My Journalism Project

I posted this yesterday but the there was a problem with the flash file so let's try again.

For my journalism class this semester I had a slide show project. It incorporates photographs and audio recordings that I took/recorded, compiled and edited together. You can check it out here:

http://journalism.indiana.edu/studentwork/kelly_j210_fall2010/?p=1337

Enjoy.

Tornado!

What an exciting place to live my dorm is. We have problems with fire alarms, elevators and no longer having any trays in the dining hall (I will not blog about that, considering it will just wind up being one long rant). And this morning we had to deal with a tornado warning. Fun times.

Sometime around 9 a.m. I was awoken by someone knocking on my door and talking about a tornado warning. Tired and confused, I opened my door to see our floor custodian (who is one cool dude, mind you) banging on everyone's door alerting them about the tornado warning. Why the the janitor doing this and not the RA? I do not know. Perhaps our RA was in class. But the point is I find it funny that I get alerted to a rather serious situation by our floor custodian and not another RA.

Here is the funny thing though: while he told us the safest place to go was to the center ring of the basement, it was not mandatory. Yup, you read that correctly. It was a recommendation that we evacuate our floor and proceed to the basement. Apparently it was required that we be informed of the situation and that we are aware of the option to proceed to the basement but it was not required that we actually go there. Makes perfect sense, right?

But of course I am no idiot. I go downstairs to the basement, thinking about the amount of sleep I am losing because of this stupid weather. It also occurred to me that last night may have been the wrong night to stay up beyond 3 a.m. to finish watching Buffy The Vampire Slayer (though to be fair, the ending to season 6 was FANTASTIC and totally worth the lack of sleep I was beginning to accumulate).

Anyway, back to the basement. We sit there cold, tired, hungry and pillow-less. I brought my laptop, really for no good reason other than to keep from dying from boredom. Facebook, email, other email, other other email, ESPN, Twitter, weather.com, Facebook again. Finally we were given the all-clear after about 15 minutes and slowly trudged back up the stairs to our rooms to go back to sleep.

So yeah. Tornado procedures at my dorm did not feel like anything new: dumb, confusing and time-consuming. Another funny thing: I received an alert text from IU that the tornado warning had been lifted, but I never got one telling that there was one in the first place. Maybe they should work on that or something.

And (last time I swear) I cannot stress enough how AMAZING the ending of season 6 of Buffy was. And if you do disagree, let me say this: with all due respect, go die in a fire.

Until next time, Orange Hat Guy

P.S. I should add that I still have to attend classes today.

Checking In On The Mike Martz Experiment

If you are a Bears fan, you have probably noticed the remarkable decline the team has been on over the last few games. There is plenty of blame to go around: the offensive line, Jay Cutler's play, Lovie Smith's coaching and Mike Martz's decision-making. When the Bears first decided to hire Martz, I was quite sure it was the wrong move. So wrong, in fact, I would have rather kept Ron Turner, as terrible as he was.

I wrote an email back in February to a family member when she asked me about what I thought of the Martz hire and I have to say that what I predicted has been fairly accurate (granted it has only been seven games). In summarizing my email, let us look back at my reasons for not hiring Martz and see how they have matched up with the current state of the team:

1. His quarterbacks (not including Jay Cutler) have a propencity for throwing interceptions. A lot of interceptions. Here are the numbers for QBs under Martz:

• Kurt Warner in STL had 65 ints in 52 games
• Marc Bulger in STL had 44 ints in 37 game
• Jon Kitna in DET had 42 ints in 32 games
• J.T. O'Sullivan in SF had 11 ints and 11 fumbles in 9 games
• Shaun Hill in SF had 8 ints in 9 games (8 starts).

 Looking at that list, only ONE quarterback under Martz has averaged under one interception per game. ONE. Remind me again what problem plagued Cutler throughout last season?

   
     2.  His quarterbacks have a propencity for getting hit a lot. Warner, Bulger and Kitna all were either injured at some point or took WAY too many sacks. Martz's system relies heavily on the O-line to do an outstanding job of pass blocking, and because he favors the pass so much it is inevitable that the QB will take a lot of hits. Here are the sack and games played numbers for QBs under Martz:

• Kurt Warner was sacked 114 times in 52 games and also missed 28 games over 5 seasons
• Marc Bulger was sacked 116 times in 44 games and also missed 11 games in 3 seasons as a starter (never played a full season under Martz)
• Jon Kitna was sacked 114 times in 32 games
• J.T. O'Sullivan was sacked 32 times in 9 games
• Shaun Hill was sacked 23 times in 9 games

     3.  His tight ends have a propencity to not be included much in the offense because they're too busy blocking. Vernon Davis, SF tight end had 2 touchdowns while starting 16 games under Martz. Once Martz left, he had 13 the next season. 13! Where was he under Martz? Greg Olsen is in no way a blocker and will probably be under utilized and overlooked.

Now let us look at how Jay Cutler and the Bears are doing this season under Martz:

• Jay Cutler has 7 ints in 6 games
• Jay Cutler has been sacked 27 times in 6 games and already missed a game due to a concussion
• Greg Olsen is on pace to catch 41 passes, which would be the lowest of his career since his rookie year and has also had 2 games where he caught zero passes, also a first since his rookie season

So far the Mike Martz experiment is not going well, as I predicted. But there is hope: there is a good chance he will not be around next year.

Until next time, Orange Hat Guy

Night Of The Living Elevators!

Have you ever been stuck in an elevator? Because I just was. It is one of those things most people hear about but always think "that will never happen to me." Until it does. Like it did to me. Granted it was only for about two minutes, but it was still a unique experience. And because this a blog on the interwebs, I need to tell you all about it. Every. Last. Detail.

But first, let me tell you about this specific elevator. In the dorm I live in, this elevator seems to break down at least once a week. Seems safe, right? I have ridden up and down that elevator hundreds of times and never once have I gotten stuck in it. Until tonight. Yup, I beat the odds. Oh how lucky I am.

I should also tell you that I am the second person in my family to get stuck in an elevator in the past three months alone. Evidently, elevators are taking their revenge. At my family reunion in August, my uncle got stuck in a elevator for almost half an hour before he was finally rescued. Compared to that, my ordeal does not seem so bad.

It all started out innocently enough. I left my room to get something to eat from the little cafe in the dorm. I called the elevator and got in when it arrived. It started heading down. Everything good so far. Then it got to the first floor (the floor I was going to get off at) and that is when the trouble started. While the elevator halted once it reached the first floor, the doors did not open and it felt like the motor did not stop.

Great. Just great. Fantastic. Absolutely wonderful.

I pressed the open-doors button. Nothing. I hit the first floor button. Nothing. I hit the basement floor button. Nothing. I hit the alarm button. It made a ringing noise but again, nothing.

OK. Don't panic. Try to pry the doors open. Nothing. Hit the alarm button again. Nothing. Try to pry the doors again. Nothing.

Great. Fan-bleeping-tastic.

So I paused for a second, pulled out my phone and updated my Facebook status. "Stuck in the read curry elevator. not joking. please help." Now this may seem silly, but consider this: I'm friends with someone who is an RA for another floor in my dorm's wing (and uses the same elevator). So if he saw that post, he would know who to alert. See? There was logic behind that decision.

Anyway, I hit the same buttons again hopelessly and decided to try and pry the doors open again. And guess what? The doors opened.

Hallelujah! Halle-freaking-lujah!

I got the hell out of the elevator which, surprisingly, had reached the first floor perfectly (the elevator floor was level with the lobby floor). It seems like all that happened was that the doors failed to open. Why did they not open the first two times I tried to pry them open? I do not know. I'm a doctor, not an elevator technician. (Note: I am not actually a doctor).

But I escaped. But that is not all . After I told someone at the center desk what happened, I checked my mailbox. I had received a package from my parents. And when I receive a package from my parents, there are only two possibilities: cookies or brownies. And it was brownies.You could not script a better moment to receive home-made brownies than that.

And how did I get back up to my floor? I used a different elevator. Yup, I skipped the stairs. And did I get stuck again? Nope. I really do not care about learning my lesson. And so what if I would have gotten stuck? Well, I had brownies.

Until next time, Orange Hat Guy

Quade It Is

It was really a no-win situation for the Cubs. Either pick the guy who has no major league managerial experience, wait halfheartedly to see if another becomes available even though it was highly unlikely, choose a third that would not capture the fans' excitement, or overlook someone who was deserving of the job. That was what the Cubs were facing when picking their new manager.

Let us take a closer look at the pros and cons of all the candidates:

• Ryne Sandberg- a fan favorite, has spent the last four years managing the various levels of the Cubs minor league affiliates, has never managed or even coached in the big leagues, would have big expectations to fill
• Joe Girardi- a fan favorite, has expressed a desire to one day manage the Cubs, is a native of Peoria, Illinois, won a world series as manager of the Yankees, has more professional managerial experience than Sandberg or Quade, is likely to resign with the Yankees after the playoffs and thus making it unlikely he would jump ship to manage the Cubs
• Bob Melvin- has the most professional experience of the group, would not be a big name hire, fans would find the hire uninspiring compared to other candidates, swept the Cubs in 2007 as manager of the Diamondbacks
• Mike Quade- was a minor league manager for 17 years, has been a major league coach for 7 years before becoming the interim manager of the Cubs at the end of the 2010 season, fan favorite, does not have big expectations to fill

I think the Cubs made the right decision. Bob Melvin would upset Cubs fans because he would not be an exciting hire and fan expectations have been that the managerial race has always been between Quade and Sandberg. It was also unlikely that Joe Girardi would leave the Yankees for the Cubs because the Yankee organization is more stable than the Cubs.

Ryne Sandberg would have to carry the weight of the world on his shoulders without ever having managed in the big leagues. And in one of the largest baseball cities in the country, he would instantly have to adjust to the high profile position of Chicago Cubs manager. It also looks like there is a good chance Sandberg does not return to the Cubs organization. There are other managerial and coaching openings through the majors. It would be unfortunate to see him go, but such is the nature of the beast.

Mike Quade has a ton of managerial and coaching experience in both the minor leagues and the major leagues. He would also not have to face ridiculous expectations, because by retaining him for the next two years, the Cubs are suggesting they are going to a slight rebuilding mode. He is also more familiar with the players. And he showed he can win, with the Cubs having gone 24-13 under him during the final two months of the season.

Until next time, Orange Hat Guy

100 Points? You Bet

Recently, Michael Jordan grabbed headlines by saying that if he were to play in the NBA today, under current league rules, he could score 100 points in a single game. Such an event has happened only once in the history of professional basketball. Wilt Chamberlain scored exactly 100 points in 1962. And Michael Jordan thinks he can do the same now.

And you know what? He can. He absolutely can. Why? Because he is Michael Freaking Jordan. Air Jordan. His Airness. Point guard, six foot six, from the University of North Carolina. Number 23. One of the NBA's Fifty Greatest Players. Also the NBA's greatest player of all time.

Now am I a little biased? Without a doubt. I grew up in Chicago and have been a lifelong Bulls fan. In fact, they won the NBA Championship six times in the first eight years I was alive. Even at three I knew Michael Jordan was spectacular. So forgive me if my opinion of Michael Jordan is a little biased.

Back to the question at hand. Can he score 100 points is he were playing with today's rules, in the prime of his career? Yes. One thousand percent yes. A bajillion percent yes. Again, why? Because he is Michael Jordan, who once scored 38 points with the flu during the NBA Finals. Who once scored 69 points in a playoff game with rules that were a lot less friendly than today. Who would do anything to win.

How exactly would he get 100 points? With today's rules, it is much easier to draw a foul when driving to the basket. No one was better at that Michael Jordan. So in one game he could easily draw 10-15 fouls. That is 20 to 30 free throws. With a career 83% free-throw line, he could grab 20 points alone from the averaged 25 free throws. Kobe Bryant only drew 10 fouls in his 81 point game a few years ago.

And what about the other 80 points? Lay-ups, dunks, jump shots, three-pointers. No one was better at hitting everything when they were in a zone than Michael Jordan. And if he were going up against one of the worst defensive teams in the league, he could easily get off 50-60 field goals, only needing to land 4 three-pointers and 33 two-pointers. Wilt Chamberlain hit 36 field goals while Kobe Bryant made 28.

So Jordan could certainly pull it off. 100 points? You bet.

Until next time, Orange Hat Guy

Fire Alarms

I live in a dorm. It is the same dorm I lived in last year. And last year we had an abundance of fire alarms. As I soon discovered, from upperclassmen who have lived in the same dorm before, an abnormally large amount of fire alarms in apparently the norm. And I got used to that. We ended up having (or so it seemed; I did not take count) about two to three fire alarms a month.

So what happens when the fire alarm goes off?

1. The alarm goes off; it is not too loud but you quickly find it obnoxious
• Note: try not to be in the shower or on the toilet when the alarm goes off; being "preoccupied" or giving a "private tutoring session" also sucks, but at least you have an awesome story to tell (and hopefully you have something to look forward to after the fire drill is over)
2. You head down to the end of the hall, go down the stairs and out the building
3. You need to be at least 25 feet away (because clearly the lack of fire is extremely dangerous)
• If there were a real fire, I think we would know to RUN THE HELL AWAY FROM THE BUILDING BECAUSE OMGHOLYSHIT IT'S ON FIRE!!!
4. Then you stand outside for about 15 minutes until an RA gives the OK to re-enter the building
5. Hopefully you have friends, otherwise you end up standing by yourself, alone, abandoned, ignored, overlooked
6. Make fun of people who were taking a shower or took forever to exit the building ("I'm sorry but you didn't make it out in time. You're dead. Do not pass Go, do not collect two hundred dollars.")
7. Once the RA gives the OK to re-enter the building, yup you guessed it, you re-enter the building
8. Then you go back to whatever it was you were doing

Last year, on one night in particular, we had two fire alarms go off a hour apart. The first was at midnight and the second at 1 a.m. It also happened in December (or January; either way it was quite cold). Fortunately there was no snow on the ground and both times I remembered to grab a hoodie. As bad as that sounds, it was actually quite fun. Someone was practicing the banjo in one of the music practice rooms in the basement and brought it with him. So we had a singalong. With a banjo. Because we could.

Then we got the OK and went back to our rooms. My roommate and I decided to go bed because there was no way another alarm would go off, right? Wrong. Exactly an hour after the first alarm went off, a second one came along and decided it did not want us to get any sleep. But on the plus side, Banjo Guy was back And, as bonus, a guy with a mandolin also showed up. So we had a second singalong.

Fortunately, that was the last fire alarm for the night. I also thought that a two-fire alarm night could not be topped. Even people who had lived in the dorm before last year had never experienced a two-fire alarm night. So there was no possible way a three-fire alarm night could ever happen. Ever. Until it did.

Believe it or not, my dorm had a three-fire alarm night. And I was lucky enough to witness it. We have already had three fire alarms before that night (I am definitely keeping count this year) but they had been spread out over the first seven weeks since move-in week. But we had not had one since September 20th, and after three fire alarm-free weeks, you start feeling a little jumpy. I started suspecting something was going to happen day or two before it happened.

So when the first fire alarm went off, I was not surprised. I was sort of expecting it. I grabbed my hoodie (it was in the mid-50s, locked my door behind me (just my paranoia of people stealing my stuff; a locked wooden door is not going to do a good job at stopping a fire), started chatting up my friend who lived across from me, headed to the end of the hall, went down the stairs and out the building. My friend has not lived in the dorm before, so I keep having to reinforce the fact that we have a ludicrous amount of fire alarms.

Once outside, a few of us gathered around and started chatting to pass the time. What did we talk about? I do not remember. Probably TV commercials, having class in the morning (a few unlucky souls had 8 a.m. classes), the ridiculousness of fire alarms at the dorm, homework that got interrupted, etc. Then we were allowed back in, but only after being reminded to stay 25 feet away from the clearly-not-burning building.

Some people went back to bed, some back to their homework. I, having remembered last year's two-alarm night, elected to wait until after an hour had passed since the first alarm went off to go to bed, just to be safe. I actually started on homework, trying to kill time until I felt it was safe to go to bed without worrying about being awoken by a fire alarm. I ended up making a wise decision.

About an hour after we got back into the dorm, the second fire alarm of the night (and fifth on the year overall) went off. My reaction (sarcasm font needed): fantastic, absolutely fantastic. I greeted my friend across from me with an "I told you so" attitude, having previously warned him about the possibility of a two-fire alarm night. Other people on the floor we reacting with disbelief, with "are you kidding me?" looks. Someone even asked if we were even supposed to evacuate, or whether this whole thing was a joke.

So we all gathered around for a second time, some bemoaning how they had gone to bed and others  still had homework to do (the homework I started on was not actually due the next day so I was not real upset). Once again, we stayed 25 feet away from the invisible, flameless, non-existent fire that was raging in my dorm. Then we got the OK to re-enter the building, but before we could even finish climbing the stairs up to our floor, a third fire alarm went off. Clearly someone felt we did not get enough exercise or social interaction.

Wash, rinse, repeat. Back outside, some more talking and moaning (not the good kind), and then back into the building. I ended up finishing the homework and going to bed sometime after 3 a.m. That was definitely playing it safe. The prospect of four fire alarm did not and does not seem out of the question. I thought two could not be eclipsed. But then it happened. Surely three could not be eclipsed either. But it is still early in the year so there is plenty of time to be proven wrong. But I hope not to be.

Until next time, Orange Hat Guy

Karl Rove Said Something Stupid (As Usual)

Just a quick hit:

Apparently Karl Rove believes President Barack Obama has an enemies list. Now let me see how many jokes I can make with that:

• If there is anyone who knows about having enemies lists, it would be Karl Rove
• *Cough* Valerie Plame *Cough*
• Or was Valerie Plame classified as something other than "enemy" and thus TOTALLY different?
• I guess fired US attorneys also do not count as enemies?
• George Bush did not have an enemies list because he was illiterate
• You have to believe that pretzels made the list after they tried to assassinate George Bush
• Maybe that is why we never caught Osama bin Laden We were not sure who to catch. If only there was some sort list of our enemies...

Until next time, Orange Hat Guy

Robert Gibbs Was Right

Remember a few months ago when Press Secretary Robert Gibbs made a comment about there being a professional left? After he said that, he came under some pretty heavy fire. He and the White House took a good deal of criticism from the comment. Well, he is right. There is a professional left, and it is causing problems.

Over the past several months, dating back to President Obama's first year in office, there has been a constant presence of this professional left. And it has not been helping Obama or the Democrats in congress. They have become an even larger problem during the 2010 campaign season, and they need to calm down.

The biggest problem that they are responsible for is their refusal to recognize all the goals President Obama has accomplished since taking office. Rather than support everything the president and congress has passed since January 20th, 2009, they have instead criticized Obama and the Democrats for not doing enough.

Here is a list of just some of the things they have accomplished:

• Health care reform
• Financial reform
• Prevented a 2nd depression
• Lowered taxes for 95% of Americans
• Restarted stem cell research
• Pulled out of Iraq
• Signed a nuclear treaty with Russia

And yet all the Democratic base can talk about is how Obama and the Democrats in congress have not done enough. Have they seen that list? It looks to be quite a lot. Granted, more could have been done in some cases (there was a chance that the public option could have been part of health care reform), but the professional left has to understand that something is better than nothing. And the something, even without things such as the public option, is still a lot.

Change through the American political process comes slowly. The Democratic base has to understand that grand, sweeping legislation does not come through and pass every day. Change often happens bit by bit, piece by piece. Think about how long it took for some form of health care reform to finally pass. The last major piece of health care reform legislation that was passed took place in the 1970s. Let us celebrate the fact that we finally got some legislation passed, even if it was not perfect.

Health care reform is just one example of what the professional left is unhappy about. The financial reform that passed, while not great, was a step in the right direction. We are fighting one less war. Taxes have been lowered for most people. One would think that President Obama has had a rather successful year and a half in office. And yet there is still a feeling amongst liberals that he has not done enough.

Yes, the economy is still poor, but the situation would be quite a lot worse if it were not for what steps the Obama administration took. He could also do more for gay rights, such as taking a greater role in the process of repealing DADT. He has, for the most part, continued the Bush policies of how to deal with terror suspects and detainees.

But he has got the country moving in the right direction. So why are liberals still unhappy with Obama's performance? I think the answer is two-fold: high unemployment is generating a feeling that not enough is being done in Washington and it is representative of how Washington often appears stagnant towards people's needs, and also that liberals need to realize that they are expecting too much out of what the president can do.

And then there is the media, but that is a whole other matter. There is so much misinformation out there that it can be hard for people to get the correct story and what is really going on in Washington. Sadly, there is no way to remedy this situation unless the various news outlets (either on TV, in print or online) actually begin to tell the news in an honest fashion (except, of course, for The Daily Show).

Until next time, Orange Hat Guy

Rick Sanchez Is Not Smart

I cannot believe I once thought Rick Sanchez was a good journalist. I am embarrassed to admit I actually thought he was doing a good job as a reporter for CNN. Fortunately I have seen the errors of my ways and now realize just how terrible Rick Sanchez was.

Where to begin? Well, there is pretty much everything he has ever done for CNN. He spent half his show reading tweets from his followers. Why is that a problem? Reading peoples' tweets is not news. I could  care less about someone's opinion that is written in 140 characters or less. I could really care less about someone's opinion especially when it is on something they have no idea about or are not well informed about, such as a breaking news event.

Rick Sanchez's brilliance also extends to his utter lack of intelligence. Remember that Icelandic volcano that caused a lot of travel problems during the summer? Rick Sanchez was blown away by the fact that Iceland has a volcano. His logic was as follows: Iceland is cold, volcanoes are hot, therefore Iceland should not have volcanoes.

And then of course there is that radio interview that got him fired. Apparently Jon Stewart is a bigot and the Jews control the media, including CNN. Sometimes I think Rick Sanchez has no idea what he is saying. First of all, Jon Stewart is the best news anchor on television. If you have been watching The Daily Show for the past year, you know just how informed Jon Stewart is. And if you have not been watching, you should be.

Nor is Stewart "prejudicial," as Sanchez also labeled him. Stewart has been critical of both Democrats and Republicans, CNN, FOX News and MSNBC. And I do not think I need to discuss Sanchez's comments about Jews in the media or sarcastically calling them an oppressed minority. It is pretty self-evident Sanchez is the bigot here.

Until next time, Orange Hat Guy