My Beat!

The beat I chose to select for this semester is Towson University's Greek Life. I'm in a sorority at Towson, so this is a topic that is of interest to me. Not only do I have to be aware of what other Greek organizations are doing on and off campus, but I must attend all mandatory events for their philanthropies.

My beat will not only cover my sorority, Zeta Tau Alpha, but all other sororities and fraternities on campus. I feel like this beat topic is the best choice for me.

Update on my Life

Hi I'm Katelyn! I'm a sophomore at Towson. I'm majoring in Mass Communications with a track in journalism and I'm minoring in Electronic Media & Film. In this class I hope to expand my knowledge on all of the information that I learned in Journalism/New Media I. I'm excited to use the Mac Lab because I don't have a Mac computer and I feel like in this field knowing how to use one is very important. I'm not exactly sure what I want to do when I graduate. I'm very interested in broadcast journalism, I just have to figure out which I like better: television or radio. However, I could always end up as a journalist. I guess I'll just see where I am in two and half years...

Towson's Efforts to Go Green

Every Tuesday in the dining halls on campus, Towson promotes their "Go Green" efforts by holding the "Trayless Tuesdays" program. The Glen Marketplace and Newell Dining Hall go trayless and collect wasted food to decrease the energy and water used to clean trays, encourage healthier eating habits and of course, to reduce food waste.

Potential Sources: Students eating at the dining hall on Tuesday, students that eat at the dining halls everyday (to get their feelings on "Trayless Tuesdays"), staff members that work in the dining halls and teachers that eat lunch in the dining halls.

Potential Questions:

• Do you think that "Trayless Tuesday" really helps improve Towson's efforts to Go Green? If so, how? And if not, why?
• Do you like "Trayless Tuesday"? Why or why not?
• How do you feel about the wasted food collected?
• How do you think "Trayless Tuesday" affects the amount of people that attend the dining halls on that day?

Photo Possibilities: I could take pictures of many different things including the students without trays, students getting food or students adding their food waste to the food waste bin.

Audio Possibilities: I plan on interviewing a student at one of the dining halls to get their opinion on "Trayless Tuesday" and how they feel about it.

Good use of Audio

A website that I believe that makes good use of audio is a website that we have discussed in class several times. On August 1, 2007, the bridge on 35W in Minnesota collapsed suddenly. For 13 seconds in August people traveling across the bridge would experience an event they never though possible.

This website begins with an introduction of different clips of audio including sirens, a woman talking to herself and people screaming. As the website shows the visuals of the bridge, you can hear these different events going on. After the introduction the website leaves you with a long picture of the bridge after it collapsed with all of the cars sitting on it still. The site allows you to click on the different cars and read about the person that was in that car. Some of the cars have an audio clip with it.

When you hear the people talk about their story, you can hear the pain in their voice. It makes the event seem so real and you make a better connection with their feelings. If the website just had stories to read about each person affected by the collapse, you wouldn't get as emotional as you do when you hear them talk about it. The thing that is nice about this website is not only do you get to hear what they are saying, but you get to see them as well. Something journalists could focus on would be including a visual with the audio to add more to the emotion.

Fall has Arrived in Towson!!

Towson University's mascot, the Tiger, stands strong in front of the historic Stephen's Hall on Towson's campus.

Sophomore Jenny Ceccorulli rolls around in the leaves welcoming fall to Towson's campus.

Here are the mugshots of Jenny and I! I took the one of her and she took the one of me. We chose this background because we thought it looked very "outdoor-sy" and a simple background.

I took a few more fall shots of campus that I really liked:

A good way to take better pictures is to be aware of your surroundings. The lighting is a very important detail and if there is too much sun focused on the object in the photo, then it may make it seem washed out. You also need to be aware of the background. For example, if you have a photo of a girl there shouldn't be a tree limb directly behind her. It could like the tree limb is coming out of her head. Also, never have a picture with an object pointing or looking away from the photo. For example, in one of my photos Jenny has her arms pointing outwards. If I would have cropped her hands out of the photo it would have left everyone wondering where exactly her arms were going. When taking photos it is always important to be aware of your surroundings and how people may view your photo.

My First Multimedia Article!!

The event I decided to cover is the Light the Night Walk that takes place at Towson University every year. I didn't participate in the walk last year so I thought it would be a great opportunity to make a difference in someone's life, even by a small amount.

The Light the Night Walk is supported by the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and helps to bring hope and pay tribute to the many patients and their families affected by these diseases. Anyone can walk and it's a great way to give a little to such an important cause. Last year Towson University held this walk with everyone walking around campus holding candles. I saw them on campus and it was very breathtaking knowing that so many people come out for such an important cause.

Potential sources could be people that are walking in the walk, people that are volunteering and even people that are running this event at Towson. A few potential questions I thought of were:

• Why did you decide to participate in this walk?
• Are you walking for anyone specific?
• Is this your first time participating in Light the Night Walk?
• How do you think this will impact your life?

There will definitely be many photo possibilities whether it's during the walk, while people are warming up or of the volunteers setting up for the nights activities. The event occurs in Towson University on Saturday, November 1.

Blog #8 - Typical Blog Pattern

In our book All the News, there are a few pointers on what is normally included in a typical blog:

• A snappy headline that grabs the reader's attention
• A lead summarizes a recent news report or other online posting and includes a link to that item
• One or two paragraphs provide pertinent quotes from the item
• One or two paragraphs offer comments from the blogger
• A link connects to comments others have made on the blog entry

Group of Armed men attacking various people in Anne Arundel

Two men were robbed by a group of armed men in the parking lot of Arundel Mills Mall late Saturday night, Anne Arundel County police stated.

Two men were leaving the Golden Corral restaurant just after 11 p.m. and were approached by four to six men carrying handguns and demanded money, said police. The suspicious men fled the scene after taking money from one man's pocket and the other man's wallet.

On Oct. 8, two men attacked a woman leaving a Wal-Mart store near the mall. The men put her in a headlock and rifled through her pockets before leaving the scene in a dark-colored sport utility vehicle.

Neither of the suspects have been declared as the same group of men and police have not made any arrests in either attack.

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/annearundel/bal-robbery1014,0,452124.story