Category: journalism

Kurt Vonnegut

smackyjackjack1 Comment

I have very defined opinions.

If you asked me my favorite anything, I could tell you.

My favorite author, for example, is Kurt Vonnegut.

Vonnegut has written some of the best books of all time. Sirens of Titan, God Bless you Dr. Kevorkian and, of course, Welcome to the Monkey House.

Welcome to the Monkey House has, of course, my favorite short story of all time in it. Harrison Bergeron is the story of a dystopian future due to poor government (see my last blog) and a suppressed population. The story is so good because it portrays something that could happen. Of course, governments would never become so terrible as to handicap the population, but an era of Orwellian style big brother government very well could.

Okay, now that I’ve made myself out to be a conspiracy theorist and pessimist, I’ll move on to my other favorite Vonnegut book, God Bless You, Dr. Kevorkian.

Believe it or not, this is the story of how Vonnegut died. Many times. He was brought back to life by Kevorkian, and the stories in the book are of his near death experiences. Real or not, the 100 or so pages a definitely worth your time. Pondering death, and life after so, is always a fascinating topic full of superstition and most of the time, downright fear.

God Bless You, Dr. Kevorkian is also worth reading just so you can hear Vonnegut’s ideas on religion (blog soon to come). This book very well may change how you look on life and death. It has the Jack Beverly seal of approval. What else do you need?

Behind the Scenes of the Lee Vining Live Blog

callmemaybe322 Comments

Hello all, we are finally back from our football road trip where we came out victorious against the Lee Vining Tigers, putting us 4th in our free lance league, and currently putting us in an undefeated position with our 52-28 win.

Now, if you are reading this post I hope you have read our Lee Vining updates where the whole trip is laid out day by day, highlighting major moments and fun times.

What you as a reader get is different than what I as a writer experience on a day to day basis. Some of our readers may envision students and teachers alike sitting in an office or classroom that is well groomed and maintained, writing on computers in newsrooms like those portrayed on TV and in movies.

It is actually quite the contrary if you are reading our blogs from the Lee Vining trip. Our three  journalists on the Lee Vining trip were me (Keaton Shiffman), second year journalist (John Olivo), and first year journalist and photographer (Nicholas Giannetti).

It may seem obvious that trees and bushes do not output a strong WiFi signal, rather, none at all. So every night of our trip after all of our camp business was done, and food was taken care of, the journalists along with Mr. John Wickenhaeuser travelled down the road into the small town of Lee Vining.

Lee Vining is not the most normal of towns, because as it currently states on its welcome sign, it has a population of 398, which could have varied from the first time this sign was put up.

The first night of blogging was done from a Mobil Gas station, which also supplemented as a restaurant, gift shop, and convenience store. John, Mr. Wick, and Mr. Craig Floyd, all sat outside on the picnic style benches this gas station had to offer, and used a phone’s internet to post our Lee Vining: Day 1 post. John and I sat outside in the cold writing on the computers to inform our readers of how the first day and night had gone so far. This blog can be found on John’s profile, backinphilly, where we co-wrote the first story.

After about an hour of blogging John, our faculty supervisors, and I headed back to camp to find all of our teammates and remaining coaches asleep.

The next morning was the game which can also be found on the “backinphilly” blog. This day turned out better than expected with a great victory, but we played against a team with such great work ethic, and even better sportsmanship. Read all about Day 2 in Lee Vining @ Lee Vining: Day 2. This blog was written in an even more unique spot than a gas station diner, a McDonalds PlayPlace.

After our first varsity victory, the team enjoyed a fantastic meal at Giovanni’s Pizza in Mammoth Lakes, CA.

After dinner, we once again ventured out to a new blog spot, and it turned out that McDonalds had accessible WiFi, so we hopped on that opportunity.

When we first arrived, briefcase in hand, covered in dirt, sweat, and tears, I would have expected an unusual look from the staff, but maybe that was normal for them.

What really should have provoked a look was the fact that when we could not find any power outlets, we set up shop in the middle of the napkins and straws. And even at that no McDonalds employee minded the fact that we had set up our computer at a random condiment counter in the middle of their restaurant.

While writing we had a few visitors trying to find a straw or a napkin to wipe off their hands. Even at that nobody really wanted to question the two large teenage boys sitting and writing on a laptop in the middle of a McDonalds in Mammoth.

About 30 minutes into our writing one employee finally decided to tell us there was a power outlet under a seating area in the front lobby of the establishment. We picked up and moved there, and in this area there was a PlayPlace located conveniently on our left.

While we wrote on the couch like seat, we had to seize a great photo op in which John and I sat in the PlayPlace finishing our Day 2 blog.

I now see why these play places are made for children and not grown adolescent boys who have heights that exceed 6 feet.

This blog spot provoked a few laugh after an amazing and exhausting day.

We once again packed up, got in the car and headed back to camp, where once again we found a campground in a slumber after a day of hard work.

This really shows the dedication of our Journalists, and the want to let our readers  know how we do what we do.

I hope this shed some light on what really goes on behind the scenes in the life of an OVS Journalists, and what it is like blogging on the road while playing one of the most memorable football games any of us will ever take part in.

From Keaton “That Guy” Shiffman, back in Ojai, I bid you good evening.

Also, contrary to popular belief apparently, I was not stuck in the slide at the PlayPlace, I was merely lost in the ever so confusing maze of tunnels that I may or may not have been to large to have been crawling around in.

Stuck

The Right to Truth

smackyjackjack3 Comments

Its no secret that the United States government has concealed many things from the American public. One of the first activists to properly expose the United States to the world was Australian hacktivist Julian Assange.

Julian Assange is the founder of the secret sharing website Wikileaks. Not only is Julian Assange one of the most important people in the world right now, but Wikileaks is one of the most important websites.

Wikileaks first made its appearance on the world’s radar by publishing a video named “Collateral Murder”, which showed the murder of a group of unarmed Iraqi citizens in Baghdad by a US Army helicopter. The video was allegedly sent to Wikileaks by Private Bradley Manning. Manning decided that he would be the one to speak out against the murders.

Private Bradley Manning has been in prison without charge for well over 700 days.

The next things to get Wikileaks in trouble were the cables they received documenting the atrocities committed by the American army in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Wikileaks has also created a database documenting the treatment of prisoners in Guantanamo Bay. This prison has been notoriously known as one of the worst tourture prsons in recent history, other than Abu Ghraib. Or at least, that’s what everyone thought.

Wikileaks also uncovered the hundreds of other torture prisons that America has secretly kept in other countries such as Yemen.

Wikileaks and Yemen have also had their past. Recently, Wikileaks published a report on the “Secret War” that America has been waging in Yemen against “terror”. The US has been using drones to try and weed out terrorists in the region.

Casualities of the strikes in Yemen remain unclear, however several strikes have been reported to kill almost no one but civilians in the area. One victim of the attacks is Abdulrahman Al-Awlaki, a teenage boy who was killed along with his family in a drone strike gone wrong in Yemen. He remains a symbol of the US’s poor judgment in the region.

Julian Assange is reportedly barricaded in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London, England. IF he were to leave he would be arrested by the UK police and most likely be extradited to the US where he would face treason charges.

What this all comes down to is how far you are willing to defend free speech. Does free speech stop when it exposes wrongdoing in your OWN government? Or should the people of the world be allowed to speak the truth?

Do you have a right to know the truth?

Lee Vining Day 2-Game Day

backinphilly3 Comments

Today, we woke up to our pregame breakfast. First off, this consisted of a 4 pound slab of bacon (purchased from the Mahogany Smoked Meats Co.).

You have never seen a group of guys go this wild for meat.

With the bacon, we made sausages, eggs cooked with the bacon grease, potatoes and onions cooked with bacon grease, and threw it all into breakfast burritos. Clearly, there was salsa and cheese involved. But it was meat-tastic.

After breakfast, we relaxed and either slept or went into the freezing cold river for a nice wake up dip. We then gathered to elect team captains while getting game gear ready to go.

Each player had to vote for three players that they think displayed the greatest form of leadership. Although we only planned on having three captains, the vote was so close that the coaches added a fourth. The result was John Olivo, Cody Triggs, Grant Spencer and Min Ung Choi.

We checked our gear one last time before loading up into the vans and blasting pump up music. We all got into our own zones, and prepared ourselves for battle.

We arrived to the field with one goal in mind: Win. We showed up an hour prior to kickoff, and began our warmups. The captains led the team in their stretches and agility workouts, and then broke up into individual position drills.

The whistles blew, and the starters took the field to compete in what very well may be the greatest 48 minutes in OVS history.Read More »

Endeavor

smackyjackjack1 Comment

Last night, the Space Shuttle Endeavor sat perched atop a Boeing 747 at Los Angeles International Airport.  It spent the whole night atop its winged friend waiting for a crane to pluck it off the back of the 747 so it could being its final mobile journey to the Science Center in downtown L.A.

For the Shuttle, the coming years (and even decades) will be ones of quiet solitude as a tourist attraction and symbol of the once mighty manned American space vehicles.

Americans now have to buy seats off of other countries if they want to get into space. The lagging budget for NASA has fallen in part due to the recession, and also because of greed and misunderstanding.

Of the hundreds of members of congress, none are scientists. Therefore, it is extremely hard for federal branches of the government such as NASA and the EPA to get funding.

Space exploration, and even space tourism in some cases, has been left in the cash filled hands of private businessmen and entrepreneurs like Elon Musk and Richard Branson.

This exciting new turn of events could actually mean stronger and more determined space programs.

New designs for space shuttles are already in design by these companies, most notably the Hawthorne based SpaceX..

Until these designs become a safe reality, however, the world will have to be satisfied with the decommissioned Endeavor: a small black and white speck on the tiny blue dot.
Wooo, photo, yahhh

Lee Vining: DAY 1

backinphilly3 Comments

The OVS football team traveled to Lee Vining for the team’s first football game of the season. For those that are completely unaware of how far Lee Vining actually is from Ojai, the team needed to camp out overnight before reaching Lee Vining. Tinnemaha Creek was the stop for the team the first night, which was Thursday. We pulled in at about 10 PM and unpacked for the night. We relaxed and slept before we set off on Friday morning for Lee Vining.

Before leaving, we did a walkthrough of our plays for the game at Tinnemaha Creek. We got our work done and packed back up. We got on the road and moved on to our final destination.

Lee Vining is a very small town, but we aren’t here to sight-see. We came to do some business, and we plan on doing just that. With another practice session in the afternoon, we go into our game confident that we will be at our best. The game is tomorrow (Saturday) at 1 PM.

On to more miscellaneous things!!!

Let’s talk about the trip up here. There was music blasting and tons of inside jokes that I’m sure we are never going to forget. At our campsite, food is never an issue. Not only do we have a lot to eat, but we have a lot of guys that LOVE to eat. What do you expect from a bunch of crazed football players?

As I write this update, we are cooking a rather large pre-game dinner.

How could you say no to a meal like this?

At the campsites, we are finding ways to stay occupied. When we aren’t exploring or practicing, we are having a good ol’ time with the boys. Some can be seen off in the distance learning how to throw a ball properly, others are off wandering in to the great never ending creek, building wooden fishing rods with hooks (most likely infected with tetanus), or building makeshift fish traps. With so much to explore and so many unruly teenage boys always expect the unexpected.

The end of this story ends with two of the coolest guys around sitting at a gas station/restaurant/convenience store/bar writing a blog using internet off of an iPhone’s hotspot while Mr. Floyd and Mr. Wick just sit and watch us type away to entertain all of you readers, no matter where you may be.

John “The Honey Badger” Olivo and Keaton “That Guy” Shiffman signing off on night one in Lee Vining. Check for more blog posts to see if mama and baby bear left us alone tonight.

Lives are at stake here. Please send help (just kidding).

What am I gonna say this time?-Worst Person 23 and 24

backinphilly2 Comments

This is going to be more of just me talking but I’m gonna throw a worst person in there too for a little bit. But there’s a lot I wanna talk about.

First off, for anyone that plays fantasy football, I want to advise against one thing for any league you do in the future. Try to avoid family members. It just never ends well. I’m in a league that is only my family and it’s really been something. I’m going to offer a few nonexistent yet hilarious “awards” today.

First award goes to the best sleeper draft pick. A sleeper is a player that no one really thought was going to do that great but had a lot of potential. This player wasn’t highly sought after during the draft, but was stilled picked up. Usually sleepers are taken with late picks like the 10th or 11th round. This year, my mother of all people decided to pick up the biggest sleeper in the 4th round.

That player is Reggie Bush.

I’ll be honest. My mother was talking about drafting Reggie Bush the whole time. I’ll also tell you that if I got to the 8th round and he was still there, I was taking him. With the exception of my mother and I, no one saw his potential on a Dolphins team with no other weapons. My only issue with this is that 1) I’m playing against my mother this week and 2) she took him WAAAAY too early and missed out on bigger name players. However, that’s coming from someone that is 1-1 after the first two weeks. She’s 2-0.Read More »

Americans stop blaming Islam

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Americans are not known for being culturally sensitive or even having the slightest bit of knowledge about the world outside of America. This can be seen whenever the media begins focusing on Muslim Extremists. Since 911 Americans (in general) have had a backward view of all Muslims. This majority believes (incorrectly) that all Muslims are extremist and that their goal is to destroy western civilization.

The media of course does not help Americans get past their arrogant ways, this can be seen in the violence that has occurred at American embassies in the Middle East. In the wake of the destruction of the US Consulate in Libya wherefour Americans where killed, the US has been shutting down embassy’s in other Islamic countries. In Syria the American embassy has been closed and all non-essential personnel (we can assume the essential personnel are soldiers and spies) have been recalled back to America. Other embassies in these “danger” zones are sure to follow suit. There has already been reports of the US Embassy in Lebanon destroying classified documents in case of a breach.
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Not only have these events attacks damaged Americans perception of Muslims but the US leaving these countries only lengthens the road to understanding and peace.

Israel and its nuclear problem with Iran

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It is commonly known that the US and her allies believe that Iran is enriching Uranium in order to build nuclear weapons. The US and to a extent the Obama Administration has been criticized for refusing to take a hard stance against Iran’s Nuclear Program.

The most vocal of these critics is Israel whose proximity to Iran puts Israel in an extremely precarious position. Israel and Iran are mortal enemies; Israel believes (knows) that if Iran develops nuclear weapons it would plunge the region into total war.

Israel has not let Iran’s nuclear research continued unmolested. Peaceful resolutions are almost out of the question, Israel has given up on diplomacy and outside parties, they now deal with the Iranian Nuclear Program in a much more direct way.

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Several Iranian scientist have been assassinated the most memorable of which have been Mostafa Ahmadi Roshan. On January 11th, 2012 two unknown assailants on motorcycles attached a magnetic bomb to the side of Roshan’s car, the motorcyclist sped away and the bomb detonated moments later.

Iran has blamed Israel and believe that the United States may have been involve in the attacks. Whether this assassination will lead to peace or more violence remains to be seen.

What You Need to Know

therightliberal9 Comments

Hello journalists!

Let me start off by reminding you of how lucky you are. You are in one of, if not the best, journalism classes in the country. And that is a lot more important than being in the best chemistry class or the best pre-calc class.

And here is why: journalism is much more than a class.

Now you are probably saying, “Evan, didn’t you learn not to use clichés in high school?”

Yes critical reader, I did. But I have evidence for that claim, lots of it.

Let us first start with what skills are required for journalism. A good journalist needs critical thinking skills, people to people skills and the ability to write well and concisely.

Translate that to the real world and you already have some of the most important skills available. You can solve problems, converse with people and then summarize with writing; pretty much the core skills for the work place.

Now let me tell you, Mr. Alvarez teaches this as well as anyone, actually a lot better. I will admit, I am biased. Mr. Alvarez (though he likes to keep this a secret) has very similar views on the world as I do, so of course I was drawn in. He also is funny, and so gosh darn handsome.

But his greatest attribute (and no, it’s not the flat top) is getting you to think. What is the key to this story? What people do I need to talk to? What really should go in the nut graf?

Listen, I have spent my first three weeks of college working my ass off for the paper here. You think Mr. Alvarez asks a lot? You are about as wrong as Mitt Romney. Just one story for the Panther takes hours to get sources for, research, interview, write, edit, edit, edit, and edit.

You can’t just go talk to Mrs. Colborn then swing into Coop’s office for a chat about the subject. You can’t interview your friends, your significant other or your cat. You have to stick your neck out there and talk to strangers. Not just talk to them, harass them for information.

And you think that Mr. Alvarez asks for a lot of long stories and grades them too critically? The bare minimum for this college newspaper is 500 published words each week, so at least one published story. You are missing a comma: there goes 10% of the story grade. You misspell a name (and they do check): zero points. You miss your deadline by a minute (I turned my story in yesterday with 16 seconds to spare): zero points.

I’m not trying to tell you that college writing is hard and you young whippersnappers have it so easy; I am telling you what you need to know.

So here it is: journalism is hard. I have wanted to throw my laptop into the wall after receiving edits (although in college you have other ways to relax yourself), I have wanted to  pawn the story off on someone else, I have wanted to just give up.

But the reward of taking a class and writing for a school newspaper is you get insight on the world that no other class can teach you. You are in a job, you have responsibilities that cannot just be ignored. You learn lessons that can be applied everywhere. And best of all, you meet awesome, cool and groovy people like your journalism teacher (I hope you have been watching these videos, there will be a test).

Even though the late Mr. Walker will turn over in his grave because of this cliché; keep working, it pays off in the end.

P.S. The real key to success as a staff writer is to have the attitude of the honey badger.