Blog Review #5

Greg Linch of The Linchpen at “greglinch.com” sums up his blog’s purpose in very litttle words. He says, it’s “a blog about journalism and journalism education.”

Linch’s website is really unique. He begins with a post, backs it up with his latest tweets from “twitter.com” and features comments from his followers. He even works to provide feedback as much as he can!

In one post, Linch asked “What do you want to be when you grow up?”

Followers replied with the following:

• “I wanted to be an architect. Today I’m happy to say that I do design and build things, but not places – info.” -Kathleen Sulli (@kathleensulli)
• “I wanted to be Superman. I ended up getting his day job.” -Matthew Byrnes (@matthewbyrnes)
• “A lawyer like my uncle john. Then I found out what a lawyer actually does all day.” -Michael Paull (@fricto)

I’d recommend checking this guy out. He’s helpful, informative, as well as highly entertaining.

Blog Review #4

Personal blogs are not necessarily the only helpful tools on the web. Websites such as “readwriteweb.com” offer news, stories, and other helpful information for journalists looking to add an interesting and up-to-date post to their blogs.

The website has several writers working as a team bringing together important news and zany quirks picked up from around the web.

Articles such as “Less Than 1 Year Until The Internet Runs Out of Addresses”, “Google to Launch Major New Social Network Called Circles”, and “Facebook’s Zuckerberg Says The Age of Privacy is Over” are just a few of the unusual and obscure, but nonetheless informational, topics discussed on the website.

ReadWriteWeb is also useful for finding fast information such as ‘key terms’, ‘trending topics’, and ‘archives.’

Blog Review #3

Ron Sylvester of “multimediareporter.blogspot.com” provides tons of multimedia such as videos, pictures, and soundbites.

Ron will discuss a recent news story and backs it up with links to a video of the story.

For example, “Not having much video or visuals, we decided to create a timeline of what Rhodes said happened the night of the crime. We ended up with this video.”

He gives not only textual information, but visual representations as well.

He also separates his blog into easy to find categories such as audio, documents, interviews, multimedia, tutorials, etc.

Oh… and he’s also a really nice guy!

Blog Review #2

Mindy McAdams of mindymcadams.com/tojou is amazing!

Mindy offers words of advice to help students and people alike in their writing endeavors.

She recently created a post titled ‘Is your story actually a story?’ In it, she says, “Sometimes the material is new (or at least news), but it lacks story. It lacks the quality of a story.”

Mindy explains the difference between a report and a story. Gathering the who, what, where, when, why, and how create a report, but it’s up to the writer to bring the facts together into something worth reading about. A good journalist creates an interesting story out of plain ol’ fact.

I’d say a good starting point, or a good place to go in general is Mindy’s blog. She keeps her information up to date and easily understood by all readers. Her blog does wonders for improving journalist skills, as well as providing links to other professional journalism blogs.

Blog Review #1

I am a big fan of merandawrites.com by Meranda Watling, a former newspaper reporter.

Meranda features posts on the latest gadgets, news, and words of advice for aspiring journalists.

One post in particular titled ‘If your mother says she loves you, check it out’ discusses the importance of checking facts. Meranda writes, “No matter how much you trust someone, don’t just take their word for it. Verify the information.”

Meranda does an excellent job of providing useful information, but she hasn’t posted anything new since December! Not very up to date, that’s the only thing I’d want to change.

Beat #3

Megan Knudsen

March 7, 2011

Home(work)

A trending topic amongst college-aged individuals is the stress that comes from being a full-time student while simultaneously juggling a part to full time job.

“In high school, school and work wasn’t stressful. My school hours were always constant and employers were careful when hiring minors and giving too many hours,” said Chris Granison, 20, second year student at SPSCC and Kohl’s employee, “But in college, my class schedule changes every single quarter and my hours are longer at work.”

“I get around 20 to 30 hours per week, but it really depends on how busy the theater gets,” said Hayley Harris, 19, first year student attending SPSCC and Regal Theaters employee, “I work a lot of closing shifts, so I don’t have a lot of time for homework. Honestly, I skip class a lot more than I used to because I’m just trying to catch up on sleep.”

“In my experience, there’s really no difference in high school to college work load. The difference is in high school, I felt like I had to be there and I had to do the work whereas college feels more optional,” said Josh Shipley, 19, first year student at SPSCC and another Regal Theaters employee, “Managing work, class, and a girlfriend is really stressful because I feel like I have no time just for myself anymore.”

“My list of priorities differ from the way they are and the way they should be. My priorities are girlfriend, work, school when they should be school, work, girlfriend.”

“I’ve never really been a fan of school, but now that I have to pay for school by myself and work at the same time has really made me resent it. I’m debating whether or not I want to go back to school next quarter,” Harris said.

The students had some concluding words of wisdom for students who are also looking for employment.

“Make sure you know exactly what you want to do in school and work towards your degree. It sucks going to school when you don’t really have a specific direction and therefore, less motivation,” said Harris.

Meanwhile, Granison felt differently. “If you don’t know what you want to do, go to school because it will save time down the road and you’ll have a head start in life and the work force.”

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Beat #2

Megan Knudsen

February 14, 2011

Polynesian Islander Club attracts interest

“L is for the way you look at me, O is for the only one I see, “ sang Zantoine Jackson, self-proclaimed “honorary member” of the Polynesian Islander Club. “V is very, very extra ordinary, E is even more than anymore that you adore.”

The Polynesian Islander Club (PIC) passed out baskets, cups, and baggies in the Student Union Building (SUB) this Monday to raise money for their annual Luau celebration held every spring quarter.

To attract customers, Jackson belted out more tunes from the center stage and channeled the musical stylings of Marvin Gaye, Mariah Carey, and Al Green.

“Basically, I’m here to do whatever I want: sing and dance and get people to buy Valentine’s baskets!” said Jackson.

Priced at $3 for baggies, $5 for cups, and $12 for baskets, the club passed out homemade brownies, Rice Krispie Treats, Samoan brown cake, flowers, and candy leis with Reese’s cups, Snickers, and 100 Grand candy bars.

Helen Buckner and Bridget Misi, members of PIC, worked behind the scenes putting together the gift baskets.

“We hope that people will feel inspired this Valentine’s Day to buy something nice for themselves or a loved one, “ said Buckner.

“We put on the Luau every year just for South Puget Sound students. The more money we raise, the more food and decorations we can buy. Everybody wins!” added Misi.

Sohui Andre, Yvonne Umu, and Mellanie Penitusi also took part in planning, selling, baking, and advertising for the Valentine’s Day fundraiser.

This year, the club will hold a workshop on May 27^th and a traditional Samoan feast on May 28^th in the Student Union Building.

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Beat #1

Megan Knudsen

January 28, 2011

Nursing program offers opportunity at South Puget Sound

“What’s the most challenging thing about being a part of the nursing program? The fear that you could be kicked out,” said 27-year-old, Meshelle Howell, current South Puget Sound student enrolled in the nursing program. The course prepares graduates to become competent members of the medical community, but not without its challenges.

Students can earn their Associate Degree in Nursing Education, a Certificate in Practical Nursing, or Certification as a Nursing Assistant. Howell received her Associate of Arts degree from South Puget Sound in 2001 and has returned to obtain her nursing degree. By graduation, Howell, and other students like her, will be qualified to care for and counsel the sick and injured and have the ability to become nursing assistants in hospitals and nursing homes. “The program is lecture, lab, and clinical classes each quarter,” said Howell. Students receive onsite experience at Providence St. Peter Hospital with clinical training. “You have to prepare care plans the day before and be competent in theory and skill. It is exciting to apply skills in clinical that you practiced in lab. The hospital implements national standards of nursing theory really well,” Howell said.

Earning a nursing degree does not come easy, however. “If you do not maintain a 77% or better on all tests you are dismissed. Then there are math tests that you have to pass with 90% or better. Mistakes at clinical could jeopardize your future in the program, too,” said Howell. The first year of training requires prerequisite courses with less credit value than normal classes. According to Howell, the courses are more challenging due to the theory applied to nursing and use.

While the majority of students choose to take general courses to find a good career choice, the nursing program commits a student to one field of study. “The program is a full-time commitment,” said Howell, “Do not try to work full-time and do this! I am trying to work and do school, but it is stressful. I do not get any sleep which only makes it harder.” To Howell, motivation is the most important factor. “I decided to do this because my kids were premature and I loved my nurses that took care of me in the hospital,” said Howell, “I realized, I could be a nurse, too!”

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Sound Bite Two: Alex’s Bout with Baking

Mariah Jackson