.
HASS Hour
"He ate and drank the precious Words - / His Spirit grew robust -" Emily Dickinson
WHEN: Thursday, February 18, 2010
WHERE: Hamilton’s Steak and Seafood
COST: $6.95 per person (plus tax and gratuity) appetizer buffet which will be billed on an individual basis.
Guests will also be able to order off the regular menu if desired.
TIME: 5:15 pm – 7:00 pm
Steven Simms, Sociology, Social Work & Anthropology
Natalie Archibald, HASS Dean’s office
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Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Story Idea: Cache Valley Peace Works
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Peace Vigils
Peace activists in Cache Valley across the country started holding peace vigils in their communities on Fridays right after the U.S. invaded Iraq (the second time). These modest statements for peace continue, umpteen years later.
Cache Valley Peace Works is the local organizing group, holding the weekly peace vigils as well as sponsoring occasional peace marches and events.
These people might make an interesting in-depth feature, and their regular weekly vigil could serve as a symbol of their unflagging dedication to peace—in Iraq, Afghanistan and globally. A recent email from Brenda Chung, a CVPW organizer, reads: “We have revised the peace vigil schedule to 5:30 - 6 PM every Friday, at the same place in front of the Tabernacle. Hope you can make it to the shortened vigil more regularly .... soon we'll be marking the sad milestone of the 1000th U.S. military death in the war in Afghanistan .... and yet another anniversary of the Iraq war is just around the corner.”
Peace,
Brenda Chung
Anyone interested?
.
Peace Vigils
Peace activists in Cache Valley across the country started holding peace vigils in their communities on Fridays right after the U.S. invaded Iraq (the second time). These modest statements for peace continue, umpteen years later.
Cache Valley Peace Works is the local organizing group, holding the weekly peace vigils as well as sponsoring occasional peace marches and events.
These people might make an interesting in-depth feature, and their regular weekly vigil could serve as a symbol of their unflagging dedication to peace—in Iraq, Afghanistan and globally. A recent email from Brenda Chung, a CVPW organizer, reads: “We have revised the peace vigil schedule to 5:30 - 6 PM every Friday, at the same place in front of the Tabernacle. Hope you can make it to the shortened vigil more regularly .... soon we'll be marking the sad milestone of the 1000th U.S. military death in the war in Afghanistan .... and yet another anniversary of the Iraq war is just around the corner.”
Peace,
Brenda Chung
Anyone interested?
.
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Story Idea: Guns on Campus
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Pistol-Packin’ Profs?
News Hounds:
You may have heard on the national news the story about a biology professor at UAlabama-Huntsville who walked into a faculty meeting on campus Friday and gunned down th
ree of her fellow professors. This is a chilling story on many levels, but it has particular resonance for professors, both those who are on tenure-track and those who sit on their promotion committees.
The AP story is here.
How about a story on the pressures of promotion & tenure at USU?
Meanwhile, on page B7 of the Herald Journal this morning (Sunday), I found the interesting juxtaposition of an ad for “Concealed Firearms Permit of Utah” (www.CFPofUtah.com), which is holding “ONE TIME 4-HOUR CLASS” with “Law Enforcement Firearm Instructor DEX TAYLOR” in Logan Thursday 2/18 from 6-10 p.m. and Saturday 2/20 from 8 a.m.-noon.
And/or a story about Utah’s concealed weapons law, which is an issue story all by itself. (Some years ago, the then-president of the UofU, Bernie Meacham (?) denied firearms on his campus. The Legislature, in retaliation, garnished his salary and that of top U administrators. Guns have no place on a college campus, he argued. It’s state law, gun proponents responded.)
So do guns belong on campuses? From the Virginia Tech massacre a couple of years ago to various others (Google ’em), (including a friend of mine, a J prof at a Missouri college, who was murdered by a student in his own driveway many years ago...), guns on campuses have resulted in headline-making killings. Proponents say that permitting guns on campuses will make everyone safer, because the “good guys” will be armed when the whackos start shooting, and so can protect the rest of us. But that scenario has never happened.....
TP
.
Pistol-Packin’ Profs?
News Hounds:
You may have heard on the national news the story about a biology professor at UAlabama-Huntsville who walked into a faculty meeting on campus Friday and gunned down th
ree of her fellow professors. This is a chilling story on many levels, but it has particular resonance for professors, both those who are on tenure-track and those who sit on their promotion committees.The AP story is here.
How about a story on the pressures of promotion & tenure at USU?
Meanwhile, on page B7 of the Herald Journal this morning (Sunday), I found the interesting juxtaposition of an ad for “Concealed Firearms Permit of Utah” (www.CFPofUtah.com), which is holding “ONE TIME 4-HOUR CLASS” with “Law Enforcement Firearm Instructor DEX TAYLOR” in Logan Thursday 2/18 from 6-10 p.m. and Saturday 2/20 from 8 a.m.-noon.
And/or a story about Utah’s concealed weapons law, which is an issue story all by itself. (Some years ago, the then-president of the UofU, Bernie Meacham (?) denied firearms on his campus. The Legislature, in retaliation, garnished his salary and that of top U administrators. Guns have no place on a college campus, he argued. It’s state law, gun proponents responded.)So do guns belong on campuses? From the Virginia Tech massacre a couple of years ago to various others (Google ’em), (including a friend of mine, a J prof at a Missouri college, who was murdered by a student in his own driveway many years ago...), guns on campuses have resulted in headline-making killings. Proponents say that permitting guns on campuses will make everyone safer, because the “good guys” will be armed when the whackos start shooting, and so can protect the rest of us. But that scenario has never happened.....
TP
.
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Calvin & Hobbes Were Here?
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A tree trunk impales an unlucky snowman on the USU Quad. (Cassi Cline photo)
A tree trunk impales an unlucky snowman on the USU Quad. (Cassi Cline photo)Internet Cheating: Story?
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Students finding new cheats on Internet
Assignments, essays being outsourced
In a new twist on using the Internet for academic cheating, students are outsourcing their essays and assignments through freelancer websites intended to allow prospective employers to post one-time jobs for skilled professionals to bid on.
An entry on GetAFreelancer.com — “Proposal letter for MBA final project” — requests a project on a finance subject such as exchange rates or international finance, adding, “first i need to agree for the subject then ill (sic) take the proposal and the full project also.”
Another outlines an American history assignment that appears to have been cut-and-pasted directly from a course syllabus, with 26 people bidding to complete the job for an average price of $119.
Another student provides lecture notes related to a computer programming assignment and requests that it be completed as thoroughly as possible, “but not to a point where it looks suspicious.”
Some students are turning to freelance job sites and online marketplaces like Craigslist and Kijiji to outsource their academic work.
“This is just one more option in a range of options students have, whether they’re seeking things out on essay mills or going a step further and trying to hire someone to do it,” says Deborah Eerkes, director of the office of student judicial affairs at the University of Alberta. “As technology changes, there are new ways of cheating and I would not say that technology increases cheating; I would say it provides another option for those who would choose to cheat anyway.”
Many Canadian universities and instructors require students to submit assignments to plagiarism-detection programs like TurnItIn.com to verify their originality against an extensive database of academic content. Eerkes suspects students are outsourcing their assignments through classified sites because they don’t trust essay mills to provide original material, but she points out there’s no guarantee any ghostwriter a student hires won’t rip off material from another source.
And it can be just as telltale if students submit work that’s a little too good, she adds.
Jane Everett, dean of students at McGill University, sees these efforts to outsource coursework as a new twist on the essay editing services advertised on bulletin boards at campuses across the country, where “editing help” can be a euphemism for paying someone else to write the assignment. Students posting their assignments online for bidders is a new development, she says, and it could make cheating much harder for professors and administrators to catch.
“If this is indeed original work that’s given in exchange for a fee, it might be difficult to detect or find proof that it was written by someone else,” she says.
Shannon Proudfoot
Canwest News Service
03 Feb. 2010 The Windsor Star
Students finding new cheats on Internet
Assignments, essays being outsourced
In a new twist on using the Internet for academic cheating, students are outsourcing their essays and assignments through freelancer websites intended to allow prospective employers to post one-time jobs for skilled professionals to bid on.
An entry on GetAFreelancer.com — “Proposal letter for MBA final project” — requests a project on a finance subject such as exchange rates or international finance, adding, “first i need to agree for the subject then ill (sic) take the proposal and the full project also.”
Another outlines an American history assignment that appears to have been cut-and-pasted directly from a course syllabus, with 26 people bidding to complete the job for an average price of $119.
Another student provides lecture notes related to a computer programming assignment and requests that it be completed as thoroughly as possible, “but not to a point where it looks suspicious.”
Some students are turning to freelance job sites and online marketplaces like Craigslist and Kijiji to outsource their academic work.
“This is just one more option in a range of options students have, whether they’re seeking things out on essay mills or going a step further and trying to hire someone to do it,” says Deborah Eerkes, director of the office of student judicial affairs at the University of Alberta. “As technology changes, there are new ways of cheating and I would not say that technology increases cheating; I would say it provides another option for those who would choose to cheat anyway.”
Many Canadian universities and instructors require students to submit assignments to plagiarism-detection programs like TurnItIn.com to verify their originality against an extensive database of academic content. Eerkes suspects students are outsourcing their assignments through classified sites because they don’t trust essay mills to provide original material, but she points out there’s no guarantee any ghostwriter a student hires won’t rip off material from another source.
And it can be just as telltale if students submit work that’s a little too good, she adds.
Jane Everett, dean of students at McGill University, sees these efforts to outsource coursework as a new twist on the essay editing services advertised on bulletin boards at campuses across the country, where “editing help” can be a euphemism for paying someone else to write the assignment. Students posting their assignments online for bidders is a new development, she says, and it could make cheating much harder for professors and administrators to catch.
“If this is indeed original work that’s given in exchange for a fee, it might be difficult to detect or find proof that it was written by someone else,” she says.
Shannon Proudfoot
Canwest News Service
03 Feb. 2010 The Windsor Star
Monday, February 1, 2010
Story Ideas
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More Story Ideas
• SAD? Seasonal Affective Disorder. There are a LOT of people who get blue during the winter, and the evil inversion just makes it worse.
• Why does USU WANT the College of Eastern Utah? The Legislature will decide whether to approve a merger of USU and CEU in Price. But what's in it for USU? CEU is a basically a tech school, with cosmetology and traffic safety and welding and large-truck repair. And today’s (2/1/10) HJ reports (click here) that CEU is in fiscal crisis. Why?
• Avalanche Danger? I keep getting these alerts from the weather service, and over the weekend heard a lot of booms from the Wellsvilles—snowfields breaking lose. Sources: National Forest Service, Utah Climate Center? Ski Patrol and emergency rescue outfits...
MENDON, UT
Your Radar | Current Conditions | 15-Day Forecast THE FOLLOWING MESSAGE IS TRANSMITTED AT THE REQUEST OF THE FOREST SERVICE UTAH AVALANCHE CENTER. THIS AVALANCHE WARNING IS FOR THE LOGAN AREA MOUNTAINS IN NORTHERN UTAH. HEAVY SNOW AND WIND HAS CREATED EXCEEDLINGLY DANGEROUS CONDITIONS AND THE DANGER IS HIGH FOR MOST ASPECTS AT ALL ELEVATIONS. BACKCOUNTRY TRAVEL IS NOT RECOMMENDED.
• USU Film Festival: Immigration, Part of “Crossing Boundaries,” Art Department, Starts Friday, Feb. 5 (see flyer)
• Speaker: Journalist and Author Amity Shlaes, “What Threatens the American Economy Today?” Friday, Feb. 5, Business School Auditorium (BIZ 215), 1:30-2:30.
• Speaker: Documentary journalist & filmmaker Helen Whitney, Emmy and DuPont Award winner, screens her film on photographer Richard Avedon, 1 p.m. FAV 113, followed by Q&A.
• Summer Job Fair, Feb. 9, TSC—but not about jobs, so much...how about summer scams?
• February is Black History Month. Find some local link?
• March is Women's History Month. In addition to the Women & Gender Studies program gala dress-up-as-your-favorite-woman-in-history pageant on March 25, the National Women’s History Month Project sends the following, which might inspire someone:
February Highlights in US Women's History
Feb 24, 1912 - Henrietta Szold founds Hadassah, the world's largest and oldest women's Zionist organization focusing on healthcare and education in the US and Israel.
Feb 15, 1921 - The Suffrage Monument, depicting Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Lucretia Mott and carved by Adelaide Johnson, is dedicated in the nation's capitol.
Feb 27, 1922 - US Supreme Court upholds the 19th Amendment to the Constitution which guarantees women the right to vote .
Feb 15, 1953 - Tenley Albright is the first American woman to win the world figure skating championship.
Feb 18, 1953 - Rachel Carson is elected to the National Institute of Arts and Letters.
Feb 12, 1962 - Eleanor Roosevelt becomes first chair of the President's Commission on the Status of Women.
Feb 6, 1973 - Government Printing Office rules that the prefix "Ms." is acceptable optional identifying label in government publications.
Feb 9, 1973 - First convention of National Women's Political Caucus meets in Houston, TX.
Feb 1, 1978 - First postage stamp to honor a black woman, Harriet Tubman, is issued in Washington, DC.
Feb 16, 1980 - Mary Decker breaks the indoor mile world record finishing race in 4:17:55.
Feb 21, 1980 - AFL-CIO votes to reserve 2 seats on its 35 member executive team for a woman and a member of a minority group.
Feb 4, 1987 - First National Women in Sports Day is celebrated in Washington, DC.
February Birthdays
Feb 1, 1878 (1950) - Hattie Wyatt Caraway - First woman elected to the US Senate (1932) and first woman to preside over the Senate in 1943.
Feb 3, 1821 (1910) - Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell - First woman awarded a medical degree in U.S. (1849).
Feb 3, 1874 (1946) - Gertrude Stein - Poet, author, art critic; "A rose is a rose is a rose is a rose."
Feb 4, 1913 - Rosa Parks - "Mother of Civil Rights Movement;" her arrest after refusing to give up her seat on a segregated bus in Montgomery, Alabama, leads to Dr. Martin Luther King's bus boycott and eventual Supreme Court decision to integrate buses.
Feb 4, 1921 - Betty Friedan - Author, The Feminine Mystique (1963); Cofounder of National Organization for Women (NOW).
Feb 7, 1867 (1957) - Laura Ingalls Wilder - Author of beloved "Little House" books.
Feb 9, 1944 - Alice Walker - First African American woman to win Pulitzer Prize for fiction, The Color Purple (1983) .
Feb 10, 1927 - Leontyne Price - First international American opera star .
Feb 13, 1906 (1990) - Pauline Frederick - First woman network radio and TV correspondent (1939).
Feb 15, 1820 (1906) - Susan B. Anthony - Leader of 19th century women's right movement; strategist; lecturer.
Feb 16, 1870 (1927) - Leonora O'Reilly - Labor organizer; founding member of Woman's Trade Union League; helped found NAACP.
Feb 18, 1931 - Toni Morrison - Pulitzer Prize winning novelist; first African-American to win Nobel Prize for Literature (1993).
Feb 21, 1855 (1902) - Alice Freeman Palmer - Educator; Founded American Assn. of University Women (AAUW) in 1882.
Feb 22, 1876 (1938) - Gertrude Bonnin (Zitkala-Sa) - Writer; Sioux Indian activist; founded National Council of American Indians (1926).
Feb 22, 1892 (1950) - Edna St. Vincent Millay - First woman to receive Pulitzer Prize for Poetry (1923).
Feb 27, 1902 (1993) - Marian Anderson - Contralto; sang to 75,000 at famous Easter concert at Lincoln Memorial in 1939.
A year-round women's history calendar is available on our website in the News and Events category.
Which Great Woman Was Born On Your Birthday? Watch people crowd around to see whose birthday they share. 750 women from U.S. history are named on this oversized poster with day by day listings, colorfully bordered with images representing their many activities.
24" x 37" Celebrate Women! Poster.
Celebrating Black Women's History Poster
A striking two-color design features original portraits of Harriet Tubman, Sojourner Truth, Mary McLeod Bethune, Madame C. J. Walker, Lena Horne, Lorraine Hansberry, Wilma Rudolph, Rosa Parks, and Marion Anderson. Perfect for Black History Month in February, or anytime throughout the year. 18" x 24"
More Story Ideas
• SAD? Seasonal Affective Disorder. There are a LOT of people who get blue during the winter, and the evil inversion just makes it worse.
• Why does USU WANT the College of Eastern Utah? The Legislature will decide whether to approve a merger of USU and CEU in Price. But what's in it for USU? CEU is a basically a tech school, with cosmetology and traffic safety and welding and large-truck repair. And today’s (2/1/10) HJ reports (click here) that CEU is in fiscal crisis. Why?
• Avalanche Danger? I keep getting these alerts from the weather service, and over the weekend heard a lot of booms from the Wellsvilles—snowfields breaking lose. Sources: National Forest Service, Utah Climate Center? Ski Patrol and emergency rescue outfits...
MENDON, UT
Your Radar | Current Conditions | 15-Day Forecast THE FOLLOWING MESSAGE IS TRANSMITTED AT THE REQUEST OF THE FOREST SERVICE UTAH AVALANCHE CENTER. THIS AVALANCHE WARNING IS FOR THE LOGAN AREA MOUNTAINS IN NORTHERN UTAH. HEAVY SNOW AND WIND HAS CREATED EXCEEDLINGLY DANGEROUS CONDITIONS AND THE DANGER IS HIGH FOR MOST ASPECTS AT ALL ELEVATIONS. BACKCOUNTRY TRAVEL IS NOT RECOMMENDED.
• USU Film Festival: Immigration, Part of “Crossing Boundaries,” Art Department, Starts Friday, Feb. 5 (see flyer)
• Speaker: Journalist and Author Amity Shlaes, “What Threatens the American Economy Today?” Friday, Feb. 5, Business School Auditorium (BIZ 215), 1:30-2:30.
• Speaker: Documentary journalist & filmmaker Helen Whitney, Emmy and DuPont Award winner, screens her film on photographer Richard Avedon, 1 p.m. FAV 113, followed by Q&A.
• Summer Job Fair, Feb. 9, TSC—but not about jobs, so much...how about summer scams?
• February is Black History Month. Find some local link?
• March is Women's History Month. In addition to the Women & Gender Studies program gala dress-up-as-your-favorite-woman-in-history pageant on March 25, the National Women’s History Month Project sends the following, which might inspire someone:
February Highlights in US Women's History
Feb 24, 1912 - Henrietta Szold founds Hadassah, the world's largest and oldest women's Zionist organization focusing on healthcare and education in the US and Israel.
Feb 15, 1921 - The Suffrage Monument, depicting Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Lucretia Mott and carved by Adelaide Johnson, is dedicated in the nation's capitol.
Feb 27, 1922 - US Supreme Court upholds the 19th Amendment to the Constitution which guarantees women the right to vote .
Feb 15, 1953 - Tenley Albright is the first American woman to win the world figure skating championship.
Feb 18, 1953 - Rachel Carson is elected to the National Institute of Arts and Letters.
Feb 12, 1962 - Eleanor Roosevelt becomes first chair of the President's Commission on the Status of Women.
Feb 6, 1973 - Government Printing Office rules that the prefix "Ms." is acceptable optional identifying label in government publications.
Feb 9, 1973 - First convention of National Women's Political Caucus meets in Houston, TX.
Feb 1, 1978 - First postage stamp to honor a black woman, Harriet Tubman, is issued in Washington, DC.
Feb 16, 1980 - Mary Decker breaks the indoor mile world record finishing race in 4:17:55.
Feb 21, 1980 - AFL-CIO votes to reserve 2 seats on its 35 member executive team for a woman and a member of a minority group.
Feb 4, 1987 - First National Women in Sports Day is celebrated in Washington, DC.
February Birthdays
Feb 1, 1878 (1950) - Hattie Wyatt Caraway - First woman elected to the US Senate (1932) and first woman to preside over the Senate in 1943.
Feb 3, 1821 (1910) - Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell - First woman awarded a medical degree in U.S. (1849).
Feb 3, 1874 (1946) - Gertrude Stein - Poet, author, art critic; "A rose is a rose is a rose is a rose."
Feb 4, 1913 - Rosa Parks - "Mother of Civil Rights Movement;" her arrest after refusing to give up her seat on a segregated bus in Montgomery, Alabama, leads to Dr. Martin Luther King's bus boycott and eventual Supreme Court decision to integrate buses.
Feb 4, 1921 - Betty Friedan - Author, The Feminine Mystique (1963); Cofounder of National Organization for Women (NOW).
Feb 7, 1867 (1957) - Laura Ingalls Wilder - Author of beloved "Little House" books.
Feb 9, 1944 - Alice Walker - First African American woman to win Pulitzer Prize for fiction, The Color Purple (1983) .
Feb 10, 1927 - Leontyne Price - First international American opera star .
Feb 13, 1906 (1990) - Pauline Frederick - First woman network radio and TV correspondent (1939).
Feb 15, 1820 (1906) - Susan B. Anthony - Leader of 19th century women's right movement; strategist; lecturer.
Feb 16, 1870 (1927) - Leonora O'Reilly - Labor organizer; founding member of Woman's Trade Union League; helped found NAACP.
Feb 18, 1931 - Toni Morrison - Pulitzer Prize winning novelist; first African-American to win Nobel Prize for Literature (1993).
Feb 21, 1855 (1902) - Alice Freeman Palmer - Educator; Founded American Assn. of University Women (AAUW) in 1882.
Feb 22, 1876 (1938) - Gertrude Bonnin (Zitkala-Sa) - Writer; Sioux Indian activist; founded National Council of American Indians (1926).
Feb 22, 1892 (1950) - Edna St. Vincent Millay - First woman to receive Pulitzer Prize for Poetry (1923).
Feb 27, 1902 (1993) - Marian Anderson - Contralto; sang to 75,000 at famous Easter concert at Lincoln Memorial in 1939.
A year-round women's history calendar is available on our website in the News and Events category.
Which Great Woman Was Born On Your Birthday? Watch people crowd around to see whose birthday they share. 750 women from U.S. history are named on this oversized poster with day by day listings, colorfully bordered with images representing their many activities.
24" x 37" Celebrate Women! Poster.
Celebrating Black Women's History Poster
A striking two-color design features original portraits of Harriet Tubman, Sojourner Truth, Mary McLeod Bethune, Madame C. J. Walker, Lena Horne, Lorraine Hansberry, Wilma Rudolph, Rosa Parks, and Marion Anderson. Perfect for Black History Month in February, or anytime throughout the year. 18" x 24"
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Story Ideas
.
Orphan Stories! Who Wants ’Em?
Here are ideas for stories that are worth doing (maybe). Please adopt these orphans. If there is time pressure, that is noted by a RED *.
USU
* • Profile: Shane Graham, ENG associate prof, launches Radio Cosmopolis on Utah Public Radio. Professor as DJ. (Google Cosmopolis, or find FB page.) Features wide range of musical styles: afrobeat, gypsy punk, reggae, bhangra, Senegalese rap, Thai funk, Cuban jazz, Celtic electronica, tango, Bollywood, dubstep, trance.... What IS that stuff, and how does he hold it together?
• Sean Michael, department head in Landscape Architecture & Environmental Planning (LAEP), on where LAEP will find its new home with the breakup of HASS.
• Student Evaluations: Are they worth anything? Teaching expert Peter Seldin told department heads Friday that student evaluations are weighted at most 10% in many university promotion/tenure decisions for professors, but USU seems to have little else for faculty evaluation.
* • USU Research On The Hill: USU students showcase their research for Utah legislators at the Utah Capitol in SLC on Jan. 28. Contact: Professor Joyce Kinkead.
* • Utah Public Radio—national correspondents coming: Mandalit del Barco & ??? I forget
• Cadaver Lab (BNR 320) & USU student club Medical Unity (medicalunity@gmail.com) • Ryan Barry, club president.
• Other interesting USU clubs?
• USTAR Space Weather Center (TP has press release)
• Utah Climate Center—Professor Robert Gillies
• USU Center for Integrated BioSystems (CIB) becomes part of U.S. Department of Energy Genome project. Profs Jacob Parnell & Giovanni Rompato (TP has press release)
• MARCH is Women's History Month. Women & Gender Studies Program plans a pageant for students/faculty/staff/community to dress as favorite woman in history or pop culture. American Idol-type judging. See Brenda Cooper (or Pease)
• Profile interesting faculty? Who?
--Cathy Ives, general managr of Utah Public Radio
--Chris Cokinos, ENG, writer on climate/environment and editor of a writing journal (I forget which).
--Christie Fox, director of the Honors Program
--Penny Byrne retires in May after 26 (?) years teaching broadcast @ USU. Talk to her former students, on-the-air TV news people....
• American Historical Assn. (AHA) focuses on USU History Department w/ video presentations. See department head Norm Jones and Professor David Lewis.
• LEAP (Learning Excellence & American Promise) is a program of the American Assn. of Colleges & Universities for excellence in liberal education. USU is one of a dozen national models. See Norm Jones, History Dept.
• Extra-Curricular Education: Internships. For many students, the high point of their university experience comes when they get off campus and apply what they’ve learned in the real world: Internship stories. Talk to students, faculty internship advisers, and employers.
Community
* • The Haiti Connection—Local angle(s) on the Haiti tragedy? Students, locals with family, friends, other connections w/ haiti? Check Internation Student Assn., Internation Students/Scholars Office (TSC), faculty. Nick Morrison (Music) once worked in Haiti.
• Winter sports: See Tom Wharton spread inSLTrib on snowmobiling at Beaver Mtn. (1/17/10); Related: Students who don’t go to classes much during ski season?
• Recycling (April?)
• Comedy Night (Feb. 23?) (Lottie?)
• Air Quality (Cassi)
• Harlem Night (?)
Other
*• Reed Cowan, JCOM 1997 grad and Miami TV news anchor, director of “8: The Mormon Proposition,” premiering at Sundance today (1/24). Hottest documentary @ the festival. (see separate post)
Orphan Stories! Who Wants ’Em?
Here are ideas for stories that are worth doing (maybe). Please adopt these orphans. If there is time pressure, that is noted by a RED *.
USU
* • Profile: Shane Graham, ENG associate prof, launches Radio Cosmopolis on Utah Public Radio. Professor as DJ. (Google Cosmopolis, or find FB page.) Features wide range of musical styles: afrobeat, gypsy punk, reggae, bhangra, Senegalese rap, Thai funk, Cuban jazz, Celtic electronica, tango, Bollywood, dubstep, trance.... What IS that stuff, and how does he hold it together?
• Sean Michael, department head in Landscape Architecture & Environmental Planning (LAEP), on where LAEP will find its new home with the breakup of HASS.
• Student Evaluations: Are they worth anything? Teaching expert Peter Seldin told department heads Friday that student evaluations are weighted at most 10% in many university promotion/tenure decisions for professors, but USU seems to have little else for faculty evaluation.
* • USU Research On The Hill: USU students showcase their research for Utah legislators at the Utah Capitol in SLC on Jan. 28. Contact: Professor Joyce Kinkead.
* • Utah Public Radio—national correspondents coming: Mandalit del Barco & ??? I forget
• Cadaver Lab (BNR 320) & USU student club Medical Unity (medicalunity@gmail.com) • Ryan Barry, club president.
• Other interesting USU clubs?
• USTAR Space Weather Center (TP has press release)
• Utah Climate Center—Professor Robert Gillies
• USU Center for Integrated BioSystems (CIB) becomes part of U.S. Department of Energy Genome project. Profs Jacob Parnell & Giovanni Rompato (TP has press release)
• MARCH is Women's History Month. Women & Gender Studies Program plans a pageant for students/faculty/staff/community to dress as favorite woman in history or pop culture. American Idol-type judging. See Brenda Cooper (or Pease)
• Profile interesting faculty? Who?
--Cathy Ives, general managr of Utah Public Radio
--Chris Cokinos, ENG, writer on climate/environment and editor of a writing journal (I forget which).
--Christie Fox, director of the Honors Program
--Penny Byrne retires in May after 26 (?) years teaching broadcast @ USU. Talk to her former students, on-the-air TV news people....
• American Historical Assn. (AHA) focuses on USU History Department w/ video presentations. See department head Norm Jones and Professor David Lewis.
• LEAP (Learning Excellence & American Promise) is a program of the American Assn. of Colleges & Universities for excellence in liberal education. USU is one of a dozen national models. See Norm Jones, History Dept.
• Extra-Curricular Education: Internships. For many students, the high point of their university experience comes when they get off campus and apply what they’ve learned in the real world: Internship stories. Talk to students, faculty internship advisers, and employers.
Community
* • The Haiti Connection—Local angle(s) on the Haiti tragedy? Students, locals with family, friends, other connections w/ haiti? Check Internation Student Assn., Internation Students/Scholars Office (TSC), faculty. Nick Morrison (Music) once worked in Haiti.
• Winter sports: See Tom Wharton spread inSLTrib on snowmobiling at Beaver Mtn. (1/17/10); Related: Students who don’t go to classes much during ski season?
• Recycling (April?)
• Comedy Night (Feb. 23?) (Lottie?)
• Air Quality (Cassi)
• Harlem Night (?)
Other
*• Reed Cowan, JCOM 1997 grad and Miami TV news anchor, director of “8: The Mormon Proposition,” premiering at Sundance today (1/24). Hottest documentary @ the festival. (see separate post)
Friday, January 22, 2010
CIL exams - story
I'm working on a story about possible changes to or the discontinuation of the CILs. I'd love input on where I should go with it - have you heard anything? What do you want to know? -That sort of thing. Thanks guys!
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Story Idea: Student PR Agency
.
JCOM 5320—PR Agency . . .
. . . is the senior capstone class for PR majors, taught by Troy Oldham. They have been extraordinarily successful in landing and serving real-world professional clients for real-world PR and promotional campaigns. Over the last couple of years, the Agency staff (equivalent in many ways to the ATV newscast people and the HNC staff in terms of professional, experiential work for credit) have had an array of big-time clients, ranging from USU departments and programs (like the new Caine College of the Arts) to professional musicians (USU students, the Falk sisters) to big companies and agencies (like MicroSoft and the National Park Service).
The story would focus on the PR students’ (current and past) experience working with real-world clients and PR agencies (like Richter7 in SLC), and the projects they took on. In the process, PR senior and PRSSA president Courtney Lewis won the Golden Spike Award last semester for the best PR student in the state.
Sources: Troy Oldham (troy.oldham@usu.edu), who can connect you with students.
This is a story both for the HNC and for the JCOM website.
Who wants it?
.
JCOM 5320—PR Agency . . .
. . . is the senior capstone class for PR majors, taught by Troy Oldham. They have been extraordinarily successful in landing and serving real-world professional clients for real-world PR and promotional campaigns. Over the last couple of years, the Agency staff (equivalent in many ways to the ATV newscast people and the HNC staff in terms of professional, experiential work for credit) have had an array of big-time clients, ranging from USU departments and programs (like the new Caine College of the Arts) to professional musicians (USU students, the Falk sisters) to big companies and agencies (like MicroSoft and the National Park Service).
The story would focus on the PR students’ (current and past) experience working with real-world clients and PR agencies (like Richter7 in SLC), and the projects they took on. In the process, PR senior and PRSSA president Courtney Lewis won the Golden Spike Award last semester for the best PR student in the state.
Sources: Troy Oldham (troy.oldham@usu.edu), who can connect you with students.
This is a story both for the HNC and for the JCOM website.
Who wants it?
.
Story Idea: Haitian response
.
Here’s a possible story idea: What are Utah groups doing to help Haiti earthquake victims?
• Today (1/21) Utah Public Radio (call Kerry Bringhurst) is hosting a fundraiser among listeners, with 100% of proceeds going to Haitian relief efforts. KUSU had to get a special waiver from the Federal Communication Commission (FCC) permit a fundraiser that doesn't benefit KUSU public radio, which is the usual rule. Other KUSU/UPR contacts: Cathy Ives, station manager, Lee Austin, Nora Zambreno, Tom Williams. See upr.org for contacts & info.
• Utah/Cache Valley Red Cross (Doug Ringle?) is involved (and discussing those efforts with Bringhurst on KUSU this morning).
What else is going on? Church groups? USU student groups? Other Utah efforts for Haiti aid relief?
Some kind of roundup story?
Any ideas? Anyone know anything? Anyone want to do this? If you have anything to contribute, let us know on the blog and someone can pull all that together.
AS A RELATED STORY: I’d really like a localized Haiti story—someone at USU or in Cache Valley with a personal Haiti connection. Tell that/those stories about people here who are bleeding along with people there. ANyone know someone here with Haiti connections?
.
Here’s a possible story idea: What are Utah groups doing to help Haiti earthquake victims?
• Today (1/21) Utah Public Radio (call Kerry Bringhurst) is hosting a fundraiser among listeners, with 100% of proceeds going to Haitian relief efforts. KUSU had to get a special waiver from the Federal Communication Commission (FCC) permit a fundraiser that doesn't benefit KUSU public radio, which is the usual rule. Other KUSU/UPR contacts: Cathy Ives, station manager, Lee Austin, Nora Zambreno, Tom Williams. See upr.org for contacts & info.
• Utah/Cache Valley Red Cross (Doug Ringle?) is involved (and discussing those efforts with Bringhurst on KUSU this morning).
What else is going on? Church groups? USU student groups? Other Utah efforts for Haiti aid relief?
Some kind of roundup story?
Any ideas? Anyone know anything? Anyone want to do this? If you have anything to contribute, let us know on the blog and someone can pull all that together.
AS A RELATED STORY: I’d really like a localized Haiti story—someone at USU or in Cache Valley with a personal Haiti connection. Tell that/those stories about people here who are bleeding along with people there. ANyone know someone here with Haiti connections?
.
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Polar Bear Plunge
.
‘Freezin’ for a Reason’ @ Hyrum Reservoir (Jan. 16)
By Jess Allen
Photos by Christian Hathaway
January 17th, 2010 Posted in Arts and Life
‘Freezin’ for a Reason’ @ Hyrum Reservoir (Jan. 16)
By Jess Allen
Photos by Christian Hathaway
January 17th, 2010 Posted in Arts and Life
HYRUM—Shrieks and cheers fill the chill air above Hyrum Reservoir as another head bobs to the frigid surface of a square of near-freezing open water cut in the ice.
After volunteers clear the icy water of shoes, clothing, lost props and polar plungers too frozen to get out on their own, the judges’ attention turns to the next contestant, wearing nothing but shorts, goosebumps and sandals.
The Tickle File
.
POST STORY IDEAS HERE
BEATS
• Sports
• Student Gov’t/Issues
• USU Police (April)
• Caine School of the Arts (Lottie)
• Logan/Cache Cops&Courts (Jess)
Story Ideas
• Joe Dulin profile (Melanie)
• Air quality (gaack!) (Cassi)
• New Track Coach (Dan)
• Sundance (Chris, Lottie, Cody?)
• Frat house renovation (Kayla)
• Comedy Night (Feb. 23?)
• Harlem Nights (Feb)
more TC
POST STORY IDEAS HERE
BEATS
• Sports
• Student Gov’t/Issues
• USU Police (April)
• Caine School of the Arts (Lottie)
• Logan/Cache Cops&Courts (Jess)
Story Ideas
• Joe Dulin profile (Melanie)
• Air quality (gaack!) (Cassi)
• New Track Coach (Dan)
• Sundance (Chris, Lottie, Cody?)
• Frat house renovation (Kayla)
• Comedy Night (Feb. 23?)
• Harlem Nights (Feb)
more TC
Welcome to HNC
.
Dear NewsHounds:
Welcome to the, er, “Spring” semester (c’mon, it’s minus-3 outside!). Hope you all had a great and restful break and return to the deep freeze rarin’ to go.
The special topics class you’ve registered for this semester is an advanced reporting and photo class designed to feed the Hard News Café with both text and photos, and to give you all a vehicle for expanding your professional portfolios with more in-depth and sophisticated stories and other clips.
The class will be co-taught by Patrick Oden, editor of The Statesman, and me. Patrick will focus (haha) on the photo side for those of you interested primarily in shooting (photographers must have their own digital cameras). I will serve as managing editor of the Hard News Café, and will work with the writers primarily. Both writers and shooters will work together to produce packages that include both text and art.
You will serve collectively as the staff of the Hard News Café. Our goal is to make HNC an even more excellent vehicle for breaking news and in-depth features and investigations. To make this happen, we will meet as a group once weekly—Wednesdays, 4-7 p.m., in the JCOM computer lab (AnSci 302).
• 4-5 p.m.: The entire staff meets to discuss upcoming stories and to critique what we did last week. Staffers are expected to bring story ideas to each session, and we will update an assignment board at each Wednesday meeting, as well as through the week.
• 5-6 p.m.: Patrick will hold formal sessions for the photo staff; Pease will meet as needed individually with the writing staff.
• 6-7 p.m.: Photo staff can work independently on PhotoShop and other stuff in the lab, and Patrick will be available for one-on-one and specialized work.
Staffers will be in close contact with their editors on their ongoing assignments through the week, both for coverage advice and to hand in assignments when they are finished. Deadlines for assignments will vary depending on the story and the news.
Make sense so far? See the syllabi (one for everyone and one for photographers).
The HNC Staff Blog: Please accept the invitation to become part of this blog so that you can file your own posts.
Story Ideas: Please come to each class with story ideas so HNC can get its coverage started promptly. File story ideas on this blog under The Tickle File by date, with as much essential info as you can. The editors also will come to Wednesday sessions with story ideas, looking for staffers to cover them, and we will email the entire staff regularly as stories come up.
All Together Now! If you have stories you’re working on and need angle/sources/ideas, post your story on the blog and ask the other staffers for their feedback. For example, if you’re doing a profile on a professor, if you need a source who has been in a bad accident, if you want ideas for how to approach a story about milking cows.... (etc.) post your query on the HNC blog. And check the blog regularly to respond to your co-workers’ cries for help.
This is a team effort, not a top-down class. So we hope that everyone views participation in the Hard News Café class this semester as a personal and professional commitment. Our goal is to do the best journalism in the Valley.
Questions? Email either ted.pease@usu.edu or patrick.oden@aggiemail.usu.edu.
More to come,
Oden&Pease, Newsmeisters Extraordinaire
.
Dear NewsHounds:
Welcome to the, er, “Spring” semester (c’mon, it’s minus-3 outside!). Hope you all had a great and restful break and return to the deep freeze rarin’ to go.
The special topics class you’ve registered for this semester is an advanced reporting and photo class designed to feed the Hard News Café with both text and photos, and to give you all a vehicle for expanding your professional portfolios with more in-depth and sophisticated stories and other clips.
The class will be co-taught by Patrick Oden, editor of The Statesman, and me. Patrick will focus (haha) on the photo side for those of you interested primarily in shooting (photographers must have their own digital cameras). I will serve as managing editor of the Hard News Café, and will work with the writers primarily. Both writers and shooters will work together to produce packages that include both text and art.
You will serve collectively as the staff of the Hard News Café. Our goal is to make HNC an even more excellent vehicle for breaking news and in-depth features and investigations. To make this happen, we will meet as a group once weekly—Wednesdays, 4-7 p.m., in the JCOM computer lab (AnSci 302).
• 4-5 p.m.: The entire staff meets to discuss upcoming stories and to critique what we did last week. Staffers are expected to bring story ideas to each session, and we will update an assignment board at each Wednesday meeting, as well as through the week.
• 5-6 p.m.: Patrick will hold formal sessions for the photo staff; Pease will meet as needed individually with the writing staff.
• 6-7 p.m.: Photo staff can work independently on PhotoShop and other stuff in the lab, and Patrick will be available for one-on-one and specialized work.
Staffers will be in close contact with their editors on their ongoing assignments through the week, both for coverage advice and to hand in assignments when they are finished. Deadlines for assignments will vary depending on the story and the news.
Make sense so far? See the syllabi (one for everyone and one for photographers).
The HNC Staff Blog: Please accept the invitation to become part of this blog so that you can file your own posts.
Story Ideas: Please come to each class with story ideas so HNC can get its coverage started promptly. File story ideas on this blog under The Tickle File by date, with as much essential info as you can. The editors also will come to Wednesday sessions with story ideas, looking for staffers to cover them, and we will email the entire staff regularly as stories come up.
All Together Now! If you have stories you’re working on and need angle/sources/ideas, post your story on the blog and ask the other staffers for their feedback. For example, if you’re doing a profile on a professor, if you need a source who has been in a bad accident, if you want ideas for how to approach a story about milking cows.... (etc.) post your query on the HNC blog. And check the blog regularly to respond to your co-workers’ cries for help.
This is a team effort, not a top-down class. So we hope that everyone views participation in the Hard News Café class this semester as a personal and professional commitment. Our goal is to do the best journalism in the Valley.
Questions? Email either ted.pease@usu.edu or patrick.oden@aggiemail.usu.edu.
More to come,
Oden&Pease, Newsmeisters Extraordinaire
.
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