Nicole Smith

WSU's New Virtual World

2009-06-15T17:43:00.000-07:00

Washington State University has recently announced that it has launched a three-dimensional campus using Second Life.

This three-dimensional campus was designed by students and staff from The Center for Distance and Professional Education (CDPE), according to Edward R. Murrow College of Communication’s webpage.

“Thousands of far off students are getting their diploma through our distance degree program. Creating our campus in Second Life was just another way of opening up access to Washington State University,” said CDPE assistant dean Dr. David Cillay.

Students can use Second Life to correspond with other students using avatars using voice or text chatting, according to the Edward R. Murrow College of Communication’s webpage. Second Life helps students work with each other and learn in a new an innovative way. They can watch videos, talk with each other and learn in a virtual classroom from the comfort of their home.

“The university can use second life to introduce different people to our campus without having them necessarily traveling down here,” said Amanda Crowley, a Second Life designer.
Hundreds of universities have been using Second Life for a new means of collaborative learning, including Princeton, Harvard and Stanford according to Edward R. Murrow College of Communication’s webpage.

“Second life is a really great way to show people what your talking about,” said Kris Raikes, WSU Learning Center Tech Coordinator. “It’s a really good way to not only communicate but to create.”

Brett Atwood, an assistant professor at the Edward R. Murrow College of Communication, has planned to use the virtual campus in journalism and PR courses as soon as Fall 2009, according to Edward R. Murrow College of Communication’s webpage.

For more information about Second Life or to view the new WSU island virtual campus you can go to http://slurl.com/secondlife/WSU%20II/53/89/58 (requires Second Life).

Ethics

2009-06-15T11:01:00.000-07:00

1. I think he differentiated between a legitimate news story and and one that wasn't because it Jim West was in fact pursuing these underage boys, that was something the people needed to know and would make a story. It would also bring to light that someone is this kind of position doing this was not right and something to make it right would have to be done. If he wasn't pursuing these boys, than it wouldn't be a story. Everyone has a right to their own privacy and if he was gay that's his personal business that shouldn't be exploited for everyone to see and hear.

2. Bill Morlin justified the use of a concealed identity, because he was not doing it himself. Under their code of ethics they are not supposed to pretend that they are someone else to obtain information, but he went through a loop hole and had a consultant pretend that they were someone else to find out information. If he himself is not pretending to be another person posing to find out information that is following their ethics, if someone else does it and give them information then that is totally fine.

3. I feel like they published so many articles on Mayor West's alleged improprieties because it was something that they deemed to be important that is happening that people should know about. They found something that was news worthy and that people could connect with, it was something happening in their community and influencing the way it was run. They probably also kept publishing articles because they wanted to find out the truth and it was something that people wanted to know about.

4. I believe the gay community somewhat benefited from Mayor West being exposed. Instead of having someone deny bills and ways to make the gay community have rights, the newspaper showed that West was gay and that he was going against something that he was himself. I believe Mayor West was hurt by this but that was only because of the choices that he made that caused him to suffer. I think the outcome was worth it because I believe if you stand up for something and back it up, having Mayor West deny all the rights for the gay community just made him a hypocrite.

5. I think it is hard to distinguish if it is fully wrong or not. I think if a city official is doing something wrong and the newspapers get a tip from someone about it it should be looked into and researched but staking out and trying to catch the person seems like it has gone a little to far. A newspapers job is to report what is going on, not investigate so deeply that they are acting like police or FBI agents. They have no idea what Jack Lynch is doing and it is apart of his personal life. If he is doing something that is hurting others and he is in the wrong then that should be brought to attention.

Frontline: "What's Happening to the News?"

2009-06-14T22:09:00.000-07:00

In the first part of the documentary, it shows that people get their news differently from news past. It is not surprising that The Daily Show on Comedy Central is one of the most popular shows for people to get their news, its funny and times are changing. People are making the transition from reading newspapers to getting their news from funny shows and going online to find what they want to hear then and there.

I also strongly believe that a lot of news channels are dumbing down to what they consider news. I think news should be about what is going on in the world rather than putting news stories to just catch the reader's eye or odd awkward stories that dont really matter. There are a lot of things going on in this world that I think people should be educated on and learn about. The sad part is that many news channels are doing this just to build their revenues and gain money. Instead of sticking to the traditional journalism that has been around forever, they are changing journalism entirely, its not even journalism anymore and it has morphed into something else. These news channels would rather just make money and report retarded stories than report on something that really matters in this world.

Another thing that I found interesting is that no one really wants to preserve the newspapers or help them at all. Google relies on newspapers and what they support because thats what they show through their search engines. Yahoo! didnt even want to help at all and said that going online is the way that people are moving and to help the newspapers isnt worth their time or money. Its really sad that perserving newspapers and helping them isnt even being considered anymore. Making money is more important to these news stations and I believe that even though saving the newspapers is something that should be done, the generation is changing and people are getting their news more and more online. It is a change that is going to happen no matter what, unless there is something done to help both.

International News

2009-06-14T21:10:00.000-07:00

1. I think that the internet is pretty much the only way Al Jazeera will reach the United States audience right now. Instead of actually giving this type of news a chance I feel that people will hear the name and already have their minds made up. Other than the few places that are broadcasting this news channel, only people who are curious and give Al Jazeera a chance will be able to be reached using the internet. I honestly feel that this news channel only has the choice at this point in time to air on the internet, because people will not give it a chance when they know nothing about it other than the bad stuff that we have heard of.

2. Based on my observations and what I have watched, I think it should be broadcasted in the U.S. I think that it is a free country and if people do not like it, than they dont have to watch it. Al Jazeera shows and reports things that are happening around the world that news channels do not. Its refreshing to watch something different for once and not see and hear the same thing over and over on every news channel. I feel that many news channels here filter out a lot of things that are happening in the world that people should know about and Al Jazeera reports these things and I find it very interesting.

3. Al Jazeera's approach to reporting the news it obviously different in some ways. Unlike U.S. news channels, I feel that watching Al Jazeera, there are a lot of footage of riots and violence that you normally wouldn't see. Also, there are a lot of news stories that I feel that news channels here wouldn't report, but are still intersting to learn about other things going on in the world.

4. Watching what is happening in Iran with the election, I feel that they show a lot of the riots and protests with a lot of violence. Other than that, just watching a little bit of this news I feel from what I've seen other than the violence that they are adhering to them. I feel that if I watched Al Jazeera more often I could better answer this question.

One of a Kind

2009-06-08T14:10:00.000-07:00

PULLMAN-- Cans of spray paint being shaken, the hustle and bustle of interested people, happy customers and paintings scattered about; a peaceful place in a crazy atmosphere.

“I enjoy making my artwork and having people purchase my paintings and hang them in their house for others to see, this is what I love doing,” said Paul Nunn, owner of Peace Pirates: Creativity In A Can and a student at Washington State University.

Nunn owns his own business, Peace Pirates: Creativity In A Can, which consists of stencils, spray painted pieces and prints of favorite icons such as Audrey Hepburn, Marilyn Monroe and Jim Morrison. Artists such as Andy Warhol, Henri Toulouse-Lautrec and Banksy, all influence Nunn and have inspired his artwork that he makes today. Nunn also makes custom made spray paintings for those who want something special and one of a kind. Nunn travels around the Pacific North West to different festivals and venues to sell his artwork.

Over the past few years, the nation’s economy has plummeted and jobs are scarce to come by. Nunn has turned to starting his own business and being self sufficient.

“I’ve always wanted to be self sufficient,” said Nunn. “I’ve had enough jobs to see that I could run my own business and have seen enough people hate their jobs.”

He has also hired his friends to help make the canvases and splits the earrings with them after each show.

“I like working for Paul and helping him with his artwork,” said Ben Heller a co-worker of Paul Nunn. “He is one of my really good friends and it is fun to travel around and be apart of this experience.”

Running your own business, one understands that with success there are always bumps in the road. Nunn said that building a customer base, developing his painting skills, establishing a production method and learned business logistics are all some of the successes that he has come across while running his business.

“A show is like opening up shop for the day or weekend,” said Nunn. “You have to consider product placement, and there is a fine line between selling and annoying the browsing customer.”

Some bumps in the road that Nunn has encountered have been trying to sell the wrong paintings and spending money to sell at unpopular venues.

“The challenge is that it is difficult to be 20 and self finance a biz,” said Nunn. “My friends often help with labor and when a show goes well we split the money. When a show doesn’t go well, I have a choice to pay my bills or pay my labor…people don’t always want to work if they aren’t sure what their paycheck will look like.”

Nunn is an extremely productive person and has made a business in just a few years. His paintings show his passion for art and the icons and artists that inspire him to work harder and pursue his dream of opening a gallery in Portland or Seattle, are apparent.

“I started out as a Biotechnology major for the first two years at Washington State University, and then started dabbling in spray paint and selling pieces occasionally,” said Nunn. “Summer 2007 became my start and every weekend turned into a road trip and a passion for what I loved doing.”

For more information about Nunn’s artwork and his business, you can go to www.peacepirates.net or contact him at (866)546-0901.

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Special Leads

2009-05-26T22:22:00.000-07:00

Narrative:
http://www.newsweek.com/id/198855

Question:
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,521421,00.html

Swine Flu & Staying Healthy

2009-05-26T22:02:00.000-07:00

Swine flu is sweeping across the country and with no vaccine to protect against this virus, people are taking precautions to not get sick and stay healthy.

Swine flu, or H1N1, is a new virus of swine origin and is causing an intensifying outbreak in the United States. Swine flu is compared to regular seasonal influenza and spreads through coughs and sneezes, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the Unites States a total of 6,764 cases and 10 deaths have been reported, with numbers going up every day, according to the CDC. Currently there is no vaccine for swine flu.

“One of the problems is the organisms are evolving and changing, which makes the flu virus change and come back totally different every year,” said Robert Stephenson, Nurse Manager of Health and Wellness Services.

In order to combat swine flu many states are working to identify, investigate appropriate treatment and prevent the spread of this virus to others, according to King County’s Public Health.

“An increased public health monitoring and surveillance includes: Actively alerting health care providers, hospitals, and clinical laboratories about swine flu and asking them to contact Public Health immediately if they suspect swine flu in a patient, increasing the amount of influenza testing done by King County health care providers to help detect swine flu, working with hospitals and healthcare providers to identify unusual cases of illness that might be due to swine flu, tracking the amount of emergency department visits for influenza like illness and pneumonia and educating the public about swine flu, including what symptoms to look out for, how to identify if the risk for swine flu is increased (for example through travel to an area where swine flu is occurring) and when to seek medical care,” according to King County’s Public Health.

King County’s Public Health is also preparing for a flu epidemic.

“Stockpiled medications to treat influenza in accordance with national guidelines, created public education campaigns about pandemic flu, focused on the needs of vulnerable populations, helped expand the capacity of the health care system to care for patients during a severe pandemic and created the King County Health Care Coalition to help prepare for and coordinate county wide medical responses during health emergencies,” according to King County’s Public Health.

After summer, students will be flocking back to school for the upcoming year, but with a possible pandemic the Health and Wellness Services are prepared.

“The Health and Wellness has a strategic stock pile of drugs created for the bird flu that will be released for people with confirmed cases of swine flu,” said Stephenson. “These drugs do not kill the virus but keep it from replicating; it lessons the severity.”

Alongside the stockpile of drugs, there are other precautions that people can take to reduce the risk of getting swine flu.

“Make sure to wash your hands frequently, cover your mouth if you sneeze or cough, because the droplets have a six foot range,” said Stephenson. “Also if you are sick, do not go to school or work, and if you have a fever or cough contact student health.”

Every day the cases and deaths of swine flu are growing and the need for preventions and precautions are a top priority. As the United States waits for a vaccine for this new intensifying flu it is best to know the possibilities of a future flu pandemic.

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Summary Leads

2009-05-19T18:45:00.000-07:00

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,520727,00.html

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,520598,00.html?sPage=fnc/us/crime

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/19/science/19vacc.html?ref=science

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/20/world/americas/20brazil.html?hp

Compare & Contrast: Reuters, Fox News and MSN

2009-05-18T20:17:00.000-07:00

For the three internet news sites I chose Reuters.com, foxnews.com and msn.com. For each of them I looked at the stories that were the major headlines and the other kind of stories that were listed on the main page.
On Reuters.com, I found a lot of stories about the economy, Obama and other important and newsworthy stories going on around the world. This news site seems to be imforming their viewers about important things that are going on in the world that they should know about. They seemed to have newsworthy headlines and didnt dig into entertaining stories seen on many other news sites. I believe this site is pretty fair and balanced on the kind of stories published. I think this sites primary viewers are people who are interested in politics and what is going on in the economy.
When I went to foxnews.com, I found something totally different. One of the major headlines that was on the the main page was about hookers from China. I found that the news stories that were published on this site were a mix of newsworthy news and entertainment news. Although some of the stories presented seemed stupid in comparison to things going on around the world, many people click on these stories to read. I think this site takes in viewers that want to read celebrity gossip but also read about things influence their lives, such as politics, the economy and the world around us.
The last news site that I looked at was msn.com. I would compare this site to reuters because both of their top stories seemed to be legitimate and newsworthy. Although msn.com put in some stories that were for entertainment, most of the top stories that they published were stories about the economy and jobs as well as stories about swine flu and stories in Iraq and Israel.
Out of the three sites, I would probably use Reuters.com if I wanted to find out what was going on in the world and get updates on our economy. I would probably read foxnews.com for interesting stories and to be entertained. I usually read msn.com because it is the first thing that pops up when I open my browser. I think they do a good job at getting their stories out there for people to see and click on because I always seem to click on the stories and read them.

Ecuador vs. Chevron

2009-05-18T20:04:00.000-07:00

The two videos were very different in the way that they provided information for the viewers. In the first video by CBS, both sides of the story were shown and a person from the Ecuador and Chevron side were presented with little or no bias. This video also provided clips of the contamination so the viewers could see first hand what was going on and how bad it really was. The second video by Chevron in comparison was very different. The Chevron video seemed to carry a lot of bias and made it seem that the people in Ecuador had no idea what was going on. They made it seem like the contamination was their fault and it wasn't as bad as it really was. The chevron story also is not up to par with the Murrow Standard. Chevron hired an ex-reporter and made it seem that the news clip was news in itself, even though it was presented with what Chevron deemed as important to their case. In the end CBS's news was presented in a little or no biased way and presented both sides of the story so the viewer could make their own informed decision on whose fault it was and who should clean up the mess. The Chevron video was highly biased and only concentrated on making Ecuador's video seem untrue.

Three Pitches

2009-05-18T00:31:00.000-07:00

1)

Dear Editor,

With swine flu sweeping across the country and with no vaccine to protect against this virus, people are taking precautions to not get sick and stay healthy. Only 4,714 cases have been reported with only 4 deaths, but with no vaccine, how many more cases or deaths could occur?

I would like to find out what The Health and Wellness Center, as well as the local hospitals are doing to inform the community and students on ways to prevent and the precautions to take to minimize the chance of getting the swine flu virus.

Possible sources would be Washington State's Health and Wellness Center and Pullman Regional Hospital.

...........................................

2)

Dear Editor,

We all know the economy has taken its toll on the job market these days. With school out for the summer, college students are flooding home to either start their career after graduating or find a job to make extra money for the summer. But with so many people on the hunt for a job, any job in fact, many students are deciding to stay in Pullman and keep the jobs that they already have.

I would like to find out why Pullman seems like it has better job opportunities than going back home. I intend to find out why students are choosing to stay where there isnt a higher level of oppurtunity for career advancement or internships, and why they are choosing to stay in Pullman and working at a minimum wage jobs. I would also like to find out what the people who have graduated are doing to find a job and why living in Pullman seemed like a better idea than going home.

Possible sources would be graduated students staying for the summer with jobs and current students staying for the summer with jobs

......................................

Dear Editor,

With students leaving Pullman for the summer, many are staying and taking classes. I have been wondering for what reasons the students are deciding to stay. After a whole year of school and finals just ending, what makes students want to stay an extra six weeks or throughout the summer just to take even more classes?

I intend to interview many students and find out why they are staying and taking classes during the summer, instead of going home and enjoying their break. I also want to find out what is so appealing about summer session.

Possible sources would be students taking summer classes and students that have taken summer session in the past

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