Black Friday Could Be Grey This Year

As many prepare for the chaos of which Black Friday entails, others will be unable to participate in this years post Thanksgiving tradition, due to the economic recession we are still currently facing. The following news clip will explain in depth as to why sales may not be as high for retail stores as many would like. Polls are also included to support this video clip.

poll by twiigs.com

Breaking Barriers

BREAKING BARRIERS
Conversations of A Classroom

For many students at Eastern Michigan University, African-American Literature serves as one less general education requirement to be completed. While for others, this course is taken out of a genuine interest, or curiosity, about life from a black perspective.
Whatever the students reasons maybe, one thing remains certain, Professor Heather Neff is the teacher they want to instruct the course.
“She embodies what a college professor should be,” says EMU Senior, Orlando Bailey.
The teacher, the novelist, and the poet are only a few of the titles Neff associates herself with since her arrival at EMU in 1993. The proud recipient of numerous teaching awards such as the Distinguished Faculty Award for Excellence in Teaching, the university’s highest instructional honor.
“I truly believe that I was born to teach. I love interacting with students and sharing the material that has deeply influenced my life. I believe that everything I teach has the capacity to improve my students’ lives, as well,” says Neff.
The course itself introduces students to the study of African American literature, thought and cultural practices through an examination of the oral traditional, texts, music and visual arts of African Americans and other peoples of the African diaspora. Readings include oral narratives, fiction, poetry, drama, autobiography, political treatises and essays from 1619 to the present.
“My role is to serve as a literature teacher, a historian, a sociologist and, sometimes, a psychologist. I try very hard to read as much about American culture as possible and to pay contining attention to the news. African-American literature is a fascinating evolving and highly inspiring genre of American writing. I try to impart my deep pleasure in my field to my students,” says Neff.
“When I first took the class a year ago I was a little intimidated by her but in a good way. I saw how strong of a woman she was and how intelligent she was and that made me want to get to know her better. When I started going to her office hours, she made me feel like I could anything I wanted and got me involved with Honors College and the McNair program so that I could reach my full potential at EMU,” says junior, Courtney Williams.
Williams who is now a supplemental instructor for Neff’s course hosts two study sessions a week for current students taking the professors class.
“What most impresses me is that she is very tough in (her) lecture(s) because she knows that the only (way) to reach certain students is to break down all other preconceived notions that they have. She goes through the course giving students background information so that they understand the history behind the literature they are supposed to read,” Williams went on to say.
“ I now have a more deeper appreciation for African-American Literature as a genre now because of Neff’s couse, in retrospect her class really put things in perspective for me,” said Bailey.

Life With Social Media

LIFE WITH SOCIAL MEDIA


If college students of today are considered to be tomorrow’s leaders, then social media is the nucleus of future communication, as can be shown within the film, “The Social Network.”
The movie depicts the story of how the social networking website, Facebook, was created and developed, as it profiles the creator, Mark Zuckerberg during his days spent as a socially awkward computer prodigy at Harvard University. Much like the film, the site has drawn critical acclaim over the course of its release, thus, giving birth to a whole new regime in regards to social networking.
“Social networks have become part of the fabric in today’s society, where the majority of Gen X and Gen Y say check the Facebook before they get out of bed in the morning. With the amount of time spent on social networks, the logical follow is that companies, politicians and others will follow,” says Social Media Director, Tonja Deegan for Airfoil Public Relations.
According to two Pew Internet Project surveys of teens and adults reveal a decline in blogging among teens and young adults and a modest rise among 30 and older. In 2006, 28 percent of teens ages 12-17 and young adults ages 18-29 were bloggers, but by 2009 the numbers had dropped to 14 percent of teens and 15 percent of young adults. During the same period, the percentage of online adults over thirty who were bloggers rose from 7 percent blogging in 2006 to 11 percent in 2009.
“Social networking has allowed me to connect and meet people that I wouldn’t have in real life. It really becomes a global village and helps change your world view,” Deegan went on to say.
New survey results also show that among adults 18 and older, Facebook has taken over as the social network of choice, 73 percent of adult profile owners use Facebook, 48 percent have a profile on Myspace and 14 percent use LinkedIn.
Secretary of the NAACP organization, Porschia Harris, of Eastern Michigan University commented on the matter by saying that, “Facebook enables the people who want to attend an event that are organization is currently offering, a permanent place to view such information, a recent event was the “Battle of the Classes” basketball game. The event was held last Thursday in the REC/IM building on Eastern Michigan’s campus.
“Social media has altered the way we find, share and digest news and information. Social media is just a communications tool, and its use will be monitored and subject to criticism just as mobile phones and the amount of TV watched are debated,” said Deegan.

The Gateway to Membership

THE GATEWAY TO MEMBERSHIP

You don’t get to 500 million friends without making a few enemies, or so it would seem as depicted in the film, “The Social Network.” The movie conveys the tale of how Facebook was conceived and developed, as it chronicles the creator, Mark Zuckerberg during his days at Harvard, portraying him as a socially awkward computer prodigy. Through a recipe of 1 part idea-borrowing and 200 parts genius, he launches a service available only to his classmates. As the movie progresses, so does the site along with its members and its value, henceforth, creating a whole new regime in regards to social networking; opening doors online for millions.

Among these millions consists of thousands of student organizations who utilize Facebook to selectively share information with a targeted audience. The NAACP and Public Relations Student Society of America, or P.R.S.S.A of Eastern Michigan University is among those student orgs.

“Utilizing social networks like Facebook, Twitter and Skype is vital to the longevity and success of any student organization, not just ours in particular, and for those who choose not to utilize such websites, probably won’t be around for too long,” says EMU junior Deondra Powers.

There are over 275 student organizations registered at Eastern Michigan, with an estimated 23,503 students in attendance.

“Students will never know of the opportunities that campus organizations can give them if we don’t use the technology accessible to us,” says Brittany Maeir, the senior President of the PRSSA organization.

Hunting One Language, Stumbling Upon the Another

Writing Effective News Leads

The style of writing found in newspapers makes it easy for the viewer to read and understand leads but difficult for reporters to write them. Good leads contain interesting details and are so specific that readers can visualize the events they describe. A single word, a descriptive verb, can transform a routine lead into a dramatic one. Strong verbs capture the drama and emotion of a news event and help the reader understand the impact of the story.

If a story is important, reporters emphasize its magnitude in the lead. Leads that are considered exceptional emphasize the impact stories have on people. Leads also emphasize the unusual. News pertains to deviations from the social norm.

Reporters localize and update their leads whenever possible by emphasizing their communities' involvement in stories. Readers are most interested in stories affecting their own lives and the lives of people they are most familiar with. Reporters also try to localize stories from other parts of the world. However, in doing this, reporters are expected to be objective; while gathering and conveying information to their readers when they insert their opinions in stories.

Assignment #1 (Identifying a Feature Article)

The audio that I have attached within this post is an interview that I have conducted with the Eastern Michigan's Men and Women's Basketball sports announcer, Brian Nemerovski. This audio can be recognized as an explainatory feature story; because it touches on how a sports-broadcaster such as himself can stay enthusiastic for a collegiate team with a history of losing seasons.