Final Blog

Hey everybody, Its the morning before class and this is my last and final blog. Overall, I can say that blogging has it's ups and downs. At first, I hated the fact that I was required to go online and share what I was thinking with my peers, but after it all, I can say that I at least learned something. It is applicable after  since It can help gain followers by promoting yourself. By the end of the experience, I can say blogging is something that I've come to enjoy, even If I didn't quite meet quota.

Deep Fried Turkey

Every year, millions of Americans sit down with their families to stuff their faces with turkey, dressing and all the other amenities. Boy does that sound boring. To make things a little more interesting, why not interview students on their worst thanksgiving experiences? Its a lot better than "Over thanksgiving break, I had turkey with my family and everything was fine and dandy."

For example, it could be anything from family arguments to bad cooking. My favorite tradition however has to be the seemingly simple task of deep-frying a turkey. Let's just say home insurance won't cover holiday related fire accidents.

How many states do we have again?

Puerto Rican's voted on their preferred relationship with the U.S. on Tuesday. You've probably already heard, but  the majority of voters elected Puerto Rico to become the 51st state! I don't know about you, but that's huge and great news to me! Besides the fact of coarse that the flag would have to be redesigned (My favorite mock up is up top). 50 was such a nice even number. Anyways, I know its not a state yet, but I found it incredibly interesting that the majority of Puerto Ricans voted for this.

Heres a link to the Huff Post article:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/08/puerto-rico-state-flag_n_2090769.html#slide=1734711

Story Ideas

Here are a few story ideas for class. Halloween is right around the corner. So what do students do on mischief night? Are there any traditions or so forth Wittenberg follows? aside from the party life, what to students do? On another topic, I'd like to talk about the cost of living at an apartment around campus. A friend of mine recently got a large electricity bill for leaving on just one light. It might make for an interesting story. My last idea for a story has to do with music. What does the average student listen to? either that, or what live bands can students see? maybe just interview a few students or bands to see what kind of music is played around Wittenberg.

Politics on Campus

Whether or not Wittenberg is liberal or conservative, I can not say for sure, what I do know is that liberals on campus are way more concerned with voicing their opinions and advertizing their political views. In saying this, one may think that Wittenberg leans towards the left side of the spectrum, in seeing the posters and bumper stickers that support Obama. Some students even slap a sticker on their water bottles. However, I feel that there is an unspoken voice of conservatives on campus. Some conservatives may be tentative to voice their political views because they might receive harsh receptions from liberals. Last time I heard someone support Romney, they were quickly shut down by Obama supporters. What I'm getting at here is that Wittenberg might have more conservative students than one would think.

Sigma Delta Rumors

So there have been plenty of rumors floating around on how Sigma Delta got kicked off campus and over the past week I've heard some good ones. I heard a student died from initiation, the Sigma Delta house was destroyed and that they never did their community service. I've heard more accounts, but for good reason I can't mention them on this post. It would be interesting to ask students of the rumors that they have heard, and then go to the fraternity president to clear things up. I just think its interesting how many stories can be formulated and believed by so many students.

Parents Weekend Problems

Earlier today, I was minding my own business in my new hall dorm when i noticed a stench so terrible, I had to open my windows and leave my room. As I exited my door, I immediately noticed what the problem was. A group of lacrosse players tossed their equipment in the hallway. In effort to cope from the traumatic event, I went outside for a breather. Five minutes later, a family walked out of the dorm and said, "This dorm is terrible, how can that stuff be let out there." Just because a few students left their lacrosse equipment in the hall, Wittenberg is given a negative portrayal. It might lead into an interesting story of how Wittenberg is seen by its visitors and prospective students.

The Torch's True Audience

The Torch is something I routinely pick up each week, but unlike most students, I'm taking a journalism class. What I've been wondering is how many students actually pick it up. It would be interesting to poll students, with not only obvious questions such as "Do you read the Torch," and "Is the content to your liking?" but ones to figure the demographic of readers. This could be done by asking students majors, minors, class years and so forth. I'm sure this has been done before, but it still seems like an interesting story.

Moving into Off Campus Housing

Is living off campus all it's hyped up to be? Sure it costs less money and gives you more freedom, but what I'm wondering is whether or not it's worth the hassle. While I'm excited to be able to move into an apartment or something next year, I'm not looking forward to cooking, cleaning, and buying and moving in furniture. To be honest, I'm a pretty lazy guy, so this is  my number one priority, convincing my roommates to move everything in for me. It's a shame they're lazy too, but I'm sure there's some way i can convince them. The best way has to be money. Which is what got me thinking. why not just pay someone else to do it? A few football players would make a killing in the business of movers. maybe 10 bucks for the service. Anyways, if that got started up, I would pay for it!

Internationals Post Grad

My big story idea for this semester is solely focused on the International students on campus. I was talking to a student from Ethiopia the other day who angrily said he wasn't able to get into med school because as a non american citizen he could not receive any scholarships or financial aid. So, because of this, I'm planning on writing my story about what internationals plans are post grad. Whether they are going back to their home country, staying in the United States, or something else. The main focus however will be the difficulties they will face monetarily.

Ohio for Obama

In the past couple of weeks, I have noticed a large amount of Obama supporters around campus. It's easy to spot because of how many "Ohio for Obama" posters I see stuck to students windows. What I'm wondering is, where's the support for Romney and Ryan? Was there a handout of posters supporting Obama? Anyways, it seems to me that these posters give a false representation of what the student body stands for politicly. I've talked to a fair share of people around campus and a can't see a clear landslide decision for either candidate. Im a democrat myself, but I'm still wondering where the "Romney Ryan" posters are.

CDR Improvements?

The new machines in the CDR are causing quite a buzz, but do they really live up to the hype? The students I interviewed had mixed opinions on the topic. One student said that the new machines were a problem. He said that even though the new machines had a larger choice, there was a longer wait because it took a longer time to select a drink. On top of that, only one student at a time can get their drink. Last year, multiple students could get what they wanted and move on. Another student thinks the vending machines are a great addition to the CDR. He said the multiplicity of choices was a positive and is worth the wait. Both of these students thought the upcoming milkshake machines were a great idea. Neither student knew a new cook was on staff, so I could not get very far on that subject. I still need to interview the cook, and that random guy that hangs around the new soda machines, but my story is progressing nicely.

Not particularly exited about starting a blog, but I suppose I should be open to the idea, seeing it has become a part of journalism in recent years. Anyways, I'm guessing this class will turn out to be interesting if it's anything like the one I took last semester. Creating a portfolio sounds cool, especially since it could be useful in a job interview. I have a few ideas for my first story, yet I'm interested in how much freedom we will have in choosing what we write. I'm sure this class will be given enough freedom to at least choose the general topic of our stories. When It comes down to it, I have a high expectation for Advanced Journalism and hope to get the chance to cover stories that interest me.