Growing Up Online

See Video Here

The Video "Growing Up Online" on PBS Frontline was a video about how the the new generation of kids are all growing up with the internet at their disposal. It touches on the subject of whether or not the internet is a good thing or a bad thing by interviewing multiple families about their experiences. In most cases the parents were against it and the kids were for it.

The internet is a place with no boundaries and no rules. Anything can be said, read, and seen. Obviously kids are ecstatic over this freedom available to them, and obviously parents are frightened, and for good reason. The internet had negative side effects on many of the kids featured in this video. Talking trash is easier online than in person, so groups of girls who had been fighting online for weeks eventually got into a brawl at school in the cafeteria that everybody was able to see because it was filmed on multiple cell phones and put up on YouTube. Another self conscious girl used the internet to look up details about anorexia with her spare time.

The repercussions of the internet were much more sever in one kids case though. In school this boy was bullied, and if it wasn't for the internet he could just go home after school and be safe, but just like most other kids he went home and logged on to his facebook or myspace where the harassment just continued. At the age of 13 he killed himself. When his father looked on the boy's computer for clues he saw all the tormenting messages, and that he had been looking up many things about death and suicide. The boy had also been talking to another kid online about about his self destruction who was convincing him to kill himself. The internet may not have been the only reason that the boy committed suicide, but it was definitely a catalyst.

The overall message of "Growing Up Online" is that the internet is here to stay and despite the dangers of it the best thing to do is to educate kids on how to be safe online. Attempting to hide them from it will only make them more naive and vulnerable. I agree with this completely. In my opinion the internet is one of the greatest resources we have right now and if it is used well then it can be extremely useful. We're using the internet right now anyway right, and how awesome is that.

Ms V and the Pats!

PLEASE SEE ME ANYTIME ON FRIDAY SO I CAN UPLOAD YOUR EDUCATION VIDEO FOR THE COMPETITION!!! YOU CAN FINISH FRONTLINE ON MONDAY! GET YOUR EDUCATION VIDEOS DONE!

Frontline & EDUCATION VIDEO

IT IS VERY IMPORTANT THAT ALL STUDENTS KNOW THAT IN ORDER FOR THEIR VIDEOS TO BE CONSIDERED FOR THE NATIONAL COMPETITION THEY MUST BE DONE BY THIS FRIDAY!! SUBMISSIONS ARE CLOSING EARLIER THAN I EXPECTED.


THAT MEANS SOME OF YOU WILL HAVE TO COME TO THE LAB AFTER SCHOOL IF YOU WANT YOUR VIDEOS IN THE COMPETITION. YOU CAN ALSO WORK ON IT FRIDAY AFTER SCHOOL--I WILL BE THERE TO HELP! 
ALL SUBMISSION MUST BE THROUGH YOUR PERSONAL YOUTUBE ACCOUNT. IF YOU DON'T HAVE ONE THEN MAKE ONE!

SINCE I WON'T BE SEEING YOU GUYS YOU WILL HAVE TO E-MAIL ME (msventurawhs@gmail.com) YOUR YOUTUBE ACCOUNT INFO AND I WILL UPLOAD YOUR VIDEO FOR YOU.
PLEASE SEE ME AFTER SCHOOL ON FRIDAY SO I KNOW THE VIDEOS I SHOULD EXPORT AND UPLOAD.

MS. V

FRONTLINE ASSIGNMENT
Here is my advice if you want to do well on this assignment:

1) WATCH THE VIDEO AND TAKE NOTES IN A GOOGLE DOC ( 1st Lab)
2) AFTER WATCHING THE VIDEO START A "ROUGH DRAFT" OF THE BLOG (2nd Lab)
You are writing a REVIEW of the documentary. Be sure to include quotes from film, links, pictures and your opinion. You will be presenting your review to the class so MAKE SURE YOU KNOW WHAT YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT!
3) FINISH Writing and double and triple check grammar, POST BLOG (3rd Lab)

I look forward to reading your blogs! Cheers, Ms. V

Frontline Blogs Timeline

 

Interactive Journalism Schedule
Day 7: Tuesday Oct 27th: First Grade Education Video

Day 1: Wed Oct 28th: LAB --Watch Your Frontline Video
Day 2: Thursday: LAB Oct 29th-Write blog, but do not post
Day 3: no class
Day 4: Monday LAB--FINISH BLOG & presentation ideas for Grade
Day 5: Wednesday Nov 4: Re-Edits and exports of Education Video
Day 6: Thurs. Nov 5 LAB: Start autobiography project--writing about life
Day 7: Friday Nov 6: Watch all videos (Final Grade)


Shane: Merchants of Cool
James: Growing Up Online
Ben: Diet Wars
Farrah: Burden of Innocence
Nicole: On Our Watch
Peter: Ten Trillion and Counting
Despina: Abortion Clinic
Obama's War: Kevin
Joey: Spying on the Homefront

Educational Video Rubric: Due Oct 27th

A: SUPER AWESOME PROJECT:
Good Attendance
Always on time—less then 2 Tardies
Voice over or video
Images correspond to voice over or video
Transitions
Text
Music
Youtube videos
Great Effort

B: Because you are Trying!
Voice over or video
Images correspond to voice over or video
Transitions
Text integration
Music
Youtube
Fair Effort


C: Can’t hurt to try harder
Bad Attendance
Lots of Tardies
Voice over
Images barely correspond
Poor Effort

D: Did you even try?
Everything in C….plus

F: Frankly, you are wasting space.
Terrible Effort
Do you have a pulse?

Jeff Fisher Wears Colts Jersey

This is sure to make Titans fans very angry... their head coach who is has lead the Titans to an 0-6 record so far has worn a Peyton Manning Jersey at an event where he was introducing former Colts coach Tony Dungy. A controversy was made over nothing and I don't even know why it would be hyped up by the media in the first place.

A link to a youtube video

News at WHS

" ExPeCt blOoDShEd "



On Wednesday ; October 7th at Watertown High school ; A custodian was cleaning out one of the boys bathroom and came across the words " Expect Bloodshed" written on the stall door. Immediately, he reported what he had saw and the school quickly contacted the Watertown Police department. At 6:OO am there was a Ed message sent to all students and staff of WHS explaining what had happened and for all students to enter school that morning through the Columbia Street entrance ONLY and leave all backpacks at home.

Of course many students brought backpacks; but all backpacks were collected and all students will get their bags back at the bell at 2:3Opm. All of the students of Watertown High School was gathered together in the auditorium after coming into school for a brief meeting with all staffs and students about what was going on. Personally i thought to my self " What in he world is this ?! " I was confused because i didn't know any of this until a student on his way to school told me and my sister and my cousin that we wasn't allowed to bring bags into the school or they were going to take it for the day.

Not only did they check all lockers, take all bags, messed up the whole morning , they all canceled all after school activities that day, including : Cheer leading, Basketball, Etc. It was all back to normal the next day. Students were allowed to enter the school with bags, but they asked for all students to enter the school through the Columbia Street entrance. The school took those to words very serious, as they should. Overall, everything is back to normal and they asked if anyone knows who wrote it or what it means, don't hesitate to tell someone, it would really help.

In my opinion i think every student at Watertown High had to go through a lot ; just for one kids stupidity and their senseless actions. It really pissed me off. I had to go through airport security just to start school that morning.

Playing baseball or playing monopoly? (Midterm Assignment)

There is a monopoly going on in the MLB. The only one that comes to mind is the New York Yankees. The Yankees are a team that makes a whole lot of the and, without a salary cap can just go out and spend all of their money. Basically they can just go to get an expensive player and they can win because of it. For those who don't know how a salary cap works, here's a link that explains it:
Salary Cap Explaination

As you read, in the NHL, NBA, and NFL; there is a salary cap which no team can exceed. On the other hand, there's no salary cap in baseball and that leads to wealthier teams like the Yankees to monopolize the system. I think that they need a salary cap to stop teams like the Yankees from monopolizing the system year after year.

What do you think about this situation in the MLB?

Females on Submarines (Midterm Assignment)

Just a couple weeks ago Admiral Gary Roughead, Chief of Naval Operations (CNO), proposed that the ban on females working submarines be lifted. This has been a policy that the Navy has been trying to change. The CNO believes that a more diverse crew would help the Navy force move forward.
I agree with the fact that women are able to perform the same tasks as men just as well in the submarine force. It is has always been seen that women are less capable than men militarily and I do not agree with that. I believe women should be allowed to serve on submarines.
Women on submarines could be a problem though. Navy officials are worried that there will be a rise in sexual harassment cases. Subs are small and space is tight. Most of the time, sailors have to share bunks and this could be a big problem with females in the submarine. However, there are some renovations plans being looked into if the women on submarines ban is lifted. This would cost millions of dollars though.
In my most honest opinion though, the Navy should keep things the way they are. The old adage "don't fix something that isn't broken" perfectly fits this situation. I say keep the ban and save the headache and money on something more important. No offense, I just don't see this issue as a major concern at all.

Here is the link to the original article on Navytimes.com



Written by Kevin Phu

Midterm Assignment

Obese Baby denied insurance

Health insurance companies have been known for excluding people with health problems. In a business perspective that is a smart approach to running a business. Accepting all people with expensive health care needs can lead to the foreclosure of the business. In a personal perspective it seems cruel to exclude the people who need health care the most. Someone with a serious disease should not need to worry about how they are going to pay for their health care.

A recent story stirs up controversy on how much power insurance companies should have in denying coverage. A four month old baby, Alex Lange, has been denied health care because he is obese. Rocky Mountain Health Care has denied the 17 pound, 25 inch baby. He is being considered a high risk patient because of his obesity. His parents are shocked and upset. Alex’s father says “I could understand if we could control what he's eating. But he's 4 months old. He's breast-feeding. We can't put him on the Atkins diet or on a treadmill. There is just something absurd about denying an infant."
Bernie and Kelli Lange, the baby's parents have been informed that babies above the 95 percentile for height and weight are not accepted by health insurance companies. Their baby is in the 99th percentile. Doctor Doug Speedie, the medical director at Rocky Mountain Health Care commented, “your weight is not an absolute determinate of health. Unfortunately when we try to sell people insurance, a number has to be used as a cutoff."

The fact that a baby was denied insurance because of his weight seems ridiculous. There was no indication that the baby was unhealthy. I understand that healthcare is a business but it seems like the cut offs are quite extreme. I agree with Bernie Lange that there is not much that can be done to control a baby’s weight. I think stories similar to these are becoming more and more visible due to the healthcare debates.

Sources
Fox Article

Video
Newscast

Midterm Assaignment (Angel In The Outfield0

On April 8th 2009 Nick Adenhart made his fourth career start and the first one of the season. In this start he pitched 6 scoreless innings and struck out five batters during that start, a near perfect start for his first of the season. This was the best game of his young career, which looked to be promising.

The real story is the tragic events that arose the night after his stellar performance against the A's. On April 9th 2009, Nick Adenhart was involved in a tragic three-way car crash in Fullerton. This accident happened just around midnight by a 22 year old man named Andrew Thomas Gallo. Gallo was driving drunk and already had a suspend license, so Gallo's car ran after he hit Adenhart's car and was caught 30 minutes later by the cops. He was later charged with the murder of Adenhart.

Ever since this accident happened the Angels players have really honored him by displaying his picture in the outfield and also bringing his jersey to every game. The Angels also have kept his locker with his jersey in it. And they also have the number 34 patch on the front of all their jerseys. The fans created their own memorial outside the stadium with his jersey and flowers.

In my opinion this is the best and saddest story in all of baseball. This is a sad story because of the bright future lost due to a tragic death. It is also a touching story because of what the Angels have accomplished this season with the loss of their teammate and best friend.

ARTICLE

Midterm Project

Fewer Clicks On Web Display Ads

See Article Here



Recent studies by comScore ("a digital marketing intelligence platform that helps its customers make better-informed business decisions and implement more effective digital business strategies") show that website display ads are getting fewer and fewer clicks. This is bad new for the hosting web sites, seeing as one third of all online ad spending pays for such ads and most of these sites are paid by the click. Let's take a look at why these ads have so little appeal, and whether or not they're still worth it.

ComScore's statistics show that the percentage of Americans that click on display ads dropped from 32 to 16 percent. However, it is more of the advertiser's fault that anybody else. The people writing these ads are fairly aware that the person sitting at their computer have little to no interest in the product offered, so they set up bait to trick the gullible. Ads will say things such as "Take this survey, win a free laptop," when in reality the company has no intentions of giving out any free laptops. At first people clicked on these hoping to get free stuff but eventually everybody caught on to the scam and refrained from wasting their time.

Despite the fact that less people are clicking on display ads Andrew Lipsman, comScore’s director of industry analysis, still sees their value. He thinks that judging an ad's success by number of clicks "grossly understates the importance of an advertising campaign." Even though people might not click on the ad they will still see the product, and ComScore's studies found that by just looking at a product increases the chances that the viewer will purchase it later on. The sole purpose of most ads out their is to gain brand awareness, which is a value that can't be compared to the number of clicks.

Gay Rights Advocates March For Change

                           

Thousands of gay and lesbian activists marched Sunday from the White House to the Capitol, demanding that President Obama keep his promises to allow gays to serve openly in the military and work to end discrimination against gays.  The crowd was filled with rainbow flags and homemade signs.  The crowd filled Pennsylvania Avenue in front of the White House as the crowd chanted "hey Obama, let mama, marry mama" and also "we're out, we're proud, we won't back down!"  Many children were also among the protesters, which stretched several blocks down by the afternoon.

At the annual Human Rights Campaign, Obama promised to end the "don't ask, don't tell policy." Last year, more than 600 people were forced out of the armed forces under this policy.
This policy means that if you are gay you can't talk about it or tell anyone.

In his Saturday night speech, Obama also called on Congress to repeal the Defense Of Marriage Act, which limits how state, local and federal bodies can recognize partnerships and determine benefits. He also called for a law to extend benefits to domestic partners.  He expressed strong support for the Human Resource Campaign agenda of ending discrimination against gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgender people but did not explain a detailed plan for how to get there.

These people are determined to end discrimination against gays.   They want equal rights for themselves and others.  "If somebody doesn't have equal rights, then none of us are free," said Jason Yanowitz, a 37 year old computer programmer from Chicago.

To me, it is embarrassing to see how the country I live in, the land of the free, does not treat these people equally.  They are humans, are they not?  No one should be telling others they can't marry the person they love or serve in the military based on their sexual preferences. Furthermore, they shouldn't have to keep their sexual  identity a secret.  If Obama wants to lead a country and help his people, then he should keep his promise to end this discrimination.

Want to learn more?  
Visit and read these articles!

Here is a clip of the march:

New School Snacks

I found an article in the New York Times about how the Education Department is trying to work on a new contract for schools which would mean less junk food. The contract for the drinks would give exclusive drink machine rights to CC vending which is in the Bronx and they would be selling Pepsi products to the schools. The elementary schools and middle schools would be required to sell drinks that have less than 10 calories per 8 ounces and for the high schools 25 calories per 8 ounces. The drinks would not be allowed to be artificially sweetened which means no sodas are allowed. They would have to be caffeine free or non carbonated.

The snack machines would be run and operated by Answer Vending which is in Queens and it would put limits on calories, fat and sugar content. They are trying to get rid of all unhealthy foods from schools and replace them with healthier foods. The new rules would also ban bake sales except for once a month bake sales for parent groups to raise money for the school. These new contracts with both CC Vending and Answer Vending will be replacing the other unhealthier vending machine companies.

I think that its a very smart idea for the schools to be making healthier choices because childhood obesity is a very serious issue. I know from experience that kids at schools eat a lot of calorie, fat, and sugar filled snacks and drinks. Having healthy snacks will not just help with obesity but overall health.

-Ben Sampson

MID TERM BLOG ASSIGNMENT_due OCT 13

 The Mid-term Assignment is to create an original BLOG where you are the journalist “covering a story.”
You are free to choose the story, but make sure that you can provide resources to support your discussion and information—otherwise it is plagiarism. You can also blog about a local event or news worthy item. Blogs must be at least 3 paragraphs.
Due, Tues Oct 13

EXAMPLES:
TIMES BEST 25 BLOGS 2009

Invisible Children: How It Ends

See Video Here

This video is about the "How It Ends" movement where many people showed up in DC help pass a bill to take Joseph out of power. The reason they needed so many people was so that the bill doesn't get "lost in the political process."

The Guilt-Trip Casserole: The Family Dinner

Read this article and react! What is your opinion regarding family dinners?
The Guilt-Trip Casserole: The Family Dinner

NY Times Video Blogging & Presenting

As we begin making videos in this class, it is helpful to look at other videos made by journalist. NY Times has a wonderful array of subjects and topics in a short video format.

Today start to check out what this site has to offer. Be prepared next week to share one specific video with the class. Also, make sure to blog about the video before the presentation.

Answer these questions:
What is the video about?
Why did you choose this video?
What are some of the filmmaking techniques the journalist employed when making this video? What would have you done differently.
Please make sure to attach a link to the video as well.
http://video.on.nytimes.com/

Did You Know?

What is your reaction to this video? What is the purpose?
Write a THOUGHTFUL reaction to this video and be prepared to talk about your opinions.