For the video exercise, each person will be assigned to a three-person group with which you will work on the vid assignment and
interview each other. Please
share whatever video resources you have within your group (but if you have a recent model of cell phone, that should suffice).
For
those of you who don't have a camera, please be sure to get a memory
stick or comparable memory device in which to store your raw video.
You
may edit your video on whatever editing program you have on your own
personal computers (iMovie, ect.). If you lack such an editing program,
the open lab on the second floor of the CAS building has such programs
already loaded.
You
MUST work with your group members
and include their interviews in your story. However, additionally you
MAY collaborate with other groups in working on this story
and ALSO
include their members among your interviews.
You may NOT trade group
members, and I will not switch members unless it is a truly
extraordinary circumstance (e.g., one member has a court restraining
order against another group member).
Here's the multimedia group assignments:
Green group: Mary A., Alana E., Jason R.
White group: Emma B., Sergio M.-B., Laurel Y.
Sparty group: Asha D., Kelsey F., Maddie S.
Munn group: Travis D., Chelsea S., Emily N.
Breslin group: Meg D., Romero H., Anna S.
Monday, October 27, 2014
JRN 200: Why Stop Now?
More nonsense with your emails to me:
*****
Whew. Tired.
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I don't have time for a cat right now, but have a good weekend regardless!
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Have another GREAT MORNING
BEAT MICHIGAN GO GREEN GO WHITE!!!!
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I'm so nervous to submit this
But Have a Great Morning.
GO GREEN GO WHITE!
*****
*****
Hi Omar! Here is my lawsuit assignment. Please don't tell me I fataled, or the photo attached to this will be my response.....
*****
Just spent 10 minutes trying to find a funny dog picture..... because I know you LOVE dogs.... I couldn't choose one, so I chose nothing.
*****
*****
*****
And finally, someone is getting into this WAAAAAAAY too much ...
*****
Whew. Tired.
*****
I don't have time for a cat right now, but have a good weekend regardless!
*****
Have another GREAT MORNING
BEAT MICHIGAN GO GREEN GO WHITE!!!!
*****
I'm so nervous to submit this
But Have a Great Morning.
GO GREEN GO WHITE!
*****
I would come up with something clever but I'm way too tifdhjkshjk hdjfkdhfdhjdalk [insert audible snoring]
*****
Hi Omar! Here is my lawsuit assignment. Please don't tell me I fataled, or the photo attached to this will be my response.....
*****
Just spent 10 minutes trying to find a funny dog picture..... because I know you LOVE dogs.... I couldn't choose one, so I chose nothing.
*****
*****
*****
And finally, someone is getting into this WAAAAAAAY too much ...
Out-Of-Class #1: A Good Example ...
... of a rewrite, with my comments in CAPS BOLD. Please note I allowed the survey from a newspaper as data because (1.) the survey was actually conducted BY the newspaper, and not just reported on from another source; (2.) the survey size was large enough to be credible, and (3.) the author asked to make sure I was okay with it and it did not fit the description of simply "borrowing" from other media.
Please note the creative yet factually-based and contextual lede, the many sources (both neutral experts and everyday people), the frequent use of data to show the proof behind claims and observations, hard details to support general ideas, etc. Really, a nice job all-around:
Please note the creative yet factually-based and contextual lede, the many sources (both neutral experts and everyday people), the frequent use of data to show the proof behind claims and observations, hard details to support general ideas, etc. Really, a nice job all-around:
JRN 200
10/15/14
Slug: Sleep Deprivation
According tojj dfjkdhjfkdfdf…
Fall asleep on your keyboard again?
If you are thinking it’s time for a
nap, you are probably right.
Sleep experts say students with
good sleeping habits generally get better grades and have higher levels of
productivity and happiness as opposed to students who skimp on sleep for
schoolwork.
According to the report of an
online survey conducted by Carnegie Mellon University’s student newspaper, The
Tartan, 73 out of 102 students said “they felt they performed inadequately on
an assignment or exam due to lack of sleep.”
Jennifer Grzegorek, a counseling psychologist
at Michigan State University’s Counseling Center, said she has noticed that
students view sleep deprivation as a sign of hard work and dedication.
“Students increasingly post on
social media that they stayed up the entire previous night or only got a few
hours of sleep, as though it’s something to brag about. That’s a problem,” said
Grzegorek via email.
Caroline Cooke, a James Madison
University psychology graduate and former sleep researcher, said sleep
deprivation among college students is an epidemic and good sleeping habits,
including daytime naps, are necessary to function optimally.
According to a brochure distributed
by the Florida Institute of Technology’s Counseling and Psychological Services, college students sleep an average
of two hours fewer per day now than they did in the 1980s. HOW MANY HOURS IS
THAT, TOTAL? I KNOW; I’M NIT-PICKING
Cooke said she established The Nap
Nook at JMU in attempt to change negative attitudes associated with napping.
According to The Nap Nook Website, The
Nap Nook is a quiet place on the university’s campus where students can reserve
a beanbag to nap on for up to 40 minutes.
“The purpose of The Nap Nook was to
abolish the negative stigmas associated with napping and to shift the cultural
perspective on napping towards a healthier attitude,” said Cooke.
STILL NEED NAP NOOK USER DATA
Cooke said napping has numerous
benefits including improved memory, increased attention span and reduced stress
levels.
In a study published in “Journal of
Experimental Psychology: General,” study participants were presented a set of
word pairs and then tested once before and once after a 12-hour period COMMA HERE including a phase of sleep.
According to the study,
participants remembered an average of about five more word pairs after sleeping
than they did immediately after studying the information. Participants tested
after 12-hours without sleep showed insignificant improvement.
“Power naps are an effective and efficient way
to boost performance as opposed to coffee and stimulants,” said Cooke.
According to Cooke, coffee alone is
not a solution for sleep deprivation, however, a “coffee nap” in which you
drink coffee and then take a short nap, is the best kind of nap.
WHY?
Cooke said, in order to avoid
post-nap grogginess, naps should be no longer than 20-25 minutes.
“After that point in time you start
to fall into deeper stages of sleep and so you will actually wake up groggy.
It’s called sleep inertia. An object at rest tends to, well, stay at rest,”
said Cooke.
Cooke said a nap as short as 10
minutes is effective in a time crunch.
MSU senior Brooke Merrill said she would
appreciate a place like The Nap Nook at MSU but she would want to sleep for
more than 10 minutes.
“If I have a large block of time I
will take a nap, but I don’t usually have that,” said Merrill.
Merrill said she usually sleeps
five to six hours per night and cannot sleep well if she does not complete all
of her schoolwork before going to sleep.
Grzegorek said students need to
make time for sleep and it should be just as routine as their other
responsibilities.
“Although it can be challenging for
students to juggle school, homework, their social life, and maybe a job or
other responsibilities, it’s very important to prioritize sleep. I suggest that
students who are having trouble finding time to sleep actually put it on their
schedules until it becomes routine,” said Grzegorek.
Cooke said students who struggle
finding time to sleep should consider how much more productive they could be if
they were fully rested and less likely to get distracted.
MSU freshman Jennifer Meyer said
she sleeps five to six hours a night and would need a two to three HYPHEN HERE hour nap to feel rested.
Meyer said she finds herself
mindlessly going on Facebook when she feels tired, spending about two hours on
social media daily.
According to Cooke, when you don’t
sleep enough, “You’re cognitively drained,” and “you’re not functioning as
well. You find yourself back on these social media sites not really realizing
why you’re back there again,” and “you’re not doing very productive work.”
MSU senior and swim team member Alexandria
Merritt said she tries to make time for a daily nap in addition to sleeping six
to seven hours at night, but she occasionally stays up all night to finish
assignments and study for exams at the last minute when she needs to.
Merritt said she feels tired but does
not call herself sleep deprived because she is “used to it by now.”
Jeff Dyche, an associate professor of psychology at JMU, said he
worries about students with poor sleeping habits. While he notices tired
students dozing off or becoming distracted in his classes, he said he worries
more about how they are affected outside of class.
In an email, Dyche said a lack of
sleep can make students “more moody and this can impact personal
relationships,” and “I worry about them driving cars to school in the morning
as most fall asleep crashes occur in younger people and in the early hours of
light.”
Dyche said he recommends eight to
nine hours of sleep each night and “even well rested individuals benefit from a
brief mid afternoon nap.”
Word Count: 960
Source List
Jeff Dyche – Ph.D.
Associate Professor at JMU
540-568-4965
Caroline Cooke
JMU Graduate and founder of The Nap
Nook
417-800-2807
Jennifer L. Grzegorek, Ph.D.
Counseling Psychologist
JenG@cc.msu.edu
(517) 896-4231
Brooke Merrill
616-540-5346
Alexandria Merritt
517-442-2301
Jennifer Meyer
248-752-5312
The Nap Nook Website
Journal of Experimental Psychology: General
Individual Differences in Working Memory Capacity Predict Sleep-Dependent
Memory Consolidation
Sleep and College Life- Brochure
The Tartan-
survey
Stats: Some Good Examples
First up: a good lede, good nut graf, good attribution, good sequence of supporting info; just good.
A survey done by the U.S. Census
Bureau last October reveals that computer and Internet use have increased
dramatically since the 1980s, according to a press release from the bureau.
In the year 1984, according to
the survey, only 8.2 percent of American households reported to the bureau that
they owned computers, and household Internet use was nonexistent.
Today, almost
62 percent of households own computers, and almost 55 percent of those households
have Internet access, the survey said.
After incremental growths in
computer ownership — 15 percent of households in 1989 and 22.8 percent in 1993
— the survey said household Internet use began to register at 18 percent of computer-owning
households in 1997, with 36.6 percent of households owning computers.
“About half of all children ages
3 to 17 had access to a computer at home by 1997, as did about 40 percent of
all adults (ages 18+),” said the census bureau.
Currently, 76
percent of children have access to a computer at home, as do 57 percent of all
adults, the bureau said.
Of the roughly 38 percent of
households that don’t have a computer, nearly 2 percent use the Internet
outside of home, according to the survey.
Of the roughly 45 percent that don’t access
the Internet, 26 percent say they have no computer, or that their computer was
inadequate, the survey said.
Households lacking access
include those that have computers, but no connection to an Internet service
provider, the primary reason being that the householders feel they don’t need
the Internet or have no interest in it (41 percent of respondents without
access), according to the survey.
Nearly 22 percent of respondents without access listed the price of Internet as their reason, the survey said.
*****
Now, here's one that found a more detailed hook for the lede:
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Today, more than 76 percent of children
from ages 3 to 17 have access to a computer, according to the Current
Population Survey conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau in October.
This
is a dramatic change from when personal computer usage first began in households
in 1984. Then, only 8.2 percent of households reported that they owned a
household computer, according to the census bureau.
Household
Internet usage has remained a little below that of household computer usage,
according to the census bureau.
In
1984, Internet usage was non-existent, according to the census bureau.
In
1997, when more than 36 percent of households owned computers, 18 percent of
those were accessing the Internet, according to the census bureau.
Today,
when nearly 62 percents of households own computers, nearly 55 percent of them
are able to access the Internet, according to the census bureau.
Where
households did not own a computer, only two percent of them reported that they
accessed the Internet outside of the home, according to the census bureau.
Over
45 percent of households still do not access the Internet, including some that
own household computers, according to the census bureau.
Of
these households, 22 percent found the cost of Internet prohibitive, while 41
percent were not interested in accessing the Internet at all, according to the
census bureau.
Stats: A Good Alternate Lede
I've
been very focused on you all doing basic journalism: a to-the-point
lede, a strong nut graf, frequent attribution, and so forth.
But
the goal isn't to write basic stories with basic ledes; it's to use the
qualities of structure, simple and direct language, attribution and
such to then reinstall creativity to our writing, so that we have
something that is both fun to read AND fun to write; something that is
engaging in style yet solid in journalistic principles.
I
think this story -- and its alternate lede that stretches over the
first four sentences/paragraphs -- does a good job of
marrying fundamentals and a fun-to-read style. Note how it's not
creativity for creativity's sake; it's an artistic style entirely rooted
in the facts you're trying to emphasize. And it's followed by a nut
graf (in the fifth sentence/graf) that sounds like a basic lede, but
strongly supports the alternative telling:
It’s
the device that changed the lives of many people.
It has become the go-to for information
regarding the news, weather, research, latest celebrity gossip and much, much
more.
What is it?
It’s the computer.
There has been a dramatic growth of
computer ownership and Internet use in American households from the early 1980s
until now, according to a survey conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau.
The U.S. Census Bureau conducted the
survey as part of the Current Population Survey (CPS) on household computer ownership
and Internet use by
Americans.
Americans.
The CPS is a large nationally
representative survey of approximately 50,000 households conducted each month
by the U.S. Census Bureau; this particular survey was conducted in October,
said the survey.
The survey shows that since the early
1980s when computers first entered households, the number of households owning
a computer has increased from 8.2 percent to 61.8 percent of 113.1 million
American households.
According to the survey, of the 61.8
percent of households with computers, 54.7 percent access the Internet from
home.
“Today, more than 76 percent of children
ages 3 to 17 have access to a computer, as do 57 percent of all adults ages
18+,” said the survey.
Although computers and the Internet are
becoming popular in the majority of American households, they aren’t for
everyone.
According to the survey, of the 45.3
percent of households that don’t access the Internet but have computers, have a
variety of reasons given for not connecting to the Internet.
A few main reasons given were having
computers that are inadequate to access the Internet, people who felt they
don’t need the Internet or weren’t interested in it, and the cost of the
Internet was too high, said the survey.
The survey also said that many people
don’t access the Internet because of a lack of time, lack of skill, language
barriers, privacy and security concerns, and concerns about children accessing
questionable material on the Internet.
Stats: Flip That Lede
Some of you had good ledes that would have been great ledes if you
flipped the lede; that is, switch positioning of attribution and
substance to highlight the latter.
Here's one lede that could have used a flip:
According to the Current Population Survey conducted each month by the United States Census Bureau, Internet use among households is common in over half of all American homes.
Nice lede, but see how it starts with the attribution before getting to the gist of the story? You can reverse that order like this ...
Internet use among households is common in over half of all American homes, according to the Current Population Survey conducted each month by the United States Census Bureau.
... and you emphasize what is being said over who is saying it. Please note in this case I did not change, add or eliminate any word you used in your lede.
I simply flipped the order.
Here's one lede that could have used a flip:
According to the Current Population Survey conducted each month by the United States Census Bureau, Internet use among households is common in over half of all American homes.
Nice lede, but see how it starts with the attribution before getting to the gist of the story? You can reverse that order like this ...
Internet use among households is common in over half of all American homes, according to the Current Population Survey conducted each month by the United States Census Bureau.
... and you emphasize what is being said over who is saying it. Please note in this case I did not change, add or eliminate any word you used in your lede.
I simply flipped the order.
Stats: Math Is Hard
Be careful with numbers. Make sure you say what you mean, and you mean what you say, and that you understand what you say.
For example, let's look at this passage:
The U.S. Census Bureau ... (found) 61.8 percent have computers, an increase of almost 54 percent since 1984.
This is a fatal.
How is that? you may say. It went from 8.2 percent in 1984 to 61.8 percent now. The difference is 53.6 percent!
That's because the difference in percentage points is 53.6 percent. But the difference in percentage growth is actually 653.6 percent!
Here's what I mean:
In 1984, 8.2 percent of 100 percent households had computers. If 100 percent is 113.1 million households, that means 8.2 percent is around 9.2 million households.
Today, 61.8 percent of that 113.1 million households have computers. 61.8 percent of 113.1 million is around 69.9 million.
So the percentage increase isn't 8.2 to 53.6; it's roughly 9.2 million to somewhere around 69.9 million. And that's an increase of over 650 percent. If the 9.2 million only went up just over 53 percent, we'd be talking about a total of around 14 million or so.
What I think you meant to say was that the percentage of households with computers has risen 53.67 percentage points. Which it did. But that's not what you said.
If you're not sure, check with your sources to make sure your math is correct and in proper context.
Now, I understand math is hard. That's why many of us went into writing; to get away from math, right?
Still, we have to know how to accurately calculate percentage change, and these day it's never been easier with the Internet. Just do a Google search for "percentage change calculator" and you'll find dozens. That's how I did my math.
By the way, this isn't an isolated mistake. In my class last semester someone made the exact same mistake as you did here. So did someone the semester before that.
So don't fret. Do work on remembering the lesson, and not repeating the mistake.
For example, let's look at this passage:
The U.S. Census Bureau ... (found) 61.8 percent have computers, an increase of almost 54 percent since 1984.
This is a fatal.
How is that? you may say. It went from 8.2 percent in 1984 to 61.8 percent now. The difference is 53.6 percent!
That's because the difference in percentage points is 53.6 percent. But the difference in percentage growth is actually 653.6 percent!
Here's what I mean:
In 1984, 8.2 percent of 100 percent households had computers. If 100 percent is 113.1 million households, that means 8.2 percent is around 9.2 million households.
Today, 61.8 percent of that 113.1 million households have computers. 61.8 percent of 113.1 million is around 69.9 million.
So the percentage increase isn't 8.2 to 53.6; it's roughly 9.2 million to somewhere around 69.9 million. And that's an increase of over 650 percent. If the 9.2 million only went up just over 53 percent, we'd be talking about a total of around 14 million or so.
What I think you meant to say was that the percentage of households with computers has risen 53.67 percentage points. Which it did. But that's not what you said.
If you're not sure, check with your sources to make sure your math is correct and in proper context.
Now, I understand math is hard. That's why many of us went into writing; to get away from math, right?
Still, we have to know how to accurately calculate percentage change, and these day it's never been easier with the Internet. Just do a Google search for "percentage change calculator" and you'll find dozens. That's how I did my math.
By the way, this isn't an isolated mistake. In my class last semester someone made the exact same mistake as you did here. So did someone the semester before that.
So don't fret. Do work on remembering the lesson, and not repeating the mistake.
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