Post 32: Weather vs Accuweather.com

Weather.com is the weather site run by The Weather Channel. It seems like they put more emphasis on their features, pictures, videos, and other parts of their site than they do giving people their local weather. The top left corner of the homepage’s banner has a place where you can enter your zip code to get your local weather, but instead of taking you to a site where it has local weather for your everyday average person, it sends you to a site that has business travel features. It is difficult to get to a site that shows you your local weather and other features that will give anyone the weather they need to get dressed properly the next day or to figure out if their child will have a baseball game. It used to be a great deal more difficult to get to a map with radar or satellite for your area, but they have recently put that map on the city’s local page which has made it much more accessible.

They have some tools on the site, but they are pretty basic. They have a toolbar for Internet Explorer, RSS feeds (like every site does now), e-mail alerts to any weather statements, watches or warnings, and the ability to get weather on your cell phone, PDA or desktop. Also, the site offers “Intellicast,” a program that lets you customize the settings of maps and forecasts to make it fit onto your website, but this is not offered free. Their free tool for putting weather on your site or blog isn’t designed for your average person. When filling out the forms needed to get the program for your site, you must have a business name, industry, email, and phone number. I was looking to add this tool to my blog, but when it asked me for all of the above information, I didn’t have anything to fill in those parts of the application. There is nothing in the information about the program that says it is only for a business website, and it is very frustrating when you go through filling out all of the forms that lead up to the one asking for your business information, with no hints that it might not be for your average everyday website or blog, and you finally get to the second to last page where you find that you don’t get the tool unless you own or work for a business. There are no unique tools on the site and it seems like they put more value on someone who is going to their site for more information on nothing having to do with their local weather and more having to do with general weather information.

AccuWeather.com however is a site completely dedicated to giving people their weather and giving people extensive information about it without much other stuff to get in the way. Their home page has pretty much everything someone could ever want to help them understand their weather and what it will be like in the next week. Pretty much every aspect of their site is accessible all from the homepage. They have weather headlines, blogs, updates, numerous maps, videos, services, and even photo galleries.

They have a bunch of different tools, all separated out on sites that are tailored to a specific segment of the people who may access their site. I specifically visited the page for Consumers, but they have pages for Business, Education, Media, and Government, and the tools on each page are specifically tailored to those fields. I think this shows that they aren’t just in it to get people to come to their site and actually want to help people understand their weather. Also, the tool that is used to put a box with the weather forecast on your own site is free, and they don’t even ask you for as little as an email address, let alone business information. I think this really shoes that they just want to give people their weather, and figure if they can get their name out in the world more often, more people will end up at their site through clicking on these tools placed on other websites.

If I had to choose between either one to always go to for my local weather, I would definitely use AccuWeather.com. They seem to find it more important to give people their weather than to squeeze every cent they can out of the consumers.

End of Class questions

Will I keep blogging and why?
I think I would keep blogging, but it all depends on how much time I have once I get a job. I have my own blog on another site, but haven't been able to keep up with it because it's been so busy trying to graduate.

Best & worst part of the class?
I think the best part of the class was that I got a lot of information about how journalism and reporting is changing because of the internet. What I didn't like was that the course was changed within a few weeks of the start of the semester and it was so utterly changed that it really doesn't resemble the former class. I really wanted the experience with newspaper design because that's the industry I'm heading for and I have a decent amount of layout skills from my work at the Outlook about a decade ago, but I really wanted to be able to get some more skills and help with the newer programs. Also, the number of blogs each week was really difficult to keep up with. Even though I have a smaller course-load than many others, I had a hard time trying to keep up with them. Doing 3 a week, like we did at the beginning of the semester was perfect. I could spend the time I felt they deserved working on them and make them quality posts. But when we started doing 5 a week, that was just too much to keep up with. My other courses gave me some other work to do, and I found that it was next to impossible to do everything that was expected of me just in this class, let alone the others. And, the free topic ones were impossible nearer the end of the semester because I was completely out of ideas!!

One Improvement:
I think that one great improvement would be to split the class in half. One half is newspaper design and layout and the other is spent learning about the internet.

What is Web 2.0?

The term "Web 2.0" was first coined at "a conference brainstorming session between O'Reilly Media and MediaLive International" (What is Web 2.0). The two companies were trying to determine if when the dot-com industry started collapsing, the web was going to go with it, and if this was going to be an overall trend for the internet buisness. Dale Dougherty, vice-president at O'Reilly, said that no, the downfall was simply a new beginning, which he called Web 2.0. Some examples for this new web were "Google AdSense, Flickr, BitTorrent, Napster, Wikipedia, blogging...cost per click, web services, participation, wikis, tagging, syndication" ( What is Web 2.0). One major piece of the Web 2.0 is the web as a platform or jumping off point for users searching for more information, user controlled content, services instead of packaged software, etc. (See What is Web 2.0 for flow chart) They outlined three example comparisons: Netscape vs. Google, DoubleClick vs. Overture and AdSense, ans Akami vs. BitTorrent. The first program or website were the mainstays of Web 1.0 while the second program or website are newer mainstays of the new Web 2.0. Another piece of Web 2.0 is "harnessing collective intelligence," or that the companies are embracing the ability to link to other people who have the information they may be looking for or who may be able to add important information to the discussion. Basically, not being scared to link to other sites. It doesn't mean you'll lose buisness, it just means the user will get more information from multiple places. Also, included in the collective intelligence is blogging, where great information can actually come from the user. Next, they discussed how the newest big-thing to own instead of a company that creates things that people use to access the web is data. "The race is on to own certain classes of core data: location, identity, calendaring of public events, product identifiers and namespaces" (What is Web 2.0). They also discussed that instead of having huge pieces of software people use for the internet, people are now looking for services. Companies must change their core operating procedures to: "Operations must become a core competency and Users must be treated as co-developers" ( What is Web 2.0 ). Another important piece is that software and services be universal and applicable to numerous types of devices. And finally, they discussed making the web full of rich user experiences.

Yourhub.com

Yourhub.com is meant to be a site where everyone in the community can go to find out news about their community specifically. However, it all depends on the area. Some areas have a very interactive community, while others seem to be taking some time to get the hint about the site and what they’re supposed to do with it.
The southern New York section, which I chose because it was closest to my location, was practically empty. There was one news story that wasn’t posted by the buffalonews.com, but I’m not sure it can be considered a news story, simply because it was more like a press release for an inline skating facility, Xtreme Wheels, written by the woman who runs the day-to-day operations. I know I haven’t written a news story in awhile, but last time I checked, that’s called a conflict of interest for news.
The rest of the site specific to southern New York was all shovelware. It was all pulled straight from Buffalonews.com. The community calendar has a lot of items on it, but I think they’re only from other sites for New York and not specifically for the southern site.
Bluffton.com had a lot more contributors from the community. Even the featured bloggers on all the New York sites are the same, including one that is from buffalonews.com. I think that yourhub and bluffton.com are two completely different sites. Bluffton.com is successful because the newspaper has made it clear to the public that their input is valued. I don’t think the same can be said about yourhub.com. It seems like buffalonews.com is rushing to get these sites launched, without spending the time making sure that people will actually go to them and participate. Plus, with Bluffton.com, the users are shown that what they say has an impact or is even included in the news the paper reports. I really don’t think that buffalonews.com can say the same.
Also, when looking to see where the money comes from on this site, I ran into a problem. It seems that either buffalonews.com has taken down the page that held its FAQs and the other important information about the site in general, and the site that holds the advertising rates, or they just haven’t put them up yet.

Project 2: Sidebar

The sidebar contains videos that give students advice from other students who are already in college on college life.


“Having problems with your roommate?” by The Brandon Show
College students giving advice on how to deal with bad roommates and how to make your dorm room more comfortable.


“Hello Alice Productions: College Life"
College students go over important college activities such as parking, laundry, and the cafeteria.


“Transition into College” by clari710
A college student gives incoming freshmen advice on dealing with drinking, roommates, and money.


“Day in college life” by Inaecis
A group of college students takes viewers through a typical day in college and also shows ways to cope with the rigors of college life.

Project 2: Links to Further Information and Resources

CollegeBoard.com “Plan for College”
Students can find information about topics that will be important when they go to school and advice to help pre-college planning

CollegeBound Teen Magazine
Students can find articles that will give them information about issues and challenges before they arrive at college and after they are there.

College Confidential: College Life
Students can find information about “getting ready for college & life on campus.”

Next Step Magazine: Your Life, After High School
Students can find advice, planning guides, information about college in general or specific colleges, message boards, and college counselors. Also, the site has a section specifically for parents.

Oklahoma State University “College Prep-101: Helping Students Prepare for College”
Students can find information about pre-college and at-college steps and challenges, along with other information that may be helpful for students.

The Princeton Review “Colleges & Careers”
Students can find information on specific colleges, specific majors, and college advice.

Sallie Mae “College Answer: The Planning for College Destination”
Students can find information and read stories, all from other college students.

ScholarStuff Chat Network
Students can find other students and can share stories, ask questions, or answer other students’ questions.

Student.com: The Student Center “College Advice Message Boards”
Students can find answers to questions that have already been asked or can ask their own questions to the site’s “advisors,” other college students.

Suite 101 “College/University”
Students can find articles written by contributing writers who are either college students or experts.

Yahoo Answers “Higher Education”
Students can read former posts from other students with questions or post their own questions and have them answered by their peers.

Project 2: Story

The day you’ve been waiting for is finally here. You pull up outside of the three-story, classic brick building that will be your home for the next nine months. A slow, excited smile spreads across your face. You have arrived at college! The freedom you have been waiting for your whole life is just around the corner, once your family finishes helping you move in.

As you take each trip up the stairs, loaded with everything you think you’ll need (and naturally, some things you won’t) for the next few months, scenes from movies like “Animal House” and “Van Wilder” pass through your head and with each one, your excitement doubles until you can barely contain yourself. You’re exhausted from moving in, but at the same time, feeling as though you could explode at any moment from all the energy coursing through your veins. It’s perfectly normal to feel ecstatic, excited, and really nervous about being on your own, with no one telling you what time to come home or what you can and can’t do. However, you have to be careful.

“Life on campus has many distractions that can keep students from managing their time and keeping up with their studies,” (Prentice Hall Student Success Supersite). All students must find the balance between studying and extracurricular activities. Unfortunately, some learn this lesson too late. Erin Barraco, an administrative assistant, realized too late in her college career that good use of her time would have made all the difference in her success.

“I knew that I was in college to get an education and my degree, but I also knew that college was supposed to be fun. I thought an education in some particular life lessons was also attached to the college experience. It just seemed like I couldn’t balance the two ‘educations’ I was to receive from my time at college.”

“Actually going out was usually reserved for Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights, but the rest of the week, we spent most of our time in someone else’s dorm room. While others may be doing work, or even at class, I’d be playing a video game or even taking a nap. Instead of going back to my room and getting my books, I would find something else to do, and usually that something else was more tempting than getting my work done,” Barraco said. "Thankfully, I did manage to graduate from Fairleigh Dickinson University in 2005, but only because I put my school work and studying before everything else."

Incoming freshmen are expected to learn, or even already know, how to apply the correct time management skills to succeed in college. Some students were never forced to try to make time for their responsibilities when they were in high school, either because they had less demands on their time or because their parents made sure they obeyed a set schedule. When those students go to college, they have to quickly learn ways to make sure they devote enough time to school work in order to succeed. Some have a hard time trying to achieve the correct balance between work and play.

Jaime Cannici, a 2004 graduate of Monmouth University, learned that without an effective time management plan, she couldn’t succeed at college.

“As soon as I got my first batch of midterm grades, I realized I was doing something wrong. I had never done that badly before, so I had to figure out what it was that I was spending too much time on and then start using some of that time for my school work. It may have taken me a little while, but I finally found the correct balance, and was able to have fun while I was at school, but also do well in all of my classes.”

Students who are concerned about their ability to effectively manage their time can find a great deal of good information on the Internet. One site, prepared by the University of Northern Iowa, gives a student a long list of ideas for ways they could become more successful: “Sites to Promote Academic Success” Also, the publisher of many educational and school books, Prentice Hall, has a site, “Prentice Hall’s Student Success Supersite,” that lists more tips for a student to succeed in college.

University of Connecticut professor David B. Miller tells his students something that other incoming freshman could benefit from: “you’re going to have to attend classes religiously, and learn time management skills, study skills, social skills and note-taking skills, and it’s all going to fall on your shoulders” (“Orientation emphasizes study as key to smooth transition to college”).

Site that I would use from the website presentations

The site from the presentations that I think I would use is imdb.com. This site is a great place to go if I have a question about a movie, or need to look an actor or actress up to see their history. The site is a great one for everyone, not just people who work in the movie industry. It is a great resource for movie research or just to find out some random piece of trivia information. I first learned about this site in my Introduction to Mass Communications class and use it all the time. For example, I just saw “V for Vendetta,” and thought it was a great movie. I wanted to figure out who played the character “V” since his face is never shown in the movie, so I went right to the site, and entered the movie’s title into the search box that is located conveniently at the top of the home page. The page came right up in the search results, and as soon as I clicked on the page for the movie, I knew that Hugo Weaving, the man who played Agent Smith in the Matrix movies, played “V.” Also, I found out a lot of interesting information about the movie, and even found information about errors or mistakes in the movie. From that page, I can access every character and who played them, and then go to an actor or actresses site within IMDB to find out what they have been in before, and other important information about their history in Hollywood.

If a person has a question about a movie or an actor, even if they have only a fraction of the information, this is the site to go to. For example, one night, while at dinner with my parents at a little hole in the wall restaurant, I saw a man who looked just like an actor I had seen in a movie. It was going to drive me nuts until I could figure out what his name was. I knew what it was and what the movie was, but I just couldn’t remember his name. So I went on the site, and searched. I searched by a bunch of different keywords I knew were in the plot (the more I searched the more I remembered), and finally, I found it. The movie I remembered was “Aspen Extreme.” It came out in 1993 and was one of my favorite movies at the time. I just couldn’t remember what the title was. The actor I saw is Peter Berg, and I remember him from that movie specifically, and since I could remember some of the bigger plot points, I could search through them and figure it out. The site is perfect for times like those. It may take a little while, but I knew I would find it eventually, especially with the extensiveness of the site. If it ever was a movie, mainstream, foreign, independent, or otherwise, it will be on this site, and a user will be able to find it. I think that is what makes the site so popular. It is a one-stop-shop for movie information and is easy to use for most people. I think it is a fantastic site and will continue to use it, until, if it’s possible, something else better comes out.

Blufftontoday.com

Blufftontoday.com seems to be the place to go if you live in Bluffton. It is very user-friendly and encourages their users to participate in the site and the news process. There are user posted pictures all throughout the site and users’ blogs are featured on the home page bigger than the Bluffton Today newspaper is featured. On the home page, the newspaper gives the user many ways to contact the paper with any problems and gives users the ability to submit story ideas and contact the paper’s staff. Also, if a reader is having problems with delivery, all they have to do is come online and let the paper know so they can fix it and get their paper out to that reader as soon as possible. If a reader has missed an issue within the past four months, they can also come here to find an online archive of all the issues for the past four months, click on a date, and have the newspaper pop up on their screen.

Blogs are a huge component to this site. Users, experts and even the Bluffton Today’s staff all have blogs on the site. I think that the blogs are an essential part to the site. It gives the users a real feeling of interactivity, and even the feeling that they can control the content of the site. I think that these blogs really give the users the feeling that their opinion is important to the newspaper and to the site. The blogs are given just as important a position as the newspaper itself has on the home page. They are right next to each other and gives two of the most popular blogs, no matter who wrote them.

Along with the blogs, users are able to submit their own photos and video to the site and the newspaper actually uses them. When a user comes onto the site, the first thing they see is a user’s picture right on the top banner of the page. I was somewhat surprised when I opened the page and found a picture of an armadillo foraging for food right at the top of the page. Then I saw that the picture was submitted by a user and the site also puts a link right there for other people to submit a photo. I think that it shows that the site believes that their users and readers have something good to offer the site.

Also, on the site, you can find all of the information anyone who lives in or is planning to move into the area could ever need. The site offers a community calendar that lists any events and gives users the ability to filter through all of the entries to find the events that cater to their interests and hobbies. Also, if you live in the area and are looking for a different house, or if you don’t live in the area and are planning to move to town, the site’s housing advertisements, “Click & View Homes,” gives users the ability to view videos of houses on the market. I think the best part of this feature is that it gives users the ability to look for houses either by their location on a map or by a simple directory. If someone is looking for a house and knows in what area they want to live in, this feature works really well for them, but it also works for people who just want to move into town who want a certain type of house and don’t care where it is located. My parents are selling our house and I’d love to have something like this for our area.

The content comes from a few different sources. First, the local content is provided by the newspaper’s stories and users. As you expand out from Bluffton, other news sources provide the news content. For local news, the site is a good place to go. For more regional and national news, the site serves more as a clearinghouse, acting more as a second-hand source with links to the primary source. But for almost everything besides the strictly news sources, the site is from the users. This is a site that values the people who use it and those people control the content.

However, I had a hard time trying to figure out where their money comes from. It’s possible that it all comes from advertising. The rates are pretty high, reaching from $2615 for a full page black and white ad and $4990 for a full page color ad all the way to $8.25 for the smallest ad in one paper only. Beyond the ad revenues, I can’t see any other way for them to make money. The Bluffton Today is a free newspaper, so they aren’t making money from there. Maybe they get donations from members of the community, but there’s nothing to show that on the website.

I think that, for a free daily newspaper, the Bluffton Today newspaper puts a lot of focus on their readers and really respects their opinions and participation. The site says, “This is a new kind of community website that joins with the Bluffton Today newspaper in a mission of helping Bluffton come together as a community. With your help, we will provide a friendly, safe, easy to use place on the Web for everyone in Bluffton to post news items, create a unified community calendar, and share photos, recipes, opinions. This is a place where you take the lead in telling your own story…We believe that Bluffton Today should be a conversation – both online and in print. We promise to be open, accessible, and easy to contact.” I really think that this newspaper genuinely put their readers first and care about what they have to say. I really like this site, and unfortunately, there aren’t many out there anymore.

Multimedia I'd use

One of the greatest pieces of multimedia that I’d like to see used is the podcasts I found on ljworld.com. I think that through the use of this newer technology, anyone can reach the younger generations. The majority of them have iPods, use them regularly, and understand the technology, so if a site is smart enough, they will try to tap into this technological trend and, by doing so, be able to change the way the younger people see news, or anything else that isn’t commonly popular with that generation.

I think that layering is an essential piece of an adequate news service, so I really like to see sites using as many pieces of multimedia as they can to give their users as much information in one place as they can in order to give their users the best ability to use that information effectively in their lives. In order to layer effectively, I would use videos, photo galleries, and interactive features.
One idea that I came up with is the idea of offering a free archive of the videos, photo galleries, and interactive features that have been used on the site. The features can be searched by specific topics or names, and the user will get a list of all of the stories that relate to their search. While this archive is free, the story archive would cost a user to access a story. When a user searches the site for a specific issue, topic, or person, all of the video, photo galleries, and interactive features will pop up in a list in the center of the page. In a column on the right side of the screen, a link to the stories from the archive that relate to the search and multimedia will be offered, along with a very short summary of the story. If a user chooses, they can click on that link to be taken to the page where they can pay for that story. I think that this would make the archived stories more accessible to the users, along with the multimedia that has been used on the site.
The specific types of multimedia to be used depends greatly on what the site is all about and what the target audience is. If the target audience is an older generation, the multimedia could just end up confusing them. But with an audience made up of users aged from middle school all the way to recent college graduates, they expect more multimedia and know how to use much of the more complicated types of multimedia, so the site’s owner needs to find all of the new technology they can and use it when appropriate. It can add to a story, but if a site uses the new technologies too often, it can overwhelm the site and users could find the site too cluttered for their taste. Also, they could think that the site focuses more on the multimedia and less on the actual user.

Craig's List Headline and Cover Letter

May Journalism/PR Grad looking for full-time reporter/editor/PR position in Central Jersey

Are you looking for a great new talent and a fresh voice? Are you looking for a person with creativity, passion, and a great sense of humor?

I am a May graduate with B.A. in Journalism and Public Relations. I have strong writing skills, both journalism and public relations experience. I am a self-starter, able to work on my own, and have good interpersonal communication skills. I have strong computer skills, am Internet savvy, and have great computer skills. I have some experience with website design, and have skills with designing newsletters, and newspaper layout and publishing. Also, I have experience with news writing, feature writing, and civic journalism, along with writing and submitting press releases for publication.

I am looking for a full-time position in either the journalism or public relations fields where I can find a place to apply my skill set. I prefer a position in Somerset, Hunterdon, or Middlesex Counties in New Jersey, but can commute if necessary.

Resume, references, and portfolio are available upon request.

NJ.com Review

NJ.com is a website where a user can access 14 different newspapers from around the state. The participating newspapers are spread throughout the state, so a user from or interested in any specific area of the state, they can do so by accessing NJ.com and finding their local newspaper. However, there really isn’t any clear indication of how the site makes money and stays in business. I can assume that the majority of their income comes from selling advertising space on the page, but on most of the pages, there isn’t any real advertising, even where there is space specially set aside for an advertisement. I looked for their advertising rates, but the only way to find that out is to contact the site directly. Also, I think that the site may make some money through the classified advertisements that are placed in the newspapers, because the papers give the user the opportunity to place the ad on both the site and in the newspaper for a small additional fee. I would imagine that the site gets some of that fee from the newspapers. I could be wrong, but I also think that they might make some money through commissions by selling subscriptions on the site. It’s possible that the newspapers give the site a certain percentage of the subscriptions purchased through the site. There is even a chance that each newspaper is charged a fee for participating in the site. But without it being made clear, there’s no way to know for sure.

Much of the site’s content is shovelware from the participating newspapers. For example, I read today’s (Sunday) Star-Ledger, and when I accessed the site, I found all of the same stories online, just as I found them in the newspaper. There isn’t any additional information or layering used on the site, so if you have already read your local newspaper that participates with the site, there isn’t any reason for you to come to NJ.com to get your news.

However, there is some web-only content available on the site. NJ.com offers many different forums on pretty much everything you could ever think of. Each county and even town has their own forum where a resident can go to talk about the pressing issues in their town or county. For example, I live in Bridgewater, located in Somerset County (Bridgewater forum). Last week, an election was held to either approve or deny a school board referendum. It was voted down, and it is being discussed on the Bridgewater forum. Also, recently a teacher from the high school was arrested in a drug raid for possessing and trying to buy drugs. The arrest was posted on the forum soon after the news came out and people are posting their opinions as to exactly what should happen to her. These forums bring many people into the site, especially since there have been times when big issues have been posted there before they even hit the newspapers and the public is given an outlet to voice their opinions. A really interesting web-only feature is the “Police Scanner.” The scanner’s description says, “Listen to Jersey City cops fight crime, live and uncensored. Anything can happen out on the streets of the city” (Police Scanner). I think this is a really interesting idea, and would really like it expanded to other towns. However, if used improperly, I think this could be dangerous for the police officers. Someone could commit a crime, and listen to this scanner from a very common web-enabled phone to see where the police are and can have warning before they arrive at the scene of the crime.

Another web-only feature is the Star-Ledger’s “Live from the Ledger” section where the Star-Ledger posts stories and items throughout the day. However, this feature is used very poorly. There isn’t a single news story posted here. The feature seemed to be used for some feature stories, like the “Learn to Polka” story that was added at 11:50am today. I think that the feature could be a great bridge between the newspaper and the web, if used correctly. For example, if there is some major breaking news story, the newspaper could post a story that has the “nuts and bolts” of the story, with all of the information a person wants to see. Then they could write a story that includes that initial information along with any newer developments or other important information, and place it in the next day’s newspaper. This use satisfies the public’s want for information immediately, while also preserving the newspaper.

Overall, I like NJ.com. I use it with some frequency to see what is going on around my town and see what the other people in town are talking about. Also, if I don’t manage to get my hands on the Star-Ledger that day, I can go on to this site and get all of the news without having to buy the newspaper. Unfortunately, too much of the site is just shovelware, so anyone who has read their local newspaper that day has no reason besides the forums to visit the site. I think the site is a good one, but it could be made a lot better, and will need to start creating more web-only news content, or the site will steadily lose users and eventually go under itself. It is another in the list of media websites that will have to start putting more effort and energy into their websites or they’ll go out of business.

Here is a list of all of the news outlets that contribute to the site:
Star-Ledger Today’s Sunbeam
The Times Bridgeton News
The Jersey Journal The Express-Times
The Reporter Gloucester County Times
Hunterdon County Democrat Suburban News
The Warren Reporter Independent Press
Cranbury Chronicle Record-Press

What happened to government making sense? Daylight savings really saving fossil fuels? Isn't there a better way?

Two years ago, Congress decided to change Daylight Savings time by pushing it back a few weeks. I’m sure it seemed like it made a lot of sense at the time. However, as it often does, just because it seemed like a great idea then doesn’t mean that it should be done. I really think that the members of Congress forgot to research what the change might do to the world of technology we currently live in. The past few weeks have been filled with a little bit of the same panic that many people felt over Y2K, and how that change was going to affect the technology we depend on in our daily lives.

Luckily, the change came and went without an apparent issue. I was able to reset my computer’s clock manually, and the change stuck, and both my cell phone and the cable-box on top of my television changed right at 2 a.m. Now, there’s only one clock left to change. My body’s clock is completely thrown off. I think that today’s day and night cycles are different than what it would have been next month, and because the nights are so much longer at this time than they are in April, the change is going to be a lot harder on many people. Also, I don’t understand why the federal government didn’t see fit to change the day of the week that the savings time happened. When it changes early Sunday morning, no one has time to get used to the change before having to go back to work or school on Monday morning. I don’t see why they couldn’t have put it to early Saturday morning, so that people would have time to adjust to the change before having to go back to work or school.

Also, this change makes life difficult for those of us who take medications at very specific times. I have medication that if I don’t take it right on time, my pain picks up a lot, along with feeling just plain horrid. Unfortunately, it’s hard trying to get my schedule aligned with the hours of the day. For example, tonight, I am having a hard time trying to figure out what time I should take my medication. I usually take them at 10 a.m. and p.m., so now I have to take them at 11, but to do that since I took my medication last night at the right time, and this morning at the wrong time, means I have to work my body into the new times. It’s just plain strange!

One of the supposed reasons for this change was to save some of the burning of fossil fuels. However, as one of the world’s largest producers of pollution that contributes to global warming, and the majority of that pollution comes from the burning of fossil fuels, I really don’t think that 3 weeks or a month is going to make much of a difference. If they wanted to help try to stave off some of the negative effects of global warming, the government first must be lead by someone who actually believes that global warming is at least real, let alone a very pressing issue. Then, the government needs to devote more time to solving the problems in our country that are contributing to global warming and just adding to the threat. I’m sure the time the federal government spent discussing whether or not to change the date for daylight savings time would have been much more productive if it were spent on trying to figure out a way for the United States to both reduce our dependency on foreign oil without destroying our wildlife preserves that hold endangered species, and to try to find alternatives to oil and the burning of fossil fuels so that we can at least start trying to make a difference in the amount of pollutants that enter the atmosphere.

It’s a shame that our government continually tries to make shortcuts and go around actually dealing with an issue. To them, it’s better to just throw a patch over the hole in the administration that allows wounded and disabled veterans to return from an increasingly violent occupation of a country that doesn’t want us there and get sent to a hospital where the care is worse than what they got in the field hospital that sent them there. To them, it’s better to spoil a national park that was created to help make sure humans don’t kill off many more species than to find another way to fuel our cars, homes, and an unpopular war. To them, it’s better to change the date for daylight savings time than try to find another way to save some fossil fuels. Let’s just throw a patch over the holes in their reasoning and then let the next administration figure it out, along with hoping that it doesn’t tip the scales and lead to a much overdue impeachment hearing.

Back from Break - Good or bad?

It’s amazing. My final spring break has come and gone already! That means the semester is halfway over and that before I know it, it’ll be May 16th and I’ll be graduating (hopefully). Unfortunately, one of my most hated days of the entire academic year happens just after break. The day we return to school after break is over is a bad day for me, mainly because everyone is exchanging their Spring Break stories about where they went (usually Cancun, or somewhere else tropical that is taken over by college students for a few weeks each spring), while I sit there having spent the week primarily in bed so that I have the smallest of hopes for making it through the rest of the semester. I used to go away every year for break, had fun, and came back the day before the semester restarted. However, that’s not possible anymore. If I even try to go away, I have to plan for three or four days at least to rest before trying to get back to school. So that leaves me with about three days to enjoy a vacation, which is not nearly enough for most destinations.

It’s another day that highlights the differences between me and my classmates. Other days include the day we come back to start the spring semester, when everyone is again, exchanging vacation stories, while I am still recovering from having a six inch needle stuck into my spine so that I can try to be somewhat comfortable for the semester, provided it works (it’s a 50/50 shot each time, no pun intended). Now, on one of the days that is supposed to become a great happy memory, I’m going to have to struggle and fight to see if I can even get to the part where they give out the diplomas. For the past month, the school has been sending me letters with the etiquette for the graduation ceremony, and one of the biggest things they have stressed is that no one may get up and/or leave until the ceremony is over. There’s no way that I could spend four or five hours in those uncomfortable plastic chairs they have at the arts center without causing myself an incomprehensible amount pain, and probably not make it through the keynote speaker, let alone the ceremony, especially since communications goes last. I’m hoping that the school will make accommodations, as required by law, so that I can attend the event, but I don’t know what they’ll be able to do for me, or if they’ll even be willing to work with me to find a way I can participate in the ceremony without the excruciating pain.

But, first, I have to make it to graduation. Hopefully, I will, but with my back, there’s no promises, which is what makes life so difficult. I could feel fantastic today, better than I’ve felt in ages, but then tomorrow be right back in the same pain nightmare I’ve had for the past four years. Everyone keeps telling me that I'll be fine, and my parents keep assuring me that they'll do whatever it takes, even if they have to hire a limo to drive me (that would be pretty nice. I'd actually be able to get something done on the way, and not have to deal with the traffic on 287, which makes that idea all the more attractive to me!) As the pain has gotten worse, the unpredictability has gotten increasingly worse, which is what worries me the most. My pain has been really bad this week, even though I was resting as much as possible, so who knows if I’ll make it through next week, let alone the next two months. I just don’t know if I’ll be able to stand it if I don’t make it to graduation again. This is the first time I have managed to attend a full-time schedule in the spring semester after another full-time schedule from the fall semester. I haven’t had a solid year of full-time classes in the past 4 years, and the spring semesters are always the worst. If I didn’t have to drop all but one of my classes last spring, I would have been done in January, but because I dropped three of them, I had to return for this semester. I don’t want that to happen again. I don’t think there would be any way to control the level of depression and disappointment I’d have if I don’t get it done with this time. All of my friends have graduated and gotten jobs, so I’m behind my generation (I graduated from high school in 1999.), but I’m so much older than most of my classmates, I’m ahead of that generation too. It’s sort of a generational limbo that is most uncomfortable. It’s just another thing to add to the list of difficulties I’ve found since starting this nightmare four years ago.

LJWorld.com

The Lawrence Journal World newspaper serves Lawrence, Kansas, and the University of Kansas. The paper owns both Lawerence.com, a website especially designed for college students, KUSports.com, the website that follows the university’s sports, and 6NewsLawrence.com, the television station that covers the same area as the newspaper. I think that they spend more time and money having many websites to cover all of their demographics, than on their own website. There’s very little, if any, layering on the site, but their use of multimedia is interesting.

When you go to the World’s webpage, the entire left column is filled with different sections of the site, including the Local section, which includes everything anyone could ever want to know about the community, including “school news,” “Crime, fire, courts,” “Kansas Legislature,” and “Politics,” just to name a few. The section descriptions are very detailed, so the people who go to the site looking for something specific can find what they need quickly.

The story pages are even more interesting. They have features that I haven’t seen on a news site before. First, along with the standard, “E-mail Story” and “Printer-friendly” options, they also list “iPod Friendly” and even “E-mail Editor” options. These interactive two features are really interesting. The news story was probably also covered on either television or radio stations, so I assume that by “iPod friendly” they mean that it is the story as it was presented on either of those stations since they would produce the audio content easily. Then, the “E-mail Editor” feature gives you the ability to ask questions or send comments directly to the editor through your email system, right from the text of the story, making it easier for the reader to quote directly from the story when creating their email.

Unfortunately, there isn’t much layering in their local stories, or at least any of the 15 stories I looked at. The site gives you the ability to post comments directly to the story, but there are no links to any other stories or other content that links directly to the subject of the story. One of the stories in the sports section breaks the trend, titled “Extra Minutes: Kansas 88, Texas 84 (OT),” and includes links to other interviews of the players and coaches, and press conferences. Unfortunately, the trend continues beyond this one story. Other sports articles have no layering whatsoever, just like the local sections. It appears that when the story is about a specific game, they include the same links to the same interviews with each story. They may use layering in some places, but it isn’t much, and when it is there, it is a very poor quality of layering.

The multimedia is a different story. The site has some very interesting multimedia options. One option is the online chats they offer with members of the community. For the next few weeks, the people being chatted with are all candidates for the upcoming school board elections. Each week, they have a different candidate and the public can go to the online chat site to submit questions before the chat begins. I’m not sure if that really qualifies it as a chat, since usually chatting means a two-way conversation where one person is asking a question and another is answering it with spontaneous responses, but I think it is a great feature because it gives the public a way to get their questions answered, especially with elections. There are always questions from the public asking about the candidate’s stance on a certain issue because they never cover it in any of their public appearances, or even that the candidate didn’t think it was important. It also gives the candidate a way to be able to talk to their supporters or those that may oppose them, and find out what they have to do to make everyone happy, which can be very beneficial in a campaign, especially one for the school board (my mom was on our school board for years, and was even elected as president during one of their most tumultuous periods because she knew what the people wanted and the public knew that they could trust her).

Another great multimedia feature is their Discussion Boards. On some news websites, the discussions are controlled by the site’s owners and the topics are carefully selected to prevent fighting or inappropriate comments, and make the boards cheaper and easier to run. On this site, the discussion boards seem to be more of a “letter to the editor” section with the ability to comment. It doesn’t seem to be the classic discussion board that uses threads and direct comments. The letter or article is published and people comment on it. No matter how the discussions are run, they seem to be popular. A letter to the editor was written about Ann Coulter and how she should be given more respect. Obviously, this was a major issue within the community because the story had 301 comments. This section looks like it is a big draw for the site, bringing many readers in to be able to comment on letters they may have read in the print edition. I know I have read many letters to the editor in our local newspaper, The Courier News, and have been dying to respond anonymously (so that I don’t destroy or negatively impact their reputations by saying something the conservative Republican majority may find offensive. My parents have a strong and very busy public life, but there have been some letters I really have to restrain myself from writing because I know I’d do damage to their reputations if I did.), so if I could find a way to do that online, I’d be on there pretty much every day. Also, the discussions are prominently displayed on the right side of most pages, so people have ready access to them and are more likely to go to the page since they don’t have to dig around to get to it.

Another section, called Take a Stand, gives readers the ability to write an article on a topic that concerns them. They can give their opinions or feelings on an event or prevalent issue. I don’t think that every article they receive is published on the side, but I do think that if it is well written, and that the paper has gotten a lot of questions or concerns about that one issue, they will publish it on their website in this section. It is another way they are able to give their public a voice. I think this is another great way for people to be able to express their opinions for all to hear (or read). If I were a politician in this general area, I would be checking in on this and other areas on the site daily to make sure I know what the people want and can respond directly to their concerns.

There is one page that can lead you to three other intriguing sections of the site. The page is called “Most Popular Items,” but is somewhat hard to find. I went through the “Most Active Discussions” (where you find the discussion boards) box on the right side of the page, and then clicked on the “Most Popular Items” link that was on the page above the content, showing a user’s path (I’m not sure how it works, but I know I didn’t get there the way that path said.). They have three “most popular” options: “Most e-mailed stories,” “Most active story discussions,” and, even “Most e-mailed obituaries.” I can understand the first two and their importance, but the third one I don’t quite understand. How often do people in Lawrence, Kansas e-mail someone an interesting obituary?

Overall, LJWorld.com is a great site for local news. It gives a user every topic they could ever want, and most directly from the homepage, making it easier for them to use, and in turn, making it a place people will go because it is so simple to get to the information they want. However, they don’t seem to use layering much at all. From the example we discussed in class with a story about a band playing in the area, I went and checked through the music sections, only to find that it takes you to Lawrence.com, the site that was targeted to the college students. Even on that site, there weren’t any links to related content, except for their great event calendar. Beyond that, the content on the right side of the page was all about other bands and other events. LJWorld.com however, does use multimedia features well. I’m very impressed with the iPod compatible stories. I think it is a great way to cater to my and younger generations, and give people the ability to download a few stories first thing in the morning before they run off to work, and then listen to them on the way there. Overall, the site is a good source for news, as long as you are in Lawrence, Kansas, but I also think it’s a great example for other sites to follow for everything except layering.

Buzzmachine.com

“… journalism is evolving – at long last – and actually growing, and that’s what makes this such an exciting time to get into the news business (Guardian Column: Teaching Journalism)…” Mr. Jarvis makes a good point. It is a great “time to get into the news business.” However, it’s also a terrifying “time to get into the news business.” Being able to write doesn’t count anymore. Being able to string four words together doesn’t matter anymore. As long as you know how to write in HTML text, put together video on a website, use graphics effectively, you’ll have to beat newspapers off with a stick, especially if you know how to write too.

I think that Jeff Jarvis has a different opinion than I do. I believe that newspapers will always be used by some part of the population as a source for their news. There’s something about reading a newspaper in the morning while drinking a cup of coffee, or spending the morning on a Sunday, reading each page of the usually huge Sunday editions. Mr. Jarvis sees the newspaper industry moving into the internet age and sees companies putting a stronger focus on their websites as opposed to their newspaper. Many of the articles on his website, www.buzzmachine.com, are focused on the newer side of journalism and what journalism is becoming. I think he knows better than most where journalism is heading because he is involved in so many different parts of the news industry.

Recently, he wrote an article about a staff meeting he attended at the Guardian newspaper. “Alan Rusbridger, editor-in-chief of the Guardian, told the staff at his newspaper that now ‘all journalists work for the digital platform’ and that they should regard ‘its demands as preeminent’” (The Web is Preeminent). In other words, the print piece of their operation is now taking a back seat to the internet piece of the operation. In my post about the future of journalism, many people believe that there could be a great future if newspaper outlets will use the internet to allow a reader to dig deeper into a story they read in that day’s newspaper. I really think that Rusbridger has it wrong. I think that there could be a great balance between the two different types of news sources, as long as editors and corporate officers understand the great possibilities the pair of news outlets can open up if they put them together correctly.

Another interesting development Jarvis wrote about from the Guardian was their proposed “Draft Principles of 24/7 Working.” In this list of guidelines for their writers, they contradict themselves numerous times. They begin by writing:
- “Web users expect to read about news when it happens.”
- "Our website is crucial to our digital strategy and to the future of the
Guardian & Observer.”
- “The international purpose and reach of the Guardian & Observer cannot be
achieved by current publication schedules.”

However, they then continue on to say:
- "In any circumstances where speed might compromise trust, we should place a
greater emphasis on trust.”
- “We recognize that much of our best journalism takes time, patience and
diligent research.”
- “24/7 means we publish material around the clock across seven days rather than
(as at present) for 16 hours a day across five days.”
- “It means publishing more of our news according to the demands of the web
rather than the rhythms and expectations of a newspaper.”
- “Our production processes must reflect the needs of the web (e.g. the use of
web-friendly headlines as well as newspaper headlines, links, tagging, key
wording and so on.)”
- “All journalists across Guardian, GU and Observer will be expected to work
according to the above principles” (The Web is Preeminent).

The editors and powers that be are telling their employees that speed is essential, and that the web site must be the best is can be and have all of the most recent news developments or else they won’t have a job because the company will go bankrupt. However, in the next breath, they seem to say that speed isn’t essential because trust and having an accurate story is more important than having it on the web first. They are also telling their employees that they’ll no longer be working even remotely normal hours, as the newsroom will have to be staffed (either in person or by telecommuting) continuously and there will always be someone working because they have to be publishing 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Also, throughout the entire list, the company is making it very clear that the newspaper has now taken a backseat to the website and that if someone doesn’t like that, they can find somewhere else to work. So the employees are supposed to be continuously filing stories, as quick as they can after the news event happens, but must be accurate while their editor is breathing down their neck because the story must be posted quickly, and the newspaper is not nearly as important as the website. It seems like they are looking for a newspaper-type writing style, with accuracy and trust being held as important, but the news has to be posted now, which seems to cancel out some of the ability of their to be accurate, since mistakes are almost promised when someone is rushed.

There are pros and cons to new face of journalism. Unfortunately, times are changing. I think that the old school idea of a reporter who goes around with their pad and maybe a camera and asks questions of everyone they can find at the scene is gone. Now, it’s all emails, phone calls, and the internet. Something that Jarvis said really resounded to me. He said, “The real lesson in all of this, I think, is not about tools, skills, or business forecasting. It is about embracing change, instilling a culture of innovation and experimentation and a willingness to question and try and fail. That is what the news business needs most today” (Guardian Column: Teaching Journalism).

Common Courtesy Part II: Human bodily noises - Keep them to yourself before I lose my mind! Please

Now, I usually try to use my assigned blog posts to talk about something important to me and things that should be important to more people than just me, like my other post today about the Voices of Chronic Pain survey (some really interesting results, check it out!). However, there is this one thing that has been driving me insane and I figured this might be a good forum for airing that one. Human noises: those noises that we make when chewing, eating, drinking, coughing, and all of that stuff. How has it become so hard to keep these noises to ourselves??

I was in a class last week and for the entire class, the guy who sits next to me was clearing his throat. Never an actual cough, just clearing his throat every 3 to 7 seconds for the entire length of the class (thankfully, it was only an hour long because if it was any longer, I think I would have serious issues not losing my frikin’ mind!). He’d clear his throat, then take a sip of the coke he had with him, then a few seconds would go by, and he’d do it all over again. By about 15 minutes into the hour-long class, he was out of soda, but didn’t stop clearing his throat. I couldn’t concentrate in the slightest on what the professor was talking about, which is problematic because he was talking about this huge major project we have due soon. I had to fill in my blanks by comparing my notes with some people I’ve made friends with in my class (this is one of those times I am glad I tend to be a really friendly person!). It was completely driving me insane! I just wanted to scream at him, “Can’t you just go outside and have a good coughing fit like a normal person?!?” I’m terrified about class tomorrow. I really hope that he doesn’t have bronchitis! If it were me, I would have gotten up and gone out into the hallway and cough until the need to stopped. If I had bronchitis, which I get with some frequency (2 times since January), I’d break out my emergency cough drops, make sure I had something to drink that would last me the entire class, and deal with it. I won’t even blow my nose in the classroom because I don’t want to irritate or distract someone else in my classroom.

The second person who got to me with the bodily noises was in my next class last Thursday (2 people, in 2 classes, back to back – yeah, my tolerance levels were toast by that class). Thankfully, our class had moved out of the tiny conference room in the communications department offices where two people had to stand each class because there was no room for them and no room to even put chairs if we could find them. So we finally got a classroom, but everyone hadn’t heard yet, so there were people trickling into the room we were moved to after we had already started class. So, the last person came in and sat next to me. No big deal. I don’t mind strange people sitting next to me. It’s always a possibility of making a new acquaintance. However, when she sat down, I heard it. She pulled out some Trident gum (I chew the same on the rare occasion I feel the need, but never in front of everyone for this exact reason!) and proceeded to pop two pieces into her mouth. I immediately went, “Oh good God NO! Not again!!” My instincts were correct. She put the image of Elsie the cow into my head, but not because of the way she looked, because of the way she chews. The entire hour and a half of my class (It’s a 2 hour 45 minute class, so thankfully we only had the room until 4pm), she was sitting next to me, smacking her lips and the gum the entire class. She didn’t stop at any point! Just kept smacking and chewing, smacking and chewing, and popping, and smacking and chewing. I was starting to twitch by the time we got out of there.

I refuse to eat in my classes, simply because I don’t want to disturb the people next to me. If I must eat something, I grab something small and something that doesn’t cause the loud chewing noises some things like crackers and cookies do. I’ll grab a hot pretzel from the student center and eat just enough where my medication isn’t going to make me feel like I’m going to be sick or is too overpowering for me to concentrate in class. Also, I won’t chew gum in class, or pretty much anywhere. If I feel the need to freshen my breath before going to class, or the dentist, or hypothetically on a date, I will chew a piece or two for a few minutes, and then take it out before I get to a place where I might annoy someone else. My father told me once when I was a kid that I chew like a cow when chewing gum and to knock it off. So I don’t chew gum around people anymore to avoid either grossing someone out or irritating them like other do me. If I have to cough badly and it’s not a small cough I can get away with in the classroom, I will get up and leave the room so that I don’t interrupt the class. If I have a runny nose, I will go out of the classroom and blow my nose so that I don’t spend the entire class sniffling and bother a neighboring student.

I don’t know why it seems like I am the only person who has that kind of consideration for others in my classes. Maybe because I am older than pretty much 99.9% of my classmates, or maybe because I just have a higher sensitivity level about it than others and won’t do something that I know would annoy the crud out of me in front of other people.

I just don’t think it is too much to ask that people be respectful to others. I don’t know why people can’t keep those noises to themselves. Please, for the sake of your neighbors, think about it! If you can hear yourself chewing, don’t chew gum or eat in class. Make the time beforehand or take the time after class. If you know you’re going to be coughing, bring some cough drops, or something to drink that will last the entire class. Have the courtesy of getting up and leaving the classroom if you’re having a coughing fit so that others in the class don’t have problems hearing the professor. I missed every 4th or 5th word from my professor last Thursday because the guy next to me was coughing. Please, have some consideration. Give your neighbors a break! Spread the word! Let’s start a campaign! No more human bodily noises in class! Let’s have a strike! Yes, I’m being funny. Seriously, just have some consideration. If it would drive you nuts if someone else does it near you, then it will probably annoy the crud out of someone else when you do it.

Voices of Chronic Pain

A national study was recently performed by the American Pain Foundation and was sponsored by Endo Pharmaceuticals to see the ways that chronic pain affects the sufferer’s life. The results were published in May of 2006. I actually participated in the survey, and wasn’t very surprised at the results, but others in the public may be shocked to see the actual extent of the impact this disability has on our lives.

A little over half (51%) of the survey’s respondents said that they feel they have little or no control over their pain. Also, 96 percent said that controlling their breakthrough pain (pain that is above their constant pain levels; for me, this type of pain is caused by picking something up that I shouldn’t have, driving for an extended period of time, and everything that going to school entails, including the drive, sitting in classes, and moving between classes carrying weight on my back.) was important or very important to them, but the results show that this type of pain is too often under-treated by doctors so “the typical chronic pain patient using opioids to control their pain experiences breakthrough pain or severe flares about twice each day, or 14.53 times each week.”

More than three quarters of chronic pain patients said that they feel depressed, have trouble concentrating, and that their energy levels have been affected because of their pain. Depression is very common in chronic pain patients. I haven’t been off of an anti-depressant for more than about a year in the past four years. As soon as our pain increases or something else is taken away from us because of the pain, our depression inevitably spikes. Someone once told me that all chronic pain patients have to grieve over the loss of their lives because their lives are gone. Our lives are nothing like they were before this happened to us and we have to realize that we will never be that person again. It’s hard to say the very least. Our lives now begin as soon as the pain started because we changed so utterly that there’s not a single piece of our lives that hasn’t been affected by the pain. It’s hard to work through, but if a chronic pain patient doesn’t, they will never be able to move on to dealing with the pain instead of wallowing in it.

Some people have questioned the validity and applicability of the results because a pharmaceutical company sponsored the study. They say that the only reason they were willing to finance the study was because they could use the results in future marketing campaigns and commercials to specifically target chronic pain sufferers. However, I disagree. I think that the results of the study show, without question, that chronic pain negatively impacts almost every facet of our lives. These results can be used to promote better understanding about what this disability really is about. Many people underestimate exactly how hard this life is, or refuse to believe that anyone could really survive a life like this without going insane, or being completely dependent on others, or even kill themselves because of the constant, unending pain.

My biggest hope with these results is that they can help lead to more research that looks at ways to help us deal with the pain more effectively and even lead to the development of new and better pain medications that will treat the pain and help reduce the amount of suffering we have to go through because of our disability.

Voices of Chronic Pain Survey Results

The Effect of the Internet on Newspapers

The internet has revolutionized the way the public gets their news. A person can go online for the most up-to-date stories and then can see a video about the story, can read blogs by other people to help them decide how they feel about the issue, and then can post their opinions and insights on a message board, all on a news site and all in one place. The internet has and will have its effect on all sorts of media outlets, but especially newspapers. Newspapers do not have the immediacy of the internet because between the time the newspaper is printed and the time it reaches the public, the news is old and the public has already moved onto newer stories. The newspapers must evolve, and start using the internet as a tool to reach and keep readers. If the newspapers refuse to see the internet as a tool, they will lose advertisers and go out of business. However, some people believe that journalists will always have a place on the internet, no matter how popular “public journalism” becomes, because the public will always have a need for good news writing.

“Clark Gilbert, a business professor at the Harvard Business School, said success on the Internet means seeing ourselves as doing a different job than the one newspapers have traditionally done (“Keys to the Future: News as Watchdog, as Trusted Agent, as Useful Tool”).” In order for newspapers to survive, they must start using all of the new mediums the internet makes available. For example, newspapers must use their website as an accompaniment to the paper version of their newspaper. They could publish a story on the front page and then direct the reader to their website for more content. That content could include a photo gallery of pictures or a video that relates to the story, or a list of other stories that give the reader a different perspective or other stories that have to do with the issue covered in the article that was in the newspaper. Also, by using the internet, the newspaper could post stories around the clock, allowing them to compete with other news sites.

Internet users today are looking for a customizable news experience. They want to be able to shape their interaction with the news and filter out the stories they don’t feel will have anything to do with their lives. A newspaper must give readers the ability to change their news experience via their websites in order to survive the growth of the internet. “‘It's about making news more of a one-to-one product,’ said Howard Finberg, The Poynter Institute's director of interactive learning. ‘We need to figure out how to produce what a single consumer needs to survive in a complex world (“Keys to the Future: News as Watchdog, as Trusted Agent”).’”

The internet has introduced the public to the idea that they can not only control their news experience, but also write their own news. Citizen journalism and blogging has started to draw people away from the formal news sources, including newspapers. Newspapers must start accepting these new forms of journalism in order to survive. “Howard Weaver, vice president for news at McClatchy, said much the same thing: ‘It's not just professional news or citizen journalism; sometimes it's professional news AND citizen journalism. You can use some professional standards with citizen input’ to produce a whole new kind of news (“Keys to the Future: News as Watchdog, as Trusted Agent, as Useful Tool”).” Newspapers cannot have a reporter everywhere all the time, so sometimes, the ordinary citizen is the only person to see a major event. Those citizen journalists will then be able to write an article about what happened and then the newspapers will publish their story, provided the citizen journalist followed the newspaper’s guidelines.

The biggest effect the internet has had on newspapers is that they must learn to expand into other types of media and other sources for their stories. Their websites have to become both an accompaniment to their print publication and a site that can stand on its own for readers outside of their circulation area. Newspapers must be willing to change to survive. “Ideally, newspapers and the Internet complement each other, such as when a reader comes across something new and interesting in a newspaper, and then digs deeper on the subject using the Internet (“Read all about the newspapers’ future”).”

“'The new and troubling reality for newspapers is that even if they excel as purveyors of information to appreciative audiences, they still face tough business terrain. ‘They can try to be the destination where you go online and [can] be really successful with citizen journalism and blogs,’ says Lauren Rich Fine, a Merrill Lynch & Co. analyst who has covered the industry since the 1980s, But such innovations are ‘not going to pay a lot of bills’…Consumers are shifting decisively to online information, says Fine, especially the young (“Net to Newspapers: Drop Dead”).”

The biggest thing that will make a newspaper successful, whether it is printed or online, is good writing. The public will not trust anything written that doesn’t use basic grammar and spelling rules. “Newspapers hold an edge in terms of actual editing and intelligible writing compared with often incoherent ramblings spewed forth on too many blogs…Newspapers are not dead (“Read all about the newspaper’s future”).”

KUSports.com Site Review

From KUSports.com

1- Who owns and runs the site?
The site is owned and run by the Lawrence Journal-World and 6News, the newspaper and television station in Lawrence, Kansas. An interesting note: The 6News website and KUSports.com are copyrighted by both the newspaper and the television station, but the newspaper’s site is only copyrighted by the newspaper. It seems to me that the newspaper is a bigger, more popular media outlet in the area.

2- Who is the site aimed at?
The site is aimed at a lot of different populations. One of the biggest of the groups is current and prospective students, and even alumnae and members of the community who like to follow the school’s sports teams. Also, people from outside the area can follow their teams and even post on the available message boards. Anyone who missed a game that they wanted to see can go to the site and watch the game at a later time.

3- Identify and describe the coolest feature on the site.
I really like the feature that allows you to get messages sent to your cell phone to keep you updated about what is going on in a game if you can’t be there in person and can’t wait to find out what’s happening.

4- The pros of the site:
I think that one of the biggest pros of this site is the interactive features it offers. There are message boards where you can communicate with other people about the teams and current events. At the bottom of the page, there is a box on the left side of the page where the site posts a good comment posted on the message boards. Underneath the comment, the site gives two links to either reply to the post or go directly to the boards to read other comments.
Also at the bottom of the page, the site gives a daily poll. Today’s question asks, “Who had a better rant? Colorado coach Dan Hawkins' response to an anonymous letter from one of his players' parents or Mark Mangino's calling out of the BCS following KU's heartbreaking loss to Texas in 2004.”
Next to the poll, the site also gives the public a place to “Grade the ‘Hawks,” where people can go to grade a team’s recent performances and see what other people think. I think that’s a really neat feature that I’ve never seen anywhere else. It gives the public the ability to have their say about how they think their team is doing.
Another great feature is called “’Hawk’s Forecaster,” where the public can go and predict how the team will fare in their next game, “from who will win, to which KU freshman will score the most points.” If you get it right, you’ll get a free t-shirt, and something I think is more important to most of the people posting there, the bragging rights.
The site also lists all of the current stories that people are talking about, and stories from “around the Big 12 and college sports.” There’s a huge amount of multimedia stories listed on the site, and even podcasts with press conferences and ESPN shows that talk about KU sports. The site lists blogs and other columns that the public might find interesting.
One of the more interesting things I found on the site is the listing of all of the students that have ever been recruited for professional teams in both the NBA and the NFL, and current students that are being recruited. I think this is a big pro for the site because it does show what kind of players the school attracts for their teams.

5- Cons of the site:
If there is any con to the site, I think it is that there is so much information available on the site. When someone is looking for something specific, there is a lot of information that they have to pick through just to get to it.

Overall, the site is really great for fans of the KU sports teams because it is focused on them and on any ways that the site can help them keep up with their favorite college’s teams.

Two Alums on Monmouth's New MAC

WEST LONG BRANCH, N.J. – Monmouth University received final approval from the Zoning Board of Adjustment for construction of the Multipurpose Activity Center on Thursday, Feb. 5, 2007.
The approved building plan for the proposed 152,400 square foot MAC includes seating for 4,122 people and a parking and traffic plan that joins the Monmouth University and West Long Branch police department that will be used when 3,000 or more spectators are expected at an event.
One of the biggest issues both current and past students of the university have with the new building is the parking situation. The plans call for a small parking lot to be built near the new facility for event parking. The university has not said if this parking lot will be available for regular use by commuter students.
Jaime Cannici, a Monmouth alumnus from the class of 2003, believes that the proposed center could have both positive and negative effects on the campus and university as a whole.
“If it is done right, I think it will be a very good thing for the school,” she said, “but if they mess up on the parking plan, it’s going to be a complete mess.”
Ross Maczack, a Monmouth alumnus from the class of 2004, agrees, but feels that there may be more negative effects on the campus community.
“I think that it might bring in more students for the sports teams that will use this new facility,” he said, “but that might not be a good thing. The campus is already strained by the current students, so adding any would make getting around campus impossible.”
The university plans to bring in approximately 12 capacity events each year, and will also allow the community to rent the space when not in use for university functions for free.
“It seems like they are trying to kiss up to the surrounding residents when they say they’ll happily give the space away to community groups,” Maczack said, “but I really think that the university won’t honor that. I’d be really surprised to see the school let someone else use it more than once a year.”
Both alumnae are worried about the impact the construction will have on the campus, and especially on the commuter parking lot, located near to the proposed building site.
“If the university thinks that the commuter students will be okay with having some of their few parking spots taken for the construction, they are sorely mistaken,” Cannici said. “The students don’t care that in a few years, they’ll have this cool new building. Parking takes precedent over anything on campus when you’re a commuter student.”
Others question the need for such a large building, and question why the school is retaining the old Boylen gymnasium.
“Monmouth is a small school in the middle of the Jersey shore. We’re not Rutgers, and we’re not Seaton Hall,” said Cannici. “I wish the administration would get it through their heads that, no matter what you build or what new degree you offer, we will always be a small school. This campus isn’t equipped to be anything else and I wish they’d understand that and stop trying to destroy our campus.”

Five sites that use the New Jersey state government page

1. Rutgers University Libraries: Career and Employment Resoures; New Jersey Jobs

Links to:
- “Workforce New Jersey Public Information Network” that gives, “resources for job seekers and employers.”
- “NJ Civil Service Jobs,” lists “current job vacancy announcements” at the state, county, and municipal levels
- “OneStop Career Centers” gives, “information about NJ state-sponsored career development centers”
- “NJ Department of Labor Reemployment Information,” “list of resources for finding a job when you are unemployed.”

Each of these links are greatly helpful for a student, just out of college, when they are searching a job. These links are all connected to New Jersey's job opportunity, so would be even more helpful for someone looking to stay somewhere close to home or even simply wanting to stay in the state. The links lead to different types of sites, so the user gets a diverse sampling of different jobs and different approaches to use when applying for a job.

2. Issues Management, LLC.

Links to:
- State of NJ home page
-The Governor’s home page
-NJ Legislature

They link to the site because their company is all about advocacy. They help their clients advocate for their position on an issue by focusing on any number of the following concentrations : legislative advocacy, environmental issues management, regulatory counseling, grass roots advocacy and coalition building, and crisis management. They work with these departments on a regular basis when advocating for their client or doing research into the current trends in order to be able to advocate well.

3. WashLaw: Legal Research on the Web

Links to:
-Administrative Code
-Court Decisions
-Legislation
-Statutes

This site, created by Washburn University School of Law, is a free research site where anyone can go on and look for anything that has to do with the law. It links to New Jersey so that residents of the state, and even other states, can access the information they are looking for quickly and easily, with all of the information and links on one page.

4. Youth Consultation Services

Links to:
-New Jersey Department of Education
-New Jersey Division of Human Services
-New Jersey Division of Youth and Family Services
-New Jersey Division of Mental Health Services
-New Jersey Division of Office of Education
-State

All of the links connect to different sections of the state site that are related to helping at-risk youth find the resources that they need to help them succeed in life. “YCS is New Jersey's premier private non-profit provider of behavioral health and social services to strengthen and support children and families.”

5. Park Avenue Building and Roofing Supplies, LLC

Links to: state site only, but to help their customers find the building codes they need for all of their building projects. They also link to sites for New York’s building codes , so their customers, no matter if they are in New York or New Jersey, are able to get all of the information they need, and then can order what they need from the company, all from one single site.

Branding: When does it get to be too much?

I was at the New Jersey Devils versus New York Ranger game in January, held at Continental Airlines Arena (one of the first stadiums to have a company’s name slapped on it), when a penalty was called on the Rangers. Now, for all those that have grown up in New Jersey and know even the tiniest thing about hockey, you know that the Rangers and Devils have had a long-standing feud and that the games are always really entertaining and heated, and that’s to say nothing about what it is always like on the ice! So, there are bound to be penalties, especially in a tight game when winning means so much (the score was Devils 1, Rangers 0. Being a Devils fan, I was a very happy woman at the time!). One of the Rangers players was called for a simple hooking penalty, which is in my opinion the most common penalty called in all of the NHL, and he was sent off to the penalty box. Just as play resumed, the arena’s announcer came on and said, “Now it’s time for a PSE&G POWERPLAY!” I looked up, and saw that on all of the screens that surround the rink, PSE&G was splashed everywhere. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing! They sold the rights to a power play! How is that possible? I know that the team isn’t desperate for money! And attendance hasn’t been that bad this season! I still can’t believe it. The team had sold the rights to a power play to New Jersey’s only power provider.

Plus, when the Devils move to Newark for the next season, (a bad move according to all of the fans I have spoken to about it, and almost all are saying that they won’t go to Newark. There’s not going to be any tailgating, which has become quite a ritual for many people, including my father, his friends, and I, especially during the playoff or even the Stanley Cup games. The last playoff game I went to was years ago, but I’ll never forget having this beautiful flank steak that my dad cooked, whole live lobster, filet mignon, all of the things you wouldn’t expect to see in a parking lot tailgate. It’s a part of the game for many people, and the only way to get ready for a game.) the 2007-2008 season, the stadium will not carry along its original name, “Continental Airlines Arena” where the Devils have played for decades. It will get a new name, “The Prudential Center.” Here’s a piece of the blurb I found on the Devils’ website:

“Devils & Prudential announce naming-rights deal Devils Arena Entertainment, LLC, an affiliate company of the New Jersey Devils hockey team, announced Monday that they have reached a 20-year naming-rights agreement with Prudential Financial, Inc., one of the world's leading financial services companies, for the Prudential Center in downtown Newark” (The Devils and Prudential)

I am sure that the Devils organization made a lot of money off of that deal, especially because it is for 20 years, and they could say that they’re using that money in order to get some better players into the Prudential Center. However, they are already pretty close to the salary cap the NHL now has, and they really don’t need new talent. The team is really strong right now, and they’re playing well together.

Now, New Jersey is talking about selling both the Garden State Parkway, which I drive each day and is in good condition, and the New Jersey Turnpike. Also, they will be selling what is currently the PNC Bank Arts Center, where Monmouth’s graduation ceremonies have been held for the past three years, after the ceremony four years ago was held during a monsoon and they were not able to move it indoors in time, so they went ahead with it. (There wasn’t a whole lot of pomp and circumstance since the honorary speakers said probably four words each, then the students went up, got their diploma, and left, completely soaked. The next year, it was moved to PNC.) The sale will supposedly “net $15 billion, slashing the state debt and boosting nearly depleted funds for state programs said Sen. Raymond J. Lesniak, D-Union, who announced plans to introduce legislation on the proposal Monday” (Gloucester County Times, Feb. 1, 2007, “Toll roads plan may add $15 billion,” by Trish G. Graber, ). If the roads are sold, the contract would be for a maximum of 75 years “and would permit annual toll hikes based on the consumer price index for cars and on the gross domestic product for commercial vehicles” ( “Toll roads plan may add $15 billion”). However, the state doesn’t seem to encourage or demand that the roads be improved under someone else’s ownership, so a company could buy the roads, take the toll profits, and watch the roads disintegrate. Also, the company would own the property alongside of the roadways, so they could feel free to develop that land and add shopping centers, malls, anything they want, no matter what effect these commercial areas would have on the roadway. Can you imagine traveling down the Pfizer Parkway and having to dodge people moving in and out of these shopping areas, especially with the speed limit set at 65mph?

The deal would keep the state police patrolling the roads, but it doesn’t say whether or not the private company could put their own police on the road in addition to the state troopers, with the authority to pull people over and charge them disproportionate rates for a simple, minor moving violation, like a failure to use turn signal or failure to stay to the right. Also, the people who work the tollbooths on both the Parkway and the Turnpike would have two years before they are kicked out into the cold. There is no telling what these private companies could do to the state’s major roadways if the idea of a sale goes through. The last news I read was that the state was already taking bids for the sale, which says to me that any debate being held is just a formality because the powers-that-be in the statehouse have decided that they are going to sell these roads, no matter what anyone says. The state’s only motivation is simply that it would pay down some of the estimated $50 billion dollar debt, and do it in a way that would remove the need for the state to examine its budget and spending to find ways that they are wasting money and adding to that huge debt. When our governor was running for election, he said that he’d be getting rid of the wasteful spending, but it seems that his only plan was to find ways around cutting the illegitimate spending. I think there are a lot of underhanded deals going on in the statehouse, and that the government is trying to find any way to look like they are going to decrease spending and try to lower the excessive property taxes and get rid of all of the double dipping and unjust spending (like spending millions of the department of transportation’s budget to install high-speed impact resistant guardrails on every state roadway, even where there are natural barriers, like trees that they have to clear cut in order to put these guard rails in, no matter the actual frequency of accidents where someone crosses the median on that specific road. They are putting them in throughout the entire length of the parkway, but there’s a ditch that prevents anyone from crossing over throughout the majority of the places where the roadways are close enough to have a possible problem. They still installed the guard rails, no matter what. Those millions could have been much better spent, even if it was just to find ways to cut the budget in places where it could be cut without affecting the state’s residents negatively, like the national budget’s proposed cuts to Medicare, which would leave thousands of chronically ill patients out in the cold. These quick fixes aren’t even really fixes. The people in power in the state will find another way to spend this money to line their own pockets, not to help any of us insignificant taxpayers.

There's just something so wrong with this need to sell anything possible to big companies to get the money, but without requiring that things would improve with their ownership. There needs to be a guarantee that this branding won't make our lives worse.