Monday, December 3, 2007

1. The "beast" is our Nation's need for correct, accurate, truthful information about news, worldly events and current situations. The beast is the need for trust in accurate news.

2. It needs to be fed, because we are a demanding nation. We want instant gratification and truthful information. News needs to be found and quickly reported on so the hunger for information is satisfied.

3. Many things can compromise the validity of the 24 hr news cycle. The pressure to get a story and get it out quick, could easily make using unreliable sources and untrue facts a necessity. Getting information from the wrong source, lying about a quote, making a story out of nothing, compromising someones identity and privacy....all of these could compromise the 24 hr news cycle and make it less believable.

Monday, November 12, 2007

Alicia Harris
Second Life Gets 3D Voice Technology

In the virtual world of second life (2nd life), not everything is perfect, but its technology is getting close.
Linden Lab Company based out of San Francisco launched 3D voice technology last week. With 3D voice people can talk to each other through headsets. This gives 2nd Life virtual hearing and creates a special audio component.
2nd Life is a computer program that people use to create alter egos and create a second world for them to “play” in. “Over 10 million users have downloaded the application and logged on at least once since its launch in 2003,” said Brett Atwood, editor for secondlife.com.
“This is the next generation of use,” Atwood commented. Users of this program can now participate in more creative ways since 3D voice has enhanced 2nd Life. Musician users can join bands and have performance shows. They can also go to concerts and go clubbing. Atwood said he anticipates, “live music and audiences. 2ndFest was held out of Europe in a virtual area where several acts played one after another.”
The launch of 3D voice is making the application more desirable for businesses and universities. IBM and Cisco have already used it for virtual meetings and holding conference calls. The aspect of bringing people from different areas of the nation and the world together in the same virtual room is appealing to some companies.
Universities that offer distance programs may start using 2nd Life with 3D voice to hold classroom discussions while students are not physically present. Instructors can use PowerPoint in 2nd Life to teach in their virtual classroom settings while students can seat themselves there to learn.
2nd life is free for anyone to use on a basic level and there is a premium version that you can pay to use. 2nd Life users have a currency called Linden Dollars that they can buy things with in their world. There are security settings for people who own land in 2nd Life. As a land owner you can create settings to allow only certain people onto your area.
The game of 2nd Life is becoming more and more useful as technology increase. It can still be a fun source for imaginative play or an innovative way for businesses to grow and students to get education from afar.

Monday, October 29, 2007

By the Numbers

The School of Journalism and the Institute for Research in Social Science at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill put on a telephone poll mid October.
“Do you think Children who have been diagnosed as having AIDS should be allowed to attend school with other children?” was the question that 598 adult North Carolinians were asked.
With only a four percent margin of error, the results were 64 percent said AIDS children should be allowed to attend school; 23 percent said they should not; 13 percent said they had no opinion.
“More and more people are recognizing that AIDS is not transmitted casually. You certainly don’t get AIDA by sitting next to someone in class,” said Kathy Kerr, a health educator with the AIDS Control Program of the North Carolina Division of Health Services.

Feature Story

Don's Midway- The Best Stop On The Way To Greatness

The most convenient of convenience stores is Don’s Midway Grocery on Maiden Lane. Whether you forgot something at the supermarket or you just do not want to make the trip to the store, Don’s is the answer for people who live to the west of campus.
The store was opened in 1938 by Don Lee, who was rumored to have sold cigarettes and dirty magazines to boys still in their Boy Scout uniforms, one of the employees regaled of the man whose picture still adorns the wall of the little shop.
The store does pretty well for such a small space in a residential area. Football season is the best time of year, and as most Pullman businesses know the summer and holiday breaks are really slow. Of their three top selling items, Annie Wynkoop, employee, said, “Busch Light, imagine that in Pullman. Camel lights and Red Bull.”
From the mini sausage sticks at the front counter, to candy, chips and dip, to the beer and wine, Don’s has quite an eclectic array of items for sale. “We get requests for special items and then we carry it, that’s why the store is so cluttered,” Wynkoop said.
Don’s has free coffee and popcorn everyday, which helps lure people in. That’s not the only reason people like to come to Don’s, the store always has a supply of ping pong balls and keg cups, for those late night beer pong games. They know what the customer wants.
Ten employees work at the store, all students who work between 15 to 30 hours a week. Don’s has really great employees, who love to work there and are pretty much all friends. Just recently the Daily Evergreen voted Don’s as having “the least judgmental clerks in Pullman.”
“The best part about working at Don’s is the interaction with all the random, funny people who come in wearing pajamas or crazy outfits,” Wyncoop said. “Once a drunk girl tried to sign a receipt with a blunt,” Smitty, another employee walking past, said.
Employees at Don’s can get kind of bored toward the end of the night when business has slowed, and sometimes they play games. They told me of a game they play of which you try to sell the most of a certain item. One particular night they choose marshmallows. When a customer came in trying to buy ping pong balls they suggested marshmallows instead. “We said they are cheap, they bounce the same and they taste good. It worked, he bought a whole bag,” Smitty told me.
Claire Hardesty, WSU student and a faithful Don’s customer said, “I love being able to walk down to Don’s from my apartment, it’s so close. The people who work there are always really friendly and funny. I guess I shop there because it’s convenient.”
Don’s location, although unusual, makes it the best little place to pick up anything you need. If they do not have it, ask them and they will carry it soon. Don’s is open Monday through Sunday, and they are open late on Friday and Saturday nights.

Annie Wynkoop: Don’s Employee
aluce@wsu.edu

Claire Hardesty: Don’s Customer
Claire.hardesty@gmail.com

“Smitty” : Don’s Employee
No contact information would be provided!

Wednesday, October 24, 2007

In Class- Search assignment

1. Washington State University’s known crime report shows that we aren’t in too much danger, but could stand to make some improvements on our safety. Forcible rape is one of the crimes that stunned me the most, especially in comparison to UW. Over 2006 WSU reported 4 and UW only reported 1. In comparison to UW we have a huge difference in property damage. Living in Pullman vs. Seattle has its advantages, UW reported 747 property damages and WSU reported only 200. WSU’s violent crime and aggravated assault aren’t bad, only a few numbers, but with only about 24,000 students the numbers should be lower.

2. For the most donations in 2006, Troy Kelley brought in the most for the House at $305.599. For the Senate, Christopher J. Marr brought in $565,880. For Marr, the Washington State Democratic Party was his largest donor giving $46,615. The Washington State Democratic Party was also Kelley’s largest donor at $42,974.

The Gun Owners Action League of Washington donated the most in 2006 at $58,400. The Republican Party is getting the majority of this money; they are receiving about 78.77%.

In 2006 State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co. donated $803,031 for Oregon. This money didn’t go to any party, just to Ballot Measures.

The largest Beer/Wine contributor in 2006 was Anheuser-Bush in Calif. donating $3,827,439. The Republican Party received 47.29% of that money.

The largest Gambling/Casino donator in 2006 was Harrahs donating $17,841,498 for Rhode Island! They spent the largest amount on Rhode Islanders for Jobs and Tax Relief Inc.

3. On Google, I searched my roommate Jade Sepolen. Several articles came up, one of which was my blog page which mentions her name since I interviewed her for one of my news stories. Other sites were and Opinion –Category Archives from USATODAY.com that she wrote into during her internship last year. A myspace link came up for her name as well; other sites looked like it just had the two names intermixed.

Tuesday, October 9, 2007

2nd Story- Vagina Monologue

Vagina Monologues’ 6th Year at WSU


Students at WSU are taking the opportunity to act and be activists for violence against women in the annual winter production of The Vagina Monologues.
The show, which originated in 1988 and was put together by Eve Ensler, is a series of monologues and interviews she had with women. These monologues share the experiences they had as women and their responses toward women affected by sexual violence. Students act out the set of monologues that the show has and an optional monologue will be added this year that has never been done at WSU before.
This is the sixth year that WSU is putting on this production which is aligned with V-Day. Their mission, “V-Day is a global movement to stop violence against women and girls. V-Day is a catalyst that promotes creative events to increase awareness, raise money and revitalize the spirit of existing anti-violence organizations. V-Day generates broader attention for the fight to stop violence against women and girls, including rape, battery, incest, female genital mutilation (FGM) and sexual slavery.” Students at WSU can take part in this movement by being a part of the production, or by simply buying tickets to the two showings in February.
V-Day productions get volunteers and college students to raise awareness and funds for anti-violence groups around their communities. “Ten percent of the show’s earnings go to a spotlight charity that V-Day chooses, we get to donate the rest of the money to charities of our choosing around the Palouse,” said Jordan J. Hightower, director of Vagina Monologues and student at WSU.
Auditions for the Vagina Monologues are Nov. 6 and 7 at Daggy Hall. Callbacks will be on Nov.13 and 14. Hightower said, “V-Day is an amazing movement to end violence against women.” She hopes that many people will try out for the production and come to the shows.
WSU is proud to put on such a cause worthy production and of the production crew for all the money they make for V-Day. The show has a really good attendance most years. “Last year and this year, getting publicity out for the show is difficult without the CUB,” said Kellie J. Owens, public relations intern for student health and V-Day. “I hope we can reach enough students and get a good turn out to raise plenty of money this year,” commented Owens.
The Vagina Monologues and V-Day are a nationally known campaign and are striving to get awareness out to help women around the world. College students bring that awareness to campus and bring it a little closer to home. “The ‘V’ in V-Day is for Victory, Valentine and Vagina,” Vagina Monologue.

Jordan J. Hightower
Jordan-hightower@wsu.edu
(360)-271-9624

Kellie J. Owens
kjowens@wsu.edu
(425)-760-2276

Sunday, October 7, 2007

Narrative lead

More than 1,000 spectators watched as Sylvester the ostrich crossed the finish line first in only seconds at the Chandler Ostrich Festival on Saturday. Riders race The 400 pound birds bareback on the 100 yard long racecourse. Out of only two people in the country offering ostrich races to the public, Joe Hendrick of Nickerson, Kan. held this race in Chandler, AZ.