Where are you, Spring?

Is Winter quarter over yet?

And what's with the snow again?

Is anyone else out there just sick of this yet? I object.

-Taylor

Holier Than Thou

Today, there is an article running about change in the world. How change is coming slow to the world. How there is no concrete change identifiable for some people.

While I can sympathize with the feelings that Ms. Bergh has, I don't necessarily buy into the entire mentality.

Change for the greater good might not be recognized because, sometimes, it comes in the form of charity. Although Mother Theresa was an iconic humanitarian, Tatyana Sveshnikova, a Muscovite, spends her nights tending to homeless people in a country with one of the highest murder rates in the world. In a city whose citizens might end up stepping over a bloody homeless person who was beaten for what little money he has. Sveshnikova is a young, blonde woman. A so-called "angel in the night." And all she got for her deeds was maybe four lines in a caption for her photo.

I don't like the thought of change not coming instantly because it's not true.

Although J. Robert Oppenheimer ended up saying that he "[became] Death," the tests and use of nuclear weapons spawned a new mentality -- a change in the way the world was viewed from the eyes of people not hanging out with the Manhattan Project scientists and KGB spies. And it happened instantly. "Mutually assured destruction" remains a factor in decisions about politics today, even.

So, yes, while some charity will go unnoticed and some tragedies undocumented, I find it remarkably unambitious to think that you, yourself cannot produce some immediately discernable change.

-Gin

Don't go [br]ing my heart

I am a woman obsessed.

I can't tear myself away, I moon over it when it's not right in front of me. I dream of it, I pine for it.

I have fallen in love with html.

Since beginning my new job as managing editor at The News Record, I have learned more about Web sites and html in two weeks than I have in 19 years.

It's funny, but it gets me excited about the tiniest things. If you check out newsrecord.org, look at the red date bar right under the masthead. On the right side, you'll see four links: Contact Us, Classifieds, Advertise and Donate. Getting those links on that bar? Took me a good half hour. Minimum.

If you then visit the College Living page, you'll see an article about energy drinks. The article has 16 images of the different drinks we reviewed, each of which links to the individual review.

Adjusting the image sizes of each drink, figuring out the coding for the html element and setting it up for all 16 drinks? A good 3-hour process.

I pour over html coding from other Web sites, pulling up the "view source" in hopes of finding fascinating new code. I see something on another site and drool over the possibilities.

It's not like I wasn't dorky enough already ... I think I'm on the verge of becoming a bonafide nerd.

... And I love it.

- Ariel

Show your support for TNR

Copy and paste the HTML below to host a TNR support banner on your Web site. We'll love you. Promise. Linked to us? Leave a comment with your URL to let us know.

<a href="http://www.newsrecord.org"><img src="http://i45.tinypic.com/zo751x.jpg" /></a href>



<a href="http://www.newsrecord.org"><img src="http://i49.tinypic.com/2z74umh.jpg" /></a href>

-- Taylor

Web Geekin'

I never realized how much work goes into a Web site.

I mean, sure, I've managed my blog, An Ariel View, for about a year. Since last May, I've managed the college living and spotlight sections of newsrecord.org. When I was younger, I used to play around with html for Neopets (a Web site I try to deny any association with today). But until I started training to be managing editor, I never realized how much time and effort goes into running a Web site.

There are so many little things and minute details I have started to obsess over. Should there be a link on the front page to this blog? How should we showcase our top stories? How should the slide shows be lined up in the multimedia bar?

After winning second place for Best Collegiate Newspaper Web site at the Ohio Newspaper Association's annual convention, we've all become determined to own next year and beat the Kent Stater. So I've been stalking newspaper Web sites, trying to come up with brilliant ideas for the redesign we're working on. There are so many super cool things I want to try ... I can't wait to get started.

In other news, the Pie for 55s competition is still going on at TNR. As of today, here are the results (those who've had two pages run had their errors for both days averaged):

• Sports (Sam & Garrett): 29.5
• Entertainment (Sean): 35
• News (Gin & Amanda): 38
• College Living (Jayna): 53
• Opinion (Jamie): 55

As you can see, Sports is totally dominating. Only one more day of production!

I really hope I don't get pie'd.

- Ariel

Snowy campus

In the 10 hours I just spent on the University of Cincinnati's campus, I can tell you things went from clear and navigable to slick and snow covered.

Path from Tangeman University Center toward McMicken

Campus, as I would imagine, hasn't been touched by a shovel or snow plow since it started snowing again. It looks like Clifton Avenue, which was completely clear this afternoon, hasn't seen a plow in awhile either.

Clifton Avenue

I don't live very far from campus. It's about a 15-minute walk up Clifton Avenue and about a one minute car ride. But I do live on a side street that has probably never seen a plow. Because of this, I had to wait for 15 minutes on my street while other people dug out the car that was stuck in from trying to pull out of a parking spot on the street.

What does this mean for class tomorrow? I'm not sure, but I suppose we'll find out in a few hours.

While I'm feeling a little cabin fever-ish, I could really use the extra day to catch up on reading.

Tangeman University Center

-- Taylor

An acquired taste

There's been an ungodly amount of free energy drinks in the newsroom.

Part of an upcoming piece by managing editor Ariel Cheung, several cases of complimentary energy drinks were brought to The News Record's main HQ so that we may test them against one another to find out which drink will fill the hypothetical trophy cup in glorious victory. My personal resort, being an economically-impaired college journalist with too little sleep and a deadline, is over consumption.

Without going too deep into what exactly is happening to my body, it'd be easiest to say my sleep scheduled has been impaled by hyperactive bolts of irresponsible energy, followed by bouts of sleepless, twitching evenings that somehow make it to dawn.

My personal favorite drink? Who is the winner?

Water!

Funny like a clown?

BWA HA HA HA!
Abandon all hope, TNR.
Entertainment editor Sean Peters will now be updating on an irregular basis.

Race for the Pie

We decided to have a little fun this week and host a news room competition. Every production, the pages in progress (referred to as 55s because they appear on regular paper at 55 percent the size of the actual paper) are read through by both the managing editor and the editor-in-chief before they're sent to the printer.

So this week, Taylor and I are keeping track of the changes we make to each page. Every error noted, every typo tallied. At the end of the week, whoever has the fewer number of errors on their 55s gets a prize ... or shall I say, a pie. The desk with the best 55s get to pie the person of their choice: whether it be the worst desk, the person they dislike the most or Taylor and I.

I'm really excited about the competition. Of course, I'm really banking on not getting pie'd in the face, but I can't wait to see who does. Taylor claims that she wouldn't mind a face full of pie goo; I'm waiting to see what she says when it actually becomes a possibility. :)

Today, thus far, the 55 tally stands as follows:

• Sports (Sam & Garrett): 28
• Entertainment (Sean): 35
• News (Gin & Amanda): 37
• College Living (Jayna): 53
  

Who will be the best? Who will fail fantastically? Stay tuned to Off the [News] Record for updates and (after the competition is over) lots of great pictures of the victors creaming the editor of their choice.

- Ariel

Another night...

Ohio Newspaper Association Convention

At 5:15 a.m. I wanted to punch myself in the face and destroy my alarm clock with the nearest heavy-duty object.

Instead, I sat on my bed and pouted. Time to get up already? What the? Wednesday night, as usual, was a long night at The News Record. I got home around 12 a.m. and, by the time I showered and caught up with my roommate, it was 2 a.m. Typically, I'm a very good morning person ... unless I'm limited to three hours of sleep.

I had to pick up Kareem Elgazzar, former TNR managing editor, by 6 a.m. We had to be in Columbus by 8 a.m.

You could say my morning was something of an adventure. But, we made it to the Ohio Newspaper Association Convention in Columbus in one piece and almost on time. We started the morning with breakfast and a keynote address from former UC head football coach Brian Kelly.

During Kelly's address to a room full of journalists, he said that, when he first came to UC, there wasn't anyone who was covering the football team. Instantly, I was irked. I think Kareem could sense it.

After Kelly flaunted Notre Dame (Was I at a football press conference? Sure felt like it.), he opened up the discussion to questions from the audience. In a room full of newspaper people, you can bet people had questions.

One after the other, journalists asked about sports and football. It's Brian Kelly, after all. He's the college football god in the Midwest. It makes sense.

Then, I raised my hand. I had to. I couldn't take it. The journalist in me, the proud editor in me and the University of Cincinnati student in me could not let it go.

I got the mic.

"Coach Kelly, on a somewhat related to my question, I would just like to point out that The News Record at the University of Cincinnati has always, and will always, cover all Bearcat sports."

I got a few laughs. I felt a little better. He looked a little surprised. Said nothing. I felt a lot better.

"How do you view the role of student media?" I asked.

Kelly said he liked to give access to students and that he appreciated student journalism because the student journalists are one day going to be professionals. It's a great way to build relationships early on and make connections. He did say that when journalism turns to sensationalism, he cuts student journalists off. "I leave that to the professionals," he said.

Kelly was spot on. He did give The News Record access. He was always pretty good to us. Until the very bitter end. I appreciated his ability to answer the question and point out good things about student media.

The rest of the convention went by pretty quickly. Kareem and I, who were both limited to about three hours of sleep, ended up taking a power nap in the lobby of the Hilton Hotel before the awards show.

When it was all said and done, The News Record walked out of the convention with five awards -- two first place awards and three second place awards. While we're proud of what we were able to accomplish, we're not satisfied. We're using the non-first place categories, and categories we didn't even place in, to push ourselves to the next level. We don't consider ourselves a second-place news organization. On the ride back to Cincinnati, when Kareem wasn't sleeping, we brainstormed a lot of ideas that I can take to The News Record. I'll start implementing Sunday. I know the staff will feel the same way -- proud that we did well, but we won't settle for second best and, as Kareem said, we don't tolerate complacency.

Saying goodbye

News Record staff conspired and made a farewell/good luck video for our good friend/team member Kareem Elgazzar. Today is his last day at TNR -- he's moving on and moving north to become a general assignment reporter at The Morning Journal in Lorain, Ohio.

Watch the video!

I made the entire staff leave the office so we could watch the video on a large screen. Not naming any names, but some people definitely cried. Cute.

--Taylor

A snow day? What's that?

University of Cincinnati students have been clamoring for a snow day all winter (even when there is less than two inches of snow fall), like they're worried they might forget what it's like to have a weekday off from school.

So much for that.

While many students were in search of their snow pants for a no-school celebration, News Record editors were holed up in Swift Hall, Room 509, producing Wednesday's newspaper. Why? Because the news doesn't stop because campus shuts down and you're too afraid to drive anywhere.

Traditionally, The News Record cancels production when there's a snow day. Not this staff. No sir. Most of us braved the elements, even if it meant digging your car out of driveway, driving from West Chester or walking up an ice-covered hill, just to bring you the news.

If campus is not closed tomorrow, I'll expect someone to blame The News Record for jinxing our chances of snow day part two. Oh well. If you miss part one that much, you can relive the shenanigans all day, every day, on our Web site. We're so good to you.

We're supposed to get blasted with another snow storm tonight. Will Bob Ambach, the interim vice president for administration and finance, give the word to close campus? Only time will tell. If you're smart, you won't start hoping for heavy snow until around 2:30 a.m.

Why?

Because at 3 a.m. UC Police Division Capt. Karen Patterson is turning off her alarm clock (Gene Ferrara usually does this, but he's in Atlanta. Lucky.) to start the multi-step process of determining whether campus will close or stay open.

So, if you're on or around campus tomorrow, closed or not, The News Record will be hot off the presses, ready for you to consume all of the information that's inside. And, heck, even if you're not on or around campus, you would be a fool to forget newsrecord.org.

Seriously. A fool.

--Taylor

Snow, Schmow

So, it has been brought to my attention that it's snowing outside. Not just snowing, but, we're talking Y2K-caliber, duck and cover snow here. The weather people said "If you go out today, bring a flashlight, radio and extra food," or something to that effect. Now, I'd like to think that cars are made the same all over the U.S., but, man, I don't know if I can take this driving around Cincinnati anymore.

I'm from Minneapolis. That's in Minnesota, for those of you who are geographically unaware. And, well, honestly, it's not that big of a deal. I didn't drive in Minnesota--I was 6 years old when I moved to Chicago, then to Cincinnati--but I've heard stories of unearthly cold. We're talking -80 degrees here. My dad told me one night, if you threw a bucket of water up into the air, it was ice before it hit the ground.

I drive a Honda Civic. Two-wheel drive. Manual transmission. Granted, second-gear starts are where it's at if you drive in the snow, it's not that hard. You want to get home, I want to get home, we all want to get home. Alive, at least.

I remember in my second year here at UC I saw a van try to merge onto the southbound 75 too fast, hit a snow bank, spin out then get completely destroyed by a semi truck that was flying down the rightmost lane. I seriously doubt anyone could be unscathed after that collision. Hell, I'd be surprised if they were alive after that. But, let's be honest, if we're going somewhere, we don't really want to die. And some of us have jobs that don't allow for snow stopping our work.

The news never sleeps. Actually, the snow makes more news than usual. So please, for the love of anything and everything you worship, drive carefully and with a little common sense if you want to read the paper in the morning.

-Gin

Stranger Than Fiction

So, I had a chance to talk with Ron Rollins of The Dayton Daily News last week. He's an interesting guy. He has that Ye Olde Journaliste feel to him. Someone who's seen a lot. We talked at length about a particular frustration journalists have.

"It's not what you know, it's what you can prove..."

Yeah. It's like Alonzo Harris from Training Day said. As journalists, we have access to a whole boatload of extraneous information when we cover stories. Well, I mean, you guys could be savvy to this information, too, if you chose to.

But the thing is, we can't print all of it. We have to abide by certain rules or we'll get sued. You see, that's the frustrating part.

Rollins mentioned a story about a crime being investigated by a police officer. This police officer ended up dead--taking with him a lot of information as well. Now, we can all really make judgments based off of facts and data, but we can't just print it.

And it's tough.

So, for all those stories that you look at and read and say "Wow. This is a complete load of bull," we might share the same feelings. But that's what Amanda and my desk does. We report facts and facts only based on data and what people say. Anything else is just editorialized.

For instance, let's imagine a person says "I swear to everything holy and my mother's life that I would kill anyone that does ______." And, let's say someone does _______ and ends up dead at the house of this person. Unless this person says "I killed him," or a jury finds this person guilty, we can't say that he did. Hell, even if the person says he killed someone, all we can really do is write I killed this person, SoAndSo said.

So don't complain! We're journalists, but we do have opinions--which is why this blog is here.

I'm not sure if you all have a beef with news, but it's our job to report facts and only the facts and you make the judgments. But if you do have information you feel we should know about, don't hesitate to tell us. We're here to help, after all.

-Gin

The SarcMark

A couple weeks ago The News Record got a press kit in the mail for a new punctuation mark, the SarcMark. We got two download codes and a set of sticky notes.

We used the sticky notes.

The download codes are still floating around the office somewhere. Today, the Boston Globe posted a column about the SarcMark. It was fantastic.

Even more fantastic? The comment that points out the SarcMark is actually a Hebrew letter pronounced "pay."

Genius, SarcMark. I love it.

You won't see the SarcMark in The News Record, don't worry. But we're curious: Would you use the "new" punctuation mark?

--Taylor

Ten Days in a Mad House

I just finished reading "Ten Days in a Mad House" by Nelly Bly. It's extremely short -- only 86 pages -- but interesting and motivating just the same.

Bly's undercover investigative 10 days inside Blackwell Island's insane asylum forever changed the way patients are cared for in psychiatric wards. She exposed the unfair, unhealthy and undesirable conditions that the patients were subjected to.

A book worth reading for anyone interested in journalism or history. For me, pursuing a degree in journalism and a minor in history, it was perfect.

While reading about Bly's initial scheme to convince a court she was insane, I read a passage that I found quite enjoyable:

" 'I wish the reporters were here,' [Judge Duffy] said at last. 'They would be able to find out something about her.'

I got very much frightened at this, for if there is anyone who can ferret out a mystery it is a reporter. I felt that I would rather face a mass of expert doctors, policemen and detectives than two bright specimens of my own craft."

Now, having finished the book, I wish I had a story to investigate rather than homework to do. Doesn't this seem to always be the case?

-- Taylor

Newsrecord.org down

Hey folks. If you're trying to check out the new content on newrecord.org, you might notice ... it's not there. You might actually notice none of the content is there on the sub pages.

It's not our fault. We tried to post, pinkie promise. College Publisher, the network who hosts our Web site, has "experienced a 'denial-of-service' attack aimed at the database supporting all admin-1 sites."

Although I'm not totally sure what it means, Coulter and Gin say a bunch of computers purposefully tried to access the site at once to make it crash. Is that legit? I have no idea, but College Publisher expects the recovering/rebuilding will take approximately four to five hours.

Content farming

I'm ashamed to say I never thought twice about different Web sites using a pay-per-story business model. In fact, I "applied" to do work for Demand Studios -- a site who offers for-hire work. They pay you $15-$20 per story that you opt to do.

Then, I read a blog post by Chris Dunn, student photo editor at The Columbia Missourian, through a link she posted on Twitter. I don't know her, don't know how I ended up following her Tweets, but go with it.

You should read her post: here. In summation, she says student journalist are being undervalued and taken advantage of because so many of them are eager for exposure. Not only are these journalists being undervalued, but they're undervaluing themselves. It's content farming.

Yes, writing or taking photos or copy editing for these organizations is an easy way to make a quick $15, but is your time and work really only worth $15 when they're able to link the work in any number of places? If you spend two hours on one article, that's like being paid minimum wage -- maybe less depending on where you live -- for your time. And for what? Enough money to buy a T-shirt and a byline.

After reading and considering, I don't think I'll be in need of Demand's $15 any time soon. So, thank you, for "approving" my resume, but no thanks.

What do you think? Would you do work for any of these Web sites?

-- Taylor