Michael Theroux Totally Uncennsored!

This Introduction to Multimedia course was really engaging and helpful to further my experience in Journalism. The positive factors of this course was that the time we had class was used very well. In a busy students schedule having a class once a week for three hours at night is essential. At first I thought this course would be overwhelming and extremely difficult, but it wasn’t.  The style and format that the instructor used was very help, however I think the course could have went better if spent more time on making more multimedia projects instead of concentrating on just blogging.

Some of the best moments about blogging was actually going out into the field with cameras and covering news stories and events around campus. The groups we were in worked very well together, but having smaller groups would have probably produced a more diverse set of work. The best work about doing our projects were going on the streets and meeting some interesting people. I believe this really was a hands on experience that I am in the right field. I know that journalism isn’t a field to become rich right after college, but it’s the important part of the career to face the reality of what a journalist does.

The biggest challenges with this course was going out and getting topics to write about. The class gave me the skills to pursue many ideas and to gain a new outlook on what goes into a news story and how much hard work it takes to perfect it. In any news story you need to know which is your best lead and how to run with it, capturing the best story that would really grab someones attention. The other hard obstacle was to find people involved with KONY 2012. I went around and hardly saw anything going on but with persistence I was able to find a story all within its own.

There really isn’t much to do differently because this was actually a refresher course for me. I remember in high school, which I can now say, that I did a multimedia presentation for my journalism class. however the teacher didn’t even know what it was, yet I got a “B” as a grade. The reason why she didn’t know what to think of it was because this was when Windows Movie Maker just came out and I had a brand new laptop. This was the first time this teacher saw a story along with music and graphics. It felt really good to spend time remaking those and yet i’m still rusty I have tons of ideas and new ways of attempting and finalizing them.

In all it was a really great semester to follow journalism 300 and get the experience and foot work that it takes to grab the important stories first. Some may not see journalism as a fast, paced hectic environment but it is. Working in the industry you finally see why its important to have the breaking news first and accurate. If the news just reported assumptions nothing would be news worthy just all speculation.

For students at UMass Amherst their wallet seems to be getting lighter and lighter by the
year. UMass raised their fees and tuition in the summer of 2011 by 7.5% leaving
students to shell out more money to attend the public research university. So
far the university has not released any monetary figures for the next academic
year. That type of behavior gives the assumption that there will be more hikes
again this summer.

Many of the students attending UMass Amherst are from middle class families where their
parents may have a college degree and have the means to pay for college but
probably can’t afford it because of their own debt. That issue forces many
students to barely qualify for any amounts of financial assistance. Even if
they do qualify most amounts of aid given are only bullet holes in the whole
cost to attend the university.

The issue is not just around the hike UMass may impose, but the fact that the United States
Government has drastically cut federal money for students to apply for, and for
schools to obtain. The summer of 2011 was the last year a student was eligible
to apply for two Pell-Grants. Pell Grants are federal grants that are awarded
on a student’s EFC (expected family contribution). If a student had a “0” EFC
the student would be able to receive a maximum of (2) $5,550.00 awards. That
law has recently changed again to cap the maximum number of Pell Grants received
to 600%. That means a student with the same “0” EFC can only receive a total of
6 years of single funding. If the student did receive two Pell Grants within a
one year period that percentage gets changed to 200%. This would leave the
student only eligible for four more grants.

The other concern comes with the loans that the U.S. Dept. of Education offers. Loans
seem to always be something students encounter and as of July of 2012 marks the
end of reduced interest rates. That means interest rates almost double to 8%.
Leaving many students to watch every penny they borrow, take on two summer
jobs, or for some try and find the cheapest way to attend classes and eat and
sleep in a safe place. Students used to be able to borrow money to study
abroad, take on internships and use loan money to pay the expenses. But the Dept.
of Education has maxed out what an independent junior or senior could borrow to
$12,500 per academic year. That means once a student borrows that amount minus
the origination fee and partial rebate the maximum a student gets is $11,700
dollars.

That creates what I call the educational dilemma. We have schools pricing themselves against
other Ivy League schools when they are not. They are essentially state funded
public universities. In an ideal society the cost of a public to a private
school should be a 50/50 difference. But that doesn’t happen when a student
pays a yearly cost of attendance in the range of $29,000 when the private
college down the road is $34,000 dollars. It starts to reflect that the state
schools are going to rip you off if you fail to make it into the student’s
first choice schools.

Students facing the problem head on are Chad Perry, Andy St. Patrick and Matt Carko.
They are each students that come from a family each struggling with the cost of
their son going to UMass. In my interview with them they all outline that UMass
needs to start looking at other forms of cutting costs. If they have to add
fees then those fees should be geared to majors that require substantial
amounts of funding to do research. Students in Journalism and Communications
are not as costly to run as Bio Eugenics.

The economy is bad, and jobs are not paying well or an amount where post grads can be able
to live on their own comfortably and repay student debt. The last thing any
university should consider is finding loopholes in their own system or creates
a new system that charges students fairly. One loophole that can be fixed is a student’s
tuition doesn’t cut them off at registering for 12 credits per semester.
Students may take up to the maximum allowed by their academic dean and still
only be charged for the standard 12 credits. If students were charged for each
credit they take it would create revenue for the school when students choose to
take more than the 12 mandatory credits to be full time.

Another loophole that would create more revenue is during the break and summer students that
remain on campus could be transitioned to the North Apartments, where the accommodations
are better, the cost of living there is more ideal because kitchens are
provided. It makes many students sick that the school they wanted to attend
just keeps sucking them drier for money they don’t have.

Clam Chowder Pasta

The Italian restaurant cuisine  chain, Olive Garden is at it again- serving alcoholic drinks to children. The Huffington Post reported today that an Olive Garden restaurant in Indianapolis served a rum cocktail to a ten year old boy. This is the second time within a few months that the restaurant chain has “accidentally” served the boozed drinks to children. The last occurrence was in Florida where a two year old was served a alcoholic sangria instead of a normal orange juice.

First lets discuss the Florida case. One idea is to stop hiring wait staff who don’t know the difference between a glass of pure orange juice or sangria!! If you are in the state of Florida Isn’t that where 45% of the orange crop is grown? another is that when did sangria become the color orange with the fluid and thickness of orange juice? So based on the Florida case if their employees cant tell the difference between a orange and a sangria how do they know the difference between ziti and linguini?

On to the Indianapolis restaurant who served a rum cocktail instead of a “wildberry frulato.” I have been to Olive Garden and ordered a over priced wild-berry frulato and its the complete opposite of a rum cocktail. For one Olive Gardens frulato is made with ice and wild-berry juice in a blender. So why couldn’t their employees have the brains to tell the difference of a warm cocktail to a chopped ice beverage?

Is it possible that Olive Garden should face a suspension to their liquor license because they cant seem to manage their underage drinking… not to mention how many teens aged 18-20 without Id’s are being served alcoholic beverages.

The sun went down in Holyoke, Massachusetts and the teens came out to spread the message of Kony 2012. The outpouring support brought the website www.kony2012.com  to cease shipments of the action kit. However Kony must be stopped and two outgoing and devoted pledgers were hitting the trees and poles alongside Northampton Street. They were the two lucky ones who were able to receive their action kit and spread the message all across the city of
Holyoke.

Once the posters were seen by cars and trucks, honking and screaming in support of Kony 2012 had begun. That adrenaline is what pushed Starla Lynch and Robert Clifford to canvass the whole 7 mile section of Holyoke. At the start of their walk the staple gun refused to function, so it left them to go back to the basics of battling the swaying wind and sticking the posters with masking tape.

The Northampton street section of Holyoke was an ideal location because of the amount of cars that travel it each day. Once the clock stuck 1 in the morning the Kony 2012 posters gave the illusion that there was a presidential campaign going on. Posters were stuck to trees and light posts where they could clearly be seen from the street lights and the headlights of cars. The whole purpose of this message was to alert the city of Holyoke and its citizens about the problem in Africa and push our policy makers to have our president, Barack Obama, along with the United Nations to help  rectify this problem.

With that said Cover the Night in Holyoke, Ma was a hard job on Starla and Robert’s feet, but paid off before sunrise because the message got across. The citizens of Holyoke would venture out on their weekend plans and see the posters calling on them for action. We, as a nation may have different views and beliefs from many others but when there is a call for help, we must stand up and assist our fellow human beings in any way we can.

When deciding on which news outlet to follow for this
assignment, I first had to find out from the main source what Kony 2012 was. So
my first reaction was based on information from Invisible Children. They are
the organization that’s addressing the problem of children being abused and
killed by Joseph Kony, all over the world. Fox news,  I believe takes the
cake with this story that’s gone viral since its release into the multimedia
world. I believe Fox came at the story with the facts, and the format it should
have been discussed in.

When trying to get any event or cause across the world, it
has to be delivered in a manner such for people to gain sympathy or see first-hand
the exposer that they are not usually accustomed to. It also helped that many well-known
celebrities are backing the cause such as Kim Kardashian, Niki Minaj, Rhianna,
and even Bill Gates. This is helping the younger audience spread the cause
through social media sites such as twitter and Facebook.

The lows of the coverage is that fox news moves on to the
other stories of the day and leave the Kony 2012 only to be visible through
searching the news achieve. Yet this is something that nobody wants to see, it
is in fact the daily life for many. They don’t have the option of turning
around and life is back to normal. It’s their own children who are being held
captive and tortured and this viral outbreak of support if their answers for
help. I feel any news organization should keep this as a top story, and treat
it similar to a hunt for terror suspects. Mainly for the fact that in a symbolic
form Joseph Kony is a terrorists.

So, once I found out what this assignment was for I pledged to help and have spread it across my Facebook page and discussed the matter with my 1900 friends. In a world so driven apart by silly differences we must stick together when another needs support or assistance.

Planet under Pressure!

By: Michael Theroux

Our planet is at a standstill, with its living beings committing environmental murder. The sleeping world populations have left the issues to remain written in a notebook that has been locked in the dark abyss until now. April 4, 2012 Dr. Raymond S. Bradley from the Dept. of Geosciences at UMass Amherst conducted a powerful speech about the planet and the current status it’s in. Dr. Bradley discussed what Earth  will look like in the future years. Dr. Bradley discussed sustainable progression, rates of change,  global wealth and starvation. The discussion turned a spotlight on the root causes such as Greenhouse Gases, Ocean Acidification, The Terrestrial Biosphere, and Socioeconomic pressures.

The crowd that packed the Student Center Ballroom was utterly speechless and focused on the issues being presented. Having almost 90% of the catastrophic events that shook the Earth in 2011 was weather related, really kept the audience on edge. There were no warm moments because the time to halt any further progression and start the process of regression is now. Dr. Bradley stressed the importance to force elected officials to put the environment first and profits last.

When the speech was over almost 70% of the audience remained to ask Dr. Bradley questions about how on an individual scale they can help. The simple answer is to do as much as possible by calling elected officials, attending school meetings, walking as much as possible than using the car. Other easy resolutions are to help the fight of over consumption of consumer goods.

At the end of the discussion of “Our Planet, Under Pressure” left the attendees with a lot more knowledge and ideas about helping the problem of the world murdering the plant. We can fix the problems before they become out of hand, and that time to reverse our direction is now. To some the problems aren’t in the United States, but it our duty to have our leaders discuss with other 3^rd world country’s population growth. Because the issue may be 1900 miles away but they still impact all of us. For More information please visit www.paleoclimate.org

When looking at a compelling video, it must take into effect
the seriousness of the story. For example the video I picked came from CBS
News, it’s a very well done interview and recap of what occurred in the Dallas,
TX area Tornadoes. The reporter takes video from multiple sources, victims, and
delivers an impacting story, but also brings out that there were no lives lost
in this tragedy. What makes a great video is hands on, raw reactions not
something that happened over a day ago and the reporter asks for them to act out
what they felt or said. But if you can take the raw reactions and incorporate
that into a piece with the behavioral recounts, that brings the story to a more
powerful medium. The other process if the high quality of video, CBS does a
good thing of showing the 18 tractor trailer being swooped up and dropped in midair.
This highlights what good video is and should be along with incorporating
multiple pieces to bring together a horrific story in a powerful way.

The second video I choose greatly reflects the tornadoes strength
and directness with the camera. However the sound bites to this video are very
raw and mediocre. The video does capture many who watch it and the quality
serves as a scary reminder what a tornado really is. The video is almost a hand’s
on account following the tornado through all it’s havoc. We can see transformers
being hit and flying debris everywhere. What we don’t see is the videographer’s
reactions. Then the video comes from a chopper where the sound is so terrible
you need to mute your computer. Some video such as this would have been better
with someone talking and telling what’s going on. The other resort would have
been to just keep the volume muted and just show video. But the way the video
was left for all to see on the internet was very poorly done, and to say the
least was better than nothing because it did show a very impacting message to
the state of Texas and the world.

That 26th day of August 2011 will be a day to remember for the residents of Millers Falls, Massachusetts. Hurricane Irene was swiftly moving north up the eastern seaboard evacuating many of the southern states. To the residents of the lower parts of NY and NJ the evacuation orders they received seemed almost ridiculous until they saw the violent water from the ocean harshly washing out sidewalks, roads and tunnels. Many hours after the Hurricane Irene was downgraded to “Tropical Storm Irene” but her fury still created millions of dollars in devastation and turmoil. Many business were lost not to any wind damage per say but to the record amounts of rain being swallowed into the already wet soil. All of this amount of rain leads for dams to burst, rivers to become white rapids, and create havoc like in the photo to the left of the Bridge of Flowers in Millers Falls, Massachusetts.

For many of the residents that had homes or businesses around the Deerfield River had to flea within minutes because the water level was rising, lifting up homes and cars and swallowing them down. For many of the roads and bridges they didn’t stand a chance, as water has more force it can easily break sections of bridges and roads apart within seconds. This left many taking what they could carry up to the highest ground available. It was a situation many never thought would happen to them. The Deerfield River has never been so violent destructive. The Second picture to the left is what a typical, calm day is in Millers Falls, Massachusetts. It’s almost like being in a small, hardworking, village with panoramic views of the mountains and a vibrant historic downtown.

 Seven months of recovery efforts have passed, many have had to start over with scratch. This is due to Homeowner’s Insurance Policy’s not covering any type of “flood.” That serves many residents as a wakeup call so that they are covered for any type of disaster. The town has pressed on and watches the weather more closely now. Some residents who were sparred the tragedy by a few feet have moved away and out their home on the market.

For some residents the reality of this happening again remains possible. In a sense it could, with any high rain season the ground would be to moist to suck up any excess water. That leaves it flow into rivers and streams making them rise. When they rise they reach their peak, which is a safe level but after that it’s not.

This small stream near Millers Falls typically runs smooth, but when there is excess rain this could open up and become a small river thats strong enough to push a medium SUV.

All of the water then pours into the Deerfield River, making it wider and taller, pushing everything it its way with a tremendous amount of power and force. When it’s all over and the water has receded nothing but destruction and a mess it left over.

When I wondered around thinking of something worth taking multiple pictures of I decided to follow the riverbanks of Sunderland, Ma. I came across a scenic viewing area and felt I wanted to get closer to the water and once 10 feet from the muddy banks I found numerous views to use. The image to the right is my most breathtaking I think because of the mirrored reflection of the mountains within the water. The ISO was changed to 800, and altering the white balance to incandescent giving it a more darker tone,the brighter images are with a fluorescent white balance. The other pictures of the rocks and the bright sun give a warm feel with the white balance setting changed to daytime.

What was I trying to capture with these pictures ? I simply wanted to take images, such as these and with altering the settings of the pictures bring them into a new depth of art. These images show many hidden aspects within, some are bright and welcoming while others are ghostly dark. Each image holds its own importance and yet they were all taken within 30 feet from each other (GPS: lat;42.45514,Lon72.605) they all have a different side of visual aesthetic. It was a really fun, rewarding and teaching experience. I never really played around with a camera and brought that experience into a new light. I always knew that 1,000 words can never say what an image can capture, and thats true becasue looking at every single image I took I dont see any way that one or two thousend words could capture what they mean.

What I did set out to do I actually accomplished.I had so many thoughts about what to take pictures off and once I was liking what I was capturing I couldnt stop. It seemed everything I looked at could be made or taken as a image and in a sense a photo of art.