Feature Story Ideas

1. SJSU Football - as the Spartans head into the 2011 season and head coach Mike MacIntyre launches his second year in charge of the program, many new changes arise: Boise State has left the conference, SJSU football has 85 scholarships again for the first time in four or more years, kickoff time for home games is set for 1 p.m. instead of 5 p.m. and a full year of recruitment to find players who are best suited for the direction SJSU is looking to go.

2. Student ethics at SJSU - what is the policy for cheating/plagiarizing academically in class, what are the consequences and what do teachers and students have to say about it?

3. Stress and health - The overall mental health of the students at SJSU can be surprising. How many students use the counseling services offered? Is there a high level of depression or even suicide and how much does stress from school and other outside pressures factor into that.

4. Profile on a student - find a student at SJSU that has an extraordinary story and write a profile on him/her. There are more than 25,000 students on this campus, one of them is bound to have an interesting story.

5. Rate of success from recent graduates - talk to students who have recently graduated from SJSU within the last few years and find out their success stories? What have they done since graduation? How difficult was it to find a job in an economy such as the one we are in? Do you have a job that is in the field of your college major or did you have to find something else because your job field was impacted?

Word of the Week #7

1. palliative
2. Spartan Daily opinion article, "Japan: A nuclear warning in the making" by Salman Haqqi
3. "Celebrity gossip is a powerful palliative for trouble times, and most of us know about as much as the science of nuclear reactions as we do about the inner working of the economy."
4. adj; serving to palliate (palliate; to relieve or lessen without curing)
5. Sometimes doctors will give terminal patients morphine as a palliative treatment.

NPR Radio Analysis

In the NPR radio interview Fresh Air with Terry Gross and Jon Stewart one thing I noticed was how well the interview flowed.Gross did her research on Stewart prior to the interview and knew about his career, his family life at home and personal information about him and because of this, she was able to form her questions around that knowledge.

She asked him questions about how he was able to change The Daily Show into his own politically comical show and how the show changed him as a person. She asked Stewart about the inner workings of his show and how he and his team come about all the news that they do and how they present it to their audience. Gross asked him about how he balances his home life with work when both can be so demanding.

           

She built up her questions by usually giving some sort of anecdote about the topic of the question or had Stewart provide a story related to the question she was going to ask. For following up with secondary questions, Gross would provide more information on the topic to encourage Stewart to continue talking, or she would ask a loaded question that would require a longer answer.

When interviewing, Gross seemed to play to Stewart’s strengths – she would sometimes ask him questions in a joking way so that he would give a comical answer. She never really asked him any questions he wouldn’t or couldn’t answer, though there was one question about sleep aid that Stewart sort of skipped over, but that also could have been a joke as well and Gross merely laughed it off.

Gross and Stewart had good chemistry during the interview, but I think a lot of that had to do with the fact that Stewart is a comedian and can make a joke out of anything. He knew when to be serious and when he could joke to make the audience laugh. There were times during the interview where Gross had to say, “Wait, are you being serious,” or “seriously?” just to get a straight answer out of Stewart, but that’s really the only way things got off track.

           

The one thing I learned through this interview is that one must always be prepared and know about the subject prior to the interview, that way reasonable questions can be asked and more relative answers will be given.

In My Humble Opinion #1

Many people, especially college age students are unaware of just how important labor unions are. In light of the bargaining rights that have recently been stripped away from union workers in Wisconsin, I've come to realize how critical my own union's rights are.

I currently work for Kaiser Permenente in Vallejo, Calif., and being in the health care industry, many of the employees are members of the SEIU-UHW, which translates to the Service Employees International Union - United Healthcare Workers West. Every month, union dues are subtracted from my paycheck and I have certain rights as a union employee. There are also specific regulations that I have to adhere to and a contract I must abide by in order to keep my job as a pharmacy clerk.

Within the past six months, the SEIU-UHW has been flooding my email inbox, my mom's mailbox at home and my folder of work related mail through the pharmacy affirming the need to vote to keep our union representation and our bargaining rights. At first, I didn't understand what the fuss was all about, but after reading up on the protests and newly restricted rights of the Wisconsin workers, I understand how detrimental it would be to lose union representation.

For the union workers of Wisconsin, losing out on their bargaining rights is a huge setback. Thousands of state workers are now suffering from the anxiety of losing all rights within the union in addition to what's already been stripped away. Even though the union workers are not yet resulting in a state-wide strike, I think they are smart to stand by and be alert for what may be coming. What would happen if all the union workers in the state of Wisconsin decided to go on strike? Catastrophe would ensue, that's for sure.

Think about all the people who are union employees: health care workers (medical professionals, nurses, doctors, pharmacists), public service workers (teachers, firefighters, police officers, garbage men, state employees) and property service workers (janitors, security officers, food service workers) would all just go on strike and refuse to work. Now maybe not every single union worker would go on strike and there would be a few people who continue to do their jobs no matter what, but thousands of people would participate and that would have a catastrophic outcome for sure.

I think that the Wisconsin Republican Senate is aware of what could happen, but are banking on the hope that the union workers will not go on strike. If anything,the senate should be wary of what the near future may hold for the union workers of Wisconsin.

Word of the Week #6

1. superannuated
2. Access Magazine "Letter from the Editor" from Editor In Chief Hannah Keirns
3. "This superannuated, traditional structure was ready for a modern face lift and I was definitely up for the challenge."
4. adj; discharged, especially with a pension, owing to age or illness; too old to serve usefully
5. Even though my first car was a superannuated 1989 Honda Accord, it still got me around town.

Mystery Character

My character is a very wealthy man whose parents died when he was young. He has a double life – one is a productive night life while the other half of the time he is an employee of the company that he owns.

Some may consider him a stalker, but what he does for his night job is for the greater good of the community. He lavishly spends money, relies entirely too much on his man servant and tends to dress eloquently by day and roguish by night.

He enjoys working out, martial arts and you could say he is partial to hang gliding and bungee jumping. His many gadgets help him in one of his favorite hobbies: spelunking. People would call him a thrill seeker.

He has been known to get into a brawl on the streets and often is intoxicated in public, though because of his name and status, no legal action is ever taken. He keeps to himself and is wanted by the law for being a menace and is often imitated but never duplicated. He considers himself to be cut from the cloth real men are made of and will make grand appearances and secret elusive exits.

Word of the Week #5

1. Tinging
2. Spartan Daily A&E article "Indie artist soothes souls with 'Round Rhymes'" by Jordan Liffengren
3. "Lykke Li, Swedish rocker and darling, indulged fans with her sophomore album, Wounded Rhymes, by tinging the compilation with her signature quirky and ethereal indie-pop flavor."
4. verb; to impart a trace or slight degree of color to: to tint
5. When I want to make a black and white photo appear older, tinging it with tea helps give it a brown color to make it look aged.

In Class Leads

#1. Reverend lead - The resignation of the editor of "America" magazine came Wednesday under direct orders of the Vatican, as he published articles that were critical of the pope.
 
#2. Student drunks - Alcohol consumption allegedly contributed to destruction at Pacific Coast College over the weekend when rowdy students turned a weekend party into a demolition derby.

Fly on the Wall

It's just about that time in the day when most people are heading home. Those who can, stop on the way to save a trip out come rushing over and try to beat the lines. At 6 p.m. there is rush of impatient people that come into the Kaiser Pharmacy tonight.Because there are only four clerks on the clock tonight, 17 people stand in line to pick up their medication. One woman stands out among the others.

She has the look of stress and fatigue in her eyes and she's there to pick up the medication for her 4-year-old girl who was just seen in the urgent care department. As her daughter clings to her leg with tears streaming down her face, her mother looks like she just wants to get in and out as quickly as possible. When she gets to the counter to find her daughter’s medicine isn’t ready yet, the little girl lets out an ear-piercing wail and the mother takes a seat, trying to calm her daughter down.

Another woman passing by lays a comforting hand on the mother’s shoulder with a knowing look and the mother eases up a bit. Minutes seem to pass by slowly as the mother’s fruitless efforts to keep her daughter quiet fail her. Ten minutes later, her name is called and she rushes up to the counter to grab the bubblegum pink medicine for her little girl. Throwing her money on the counter, she dashes out of the pharmacy with her daughter trailing behind.

Word of the Week #4

1. Proprietary
2. Spartan Daily opinion article "Teach us to make the future," by Matthew Gerring
3. "I hate all the classes at San Jose State that either use or teach with a specific, proprietary tool that the instructor claims will determine whether or not we get a job after college."

4. adj; manufactured and sold only by the owner of the patent, formula, brand name, or trademark associated with the product.

5. My job manufactures different, proprietary medicine for various use, such as pain killers, antibiotics, and maintenance drugs.