It’s time to change your meat-ing.
The Student Collective for Animal Rights held their first meeting at Towson University on Thursday, February 25 at 5:30 p.m. in which two members discussed the group’s focus and description.
SCAR is a group of vegans and vegetarians, as well as everyone else interested in the group, which focuses on the animal rights, human rights and “liberty and equality for all”. Their mission is to spread awareness about animal rights and make changes for vegans, vegetarians and those who care about animal rights on campus. They do a lot of events focused on raising awareness for animal rights on campus and occasionally off campus as well such as panels, round tables and chef night events at dining halls.
“A lot of our stuff is about changing people’s preconceived notions about animal rights and veganism,” Sophomore theatre studies major and member Maddie Hicks said.
The collective was not affiliated with the Student Government because they did not have an executive board. “We want to stay as a collective,” Hicks said. “We don’t believe that any one person should have any more responsibility or power than anyone else in the group. All of our decisions are made as a collective.”
Other methods of getting awareness have worked in the past by using posters, chalk on the sidewalk, word of mouth and online. And as a result, people seemed to be interested. “We may not have the blessing of the SGA, but we still seem to get by,” Hicks said.
One of the most successful events was the screening and discussion of the documentary Earthlings in Linthicum Hall. The documentary is narrated by actor Joaquin Phoenix and it shows the exploitation of animals in all kinds of industries including food, science, as pets and entertainment.
Sophomore accounting major Phuong Phan has been a vegetarian for six months and it all started when her friend showed her that same documentary. “It’s a very, very shocking video,” she said. “Anyone who’s seen it or even seen parts of it actually changes how they think about animals or even changed how they eat or hopefully changed their mindset.”
Last semester, there was a situation with the stray feral cats on campus and the school administration wanted to put all the cats down instead of trapping and releasing them. As a result, the collective took action. “We took initiative, along with some professors on campus, to try to propose to them of other ways to handle the situation that didn’t involve euthanasia,” Hicks said.
But history and secondary education major Charles Miller, who does his own hunting and butchering, had very different views on animals and euthanasia. “It’s a humane way to do it,” he said. “What’s the difference between euthanizing an animal and euthanizing a pet that is dying? Ultimately, you’re still killing an animal.”
And in regards to killing an animal for food? “God created the humans to rule over the plant and animal kingdom,” he continued. “In that regard, if you eat an animal or meat in this case, you’re following the natural food chain. Does a wolf care that what it’s eating was alive a couple minutes before it started eating it? No. So, why should it affect what I eat?”
Monday, March 8, 2010
Monday, November 9, 2009
Sunday evening news
Last night, I saw a news program on Channel 11 (NBC) where there were updates on what has been going on in the Maryland area as well as the White House. First there was a major accident in Harford County on Interstate 95 that backed up all the way to the beltway. The anchor said that the truck that caused the accident was carrying liquid nitrogen and the newscasters would keep the audience updated on that later on. There was one camera shot of the traffic on the Interstate. However, there was no update on that afterwards because the nightly news was coming up shortly after.
After a brief update on Mayor Dixon's trial, the latest news that the healthcare bill finally passed in the House of Representatives. There was a couple of shots of President Obama coming outside of the White House to make a speech about the bill that passed the House, which eventually cut to the Speaker of the House who announced that the bill was passed. There was some cheering in the House that I heard when the Speaker made the announcement.
Later on, there was a sports update on the Ravens and Bengals game Sunday afternoon, where the Ravens lost 17-7. There was some field action shown which led to a close up on some of the players, looking tired and beaten. The Bengals players looked to be a bit more cheerful. There was more field action before another close up on the players. On the close up, one of the Ravens players exclaimed angrily in the air and the camera immediately cut to the crowd before going to the players again.
See everything on this channel at wbaltv.com
After a brief update on Mayor Dixon's trial, the latest news that the healthcare bill finally passed in the House of Representatives. There was a couple of shots of President Obama coming outside of the White House to make a speech about the bill that passed the House, which eventually cut to the Speaker of the House who announced that the bill was passed. There was some cheering in the House that I heard when the Speaker made the announcement.
Later on, there was a sports update on the Ravens and Bengals game Sunday afternoon, where the Ravens lost 17-7. There was some field action shown which led to a close up on some of the players, looking tired and beaten. The Bengals players looked to be a bit more cheerful. There was more field action before another close up on the players. On the close up, one of the Ravens players exclaimed angrily in the air and the camera immediately cut to the crowd before going to the players again.
See everything on this channel at wbaltv.com
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Magically turning print leads into broadcast ready ones
And now, for my next trick, I, magical writer/future journalist, shall turn these three leads from other newspapers into ones for broadcast media!
Like this one from the Baltimore Sun...
"A Howard County man charged with the murder of a woman whose body was found floating in an underground cable vault under a Northeast Baltimore street Friday was pronounced dead Monday night after being found unresponsive in his jail cell, said a State Department of Corrections spokesman." -Liz F. Kay and Justin Fenton
That might be the longest lead in the world. It's 47 words long! And it's really heavy, too!
And now, I turn it into a broadcast ready lead. Oohf! Let's place it in the cabinet (Thud) and shut the door... There's nothing up my right sleeve and nothing up my left sleeve... and Fwahhh! It's done! Let's open up the cabinet and see what's there now:
A State Department Corrections spokesman said that a suspect of the murder of a woman found floating in an underground vault was found dead in his jail cell Monday night.
Ah, it's much shorter and lighter than the original lead! About half as many words than the original and it's easier to understand when it could be broadcasted on television or radio. Want to see the trick again? Well, let's try this one. It's different from that one, concerning our mayor.
"Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon should stand trial on charges that she perjured herself by not disclosing gifts from a developer boyfriend, a judge ruled Monday as he rebuffed objections from the mayor's defense team that the accusations rest on faulty evidence." -Annie Linskey
My, oh my, that is a mouthful! An anchor on ABC News can't possibly say all of that without taking a breath in the middle of it! But just stick it in the cabinet, close the door and... Fwaahhhhhhh! Here it is in short form:
A judge ruled that Mayor Sheila Dixon may be standing another trial on charges of perjury from a developer boyfriend.
That's better. Simple and easy to understand. It even answers some of the W's, but not all of them. The rest of the details can be revealed later in the story. It also has a conversational tone, as if just laying it out on the table.
Alright, one more. This time, let's pull it from (gasp) the New York Times. Oh, dear. There are lots of big long leads in the Times, especially those that aren't even feature leads. This will be interesting.
"President Obama said on Tuesday that Al Qaeda has “lost operational capacity” after a series of recent missile strikes and special forces raids, but vowed to continue pressing the battle to cripple the network around the world and protect America from future terrorist attacks." -Peter Baker
That's a tricky one. And it's 44 words, whew! Not as big as the first lead from the Sun, but that's very close. Leads normally shouldn't be that long.
Ooh, it's heavy! Let's throw it in the cabinet, I'm sure it can take it. (Thud) Now, shut the door and... FWWAAAAAHHHHHH! It's done! Now what have we here...
President Obama vowed to continue the battle against terrorism, despite Al Qaeda's damages from recent missile strikes and raids.
That's nice and simple. Not too many big words that someone listening to the radio won't be able to understand. Only 19 words long! That's great for any kind of broadcast.
Sorry, but that's all I'm doing tonight. Nope, a magician never reveals her secrets. I must go now. Night!
Like this one from the Baltimore Sun...
"A Howard County man charged with the murder of a woman whose body was found floating in an underground cable vault under a Northeast Baltimore street Friday was pronounced dead Monday night after being found unresponsive in his jail cell, said a State Department of Corrections spokesman." -Liz F. Kay and Justin Fenton
That might be the longest lead in the world. It's 47 words long! And it's really heavy, too!
And now, I turn it into a broadcast ready lead. Oohf! Let's place it in the cabinet (Thud) and shut the door... There's nothing up my right sleeve and nothing up my left sleeve... and Fwahhh! It's done! Let's open up the cabinet and see what's there now:
A State Department Corrections spokesman said that a suspect of the murder of a woman found floating in an underground vault was found dead in his jail cell Monday night.
Ah, it's much shorter and lighter than the original lead! About half as many words than the original and it's easier to understand when it could be broadcasted on television or radio. Want to see the trick again? Well, let's try this one. It's different from that one, concerning our mayor.
"Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon should stand trial on charges that she perjured herself by not disclosing gifts from a developer boyfriend, a judge ruled Monday as he rebuffed objections from the mayor's defense team that the accusations rest on faulty evidence." -Annie Linskey
My, oh my, that is a mouthful! An anchor on ABC News can't possibly say all of that without taking a breath in the middle of it! But just stick it in the cabinet, close the door and... Fwaahhhhhhh! Here it is in short form:
A judge ruled that Mayor Sheila Dixon may be standing another trial on charges of perjury from a developer boyfriend.
That's better. Simple and easy to understand. It even answers some of the W's, but not all of them. The rest of the details can be revealed later in the story. It also has a conversational tone, as if just laying it out on the table.
Alright, one more. This time, let's pull it from (gasp) the New York Times. Oh, dear. There are lots of big long leads in the Times, especially those that aren't even feature leads. This will be interesting.
"President Obama said on Tuesday that Al Qaeda has “lost operational capacity” after a series of recent missile strikes and special forces raids, but vowed to continue pressing the battle to cripple the network around the world and protect America from future terrorist attacks." -Peter Baker
That's a tricky one. And it's 44 words, whew! Not as big as the first lead from the Sun, but that's very close. Leads normally shouldn't be that long.
Ooh, it's heavy! Let's throw it in the cabinet, I'm sure it can take it. (Thud) Now, shut the door and... FWWAAAAAHHHHHH! It's done! Now what have we here...
President Obama vowed to continue the battle against terrorism, despite Al Qaeda's damages from recent missile strikes and raids.
That's nice and simple. Not too many big words that someone listening to the radio won't be able to understand. Only 19 words long! That's great for any kind of broadcast.
Sorry, but that's all I'm doing tonight. Nope, a magician never reveals her secrets. I must go now. Night!
Thursday, October 1, 2009
On second thought.....
I've been ignoring my idea for a new publication. I was going to start Baltimore Vinyl here in Towson right about now.
But think again.
I'm swamped with some things already. I need to write a feature story for journalism class, I just got hired as an assignment editor for "16 News" on the campus television station WMJF, I'm a notetaker for my political science class (with Professor Cates, who's awesome), and I'm seeing an additional counselor who's on campus and is referring me to a psychiatrist later in the month. I'm also still involved with the Ballroom Dance Club, I want to see what Martial Arts club is like (since I want to learn how to defend myself from muggers on the streets of Towson), and I've just been inducted into the National Society of Collegiate Scholars.
I need to worry about my GPA to make sure I stay in the top 20 percent of my class to remain in NSCS. I still haven't been able to do community service in a long while, so I would love to do something for a good cause. But most importantly of all, I need to keep my mental health in check because I'm a bit of a chronic worrier and I have anxiety issues that I'm still working out.
Therefore, Baltimore Vinyl has been postponed until I find a decent editor in chief. I would love to start it up right now since I'm a junior and maybe the timing is right, but I need more experience and I don't have enough time on my hands to work with it. It may be good to have someone else to be in charge of it and have me as a contributing writer, music critic, or columnist.
Then again, it might be better if I start the publication after I graduate and I have more time. After all, this is my baby. I don't know what lies ahead. There are still so many things that I want to do in the field I'm venturing into right now. It depends on time, everything else in college and my future.
But think again.
I'm swamped with some things already. I need to write a feature story for journalism class, I just got hired as an assignment editor for "16 News" on the campus television station WMJF, I'm a notetaker for my political science class (with Professor Cates, who's awesome), and I'm seeing an additional counselor who's on campus and is referring me to a psychiatrist later in the month. I'm also still involved with the Ballroom Dance Club, I want to see what Martial Arts club is like (since I want to learn how to defend myself from muggers on the streets of Towson), and I've just been inducted into the National Society of Collegiate Scholars.
I need to worry about my GPA to make sure I stay in the top 20 percent of my class to remain in NSCS. I still haven't been able to do community service in a long while, so I would love to do something for a good cause. But most importantly of all, I need to keep my mental health in check because I'm a bit of a chronic worrier and I have anxiety issues that I'm still working out.
Therefore, Baltimore Vinyl has been postponed until I find a decent editor in chief. I would love to start it up right now since I'm a junior and maybe the timing is right, but I need more experience and I don't have enough time on my hands to work with it. It may be good to have someone else to be in charge of it and have me as a contributing writer, music critic, or columnist.
Then again, it might be better if I start the publication after I graduate and I have more time. After all, this is my baby. I don't know what lies ahead. There are still so many things that I want to do in the field I'm venturing into right now. It depends on time, everything else in college and my future.
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Introducing the Wall Street Method...
This time, we'll look at feature leads and stories in a different way. One example of a feature story with the "Wall Street Journal formula" is here:
Link to article "After a death, an extreme form of grieving" from The New York Times- http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/29/health/29grief.html?_r=1&hp
The Wall Street formula is basically taken out of the same format as stories are written in the Wall Street Journal. It's the basic structure of a feature story that uses an anecdotal, descriptive or narrative lead. To explain this concept, briefly look over the article, then read the details below.
The article with the link above has an anecdotal lead with a statistic before leading into the story of a psychiatrists who deal with people with grief disorders. Then by the second paragraph, the reader is introduced to a psychiatry professor from Columbia University who has found something on people who are in "a loop of suffering" after a loved one dies. That just pulls the reader in even more to find out about what that is.
The nut graph following that a couple of paragraphs later describes why grief should be separate from everything else when it comes to problems and death. The preceding paragraph made a statement about how some doctors didn't believe that idea when the nut graph showed some additional facts from researchers to prove that they're wrong. There are symptoms and difficulties that patients are feeling when they experience it. That really gives an idea why it's so important. For some people, it's hard getting over death that grief is too hard to take as well. That is the kind of grief that lasts much longer than people normally take.
Later into the story, it zeroes in on one of the patients- a woman from New Jersey was suffering from this kind of grief ever since her son died from cancer. She said in the story that she felt guilty about living and she moved around like a zombie. The body continues to explain the story with quotes and facts about the situations with her, other patients, and the doctors' and researchers' findings.
It finally ends with a final note with one of the same psychiatry professor who began the talking first. She says at the end that if she had the exact same problem, she would want help as well.
Link to article "After a death, an extreme form of grieving" from The New York Times- http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/29/health/29grief.html?_r=1&hp
The Wall Street formula is basically taken out of the same format as stories are written in the Wall Street Journal. It's the basic structure of a feature story that uses an anecdotal, descriptive or narrative lead. To explain this concept, briefly look over the article, then read the details below.
The article with the link above has an anecdotal lead with a statistic before leading into the story of a psychiatrists who deal with people with grief disorders. Then by the second paragraph, the reader is introduced to a psychiatry professor from Columbia University who has found something on people who are in "a loop of suffering" after a loved one dies. That just pulls the reader in even more to find out about what that is.
The nut graph following that a couple of paragraphs later describes why grief should be separate from everything else when it comes to problems and death. The preceding paragraph made a statement about how some doctors didn't believe that idea when the nut graph showed some additional facts from researchers to prove that they're wrong. There are symptoms and difficulties that patients are feeling when they experience it. That really gives an idea why it's so important. For some people, it's hard getting over death that grief is too hard to take as well. That is the kind of grief that lasts much longer than people normally take.
Later into the story, it zeroes in on one of the patients- a woman from New Jersey was suffering from this kind of grief ever since her son died from cancer. She said in the story that she felt guilty about living and she moved around like a zombie. The body continues to explain the story with quotes and facts about the situations with her, other patients, and the doctors' and researchers' findings.
It finally ends with a final note with one of the same psychiatry professor who began the talking first. She says at the end that if she had the exact same problem, she would want help as well.
Saturday, September 19, 2009
Ch. 6: Summary vs. feature leads
It's time to look at facts for writing stories again.
Feature leads and summary leads, I think I may have gone over them before in this blog before, but I don't know. I'll go over it again, if I did talk about it.
Feature leads are basically more craftier that summary leads. Summary leads are normally used when writing a story on "default". This means that summary leads are just normal leads with an objective voice and just summarizes what happens in the story. It just gives the who, what, when and where very quickly before the story goes into further details.
This is an example from the Baltimore Sun newspaper that shows a semblance to a summary lead: "Five football players at Baltimore's Paul Laurence Dunbar High School and the mother of one student were arrested in the stabbings and beatings of a 14-year-old boy and three of his friends last weekend, Baltimore County police said Friday." (by Brent Jones)
Feature leads are slightly different. Instead of cramming all the W's in the first sentence right away, a quick preview of the story is given first. It's more of a short beginning or sneek peek of what's about to happen later.
And here's an example of a feature lead from the New York Times by reporter Martin Fackler: "OMA, Japan — Fishermen here call it “black gold,” referring to the dark red flesh of the Pacific bluefin tuna that is so prized in this sashimi-loving nation that just one of these sleek fish, which can weigh a half-ton, can earn tens of thousands of dollars."
There are some facts and details in that sentence, telling the what and where, but doesn't really give the basic, specific details of what's happening. It's basically an introduction to what the article is all about and it leaves the reader slightly captivated, wanting to read more. This may be why I call it the "clincher" or "catcher" sentence.
Another example of a feature lead comes from The Sun again, only the lead is hard to pinpoint. "Cephas Thomas didn't know whether he'd laugh, cry or give a speech when "Paddy" Culbert finally returned to town. He knew it would be a moment he'd never forget. Two years ago, Thomas, security director at the Renaissance Harborplace, was at work in the lobby when Culbert, a New Hampshire businessman, happened to be driving by. The New Englander had been working crazy hours and was tired. He didn't realize he was about to have a stroke." (Johnathan Pitts)
The lead is very hard to find because all of that information is in the first paragraph and it gives more of a classic story approach. When I read this, I was compelled to read more of the article to see what happened with this man who didn't know he was having a stroke.
Rolling Stone magazine does a different take on leads. "Minutes before the official opening of Berkeley Repertory Theatre’s staged rendition of American Idiot, the members of Green Day were their usual affable selves." (Barry Walters) Then it goes into a quote from the band's lead singer Billie Joe Armstrong.
The feature lead there takes a little more of a personal standpoint for an interesting story. But the whole article on Green Day making their best album into a broadway musical is mostly told in an objective voice. The story is still written with more creativity because it's more personal to the band that they're doing something different than any other rock band has done.
Feature leads and summary leads, I think I may have gone over them before in this blog before, but I don't know. I'll go over it again, if I did talk about it.
Feature leads are basically more craftier that summary leads. Summary leads are normally used when writing a story on "default". This means that summary leads are just normal leads with an objective voice and just summarizes what happens in the story. It just gives the who, what, when and where very quickly before the story goes into further details.
This is an example from the Baltimore Sun newspaper that shows a semblance to a summary lead: "Five football players at Baltimore's Paul Laurence Dunbar High School and the mother of one student were arrested in the stabbings and beatings of a 14-year-old boy and three of his friends last weekend, Baltimore County police said Friday." (by Brent Jones)
Feature leads are slightly different. Instead of cramming all the W's in the first sentence right away, a quick preview of the story is given first. It's more of a short beginning or sneek peek of what's about to happen later.
And here's an example of a feature lead from the New York Times by reporter Martin Fackler: "OMA, Japan — Fishermen here call it “black gold,” referring to the dark red flesh of the Pacific bluefin tuna that is so prized in this sashimi-loving nation that just one of these sleek fish, which can weigh a half-ton, can earn tens of thousands of dollars."
There are some facts and details in that sentence, telling the what and where, but doesn't really give the basic, specific details of what's happening. It's basically an introduction to what the article is all about and it leaves the reader slightly captivated, wanting to read more. This may be why I call it the "clincher" or "catcher" sentence.
Another example of a feature lead comes from The Sun again, only the lead is hard to pinpoint. "Cephas Thomas didn't know whether he'd laugh, cry or give a speech when "Paddy" Culbert finally returned to town. He knew it would be a moment he'd never forget. Two years ago, Thomas, security director at the Renaissance Harborplace, was at work in the lobby when Culbert, a New Hampshire businessman, happened to be driving by. The New Englander had been working crazy hours and was tired. He didn't realize he was about to have a stroke." (Johnathan Pitts)
The lead is very hard to find because all of that information is in the first paragraph and it gives more of a classic story approach. When I read this, I was compelled to read more of the article to see what happened with this man who didn't know he was having a stroke.
Rolling Stone magazine does a different take on leads. "Minutes before the official opening of Berkeley Repertory Theatre’s staged rendition of American Idiot, the members of Green Day were their usual affable selves." (Barry Walters) Then it goes into a quote from the band's lead singer Billie Joe Armstrong.
The feature lead there takes a little more of a personal standpoint for an interesting story. But the whole article on Green Day making their best album into a broadway musical is mostly told in an objective voice. The story is still written with more creativity because it's more personal to the band that they're doing something different than any other rock band has done.
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
An announcement
Yes, there is yet another announcement on this blog. I know you must be tired of hearing all of these announcements.
Baltimore Vinyl is coming out with its first online issue next week!
That's right, several articles, including some things I've covered, reviews, This American Campus: Towson and one of the posts from The Little Voice.
The countdown has initiated. The first issue will be released online on soon! Stay tuned!
It will be at this website (but don't click on it now because it's not up yet): http://tiger.towson.edu/~rahren1/pages/baltimorevinyl_vol1_issue1.html
See you there...
Baltimore Vinyl is coming out with its first online issue next week!
That's right, several articles, including some things I've covered, reviews, This American Campus: Towson and one of the posts from The Little Voice.
The countdown has initiated. The first issue will be released online on soon! Stay tuned!
It will be at this website (but don't click on it now because it's not up yet): http://tiger.towson.edu/~rahren1/pages/baltimorevinyl_vol1_issue1.html
See you there...
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