Category: journalism

Stuff having to do with the world of journalism.

Israel and its nuclear problem with Iran

frog3Leave a comment

d

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.

dd

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.

The Beauty of Independence

Daphne Psaledakis5 Comments

About three weeks ago, on my way to the Ojai Valley School for the beginning of the school year, I was dragged out of bed at six in the morning and loaded into my dad’s truck along with my luggage and two little brothers.

We were on our way to the airport in Denver, Colorado, and set off from my hometown Aspen so early in the morning because of the four hour drive ahead of us. Although the drive might sound long, it is not as tedious as one would expect.

My dad starts the truck with just a little bit of trouble, enough to make me look over at him and raise my eyebrows in a sleepy haze. He’ll blame it on the cold of the morning, but I think he was just as tired as the rest of us. He did manage to successfully back out of the driveway (without hitting any mailboxes or trash cans), and we were en route. Knowing these were my final hours with my family before not seeing them for three months, I settled in for the drive up Independence Pass.Read More »

The New Realm of Music

callmemaybe32Leave a comment

As an enjoyer of many things musical, I have a very opinionated view of where the music scene is going. More recently the electronic/house/trance/dubstep/(or whatever you may call it) scene has been making its appearance.

This certain genre of music started off on the wrong foot in the eyes of the society it was breaking into. Underground raves were popping up all over the place, and kids were dying because of drug overdoses, kidney failure, liver failure, and all things linked to drinking and drugs. It is because of this rocky start that electronic dance music began to make a bad name for itself in the music world.

This music has just started to break the mold it was forced into because of stupid actions of crazy teens and young adults.

There are artists such as Skrillex, for example, who have completely changed their lives because of this music. Skrillex, or Sonny John Moore, was homeless just a year and half before accepting three grammies at the 2012 show. He is now one of the top recording dubstep, progressive, and electric artists that exist. The bad name that this music has been given is being erased with all of the success it has been bringing about.

Just as I am writing this post a song by Skrillex has come on through my headphones, and it gives me a certain feeling. A head bobbing that is uncontrollable, a foot tapping that is contagious, with my headphones in I am in my own world, but others around will know that I am enjoying what I am listening to.

Now, while this music created by artists like Skrillex, Bassnectar, Deadmau5, and many more, it is not created with the traditional drum, guitar, and bass. Rather, it is created with a computer to simulate these sounds, and also to give them a completely different sound. This is not to say that these electric songs can’t have real instruments in them.

In fact the very song that has inspired this is a new single released by Skrillex and the Doors, called “Breakn’ a Sweat.” This track features the traditional Skrillex sound created by computer software, mixing boards, turntables, and midis, with the sound that the Doors have created for years with keyboards, drums, guitar, and bass. The track also features vocals from Skrillex himself and the members of the Doors.

This video features a little bit of what went into making this track.

Ciao a tutti! – Hello everyone!

equestri vitam2 Comments

As you may or may not know, now you do, I am studying abroad this 2012-2013 school year. I am in Viterbo Italy, which is a small medieval city north of Rome. I am a part of a program consisting of 68 American students from all over the United States. We all departed from Boston Logan-International airport the 30th of August. Most of the first day in Italy is a blur because I was so exhausted, up until the evening when the host family ceremony took place. My host family consists of two parents and an eighteen-year-old sister. Where I live is not in downtown Viterbo but in an outside neighborhood called Bagnaia. I have a 25-minute commute to school on the bus into downtown. Viterbo is divided into two parts, “New Viterbo” and the historical Viterbo. What is the “historical Viterbo” is completely walled in. The historical downtown is absolutely beautiful, while walking through the streets I feel like I’m walking into a picture from a history book. My first full day in Viterbo I was pooped on by a pigeon, which is said to be good luck, and found a worm in my plum at lunch. A little bit of a turn off for my first day, but regardless I can’t express how excited I am for the next nine months here! I’ll be following up with another post about the Santa Rosa festival, as a sneak peek I will just say that it involves a 5-ton, 7 story tower being carried on the backs of 100 men…

Arrivederci!

the best proposal

thehungryrunnergirlLeave a comment

So I was on yahoo.com this morning and I found the cutest video. So I’d like to share.He is so creative and cute!!! This is like a movie and she is so lucky!!!

Oh, and of course she said yes.

I don’t know what getting married or being proposed feel like, but it’s one of the life-time changing moments because you decide that you will be together with the person who you love for the rest of your life. And I think that’s just so wonderful.

The end of OVS Sports

venturatrekerLeave a comment


Today marked the end of my OVS sports career.  I have been an OVS spud for 11 years since I was in kindergarten.  Although the actual Lacrosse season ended two weeks ago, today we played the alumni to see who was truly better, the fossils or the young blood.

It turns out, neither are, we tied.  But like any true OVS sports event a tie is the best you can ask for.

Some of the alumni were old and out of shape, others were CAL and ASU lacrosse players which made the game a challenge.

Over all it was a great game and I am glad we ended our season on a positive note and I look forward to coming back next year and beating the OVS team.

The Joys of Journalism

therightliberalLeave a comment

I joined the journalism class my junior year of high school, doing it more because I liked the teacher rather than the subject. I was good at writing, or so I believed, so I thought I might as well.

But what I have gained from the class has been immense.

Although I thought I was a good writer, I definitely had room for improvement. I have learned how to be more concise as well as deep in my writing.

I have learned to be less superficial in my writing, using fewer words and finding more meaning.

One of the most important things that I have gained is the ability to get people’s story in a quick and effective way. It is not just interviewing techniques but learning to talk to people in a way in which their story is told most effectively.

I have learned the importance of stories, not just as a form of entertainment or news, but the importance to those who tell them and who are involved with them. I have learned that people like to tell their stories to those who are willing to listen.

Journalism is an art and a science. It is a way to show the world the way you see the world, the way you interpret the things around you, but it can also require a formula of sorts, a strategy.

Journalism is not only a great class to take in high school, it is a great subject to be involved with at any point in life, whether it be reading, writing or participating in some other manner.

Journalism is a key way that we communicate and express ourselves, and I thank everyone that has taught me about it.

Journalism Competition!

rangerthecatLeave a comment

Last Friday, 8 out of 10 students from our journalism class went to Cal Lutheran University (where I’m going to college!!!) to attend the TCJEA event which is a very competitive and large journalism competition. There were 15 schools at the event in total and we were the smallest school there hands down. Many other schools had around 20 or even 30 writers with them to compete in all different categories. It was intimidating, yes, but the experience was so awesome that it hardly mattered how small our group was.

We had writers enter almost every category available, including photography, sports writing, feature writing, news writing, and editorial writing. I was in the feature category, and we had such an interesting speaker named Cyrus Nowrasteh wrote and produced a many films including a mini-series titled “The Path to 9/11”. We listened to his story about the controversy over his series and the attempted sabotage of his career by people trying to cover up their mistakes. Then, we had about an hour to write an article on him and submit to be scored against all other works in that category.

Now, Mr. Alvarez is the best journalism teacher I could ever ask for. He has taught me so much – I was a terrible writer when I first stepped into his classroom. Regardless of his immense encouragement and preparation, I was still not confident that I could compete with others in programs much bigger and more well-known than our little “On The Hill” paper. But I was sure that we were a small but mighty force and had a great change of winning awards.

There were so many awards handed out. Each category had 1st through 3rd places and 2 honorable mentions. There were also awards for online newspapers, print newspapers, and overall best team called “sweepstakes”.

In the feature category, there were over 30 students that wrote an article for submission. My fellow feature writer Emmy Addison took a 2nd place in the feature category, and I received an honorable mention! I couldn’t believe it. I was recognized as a top 5 writer in my category. I was ecstatic. Another writer Jack Marcus also received 2nd place in the news writing category. Our online publication of the newspaper took 4th place overall, with is astounding considering it had only been officially up and running for less than a month. Overall in the competition, we placed 4th, receiving an honorable mention in the sweepstakes category.

It is just amazing to me how such a small group of students was able to go to that competition and practically dominate. We really proved to the other schools that even though we may not seem like much, we have an amazing, dedicated, and hardworking group of writers. I am so proud to be a part of this team, and the event was more amazing than I could have imagined. Congrats, journalism class!

Batteries, The”shocking” danger. they bring.

frog3Leave a comment

d
It seems the children of the world are in constant danger in these modern times. From kidnappers to obesity the world is rife with threats for children.

Some of the biggest dangers however come with toys made for children. Batteries being swallowed are one of the biggest threats to a child’s health.

To often batteries are left lying around. The young child, being curious, will bite and swallow the battery. For one the battery can get stuck inside the child’s windpipe, suffocating the child if the battery is not dislodged. A bigger problem is if the battery is swallowed. The battery can get lodged in the child’s small intestine causing major harm.

Help make the world safer for children and properly dispose of your batteries.

f