A friend of mine recently linked me to an online riddle called Zahada that has 75 levels (so far); most of the answers are obvious once you know how to go about finding them, but the site forces you to really think outside the box and use logic and creativity in varied scenarios. There were many places I got stuck and had to consult a friend and/or get a hint from a message board, but I was proud to get many of them on my own.
Resume builder? No. But weirdly satisfying.
Having been at the front lines of news writing at the Lamron, I can tell you first-hand that little Geneseo has had a rough year. The college’s budget was slashed, leaving administrators with their hands tied and faculty and staff trying to make ends meet with reduced funds. Graduation, the culminating experience for the class of 2009, was severely compromised, leaving seniors and their families upset and frustrated. The college’s Greek culture came under attack from nearly all fronts. Most tragically, we lost a talented professor and four students who should be cramming for finals right now and looking forward to a well-deserved break and are instead in the Lamron archives, eulogies credited to my own writing.
I don’t consider myself a “journalist.” I’m a shy accounting major who writes pretty fluently, and each time I am faced with the prospect of covering an event that has affected the lives of others more than I can ever imagine, I get overwhelmed by the task. How can I possibly begin to capture the life of a vibrant young man or woman in a 500-word document in Microsoft Word? How can I be worried about the correct application of AP style when my peers suddenly find themselves facing charges that could land them jail time and a shattered reputation? And most importantly, who am I to be writing about all this? I get to start over every week writing a new story, but the articles are snapshots in time – have I said everything that needs to be said?
All that I can give is my best. And that’s why I write for the Lamron. Not because I want the experience, or because I like journalism, but because I’m pretty good at writing news articles and I have a sincere appreciation for the role of a student newspaper on a given college campus, especially in the face of the types of tragedies we have unfortunately had to confront this year. As I humbly prepare to take on the responsibility of distilling and reporting news at this college, I vow to my writers, my article subjects, and my readers that I am here not to spit out teasing headlines or sensational articles, but to listen. To listen to what you care about, to what you want to say, to what deserves to be put in print. And to do the best I can to write it all down.
See you in August.
With 56 videos that have been viewed a combined total of 179,266 times (and counting), some might say I’m a little bit of a YouTube celebrity/addict/loser. All are, in fact, true. And while the site tends to mostly be a cesspool of copyright infringement and incoherent commenting (is there a literary term for what I just did?), I occasionally stumble across brilliance.
Last week, the channel barelypolitical, birthplace of the now-famous Obama Girl, posted a video of various news clips that have been edited with autotuning software, the same software that brought Cher’s “Believe” to the top of the charts and now floats the careers of many performing artists (we don’t call them singers anymore). That video is here.
After rewinding that several times to listen to Katie Couric sing about the tragedy of arctic ice that is melting, I was curious enough to keep browsing the channel of the video’s creator, which brought me to this absolutely beautiful video of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “I Have A Dream” speech, in song. At first I thought it would be a joke like the news video, but I couldn’t help feeling chills as this timeless speech was introduced to me in a totally twenty-first century way without any loss of emotional impact. Does this substitute for the original speech? Of course not. But what a way to expose young people to a historic moment. Goes to show that as much as technology dumbs us down, it also creates opportunities for creativity and new celebrations of the human spirit.
Check it out for yourself.
No, I’m not talking about our former news editor (though I often wondered that as I was waiting to get articles from him Tuesday nights…). My suitemate introduced this to me the other day and I found it absolutely fantastic and wanted to share it:
Dancing is something that brings people of all cultures together - and Matt proves this in his semi-famous YouTube video. He traveled the world, recording himself awkwardly dancing in different places. People began noticing and commenting, and he thought to start asking his followers to join in on the videos with him. Even today, he’s still traveling the world, dancing and having people from different countries join in.
What a unique, simple way to unite people worldwide. Nice job, Matt.
As the article’s headline states, there is hope for this unlucky animals, thanks to “human strength.” It’s refreshing to know that our positive influence isn’t lost.
Ever seen those motivational posters with mantras like, “Shoot for the Moon - Even if you miss you’ll land among the stars”?
Well here’s one from Despair Inc. that I feel is particularly relevant:
It’s a rare news story involving President Bush and Iraq that actually makes me laugh, but I fairly roffled at this one. For those of you who haven’t seen it (and also come to the Lamron blog for your news needs…), an Iraqi journalist actually threw his shoes at President Bush at a Baghdad news conference on Sunday. Muntadar al-Zaidi, a journalist for TV station al-Baghdadiya, physically hurled first one shoe, then the other at our beleaguered commander-in-chief, shouting “This is a farewell kiss, you dog.” He was quickly detained and is still in custody for questioning.
Though the bombardment wasn’t really all that threatening, I’d like to commend our fearless leader for living up to his name in the face of all-out attack. Who knew he had such cat-like reflexes? It was like something out of The Matrix. I for one am beginning to think I’ve underestimated our president’s leadership abilities all along.
Despite the humor of the incident, it is a reminder that we have a long way to go to win the hearts and minds of the Iraqi people, and that it may be a while before they warm in any real way to the U.S. and its politics. Apparently the soles of one’s shoes are considered ritually unclean in Islam, and even to display them can be considered insulting. So I guess throwing them at someone’s face might register some real dislike. While the other journalists at the conference were apologetic, the violent outburst from al-Zaidi and the public outcry in his defense show that our new president will need to tread lightly in Iraq, lest he get the boot as well.
Link to a hilarious BBC video of the incident:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7783608.stm
Hey everyone!
Looking for something to do with your free Friday afternoon? Bars and frat parties are fine for the evening, and of course you'll want to get to studying for finals ASAP I'm sure. But in between all that check out...
"The One Who Speaks"
An ACT I play about the true story of Ugandan AIDS victim Olivia Nantongo.
Adapted by Geneseo graduate Emily A. Hurley and performed by students Candace Hairston, Candace Walton, and Phara Souffrant.
Friday 12/5 in the Brodie Black Box Theatre (Robert Sinclair) at 4 pm--ADMISSION FREE!!!
Come on, when's the last time you took a break and spent some time at the theatre :)
What did you think of Lupe Fiasco as this year’s Fall concert choice? Did the show live up to your expectations? Did it completely blow you away? Did you even go? Who do you think should be considered for the Spring concert? Are you comfortable paying a few dollars extra as with Lupe Fiasco for a ‘bigger name’ artist? Would you like SUNY Geneseo to book another Hip-Hop act or some other genre instead?
The issue has recently been mentioned in the Lamron office, around 12:45 in the morning on a Thursday, that the so called words “chocoholic”, “workaholic” and “sexoholic” are, really stupid. I tend to agree. The reason the word “alcoholic” is as it is is (try that for a fun mess) because of the word “alcohol”, to which was added the suffix “-ic”. So, if you want to parody “alcoholic”, please start using “chocolatic”, “workic” or “sexic.” See, they sound stupid, don’t they? Now you can smirk every time some idiot refers to his “chocoholic girlfriend”.
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