3 Feature Photos

"Hands" by Leonardo da Vinci, "There is no more poetry in me to sing--" by Alyssa Campbell, and "Touch" by Rebeccah Fewless during the Ekphrasis show. The show focused on collaborations between visual artists and poets that were inspired by works of Leonard Da Vinci.

Christopher Mikkelson and Michael Bosch explain their collaboration to the audience in the South Santiam Hall Art Gallery during Ekphrasis on Wednesday, April 19.

Rebeccah Fewless speaks about her drawing to the crowd at Ekphrasis.

JN217 Week 2 Blog Forum

Topic 1: "On Writing"
1. My favorite anecdote from the first 50 pages of the book was when King's brother climbs onto the roof and the King family is evicted. My favorite quote was King's take on how writers are formed rather than made.
2. King's older brother climbs onto the roof of their third-story apartment while King watches from the bathroom window. After a neighbor saw his brother on the roof, they were reported to the landlord and evicted.
3. The anecdote resonated with me because it must have been extremely stressful. While the story is presented in a humorous light, concluding with his brother still being alive and living in New Hampshire, it still would have been pretty traumatic for a child. The eviction was another traumatic effect after the fact.
4. "Not how one writer was made; I don't believe writers can be made, either by circumstances or by self-will (although I did believe in those things once.) The equipment comes with the original package."
5. I felt this was an interesting take that stood out to me because writing, although one can always improve, seems to come naturally to some, and at an extreme challenge to others. I also appreciated that King went on to say that many people have these tools.

 Topic 2: Reviews
1. I've thought about reviewing either the new Lupe Fiasco or Kendrick Lamar albums. They're both current and I've liked some of each of their older work. Both artists also often discuss politics and social issues. My second idea from a different genre is the most recent Star Wars. I'm a big fan of the original trilogy but I haven't seen any of the more recent ones.

2. NYT Review

A. Jon Caramanica discusses the overall anxious theme of Lamar's new album. Caramanica then proceeds to tie his broader analysis in with individual songs and lyrics. Caramanica described the album as "a work of reactions and perceptions, a response to the sensations that come when the world is creeping in and you can’t keep it at bay any longer without lashing back." Then citing a song where Lamar uses clips from Fox News that deride his political message and Geraldo Rivera uses it as an example to claim rap is worse for black youth than racism.

B. While Caramanica focused a lot on the content of Lamar's album, he did also discuss the overall sound and instances where Lamar's flow was particularly good. Caramanica did a good job of distilling a lot of information on complex subjects into an easily read and coherent review.

C. I learned that it is similar to news reporting in that you have to get a lot of information into small spaces so figuring out how to concisely package that information is key. I also saw how there can be a good balance between focusing on the content of the music and also the sound, which I think is also important.

JN134 Week 2 Blog

Topic 1: Photographer of The Week
1. Bernie Boston
2. Bernie Boston is an American photographer born in DC in 1933. Boston was a Pulitzer Prize finalist for a photograph he took of Coretta Scott King with the bust of Martin Luther King Jr. at the Capitol. He also covered every president from Harry Truman to Bill Clinton.
3. Boston seemed to have a knack for timing, even when the environment is extremely chaotic.
4. Boston took the famous Flower Power photos of anti-war protestors in the 1960's.

Topic 2: Lynsey Addario
I felt somewhat similarly about this as I did when reading Edna Buchanan's book: this job is insane. I can't imagine being a photojournalist in a literal war zone. I also felt an overwhelming sense of needing to follow your instincts in both books, particularly Lynsey's. The biggest lesson I've learned is that you have to try to stay as calm as possible, regardless of whether you're covering a piano recital or a literal war. I was impressed that Lynsey was still able to take photographs and somehow cope with the knowledge that she may be killed at any moment. It seems that her feeling that those events needed to be covered were a large part of her motivation for continuing to live through such harrowing situations and keep doing the job.

Second Photos

A re-written headline after the first round of proofs in the Commuter office.

A group of student journalists works to finish the Commuter.

Saul Barajas laughs while talking to Hannah Buffington.

JN217 Week 1 Blog Forum

Topic 1:

• I am writing a piece detailing the recent executive orders and presidential memorandum eliminating environmental regulations and a lot of money for research. I am going to focus on people who depend on research grants and how their work will be effected.
• David Stauth: Stauth writes a lot of press releases about research being done at OSU.
• OSU Researcher (TBN): A researcher who can describe the differences in the funding they can receive for their work. 
• OSU Student: An OSU student who is effected by the loss of funding.
• The Trump administration has made large budget cuts for forestry and environmental science funding. Students and researchers at OSU are losing their funding. 

Topic 2: My Goals

• I want to learn how to write profile pieces better. Although I liked my profile piece from last term on Sami, it wasn't quite a profile piece. I want to improve at interviewing people and building a narrative.
• I want to improve at writing opinion pieces. I often find difficulty in achieving the tone I would like to. Specifically, I want to learn how to make strong statements that draw attention, but not so strong that they are incendiary or distracting from evidence being prevented.
• I really want to improve my knowledge of AP style and ability to catch AP style errors. It's a very important for me to be familiar with AP style by the time I start at Iowa State.

First Photos

LBCC Poet Laureate Christopher Mikkelson prepares to perform at the Interzone in Corvallis.

An open microphone during an intermission at a poetry reading at the Interzone in Corvallis.

LBCC student Samantha Guy performs "My Crazy" during the poetry open mic.

JN134 Week 1 Blog Forum

Topic 1:
My name is K. Rambo, I'm really cool and I'm pretty great at most things. My major is journalism, which is why I am taking photojournalism. I have very little photography experience but I have recently learned some of the basics about using cameras.

Topic 2:
I have a lot of goals for this class.
1. My largest goal is learning how to manipulate settings on a camera to really get great photos in different environments.
2. I want to learn how to quickly get a good depth of field and learn how to alter the depth of field once I have one.
3. I want to get at least one really good action shot at a baseball game, it seems very challenging and I think that would be a good benchmark for progress.

Topic 3:
Subject Ideas: I've been thinking about writing a feature about the SLC and how they help plan events, so taking photos of their event planning meetings on Monday, April 10 is something I'm interested in. I can take photos of them setting up, having their meeting, and them talking following the meeting. I've also wanted to take photos of the Poetry Club while people are doing readings during Tuesday meetings. Similarly, I can take photos before, during, and after the meeting. I can also take photos of the different parts of their meeting. My final idea is taking photos is at the Black Student Caucus meeting on Wednesday. Again, very much so the same plan, just getting there early and getting photos of people greeting members as they arrive, them checking in, discussions, etc.