"Brotherhood uses Open Mic Night for a Cause"

Assistant Art Director, Lauren Slavin, wrote a article about Brotherhood's charity inspired One Mic Night. It focuses on the reason behind the even and the importance of it. Brotherhood wanted to raise awareness about "how to stop depression in their communities." They called their event "Entertainment with a cause" sponsoring Visions of E.Y.E.
When i first read the article's headline "Brotherhood uses Open Mic Night for a cause," I thought that it would be about the event also. Slavin neglected to talk about the event. The only bit of information she included was that it took place on Friday. The article was about the reason. I wanted to know how the event went. I would've liked to see quotes from the people who attended. She could've interviewed a few members from Brotherhood and their involvement with the cause. It would be a complete story if those elements were added.

Student Life

For a beat I will be following student life. Yes it's pretty broad, but it's fitting for me. It's also convenient. It will focus on commuting issues, dealing with stress, lack of sleep, dinning issues, TV and Entertainment, campus involvement, and money savers.

Edit**
"Jobless and Bored in 09"
For my beat I will be following Events/Entertainment. It will be focused on those who are not working and need something to occupy their time. The main idea of it is to keep students busy on and off campus. It's not necessary to always be bored. There's always something going on campus. If the student doesn't live on campus, there's things he or she could do at home. The possibilities are endless. Not everyone has a busy schedule, but I can help them deal with their boredom.

About Me . . . again

Hey, my name is Sabrina. I'm officially a junior now. I'm also officially a Mass Comm major. How do I know? A mysterious $200 fee had been added to my account. After fifteen minutes of waiting on the phone for someone at Towson to pick up, I found out that it's a classification fee. How will I pay that? Magic hopefully :) Or maybe I can wish for it. Click my heels together and it disappears. But anyway, I'm pursuing a career in writing. I basically don't care what I write; I just want to write. It's what I'm good at. It's all I know. If I could get into magazine writing that would be great. If I could get into news writing, that would be great also. The only thing that matters is that I get the benefit . . . I guess that's the word I'm looking for . . . of writing. That benefit is proving everyone wrong. I can have a career in this field and not regret it. That's the only thing I hope for. I don't want to be the one wasting my father's money, and working in a field I did not go to college for. That is my only worry. Other than that I'm happy where I am learning new things to help me become a better journalist.

Upcoming Story...

At the moment, I'm leaving my options open for what I want to cover. I'm not sure if I want to interview a single person or cover an a Go Green effort on campus. I've looked at the schedules of all the organizations, and most of them are out of date.

So far I have a slight focus on the way I want my story to be done. I have a few questions prepared that may change when I attend the event. I would want to find out some information about the organization, just in case people want to join.

I would ask questions like . . .

• What could your organizaton do more in Towson's effort to "Go Green"?
• What benifits have you seen on campus?
• So far how has your organization contributed to the effort?
• What changes are currently being made?
• What would be your response to someone who does not think Towson is not doing much in the effort?
• What have your experiences been like in the that organization?
• When did you join? Why?
• How would you encourage someone to join?
• Are there any events coming up? Where? When?

Thats all that I have right now. It seems that my story would be more of a profile. I'm still not sure what I want to do right now, but I'm open to suggestions.

SNAP SHOTS!!

Red and brown leaves blankets the pathway just outside of Stephens Hall. (Photo by Sabrina Lindsey / November 3, 2008)

Towson's Gold Route Shuttle breeze through campus just beyond the yellowing bush. (Photo by Sabrina Lindsey / November 3, 2008)

Towson's Tiger standing in tall grass in front of Stephens Hall. (Photo by Sabrina Lindsey / November 3, 2008)

I would say in order to take good pictures you have to see the bigger picture. I don't think it should focus on one thing. If there are several elements that fit perfectly together then they should be captured photographically. When it comes to the use of light, in any outdoor situation in the daylight, don't use the flash on your camera. It would make the object of the picture appear much darker than they really are. You can also use natural elements to frame the focus of your picture. And last but not least, try your best not to cut out major objects in your photo.

There were ways where I could've improved my photos. The center photo could've been improved by focusing in on the shuttle bus (a photo captured by chance because it was moving) a little bit more. I wanted everything surrounding the shuttle to be blurred. Secondly, I wish I had a steadier hand to take more motion shots which appear motionless. I didn't want it to all be a blur of light. Lastly, I wish I had a better camera. I know my camera is pretty nice, but it could be better (maybe I should add that to my Christmas list.)

New Age Journalism . . . Blogging

After five grueling minute, I found an example of an article written in typical blog post pattern. I came across an article entitled, “States with slots hurtin’.”

Immediately, I found tell tale signs that the article was written in blog form. Aside from the fact that it was located in the blog section of the webpage, the author’s name was Random Rodricks. Just then a little light bulb lit up in my mind. I was headed in the right direction.

The article was linked to his other blog works for the Baltimore Sun at the top of the page just below his picture. What caught my attention was the headline “States with slots hurtin’.” It’s a pretty “snappy” headline, I think, according to the text. His lead summarized the proposal of slots in Maryland in a single sentence. Although the article didn’t have any pertinent quotes, it contained a lot of factual information. He has two paragraphs of his opinion of the situation. At the bottom of the page, it shows that the article was posted by Dan Rodricks. Below that were comments from his readers.

You can check it out for yourself if you need to. Here is the link to his blog.
http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/news/local/rodricks/blog/2008/10/states_with_slots_hurtin.html

The Inverted Pyramid Method

The general idea of an article written in inverted form is that it’s presented backwards. First, the most important information is presented. Second, interesting and colorful details are added. The article ends with remaining facts that the reader might want to keep in mind.

I checked out an article on The Baltimore Sun website that is written in this form. The article is entitled GBC backs underground city Red Line plan by Michael Dresser. He starts with the most important information first. He says, “A leading business group is pushing a plan to build a light rail line between Woodlawn and East Baltimore that would include substantial tunneling to go underneath downtown and neighborhoods opposed to surface tracks.” He then added interesting details about the rejection of extra bus lines being added in that direction. He says, “It supported a 14-mile light rail plan that would run in tunnels under central Baltimore, Fells Point and Cooks Lane in West Baltimore. The proposed line would cost an estimated $1.6 billion.” He goes on to add an interview with Donald C. Fry, president of the GBC. He ended with the remaining facts by stating, “Some local transit advocates have been urging the MTA to pursue "heavy rail" similar to the existing Metro subway.”

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/baltimore_city/bal-redline0930,0,3635874.story