Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Lead
Search continues for four year old girl who has gone missing while under the care of her 16 year-old baby sitter.
Fraternity Recruitment at WSU
The WSU Fraternity Recruitment strategy has been changing from year to year without much success, it seems to limit Fraternities more and more as time goes on.
Every year for the past three years the Interfraternity Council (IFC) has changed its recruitment system and it only seems to get worse. Originally the system was similar to the Sororities system, which is one that uses formal recruitment. This is where anyone interested in Fraternity life arrived at school a week early and guest stayed in a Fraternity while they toured other Fraternities on campus, narrowing down their search as the week went on until they finally made their decision at the end of the week.
As numbers of incoming freshmen interested in formal recruitment began drastically falling, IFC decided to drop its formal recruitment and have Fraternities sign their members informally.
Fall 2008 was the first year without formal recruitment; it was hard for many Fraternities to adjust to this system. Therefore this made it hard to get the usual number of members in houses, thus making for hard financial times for many houses. At this time, however, through informal signing many Fraternities throughout the fall semester would sign members and would simply break the student’s dorm contract with the University and move them into their Fraternity.
Although there was not a truly formal system of recruitment, IFC organized events for interested freshmen and basically had a few days of open houses where freshmen could walk through Fraternities and get house tours. This was difficult however in that many freshmen had trouble walking up to an unfamiliar house of 40 to 80 guys and asking to be shown around.
Several members involved with IFC and the Greek system are not happy with the current system. “I’m not a big fan of the new system I feel we have lost the foundation of recruitment. I believe we need some form of formal recruitment, a mixed system of formal and informal signing,” said Chase Gunnell, Director of Greek Affairs and past President of the Delta Chi Fraternity
In fall of 2009, the system was once again changed; this time demanding that Fraternities sign their freshmen by Aug. 5 otherwise they would not be allowed to move the freshmen in until the spring semester. IFC continued to organize open houses where interested freshmen could tour Fraternities, but this was around the first week of school and if a freshman wanted to sign he could not be moved in until the spring semester. This made it hard for houses to sign freshmen early enough to move them in, which has put quite a financial burden on a lot of Fraternities.
“Personally, I feel the new system has been detrimental for some fraternities,” said Derick En’wezoh, ASWSU President and past student regent of WSU. “The new recruitment plan happened very suddenly and every house has not been able to prepare for the financial effects of it.”
Chase Gunnell, Director of Greek Affairs has said that he plans to look into possibly making changes to the recruitment system, and hopes that he can bring back formal recruitment because he believes it is a positive experience and should not have been discarded.
Many freshmen come into college not knowing anyone, the formal recruitment process was an easy organized way for these freshmen to meet people and look into Fraternities that they would otherwise not get the chance to visit.
Many Fraternities have suffered from the changes in the system and have had to adjust to the new changes that have come into place every year. While some Fraternities have not felt much effect by the changes because they have thrived in the past through their summer recruitment, some houses on the other hand do most of their recruiting through formal and/or during the school year and these are the houses who are really feeling the effects of these changes.
Every year for the past three years the Interfraternity Council (IFC) has changed its recruitment system and it only seems to get worse. Originally the system was similar to the Sororities system, which is one that uses formal recruitment. This is where anyone interested in Fraternity life arrived at school a week early and guest stayed in a Fraternity while they toured other Fraternities on campus, narrowing down their search as the week went on until they finally made their decision at the end of the week.
As numbers of incoming freshmen interested in formal recruitment began drastically falling, IFC decided to drop its formal recruitment and have Fraternities sign their members informally.
Fall 2008 was the first year without formal recruitment; it was hard for many Fraternities to adjust to this system. Therefore this made it hard to get the usual number of members in houses, thus making for hard financial times for many houses. At this time, however, through informal signing many Fraternities throughout the fall semester would sign members and would simply break the student’s dorm contract with the University and move them into their Fraternity.
Although there was not a truly formal system of recruitment, IFC organized events for interested freshmen and basically had a few days of open houses where freshmen could walk through Fraternities and get house tours. This was difficult however in that many freshmen had trouble walking up to an unfamiliar house of 40 to 80 guys and asking to be shown around.
Several members involved with IFC and the Greek system are not happy with the current system. “I’m not a big fan of the new system I feel we have lost the foundation of recruitment. I believe we need some form of formal recruitment, a mixed system of formal and informal signing,” said Chase Gunnell, Director of Greek Affairs and past President of the Delta Chi Fraternity
In fall of 2009, the system was once again changed; this time demanding that Fraternities sign their freshmen by Aug. 5 otherwise they would not be allowed to move the freshmen in until the spring semester. IFC continued to organize open houses where interested freshmen could tour Fraternities, but this was around the first week of school and if a freshman wanted to sign he could not be moved in until the spring semester. This made it hard for houses to sign freshmen early enough to move them in, which has put quite a financial burden on a lot of Fraternities.
“Personally, I feel the new system has been detrimental for some fraternities,” said Derick En’wezoh, ASWSU President and past student regent of WSU. “The new recruitment plan happened very suddenly and every house has not been able to prepare for the financial effects of it.”
Chase Gunnell, Director of Greek Affairs has said that he plans to look into possibly making changes to the recruitment system, and hopes that he can bring back formal recruitment because he believes it is a positive experience and should not have been discarded.
Many freshmen come into college not knowing anyone, the formal recruitment process was an easy organized way for these freshmen to meet people and look into Fraternities that they would otherwise not get the chance to visit.
Many Fraternities have suffered from the changes in the system and have had to adjust to the new changes that have come into place every year. While some Fraternities have not felt much effect by the changes because they have thrived in the past through their summer recruitment, some houses on the other hand do most of their recruiting through formal and/or during the school year and these are the houses who are really feeling the effects of these changes.
Monday, September 21, 2009
Al Jazeera English
I noticed in several of these news stations that while they were very professional and very similiar to U.S. News they seemed to mispell words and sometimes use improper grammar some examples are: rumour, defence, programme, Organise, per cent. Besides these errors I thought that majority of these stations did not seem any more biased or different then American news stations.
1. How effective do you think the Internet will be for Al Jazeera as it attempts to reach a U.S. audience?
I believe that the internet is the most effective way for Al Jazeera to reach the U.S. audience. They obviously do not have any other choice if American cable companies refuse to broadcast them. I think if Al Jazeera wants to make it to cable television it will not be anytime soon. As stated in the given assignment majority of Americans do not want Al Jazeera to broadcast in America.
2. Based on your own observations, do you think that Al Jazeera English should be allowed to broadcast in the U.S.?
Based on my observations I do think Al Jazeera English should be allowed to broadcast in America. After watching several newscasts I believe that Al Jazeera English uses a "Murrow paradigm" of traditional journalism. They seem very professional and I saw little to no bias in their newscasts and interviews. I think that American's need to expand their horizons, it is true we have many 24-hour news channels but all of these are American based with American agendas, I believe it is healthy for one to look at different sides of the stories and see how other countries are broadcasting the news.
3. What, if anything, do you notice about Al Jazeera's approach to telling the news? How is it different than the U.S.-based TV news outlets that you have experienced?
I personally did not notice much of a difference at all in Al Jazeera's approach to telling the news compared to Americas approach. They interviewed people who had opinions on both sides of the story as well as some opinions that American news stations would probably not broadcast.
4. While on the Al Jazeera site, be sure to check out the network's published Code of Ethics. Based on your own observations, do you think they are adhering to them?
I believe that Al Jazeera follows their code of ethics. I feel that they probably follow their code of ethics even more so because of all the past alligations of them being a biased network.
1. How effective do you think the Internet will be for Al Jazeera as it attempts to reach a U.S. audience?
I believe that the internet is the most effective way for Al Jazeera to reach the U.S. audience. They obviously do not have any other choice if American cable companies refuse to broadcast them. I think if Al Jazeera wants to make it to cable television it will not be anytime soon. As stated in the given assignment majority of Americans do not want Al Jazeera to broadcast in America.
2. Based on your own observations, do you think that Al Jazeera English should be allowed to broadcast in the U.S.?
Based on my observations I do think Al Jazeera English should be allowed to broadcast in America. After watching several newscasts I believe that Al Jazeera English uses a "Murrow paradigm" of traditional journalism. They seem very professional and I saw little to no bias in their newscasts and interviews. I think that American's need to expand their horizons, it is true we have many 24-hour news channels but all of these are American based with American agendas, I believe it is healthy for one to look at different sides of the stories and see how other countries are broadcasting the news.
3. What, if anything, do you notice about Al Jazeera's approach to telling the news? How is it different than the U.S.-based TV news outlets that you have experienced?
I personally did not notice much of a difference at all in Al Jazeera's approach to telling the news compared to Americas approach. They interviewed people who had opinions on both sides of the story as well as some opinions that American news stations would probably not broadcast.
4. While on the Al Jazeera site, be sure to check out the network's published Code of Ethics. Based on your own observations, do you think they are adhering to them?
I believe that Al Jazeera follows their code of ethics. I feel that they probably follow their code of ethics even more so because of all the past alligations of them being a biased network.
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Summary Lead
http://columbian.com/article/20090915/NEWS02/709159961
"More than half the county's public health staff rolled up their sleeves Monday afternoon to get vaccinated against seasonal influenza."
This is a good example of a summary lead in that it describes what the news article is about in one sentence. It gives the Who- county public health staff, the What- getting vaccinated for seasonal influenza, the Where- Clark County, the Why- to protect against seasonal influenza, and the When- Monday afternoon. This sum's up a preview of what the story will be about making it a great example of a summary lead.
"More than half the county's public health staff rolled up their sleeves Monday afternoon to get vaccinated against seasonal influenza."
This is a good example of a summary lead in that it describes what the news article is about in one sentence. It gives the Who- county public health staff, the What- getting vaccinated for seasonal influenza, the Where- Clark County, the Why- to protect against seasonal influenza, and the When- Monday afternoon. This sum's up a preview of what the story will be about making it a great example of a summary lead.
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
My Potential Stories
1. Their have been quite a few assaults on campus already this year. I personally know of two, and we have all heard of the "alerts" the University delivered a few weeks ago. I believe that this topic is one that many students want to hear about because it includes them and their safety. I would plan on talking to a Pullman police officer as well as a WSU police officer or school official. This story would be written for the Daily Evergreen
2. I believe that a big issue here at WSU is that of students having trouble understanding teachers who's second language is English and can have strong accents. I personally have experienced several teachers like this and have heard many students complain that they cannot understand their teachers. I would interview a student who has a teacher who's second language is English as well as a teacher with English as their second language. This story would apeal to many students because a lot of students deal with this situation daily. This is a story that could easily become offensive so I would have to be very careful with my word choice. This story would appear in the Daily Evergreen.
3. A currently highly debated topic among Fraternities is that of the new recruitment system. I have first hand experience dealing with and hearing from other Fraternities that they are unhappy with the new system and that they find it unfair and difficult signing and moving incoming freshman into their houses because of the system, which has changed twice over the past two years. This story may not interest all students at WSU but it is a large deal in the Greek community and I believe many students want to hear if the school plans to make any changes. I personally know the ASWSU President and the Chairman for Greek Affairs for the University and would plan on interviewing both of them as well as Samantha Armstrong the Assistant Director for Fraternity and Sorority Life. This would be published in the Daily Evergreen.
2. I believe that a big issue here at WSU is that of students having trouble understanding teachers who's second language is English and can have strong accents. I personally have experienced several teachers like this and have heard many students complain that they cannot understand their teachers. I would interview a student who has a teacher who's second language is English as well as a teacher with English as their second language. This story would apeal to many students because a lot of students deal with this situation daily. This is a story that could easily become offensive so I would have to be very careful with my word choice. This story would appear in the Daily Evergreen.
3. A currently highly debated topic among Fraternities is that of the new recruitment system. I have first hand experience dealing with and hearing from other Fraternities that they are unhappy with the new system and that they find it unfair and difficult signing and moving incoming freshman into their houses because of the system, which has changed twice over the past two years. This story may not interest all students at WSU but it is a large deal in the Greek community and I believe many students want to hear if the school plans to make any changes. I personally know the ASWSU President and the Chairman for Greek Affairs for the University and would plan on interviewing both of them as well as Samantha Armstrong the Assistant Director for Fraternity and Sorority Life. This would be published in the Daily Evergreen.
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