Oodles of joy!!

Image by Gilles Gonthier on Flickr

HAPPINESS I must say – to finally be finished with this blog assignment.
Tis’ midnight and I have more finals tomorrow.

(Oodles of fun!!)  

Nonetheless, smile, smile, smile!! I’m sure I’m not the only college student to be Oh Soo Happy and Joyous that finals are coming to an end. Cheers! And Good Day!

Image by Sara Björk on Flickr

Image by Lel4nd (busy) on Flickr

Self-analysis paper

Self-analysis paper

It’s funny how much I dislike writing, but I’m becoming fairly good at it. Mass Communication and Journalism 10 media writing (MCJ 10) has opened my eyes to new writing styles, structures and formats. Although I don’t plan on being a journalist, I understand that being a versatile writer and understanding the various media genres will greatly benefit me in the future. Not only have I learned so much from this class, but my writing style has definitely changed for the better. And by understanding my strengths and weaknesses, I will be able to better apply my writing skills in the future.

From MCJ 10, I’ve grown to understand the importance of fact checking and grammar. It has become vital to do extensive research while working on my news articles and magazine articles. By extensive research I mean checking for proper name and title spelling of people and organizations. I would search countless Web sites and even had to use Google to find articles that had the correct name or title usage. The class had a strict zero tolerance on factual errors which helped me to be more thorough throughout my writing.

Grammar was the second thing MCJ 10 taught me to emphasis on. At the being of the semester I never would have paid extreme detail to grammar like I do now. I received a dose of journalism reality when I took the first weekly quiz. The “Grammar and Style Corrections” section on our quizzes were extremely difficult for me. It was hard to memorize all the specific rules – dates, months, times, government titles, and when to and when not to abbreviate – eventually, as the semester went on, I figured it out. Although my grade on the weekly quizzes fluctuated a lot, I tried to focus more on the “Grammar and Style Corrections” section.

Over time, I started to notice the mistakes more and was able to correct them, and it felt good being able to find and edit properly. Especially when working with classmates and doing peer reviews, I felt like a real news editor helping them find corrections on their papers and referring them back to the Associated Press Stylebook (even though I’m far from an editor). Those weekly quizzes helped me a lot and drilled the AP style rules into my head. I still do not know all the rules, but I constantly refer back to my Associated Press Stylebook. I’m proud of myself for how far I’ve come and how much I’ve learned. My writing has changed a great deal.

Over the course of the semester my writing has improved. I have greatly benefited from MCJ 10. Ever since high school, all I knew was research papers on top of research papers. Even in elementary school, there were book reports. Freshman year of college I was taking an English class and although I wrote many essays, my writing style was still pretty consistent. Now in my junior year of college, I take MCJ 10 and I feel like my mind has opened up to something entirely new. I often sit and think about my writing, structure and editing style and it amazes me how far I’ve come.

I’ve learned completely new styles of writing. No more research paper style, but instead I’ve learned how to write news articles and magazine articles. The formats to set up news articles and magazine articles are completely different than research papers. Similarly, I still read sources and create outlines, but with research papers I never had to worry about writing for different audiences or appealing to interests.

With the media writing I have done in MCJ 10, I have become a more versatile writer. I understand how to write various media genres for example, an inverted pyramid news article or a magazine feature story. At first it sounded like a simple task, but actually learning how to do it was a tricky process for me. Also, I knew about the lead style called an “attention grabber” from high school, but now I’ve learned multiple lead styles like anecdotal, descriptive, direct address, question and more. Aside from the grammar and mechanics, I have also learned to put a lot more thought into my writing.

One of my main strengths in writing would be my organization. I have always taken days and days to figure out the order and structure I want my papers to have, but I feel like I put even more thought into my writing now. After taking MCJ 10, I have only become more focused as far as structure and storytelling. On all of my drafts, I received comments like it’s well-organized and nicely framed. Those comments let me know that it’s good to put a lot of thought into my writing style and I’m getting better.

On another note, my leads and kickers could definitely use some work. Even though the MCJ 10 course has come to an end, I know that I will still be writing papers in the future. Therefore, I need to continually work on my leads, and make them more enticing and interesting. As well as, work on my kickers and make them less confusing and awkward.

My use of quotes is a strength and a weakness. Sometimes I overuse quotes and don’t use enough paraphrasing, whereas other times I utilize quotes effectively. For example, in my Halloween piece I used indirect quotes and successfully complemented them with direct quotes. Unfortunately, the rough draft of my profile magazine article suffered because I didn’t apply my quotes very well. I did rework my quotes, the lead and the kicker for the revision.

MCJ 10 caused me to shift my perspective when writing. I had to understand these were no longer research papers I was writing and that different audiences would be seeing them. Going from research papers to a journalistic writing style, I’m aware that I have to be conscious of my audience because certain writing styles appeal to a select group of people.

When I write in the future, I will be applying the skills I have developed over the semester. I already use the knowledge I’ve gained from MCJ 10 and the Associated Press Stylebook to help me at my job. I’m a Web designer and a marketing assistant that puts information on the Web. Before I upload documents to the Web, I can’t help but edit any mistakes others may have missed. Additionally, in my future classes I will be writing 2,000 word papers, which will give me the opportunity to keep my grammar, punctuation and spelling skills sharp. Lastly, I know how important organization is. Organization allows my writing to have clarity and a nice flow.

PR Campaign Group Project | Social Media

Group Project | Members - Gina Scarlata, Anthony Perez, Wynton Odd

Social Media

All it takes is one. One person. One hour. One act of kindness. That’s all it takes to make a major impact on someone’s life. In association with the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, we are looking to raise awareness with our “It Just Takes One” campaign about how just a little bit of one person’s time can positively affect the life of a person afflicted with leukemia or lymphoma in a major way. In order to raise awareness, we are increasing our online presence on social networking sites. By utilizing these different platforms, we will be able to reach our audience, and hopefully be able to increase volunteers for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

Facebook

This is the official Facebook fan page for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society’s “It Just Takes One” campaign. Through this page, our fans will be able to share their stories of dealing with leukemia and lymphoma or their stories of dealing with family members who are going through therapy for the diseases. We have created this community for people to share what they are going through and interact with people in similar situations like them. Our campaign believes that having a sense of community through this page, our fans will also be able to make a monetary donation of their choice to the LLS to help further research. Also, for every 100 fans that this page receives we will have a company associated with our cause donate $100 to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

Youtube

On this official channel for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society’s “It Just Takes One” campaign, we hope to utilize this as a platform to display our public service announcements to increase awareness about the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. In addition to being able to visually tell the stories of leukemia and lymphoma survivors and people who are currently struggling with the diseases, we also will be accepting user made videos from our subscribers who would like to share their stories with our other subscribers.

Myspace

This is the official profile page for the “It Just Takes One” campaign. This page will create a community on Myspace for people to support the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. In the spirit of the It Just Takes One campaign, for every day that one of our friends posts a bulletin about the It Just Takes One campaign or logo, we will have our corporate sponsors donate one dollar to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society to help fund their research.

PR Campaign Group Project | Script 2

Group Project | Members - Gina Scarlata, Anthony Perez, Wynton Odd

PSA 2
Video		Audio
Wide shot- a woman sits alone outside a coffee shop, rubbing her hands around her coffee, looking sad and very alone.		Soft music plays in the background.
Cut to: Wide shot- a child sits alone on a curb by a bus stop, nervously touching his shoes and looking around at other kids playing together.
Cut back to coffee shop: A good-looking man sees the woman alone outside the coffee shop.
As he exits the shop, he catches her eye and winks at her with a smile on his face.		The soft music turns to more upbeat and hopeful.
Close up-The woman is no longer sad and has a huge smile on her face.
Cut back to bus stop curb: Another young boy comes to sit next to the child that was sitting alone.
Close up-The children do not speak, but share a smile.
Wide shot-The children sitting together on the curb		The music fades out as the logo appears.
Fade in to campaign logo of “It Just Takes One” with LLS Facebook and Twitter information on the bottom.

PR Campaign Group Project | Script 1

Group Project | Members - Gina Scarlata, Anthony Perez, Wynton Odd

PSA 1
Video		Audio
A man dances alone in the middle of a green field at a concert amphitheatre surrounded by people sitting down, staring and laughing at the man.		Fade in: U2 – “One” “One love/One Blood/One Life”
Camera closes is on a young woman sitting with her friends, whom are laughing at the man.		“You got to do what you should One life”
The young woman stands up and runs to join the dancing man.		“With each other/Sisters”
After a beat, another man joins the dancing.		“Brothers”
Close up on a man extending his hand to help his friend get up from the grass as they run to join the others dancing.		“One life/But we’re not the same”
Soon there are a group of carefree dancers surrounding the once lone dancer, who has the widest smile on his face as the camera zooms to a close-up of him between the group of dancers.		“We get to/Carry each other”
The green of the grass can now barely be seen because everyone is on their feet dancing as the camera has a wide shot of the audience from above.		“Carry each other”
Fade in to campaign logo of “It Just Takes One” with LLS Facebook and Twitter information on the bottom.		Fade out: “One…Life/One”

PR Campaign Group Project | Backgrounder

Group Project | Members - Gina Scarlata, Anthony Perez, Wynton Odd

Backgrounder

FRESNO, Calif. (AP) – When you’re ill, would you want to be alone? If you knew you had cancer, wouldn’t you want and need support? The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society is there to help. LLS creates a comforting atmosphere by letting cancer patients and their families know there is someone there for them. Through the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society’s support groups, patients and their families will see others going through the same struggles and challenges as them and will be able to converse with each other and share stories.

The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (LLS) needs all the help it can get. A lot of people feel one person can’t possibly make a difference. Unfortunately, that mindset keeps a lot of people from taking action.

Contrary to what most think, it just takes one – one volunteer to assist or one donation to be made. Any one person can make a difference. One individual stepping forward to help can start a chain reaction.

The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society depends heavily upon volunteers and donors. Don’t be afraid to take the first step!

Volunteers

Anyone can become a volunteer. If you have a friend or family member that has one of these conditions, or if you just want to be actively involved, the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society would greatly appreciate all help.

One individual volunteered in a “Run for the Cure” marathon to benefit others. “Volunteering takes the focus off self and seeks out after the betterment of others,” said Wayne Odd, 51, of Sacramento, Calif.  “Those that are fortunate not to have to endure the illness should count themselves blessed and thankful, and they should do what others cannot.”

Within the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, there are a variety of positions to help that can be filled. Individuals of all ages are welcome and encouraged to take part and participate in lending a hand.

Executive Director Kristine Ballecer of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society – the Central California Chapter – said that most individuals that assist LLS are college students and retired people. “College students and retired individuals account for approximately 85% of our current volunteer corps,” she said.

Ballecer said there are countless roles to be played and volunteer opportunities allowing all individuals to be active. Whether answering the office phones, running support groups or working as staff for health fairs, there is a job for everyone to join in.

“Volunteers for LLS can do anything from work in the office on clerical projects, staff booths at health fairs, run aid stations on the weekends for our marathon, triathlon, and cycle teams, write grants, or work on fundraising committees staff an athletic or fundraising event,” Ballecer said.

Donations

Not only are volunteers crucial to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, but donations have a huge part in the LLS organization as well.

The donations are used to fund research and provide support for the patients and their families. “Donations are used to provide patients and their families with support, educational programs, materials and financial aid,” Ballecer said.

The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society relies heavily on donations because with the lack of donations, LLS wouldn’t be able to fund their research and provide the countless programs and support groups they offer.

“Without donations we would be unable to fulfill our mission of improving the quality of life for our patients and their families. We would also be unable to fund crucial research to advance treatments and find a cure,” Ballecer said.

A donation doesn’t have to be money. The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society would be happy with people simply donating their time and skills. It just takes one; one person volunteering or donating is making a difference.

“One person can make a difference. All it takes is one, and that one is like a stone in a pond which causes a ripple that transcends the entire pond,” Odd said.

PR Campaign Group Project | Fact Sheet

Group Project | Members - Gina Scarlata, Anthony Perez, Wynton Odd

Fact Sheet

The LLS is the world’s largest volunteer-based health organization that is committed to furthering research on blood cancer, education about the disease and furthering patient care. Through the work of its workers and volunteers, the LLS has been able to further research about leukemia and lymphoma and have raised over $600 million for finding a cure.

Mission

The LLS’ hope is to find a cure for leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin’s disease and myeloma. They also strive to help patients who are undergoing therapy for these diseases to achieve a better quality of life for themselves. In the coming years, the LLS hopes to continue to help the development of new cancer therapies, help with the creation of new opportunities for blood cancer trials and make information and services to patients throughout their whole treatment process.

Founding

The LLS was founded in 1944 after Rudolph and Antoinette de Viliers were frustrated with the lack of medical help available to their son, Robert Roesler de Viliers, after he was diagnosed with leukemia. He died shortly thereafter. The de Viliers decided to start a foundation devoted to helping advance the research and development of cures for patients afflicted with leukemia, lymphoma and various other diseases.

Innovations

Through donations and research development. the LLS has contributed to many innovations in cancer research including:

-Gleevec, a non-toxic pill that treats leukemia and other cancers

-The identification of the first effective chemo agent

-Advances in the transplant of bone marrow recipients

PR Campaign Group Project | Press Release

Group Project | Members - Gina Scarlata, Anthony Perez, Wynton Odd

Image created by Gina Scarlata

Press Release

FRESNO, Calif. – Get your walking shoes on and get ready to make a difference for the first ever “One Block, One Mile, One Life Walkathon” for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society on March 20, 2010 at 6 a.m. in front of the Fashion Fair Mall on Shaw Ave. The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society intends to use the walkathon to raise awareness for the need of donations and volunteers to help the organization continue to help those suffering from deadly blood cancers.

Volunteer walkers will be led by surviving cancer patients in matching red t-shirts throughout the main streets of Fresno. By walking the streets most traveled by Fresno residents, the organization hopes it will peak the interest of those that pass by. Local stores and restaurants will provide water and food booths lining the sidewalks on the walkers’ paths, along with donation buckets and volunteer information.

“I hope the city of Fresno can really see the power that each one of the walkers steps are creating,” said John Walter, president and CEO of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. “Each person walking will truly prove it only takes one person to make a difference in someone’s life.”

The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society is the worlds largest volunteer based health organization that is committed to furthering research on blood cancer, education about the disease and furthering patient care.

If you would like to donate or participate in the walkathon, please call 559-543-1234 or visit lls.org/one for more information.

United Through Dance | Profile Magazine Article

United Through Dance

Sports, shoes, clothes, and music are all examples of common denominators that bring people together. When people find common ground and can relate with each other, it removes the view of simply black and white. Dance has the same affect; it is widespread and allows people to notice commonality.

That’s the key behind D.A.N.C.E. Empowerment – Developing Positive Attitudes for a New Coping Experience – Wayne Hurley’s nonprofit, community-based organization in Fresno, Calif. The key is sharing something universal that allows people to look beyond skin color and see personality and character.

Dwayne Hurley during interview.

Hurley is an outspoken, high-energy African-American leader who has made a name for himself and now gives back to the Fresno community through D.A.N.C.E. Empowerment. Hurley not only teaches kids, teens and adults of the community, but he provides various teams for people to join. The teams consist of a beginning team, a performance team, a training team, a competitive team and the agency. By joining those teams, individuals are given the opportunity to travel around the Central Valley of California, to perform and to gain new experiences in life.

Along with the different teams, D.A.N.C.E. Empowerment has three age groups, which are 6 to 12 years old, 13 to 17, and 18 and older. “I think it’s very important that we are involved with the kids and the different teenagers in our community just to make sure they have a better life,” Hurley said.

Hurley has been teaching dance choreography for 10 years. He teaches hip-hop classes at California State University, Fresno, and at his studio. He also provides dance classes for the Fresno County Office of Education and Madera County Office of Education.

Teaching at various places in the community and working with kids from middle school to high school and college students, Hurley gets a lot of people engaged. He enjoys what he does because he gets to see different cultures and different people.

At Fresno State alone, diversity is shown through the individuals that take his activity class during the academic year. I’m currently enrolled in one of Hurley’s hip-hop activity classes and I can tell you as a witness that there are many races and we all come together and have a lot of fun dancing.

Fresno State class learning choreography.

I also observed his other hip-hop activity classes, and the atmosphere was filled with such a positive energy. Even after a long day of lecture classes, these students showed such liveliness and eagerness, and were ready to have fun. Smiles flooded the room, and all these students treated each other as equals.

Even at his dance studio, D.A.N.C.E. Empowerment is made to feel like home. “Everyone that comes through our doors is always greeted … and made to feel like this is their home,” Hurley said.

When people are put in new environments, they have new experiences and meet new people, some of different nationalities, and they come to understand they’re all the same.

It’s understandable for those who step into new environments to be shy, but at D.A.N.C.E. Empowerment they start with activities to help relief tension. “We do a lot of icebreaking [activities] to break the ice between everybody, especially the new people because they come in and feel like they don’t know nobody. They feel like they’re by themselves,” Hurley said.

Hurley is big on respect, and his dance studio reflects it. He said that people are really friendly at his studio and when people come in, whether they’re shy or have a question to ask, people will help them. “When people come in, everybody wants to help everybody,” he said.

Skin color is not important; dance promotes racial harmony and brings everyone together. When asked if that was true, Hurley said, “To tell you the honest truth, it does. We have a lot of Asians, we have a lot of Caucasians, we have a lot of Hispanics, we have a few Blacks. The diversity is there.”

Hurley is originally from Prince Frederick, Md. His parents were both in the military and as a result, he traveled around to a lot of different states. “Every time my dad got transferred, we’d always go to base housing and you know, I mean from Okinawa, to Mississippi, to Maryland, to Maine … we just been everywhere,” Hurley said.

As a little boy, his mom was really into music and as he grew up, Hurley’s inspiration for dance and the entertainment industry came from artists like Michael Jackson and Prince. “I just really loved what they were doing on stage and on TV, and it just inspired me to want to dance and be like them,” Hurley said.

As Hurley got older, he danced and traveled around with a singer, who later had personal issues and left Hurley and the other dancers marooned in Fresno.

Although left in Fresno, Hurley decided to make the best of it. Hurley and the other dancers went to the nightclub they were supposed to perform at and ended up having a great time. That night, Hurley spoke with a woman who actually owned a dance studio in Fresno.

“It was a Friday night that we got here and she said, ‘You show up at my studio on Monday, I will begin to teach you how to teach.’ I showed up on Monday, and she started to teach me how to teach. Within a year, I was teaching at six dance studios here in Fresno,” he said.

Hurley also had the opportunity to be cast in the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers show, and he toured around the world. “Seeing 80,000 kids at the venues, I was like, you know, this is what I want to do. I wanna dance and be on stage and enjoy life and do stuff for kids,” he said. “So I decided to create D.A.N.C.E. Empowerment.”

D.A.N.C.E. Empowerment Studio located in downtown Fresno.

Hurley continues to work on getting more individuals involved in his organization. He would also like to expand and establish more studios from Fresno into the nearby cities of Madera, Merced and beyond. Additionally, he would like to teach more hip-hop classes and different levels at Fresno State.

“I’m actually trying to figure out how, instead of just offering a beginning class, I could do an intermediate class or even a competitive team for the university,” he said.

Hurley’s main goal is to help the kids in the community. He wants to support the youth and create an outlet for them. All the kids in the community, who live in poverty, are involved with gangs, do drugs or ditch school, D.A.N.C.E. Empowerment is that outlet.

“My passion is a lot more for my organization to make a difference in the community,” Hurley said.

Magazine Article Query Letter

Ruth Apilado
Editor
Aim Magazine

Via apiladoone@aol.com

Dear Ms. Apilado:

 
Who knew the artistic form of dance could promote intercultural awareness and racial harmony?

There are multiple factors that cause racism. As children grow up, they emulate what they see, whether they witness discrimination from their parents or their friends. Wayne Hurley deters racism and promotes social betterment by encouraging the youth to be a part of the dance community. Getting children, youth and even adults to be active in their communities is a great way to establish intercultural awareness.

The story I propose is a profile about the highly talented Wayne Hurley, who eradicates racism through dance. D.A.N.C.E Empowerment, Hurley’s nonprofit dance organization, was established to reach out and make positive changes for the youth. Hurley makes huge contributions to the community of Fresno, Calif., by getting people of all ages – from young children to middle-aged adults – involved in dance. To create social betterment, people come together to dance and have a good time. By creating a common denominator through dance, people don’t see each other as black or white, but instead see character, personality and talent.

This story is perfect for your magazine because it is all about racial awareness and ways to unite various nationalities – but not through the written word: rather, through dance. Also, this story demonstrates how one individual can make social contributions to his community.

I should be the one to write this compelling story because I understand the significance of it and how it is relevant to your mission. I am knowledgeable about the topic of race and discrimination and have faced it myself. Additionally, I have seen how dance can connect various races and cultures, and it is a beautiful thing. I was part of a dance team that not only brought youth together through dance, but families within the communities would also come together to support their children and be active in their community.

Thank you for your consideration, and I look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,

Wynton Odd