My slideshow

For my slideshow, I will be focusing on Alex Hendricks.Hendricks is a Towson University senior and plays club lacrosse and works as building manager in Burdick Hall. I chose Alex becuase I wanted to focus on an athele for this story to see what motivates them and drives to not only be better in their sport, but in their personal life as well. I plan to include pictures of him working in the gym Burdick, playing on the team (if they have an upcoming game) and including pictures and natural sound of the lacrosse team's practices.

Drinks can add more calories than you think

What did you drink today, juice, coffe, or maybe some iced tea? Those tasty beverages may seem like good thrist quenchers but they might be responsible for those extra inches on your waistline. A recent CNN.com article exposed the truth behind liquid calories. According to a study by Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, " reducing liquid calories, especially from sugar-sweetened drinks such as punches, fruit juices and sodas, helps people lose weight and keep it off." In fact, if you cut 150 calories a day, which is usually the amount of calories in a regular soda, you can lose 15 lbs in year! And those who lost weight from cutting out liquid calories tended to keep off for at least 18 months.

I completly agree with this article. Many times people don't realize the amount of calories in their drinks and it slips away from them. This especially true of college students, they just don't think that their frappachino's or those smoothies from PAWS are loaded with calories and sugar.

Listen and learn about ab attack

As you all known from my previous posts, right here in Towson there are some great group exercise programs to take advantage of. Oh, and did I mention they're free! Well, if you're still not sure about the classes, listen to my audio story about ab attack. Ab attack is one the quicker classes, lasting only 20 minutes, but don't let the time fool you. It's a tough class that will keep your abs burning long after the 20 minutes are over.

Losing weight in college

I recently wrote a feature story profiling a friend of mine who is sophomore at Towson. She's been struggling with her weight since high school and recently tried the Jenny Craig program to lose weight. However, Jenny Craig didn't turn out to be the miracle she was hoping for. So, curious about alternative ways to lose weight in college, I consulted both a personal trainer and a Johns Hopkins nutritionist. Both suggested easy and convenient ways for college students to lose and maintain a healthy weight without giving up the college social life.

It's only the calories that count

Confused about which diet to go on, low carb, no carb, high protien, low fat? Well, it's all about the calories, according to a recent article in the Baltimore Sun. In a recent study done by the New England Journal of Medicine tested four different diets and found participants lost similar amounts of wieght on all of them. At the sixth month mark the all participants lost an average of 13 pounds and maintained a 9 pound lost after two years.
"The determining factor ended up being calories. It really comes down to people doing what is most effective for themselves, as long as they are healthy and prevent heart disease," Dr. Frank Sacks, professor of cardiovascular disease prevention at the Harvard School of Public Health and lead author of the study said.

I fully agree with this article. For years and years people have been attracted to fad diets that in long run get them nowhere because they are unable to maintain their weightloss. The article was very well written as well, it covered both sides of the issue, noting that one of the drawbacks of the study was that only one third of the participants adhered to their diets. Also, I liked that the study went on for two years so the readers can see how the participants maintained their diets over time. However, I would have liked to seen the study more weight specific; people slightly over wieght as compared to obese people and more participant feedback; how they felt, which diet made them feel the least hungery and which was the easiest to maintain.
*picture

Workout Your Choices

Stop! Before you start throwing out everything creamy, crunchy and chocolaty; you need to start exercising.

The first step to getting healthy is to just start exercising at least three times a week. Luckily as a Towson University student, you are already one step ahead of the game; you have a free gym membership to Campus Recreation Center in Burdick.

At the C.R.i.B, you can do all sorts of cardio and weight lifting. In addition, they offer group exercise classes including, yoga, kickboxing, pilates and even aqua aerobics for water lovers.

"My favorite class is the AB Attack; it's short but still get a great workout from it," Sophomore Lauren Caldwell said.

If you just don't feel like the gym is for you don't worry; you can exercise from the privacy of your own home or dorm room for most us. Exercise TV offers over 100 free full length workout videos, some of which are even geared towards dorm room workouts.

The choice is yours so get ready, get set and get moving!

The sleep diet

On the Today's show for this past Monday, they had segment based on the recent Glamour Magazine article about the so called "sleep diet". While research has linked weight gain with lack sleep, can you really lose weight by just by sleeping? To test this theory, sleep and medical experts Micheal Breus, Ph.D and Steven Lamm, M.D developed a plan for seven Glamor readers of different weights. All the women had just one goal, get at least seven and a half hours of sleep at night without making any significant changes to their diet or exercise plans. At the end of the seven weeks, six of the women had lost six or more pounds.
So why is this? Well, the more tired you are the more prone you are to eat more. "When women are deprived of sleep, they have an increase in ghrelin--what we call the 'go' hormone--because it makes you want to go eat more," Breus said. Also, when you sleep more your body is able to break down fat for fuel because your brain is able to secrete a larger amount of growth hormone. Finally, the more sleep you get the more energy you'll have which in turn makes it easier for you to want to exercise.
Ready to start? Here's the four steps the Glamour magazine volunteer's followed:
1. Go to sleep at the same time every day
2. Have a bed time routine
3. Watch your caffeine and alcohol consumption
4. Experiment to figure out how sleep you really need

The sleep diet does makes a lot of sense to me. If you're tired all the time, you don't have the energy to exercise nor do you want to put the effort into making healthy eating choices. Although, I'm not too sure this is the be all, end all solution to weight loss. The sleep diet does not address the importance healthy eating. Instead they seem to emphasize that "more sleep, store less fat", as well "more sleep, eat less". I'm concerned that people may see this as way to eat whatever junk they want and just burn it off by sleeping a lot, which clearly will not work. Or that will just eat less of unhealthy foods without adding in important nutrients such as fruits, vegetables, protein, etc. I would like to see a more depth study following these seven women for a longer amount of time, maybe a year or so, to see how well they actually stuck to getting at least seven and half hours of sleep and if they still continued to lose weight.

Introduction

In my blog this semester, my beat will be fitness and dieting on campus. I will be blogging about topics such as which diets work best on campus, the best group exercise classes on campus, workout tips and how to maintain a healthy lifestyle on campus.

As someone who has both lost and gained weight throughout my life and a chronic dieter, I am truly passionate about my beat. In eighth grade I went on weight watchers and lost about 35 lbs, which I kept off throughout high school. However, once I got to college, that changed. I found it hard to stay healthy campus with a meal plan and pretty much gave up, gaining twenty extra pounds along the way. Over the summer, I had a wake up call and decided this school year I would make an effort to lose the weight and stay healthy, which helped me shed about 15 of those 20 extra pounds.

After talking with a lot of my friends and seeing increased crowd at gym in January, apparently a lot of other college students are trying to stay healthy and lose weight as well. Hopefully, my blog can help Towson students reach their health goals and gain knowledge on maintaining a healthy lifestyle. So get ready and be sure to read my post next week!

About Me

My name is Rachel Rothwell and I am now in my second semester of my sophomore year at Towson. I really hope that this class again will improve my technological/computer skills and also improve my writing. I feel more confidant than I did last semester about MCOM 257 and I am really excited to do more in depth reporting. I think working with video though might be hard so I'm kind of nervous about that. Additionally, I want to improve my grammar skills and remember more about AP style, since I have forgotten some of it over winter break. I would eventually like to write for Vogue or a similar high fashion magazine in New York City. Also, I hope this class will help get internships when I apply for them next summer.

The three most imortant rules for a journalist to follow

In my opinion, the three most important rules for journalists to follow are accuracy, fairness, and using taste and sensitivity in determining what to put into a story. If a journalist is not reporting accurately, then basically their whole story is a lie. As our book, "All in the news", tells us "...if a piece of journalism is not accurate, it has no value." In order to prevent a false story, a journalist must always check and double check all their facts including sources names, titles, phone numbers/web links, all quotes attributed correctly, etc. In addition, it is also important that a journalist strives for fairness; basically representing both sides. It is important to present all facts from both sides so that you, as a journalist, are not giving your audience a biased story and instead are providing your audience with enough information to make their own decision about the story. When reporting, it is also important to use your own taste and sensitivity. This is especially important when dealing with stories about showing people that have died. You want to get your story out, but it is more important that you show respect to the family of the deceased. There are ways to get your message and story out without being too graphic or gory. A journalist must consider whether showing a picture or video clip of a person dying will really serve a greater good.

Towson's efforts to go green

The event I plan on covering is tomorrow's GA for University Residence government. URG is an organization that represents all the students in residence halls as well as providing events for the students living on campus and promotes student concerns. As part of their efforts to help Towson go green, URG ensures that every floor in every residence hall has a way to recycle and as well have created a new position to help plan going green events. For my potential sources I plan on using Chelsea Harris, who is the director of special projects(basically event planner) as well as the Kathrine Douraghty, who is in the new position concerning going green. As well, I will be attending the executive board meeting so I will potentially use all the board members and in addition the building reps. Some questions I have are do feel your recycling plan is working and helpful to students, what other going green plans/events do have, why do you feel going green is important to Towson/URG/residents, what prompted you all to create this new ex. board position?. Some photo opportunities are the executive board meeting, the actual GA, and pictures of the recycling in the residence halls. For audio opportunities, I would like to use discussions during the GA or an interview with Katherine.

What audio can add to a story

One website I found that makes good use of audio is the abc network's homepage. As soon as you open this web page, audio comes on right away; you hear all about the current programs on abc and when you can watch them. This adds a lot to the site. First, the site viewer immediately knows what shows abc has to offer without having to click anything. Also, their audio serves as extra advertising for the network and may help bring in viewer to other abc shows. However, I do think abc could improve their audio just a little bit. While it is attention grabbing and helpful, their audio tends to get annoying after a while. It seems like it will never end! So, the only thing I maybe have more in their audio so the same things don't play over and over.

Picture Time: Mugshots and More

Towson students embrace the fall winds while walking through campus.

As a journalist, it is important to be able to take your own pictures and take them well. One way to take better pictures is to check for the right lighting, you don't want it to be too bright or so dark that you can't see the object in the picture. To make sure your lighting is right, you can use your hand and circle around to check where the light is best. Also, be sure there are no objects, such as trees in the background that look like they are sticking out of some one's head. Another way to take a better picture is to fill the frame; get in close. This way the viewer has a better understanding and appreciation of your scale. Finally, try to catch expected events or use alternate angles to make a shot more interesting.

"Storytime Spooktacular": Multimedia Story #1

For my multimedia assignment, I am going to cover the story time "Spooktacular" at Barnes and Noble in Towson. This event is for toddlers and young children to listen to Halloween stories and get some pre trick-or-treating treats before they go out to trick-or-treat or just instead of going out at all if they are too young. It starts at 6:30pm and is expected to last for about a half an hour. I plan to definitely use the story time reader as a source and in additional talk to the event organizers, parents and maybe children (if they're old enough), and possibly employees at Barnes and Noble. Some of the potential questions I may ask are (to parents) why did you decide to come out tonight? Do you feel it was worth it/did your child enjoy it? Did it help to put you in the Halloween spirit/mood? Was it better than going to trick-or-treat? (to the reader/organizer) What made you decide to have a night time Halloween special story time? Do you feel it was a success? Are you going to make this an annual tradition? . Covering this event, unlike the last event/story we did, there must be a picture. So, some of the picture possibilities I'm thinking about are a group shot during the readings, individual children listening, children doing Halloween activities and maybe kids and their parents listening together.

Baltimore hopefully about to expereince the single largest homocide decrease since 1970

Since police in Baltimore City have increased their presence around some of worst areas, the homicide rate has declined. So far this year, there have been 172 homicides as compared to last year's number of 238, which is a 28 percent drop. With only three months left in this year, if the city can hold steady on homicide rates they will experience the single largest drop, both as a percentage and as a raw number, of any year since 1970.

Although police say there are many possible explanations for the decrease, they believe it's due to the city's new take on notoriously dangerous areas, mainly the Eastern and Western districts. As Deputy Commissioner Anthony Barksdale puts it, "History repeats itself...It's a basic principle: cops at the right areas, at the right times. ... They're out there to do one thing: get bad guys with guns."

Two other influential police tactics as noted in the Baltimore sun are the "geography factor" and getting the guns". Homicides have dropped the fastest in the two worst areas of the city, the Eastern and Western districts. Violent crimes, homicides and shootings all occur within the same geographic areas so officers now go into those areas prepared, with a list of "residents who have been convicted of violent crimes and are out on probation, residents who have been charged with violent crimes but found not guilty, as well as residents who have been homicide suspects but were never charged."

Hopefully with much needed changes to the police force by both Mayor Sheila Dixon and Police Commissioner Bealefeld, Baltimore can end the year a bit safer. The key seems to be teamwork. Now that officers have gotten together and mixed and matched units based on need, they clearly can respond faster and combine resources to prevent violent crime. If Baltimore can reach this milestone, who knows whats on track for 2009. All I can say is keep up the good work Baltimore!

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/baltimore_city/bal-city-pg,0,1451400.photogallery

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/baltimore_city/bal-te.md.ci.homicide14oct14,0,465971.story

Inverted Pyramid: What it looks in the news

Usually when writing stories, the writers build suspense then get to the main point, like a traditional pyramid. However, in newspapers covering hard news, it's important to get straight to the point then add in descriptive details later so readers can get the most out of the each story. This kind of writing style is called the inverted pyramid, where the most important information goes first, then details and end with the remaining facts.

One good example of this is a story in the New York Times called "For Stocks, Worst Single Day Drop in Two Decades". The summary lead of this story gets right to the point: "But by the time that bell sounded again on the New York Stock Exchange, six and a half frantic hours later, $1.2 trillion had vanished from the United States stock market.". The reader gets the most important information first about the story, then can read to to learn more such as, this is biggest decline since World War 2 and how the decline effected other nations. The story concludes with about the Dow losing another 200 points and then an announcement Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/30/business/30markets.html?ref=todayspaper

Covering my first story!

The event I plan to cover for my first story is "2008 Elections: What Your vote means", a lecture given by Dr. Toni Marzotto, which discusses why it's important to vote, the current election and what people should think about when they vote. The event will held on September 27, 2008 in the Towson Library. The information that's available in advance is that Dr. Marzotto is a political science professor at Towson University, its sponsored by Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, and this lecture is free to the public. In the press release via th Daily Digest for September 22, 2008, I was able to find what will discussed (as stated above). My main sources will be Dr. Marzotto and college students in attendence at the lecture. I plan to ask what are the most important issues one should consider when voting in this November's election, why is really that important that everyone 18 and over votes, is there a common theme that people think about when they vote and how do you (Dr. Marzotto) feel about both candidates in this election?. The additional details I plan to look for are any outlandish or unexpected qoutes from the speaker, interesting questions from the audience, as well as, the demographics of the audience.
http://www.towson.edu/applications/dailydigest/databases/news/20080911_033810PM_roconnel_91.asp

Twiitter Headlines!

Recently in class, we learned about the 1-2-3 filing technique, where first it's a simple 50 character headline, second, follow up with 130 character summery then tell the story in a 500 word report. However, not all stories require step three, like our twitter assignment we did in class Wednesday. Now let's take a look at three students headlines! First, we'll discuss student Leah Martin's. Her headlines followed the rules in terms of character length, however, I though she could have worded some of her 130 character headlines so that they are a little more to the point. Next, let's examine Carrie Wood's headlines. She did a very good job and was able to not only answer the 5W's and H but was able to be creative about it. For example, in the article regarding Towson's hiring freeze, she said, "Hiring in University of Maryland system frozen solid". Not only does that inform the audience but it draws them in. Finally, look at Steven's twitter headlines. He did a good job as well, using active voice and in addition, he made sure that his 130 character follow up added on to his simple headline and gave a little more information.
http://twitter.com/thecarrie

Finding a story: Press Release vs. Orginal Reporting

Today, The Baltimore Sun did a story announcing Raven's quarterback Troy Smith is now healthy enough to begin working with the team again, "Smith healthly enough to work out". August 22, Smith developed "severe tonsillitis" and later lost 20lbs. after struggling with a blood clot in his neck which led to a lung infection. Although it is unclear when he will be cleared to play, yesterday Smith began "light conditioning work". I believe this story was generated by a press release, meaning a PR practitioner brought a topic(in this case Troy Smith returning to practice) to journalist and the journalist follows up on the story. One reason I believe this is because not only does the story announce Troy's return, but the reporter provides background information on Smith's previous season, saying he completed 53% of his passes for 370 yards and two touchdowns. Also, the story gives the readers more information about Smith's condition, what hospital he was at and who the Raven's plan to use as quarterback until Troy Smith recovers.

http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/football/bal-tsmith-pg,0,1523594.photogallery (picture link)

http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/football/bal-sp.ravens16sep16002017,0,1119985.story

On the other hand, reporters also use original reporting, using their own devices to find a story. Take for example, this story in The New York Times, "For Stadium Seating, City Officials demand luxe". This story uncovers how New York officials are demanding luxury suites at both the Met and Yankees stadium and in addition are able to buy 145 tickets to every Mets home game and 180 tickets to every Yankees home game before they go on sale to the public. Clearly this reporter searched out his sources such as, Mr. Pinksy, who is the president of the Economic Development Corporation and Mr. Doctoroff, who works for the Bloomberg LP., and who recently demanded a suite . Also, due to the investigative and slanderous nature of this story, one can tell it was not something a PR agent would want leaked out to the news.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/16/nyregion/16stadium.html?ref=todayspaper

Short Reports and Summary Ledes!

Many times in the news due to the time, space and the lack information, reporters use a single sentence (sometimes followed by one or two more) as the entire story. This is known as a short report. The New York Times, for example, has "North Korean Leader had surgery after stroke, South Koreans say" as one of many short reports, also known as a bulletin. There's is a sense of urgency, "North Korean Leader had surgery after stroke", but no additional information is given except for heresy that South Korean have reported it.
http://www.nytimes.com/pages/todayspaper/index.html
Summary Ledes, similar to short reports, are the opening of a news story and quickly summarize the story. However, unlike short reports, a summary lead has a time element and is in the past tense. Take a look at this one in The Baltimore Sun: "Law enforcement officials today arrested nine people after 18 federal raids that netted heroin, automatic weapons and bags of cash. It was the second major takedown in two days. On Wednesday, officers raided a West Baltimore home and seized seven kilos of heroin, $200,000 in cash and automatic weapons.". It has a time element, "today"(September 11, 2008) and is written in the past tense as you can see by "arrested", "raided", "seized", etc.
http://www.baltimoresun.com/