh a senator when he's a congressman. I even had written down on the paper I was reading, Congressman Jim Walsh, but for some reason when I read the question my mind registered Senator. Either way, I got good sound from his spokesman Brian Baluta (Walsh was in his Washington office and was going to unavailable all day). Being the last group to go, we didn't have to scramble at all. We got a scripts done, and carts loaded. Once in the booth, I thought I did pretty well except I mispronounced Lafayette, because Lafayette is also a college in my hometown and it is pronounced differently. Even though I had spelled out in front of me and practiced saying it the right way, I think it came out the wrong way and then stumbled afterwards.
Super Produca!
WOW!!! Today was quite interesting. Tell you the truth I felt a little overwhelmed at being producer for the first two weeks. I have zero (read: ZERO) experience in this department, and even after going over how to make a rundown felt very intimidated. I did my best to follow instructions from Professor Nicholson by keeping up with the news and staying in contact with everyone in my group, but was getting back emails of multiple rejected story ideas, so hoped things would be okay by Thursday. We had our producer meeting, it went well, but as I sat down to do the rundown I was again lost. I had to decide on more stories and realized that I would be writing, A LOT. Which is fine, but I hoped I could get it all done. To make things slightly more complicated, Lara's interview fell through; so we had to come up with a new foner-- someone who wasn't available until 3pm, which was cutting it a little close. As time loomed closer to Team B's time in the booth, I found that both of my reporters weren't back yet. Uh oh. I was getting updates on AJ's status from Matt; but I had a missed call from Noel and now she wasn't answering her phone. On top of all that, I was still having trouble writing some of the stories and was also waiting to borrow others' SOTs. Finally, the reporters get back and I'm feeling slightly confident that we're going to get things done. Then come the carts. Effing carts... Literally with five minutes to go before we're "on air," I still have to put Noel's wrap and Lara's foner on carts, and I still haven't printed out the scripts. CRAP. By the grace of God, SOMEHOW the carts work quickly (after a couple of tries as well as death threats to anyone who interferes with the machine I'm using), and AJ was quick to print out scripts. And suddenly I find myself in the booth listening to everything come together. Pretty dang well, if I do say so myself. After it all ended I was elated. Team B had a group hug, and in no way is that embarrassing. I like working under pressure (maybe a little less than today) and I like to think I'm quick on my feet, and when it all was over I felt very good! Now that I've had a week's experience I hope next time will go even smoother.
Don't Mind Reporting
So after seeing how stressed out all of the anchors and producers were, I feel lucky that I was a reporter today. Especially since we've been doing that for a few weeks now so we have experience with it. To all the producers and the anchors: Good job! For a first effort I feel like the class did quite well. Of all the stories I've reported on this one felt like the easiest and most enjoyable, since I met some cool people at the "protest", and it went quite smoothly. I think as we do this more and more things will go smoother and it will be more fun. I'm kind of dreading being a producer after seeing those guys stress so much today. It's a lot of responsibility. Overall the day was fun though. Also I think Richard deserves a shout out for helping everyone so much when they were panicking.
Just a day...just an ordinary day...
Being a first time producer is really terrifying. I know I'm a bit of a control freak; I'd rather do everything on my own because I dont often trust people to do things as well or on time like I know I would. There was so much to be taken care of in so little time, so, my biggest challenge was delegating.
Team C, however, really pulled through when I needed them to. We worked extraordinarily well as a team, and when I thought we were in major trouble because we hadn't put any of our stories onto carts, Katie, Tyler, and Mura jumped to my rescue and did it for me, they also wrote some teases and floaters. It was fantastic. Our team really worked as a unit, especially towards the end, and I think thats what ultimately made our broadcast pretty successful. I really trust them alot.
A few minor glitches we ran into were mostly my fault. I misrecorded all of the times on the rundown, so I actually had no clue where we were on time. I also didn't schedule the rundown as tight as I should have. Alot of it was ballpark figures, and the show really depended on Mura's calm under pressure to pull through. Also, we teased two stories that actually never made it to air, which just makes Team C...one really big tease.
Overall, and at the risk of sounding lame, Katie, Tyler, and Mura are wonderful group members. It's pretty rare to fine a group of people who can really work together well, and they all made it so much easier for me to do my job.
it's my blog
Today is just awesome. I love today's class. I seriously love my teammates and I think it's amazing how they actually managed to get everything done under the supervision of the lousiest producer ever. I did a bad job as a producer because I did not make our team communicate well. I didn't even know how to do a rundown and I had to keep bugging Amy and Annie and asked them if I could take a look at their rundowns and ask how they did theirs so smoothly. (God bless them. They were all wonderful people who had the amazing patience to answer every single question I had.) The climax of the afternoon came at 3:22, when we needed to be in the booth in less than eight minutes, then all in a sudden I looked at my rundown and I realized there were like 50 more copies we needed, including a hello, a goodbye, a weather and a floater. I immediately asked my reporters and anchor and basically told them "We literally have no time left, but can you finish this story in two minutes?" And what do you know, two minutes later I have all the stories I needed in my hand. I was truly impressed by my team. I can't believe they all just did it. I also must admit it feels good simply to have that pile of scripts in my hand. I felt like I have the most reliable and the most supportive team ever, and although it was really rough in the beginning, in the end we seriously accomplished something great.
And then I left the class and the weather was P.E.R.F.E.C.T. Everyone was on the quad chatting, playing football or soccer. I had never been in such a positive mood like I was today. I couldn't even stop smiling on my way home and I kept pounding my hands. I really enjoyed today's class.
And, of course, NO WRITTEN ASSIGNMENT due for Tuesday? HECK YEAH!!!
And then I left the class and the weather was P.E.R.F.E.C.T. Everyone was on the quad chatting, playing football or soccer. I had never been in such a positive mood like I was today. I couldn't even stop smiling on my way home and I kept pounding my hands. I really enjoyed today's class.
And, of course, NO WRITTEN ASSIGNMENT due for Tuesday? HECK YEAH!!!
Monday, October 1, 2007
Critz Farms--Getting the Story
Maybe it's because I'm from the Midwest, but I absolutely love farms. More than that, I love fall. It only seems natural that I would love fall activities on farms, I guess.
After Professor Nicholson mentioned the issues with apple orchards in class, I got to thinking about fall activities. After a little online research, I found Critz Farms. Although it's a bit of a drive, the story seemed promising (although a little soft) because the Fall Harvest Festival began last weekend.
Getting the story was slightly difficult. I called ahead before I went to ensure that one of the owners would be able to speak with me on my arrival. I was assured that they would.
I was nervous about the time constraints. I don't get out of class on Thursdays until 12:20, and then after the forty minute drive there and back, I was facing a bit of a time crunch. So that's when I learned to appreciate the audio recorder I carry with me.
On the way there, I recorded possible ANC intros and talked through possible ways of saying what information I knew on the way there. On arrival, I quickly wrote down what I thought would work.
Unfortunately, the NAT sound I was able to get was not self-explanatory, so I had to change the configuration of my story a bit, but I still thought I would be fine.
Then, after I got out of my car and went into the office, I was informed that the person that I was going to interview was not on sight, and would not be back until 2:30. I started getting nervous about the time, but I still thought I could make it work.
When 2:45 rolled around, with my 4:15 deadline fast approaching, I realized there was no way I could do the story the way I had envisioned it on the drive over. I quickly found a family who had just finished the corn maze and got as many SOTs as I could.
Aside from the torrential down pour I drove through, and the short detour I took when I got lost on the way back, the drive back went as quickly as possible. I spoke, and re-spoke my story all the way home.
Once I got back to class, I was able to quickly hammer out my story. I regret that I did not have time to have Professor Nicholson look over my story, but I would rather make deadline than have a perfect story.
Although the story took several different forms in the course of getting the story, I absolutely loved what I saw at Critz Farms. I plan on going back as a visitor rather than a journalist to pick my pumpkin and play in the corn maze.
After Professor Nicholson mentioned the issues with apple orchards in class, I got to thinking about fall activities. After a little online research, I found Critz Farms. Although it's a bit of a drive, the story seemed promising (although a little soft) because the Fall Harvest Festival began last weekend.
Getting the story was slightly difficult. I called ahead before I went to ensure that one of the owners would be able to speak with me on my arrival. I was assured that they would.
I was nervous about the time constraints. I don't get out of class on Thursdays until 12:20, and then after the forty minute drive there and back, I was facing a bit of a time crunch. So that's when I learned to appreciate the audio recorder I carry with me.
On the way there, I recorded possible ANC intros and talked through possible ways of saying what information I knew on the way there. On arrival, I quickly wrote down what I thought would work.
Unfortunately, the NAT sound I was able to get was not self-explanatory, so I had to change the configuration of my story a bit, but I still thought I would be fine.
Then, after I got out of my car and went into the office, I was informed that the person that I was going to interview was not on sight, and would not be back until 2:30. I started getting nervous about the time, but I still thought I could make it work.
When 2:45 rolled around, with my 4:15 deadline fast approaching, I realized there was no way I could do the story the way I had envisioned it on the drive over. I quickly found a family who had just finished the corn maze and got as many SOTs as I could.
Aside from the torrential down pour I drove through, and the short detour I took when I got lost on the way back, the drive back went as quickly as possible. I spoke, and re-spoke my story all the way home.
Once I got back to class, I was able to quickly hammer out my story. I regret that I did not have time to have Professor Nicholson look over my story, but I would rather make deadline than have a perfect story.
Although the story took several different forms in the course of getting the story, I absolutely loved what I saw at Critz Farms. I plan on going back as a visitor rather than a journalist to pick my pumpkin and play in the corn maze.
Critz farms great family activity
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The pigs, llamas, and mini ponies enthusiastically gobble food pellets out of tiny hands while patiently enduring clumsy little hands poking their faces. Across from the petting zoo, excited squeals of children playing pirates on a large wooden boat-shaped play set echo across the grounds.
The 25-animal petting zoo and play sets are just a couple of the many attractions housed at family owned Critz Farms is Cazenovia. The farm also boasts a ten acre corn maze, hay rides, and a pick-your-own pumpkin patch.
The farm's Fall Harvest Festival attracts visitors from all over the state. During the weekends, Critz Farms is also the setting for live music and agricultural demonstrations.
Although Critz Farms had few visitors this afternoon, the place is bursting with people on the weekends.
Klaudia Salmon, who, along with her three young kids, was among the small weekday crowd, said she thinks Critz Farms provides a great opportunity to spend time with her family.
"It's a perfect fall activity," she said. "Just make memories for when they are older, and help them learn about things they wouldn't learn about unless they came out here."
The Fall Harvest Festival opened last weekend, and runs through October. Adult admission is five dollars, and acts as a season pass.
Everyone put their hands together...
I learned a valuable lesson during this assignment...don't wait until the day before to gather up story ideas! I had several ideas that I e-mailed to Professor Nicholson early Thursday morning (and I mean EARLY) and each idea was rejected, leaving me back at the drawing board with time AND ideas running out. My requirements for a story were simple: something close to the university that was happening that day. I must have visited over 20 websites but every event I found remotely interesting was happening past deadline or was 45 minutes away. Finally, I got a story OK'd and I was on my way to doing my first official news wrap. I started my gathering some background information on Faith Ringgold and her type of work. After familiarizing myself with her work, I began looking for story angles and ideas. I brainstormed some questions to ask workers at the Community Folk Art Center, as well as fans. Earlier that morning I’d also reviewed a bus schedule thinking that I’d have to hop on the Centro to get to East Genesee Street, but with time running out I scrapped that idea and decided to borrow my roommate’s car for a couple hours. Hey, what are roommates for!? (I ended up getting him a $35 parking ticket, but that’s not important) What IS important is I got to the CFAC in good time and got to appreciate some good art. There was a group of people taking a tour when I arrived, and looking for natural sound I politely asked them if they could clap in unison after their tour was complete. So I guess that was a bit staged, but I didn’t know any other way to get some natural sound from some paintings. You’re supposed to clap after a tour anyway…aren’t you? Well the important thing is I got some natural sound. I rushed back to class and started writing and re-writing my script until it sounded somewhat coherent. By now, time had become my greatest enemy. I quickly put together my pieces and handed in the story, hoping that I hadn’t made a critical mistake. Phew! Can’t wait until Thursday so we can do it all over again.
Mother Charged for Killing Daughter
A central
Stacey Castor, 40, of Clay was charged today 14 for an attempted of her 20-year-old daughter, Ashley Wallace, by serving her a vodka drink that contained opiates, codeine, morphine and the pain killer Hydrocodone, according to court documents. Castor was already arrested on September 15 for lethally poisoning her second husband with antifreeze in 2005. Her first husband’s also died of poisoning but investigators have not charged her for his death.
Sheriff’s Sergeant John D’Eredita says this case is different from other homicides he has handled.
“What makes this unusual is that you have a mother who is charged with attempting to kill her own daughter- something that we typically don’t see in this community.”
Castor is being held without bail. Wallace has recovered fully and her 16-year-old sister is staying with relatives.
Following in my footsteps...
I looked through the Post-Standard logs we've been doing for the "How's it going?" type of story to cover. The story about the Syracuse school district was actually my third option for a story this week. I first tried contacting SUNY-Upstate about the construction Professor Nicholson keeps hinting to us to cover. I called their media relations desk three times getting nothing but voicemail and I left two messages. I then called their general information number and guess what they did...directed me to the same media relations hotline. So I waited for a return phone call for about 1 1/2-2 hours. I then wanted to find something else instead of relying on this for my story. I called the Housing and Urban Development (HUD) office in Syracuse about the apartment forclosures reported in the Post-Standard to try to check on the progress and see if anything had changed. I found out that the HUD office in Syracuse only deals with private housing and did not handle the apartment forclosures, so I was instructed to talk to the office in Buffalo. Since I do not have a car and even if I did I wouldn't drive to Buffalo for this story, I decided to try a third avenue. I looked up the Syracuse City School District online and looked for the superintendent's contact information but none was listed for his office. I then wen to the President of the Board of Education where it actually listed his personal contact number. After calling him, my search for a story finally ended.
Have a little "Faith"
| Faith Ringgold - G... |
The Syracuse community is in for a treat this month as artist Faith Ringgold's 40 year-career is on display at the Community Folk Art Center. The "Faith Ringgold Retrospective" features paintings, masks, soft sculptures, dolls, puzzles, and children's books that reflect her African background and her role as an activist. Themes in her work include heroes and beauty in African American culture, the white male-dominated society, and women’s issues.
Workers at the Community Folk Art Center say that there's been a good amount of people coming in to view the exhibition. Alexis McArthur of Syracuse says she enjoys the different color schemes in Ringgold’s artwork. “She uses vibrant colors,” McArthur said. “I like that her pieces vary in styles and that they’re positive.”
Ringgold has received national and international recognition for her efforts, including 19 honorary doctorates and more than 75 awards and honors, such as the Simon Guggenheim Award for Painting and the National Endowment for the Arts Award in sculpture and painting. The gallery will be open to the public through October 20th. The suggested donation for admission to the exhibitions is $5.00 per person.
Workers at the Community Folk Art Center say that there's been a good amount of people coming in to view the exhibition. Alexis McArthur of Syracuse says she enjoys the different color schemes in Ringgold’s artwork. “She uses vibrant colors,” McArthur said. “I like that her pieces vary in styles and that they’re positive.”
Ringgold has received national and international recognition for her efforts, including 19 honorary doctorates and more than 75 awards and honors, such as the Simon Guggenheim Award for Painting and the National Endowment for the Arts Award in sculpture and painting. The gallery will be open to the public through October 20th. The suggested donation for admission to the exhibitions is $5.00 per person.
Staff Cuts at Syracuse Schools
The Syracuse City School District is having to cut 137 staff jobs for next school year. The President of the Board of Education said these cuts would not come by way of layoffs. The school district loses 150 to 160 staff members each year because of everything from retirement to moving to a different district, Ned Deuel said. The district will just not fill the vacated positions rather than layoff current employees.
Superintendent Daniel Lowengard told the Post-Standard the district would rather have less teachers paid more so they can be better trained and qualified. This approach would put more students in each classroom, which is contrary to the Student Teacher Achievement Ratio (STAR) study done in Tennessee. The report shows a direct correlation between the success of the students and the size of the classroom. Deuel said he did not know what Lowengard meant but thought his words were not interpreted correctly.
"Probably what he meant was that we're not going to cut staff development to keep a few more (teachers) and have poorly trained teachers. We'd rather have a few less and have them trained well," Deuel said.
The city of Syracuse does not have any more money to be given to the school district, so the district is going to lobby Congressman Jim Walsh for more federal money in order to help with the financial hardship.
*Picture of Ned Deuel from Syracuse City School District's website
It's hard. That's all.
(Hypothetically speaking as if it were Thursday-) Finding a good story is probably THE most challenging job in RTN 364. I sent Professor Nicholson an email Wednesday night asking if I could do a story on DPS’s reaction to the gunman incident at
Covering the Table
I guess you could say I lucked out. I didn't do very much research on potential stories. I simply assumed no-one would want to cover the Thursday Morning Roundtable because it meant waking up very early and it isn't very exciting. I e-mailed Professor Nicholson at nine Wednesday night and he e-mailed back at nine-17 with a "sure."
I woke up and drove my roommate's car a mile down the road to Drumlins and ate about four bagels while I listened to the Ivory Tower Half Hour discuss. I then saved Jameson's butt by grabbing his mic and recorder along with mine because he had to leave early for a "test." (Test my butt!) Naw I'm just kidding Jameson, I love you.
I got to class and hung out with Richard for almost two hours before writing and recording my story. That is all
P.S. Hey Matt, you mispelled Optimism!!!
I woke up and drove my roommate's car a mile down the road to Drumlins and ate about four bagels while I listened to the Ivory Tower Half Hour discuss. I then saved Jameson's butt by grabbing his mic and recorder along with mine because he had to leave early for a "test." (Test my butt!) Naw I'm just kidding Jameson, I love you.
I got to class and hung out with Richard for almost two hours before writing and recording my story. That is all
P.S. Hey Matt, you mispelled Optimism!!!
Hesistant Optimism for Syracuse Football.
After a shocking road victory over 18th ranked Louisville Saturday, the glass is starting to look half full for the Orange. An informal survey conducted on campus today shows students believe the team has started turning the corner, and are in line to win their next game against Miami Ohio. Seven students polled out of 10 believe the Louisville win, the teams first of the season, can be a springboard for the rest of the year.
Syracuse defeated Louisville 38 35 on Saturday. It was their first Big East road win in Greg Robinsons three year tenure at SU. It was also the head coaches second road win overall. While there is now some hope for this season, the optimism is hesitant. Students polled feel the win is great for the team, but they shouldn't be swept up in the hype of beating a ranked opponent. Of the seven students who felt the team would beat the Redhawks this Saturday, five of those said the Louisville game should not make the team too confident. Also, they could see the Orange look past Miami Ohio to West Virginia and Rutgers the following two weeks. The Orange beat the Redhawks last year 34 14 at home.
Syracuse defeated Louisville 38 35 on Saturday. It was their first Big East road win in Greg Robinsons three year tenure at SU. It was also the head coaches second road win overall. While there is now some hope for this season, the optimism is hesitant. Students polled feel the win is great for the team, but they shouldn't be swept up in the hype of beating a ranked opponent. Of the seven students who felt the team would beat the Redhawks this Saturday, five of those said the Louisville game should not make the team too confident. Also, they could see the Orange look past Miami Ohio to West Virginia and Rutgers the following two weeks. The Orange beat the Redhawks last year 34 14 at home.
wow what a day
Well I guess I'll chronicle arguably the worst day of my sophomore year. Let's start last Wednesday - when I contacted Republican Headquarters to see if there would be a spokesman there on Thursday to talk to for my story idea. I chose Republican Headquarters, because wednesday Dale Sweetland had conceded the Republican nomination to Joanie Mahoney, and another press conference was scheduled for Thursday at 6:00. I was told there would be, and it wouldn't even be necessary to make an appointment. cool.
Thursday morning at 9:30 I had a court date for a speeding ticket I got the first week of school.
11:00 had nutrition class. It was invigorating.
12:00 me and AJ are finally ready to go out and get our stories. After AJ's story fell through because the post standard messed up the date of the event he was covering, I was ready to head down to Republican Headquarters. But of course once I get there, it's just a couple volunteers making signs, and the spokesperson I was to meet with was out all day. Great. So me and AJ both storyless head to 480 NIII, looking for new stories. Richard gives me an idea to do a story about a recent survey conducted by Cornell about immigrants. I said arite, so I gave a couple organizations a call to get an interview. It was no good.
My one last chance was the Oktoberfest in Skeneateles. And maybe if I drove the 30 minutes there, I'd get my interview and maybe some German beer. I called the person running it, but I got the answering machine and left a voicemail. She got back to me around 4:15. Too late.
A broken and beaten man, I went to Professor Nicholson, telling him I got nothing. Out of pure pity probably, he let me do a story about the Syracuse football team. I went to Schine Student Center to interview 10 students, and I got my sound. Eventually, I did my story - late as it was, and handed it in. It had no natural sound, was too long, and oh yeah, late. Oh and probably not very good. I'm expecting a C or D, but at least it was better than nothing. All in all, a horrible day.
Thursday morning at 9:30 I had a court date for a speeding ticket I got the first week of school.
11:00 had nutrition class. It was invigorating.
12:00 me and AJ are finally ready to go out and get our stories. After AJ's story fell through because the post standard messed up the date of the event he was covering, I was ready to head down to Republican Headquarters. But of course once I get there, it's just a couple volunteers making signs, and the spokesperson I was to meet with was out all day. Great. So me and AJ both storyless head to 480 NIII, looking for new stories. Richard gives me an idea to do a story about a recent survey conducted by Cornell about immigrants. I said arite, so I gave a couple organizations a call to get an interview. It was no good.
My one last chance was the Oktoberfest in Skeneateles. And maybe if I drove the 30 minutes there, I'd get my interview and maybe some German beer. I called the person running it, but I got the answering machine and left a voicemail. She got back to me around 4:15. Too late.
A broken and beaten man, I went to Professor Nicholson, telling him I got nothing. Out of pure pity probably, he let me do a story about the Syracuse football team. I went to Schine Student Center to interview 10 students, and I got my sound. Eventually, I did my story - late as it was, and handed it in. It had no natural sound, was too long, and oh yeah, late. Oh and probably not very good. I'm expecting a C or D, but at least it was better than nothing. All in all, a horrible day.
Deans of the Round Table
Today the television program Ivory Tower Half Hour discussed local, national and international topics at Thursday Morning Roundtable. S.U. Dean of Communications David Rubin hosts the program that discussed Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's speech at Columbia University.
Maxwell Professor Kristi Anderson, Associate Dean of S.U. College of Law Lisa Dolak, and SUNY Cortland Professor Robert Spitzer all liked the idea of the controversial visit. Dolak said she hoped if a controversial figure was going to come to Syracuse, the Board of Education would allow it.
After the half hour ended, the group answered local questions from those who attended.
Maxwell Professor Kristi Anderson, Associate Dean of S.U. College of Law Lisa Dolak, and SUNY Cortland Professor Robert Spitzer all liked the idea of the controversial visit. Dolak said she hoped if a controversial figure was going to come to Syracuse, the Board of Education would allow it.
After the half hour ended, the group answered local questions from those who attended.
The story behind the story
I originally planned on going to the South Side Innovation Center for a story, but when I called the center, they told me the Post Standard got the dates wrong for the event. I asked what other events are going on at the center this weekend. I was told a Taste of CNY festival. The lady I was put in contact with said she wouldn't be available for an interview until Friday, which was past our deadline. I went to plan two, which was the Thursday Morning Round Table at Drumlins. The Round Table was a lot more interesting than I thought it was going to be. Dean Rubin and his panelists really hit some good points on some fairly engaging topics that I didn't know too much about before the Round Table.
When I went to go write my story, I knew what angle I wanted to take because Lisa Dolak, a panelist, talked about a local event- Joanie Mahoney winning the Republican nomination for county executive in Onondaga County.
When I went to go write my story, I knew what angle I wanted to take because Lisa Dolak, a panelist, talked about a local event- Joanie Mahoney winning the Republican nomination for county executive in Onondaga County.
Thursday Morning Roundtable at Drumlins
The Thursday Morning Round Table at Drumlins hosted the television show Ivory Tower Half Hour. The show features a panelist made of mostly professors from local universities and colleges. Dean David Rubin of the Newhouse School hosts the host. Only three only panelists were available for the Thursday Morning Round Table discussion. Professor Kristi Anderson of the Maxwell school at S.U., Lisa Dolak from the College of Law, and Robert Spitzer, a SUNY Cortland professor were the panelists.
The panel discussed mainly free speech issues ranging from the Iranian President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's speech at Columbia University to the appointment of Donald Rumsfeld as a distinguished visitor.
Towards the end of the discussion, the panelists talked about several local issues. One being the election of Joanie Mahoney as the Republican candidate for County Executive in Onondaga County. Dolak says she is excited that an insurgent in the Republican party won the nomination of the party and that there is a potential for a female county executive. Her comments received a loud round of applause from the audience.
The panel discussed mainly free speech issues ranging from the Iranian President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's speech at Columbia University to the appointment of Donald Rumsfeld as a distinguished visitor.
Towards the end of the discussion, the panelists talked about several local issues. One being the election of Joanie Mahoney as the Republican candidate for County Executive in Onondaga County. Dolak says she is excited that an insurgent in the Republican party won the nomination of the party and that there is a potential for a female county executive. Her comments received a loud round of applause from the audience.
Tough interviews
I had quite a bit of trouble coming up with a story idea for Thursday (which most of you know since I emailed you all Wednesday asking for help). I read through Tuesday's and Thursday's Post Standard looking for idea's but couldn't find much. I then went to the Post Standard's events page online. I found out about an event taking place on Thursday at 8 in the Hall of Languages that was a seminar about Aids/HIV and its global effects. I emailed Prof. Nicholson with the idea and he said it was OK. So I got up way too early on Thursday ready to cover this event. Before I left I decided to do some background reading on the speech on the website the Post Standard provided. After reading the website I saw the Post Standard made a fact error. The said there was a speech at half eight on Thursday morning, when really there was an introductory speech at 6pm and the real seminar on Aids/HIV was going to be on Friday and Saturday. Great.
So now, once again, I was without a story. After my morning class got out at 12:15 I decided I was just going to wander around and find a local story like Prof. Nicholson told us to. I saw all of the construction for University Hospital and decided to ask questions. First I spoke with one of the construction guys, who told me to talk to a security guy who told me to go down to East Genesee St. and talk to people in charge. I got to East Genesee st. and they told me there was no one there to talk to. After this I went to University Hospital itself and thought I would see if anyone there was up for answering questions about the construction. The security guard at the front desk at the hospital thought I was crazy but called up the hospitals PR lady anyway. She told me that she doesn't do interviews without appointments. Oh, well. I decided to go back to the construction site and knock on the doors of the construction trailers and see if I could find someone to talk to me. After having to wait for a little while, the construction manager invites me in and does an interview. When I got back to class to record this interview, I realized that my microphone for my tape recorder must not have been put in properly since I couldn't hear a word of my interview. With time running out, I ran out once again to the same trailer to get another interview. The project manager was no longer available, however there was a project engineer there and she gave me a lot of information.
Luckily I got back and finished everything in time. Although I didn't think it was a great story I was glad I got to go out and get the experience that this assignment entailed.
So now, once again, I was without a story. After my morning class got out at 12:15 I decided I was just going to wander around and find a local story like Prof. Nicholson told us to. I saw all of the construction for University Hospital and decided to ask questions. First I spoke with one of the construction guys, who told me to talk to a security guy who told me to go down to East Genesee St. and talk to people in charge. I got to East Genesee st. and they told me there was no one there to talk to. After this I went to University Hospital itself and thought I would see if anyone there was up for answering questions about the construction. The security guard at the front desk at the hospital thought I was crazy but called up the hospitals PR lady anyway. She told me that she doesn't do interviews without appointments. Oh, well. I decided to go back to the construction site and knock on the doors of the construction trailers and see if I could find someone to talk to me. After having to wait for a little while, the construction manager invites me in and does an interview. When I got back to class to record this interview, I realized that my microphone for my tape recorder must not have been put in properly since I couldn't hear a word of my interview. With time running out, I ran out once again to the same trailer to get another interview. The project manager was no longer available, however there was a project engineer there and she gave me a lot of information.
Luckily I got back and finished everything in time. Although I didn't think it was a great story I was glad I got to go out and get the experience that this assignment entailed.
University Hospital Construction
The vertical construct in project at University hospital is going well says project manager Mike Raycraft. Everything is on time and within budget. Project engineer Jen Wozniak says that despite a few last minute changes from the hospital everything has gone fine and they hope to complete the project in March-May of 2009. The construction has been going on since March of 2006.
Murphy's Law
The title sums up Thursday for me in a nutshell. I knew exactly what I wanted to cover that day, even though it took me a good amount of time to actually find a story that I found mildly interesting. Point was, I thought I knew I had a story that I could do a good job on. And I had a decent backup just in case for any reason my first story fell through. The Post-Standard's website said that there was an event taking place on Thursday at 11 am in the city - the Economic and Entrepreneurial Fair at the South Side Innovation Center. I thought it would be interesting to go and see if it was popular event and interview a few people involved with the event. I drove into the city with Matt Cohen around 12 (the event was supposedly going until 3) and went into the building where the fair was taking place. Of course, there was almost nobody there. I asked a woman at the front desk if there was a fair taking place here today. Well, she said, the Post-Standard made a mistake, and as it turns out, the event isn't taking place until October 12. Good, I said as I left. OK, so the Post-Standard screwed me up; that's alright, because I have a backup plan - interview a spokesperson at the Republican Party. Headquarters. We drove over there, thinking that a spokesperson would be there (Cohen had been told over the phone when he would be available), and as it turns out, he was out and wouldn't be back until it was too late for me to interview him.
By this time, it's 1:30 pm, and I have absolutely nothing. This is where I made my rookie mistake. Instead of sending up a flare (go to Prof. Nicholson) while I was drowning, I tried to save myself. I found the Fulton schools story at around 2 pm back in the classroom, conducted a phone interview with the director of finance (yes I am the one whose initials are A and J), and cranked a script out by around 3 pm. Prof. Nicholson asked me if I actually went to Fulton when I gave him my script, and I told him what I did, to which he replied the assignment would be an automatic "F" because I did a phone interview as opposed to an in-person one. I went ahead and recorded the piece anyway so I had something to hand in.
If there's one thing I could take out of Thursday's experience, it would be what Prof. Nicholson told me afterwards: Always go to the news director if you don't have a story. Never try to salvage something by yourself, because you could make a critical error without realizing it until it's too late. So I learned a valuable lesson that I can take with me through the rest of this class and hopefully through my career.
At least the Phillies won the division, bringing euphoria to Phillies Nation for the first time in 14 years. So I got that goin' for me...which is nice.
By this time, it's 1:30 pm, and I have absolutely nothing. This is where I made my rookie mistake. Instead of sending up a flare (go to Prof. Nicholson) while I was drowning, I tried to save myself. I found the Fulton schools story at around 2 pm back in the classroom, conducted a phone interview with the director of finance (yes I am the one whose initials are A and J), and cranked a script out by around 3 pm. Prof. Nicholson asked me if I actually went to Fulton when I gave him my script, and I told him what I did, to which he replied the assignment would be an automatic "F" because I did a phone interview as opposed to an in-person one. I went ahead and recorded the piece anyway so I had something to hand in.
If there's one thing I could take out of Thursday's experience, it would be what Prof. Nicholson told me afterwards: Always go to the news director if you don't have a story. Never try to salvage something by yourself, because you could make a critical error without realizing it until it's too late. So I learned a valuable lesson that I can take with me through the rest of this class and hopefully through my career.
At least the Phillies won the division, bringing euphoria to Phillies Nation for the first time in 14 years. So I got that goin' for me...which is nice.
Fulton School District Repairs
A $23.7 million capital improvement plan for the Fulton School District is in the hands of district voters after the school board voted Tuesday night to bring the project to a referendum. District voters will decided December 12 whether to approve the plan. The project will address issues like student safety, security, disabled access, and upgrades to the district's athletic facilities. Kathy Nichols, the director of finance for the school district, said she hopes to see a better learning environment for the students if the plan is approved.
"It should help us just provide a better educational environment for the children," Nichols said. "Safer, cleaner and more comfortable with a few enhancements."
Nichols said local taxpayers will probably cover up to three to four percent of the cost, with state aid funding the rest. Details of the project are available on the school district's website.
"It should help us just provide a better educational environment for the children," Nichols said. "Safer, cleaner and more comfortable with a few enhancements."
Nichols said local taxpayers will probably cover up to three to four percent of the cost, with state aid funding the rest. Details of the project are available on the school district's website.
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