18. WSU student John sits in the library with others from his biology class at a table where he has been seated for hours, and will be for hours more.
“Looks like another all-nighter,” said John. “I’ll be here working on this until the library closes, then it’s back home to write a paper and cram some more for my exam tomorrow, good thing I got some Adderall.”
6. They do not believe in God or Jesus, Heaven or Hell, or any religion. People assume they have no morals and people are quick to judge them. This is a stigma that has been attached to atheists in America.
Atheism is ranked as the most hated minority in this country, according to an ABC report.
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Trend Story 2: Textbook prices
Rising textbook prices send students looking elsewhere for textbooks.
Year after year, during finals week, students load their backpacks down with textbooks too heavy to carry comfortably. They brave long lines filled with their peers, worn-out from the exams they finally finished, grumpy from the load of books strapped to their backs.
All this is done in hopes to recover a significant portion of the hundreds of dollars they spent on textbooks that semester. For Pacifico L. Bay III, the lack of money made from the Bookie buy-back sent him over the edge.
“The biggest frustration for textbooks by far is buying them for over a hundred dollars, then bringing them back to the bookstore and they only offer to buy them back for about twenty dollars,” Bay said in an email.
The Bookie has to keep up with the rising demand for used books, as well as make room for the new editions the publishers produce and the professors require. This causes used books that won’t be used the next year to be bought back for pennies on the dollar, since the Bookie won’t be able to turn around and sell them.
But the cost of textbooks is steep all around the Northwest. A 2007 survey of students at Oregon State University found that over half the students spent about $750 a year on textbooks -with about 75 percent of the students buying only used books.
Textbook prices increased of 3.2 percent from October 2009 to October 2010, according the Consumer Price Index. This increase, along with the constant flow of new editions from publishers, keeps the cost of textbooks up from year to year.
“The profits for publishers are in the first year of a new edition”, Bob Carbaugh, professor in economics at Central Washington University and co-author of the article “Are College Textbooks Fairly Priced?”, said in an e-mail.
With rising tuition, fees and textbooks, students have started to look for cheaper ways to gain access to textbooks. The same 2007 poll of OSU students showed that half the students surveyed used online bookstores to purchase their books. Third-party companies like Amazon and eBay have entire websites dedicated to college students and textbooks.
Professors are also helping students find lower textbook prices by researching Amazon and eBay, then reporting back to the students. Others are finding ways to provide the material for free to students, by placing it on reserve at the library or finding free online copies.
David Demers, a communication professor, was able to provide a PDF version of the book Athena’s Forum to his students for free. His wife owns the publishing company that owns the copyright to the book.
Demers said he would love to provide the books he writes to students at no cost, but he doesn’t own the copyrights. He also pointed out that the authors should be rewarded for their works.
“If you remove the financial incentive, it will reduce the quality of the books,” Demers said.
Social networking sites can also help students find less expensive books.
The Facebook group “Students buying/selling textbooks at WAZZU” is a group that students can join to post textbooks they need or textbooks they want to sell. Established by Pacifico Bay after his buyback frustrations grew, the group allows student to bypass third parties and work directly with each other.
The Facebook page has over 1,400 members who have already started posting books they want to sell at the end of this semester. Students can set their own prices, make offers of the books they need, and set up a convenient way to handle the transaction.
“One of the main concepts of creating this page was for students to help other students,” Bay said. “Many students have found people to buy books from and to sell books to.”
With the end of the semester approaching, students have already started posting the books they want to sell. By finals week the Bookie and Facebook page alike will be full of students trying to get the best price on an expensive commodity.
Monday, November 15, 2010
findings lede
An investigation into the death of Otto Zehm found no criminal activity by the officers involved, according to a report by a Spokane detective.
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Background info
What does the web know about you?
1. Let's start with Pipl, a website that allows you to track people, e-mail addresses, businesses and usernames.
2. Enter your name. List the following results:
a. Address 3705 S 256th ct
b. Phone number 253.854.3944
c. One web page that mentions you
facebook
3. For a journalist, the address may be the most important -- phone numbers change quickly. Google the address and zoom in to the street view of the address.
Let's go deeper into the web.
1. Open the website addict-o-matic, which will search Twitter, blogs, and more.
2. Enter your name or username.
3. List one result that surprises you. Theres nothing, except a lawyer that has the same name as me.
Do they operate a website? If so, let's start with this web tool: http://whois.domaintools.com
1. Let's look at the WSU hacker, who apparently operates the website wsu1812.com.
2. Who is the administrative contact for the website? Butch Cougar
3. What address does he/she list? 755 NE Campus Ave
Pullman, WA 99163
4. What phone number? 509-335-4200
5. Google the phone number. Whose name do we get? WSU Presidents office
Online Court Records
We want to do the most basic steps: Find court documents.
Before we can go to the courthouse, we want to have the case number. In Washington state, we can do that here: dw.courts.wa.gov
First, we’ll search for my speeding tickets in Washington. (Innocent, I swear.)
1. What’s the case number for my 2007 ticket in Spokane County? U00085707
2. Enter the name of one of your sources. Results? Post them without including their names -- we aren't trying to embarrass anyone.
3. Enter the name Frederick Russell. We want the court documents for Frederick David Russell, beginning with the file dated 06/07/2001. How many different numbered documents are in the file? 417
4. We don't want to look through hundreds of pages of documents by hand, and neither do court clerks. We know that we're interested in the "Letter To Judge From Kaufman." What's the subject number? 27
5. Go back one page. Look at entry 14, which lists Russell as Judgment/Debtor, as of Jan. 2, 2008. How much does Russell owe in restitution? 160,192.60
What did russell do ... ? killed 3 people then fled to ireland
WSU Libraries
1. Search World Cat for ‘Lexis-Nexis.’ This is a powerful and expensive database that tracks everything from news stories to court documents.
2. On the results page, look at the left-hand side under ‘Refine Your Search.’ Click on ‘Lexisnexis (Firm)’.
3. On the next page, choose the second result, ‘LEXISNEXIS (academic)’. Click.
4. Scroll down to the link to the LexisNexis database. Click.
5. On the next page, click to signify you are an authorized user.
6. Now you need to enter your WSU username and password. Why? This database costs tens of thousands of dollars each year. It’s only open to you if you have a WSU ID number.
7. Let's search for Frederick Russell Pullman.
a. Leave the Source Type as 'Major World Publications.'
What’s the first headline and publication of the first story? Why this publication? The Mirror
b. Hit the back button. Change the Source Type to 'Newspapers.'
Now what pops up as the first story? lewiston tribune
8. Much of this coverage is duplicative. Why? Let's look at the coverage by one newspaper: The Spokesman-Review. On the left side, click 'Newspapers,' and then 'Spokesman-Review.'
9. We now have 97 results, which is a little more manageable.
10. Reorder them according to Publication Date. (This is flaw. LexisNexis forces us to go through this process of choosing The Spokesman-Review again.) Find the first story with WSU in the headline. Post the headline to your blog.
11. When was Russell arrested?
12. Scroll through these stories until you get to story 81. Post the headline.
13. Let's switch to another method. Google "Frederick Russell" though without the quotation marks. What is the length of his sentence? 14 years
14. Go to the Google News Archive. Enter "Frederick Russell" again. Now we have a timeline that shows the years that provide the most results.
15. Let's try a different topic. Enter "Berlin Wall." List three approximate years that had the highest spikes in news coverage. Why? 1960: it was built, 1989: it came down, 2009: anniversary
1. Let's start with Pipl, a website that allows you to track people, e-mail addresses, businesses and usernames.
2. Enter your name. List the following results:
a. Address 3705 S 256th ct
b. Phone number 253.854.3944
c. One web page that mentions you
3. For a journalist, the address may be the most important -- phone numbers change quickly. Google the address and zoom in to the street view of the address.
Let's go deeper into the web.
1. Open the website addict-o-matic, which will search Twitter, blogs, and more.
2. Enter your name or username.
3. List one result that surprises you. Theres nothing, except a lawyer that has the same name as me.
Do they operate a website? If so, let's start with this web tool: http://whois.domaintools.com
1. Let's look at the WSU hacker, who apparently operates the website wsu1812.com.
2. Who is the administrative contact for the website? Butch Cougar
3. What address does he/she list? 755 NE Campus Ave
Pullman, WA 99163
4. What phone number? 509-335-4200
5. Google the phone number. Whose name do we get? WSU Presidents office
Online Court Records
We want to do the most basic steps: Find court documents.
Before we can go to the courthouse, we want to have the case number. In Washington state, we can do that here: dw.courts.wa.gov
First, we’ll search for my speeding tickets in Washington. (Innocent, I swear.)
1. What’s the case number for my 2007 ticket in Spokane County? U00085707
2. Enter the name of one of your sources. Results? Post them without including their names -- we aren't trying to embarrass anyone.
3. Enter the name Frederick Russell. We want the court documents for Frederick David Russell, beginning with the file dated 06/07/2001. How many different numbered documents are in the file? 417
4. We don't want to look through hundreds of pages of documents by hand, and neither do court clerks. We know that we're interested in the "Letter To Judge From Kaufman." What's the subject number? 27
5. Go back one page. Look at entry 14, which lists Russell as Judgment/Debtor, as of Jan. 2, 2008. How much does Russell owe in restitution? 160,192.60
What did russell do ... ? killed 3 people then fled to ireland
WSU Libraries
1. Search World Cat for ‘Lexis-Nexis.’ This is a powerful and expensive database that tracks everything from news stories to court documents.
2. On the results page, look at the left-hand side under ‘Refine Your Search.’ Click on ‘Lexisnexis (Firm)’.
3. On the next page, choose the second result, ‘LEXISNEXIS (academic)’. Click.
4. Scroll down to the link to the LexisNexis database. Click.
5. On the next page, click to signify you are an authorized user.
6. Now you need to enter your WSU username and password. Why? This database costs tens of thousands of dollars each year. It’s only open to you if you have a WSU ID number.
7. Let's search for Frederick Russell Pullman.
a. Leave the Source Type as 'Major World Publications.'
What’s the first headline and publication of the first story? Why this publication? The Mirror
b. Hit the back button. Change the Source Type to 'Newspapers.'
Now what pops up as the first story? lewiston tribune
8. Much of this coverage is duplicative. Why? Let's look at the coverage by one newspaper: The Spokesman-Review. On the left side, click 'Newspapers,' and then 'Spokesman-Review.'
9. We now have 97 results, which is a little more manageable.
10. Reorder them according to Publication Date. (This is flaw. LexisNexis forces us to go through this process of choosing The Spokesman-Review again.) Find the first story with WSU in the headline. Post the headline to your blog.
11. When was Russell arrested?
12. Scroll through these stories until you get to story 81. Post the headline.
13. Let's switch to another method. Google "Frederick Russell" though without the quotation marks. What is the length of his sentence? 14 years
14. Go to the Google News Archive. Enter "Frederick Russell" again. Now we have a timeline that shows the years that provide the most results.
15. Let's try a different topic. Enter "Berlin Wall." List three approximate years that had the highest spikes in news coverage. Why? 1960: it was built, 1989: it came down, 2009: anniversary
Who/Whom
1. (Who/Whom) did you go to the game with? whom
2. She’s the student (who/whom) writes the best articles. who
3. (Who/Whom) did you vote for? whom
4. (Who/Whom) failed the quiz? Who
5. We know (who/whom) pulled that prank. Who
6. We want to know on (who/whom) the prank was pulled. whom
2. She’s the student (who/whom) writes the best articles. who
3. (Who/Whom) did you vote for? whom
4. (Who/Whom) failed the quiz? Who
5. We know (who/whom) pulled that prank. Who
6. We want to know on (who/whom) the prank was pulled. whom
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Trend Story
A hazy future for WSU’s Lutheran Campus Ministry
Laughter fills the community hall at St. Thomas Catholic church as students take part in the free dinner that follows the candle light service offered by WSU’s Lutheran Campus Ministry (LCM).
The Wednesday evening “Breathe” services are aptly named, allowing young adults sanctuary from the stresses of being a student. The services are led by a pastor who is just as dedicated to God as he is dedicated to the students that come to him for guidance.
But behind the smiling eyes of Pastor Randall M. Nicolai is the stress of his flock’s future.
Checks amounting to more than $13,500 sit in the pastor’s office, not cashed due to a bank account currently in the red. The LCM board members recently voted to transfer money from an endowment fund to reimburse Nicolai for his expenses, which have been accumulating since 2005.
But this still won’t balance this year’s budget for the campus ministry, and pledges from the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America (ELCA) and the Northwest synods for next year’s budget have yet to arrive.
The tentative budget for 2011 is set around $86,000, which will cover Nicolai’s salary and health benefits, Wednesday dinners, student retreats and events like the annual Easter breakfast.
“It [the future] is still in the process of being shaped,” said Nicolai. “I don’t know where it will come out.”
LCM at WSU receives funding from three sources: the church wide level, the regional synod level, and from individual donations from LCM alumni, congregations, and supporters. Funds from the church wide and synod levels have drastically decreased in recent years, and individual donations can’t keep up with demand.
“Church wide and synodical funding has been flat for some time,” said Rev. Bill King, assistant director for youth and young adult ministries for the ELCA and campus pastor at Virginia Tech, via e-mail. “But I think it’s important to point out that, generally speaking, that is true of anything that depends on benevolence.”
While individual donations have increased at Virginia Tech, King notes that all campus ministries are experiencing financial stress, as are most enterprises in the current economy.
On a national level, the ELCA’s funding has decreased by 26 percent from 2008 to 2011 and significant personnel reductions are necessary, according to an ELCA press release Oct. 11, 2010.
Campus ministry has been restructured three times, reducing staff levels. The most recent restructure will cut three of the four campus ministry positions, including King’s assistant director position –he will vacate his post on Feb. 1, 2011, but continue as a pastor for Virginia Tech.
“The real story is actually how hard folks in Chicago and in our synods have, as a rule, worked to preserve funding in trying times,” King said.
During the last two years of church wide budget cuts, the campus ministry’s grant budget of $1.2 million was not cut until this past summer, said Sue Rothmeyer, associate director for youth and young adult ministries for the ELCA, via e-mail.
The church wide role in campus ministry will soon be solely carried out by Rothmeyer, supported by the nine regional coordinators.
Rothmeyer said she plans to launch a program that will provide training and consultation in fund raising to campus ministry organizations.
Nicolai has contacted Gabriel Brannan for advice on the best ways to proceed with fundraising. Brannan is the associate development director for the sciences at WSU, and has firsthand knowledge with fundraising, despite the geographic pitfalls WSU faces, said Nicolai.
“The challenge for LCM is the same for WSU within the PAC-10,” said Nicolai. “We are geographically isolated.”
For the time being, Nicolai will continue to brainstorm ways to increase individual giving to WSU’s campus ministry. Nicolai and the eight other regional campus pastors have pledged to fight for their students and the campus ministries that support them.
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