Ethics and Storytelling

1. One of the biggest ethical dilemmas I think is to make the documentary as accurate as possible. It is easy to get footage and spin the story so it takes credibility and questions the intelligence of the people. In the Grey Gardens video, it make the two ladies just seem crazy and living like bums. I'm sure that there is other footage that was shot so it makes them seem a little better off. It was hard for me not to laugh during the scenes we watched in class and I think ethically some "smarter" footage could have been used.

2. I think they should have used all the footage they had. If they really wanted to get a good story so everyone could see what its like, use all of it. I didn't get a chance to watch all of both, but from what it seemed like, a full story tells the truth and the whole truth. If someone gets killed or something or if the footage is just irrelevant to the story, then that should be edited out. The hard footage and facts should be represented.

3. I would make the story less humiliating. I felt that the way the documentaries were made was to show how crazy both sides are. To a point I questioned why they were even made because I don't feel like anything was accomplished or anyone learned anything. So what I would have done is showed the living conditions for both and just leave out minor details, like the mother singing in Grey Gardens. A lot of time and consideration to the feelings of those involved would have to be taken into account and innocent people wouldn't have to suffer at the expense of a few laughs.

WSU and Second Life Create Virtual Campus

Washington State University and the website Second Life have teamed up to create a virtual campus to enhance the distance degree program and allow students to attend classes in a whole new way.

The new virtual campus is a replica of the Pullman campus and has buildings and features such as the Glenn Terrell Mall, the Holland Library and Bryan Tower to name a few of the defining landmarks of the online campus.

The campus was created by students from The Center for Distance and Professional Education who worked with Second Life to make all of this possible.

Classrooms such as the Compton Union Building auditorium will be used by professors to conduct lectures and put PowerPoint’s on the screen for students to observe and take notes. Students and professors will be able to interact via avatars and headsets to communicate according to Brett Atwood, a WSU professor and Lynden Lab employee. Atwood is a firm supporter of the program and the new possibilities that this new campus will bring.

“Right now we are in a testing stage,” said Atwood. “The communication and engineering programs will be offering classes this fall.” Atwood believes that the virtual campus will give the university a larger presence in the world and will help create trust and connections in an online community. “It allows a sense of belonging for people away from Pullman and brings everyone attending Washington State University together,” said Atwood.

Megan L. King, a recent WSU graduate using the distance degree program, has mixed views on the new program. “I think that it takes away from face-to-face interaction and away from the real world,” said King. “The old setup was a lot easier it seems that now it’s taking people out of real world situations of class.” King also went on to say that the program may work and will support it if it does.

Atwood went on to add that the program is not for everybody. “It’s a good way to offer people who are away, some may just not respond as well as others.”

The ways students respond to the new campus will be up to debate come fall when actual classes are being taken and the testing stage is over.

Ethics

1. I think that he differentiated it because if there wasn't a story, then the paper would lose credibility and would probably be sued. The Spokesman-Review had to be very careful and discreet about their operation. It could have been potentially so bad for the newspaper and the editor if it turned out not to be true and they based their story of a theory or opinion. They waited and the story developed for itself.

2. Morlin didn't want to create his own identity because it could have compromised the newspaper and their code of ethics. The purpose of the identity was to link him to underage boys, so it wouldn't have worked if he created his own. Having an outside source was good for the newspaper and FBI because it was legal.

3. The newspaper posted so many stories because it was major news from a public official. The people of the city needed to know the news and the truth about an elected official. Maybe they didn't want all the publicity to go national, but if an elected official is doing illegal activities, the people need to know. Being gay and in office is a big deal, so I feel that the editors pride was on the line so he had to finish West off and chase him out.

4. I don't believe anyone benefited from the news story. The only thing I can see was the little boys in the 70's finally getting justice. The newspaper looks sleazy and was playing God by removing an elected official who was doing a good job in office. What was going on was Jim Wests' personal life and whatever he did behind closed doors is his business as long as it doesn't interfere with his job and duties. The people hurt obviously was Jim West and his family. The newspaper literally ruined his life and made everything so difficult for him. I think then newspaper also ruined themselves a little. They dove into a topic that wasn't their business. They had to look into a story and investigate Jim West, that isn't news. They held their own investigation and Frontline spun it to make the Spokesman-Review look a little silly. It also slammed the gay community because West did not stick up for them and denied reports. I don't think the outcome was worth it because no internships were given and nothing had actually been exposed.

5. Yes I think there is something wrong with running the article. If it was a good news story there would have been no bias but they didn't really give Lynch's side of the story or at least didn't present it very well. Once again they based an opinion or accusation as the park being a spot for drugs and gays. In the sense that Lynch was there, the paper assumed he was gay and a drug addict. The paper needs more facts and hard leads before they run stories.

Frontline

I think that all this new take on news is very interesting. From the very first sections, I found it entertaining to find out that news did not make a profit and wasn't meant to be a reason to create revenue. It seems to me that news stations sold out and decided to start turning profits and stooped low to make news that would catch peoples attention. Even the president of ABC said that its about money now, and news is what the people want to hear, even if it Inst "newsworthy". News has been turned into entertain, which is a perfect example of the Daily Show.

Blogging is also a very definitive way to create news now. It was very smart to see that news watchers are getting older so a way to reach out to a younger demographic is to post on the Internet and allowing people to post their thoughts and ideas. This has a negative backlash as news will then start to become opinion based and not based off facts. This does not follow the standard Murrow format and is a conflict of interest. Most big news channels have fallen away from it and are switching to internet news.

Now that people can post opinion based news, I feel that the basis of news is at jeopardy. Bloggers can sway people from real truth and news. Dan Rather was fired or "left" CBS was because of a false claim that ultimately made him lose his job and put a negative spin to CBS news and their team of reporters. Facts are what the news should be comprised of and Frontline did a great job showing that tradition news is dying.

Channel Surfing

So as I started watching and channel surfing, I decided to start with Press TV. I had no idea that it was Iranian so it blew me away. All it talked about for over 20 minutes was anti-U.S. and President Obama. It discussed how the government wants nuclear power for peaceful uses. To me that just makes no sense. It is fully government controlled to me, and it was even more crazy to see Americans on there talking about how the U.S. is wrong in many aspects. Press TV is about Iranian news, but it was all just bashing the United States. It kept bringing up e-mails and websites about how past presidents hate Iran and all this garbage. I then switched to Russia Today. I liked this because it covered many aspects of news. It discussed world news, Russian news, and local news for cities in Russia. I did not see too much talk on U.S. matters which was good but I feel like the Russian government oversees the news. Russia has had a long history of propaganda even though the old regime fell over 20 years ago. I then turned on France 24 and it was the same thing. All I heard was U.S. news and reactions to Guantanamo Bay and Obamas stance on shutting the prison down. I saw many Middle Eastern countries represented and they cannot get off America news and their hate for the United States. The one thing France 24 did was discuss their submarine searching for black boxes. That was good and fair of them.

I lastly looked at Al Jazeera. I really could not see the connection of it trafficking terrorism. I can see the opinion because it is Middle Eastern based, but it focused very much on the U.S. The main story was about the Iranian presidential race. It seemed very fair and balanced for the most part, but this was only one newscast.

1. I think that the Internet will slowly be good for Al Jazeera. The Internet is the fastest growing outlet for news and I think it will slowly gain support and people will start to watch it more. It it is controversial, people will want to watch it.

2. I do not think that Al Jazeera should be broadcasted, yet. I think people will slowly see that the news isn't that bad. I think it hasn't been working because people trust CNN, MSNBC, Fox News etc...way too much. When those news stations become more and more biased, Al Jazeera will make its entrance.

3. I think Al Jazeera has a unique approach to telling the news. I think they try and distance themselves as much as possible from not taking a side against the U.S. but they still do. They hint and poke at the idea. Even when discussing Iran and the presidential race, they were talking about how the U.S. would react to the election. It is different because there is not a left or right wing opinion, it is all international opinion and how that certain country will react to issues. A lot of analysts are on TV and many more questions are covered to bigger stories. Small stories are not published and big news is all that make it on the broadcast.

4. I think it meets about half of the list. They defiantly have middle eastern influence and I think some countries have a bit of sway and hold on what is presented and how it is presented. That being said, they really do deliver the news. They show you what you need to know and give pictures of what happens. A lot of dead bodies are shown, but it doesn't have faces which is good for the families and considering them.

Journey of Hope Riding Again

Bike riding across the country is not an easy task, especially for college fraternity men who recently just started summer break. Since 1987 starting with one man, the non-profit organization Push America is gearing up again to take on another adventure of sending 35 men on three routes in what is called Journey of Hope; a 12,000 mile bike ride raising disability awareness.

Pi Kappa Phi – Theta Iota chapter of Washington State University will be represented in all three routes having Steven Wilkerson riding and Trevor Brink, Jared Johnson, Max Maier, and Bryan Janzing serving as crew members. Maier is currently doing Journey of Hope crew for the second year in a row. “It impacted my life so much last summer and I am very fortunate to be able to do this again,” said Maier.

Journey of Hope is just one of three summer projects that Push America carries out that raises over $500,000 and covers 32 states. Each member is required to raise a certain amount of money for the trip according to Maier. The purpose of Journey of Hope as well as Push America is to raise money and awareness for people with disabilities. Push America was started by Pi Kappa Phi in 1977 for a national philanthropy so all Pi Kappa Phi chapters could be united under one common cause; to serve people with disabilities according to the Push America website.

The routes being trekked are the north, south, and transamerica and kick-off the trip on June 10. The Journey of Hope team has been training for nearly two weeks. “We are all getting pretty anxious to start the trip and are tired of waiting,” said Brink. “We all have been pretty busy coordinating what we all have to do at each different stop along the way.”

Brink works as the finance coordinator for the Transamerica route and is responsible for all the money on the trip. Johnson is the public relations coordinator for the north routes as is Janzing for the south route. Maier is crew chief for the south route which is right below project coordinator and Wilkerson will be riding the south route as well.

When the Journey of Hope teams reach a destination, they usually sleep and eat at local colleges or at civic centers according to Maier. The team members are allowed a specific allowance and have a curfew of 2 a.m. each night. Due to time restraints the team stays in an area no long than two days.

All routes will arrive at 11 a.m. August 15 on the lawn of the U.S. Capitol building at the end of summer, according to Maier. The ride is excruciating for riders, who ride up to 75 miles a day according to Brink. “The riders have a really tough time and it is not an easy ride,” said Brink. “The guys usually wake up around 5 a.m. and start riding until late in the afternoon then after that we usually have programs when we arrive at our destination.”

The programs the team participates in can range from a number of different activities. The Journey of Hope members could be playing in a game of wheelchair basketball, performing puppet shows, or just visiting people with disabilities just to name a few examples. These programs focus on the abilities of people with disabilities according to Maier. “We really try and show not only kids, but the parents as well that these people are capable of so much,” said Maier.

If you would like to sponsor any of the team members or looking for more information about Push America and ways to get involved, visit www.pushamerica.org.

Summer Session Intramurals

Summer Session Intramurals a Success

A soccer ball is kicked from 20 yards out for a goal. Footballs are being thrown in the end zones for touchdowns. Three-pointers are being buried on the basketball court. All these activities are taking place at Washington State University as part of the University Recreation Center (UREC) intramural program this summer.

Although the school year has ended for most students, the ones who are still around taking summer classes have the opportunity to play summer intramurals being offered by the UREC for the first and second sessions of summer school. Many students have taken advantage of participating and staying active this summer by playing UREC according to intramural supervisor Andrew E. Barrett.

“We have had a pretty big turn out this summer so far,” says Barrett. “Usually we don’t see this many people participate but this year we effectively marketed the intramural season.” Barrett commends the success to the UREC website which now allows online registration for teams. “Most people don’t even know that the Rec Center is open during the summer so it is good that the website allows people to register for teams from there now,” said Barrett. Barrett and Danielle F. Menconi, a summer intramural participant, also gives some of the credit to summer intramural success to the beautiful weather in Pullman this summer.

“The weather has been so nice out that it gives my friends and me a chance to play outside and get some exercise,” says Menconi. “All of the games are played at the South Fairway fields below the Rec Center so it’s a nice easy location for everyone to meet up at and play.”

Barrett also says that summer intramurals are a good time for people who have never played before to come out and have a good time to learn how the sports are played. “The people that come out and play get to see a really relaxed atmosphere that is really all about participation and fun. You don’t even have to be skilled at the sports to play, you will get plenty of practice because more games are played during the summer,” says Barrett. The prices of teams and tournaments are also cheaper during the summer so more people will have an incentive to come out and participate according to Barrett.

The format of the regular Fall and Spring intramural seasons has changed for summer as well according to Barrett. “With the summer participants being much lower than the regular school year, people are allowed to play on as many teams as they want for men’s, women’s, and co-ed leagues,” says Barrett. Usually for intramurals, participants are only allowed to play for one team for any sport.

According to the UREC website more sports are being offered than just soccer, basketball and football. Racquetball Singles play is available as well as beach volleyball, tennis, softball and co-ed sports.

The intramural seasons are not yet over and second session sign-ups are coming up in a few weeks. Entries are already being taken for all sports and will be until June 24 and play begins on June 29.

For more information on the intramural sports season, visit the UREC website under the IM Sports link at http://imsports.wsu.edu/im_sports_league.aspx.