Wednesday, April 22, 2009
University officials recall life-saving use of defibrillator
Listen to Rec Center Associate Director Gary Parr and DPS Segeant Allen Cozart recall a time when an automated external defibrillator saved a man's life on campus. After professor Matthew Hilton-Watson collapsed and died while teaching a class March 16, a popular topic for discussion has been emergency protocol on campus. The University of Michigan-Flint has nine AEDs positioned around campus, and there are several departments on campus that require training on how to use them. Though, according to Cozart, the defibrillators have only been used "five or six times" in their 11- to 12-year history at UM-Flint and only once successfully, the units were "worth every penny" when the saw the man whose life was saved a few weeks later, back working out at the Rec Center. According to Parr, the man came in with his wife after quintuple bypass surgery to thank him, and "had we not had the AED in close proximity, say if Safety had to bring one over from (UPAV), we probably would have been having a funeral instead of a hug and a thank you.” Parr is the first speaker on the clip, followed by Cozart.
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Clubs helping students, businesses navigate bad economy
FLINT, Mich. – The economy is bad. We get it.
That is the attitude many students are taking these days, with many electing to stay in school longer either to bolster their job portfolios, ride out the bad hiring market, or both. Rarely a day goes by when students do not hear of another company offering buyouts or making layoffs – with the former giving way more and more to the latter. Most frustrating of all is that for students, straight A’s are not cutting it any more.
But according to Suyash Joshi, there is more students can do. The UM-Flint Business Club president has had his hands full this school year with the nearly decade-old club, which has rededicated itself recently to helping students – primarily those in the School of Management – better understand how to navigate the treacherous post-graduation waters.
“We’re involved with a lot of local businesses where we take students to see firsthand about what jobs are out there for them after graduation…helping them get connected to professionals,” Joshi said, referencing trips the club took to visit business branches such as Merill Lynch in Grand Blanc and Yeo Yeao in Flint.
The Business Club currently has about 10 active members and a mailing list of about 50, but Joshi said the students who are involved have plenty of opportunities to meet and rub shoulders with some of the business world’s elite. In 2008, the club visited the Detroit Economic Club, where Joshi said they were “honored” to meet Matt Ferguson, the CEO of Career Builder, a directory-style job search company that has exploded in popularity in recent years. On Thursday, the club made the trip again, this time meeting U.S. Chamber of Commerce President Thomas Donohue.
But the chances of a student getting hired on the spot by someone like Ferguson or Donohue are slim, so Joshi said much of the club’s focus has been local.
“A professor came to speak to us about the recent financial turmoil in Fall 2008 from an outside university at one of our meetings,” Joshi said. “(And we) attended the Economic Conference recently organized by the SOM, where top economics professors came to meet and discuss the local community in the Northbank Center in December 2008.”
Laurie Matheny, president of the Entrepreneur’s Society at UM-Flint, which started in the fall semester of 2008, said her club tries to help not only students weather the current economy, but local businesses as well.
“We have a few projects that we are working on right now that are focused on our economy,” Matheny said. “We have teamed up with (economics) professor Mark Perry on a current project regarding price comparisons, and we have also collaborated with some local businesses and are exploring ways to gain them more exposure to the student population.
“I think for businesses, it is time to be creative and find a niche to maintain current business and attract new customers,” she said.
Last semester, the club did case studies involving Isabelle’s Pizza, in the University Pavilion, and the UM-Flint Theatre Department. The club also invited a series of venture capitalists and speakers to tape spots for Michigan Television, whose studio is in the William S. White Building on campus to “share their knowledge with students and the public,” Matheny said.
Matheny said as far as the job market is concerned, education and resourcefulness are still the keys for students looking to break into a tough business climate.
“Obviously for the students (the best thing) would be to stay in school, absorb the material learned, and make themselves competitive on the market,” Matheny said. “We have a lot of talented members with great ideas and are currently using those talents to explore other opportunities available to the students that they may not be aware of.”
According to Joshi, the Entrepreneur’s Society works more with “self-starters” and businesses to foster entrepreneurial goals, while the Business Club is aimed more at educating students about the types of jobs and opportunities available in the field.
Throwing any idea of competitiveness out the window, Joshi called the Entrepreneur’s Society “one of the most interesting clubs on campus.” The two clubs share many common links, including a vice president, international business management major Vanessa Smith.
And some students, like Debate Society President Tuan Mai, just want students to be more aware of the issues around them.
"My main goal of having a debate society was to inform, exchange and challenge ideas," Mai said. "Knowledge is power, and one of the points of attending college is to foster dialogues and students can do it actively or by just listening."
Mai's club is also new on campus and has met just a few times, but already economic issues are at the forefront of most of his group's discussions.
"It would be a shame to leave or graduate from college only to find that you have no job and be surprised at the real world," Mai said. "Students always ask why this is happening, but they never try and prepare or do something about it because they have no clue what exactly is happening."
It's Mai's goal, along with Matheny and Joshi's, to make sure students do know.
That is the attitude many students are taking these days, with many electing to stay in school longer either to bolster their job portfolios, ride out the bad hiring market, or both. Rarely a day goes by when students do not hear of another company offering buyouts or making layoffs – with the former giving way more and more to the latter. Most frustrating of all is that for students, straight A’s are not cutting it any more.
But according to Suyash Joshi, there is more students can do. The UM-Flint Business Club president has had his hands full this school year with the nearly decade-old club, which has rededicated itself recently to helping students – primarily those in the School of Management – better understand how to navigate the treacherous post-graduation waters.
“We’re involved with a lot of local businesses where we take students to see firsthand about what jobs are out there for them after graduation…helping them get connected to professionals,” Joshi said, referencing trips the club took to visit business branches such as Merill Lynch in Grand Blanc and Yeo Yeao in Flint.
The Business Club currently has about 10 active members and a mailing list of about 50, but Joshi said the students who are involved have plenty of opportunities to meet and rub shoulders with some of the business world’s elite. In 2008, the club visited the Detroit Economic Club, where Joshi said they were “honored” to meet Matt Ferguson, the CEO of Career Builder, a directory-style job search company that has exploded in popularity in recent years. On Thursday, the club made the trip again, this time meeting U.S. Chamber of Commerce President Thomas Donohue.
But the chances of a student getting hired on the spot by someone like Ferguson or Donohue are slim, so Joshi said much of the club’s focus has been local.
“A professor came to speak to us about the recent financial turmoil in Fall 2008 from an outside university at one of our meetings,” Joshi said. “(And we) attended the Economic Conference recently organized by the SOM, where top economics professors came to meet and discuss the local community in the Northbank Center in December 2008.”
Laurie Matheny, president of the Entrepreneur’s Society at UM-Flint, which started in the fall semester of 2008, said her club tries to help not only students weather the current economy, but local businesses as well.
“We have a few projects that we are working on right now that are focused on our economy,” Matheny said. “We have teamed up with (economics) professor Mark Perry on a current project regarding price comparisons, and we have also collaborated with some local businesses and are exploring ways to gain them more exposure to the student population.
“I think for businesses, it is time to be creative and find a niche to maintain current business and attract new customers,” she said.
Last semester, the club did case studies involving Isabelle’s Pizza, in the University Pavilion, and the UM-Flint Theatre Department. The club also invited a series of venture capitalists and speakers to tape spots for Michigan Television, whose studio is in the William S. White Building on campus to “share their knowledge with students and the public,” Matheny said.
Matheny said as far as the job market is concerned, education and resourcefulness are still the keys for students looking to break into a tough business climate.
“Obviously for the students (the best thing) would be to stay in school, absorb the material learned, and make themselves competitive on the market,” Matheny said. “We have a lot of talented members with great ideas and are currently using those talents to explore other opportunities available to the students that they may not be aware of.”
According to Joshi, the Entrepreneur’s Society works more with “self-starters” and businesses to foster entrepreneurial goals, while the Business Club is aimed more at educating students about the types of jobs and opportunities available in the field.
Throwing any idea of competitiveness out the window, Joshi called the Entrepreneur’s Society “one of the most interesting clubs on campus.” The two clubs share many common links, including a vice president, international business management major Vanessa Smith.
And some students, like Debate Society President Tuan Mai, just want students to be more aware of the issues around them.
"My main goal of having a debate society was to inform, exchange and challenge ideas," Mai said. "Knowledge is power, and one of the points of attending college is to foster dialogues and students can do it actively or by just listening."
Mai's club is also new on campus and has met just a few times, but already economic issues are at the forefront of most of his group's discussions.
"It would be a shame to leave or graduate from college only to find that you have no job and be surprised at the real world," Mai said. "Students always ask why this is happening, but they never try and prepare or do something about it because they have no clue what exactly is happening."
It's Mai's goal, along with Matheny and Joshi's, to make sure students do know.
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Moore of the same
The Web site I reviewed, unfortunately, was http://www.MichaelMoore.com. In typical fashion, the UM-Flint dropout and my fellow M-Timer has proven to the world that he has no care in objectively portraying the news.
Covering the inauguration of President Barack Obama on his Web site, Moore takes almost as much effort, if not more, in humiliating former President George W. Bush as he does exuberantly proclaiming his love for Obama. If you read the headline on Moore's site, you don't have to read any more to discredit it as a credible news site. "Free at Last" is the headline above the presidential oath of office, which Moore credits to Obama. Below that, Moore highlights some specific phrases from Obama's inaugural address that slam certain policies from Bush's presidency.
On the right side of the page, Moore makes it clear (although he doesn't directly say it) that he panders to the far-left crowd with a letter to his supporters that slams not only Bush, but former President Ronald Reagan as well, perhaps the best-loved president of our time.
By contrast -- or comparison, depending on how you look at it -- Rush Limbaugh's site is the polar opposite. Limbaugh mentions hardly anything about the day's festivities, instead making fun of Obama and his supporters, proclaiming himself as the "last man standing against the Obama cult." Limbugh's only real mention of the inauguration is through a live link to the coverage. Neither Limbaugh nor Moore shows interest in presenting objective news, but that's not what they do. Limbaugh is a self-proclaimed Republican supporter, while Moore is clearly a Democrat. Objectivity is not a word in either of their dictionaries.
Covering the inauguration of President Barack Obama on his Web site, Moore takes almost as much effort, if not more, in humiliating former President George W. Bush as he does exuberantly proclaiming his love for Obama. If you read the headline on Moore's site, you don't have to read any more to discredit it as a credible news site. "Free at Last" is the headline above the presidential oath of office, which Moore credits to Obama. Below that, Moore highlights some specific phrases from Obama's inaugural address that slam certain policies from Bush's presidency.
On the right side of the page, Moore makes it clear (although he doesn't directly say it) that he panders to the far-left crowd with a letter to his supporters that slams not only Bush, but former President Ronald Reagan as well, perhaps the best-loved president of our time.
By contrast -- or comparison, depending on how you look at it -- Rush Limbaugh's site is the polar opposite. Limbaugh mentions hardly anything about the day's festivities, instead making fun of Obama and his supporters, proclaiming himself as the "last man standing against the Obama cult." Limbugh's only real mention of the inauguration is through a live link to the coverage. Neither Limbaugh nor Moore shows interest in presenting objective news, but that's not what they do. Limbaugh is a self-proclaimed Republican supporter, while Moore is clearly a Democrat. Objectivity is not a word in either of their dictionaries.
Monday, January 19, 2009
'The Art of Editing' - Chapters 1 and 2
In Chapter 1 of "The Art of Editing," the authors focus on the media's changing role in today's society. Much of the discussion focuses on how editors react to these changes, but a lot has to do with the media.
One point I found particularly interesting was on Page 9, where the author admits "given the freedom they have to roam the Web, many consumers will get information wherever they can find it from whatever source." He also says that consumers seem to be all but ignoring brand loyalty and objectivity, which are fair points to make. More and more, it seems, consumers just want to be entertained. That reality helps explain why Web sites such as Facebook are increasingly more popular than most strict news sites. Consumers really don't care if the Detroit Free Press has been "on guard" -- as is its slogan -- for however many years if they can get the same news from their friends' news feeds.
In Chapter 2, the authors lament the fact that younger readers simply aren’t drawn to newspapers the same way older readers are. While that’s not surprising, what was surprising to me was the fact that, from an advertising perspective, that’s such a negative thing. I had always assumed that since older, retired people were those with the most disposable income, the fact that they are the predominant newspaper subscribers was a good thing. But the book points out that readers in their late 20s and early 30s are the most-coveted advertising market because of their likeliness to make big-ticket purchases. If newspapers continue to fail to reach this market, their relevancy will slip away as fast as the older generation does.
One point I found particularly interesting was on Page 9, where the author admits "given the freedom they have to roam the Web, many consumers will get information wherever they can find it from whatever source." He also says that consumers seem to be all but ignoring brand loyalty and objectivity, which are fair points to make. More and more, it seems, consumers just want to be entertained. That reality helps explain why Web sites such as Facebook are increasingly more popular than most strict news sites. Consumers really don't care if the Detroit Free Press has been "on guard" -- as is its slogan -- for however many years if they can get the same news from their friends' news feeds.
In Chapter 2, the authors lament the fact that younger readers simply aren’t drawn to newspapers the same way older readers are. While that’s not surprising, what was surprising to me was the fact that, from an advertising perspective, that’s such a negative thing. I had always assumed that since older, retired people were those with the most disposable income, the fact that they are the predominant newspaper subscribers was a good thing. But the book points out that readers in their late 20s and early 30s are the most-coveted advertising market because of their likeliness to make big-ticket purchases. If newspapers continue to fail to reach this market, their relevancy will slip away as fast as the older generation does.
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Convergence in action
My name is Mike Stechschulte, and it's my goal to become a better editor through completion of this course. While many journalists want to be reporters, it's always been a passion of mine to put my talents to use as an editor/designer for a daily newspaper. Because the journalism industry is evolving so rapidly, learning convergence tools such as blogging is going to be a critical part of my development. Although I don't expect to learn them in this course, eventually I would like to learn to use graphics and video programs such as Adobe Flash and Final Cut Pro.
I have been editor-in-chief of The Michigan Times for more than a year, and I'm excited to put what I will learn in this class to use at our campus publication. Our first issue of the semester goes out Jan. 19, and I expect we will have a good lead story to share with the campus (I don't want to give it away just yet!). Our first issue should also include some video footage of the Winter Block Party, which is an annual gathering of University of Michigan-Flint clubs and organizations with food, performances and entertainment for the campus to enjoy. Although we still use Windows Movie Maker, we have a Flip video camera and a monopod, which these days is enough to produce a serviceable video report.
I'm actually doing my homework a week in advance this time, which is a rarity for me, because I have eight hours between classes on Mondays and Wednesdays. I definitely would recommend steering away from that sort of scenario if you can. I'm dying of boredom, and it's only my second day of class.
I have been editor-in-chief of The Michigan Times for more than a year, and I'm excited to put what I will learn in this class to use at our campus publication. Our first issue of the semester goes out Jan. 19, and I expect we will have a good lead story to share with the campus (I don't want to give it away just yet!). Our first issue should also include some video footage of the Winter Block Party, which is an annual gathering of University of Michigan-Flint clubs and organizations with food, performances and entertainment for the campus to enjoy. Although we still use Windows Movie Maker, we have a Flip video camera and a monopod, which these days is enough to produce a serviceable video report.
I'm actually doing my homework a week in advance this time, which is a rarity for me, because I have eight hours between classes on Mondays and Wednesdays. I definitely would recommend steering away from that sort of scenario if you can. I'm dying of boredom, and it's only my second day of class.
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