Public Meeting

Covering a public meeting was somewhat stressful than what I expected. I wasn't real sure what was going on and found it difficult to determine what issues I needed to include. Plus using a recorder wasn't as easy either. It definitely would have helped if I would have done my research before hand.
I attended this meeting on October 25, 2010 at 7:30pm in the city counci lchamber of Huntington , W.Va. There are 11 members of the body and there were about three people in the audience. No issues were voted on at this particular meeting.



During the City Council of Huntington meeting the MS4 (Municipal Separate Storm Sewer) went into effect.
MS4 is a program that makes it illegal to discharge substances such as chemicals and oil in storm sewers. Assistant public works director, Kim Anderson, helped the storm committee to create permanent solutions concerning the city’s storm water problems. Councilman Mark Bates said, “The storm committee met last week concerning the issue of pouring oil into the storm sewer”. The new ordinance would impose a fine for the crime of up to $500 or 30 days in jail.
Huntington City Council also permitted the furnishing of two new 2011 Chevrolet Tahoes for the Huntington Police Department. It will cost 54 thousand dollars and take about eight weeks to be delivered.
Also, the meeting the Pledge of allegiance was recited, roll was called, and they discussed the synopsis of the last meeting.

Test 3 Governor Tomblin

Vassiliou November 30, 2010 9:30
Test 3
By Emily
Earl Tomblin said Tuesday, he had prepared for this moment with one guiding thought, “West Virginia first”, at the State Capitol.
As he took public oath of office Governor Earl Ray Tomblin said, “No matter what the situation, I will put West Virginia first. It is the fundamental keystone that has guided him through decades of public service.”
Robin Davis, Chief Justice of the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals, administered the Oath of Office. Tomblin said, his public service now moves to a different level and has new opportunities to serve W.Va. and her wonderful people.
Tomblin said, the magnitude of the responsibility with which he has entrusted cannot be overstated. Nevertheless, he will not shrink in fear or in trepidation of his responsibilities and duties.
He said, “If we work together we can achieve things previously thought to be impossible.” He also said, now is the time for the people of W.Va. to work together and set our sights on the future. Now is the time to aim high.
Tomblin said, I am ready to work tirelessly with you to keep our State moving forward and encouraged us all to pursue our mission with courage, grace, and confidence.
Earl Ray Tomblin is from Chapmanville, Logan County. He was elected as the 48th president of the Senate in 1995. He is the longest serving Senate President in W.Va.’s history. He was elected to the House of Delegates in 1974, 1976 and 1978. Tomblin married Joanne Jaeger in 1979 and had a son, Brent.
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Thanksgiving Break

Well, I just got back from my grandmother's house in Summersville, West Virginia. My family goes up there for Thanksgiving every year. I enjoyed a lot of good food and visited with my family. My break has been very full and I am upset it is pretty much over.

Biology Speech

Vassiliou November 11, 2010 2:55
Biology Speech
By Emily
Professor of Biology at Marshall University said Wednesday, “The brain is by far the most fascinating and complex organ in the human body” in Corbly Hall Room 127.
Jagannath Valluri, Biology professor at Marshall University said, the brain is part of the nervous system, also consisting of the spinal cord. He said the spinal cord is the center for reflex actions and is the communication link between the brain and peripheral nerves. He said, the brain has two cerebral hemispheres. There is a left side and a right side. The 2 hemispheres are connected by the corpus callosum.
Valluri said, “When you study for the test and get to the portion about the brain, pay close attention to its functions, components, and especially its hemispheres.” He told his students the brain has a conscious and a subconscious side. The conscious side is the largest part.
There were 57 students who attended this lecture. Most of the students appeared interested. They quickly wrote notes and smiled or laughed when Valluri made a joke. Zachary Kendrick, sophomore education major said, “I typically enjoy Professor Valluri’s lectures. He always tries to make them interesting and today’s lecture about the nervous system was no exception.”
Susan Snodgrass, junior psychology major said, “Valluri seems very qualified to teach this class. He can always answer any question the class asks him”. Valluri got his PhD in 1988 from Texas A&M University. He has several major areas of experience. Some of them include, Isolation, purification and characterization of proteins from plants and microorganisms, Enzyme kinetics, Carbohydrate analysis by HPLC columns.

Arnold2

Vassiliou
November 4, 2010
3:15
Arnold2

By Emily
The author of one of the leading textbooks, said Tuesday, grammar is used incorrectly everywhere.
George T. Arnold, former journalism professor at Marshall University and writer of Media Writer’s Handbook said, “I tamper with everything to the point that other people get mad and ask me to leave. He encouraged everyone else to do the same. He said, “It’s important not to embarrass the person when correcting them.”
He gave example stories of situations where grammar was used incorrectly. He said, other grammatical errors that amuse him are when people ask him, “What was your name?” So he replies, “George Arnold and it still is.”
Arnold said, when speaking to other people it is essential to focus on communicating rather than sounding smart. It is unnecessary to use jaw-breaker words. If possible, use the more simple word. Determine what words to use based on the education level of the audience.
Arnold also apologized about the price of his book. He said, he only makes five dollars per copy and he only gets nine free copies. Any additional copies he wants he has to pay full price.
There were 15 people in the audience smiling and laughing when Arnold told a joke. Everyone applaud cheerfully at the end of the speech.
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Nonprofit tables

Table 1
Sample Vital Statistics of Nonprofit X (insert agency’s name)
2008 2009
Total Revenue 6,652,371 6,987,363
Annual Revenue Received from United Way
Percentage of Revenue from United Way
Revenue from Contributions, gifts, grants 1,137,164 1,434,738
Date of Last Audit October 6, 2009 July 23, 2010
Statement of Independent Auditor Financial statements conformed to generally accepted account principles Financial statements conformed to generally accepted account principles
Sources: 2009 and 2008 federal tax returns, independent auditor’s report from Kelley, Galloway & Co.

Table 2
Portrait of Nonprofit X
Name of CEO/Years on the Job Kimberly Lewis – 7 years
Year Founded 1973
Street Address/ City/ State PO Box 7365 1102 Memorial Blvd, Huntington, W. Va. 25776-7365
Telephone (304) 525-7034
Web Address www.goodwillhunting.org
Mission To empower people to overcome employment barriers and to help strengthen families and communities.

Dr. Arnold

Emily Vassiliou
Jmc201
3 November 2010
Dr. Arnold
Author of Media Writer’s Handbook, and former professor at Marshall University said Tuesday, grammar is used incorrectly everywhere.
Dr. George Arnold was invited by Marshall University’s Journalism class to come speak. The speech was in the afternoon in Smith Hall.
Arnold said, he tampers with everything by editing and correcting it to the point that other people get mad and ask him to leave. He encourages everyone else to do the same. He said “it’s important not to embarrass the person when correcting them.”
He gave example stories of situations where grammar was used incorrectly. Other grammatical errors that amuse him were mentioned too. He said, when people ask him, “what was your name?” He replies,” George Arnold and it still is.”
Arnold said, when speaking to other people you need to focus on communicating rather than sounding smart. It is unnecessary to use jaw-breaker words. If you can, use the more simple word. Determine what words to use based on the education level of your audience.
He spoke about different accents. He said, do not ever apologize for your accent, just use grammar correctly.
Arnold also mentioned his book and apologized about the price. He said, he only makes five dollars per copy and he only gets nine free copies. Any additional copies he wants he has to pay full price.

Football Story

I was not in class Thursday so I did not write a sports story. After reading my email, I still was not sure exactly what our assignment was and if we were to cover a specific football game. Therefore, I do not have a story to revise. However, after class today there are some mistakes I'm sure I would have made.
1. I would have to correct my dateline. I understand now a dateline means you wrote the story from that location.
2. I would probably have to correct the time element and move it closer to the verb.
3. I would probably have spelling errors to look up and correct.
4. I know I would have said "their" referring to East Carolina University
I am sure there would have been several more mistakes too.

2 United Way

Emily Vassiliou
Jmc201
14 October 2010
United Way 2
The United Way of the River Cities Executive Director said Thursday, The United Way is taking a new approach for in fundraising.
Laura Gilliam, The United Way of the River Cities Executive Director, was invited by Marshall University’s SGA and faculty senate to come speak. The speech was at noon, in the John Marshall Room of the Student Center.
Gilliam said the organization looked deep into why they thought problems such as: substance abuse, unemployment, and high school dropout rates are still around. Then they categorized them into four categories. Learning and Earning, Family and Children, Help the Wellness and Basic needs are the categories. The United Way came up with a plan to raise money, administer it, and spit it back out to the community to those who really need it. This way the organization could provide basic spelling safety net needs (food, shelter, medication, clothing, etc.) and help those who are close to being at that low point before they fall into a similar situation.
There are many ways to make donations. The work place campaign is where the bulk of the funds used to come from. The work place campaign was simply when the organization would go to businesses and offices and ask for a pledge. Gilliam said, before people of this generation will give you their money they want to know what their money is being used for exactly. This is changing funding all together. She says, however, “this is a good thing; it leads to loyal contributors of at least 10 years or more.”
There are three partnerships. Gilliam said all must work collaboratively in order to reach the goal. The three partnerships include: Success by Six (early learning), Cabell County Substance Abuse Partnership and Financial Stability Partnership.
Gilliam ended the presentation by answering all the questions of the students. Also, she passed out additional pamphlets and papers.

Nonprofit organization (Goodwill Industries)

Five questions I plan to ask:
-What are you doing to partner with United Way?
-What are the outcomes you are looking for to partner with United way?
-What methods have you used to reduce your budget?
-What is your main source of fundraising?
-What is your goal for this year?/ How often have you meet your goal in the last five years?

Three websites I plan to visit for research are:
-www.guidestar.org
-www.goodwillhunting.org
-www.sos.wv.gov

Three kinds of documents I plan to get:
-tax returns
-tax exempt letter
-brochures/handouts

United Way of the River Cities Executive Speakers

On Tuesday speakers, Laura Gilliam and Cassey Bowden from United Way of the River Cities spoke to one of Marshall University’s Journalism classes about the organization.

            Last year the organization set a goal of 4.4 million dollars and did not meet their goal. This year they set a goal of $1.25 million. They have 3,000 donors and want a 15 percent increase. The average contribution is $10.75. At the food bank, 18 cents will buy one pound of food.

Cassey Bowden, Director of Resource Development and Marketing, began by introducing their motto, Give. Advocate. Volunteer. She said the organization has many ways of getting money. Corporate and national grants and local grants are major sources. They also have special events to raise money. One event that is becoming annual is the putt-putt tournament. Bowden said, “It is a great way to get people involved and to get donations.”

            The work place campaign is where the bulk of the funds used to come from. The work place campaign was simply when the organization would go to businesses and offices and ask for a pledge. Bowden said, before people of this generation will give you their money they want to know what their money is being used for exactly. This is changing funding all together. She says however, “this is a good thing; it leads to loyal contributors of at least 10 years or more.”

            There are many ways to make payments. Bowden said the most popular and easiest way is the payroll deduction. There is a growing trend in APH (automatic deduction from checking account). The billing option and the credit card option are also available.

            Laura Gilliam, Executive Director gave students a chance to explain the first things that come to mind when they think of United Way of the River Cities organization. Community service, fundraising, and helping those in need were a few. Gilliam said the organization looked deep into why they thought problems such as: substance abuse, unemployment, and high school dropout rate are still around. Then they categorized them into four categories. Learning and Earning, Family and Children, Help the Wellness, and Basic needs are the categories.

            The United Way came up with a plan to raise money, administer it, and spit it back out to the community to those who really need it. This way the organization could provide basic safety net needs (food, shelter, medication, clothing, etc.) and help those who are close to being at that low point before they fall into a similar situation.

            There are three partnerships. Gilliam said we must work collaboratively if we want to reach our goal. The three partnerships include: Success by Six (early learning), Cabell County Substance Abuse Partnership, and Financial Stability Partnership.

            Bowden said, “The best way for Marshall University student to contribute is to volunteer.” After all, volunteers are the backbone of the organization.

            The speakers ended their presentation by answering all the questions of the students. Also, they passed out additional pamphlets and papers.

interview summary mistakes

I made plenty of mistakes on my interview summary. I used quote as a noun where I should have used the word quotation. I unknowingly split infinitives. I said, "to just not" as oppose simply just to saying "to not". Also, there were several sentences that were too wordy. Some of the things I said were repetitious.

WVU vs. Marshall rumor

Have you heard the rumor? Apparently, there is a rumor spreading around campus that on the evening of the West Virginia State University vs. Marshall game the recreation center will be closed because WVU is going to be renting it out for their fans. As of today, August 27th, this is still just a rumor. There has been no significant evidence this is true however if anyone knows anything more about this let me know!

Jim Furyk

I do think Furyk should get a second chance at the Barclays. I understand he broke the rule however, it was an honest mistake. It is not like he deliberately overslept. Yes it was irresponsible, but I don't feel that's a big enough crime to disqualify him.