* The optional rewrite of the second out-of-class story will be due no later than 8 a.m. Wednesday, Nov. 15 to omars@msu.edu. Please keep in mind you get to rewrite just ONE of your out-of-class stories.
* The third out-of-class story will be due no later than 9 a.m. Monday, Nov. 27 to omars@msu.edu. That is the Monday after Thanksgiving, so you have a VERY long period to work on this story.
* One important note to go with the third OOC: please gather multimedia materials (URLs, B-roll, video interviews) related to your third OOC, as we will be doing online story and video story versions of OOC #3 as well. Due dates for those MM elements will be announced soon.
* The optional rewrite of the third out-of-class story will be due no later than 8 a.m. Friday, Dec. 8 to omars@msu,.edu. That is the last regular class day of the fall semester.
* The optional fourth out-of-class story will also be due no later than 8 a.m. Friday, Dec. 8 to omars@msu,edu. There will be no rewrite opportunity for this story.
* A surprising amount of people did NOT turn in a pitch for the optional fourth out-of-class story. A reminder: if you do the fourth one, I will use the best three grades of your four stories in determining your final grade. And nothing impacts your final grade like out-of-class stories. If you had fatals on an OOC, I strongly urge you to do a fourth OOC. I am giving you all one last chance to make a fourth pitch that will be due no later than 9 a.m. Friday, Nov. 10. After that, you are out of luck.
Showing posts with label out-of-class stories. Show all posts
Showing posts with label out-of-class stories. Show all posts
Tuesday, November 7, 2017
Friday, November 3, 2017
OOC #2: Overall
Most people did pretty darn well this second time around. Good story structures, a wide range of sources, good attribution. and so on. Having said that, there are still some things to work on, like:
- Using quotes liberally and throughout the story. We should be pairing key points and subpoints with quotes that support the point being made and add a more human voice to the reporting.
- Offering attribution throughout with quotes and background information and such, so that readers know how you know what you offer.
- Avoiding using first-person references like I, me, my and us except in quotes. This is one a number of people are struggling with. The rule is simple: in print journalism, if I, me, my or us are NOT inside of someone's quote, just don't use it. Period. I know in broadcast style first-person references are common, but not in print journalism.
- Applying rules we learned from practice stories in our out-of-class stories. The whole point of the ledes exercises is that is how we are supposed to come up with ledes forevermore. The whole point of body of the story exercises is that is how we are supposed to structure stories forevermore. Same stuff with use of quotations practice stories, attribution practice stories, all practice stories. If you're struggling to apply those lessons in your out-of-class stories, please revisit past blog posts and make sure you're doing now what you did then.
- AP style, grammar, punctuation. Let's not forget the basics. Revisit AP style blog posts, the AP style cheat sheet you got earlier this fall and -- of course -- your AP stylebook, as needed. You will be expected to know and use AP style rules in everything you do from here on out at the School of Journalism.
The following examples are pretty representative of the things most people did well, and areas where we are a bit of a work in progress. Please carefully look at each (along with my comments in bold type) and compare it to your own work. What did you do better? What could you have done better? And how?
OOC #2: Good Example #1
November 2, 2017
Transitions
Every high school senior yearns for the moment of finally
moving out of the house and living on their own. And for most incoming
freshman, they have no clue of what they’re in for.
The transitional phase from high school to college is one of
the most challenging things you will ever do, and moving into your dorm is just
the first step; and when there’s an ample of bad habits, strangers, parking
woes, and large workloads swinging your way—life becomes hectic.
According to Alton Kirksey, sophomore and kinesiology
student of MSU, said NO NEED FOR SAID
HERE; YOU ALREADY SAID, ACCORDING TO his first-year of college was like a
love/hate relationship with plenty of ups and downs.
“The transition was easy for me because I never took my
education for granted; however, I do understand if you aren’t prepared it can
become overwhelming with a lot of ups and downs—almost like a love/hate
relationship,” said Kirksey.
A visiting freshman and sociology student from Western
Michigan University, Brianna Murrie, had a lot to say about how her experiences
were going and the wakeup call that was much needed.
“The beginning months of my first-year of college was a new
chapter of my life, where I still wanted to be treated like a kid, but at the
same time like an adult. When I went home, my parents were shocked at who I
became, college has helped me mature,” said Murrie.
Transitioning your life into college is an experience on its
own, and according to Kirksey it was being alone which was different and even
harder than the transition he faced into high school.
“The workload is less, the true difference is in the
independence,” said Kirksey.
Murrie had said similar remarks in the key differences
between her transition into high school and her transition into college.
“With high school if you didn’t have anybody, you would
still have someone—friends, family, none too far away. In college, you’re
alone,” said Murrie.
A 2015 study done by the JED Foundation of emotional health,
found that 87 percent of students said their high schools provided preparation
on college academics, but not how to adjust emotionally to college; another
half said they needed to improve their “independent living” skills.
When asked about what advice she would give to incoming
freshmen, Director of Academic and Student Affairs Kari Schueller Lopez of the
College of Communications Arts and Sciences, was very detailed on what NOT to
do.
“Students are in a big transition socially and it’s common
to put a lot of energy into making friends and finding a social niche. It’s
also incredibly important to not forget about the academic transition as well,”
said Schueller Lopez via email.
According to a study done by Boston University, the most
important thing to have on your resume is extra-curricular activities—internships.
Schueller Lopez said similar things in accordance to the
statistic.
“Get involved! While this may seem like a contradiction to
my first point, it’s not meant to be. Everything should be in balance; social
life/school/family etc. College gets really difficult if students oversubscribe
to social life over school, even vice versa,” said Schueller Lopez via email.
Liz Jorgensen, academic and career advisor in the ComArtsSci
sector of MSU, gave advice on what first-year students can do with their time.
“Regardless if you’re undecided, or have already declared
your major, visit the career center during your first-year to talk about career
exploration, and internships, most successful ComArtsSci students have multiple
internships by the time they reach graduation,” said Jorgensen via email.
Director of Employer Relations and Professional Transitions WHERE? MSU? Karin Hanson, gave thoughts
on what the transitioning process entitles from a career perspective.
“From a career perspective, they need to be understanding of
what their options are; the first thing would be figuring out what they like
and what they don’t like,” said Hanson.
Hanson continued with a list of other things to do.
“Even if they’ve chosen a major, for example journalism,
there are many different facets of journalism; so, by joining different student
groups with journalism whether they’re thinking of the broadcast route or
something sports related, make sure you’re jumping in and getting involved with
as many things as possible,” said Hanson.
Transitioning into college is the first step among many that
you’ll take, and mistakes are bound to happen along the way; according to
Kirksey, it’s imperative that you simply learn from them and enjoy the ride.
“Walk your own path…enjoy the intersections but know that
everyone is here for a reason,” said Kirksey.
Murrie said she learned a valuable lesson in her first-year
transition of about realizing your surroundings.
“Watch out for vibes, if you feel a feeling that’s not right
or a bad energy… you don’t want to be blindsided especially when you know who
you’re, said Murrie.
Word Count: 799
Story Sources:
Alton Kirksey. Sophomore. 313-629-2556
Brianna Murrie. Freshman. 313-766-3244.
Karin Hanson. Director of Employer Relations and
Professional Transitions. Hanson9@msu.edu
Liz Jorgensen. Academic and Career Advisor. Jorgen53@msu.edu
Kari Schueller Lopez. Director of Academic and Student
Affairs. Schuell8@msu.edu
Studies:
https://www.coursehero.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/11.10.27_CourseHero_ExtraPush.png
ASSIGNMENT
GRADE: (redacted)
INSTRUCTOR’S
COMMENTS: VERY NICE WORK HERE! THE MISSES WERE NOT HUGE BUT WORTH NOTING: I
WOULD HAVE PERFERRED YOU SUED NEUTRAL EXPERTS FROM OTHER THAN COMM ARTS; USE
ONES YOU DON’T ALREADY KNOW FOR THIS CLASS. PLUS, INSTEAD OF CITING INSIDE
HIGHER ED (WHICH IS A NEWSPAPER COVERING THE HIGHER ED WORLD), WE SHOULDHAVE
USED THE ARTICLE TO FIND THE STUDY OURSELVES AND LOOK AT IT DIRECTLY OURSELVES.
STILL, YOU’RE DOING A SOLID JOB WITH THESE OUT-OF-CLASS STORIES; KEEP IT UP!
OOC #2: Good Example #2
Nov. 3, 2017
Out of Class #2
It’s no
secret that Michigan State University has one of the largest campuses of any
school in the entire country, and getting from one end to the other can be a
hassle.
Fortunately,
there are many ways for students to get around campus; including buses, biking,
and walking.
Severo
Hernandez, a member of the MSU Office of Admissions welcome team, laid out for
me DELETE FOR ME; NO FIRST-PERSON
REFERENCES LIKE I, ME, MY OUTSIDE OF QUOTES, PER AP STYLE all the different
methods of transportation that MSU students use.
“We have a bus system that transports
students all over campus, we have students that get around on mopeds, we have
students that get around on bikes and students walk,” Hernandez said. “So we have many preferences available for
our students to get around campus.”
Hernandez added that the size and
beauty of MSU’s campus is beneficial when it comes to recruiting prospective
students.
“We are listed as one of the top
institutions in terms of campus beauty,” Hernandez said. “I think (Michigan
State’s) campus being as large as it is is one of the most beautiful campuses
(in the nation).”
In terms of buses, many students use
the Capital Area Transportation Authority (CATA) buses that run all over the
Lansing area as a means of getting around campus.
According to the CATA website, many
of the buses whose routes go through campus begin running at roughly 6 a.m. on
weekdays with some of them running all the
way until roughly 2:30 a.m.
WHY NOT GET A
QUOTE FROM CATA OFFICALS FOR HERE?
Students at MSU have the ability to
purchase a bus pass for $50 that is good for an entire semester, these passes
are sold at many Sparty’s locations all throughout campus. HOW DO YOU KNOW THIS? ATTRIBUTE!
Duale Mahat,
a junior at Michigan State who lives in South neighborhood, said “I always walk
now, but I always used to take the bus from my first year to my sophomore
year.”
“I take the
bus to East neighborhood when I’m visiting my friends, but I never take it to
get to class.” MAHAT SAID. ATTRIBUTE!
Mahat is not
the only student who favors walking. Mary Sanders, a current sophomore at MSU
who resides in Brody neighborhood said that she prefers to walk because “a lot
of (her) classes are around Wells Hall and Shaw lane, so not very far (from
Brody).”
“I also have
a bike, which I will use when I am running late or need to go somewhere
farther, but I never take the bus,” Sanders said.
One major
upside of students using their bikes is that Michigan State has a service
center for bikes located on campus. At the MSU Bikes Service Center, students
can purchase bikes, rent bikes, or have repairs done on bikes they already own.
HOW DO YOU KNOW THIS? ATTRIBUTE!
Shawn
Hoffman, an alumnus of Michigan State who currently works at the MSU Bikes
Service Center, said “(the MSU Bikes Service Center is) pretty cool because
it’s an affordable way for a student to get a bike, and maintenance is included
in the price of the bike, so it’s kind of a worry free way to get around
campus.”
Hoffman also
said that he uses a bike to get around campus himself.
Eva Kassens-Noor is an Associate
Professor TITLES ARE LOWER CASE UNLESS
DIRECTLY BEFORE TITLE HOLDER’S NAME, PER AP STYLE of Urban and Regional
Planning at MSU. Her research interests include urban and transportation
planning.
Kassens-Noor
said that the best method of transportation at MSU is generally walking or
biking, but “depends on where the student has to go.”
“I would say
close to Grand River or Michigan Avenue, it is possible that walking and biking
is very efficient, but once you talk about the Kellogg Biological Station
biking or walking is not very efficient,” Kassens-Noor said.
Kassens-Noor also stressed the
importance of many different means of transportation for MSU students.
“I think you have a lot of different
exposure to weather for the students, you wouldn’t want to bike in 12 inches of
snow or something like that,” Kassens-Noor said. “I think multi-modality is
always very important.”
“(Students)
have buses, they have bikes, they have wonderful walking paths. I think that is
the most efficient way to get around,” Kassens-Noor said. “Maybe in the future
there will be a ton of vehicles (used for on-campus transportation) but that is
a completely different discussion.”
Word count: 702
Sources whose words made it into this piece:
Duale Mahat: Junior at MSU. 517-755-9234
Mary Sanders: Sophomore at MSU 248-227-3173
Shawn Hoffman: MSU Alumnus and current employee at MSU Bikes
Service Center 586-914-0736
Severo Hernandez: MSU Office of Admissions Welcome Team
Member 517-432-6618
Eva Kassens-Noor: Associate professor, urban and transport
planning in the school of planning design and production and the global urban
studies program. 312-636-5043
ASSIGNMENT GRADE: (redacted)
INSTRUCTOR’S COMMENTS: VERY
NICE WORK HERE, BUT WE SHOULD HAVE TALKED TO CATA OFFICIALS ABOUT THEIR
OPERATIONS AT MSU AND MAYBE GOTTEN SOME STATISTICS FROM THEM ON HOW MANY
STUDENT RIDERS, ETC. STILL, NICE WORK!
OOC #2: Good Example #3
Michigan State University was a
school built off of agriculture, but are agriculture and horticulture still as
relevant and important to the university today?
Tyler
Gilson, the President TITLES ARE LOWER
CASE UNLESS DIRECTLYIN FRONT OF TITLE HOLDER’S NAME, PER AP STYLE of the
Student Horticulture Association at MSU, said that he believes it is; however,
there have been some changes in agriculture and horticulture since MSU was
founded.
“The
focus is going away from landscaping and it’s now on fruit and vegetable
production and organic production,” Gilson said. “Probably 10 to 15 years ago, landscaping
was huge. So, we are kind of getting a shift in that direction.”
Gilson said that,
in his opinion, it’s important that students know about the role of agriculture
in society, where their food comes from, and the labor that goes into growing
and selling produce.
“To me, there’s
just a general lack of awareness of what horticulture is and what agriculture
is and how it’s, like, necessary to sustain life,” Gilson said. “There’s kind
of a serious disconnect about where people’s food comes from and what actually
happens.”
Gilson
said that part of the Student Horticulture Association’s role is to educate
students on horticulture and to connect them to internships that can guide them
to a job in the industry. The student organization, which meets every
Wednesday, has about 56 members.
“We
try to take our members out to do educational stuff; get them to see the real
world and what it’s going to be like when they graduate,” said Gilson.
Gilson
said that both agriculture and horticulture are still relevant to MSU.
“I
think today it’s even more relevant because there’s so much groundbreaking
stuff that’s happening,” said Gilson. “It was very important in 1855 when MSU
was founded, you know, because that’s kind of the whole reason why we were
founded. That technology was very new and very groundbreaking, and farming was
kind of the way everyone made a living,”
In
addition to these groundbreaking discoveries in the horticulture and
agriculture industry, there are also varying jobs that students in these fields
are qualified for. Susan Gruber, the undergraduate academic advisor for the
Department of Horticulture and an instructor, said that there are many paths
that a horticulture student can take after graduating.
“Horticulture
encompasses all of the intensively cultivated plants; you can think of it as
the expensive plants. So, ornamentals of all kinds, tree shrubs, flowers, cut
flowers, fruits and vegetables, and then emerging crops like hops are often
considered horticultural,” said Gruber. “So, across that spectrum, we have
students who are interested in really diverse careers; everything from
landscape designers to organic farmers, and everything in between.”
Gruber
said that, since the field is so diverse, the Department of Horticulture has
three areas of concentration: the Landscape Design, Construction and Management
concentration, the Horticultural Science concentration, and the Sustainable and
Organic Horticulture concentration. MAJORS
AND CONCENTRATIONS ARE LOWER CASE, PER AP STYLE
“If
I graduate 20 people this spring, there may be two or three who have similar
jobs to each other,” said Gruber. “The diversity ever year is consistent. You
know, my graduating students are in these very different careers, so it’s sort
of a rainbow.”
As
well as the continuing amount of diversity in the chosen fields of horticulture
students at MSU, there is also a consistency in the number of enrolled
students, Gruber said.
“In
the last eight to nine years, our enrollment has been very consistent,” Gruber
said. “Our total number of majors has been pretty steady, but that’s actually a
win for us because nationwide enrollment in plant science programs and in horticulture
programs has been declining. So, a steady state is good.”
Although
the amount of enrolled students in the Department of Horticulture has
practically remained the same within the past few years, Gruber said that the
department is always looking for more students.
“We
have five or six jobs for every student,” said Gruber. “Internships and
permanent placement: 100 percent. So, we could increase our enrollment by 50
percent and still have jobs for everybody, or double our enrollment and still have
jobs, and the industry would be thrilled because they’re dying for qualified
people.”
Even
though there is an abundance of jobs out there for students studying
horticulture, there are still many people who don’t know what it is.
“It’s
amazing to me the amount of people who don’t know where their food comes from,”
said Gruber. “The slow food movement, I think, has been good, but I still don’t
think that people connect that to the word ‘horticulture.’ It’s just not a word
that’s out there enough.”
Many
who have heard the word “horticulture” have some misconceptions and
misunderstandings about what the subject actually is and what it entails,
Gruber said.
“Some
of these horticultural firms are multinational companies, and there’s traveling
and excitement and technology, it’s just that people don’t know that. They
perceive that it’s, you know, a couple of guys with a beat up pick-up truck and
some weed whackers, and that’s not us,” said Gruber.
Gruber said that
it’s rare to get incoming freshman in the Department of Horticulture. Most of
the department’s population consists of students who switched their majors from
another college within MSU or students who transferred from another university.
“MSU
is an amazing place to study plants,” Gruber said. “We have all of this synergy
of plant science departments and students can cross over and take minors in
other plant science programs, and then they go out with this amazing package.”
Just
like in the horticulture industry, the demand for agriculture students is high,
according to Ruthi Bloomfield, the academic advisor for Food Industry
Management in the Department of Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics. WHERE? AT MSU?
“The
demand for our grads is pretty great,” said Bloomfield. “For Food Industry
Management and Agribusiness MAJORS ARE
LOWER CASE, PER AP STYLE students who do internships, engage in their
classes, and do, like, extracurriculars, there are jobs out there. Again,
because people always have to eat. So, there are more jobs than we have grads
for.”
Although
the demand is high for agriculture graduates, the number of students in the
Food Industry Management MAJORS ARE
LOWER CASE, PER AP STYLE has decreased within the last year or so, said
Bloomfield. Still, agriculture is imperative to society.
“People
always have to eat, so agriculture is always going to be something that is
critical to the health of our future and planet,” said Bloomfield.
Agriculture
has been changing with increases in population, advances in technology, and new
discoveries. According to Dale Elshoff, the academic advisor for Agribusiness
Management and Environmental Economics and Management, agriculture at MSU has
expanded and evolved throughout the years.
“We’re
not just working to improve the lives of people in Michigan, but really across
the globe,” said Elshoff. “So, that’s one thing that’s changed a lot.”
Word Count: 1,113
Tyler Gilson:
-President of the MSU Student
Horticulture Association/MSU senior majoring in Horticulture
-Email: gilsont1@msu.edu
-Phone: (517) 920-1025
Susan Gruber:
-Undergraduate Advisor for the
Department of Horticulture/Instructor
-Email: grubers@msu.edu
-Phone: (517) 353-0326
Ruthi Bloomfield:
-Undergraduate Advisor for Food
Industry Management in the Department of Agricultural, Food, and Resource
Economics
-Email: bloomf19@msu.edu
-Phone: (517) 432-5298
Dale Elshoff:
-Undergraduate Advisor for
Environmental Economics and Management and Agribusiness in the Department of
Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics
-Email: elshoff@msu.edu
-Phone: (517) 884-8976
ASSIGNMENT GRADE: (redacted)
INSTRUCTOR’S COMMENTS: SOLID SOURCING, GOOD STRUCTURE, NICE WRITING.
THE ONE MISS WAS PROBABLY DATA: HOW MANY MAJORS THIS YEAR, AND HOW MANY
COMPARED TO PREVIOUS YEARS? IS IT TRENDING UP OR DOWN? STILL, NICE WORK!
OOC #2: Good Example #4
11-3-17
Parking Problems
College can be a very stressful time in many students lives,
with all the school work they are given, but perhaps the most stressful is the
one students can’t control.
Many students at Michigan State University don’t have a
problem of going to class but more a matter of how they’re going to get there.
Sure, many students walk or bike to class but with the cold weather upon us
there are going to be more students who have access to a car wanting to drive
with the heat all the way up rather than being outside in that cold Michigan
winter. When those students finally decide to drive to campus the next question
they ask themselves is, where am I going to park?
Many students have different
approaches on how to get to class and for MSU student Kelsey Johnson, she does
a mixture of things.
Although she only drives to class a
couple times a month, Johnson said she has a parking pass to Lot 63 near the
Breslin Center but because it’s further away from her classes she’ll use
parking meters that are closer. Her basic routine right now is generally biking
or walking to and from class but expects that to change once winter hits to
avoid slipping on the ice.
THIS IS A GOOD SPOT FOR A TELLING QUOTE FROM JOHNSON
Cole Koretos is a student at MSU who
drives every day to his classes but doesn’t have a pass for one special
location. Koretos said he parks in the Communication Arts and Sciences parking
ramp which is pay by plate and spends an average of 4 dollars per day.
THIS IS A GOOD SPOT FOR A TELLING QUOTE FROM KORETOS
There are many complaints about parking because you’re
required to pay just about anywhere on campus without the risk of getting a
ticket. But universities all around the country don’t just do it to take more
money away from their students.
Distinguished Research Professor in the Department of Urban
Planning at the University of California, Los Angeles and parking expert Donald
Shoup said colleges need to pay off the parking structures they build on campus
and that sometimes takes decades to pay off.
THIS IS A GOOD PLACE
FOR A TELLING QUOTE FROM SHOUP
A lot of students don’t think about the university’s side of
the story, as most are just concerned about themselves and what’s convenient
for them.
Koretos said “Yeah, it
would definitely help,” when asked if parking should be free.
However, some students understand why MSU must charge people
to park at the university but still wish it was easier to park.
“I wouldn’t say free, but I’d say if you have a pass it
should be easier to find parking and not like force you to pay for a meter, or
have more accessible student pass parking lots on campus,” Johnson said.
There are schools around the country that put a parking fee
into every student’s tuition so that they don’t have to worry about having
extra change with them and is also supposed to make the students feel like the
parking is free. HOW DO YOU KNOW THIS? ATTRIBUTE!
Shoup said that’s a horrible idea because “it’s unfair to
students who don’t drive or even own a car… it would also increase the demand
of parking as many more students would be driving to get to class.”
Because the students have no choice in paying for parking,
everyone that can would feel the need to drive and get their money’s worth,
Shoup said it would be a horrible idea because it would release even more
carbon dioxide and greenhouse gases into the atmosphere causing an increase in
air pollution.
Students at UCLA used to cheat the system and lie about where
they live so they could get a better parking spot. The further away you lived
from UCLA the better parking spot you would get, but the university caught on
and abandoned that policy and started assigning parking spots based on your
status at the university, from employees to graduate students and then
undergraduate students, Shoup said.
Word Count: 714
Sources: Donald Shoup, Distinguished Research Professor in
the Department of Urban Planning at UCLA
Cole Koretos, MSU student
Kelsey Johnson, MSU student
john5920@msu.edu, (616)648-8165
ASSIGNMENT GRADE: (redacted)
INSTRUCTOR’S COMMENTS:
NICE ANECDOTAL SOURCES AND A GOOD NEUTRAL EXPERT, BUT HOW CAN WE DO A STORY
ABOUT PARKING AT MSU AND NOT TALK TO THE PEOPLE IN CHARGE OF PARKING AT MSU?
THAT’S A HUGE MISS THAT AT BEST IS UNFAIR (IN THAT WE DON’T GIVE THEM A CHANCE
TO GIVE THEIR SIDE OF THE STORY AND TO GET DATA FROM THEM ON HOW MANY SPACES,
HOW MANY PERMITS SOLD, ETC.) AND AT
WORST CAN EEXPOSE US TO LIBEL CLAIMS (IN THAT WE DIDN’T GIVE THEM A CHANCE TO
RESPOND TO CLAIMS ABOUT THEM). WE ALWAYS NEED TO GET A HOLD OF PEOPLE AFFECTED
BY WHAT WE ARE REPORTING ON AND PEOPLE WHO ARE IN CHARGE OF WHAT WE ARE
REPORTING ON. A VERY NICE JOB IN ALL OTHER ASPECTS BUT FOR THAT ONE BIG MISS.
OOC #2: Good Example #5
December 3rd, 2017
Sustainability
Green Practices
Matter
The average college student produces 640 pounds of solid
waste each year, according to an article on Boston College’s website.
It is no question that recycling and other green practices
help the environment, seeing that it conserves natural resources, protects our
oceans, and reduces the amount of fuels burned. The question is what this
generation thinks and knows about sustaining our environment.
Lissy Goralnik, an assistant professor of environmental
studies and community engagement in the Department of Community Sustainability
at Michigan State University, teaches a section of Introduction to
Sustainability at MSU and said, “a lot of my students said they didn’t realize
how many recycling bins are on campus and felt campus is making it straightforward, but
other students on campus are not doing those things.”
According to MSU’s Recycling website, the campus provides
residence hall recycling stations, hallway recycling stations, office space
recycling, a recycling drop-off center, and the ability to donate unwanted
materials to the MSU Surplus Store.
Holly Grech, a junior at MSU, said she recycled sometimes in the
dorms and was aware of the recycling bins on campus, but her current apartment
complex does not have recycling bins.
THIS IS A GOOD
PLACE FOR A TELLING QUOTE FROM GRECH
Vinny Mattison, a fourth-year student at MSU, said he recycled more
in the dorms because they provided separate bins to use.
THIS IS A GOOD
PLACE FOR A TELLING QUOTE FROM MATTISON
Mattison also said he is not aware of recycling bins at his
current apartment.
According to South Coast Energy
Challenge’s website, “by throwing everything away and not reusing or recycling
them will cause the landfill to fill up. They start to smell horrible and end
up being toxic from all the harmful chemicals coming from styrofoam, batteries,
microwaves, cleaning supplies, and other household products. Just by recycling
cardboard, paper, and plastic there will be a lot less junk in the landfills.”
Grech said she thinks it is harmful to the environment not to
recycle because you have to remake materials and use more energy to make those
new materials.
THIS IS A GOOD
PLACE FOR A TELLING QUOTE FROM GRECH
Mattison said he is not specifically aware of the impacts not
recycling has on the environment, but knows pop can holders can get into oceans
and harm animals.
THIS IS A GOOD PLACE
FOR A TELLING QUOTE FROM MATTISON
“The problems associated with not
recycling are that it is not good for the landscapes or the animals. We are
putting hazardous things that don’t break down into landscapes that don’t
absorb it. This impacts all our systems; water, earth, and air are all one
system,” Goralnik said.
“Recycling is great, but it’s not the answer,” Goralnik went on to
say. “Before recycling we should be consuming less so we have less to recycle.”
Mattison said recycling does not
take a lot of time, but it takes more effort opposed to just throwing something
away.
THIS IS A GOOD
PLACE FOR A TELLING QUOTE FROM MATTISON
Goralnik said recycling is labor intensive because it requires
water, fuel, and resources to do so and we do not have enough economic
incentives to make it worthwhile for people in our community.
“Every time you recycle plastic it
becomes a less desirable product,” Goralnik said. GOOD TELLING QUOTE HERE
Though Grech said she thinks it is harmful to the environment not to
recycle, she does not think enough people do it.
THIS IS A GOOD
PLACE FOR A TELLING QUOTE FROM GRECH
According the article on Boston College’s website, the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency estimates that 75 percent of American waste is
recyclable, but we only recycle about 30 percent of it.
MSU is not only taking steps to make recycling easier on campus,
but they are making campus more sustainable by reducing energy consumption and
transitioning to more renewable resources, according to MSU’s Infrastructure
Planning and Facilities website.
WHAT DO MSU IPF
LEADERS HAVE TO SAY ABOUT THAT?
The energy at MSU comes from the T.B. Simon Power Plant which
burns a variety of fuels to get energy including coal, natural gas, and
biofuel, according to MSU’s IPF website.
“T.B. Simon Power Plant began burning biofuel in
2008. Biofuels include green wood, agricultural residues (annual grasses,
animal bedding, corn stover) and cornstarch,” according to MSU’s IPF website.
INSTEAD OF
RELYING ON THE WEB SITE, WHY NOT INTERVIEW IPF LEADERS FOR THIS INFORMATION?
Another way MSU is promoting sustainability is by using geothermal
energy, which takes thermal energy from the ground, and solar energy, which
converts light energy into electricity, according to MSU’s IPF website.
MSU also helps students planning events on campus to “green” their
event by providing recycling services, according to MSU’s IPF website.
According to Mattison and Grech, MSU makes it easy for students to
recycle. “They’re everywhere,” Mattison said when addressing the amount of
recycling bins on campus.
Word count: 719
Sources
·
Student at MSU: Holly
Grech
o
Major: Elementary
Education
o
Year: Junior
·
Student at MSU: Vinny Mattison
o
Phone: 1-810-333-0237
·
Lissy Goralnik, MFA PhD
o
Michigan State University
o
Department of Community Sustainability
o
Natural Resources 311B
o
480 Wilson Rd #151
East Lansing, MI 48824
East Lansing, MI 48824
o
(517) 353-3562
·
Documentary Sources
o
http://recycle.msu.edu/index.php/information/
ASSIGNMENT GRADE: (redacted)
INSTRUCTOR’S
COMMENTS: GREAT JOB WITH STORY STRUCTURE AND ATTRIBUTION, BUT FOR A STORY WE
NEED OT BE SURE TO TALK TO PEOPLE AFFECTED BY THE ISSUE, NEUTRAL EXPERTS AND
THE PEOPLE IN CHARGEOF THE ISSUE. WE ARE MISSING THE LAST GROUP, WHO WOULD HAVE
BEEN IPF OFFICIALS. CITING ITS WEB SITE IS BETTER THAN NOTHING FOR SURE, BUT WE
REALLY NEEDED TO TALK TO THEM AND NOT JUST STRIP INFO FROM THE WEB. PLUS, BE
SURE TO PAIR SUBPOINTS WITH RELATED QUOTES TO ADD HUMAN VOICES TO YOUR TEXT.
STILL, VERY NICE WORK HERE!
Monday, October 23, 2017
Out-of-Class Story #2: Your Deadline ...
... is no later than 9 a.m. Friday, Nov. 3 via email to omars@msu.edu. Same parameters as the first story in terms of format, word count, etc.
And our topics include ...
- How exercise habits impact grades
- What is the nutritional value of cafeteria food?
- How big of a problem is football game day littering?
- Do people drive or walk to class?
- The state of recycling on campus
- The transition from high school to college
- The rise of anti-Semitism
- How hard is it for arts and humanities students to find real jobs?
- Protecting yourself from sexual assault
- Crime at MSU and in East Lansing
- Is MSU prepared for a cyberattack?
- The issues faced by transfer students
- Balancing school and all the distractions that come with college
... and more!
Good luck!
Monday, October 16, 2017
Out-Of-Class #1: A Quick Overview
Here's the good news: most people made deadline. That's a great start.
Now, here's the bad news: unfortunately, we had some fatals.
And the frustrating thing to me was that it was clear that the fatals came from the simplest of mistakes, and were ones where the most basic principles of fact-checking were not being followed. You know, the same old stuff.
All the fatals were the same in nature: a misspelling. A school name, a person's name, a business name; a word in a quote, etc,.
We need to make sure we don't take anything for granted, and double-check all info we have in a story. We need to ask ourselves, how do we know that? And then we need to check against a source of that information to make sure what we have is true and accurate.
Early on in this class, I talked about how doing all the little routine things in journalism -- like thoroughly checking your work to make sure what you wrote was what you intended to write, and that it was accurate as compared to your notes and the facts -- was something that you could never take for granted. It's not.
And it has nothing to do with talent, just vigilance. In the same way American can have the best army in the world, it doesn't really matter if the one night the army takes the night off, Canada decides to invade us.
Or if we're trying to stay in shape, and instead of running our miles every day we start to cut corners and slack here and there. Eventually, the pounds will start showing.
The fact is, you could be the world's best journalist, and you still have to do all the little and annoying things -- like checking routine facts -- if you want to stay ahead of making mistakes. Because when you're processing thousands of words a day in a professional environment and on deadline, a mistake is always waiting to catch you at a lax moment and bite your ass.
It's why The New York Times has the best journalists in the world, yet they still have a copy desk.
So there's no big thing to learn from the fatals, other than if we want to do things the right way, we have to do things the right way completely and each and every time.
This job isn't about writing. It's about getting it right. I'm sorry some of you have to learn that lesson in a very harsh manner, because in this case we're not talking about a practice story that's worth not very much in terms of your final grade; we're dealing with an out-of-class story that's worth ten times as much.
The good news is, you have a rewrite opportunity with one of your out-of-classers of your choice. You have the opportunity to do a fourth out-of-class story, which will negate your worst-graded out-of-classer. You have other assignments. And I will offer a wide range of extra-credit opportunities that will do two things: prove to me that you can do all those little things right (along with the big things), and give you an opportunity to repair your grade and (hopefully) essentially make these fatals go away when it comes to your final grade.
But we have to start making sure we're following all the steps, every time. No more short cuts. No more assumptions.
Each and every one of you is capable of doing this, and doing it well. But we need to do all the things we're supposed to do for that to happen.
This is a particularly big problem with out-of-class stories. Out-of-class stories are kind of like midterms and finals: they are a BIG part of our final grade. The whole point of doing a bunch of practice stories has been to emphasize your good habits, identify your bad habits and fix the latter, so that by the time we do out-of-class stories you're not at risk of making a huge small mistake on something that's oging to be a huge part of your final grade.
Folks, let's please make sure we're doing our due diligence and carefully fact-checking, based on the advice and handouts and checklists from previous blog posts.
For the most part, many people did very well -- but not great. Writing, organization and story structure were in general very, very good, but where we fell short was with range of sources.
In many stories, we had just one side of an issue. Maybe we just talked to officials in charge of something. Maybe we just talked to people affected by something. Maybe we just talked to neutral experts, who have no vested interest in how things turn out, but know a lot about the subject at hand.
What we need to do is talk to all such groups. Not just one, and not even just two of three. We need to explore all the levels of complexity of a story, and reach out to all the niche groups that have an interest in what is happening, is affected by what is happening, is in charge of what is happening, and is expect in what is happening.
To find such sources, we need to ask ourselves, who is interested in this? Who is affected by this? Who is in charge of this? Who is expert in this? And where might I find these people?
Then, we need to find them.
Google is your pal, sure. But it starts with your own curiosity, and your willingness to act upon it. You can't just race to the minimum three sources and think, I'm done. You're done when you've answered those aforementioned questions in italics; then interviewed all those people; and then answered all their questions.
Only then do you know what you have. Only then do you know what to write. Only then have you committed an act of journalism.
Now, having said that, I'm pretty happy with how things went.
Were things perfect? No. You probably know that already, from all the comments I made. But when I was comparing your work to that of previous classes on the first out-of-classer, I think in many ways you showed more advanced work than many of those classes did.
In general, I think not only are where we ought to be, we're probably a little bit ahead of where I thought we should be, based on previous classes.
So, good job!
Plus, two more good things: first, I usually find that the first out-of-classer is the hardest one to do, since you have nothing to compare it to in terms of writing and organizing a self-reported story, and especially regarding setting up and carrying out in-person interviews.
Now, since you have those experiences, the second and third ones should be much easier.
Second, I'd like to remind you that even though the semester is just over halfway done, the work we've done so far represents only about 25 percent of your final grade. That means 75 percent of your grade will be determined in the coming weeks.
So, if you've struggled at times at the start of this class, don't fret. There's still plenty of work with which you can show me that you're picking up concepts, executing them well, and deserve a great grade.
Out-of-Class #1: Example #1
Sexual assault is among the top
concerns on any college campus, including here at Michigan State University. We
DON’T USE FIRST-PERSON REFERENCES
OUTSIDE OF QUOTES, PER AP STYLE. INSTEAD, SAY STUDENTS HAVE HEARD ALL
STATISTICS, BUT HAT ELSE CAN THEY DO (NOT WE DO) have all heard the
statistics, but what else can we do to help prevent it from being such a
prevalent issue?
At
MSU, there are several organizations that urge to educate students about the
ways in which sexual assault and relationship violence can be prevented on
campus. These groups provide sources and hotlines for survivors, as well as tips
on how to detect when a sexual assault is about to happen.
The
Sexual Assault and Relationship Violence Prevention Program began doing
workshops for students in January of 2008, said Adam Littleton, a SARV
Prevention Program Graduate Professional. However, the program has grown much
since then.
“Originally,
we were just doing general workshops for the entire first year population, but
we’ve expanded into doing things like LGBTQ-specific workshops, international
student workshops, and a bystander intervention network that is aimed at upperclassmen,”
said Littleton.
In
the workshops, SARV peer educators teach freshmen about the resources they have
on campus, how they can detect certain red flags that coincide with sexual
assault or relationship violence, and how they can make a difference in the
current campus culture. HOW DO YOUY KNOW
THIS? ATTRIBUTE!
SARV
believes that in-person workshops are the most effective means of communicating
with and educating students, Littleton said. The scripts and the criteria for
the workshops are updated based on new statistics, new terminology, and student
feedback.
“Our
goal is to educate and empower students on campus in order to kind of change
the climate that we have here and decrease, like, prevalence of sexual assault
on college campuses,” said Littleton.
SARV also works
closely with other organizations on campus, Littleton said.
“We
collaborate with a lot of organizations on campus. We are a part of a network
that includes SARV, the Sexual Assault Program, the University Police
Department, the Office of Institutional Equity, Safe Place, Olin Health Center,
the Self Defense Program, the LGBT Resource Center, and then Greek Life,” said
Littleton.
In
regards to how preventing sexual assault could be improved on MSU’s campus,
Littleton said that the SARV team is already looking towards expanding on the
required freshman workshop by also having workshops for upperclassmen.
From Littleton’s
experience at another undergraduate institution, he said that MSU is incredibly
lucky to have so many resources and places to turn to.
“This
is the second university that I’ve been to and my undergrad did not have all of
the great resources that we have here, so we are extremely fortunate and a lot
of other universities could benefit from all of the stuff that we have,”
Littleton said.
Although
there are many outlets to finding resources and counseling, it seems that there
is one particular factor about MSU that deeply affects the trends of sexual
assault on campus.
According to Megan
Maas, an expert on areas such as sexual assault prevention, relationship
violence, sex education, and family studies, an underlying feature of sexual
assault is the type of campus it occurs on.
“What
we do know is that sexual assault on college campuses is a persistent,
remaining issue,” said Maas. “Prevalence rates are really consistent across the
country, and they are certainly a little bit higher in the Big 10 schools that
are a little bit more athletically oriented.”
In
regard to the organizations on campus, such as SARV Prevention Program and SAP,
Maas said that any program is a step in the right direction.
“We
do know that any prevention program is better than nothing, and that having
more resources on campus helps students not only report more, but also helps
them feel more supported and more likely to seek help,” said Maas.
On
a negative note, prevention programs that exist across the country may go
unnoticed and uncredited by college students, Maas said. Although they are
indefinitely helpful, many students have reported that the programs are boring
or irrelevant to their needs.
“We
have a lot of work to do in those areas,” said Maas.
Caroline Nelsen, who is a sexual
assault therapist with the Sexual Assault Program, or SAP, AT MSU? BE SPECIFIC wrote via email that she believes MSU has made
significant improvements in the ways sexual assault is addressed on campus, but
that both MSU and society as a whole could do a better job in creating a more
accepting atmosphere for survivors.
Nelson also
wrote that she thinks that students should be aware and attentive of sexual
assault trends.
“It’s extremely
important students pay attention to sexual assault trends and how our campus
and culture respond,” Nelson wrote. “Sexual Assault is rooted in rape culture
and it takes a community to impact change.”
Molly
Ehasz, a junior at MSU majoring in Civil Engineering, MAJORS ARE LOWER CASE, PER AP STYLE said that her TA SPELL OUT ACRONYMS ON FIRST REFERENCE position
requires her to report any situation in which she even suspects that a sexual
assault has occurred.
“I wouldn’t say
that I am aware of when it happens unless it’s a big incident, which I feel is
a problem because people only care when it’s something big that happens,” said
Ehasz.
However, she does
believe that there are many resources available for students at MSU.
“I think that
there are definitely a lot of resources, and I know that for students who have
had that problem, there’s, like, specific places they can go,” said Ehasz. “But
it’s just kind of sad that it, like, still happens.”
Word Count: 899
Adam Littleton:
-Sexual Assault and Relationship Violence Prevention Program Graduate Professional
-Phone: (517) 355-8286
-Email: littl105@msu.edu
-Sexual Assault and Relationship Violence Prevention Program Graduate Professional
-Phone: (517) 355-8286
-Email: littl105@msu.edu
Megan Maas (Neutral Expert):
-Expert in sexual assault prevention, family studies, relationship violence, sex education, and human development/assistant professor
-Phone: (517) 432-2953
-Email: Maasmeg1@msu.edu
Caroline Nelson:
-Sexual Assault Therapist/Staff member at SAP
-Phone: (517) 355-9320
-Email: Nelsenca@msu.edu
Molly Ehasz:
-Junior at MSU studying Civil Engineering
-Phone: (908) 442-5217
-Email: Ehaszmol@msu.edu
ASSIGNMENT GRADE: (redacted)
INSTRUCTOR’S COMMENTS: VERY SOLID FIRST STORY. NICE RANGE OF SOURCES,
GOOD STRUCTURE AND ATTRIBUTION, A GOOD LEDE WITH A PROPER NUT GRAF. THANKS!
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