Is college worth the trouble?

The article I read on college and how it's affected by the economy has me slightly worried. The recession we're in currently has had a horrible affect on college's funding but also, the rate of enrollment and acceptance has gone way up. With cutbacks and more kids to educate things are going downhill. In California, they want less freshmen to be accepted into their state colleges.

The article also talks about the debt that comes with college, which can be upwards of 20 thousand dollars. Is the college education worth it, they ask. They found that the median salary a college graduate makes is about $47,000 a year. A college student that doesn't complete a full four years still makes about $33,000. Unfortunately college tuition is on the rise along with rates of enrollment, and budget cuts.

Here is the link

A "SLUT" list ?

Many people most likely  read the article on Nytimes.com, taking about the "Slut list" that girls around the world are taking "mean" to a whole different level. In Millburn High School in New Jersey, girls at the school made a list of girls that are " Sluts" and or/ perform oral sex, and sex with other guys on the campus. No surprised the parents of these students were informed and they were shocked. I couldn't believe that girls now a days would take it being mean to  a whole different level. 

I find the article sad; but also very true, many girls would do things like that to hurt others, I find it disgusting that girls would be so                                                                                           heartless and do things like that.   

link to the article ::  http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/27/weekinreview/27kelly.html?_r=1&ref=education

Post a comment. 

Not Serving Those That Did

When is the Department of Veterans Affairs going to help the ones who they're supposed to be helping. With the Montgomery G.I Bill available for every veteran, it's hard to not expect that they are going to use it. The bill covers most, or usually all educational expenses for vets if they decide to  go to college.

For months, VA has been pushing the bill so that everyone takes advantage of it. Not the the applications are flooding in and guess what? The people are not getting their money. Thousands of veterans have had to dig into their life savings to cover school costs since their colleges and universities never got tuition payments that were supposed to be made by September 1 by the Department of Veterans Affairs. Thousands have been forced to take out loans and are now in debt. Many have even had to drop out of school because VA is saying that most applicants will not be getting their money until November. 

The reason why veterans enrolled in school this year was because the VA was urging them to, assuring them that everyone would get their money by September 1 and that they would not have to worry  about a thing. Obviously that was a big lie and now veterans are in a horrible financial situation that they never expected.

The men and women that honorably served our country need to be honorably served by the ones appointed  to help them in their post military lives. 

Click here to read the original article posted on NY Times

Blog written by Kevin Phu

When the Cool Get Hazed

See Article Here

This article is about a "slut list" found at a New Jersey high school that was spread through Facebook. The girls say that the list was made all in good fun, which makes no sense because it slanders and trashes just about every girl in the school, which is pretty funny i guess. One recent graduate said “Being on the list means you are rich, you wear expensive clothing, and probably fall under the general umbrella of attractiveness." It's pretty dumb (and funny) that all these girls think they're the best just cause they sleep around.

Sleep Tight, Don't Let The Bed Bugs Bite...

On thursday the John Jay College of Criminal Justice shut down because of a bed bug problem in the dorms. Some teachers said that they were getting rashes in August but they didn't think that it would be bed bugs. Bed bugs were in half of the rooms and teachers and student were astounded when they heard about what areas were infested. There have been no bites reported just rashes but this is still a serious issue, and they should be opening up again on monday. 

-Ben Sampson

Click here for a link to the article

Awkward walk-ins at Tufts

College Students don't want to walk into their dorm room to see that their roommate is having sex with someone. This is quite an awkward situation especially when the roommate walking in doesn't know anything. It is also just common sense to give a roommate a heads up when these situation are going to occur.

Here's a link to a Boston Herald Article

I've been reading this article and I think that this is interesting to hear about.

Our education, our future!

 In Cape Town, South Africa, thousands of students marched to City Hall with a slight request: they want a library and librarians.  These students wanted to make a difference in their lives by demanding the proper education they need. These students even strive to fix their school. Around five hundred windows at the school were broken for years, which left the students cold in the winter. In November, provincial education officials agreed to fix the school windows and a sum of ten times what the students requested would be invested in the school.  I think these students seem inspiring and they inspire others to pursue an education and they want their school to be in better conditions for each other.

Want to learn more?  Click here.

Crowed School

I was reading an ARTICLE  about how a school called Francis Lewis High in Queens New York has over twice the amount of students as it was built for which is 2,400 student. Having twice the amount causes the school to have the first lunch around 9 Am, and last lunch ends at 2:46 Pm. Also the some of the students start school at 7 Am and some don't leave until 12 hours later.

The gym classes are held outside unless it snows, rains, or if it is below 34 degrees. Still for some reason this High School is still one of the most popular High Schools in New York city with about 13,000 applications a year. One reason why it is so packed is because it is one of the best schools in the city having a graduation rate of 81%, and also most high schools in Manhattan are open to just city kids, Francis Lewis High is open to kids on a certain geographic area.

When the Cool Get Hazed

The  New York Times article  When the Cool Get Hazed  is about a new kind of bullying or hazing.  Now the taunts have become more sexual and have reached the Internet.  Recently at a New Jersey High School  a "slut list"  has been found.   The list links how promiscuous you are to how popular you are.  Being on the list is considered a good thing and is  a step toward popularity.    The list has been posted on facebook.  Recent graduates of the school  have said "Being on the list means you are rich, you wear expensive clothing, and probably fall under the general umbrella of attractiveness. Essentially, the slut list is the Goldman Sachs daughters list, a distorted assertion of wealth and power within a highly pressured upper middle class environment.”  I think that this seems really bad and am surprised that it went on for 10 years at this high school.  I think that the Internet makes it easier for bullying and spreading rumors.  

State Radio - Camilo

I love this band, this song, and this video. It's about a friend of the band who went to the war in Iraq but when he came back he decided to become a conscientious objector, which is someone who refuses to go to war based on their religious or moral principals. For doing this, Sergeant Camilo was sentenced to 9 months in prison.

Inspiration for Education Video?

JAVELIN..Both guys are from MA...now in NYC making unique sounds.
A favorite of mine.
Ms. V

Cowboys Stadium; as popular as the Roman Coliseum?

This stadium is more of an entertainment venue. Some people are saying that the new stadium for the Dallas Cowboys stadium would be as popular centuries from know as the Roman Coliseum is today. I personally don't think so. What do you think?

Children See. Children Do

Try writing a review of this video or a summary- what are your thoughts? Have you ever experienced a moment where you copied the behavior of your parents?

What a Whopper!

A mother in Jakarta, Indonesia gave birth to 19.2 pound, 2 foot long baby boy. This baby is big enough to break your knee! The big baby was likely caused by his mother having gestational diabetes. This is a weight record for a newborn in Indonesia, although a bit short of the world record of 23 pounds set in 1879. And luckily enough, the baby was delivered through cesarean section, which is probably a relief for the mother because naturally delivering that baby would have been pretty painful!

Here is a link to a video from the Today show.

Understanding other ways of life.

Do you think it is important to learn about the educational systems and lives of children in other countries other than your own?

WHY OR WHY NOT?

ALSO Why do you think it is important for journalist to learn about many aspects of a culture?

--Make sure to re-read for grammar,  capitalize AND spell check.

Not All Skate Videos Are Boring

A video I made last year

A Vision Of Students Today

This video shows some statistics from college students. Good video

New "Armenian Media" class in the news!

Watertown High's new "Armedia" class was covered by the Watertown Tab recently.
Read the article and watch the little movie.


Explain the role of the journalist when covering the "story."

What is the story?
How did the journalist tell the "story?"
How did media play a part in the article and overall story?

Budget Cuts in New York

I have read an article yesterday on the New York Times and it was talking about how the schools were cutting back. The principals said that they were also worried that academics in the schools were going to be hit hard by all of the budget cuts that happened.

Here's a link to that article

I always hear that this type of thing happens in all major cities across the United States and in all 50 states as well.

We need Teachers

The video below shows how important teachers are to the students in America's education.

As a student in a public school in the United States i feel as though it is necessary to state my opinion on what i think about the public schools around the world needing teachers. I feel as though many teachers are getting put off because of the economy and also many of them are on a limited visa. So there is a set limit t how long they can be working in the United states. I read an article September 18, 2009 about the schools in America needing teachers ; heres my opinion on what's going on.

As many American schools, they need teachers! Because of the economic delay,many countries have be involved in loss of teachers and staff all around the United States. About 19,000 foreign teachers were working in the US with a temporary visa in the year 2007; also that number was rising gradually as the years went on. Now their are more than 3 million teachers working in the United States. 

Check out the article to find out more !

link : http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/15/education/15teach.html?ref=education

We're # 37

I saw a video yesterday called "we're number 37" which is about how the US has the 37th best health care in the world. That's pretty disturbing to me seeing as we're number 1 in most other things.

Schools Look Abroad to Hire Teachers

On the New York Times website I read an article Schools Look Abroad to Hire Teachers.  This article focuses on schools hiring teachers from other country's.  Most of them work in inner city schools or in rural schools.  In 2005 Baltimore hired 108 teachers from the Philippines.   This year they recruited 60 teachers from the Philippines.  With the bad economy I wonder why there  aren't enough teachers in U.S. to fill these positions.  

Tight Budgets

The school system of Edgemont  are getting rid of there Spanish classes to save money. Now at some points this makes sense, but I think kids should have the right to learn, and study a different language. Even though these are young students who are going to have chances in the future to take a language, I think they should be allowed to take one now.

Link To Article

"Jelly" Bracelets

If you haven't heard of the game Snap, which you probably have, it's being banned in a lot of places. In Angevine Middle School in Lafayette, Colorado, the principle emailed all the parents of the students in the school about the game. However students are protesting that it's just a fashion statement although we all know the truth about it. Each color has a certain connotation, and when snapped off, supposedly means the girl or boy in question is supposed to engage in the certain sexual act. What's your take on this banning?
Here is the the article.

Here are the connotations of these bracelets.

To Study or Estudiar

This is an article from New York Times. It is an article talking about how schools all over the country are cutting foreign language classes this school year because of budget cuts.

Here is a link to the article

Learning foreign language is a very important thing in today's world. With hundreds of language spoken worldwide, its a great asset for a person to be able to speak different languages and communicate with people around the world. Especially now since the business worlds are crossing into business of foreign countries. I speak two languages fluently, Chinese and English. I also speak a little bit of Spanish, its not too great though. I can see these skills helping me out a lot in my future when I travel the world or need to have a meeting with foreign businessmen. I think they should make foreign language just as important in school as any other major subject.

A New Meaning For Cutting Class

See the article here!

This article does not mean "Cutting Class" as in skipping class, but budgets for classes getting cut. The budget got cut by 5% in NYC, which is making things much more difficult. Instead of having classes of 21 students the classes now have 29 students. It's a real problem. I think that if the US used less money on things such as war problems like this wouldn't exist.

Foreign language is no more?

     The article I have read describes how schools are cutting back on foreign language teaching positions. A school in Arlington, New York, there was a loss of the foreign language teaching positions in its middle, which includes Spanish and French. Because of the budget cuts, its seventh grade German language program was also cut out. In New Jersey, the Ridgewood district is replacing three elementary school Spanish teachers with Rosetta Stone, which is an interactive computer program which helps students learn a language.

This picture shows children using Rosetta Stone in their classroom.  Personally, I believe it is a shame for the schools not keeping their foreign language teachers.  I think it's better for student to be taught from people, not computers.

Why I Took Interactive Journalism

I took this class to help me with my future in hopefully journalism. It is something I always wanted to do, and I think this class can help me get there. Also I have heard that this class is very fun.

Absolute Hangover

Adbusters

Adbusters is a website that does spoofs on different adds. They also have a magazine that has spoofs on adds and they have a show called ABTV (Add Busters T.V). The picture above is an example of one of the spoofs and below is a clip to the adbusters web site.

click here for link to website

Adbusters, BBC Video on

Adbusters is a site trying to correct what they think are flaws in our society. One of their events is called Digital Detox in which you don't use any sort of internet or electronic device for a week and get in touch with your natural side. It also stands up against "megacorporations" with other events. The magazine is meant to criticize many social aspects and problems with how things are run through capitalism.

Adbusters

Today I looked at the Adbusters Website.  It was full of articles and photos spoofing culture and ads.  It also takes the glamour out of some ads and  spreads light on issues.  Here is a Nike ad that they changed and added the text.  It is saying that although Nikes may seem cool you have to think  about where they came from.   MacDonald Mac Attack. 

What is Adbusters all about?

This photo is about money and I also found a hilarious post where the economic system is being made fun of. This also gets into the The so-called "buy nothing day" which is a random day made up by a Canadian guy who partially doesn't know what he's talking about.

This is a youtube video that shows some of the truth behind North America's consumption and some things are just plain exaggerated... take a look. 

Link to video

What is Adbusters?

     As a very original and interesting newspaper/magazine, Adbusters is a comical website which allows you to subscribe to their magazine and read their spoof ads.  Their current issue is, "Thought Control in Economics", which basically talks about the economy and how the consumers should be realizing how much damage they are doing everyday with what they consume. Basically this magazine is an anti-consumerist organization.  Their goal is to empower it's readers to realize the negative effects of advertising.

What is Adbusters?

This is the first time I have ever heard of Adbusters. By poking around the website, it seems like this is a journalism website that is counter culture. The site has a lot of articles about philosophy and the way people are currently living. 

Click here to read an article titled "Art or Vandalism?"

Personally as a graffiti artist myself, I think it is both art and vandalism. There is a clear line between art and vandalism. When property is spray painted with the art then it becomes vandalism. But what is the point of art if you cant display it openly for everyone to see? Before I continue I just want to make clear, I am not advocating painting walls and defacing them, but I also am not against one doing it. I believe putting art on property walls are wrong but I think it should be fine to put art on the stone walls of an old train track. Artists want their art to be seen by everyone so that they can express their emotions with their art. Like I said before, i think it is both art and vandalism. Artists just need to know where the line is. 

Busting Adbusters

The website Adbusters.org is basically a very interesting website. Its kind of like a magazine but on a website. Its full of articles and you can post your own BLOG. There's videos and many articles and its full of interesting topics. You can also subscribe the real magazines. Check out the Video below.It's the founder of the website talking on CNN .. Post a comment...

KANYE SAID "WHAT" ?!

Durning the VMA Awards on September 13, 2009 , Taylor Swift was amazed and shocked when they called her name to come up and get her award for the Best female Video , Kayne West took it upon himself to interrupt her during her speech; and took the mic and said " Yo Taylor, Im really happy for you, imma let chu finish .. but Beyonce had one of the best videos of all time. ONE OF THE BEST VIDEOS OF ALL TIME !" And just hands her the mic back... leaving her there lost for words. I was personally shocked; i couldn't believe it. I think that was messed up and very low of Kayne, there was no reason to make her feel like that. On the other everyone can state their opinion and he has that right, but i think i speak for many when i say " Kanye west, can you get any lower ? " --Below is the actual video. Comment.

Post a comment... 

Kanye, how could you be so heartless?

So I am positive almost everyone knows about what Kanye West did to Taylor Swift at the Video Music Awards last night. Poor Taylor, it was her first award and she got interrupted in such a disrespectful way. Boo hoo, a country singer's video won the award for Best Female Video instead of someone in the Hip Hop genre. Music is music, no matter if its country, hip hop, rock, or pop. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion but Kanye definitely went way too far by going on stage in the middle of her acceptance speech and saying that Beyonce deserved the award. It would not be a big issue if he said this after the show, but seriously, what was he thinking? Snatching the mic from her in the middle of her speech? That was one of the most disrespect things I have ever seen. 

By Kevin Phu

Interactive Journalism

I'm taking this class to fill my 3rd period class slot. I either had study 3rd and Photography 1 first, which I've had the pleasure of being a part of twice, or I get to sleep later and take this 3rd. After hearing about it was when I decided this would actually be a pretty interesting course.

Why Interactive Journalism Is Important To Me

I wanted to take interactive journalism because I want to do sports reporting. I thought that this would be a good help for sports writing because I could write for espn and post it on there website and have my own blog.

Interactive Journalism First Blog

Interactive Journalism is......
Interactive journalism is a new type of journalism that allows consumers to directly contribute to the story. Through Web 2.0 technology, reporters can develop a conversation with the audience (Wikipedia 2009-Inactive Journalism)

Click here to read more!


This picture is an example of a typical interactive journalism class...like the one I am in now!



This is an very informative video about what the field is all about. It is changing world and journalism reflects that. As a teacher I am very inspired to learn more about new technologies and communication.

Interactive Journalism is.....

..... the ability to contribute your own thoughts and concepts to a story. Other than conversations, videos and pictures can be added to the information that is written so it can be appealing to the audience. Readers may be able to add corrections and further information to the story. I chose to take interactive journalism because I love technology and reading about major news, and a future career that I have in mind is becoming a news reporter. I think it's important for these major news stories to be reported to the general public, so what better way to do that than by blogging. This course will give me a sense of what the journalism world is like.

This picture gives a sense of what interactive journalism is, constructing stories and then sharing them on the web.

Interactive Journalism... What is it?

Interactive journalism is a new kind of journalism that lets consumers directly contribute to the story. By using new technology reporters have conversations or "interact" with the audience. Interactive journalism has developed as an effort to get the audiences attention. The audience then can become the producer and/or editor of the news. Below is a link to a man named Sandeep Junnarkar, a professor of interactive journalism, talking about how the journalism world is changing and where interactive journalism can take you in life.

click here for link

What is Interactive journalism ?

Interactive journalism is a new form of journalism.  It allows the consumers to interact.  A common way of interacting is commenting on blogs or videos.  Newspapers  and magazines have been an important way to spread news but are not very interactive.  With the Internet and TV interactive journalism has become more popular.  Some newspapers are based mostly on the internet now.  This allows consumers easily access updated news for free.  Also consumers can comment on the articles.  This lets reporters see there audiences opinion and thoughts.  Videos also can give a lot of information.  With You tube and other websites videos are becoming more popular.   The picture above shows students learning interactive journalism.  I want to learn more about interactive journalism because it is interesting and is become an important form of journalism.

Here is a video about how journalism is changing