What Works Six

Ben Carson Refers to Slaves as “Immigrants” in First Remarks to HUD Staff

This New York Times article is about comments made Monday by Ben Carson. Carson compared immigrants who came to America to slaves who were involuntarily brought to the country.

This article works well, because it gets to the point right away and follows inverted pyramid style. It tells all the information and has quotes from Carson’s speech as well as from the statement by the Department of Housing and Urban Development, which defended Carson. And also featured Carson’s explanation of the comparison.

However it also shows the backlash his poor choice of words caused and utilizes a tweet from Whoopi Goldberg. The tweet adds a nice layer to the article and also gives an example of the backlash described. The web page also has a video of Carson’s speech that shows his blunder. The New York Times also gives credit to USA Today, where the story first broke.

Toward the end of the article the comments made by DeVos on historically black colleges were mentioned, probably to show that this is not the first time that members of Trump’s team have had slip ups to do with race.

In both DeVos and Carson’s case, corrections and explanations came out after the backlash. Carson seems like a nice man, but this is not his first speech to raise eyebrows, but hopefully this will cause people with such a platform to think a little more before they speak.

Christy Pickering coming to Ole Miss to Educate Students and Promote End to Relationship Violence

 

By Rachel Lambert

OXFORD, Miss.– Christy Pickering spent two decades in a relationship with her abusive husband before she realized she needed to leave for the safety of her children and self, and has since dedicated herself to educating college students. She will tell her story on the Ole Miss campus Wednesday at 7 p.m. in Brevard hall.

According to the NCADV, National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, one in three women and one in four men have suffered violence at the hand of an intimate partner, and that women between the ages of 18 and 24 face the biggest risk. Pickering says this is why she visits college campuses.

“I made my biggest mistakes in college,” Pickering said. “I didn’t know the things I know now. And my daughter saw friends at Southern Miss who were in abusive relationships and asked me to come speak. I want these young women to learn from my mistakes. I thought my love would change him, but people don’t change unless they want to.”

The Violence Prevention Office at the university is sponsoring the lecture. Assistant Director of Violence Prevention Lindsey Bartlett Mosvick heard about Pickering and thought having her speak would be a good learning opportunity for students.

“I heard rave reviews of her presentation at Mississippi State University and researched her background,” Mosvick said. “The power of hearing a personal testimony is something that is unmatched by other types of programs. Christy has an engaging and motivating spirit that will inspire our students.”

Pickering, who is a CPA and a member of the board of trustees for the Institutions of Higher Learning, endured 21 years of abuse by her ex-husband, and says the issue often is not talked about enough. Embarrassment over the situation leads victims to remain silent.

“It’s crazy, because I am a businesswoman and all those years no one knew about the abuse,” Pickering said. “I had to get over this embarrassment so I could talk about it, because I was a strong woman and I had let myself be abused. Victims don’t want to talk about it and it keeps happening. We need to bring it out from behind closed doors and support  each other.”

Relationship violence remains prevalent in the state and the nation, but Pickering believes that students can change that.

“Millenials are willing to open up and listen,” she said. “We see so much on tv about athletes who abuse their wives and girlfriends, and we see it on social media. The doors are starting to open, and its time to dig in and end it.”

Universities play a part in the prevention of violence and the healing process for victims. Ole Miss has resources like Title IX, and the Violence Prevention Office.

“Universities need to continue to get the word out about what resources are available,” Pickering said. “They need to engage and provide a non-judgmental environment, and they need to be visible on campus visiting dorms and sororities. If they do that there is no telling how many people they can help.”

Pickering plans to make the most of her time on campus and has more than just the lecture. Pickering planned a flashmob at a surprise location on the Ole Miss campus to get students excited and to spark interest about the event.

“I can’t tell you where it’ll be exactly, but it’ll be a place thats crowded between classes around noon,” Pickering said. “We are going to dance to “Break the Chain” by  Mississippi artist Tena Clark, whose goal is to end violence against women globally.”

Pickering says her goal is to keep women from going through what she did and says her talks give her life purpose. Mosvick expressed her goal for violence prevention through the lecture.

“My hope is that the students on our campus have an increased awareness of domestic violence, potential warning signs for abuse, and get inspired to know that, if this has happened to anyone they know, healing will happen,”Mosvick said.

For Pickering it took seeing the impact her abuse had on her children to build up the courage to leave. She is quick to offer advice to those affected by violence in relationships.

“If you know someone who is in an abusive relationship, be supportive and available,” Pickering said. “And if you’re being abused, get help. Get out. There are so many resource on campus, there are preachers. But be careful and have an exit plan.You can’t settle, and you can’t find ‘happy’ if you are unhappy and unwilling to step out.”

 

 

 

 

What Works 5

Jameis Winston: Ladies Supposed to be Silent

After hearing about Jameis Winston’s comments on Facebook, I searched his name to read more about it. This story by CNN was originally a broadcast, but was put onto their site in a web package.

I think this package was successful, because the video has the original speech by Winston in it. This is a good way to show exactly what Winston said at his speech to the children. This seems fair to Winston and the audience, because it allows viewers to see the context and form their own opinions.

This story is important, because this stereotype of women being silent and polite while men are strong is popular and wrong. Winston has released a statement explaining what happened, but regardless of intention this is not what we should be teaching young men and women. This sentiment of men always being strong with “deep voices” and of women being silent and polite is unfair to girls and women but also to boys and men. It sets a standard and puts each gender in a box they feel they must conform to.

As a web package I like that there was a description next to the video. Also there was a scrollbar underneath the video with stories related to athletes in “hot water.” People look up to athletes, and it’s good they are held accountable.

It may have been good to run the broadcast with a story as well. This would add more dimension to the story. Overall, I think this piece worked. Jameis Winston has a shady past, but the piece is fair to him and shows a part of the speech that was empowering to kids and lets the context show, but it also shows the problems young children face when it comes to their identities. Boys can be vulnerable and cry, and girls can be outspoken and impolite when the situation calls for it. Perhaps he meant well, but this is a lesson to all to think before they speak.  Sexism is sexism even if he didn’t realize his words were.

 

What Works

 

Police Seek Houston Teacher Impregnated by Student, 13

This article is a very disturbing look into a case of an inappropriate, and illegal, student-teacher affair. The headline has many key words that would probably help it come up high on a search engine.

The article has quotes from different parents in the area, but none from the parents of the student, who were apparently approving of his relationship with the teacher. The article also paraphrases information obtained from the DA’s office. I do think that the article lacks quotes from officials and only has quotes from a parent who was not involved.

The timeline featured in the article helps to illustrate a recent trend of illegal student-teacher relationships. Each picture showed the teacher and described a little about his or her affair. Most of the pictures in the timeline featured new and recent cases of these inappropriate relationships involving educators.

I think the article may have benefitted also from a timeline that showed some of the older cases of these type of relationships, because although it seems this problem has escalated, this has unfortunately been going on for decades. Just one of the famous cases include that of Mary Kay Letourneau, whose case almost mirrors the one featured in the article.

 

To Swipe or Not to Swipe?

By Rachel Lambert and Daniel Dubuisson

OXFORD, Miss.– Dating apps have been creating a lot of buzz on the Ole Miss campus recently, influenced in part by social dating newcomer Bumble’s recent guerilla advertising campaign that included a bombardment of vibrant, yellow “Download Bumble” flyers and chalk graffiti with the same message blanketed across campus.

An Ole Miss student addresses the campaign. Courtesy of Twitter.

Bumble is one of the many dating apps that keeps UM students swiping left or right these days. Out of 25 students surveyed, 12 said that they use at least one mobile dating app.

But only some are looking for love.

“I’m not looking for anything serious,” said sophomore Amy Lewis. “I just mess around on Tinder.”

This seems to be the common thread among students that actually use networking apps such as Tinder, Bumble, Grindr, Her, etc.

Courtesy of Bumble

Students turn to these outlets for good conversation but do not necessarily let the conversations segway into a few dates or more. Only a handful from the pool of students questioned actually used these apps to instigate a meet up.

While nearly half say their mobile dating presence revolves around pure boredom and fluid conversations, some app users like senior Rachel Vanderford have found serious relationships on the seemingly casual apps.

“The first guy that asked me out on Tinder asked me on a second date and it kept going really well,” Vanderford said.

Though her story is not the norm, situations like this are not completely unheard of. It may not be a serious relationship you are after, but the possibility of a few casual dates is not totally out of the realm of possibility.

“I’ve been on like three dates with a guy I met on an app and we are still talking,” sophomore Alexandra Nealy said.

She hasn’t limited her scope to just romantic relationships though. Alexandra says she has formed many of her friendships through the conversations that did not eventually lead to a date on dating and networking apps.

Many people use multiple apps to help their love life, and each app can appeal to different groups. Junior Ann Turner Troutt is active on Bumble and Tinder and believes that different dating apps are used for different reasons.

“So far I’ve liked Bumble better, because I feel like people are more sophisticated and mature,” she said. “On Tinder it seems like guys are just looking for a hookup.”

Troutt is not alone in the idea that males use the app for casual hook up more than girls. Amy Lewis shared the sentiment.

“Boys definitely take it more seriously for hookups.” Lewis said.

The jury is still out on whether dating apps are as effective as traditional dating, but there is no arguing that it is a growing market and there are sure to be new dating apps in the future.

Although dating apps are not everyone’s cup of tea, they can be a good way to meet people regardless of whether it leads to anything romantic. Old fashioned dating will always be around, but these apps should not be disregarded as a way to connect with others.

“You get the opportunity to meet people you wouldn’t necessarily run into in person,” senior Julian Fuentes said. ”I’ve met so many people that are great to talk to through dating apps.”

Oxford Searches for the Next Big Business Venture

                                                  Courtesy of Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship

OXFORD,Miss.– The Venture Launch Weekend will be held Friday an Saturday on the Ole Miss Campus to help students and Oxford community members cultivate ideas and create business models.

 

The event is hosted by the university’s Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (CIE) and Insight Park, and the Oxford Lafayette County Chamber of Commerce. Cobie Watkins, Director of Student and Alumni Programs for the CIE, described what the weekend entails.

“It’s a 24 hour event where you’re basically thrown into making a business model, and you develop teams, and there are some really cool speakers,” Watkins said. “Its really beneficial, even if you don’t want to start a business, but want to work for a startup. It’s still something really cool to get involved with.”

Before the Venture Launch begins Friday evening, and there is an Idea Launch directly before.

“If you have an idea or what you think could be an idea for a product, business, or some sort of new venture, we can help develop that further and help you explore some alternative ideas to build off of that,” Watkins said. “That will help when you go to Venture Launch.”

In the past, similar events were hosted with a partnership with Startup Weekend. The end of this partnership will bring new changes to the event.

“This year we have condensed the event, because we know students and community members are busy,” Watkins said. “We wanted to teach them a different approach to starting a business model.”

The earlier events were around 48 hours, but the Director of Economic Development for Insight Park, William Nicholas, wants to assure potential participants that the change in hours does not hinder the event.

“The quality of the content is better than ever,” Nicholas said. “20 percent of our old content was providing 80 percent of the value, and that is what we are focusing on this year.”

Assistant Director  Clay Dibrell of the CIE elaborated on the changes to the program.

“We are going to have people work on their projects and ventures a lot, but we will also provide a directed insight about how to approach certain issues,” Dibrell said. “Then they will pitch.”

The event is intended for more than just business majors and is open to the public.

“We really love creative people,” Dibrell said. “One of the focuses of the particular weekend is the creative economy, and that includes artists, writers and musicians– anyone with a creative background. Engineers are great too, because a lot of apps and mechanical engineering things are involved. So it’s a great opportunity across campus, but also for the local community.”

The business world is often represented as harsh, but at Venture Launch Weekend they try to focus on the fun aspects.

“Sometimes when people think “business” it’s a little intimidating,”Dibrell said. “This is not supposed to be intimidating. This should be high energy, a good time and a chance to explore ideas in a nurturing way.”

Nicholas stressed the programs goal to teach participants  about what it takes to start a company. The possibility of success for those who attend is real.

“We’d love to see someone launch a successful company,” Nicholas said. “That doesn’t always occur, but the educational component is always present. Attendees will learn an enormous amount of necessary information about starting a company.  It could happen this weekend, or it might be for a venture they start later in life.”

The event will be held in Holman Hall, tickets are $25 and include food for Friday and Saturday.  Although the event will be fun, Nicholas advises participants to take it seriously.

“Come prepared to fully participate in the process,” he said. “It’s an intense dose of entrepreneurship, but it’s so rewarding for those that engage.  Those who attend will expand their networks, enjoy valuable mentorship and probably make a lot of new friends.”

What Works 2

Lady Gaga brings message of inclusion to Super Bowl halftime– oh, and drones

This headline features many keywords that could make it the first on search engines. It has “Super Bowl” and “Lady Gaga,” and was among the first three articles shown when either key term was typed in google. The article also featured the key words at the very beginning of its lead.

The Super Bowl took place this past weekend, and everyone is either talking about the Pats’ comeback or Gaga’s performance. The performance however may be more buzzed about because unlike many recent events involving celebrities it was not overtly political,  but that doesn’t mean Gaga didn’t make an important, though subtle, statement. And this is the partial focus of the CNN article.

The writer makes use of descriptive adjectives to help show the meanings of Gaga’s actions and to excite the readers. The article featured an array of photos with captions to scroll through right at the top of the page, which was a good visual addition to the piece.

The article went through a lot of the major parts of Gaga’s performance and this, along with the picture slideshow, would make readers who did not watch be able to catch up on the performance.

Unfortunately, the article is mostly a recap, while it touches on the subtle messages Gaga offered in her performance it doesn’t quite delve deeper into them. I would have added tweets, and quotes about the performance and the messages of inclusion.

Overall Gaga’s performance was well received, by both Republicans and Democrats alike. So perhaps people respond better to messages of inclusion rather than anti-trump messages. Some may think the messages were too subtle, but I believe she conveyed her message in a way that worked best for the event. The night was about football, and Gaga respected that, but she also respectfully showed the message that America is a country for ALL.

League of Legends Has Growing Popularity at Ole Miss

 

League of Legends has Growing Popularity at Ole Miss

OXFORD, Miss.– League of Legends, with more than 300 collegiate teams, has become one of the most popular eSports on college campuses across North America, and the University of Mississippi is no exception.

League of Legends is an online multiplayer game started in 2009 by Riot Games. The professional teams compete in the popular League of Legend Championship Series (LCS), but there are also collegiate level competitive series like Riot’s University League of Legends Campus Series (uLoL) and The Collegiate Starleague (CSL).

The University of Mississippi’s League of Legends Club, which was started in the fall of 2014 and has over 30 members, competed in the CSL last year.Mississippi natives and university juniors Kenny Simpkins, of Horn Lake, and Cameron Balder, of Bay St. Louis, were two of seven club members on the team.

“The CSL is kind of like intramural teams and last year we competed in division 2 and went undefeated,” said Balder. “We got knocked out right before quarterfinals, but we did pretty good.”

Riot Games will produce the BTN League of Legends season alongside ESPN. Provided by Riot Games

This year the Big Ten Network launched its own competitive league where teams from the universities will compete for a conference title and each the 12 teams in this league were given $5000 in scholarships. It is the first and only conference to have a league or give scholarships, and Kenny Simpkins believes it may stay that way for a while.

“I think other conferences will take a little more time before they jump into League,” Simpkins said. “The big debate is whether eSports are actual sports and schools may be hesitant and wait to see how it works out for the Big Ten as far as views go.”

The BTN Invitational took place in 2016 at PAX East and featured Michigan State vs Ohio State. Provided by Riot Games

Professional athletes have begun to take interest in gaming including Shaquille O’Neal, who has invested in eSports, Rick Fox, owner of LCS team Echo Fox, and Gordon Hayward who is fan and player of League. These investments prove that the popularity of League and other eSports is enough to capitalize off of.

“I believe eventually eSports will become equally as popular as traditional sports,” Simpkins said. “Its popular as a game because the normal barriers that traditional sports have aren’t there with League. You don’t have to be tall or in shape to do well. And when you have people like Gordon Hayward, who like League, it makes it seem normal and cool. It helps bridge the gap between traditional athletes and gamers.”

The game is not only popular for players, but also for spectators. Freshman and League of Legends fan Meriwether Taylor believes that if Ole Miss had a team fans would turn out to watch matches.

“It would be awesome if we had an official team. It would be fun to watch the matches, and I think it would be popular here, because I know a lot of people who enjoy watching eSports, especially League,” Taylor said.

The Ole Miss League of Legends Club is in a rebuilding stage, and is working to put a team in the Campus Series for next year.

“Of course we want to push forward competitively. The club is always looking for new members, and if we can find people who will put in time with it we can be more competitive. But it is more than competition, if it weren’t for League I wouldn’t know a lot of the guys I know now,” Simpkins said.

Cameron Balder emphasized the aspects of the club that had less to do with competition and more to do with community.

“I think right now the best goal for the club is to have a group of like-minded people who just enjoy the game,” Balder said.

Although the university doesn’t have an official team or an SEC conference league the growing popularity of the game could change that. The 2016 League of Legends World Championship had a concurrent viewership of 14.7 million.

The sold-out crowd for the League of Legends World Championship 2016 semifinals at Madison Square Garden. Robert Paul for ESPN

“The quicker we can catch up to where these other schools are the better,” Simpkins said. “The professional LCS tournaments fill stadiums and the enthusiasm from fans is there. If we could bring that to a college level that could bring in a lot of revenue for Ole Miss, but I feel that people are too scared to invest because it’s a video game.”

 

What Works- 1

New Baylor Lawsuit Alleges Culture in Which Drugs, Alcohol, and Sex were Encouraged

After seeing “Baylor” trending on Twitter, I googled it and this article was the first to appear. I immediately wanted to know more about the lawsuit described. This article uses hard news leads, and has a serious tone  which fits the seriousness of the subject matter.

The in depth look into the latest of six federal lawsuits filed against Baylor University uses a multitude of sources including lawyers, victims, university officials and coaches. Many sources were interviewed for ESPN program Outside the Lines and are quoted in the article, while some quotes are taken from official statements released.  Other quotes came from the associated press. This wide range of sources helps give both sides to the story.

This story is important because sexual assaults on college campuses happen all the time, and the amount of allegations at Baylor is staggering, whether proven or not. What makes the situation at Baylor so interesting is the allegations that some university officials were aware of the assaults and that the culture in which they allegedly promoted may have led to the assaults.

I think this article could have benefitted by having more graphics on the web presentation. The article only featured one picture and graphs or charts with allegations and the years in which the alleged assaults could have helped paint a clearer picture for readers. Video would also benefit the story.