The Final

So after being late to our final presentations, I thought I could at least do my blog on time.  However, I went to Chicago with my friends.  I apologize for this entry being late.

This semester we learned about new technology, twitter, flash, flickr, RSS, final cut, b-roll, etc., etc.  We learned better writing skills, clear and present nut grafs, telling a story, transitioning from stats and context to the personal and the individual.  We learned how to conduct better interviews, on camera interviews, professional sources to use and getting a person’s story.

I think these lessons were the ones we were suppose to learn.  The ones on the syllabus and the ones that the professors and students expected.  However, our advanced reporting class taught me another lesson off the syllabus, a more universal.  This semester’s class was an experiment in adaptability.

When I registered for the advanced reporting class, I never thought video, audio and multimedia editing would come into play.  I expected the class to be news writing on crack.  It turned out to be a completely different experience–the curriculum was still on crack, however.

I remember the apprehension during the first week of school.  Meg, Molly and I looked at each other with trembling fear in our eyes.  We could write, but we were being asked to tell stories with video, flash and other mutlimedia forms.  Unlike some classes we had took in past semesters, this class challenged us to learn new skills, not just rely on our existing abilities.  I was not prepared for this, and doubted my ability to adapt to the new forms. 

Once we started discussing our projects, I realized that we could use video and graphics to our advantage.  They were tools.  We had to use them to do a project, to accomplish a goal.  Some aspects of our projects needed different tools to build and create them.  I needed to adapt.  My skill set evolved from just writing to shooting and editing video, manipulating sound clips and taking photographs. 

I have carried this lesson in adaptabilty into other disciplines.  After I adandoned a Chemistry major fresman year, I thought I never needed to take another math or science class again.  I was going to delve completely into the humanities.  Now, after getting into political science, I will be taking an upperlevel math class.  I realized that if I wanted to excel in the field, I needed a different tool to use.  It just so happened that this new tool would be applied calculus.

 

Favorite in-depth reporting

Here is a link to one of my favorite in-depth reporting articles

It is written by the man, Donald McNeil. I read this story in the paper last year and have not forgotten about it, especially the image in the second paragraph. I thought this would be a good item to post, so we could set a goal in mind for our own projects.

The article is about opiate painkillers in third-world countries.  It belongs to a set of other stories about the use of painkillers all over the world.  This is my favorite in the series.

Building an Iraqi Army

Here is an article in today’s New York Times by Michael Gordon.

There has been a lot of news about training Iraq’s army to take over when we leave; however, news coverage has not been this specific or personal. Compare the professionalism of the U.S. forces and Iraqi forces, especially the conversation about “bad guys.”

We (the U.S. military and government) are trying to build a modern army with Iraqi soldiers who were probably members of a militia a few years ago. They are a cellphone call away from deserting.

How can we build military tradition?

I bet it takes a long time.

The Beginning of the End

Here is my title and blurb for my advanced reporting final.

The Y-Factor: Creating an electorate in the 2008 election.  (Carol, we probably need to edit this.)

The youth turnout rate for a presidential election hit an all-time low in the 2000 election.  However, in the 2008 primary season, young people have become a sizable portion of voters.  The youth vote will continue to have significance in the upcoming presidential election.

This may happen to me.

Bloggers are dropping like flies.

Check out this NY Times article.

The Semicolon is the new comeback kid.

It seems Hillary Clinton won’t follow in Bill’s footsteps to be a “comeback kid,” but here is a grammar candidate that has increasing popularity after being counted out.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/18/nyregion/18semicolon.html?scp=1&sq=Semicolon&st=nyt

The semicolon has been neglected by reporters, editors and American writers; however, it offers a complexity and nuance to one’s writing style.  It requires more thought than a period or a comma.  A period asks the reader to forget and move on with their lives.  The grammatical structure is done and over.  A comma helps simplify a sentence and resembles polite dinner small-chat. 

A semicolon demands meditation and diligence.  It is a metaphysical connector between then and now.  No wonder it fell out of popularity, most readers do not want to accept such a defined pause when both grammatical formations are equally important.

Anyway, I thank Sam Roberts for writing the article.  I think it demonstrates an interesting story taking place in an unlikely setting.  Yet, only us grammer nerds may appreciate it.

I miss my laptop.

My posts have become more and more sporadic in the last few days.  I apologize, but my three-year-old Toshiba Satellite laptop has been temporaily benched to the side lines.  It will not charge and has been sent away to California for rehabilitation. 

The first two days without my computer sent me into a panic.  I cursed, threw a stuffed frog named Felix against my window, and sped to the nearest Best Buy to see if they remedy the situation.  As I continued cursing at the driver of a green geo metro in front of me, I noticed a man leaning against a light pole, wrapped in a scarf and a merlot stocking cap.  He was waiting for the bus and was running out of time.  It was 7:30 p.m. and Omaha’s buses stop running at 8.  He made me realize that I had saved a tremedous amount of time with my personal automobie (95 Camry). 

I felt selfish and stupid for losing my patience when I could have taken the simple task of reorganizing my schedule and planning my computer sessions.  I have a priveledged life in many ways, and it is easy to lose track of our blessings when we think everything of mine matters. 

 The man with the merlot stalking cap reminded me that plenty of people live without our “essential” material possessions.  We should not take them for granted.  But I will still miss my computer.

Your comments on my ROTC Column

Below is my column from the Creightonian last week, Jan. 31. Our editorial board has already received several letters to the editor. The column was risky because people have very strong feelings about the military and the ROTC. I argue that while the ROTC is fine in a state institution, the Creighton community needs to think deeply about its Jesuit mission statement and its relationship to the ROTC program. I hope the column will provoke an interesting dialog, which would benefit the school as a whole. I hope someone outside of Creighton will read this. Do you agree? Disagree? Was it too risky or divisive?

    The ROTC at Creighton University is called the Blackwolves [sic] Battalion, a compilation of students from Creighton and the University of Nebraska at Omaha.

The name “Blackwolves” comes from St. Ignatius Loyola’s family coat of arms—the same Ignatius who laid his sword and armor in front of the Virgin Mary to protest his life as a soldier, the same Ignatius who started the Society of Jesus, which strives for “faith that does justice.”

    This example demonstrates the inherent tension Jesuit universities face when they allow ROTC programs on campus.

The Creighton Community should re-evaluate its ROTC program because in my opinion, as the program stands, it goes against Creighton’s mission statement and because rationalizations for it do not fit within our university’s goal for an undergraduate education.

In its mission statement, the university strives to uphold a Jesuit tradition: being women and men for others, which includes “sharing gifts, pursuing justice, and having concern for the poor and marginalized.”

Although both military training and Jesuit social teaching involve the individual serving for a greater good, arming a country to accomplish a foreign policy objective should not be confused with striving for peace and justice. In an institution that tries to instill social Gospel principles, we as a community should ask, “Where does the Gospel encourage Christians to take up arms to accomplish their goals?”

Proponents of the ROTC program have said that Jesuit universities can “Christianize” the military by planting Christians into leadership positions of the military.

This justification ignores the hierarchal structure of the military. Even with a Creighton education, a lieutenant will not be able to change a pervasive history, which, in my view, is sexist, racist and homophobic, not to mention recruiting practices that target the lower classes.

Another claim emphasizes the practicality of the ROTC — how the program allows more students access to a Jesuit education. This ignores Creighton’s definition an undergraduate education as a totality, encompassing all parts of students’ lives.

Our mission statement says a Creighton education is “directed to the intellectual, social, spiritual, physical and recreational aspects of student’s lives and to the promotion of justice.”

When ROTC instructors are chosen by the Defense Department, the university has limited control of curriculum. There is a reason “Nuclear, Biochemical and Chemical Warfare” is not in the Arts & Sciences Core.

More importantly, a Creighton education is more than just a price tag or even a series of classes. It seeks to instill Jesuit ideals in all students, yet the presence of an ROTC program on campus sends conflicting messages.

I ask our president, the Rev. John P. Schlegel to create a committee consisting of faculty, students and Jesuits. Since Creighton is such a mission driven school, the committee should assess whether the ROTC program executes the university’s mission.

I would make three suggestions to the committee and to the administration to change the ROTC program. First, the university should provide other scholarship information to students wishing to join the program. At times, students join the ROTC when it is a last choice for a full scholarship.

Second, the administration should require ROTC students to take nine credits of Peace and Justice Studies.

Third, Creighton should offer conscientious objection scholarships to ROTC students who want to change their decision after being influenced by the Catholic social teaching, without leaving Creighton in $100,000 of debt.

These suggestions are not meant to attack ROTC students, the war in Iraq or the military as a whole; however, they will ensure the fulfillment of Creighton’s mission statement in one program offered by the university.

Project Topic

 I am indecisive.  It took me one week to definitely choose the background of this blog.  I tend to over analyze, and this complicates my decisions even more tedious of process.

When I was asked to choose a topic for my final project in advance media reporting, I tried to think what a good topic would entail.  It needs to be relevant to college students.  The story can be a national one; however, a reported needs a pathway for it to be localized.  I need to consider to context of national trends.  This requires to look at Creighton University as Midwest Jesuit University.

As a political science major, I have taken a great interest in the up coming elections.  A phenomenon of this election is young people constructing a viable part of the electorate.  In Iowa, 22 percent of registered young voters (18-29) caucused.  The New Hampshire primaries received  a 43 percent increase in young voters since the 2000 elections.  While these are only two cases so far, they show that a portion of young people have decided to care about elections–for some reason or another.  Maybe it’s the candidates–Obama and Hillary are very popular and Democrats are winning more than 70 percent of the young voters.  To be more optimistic, maybe we recognize the gravity of the issues that our country will have to face–global warming, nuclear war, health care reform etc.  Whatever the reason, we are have started to vote.  I hope we don’t screw this up.

Since Nebraska is having its first caucus, and the Nebraska Democratic party moved up its nominating contest, following the front loading of other states, I think the issue of young voters is especially relevant.  Nonetheless, I am worried about the story.  I do not want the story to turn into a research project in the social sciences analyzing young voters as a demographic.  If I can find enough personal stories, the story should seem individuals instead of social groups.

I need to think about sources, though.  I do not know what type of documents to use.  This may be a time for patience.  To start the story and see what it can develop into.  All I have to do is stop worrying.  It’s a noble thought.

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