Thursday, May 10, 2007
500 WORDS on JOHN CLAYTON BLOG
When we were asked to pick to a blog to follow for the entire semester, I selfishly chose John Clayton’s blog because it was one that I already looked at every day and one that was regularly updated. Unfortunately the blog itself is only available to “Insiders,” at the ESPN website and it requires a bi-yearly credit card payment along with a log in name and password. However, I can still provide you with information regarding the blog, and the first several paragraphs of each article.
I chose John Clayton because he has an unquestionable depth of sports knowledge. He is frequently featured on ESPN on shows such as “SportsCenter” and “NFL Tonight.” Clayton, who physically looks as though he has never participated in a competitive sport in his entire life, appears to know more about the individuals on the Football teams than most people know about their own families.
The site refreshes its links to audio and video files on a nearly daily basis. And his insights change direction and sports every day. With topics ranging from draft picks, to Clayton’s personal views about controversial issues that face the National Football League, those loyal followers of his blog are never allowed a dull article.
I plan on continuing to follow this blog because the information is always well-gathered and relevant. The topics that John Clayton chooses to report on are always those that are on the forefront of the sports world and his views are always backed by facts that he gathers through intimate knowledge of the sport along with the relationships he has built with the players he covers.
If I were to change one thing about John Clayton’s blog it would be that there would be more feedback from the readers to Clayton. There is a comment section and a forum, but there really isn’t very much interaction from Clayton to the readers themselves. Also, I would like to see more video clips directly on the page. On ESPN’s homepage there is always live streaming video of the top stories on SportsCenter. I think that if Clayton were able to incorporate something like this on his blog he would be able to draw a larger reading community.
I chose John Clayton because he has an unquestionable depth of sports knowledge. He is frequently featured on ESPN on shows such as “SportsCenter” and “NFL Tonight.” Clayton, who physically looks as though he has never participated in a competitive sport in his entire life, appears to know more about the individuals on the Football teams than most people know about their own families.
The site refreshes its links to audio and video files on a nearly daily basis. And his insights change direction and sports every day. With topics ranging from draft picks, to Clayton’s personal views about controversial issues that face the National Football League, those loyal followers of his blog are never allowed a dull article.
I plan on continuing to follow this blog because the information is always well-gathered and relevant. The topics that John Clayton chooses to report on are always those that are on the forefront of the sports world and his views are always backed by facts that he gathers through intimate knowledge of the sport along with the relationships he has built with the players he covers.
If I were to change one thing about John Clayton’s blog it would be that there would be more feedback from the readers to Clayton. There is a comment section and a forum, but there really isn’t very much interaction from Clayton to the readers themselves. Also, I would like to see more video clips directly on the page. On ESPN’s homepage there is always live streaming video of the top stories on SportsCenter. I think that if Clayton were able to incorporate something like this on his blog he would be able to draw a larger reading community.
Wednesday, May 9, 2007
Jumptown Offers UMass Students Chance to Fly
Have you always dreamed of skydiving, but have never gotten around to planning your first jump? Well now is the time to do it - if you are a University of Massachusetts student and have three hours to kill and $195 in the bank you could fall through the skies of Amherst tomorrow.
"Jumptown," a skydiving facility located in Orange, Massachusetts gets its share of student jumpers from the University of Massachusetts. "Jumptown" is the home of the Massachusetts Sport Parachute Club (MSPC). They recently relocated to Orange because it is the birthplace of skydiving in the United States.
"Jumptown" started as the University of Massachusetts Amherst skydiving club in 1959 and was located in Turners Falls until 1995. After 1995, they moved to a larger facility in Orange. Since then, they have built up a reputation as one of the best and most convenient places to jump in Western Massachusetts. A month ago, for my birthday, I tried it for the first time, and have been thinking about my second jump ever since.
If you are a first-time jumper, you are required to perform what they call a "tandem jump"- which means you are strapped extremely, and often times uncomfortably, close to a trained professional. In order to jump by yourself, you must perform a minimum of 20 freefall skydives with an instructor.The thought of going by myself was not something I had considered before my first jump, but afterwards, I analyzed the financial benefits of becoming certified. The prices drop dramatically, and you can plan a jump on almost any weekend.
The morning of my scheduled jump, I woke up hung over from a long night of drinking in uptown Amherst. I had told my roommates all about the jump, so that morning I was greeted with comments such as "I hope your chute opens," and "If you die I'm keeping your laptop and the Xbox." I printed out directions to the address on the "Jumptown" Web site and made my way to Orange. The ride was surprisingly quick - it only took about 15 minutes to get there from the UMass campus. I parked my car next to the runway, and as I pulled up it dawned on me that I was actually about to go skydiving. I walked into the front office, and paid the woman for my jump. She told me that I would be orientated in a couple of minutes, and I should just grab a seat on the couch.
While sitting on the couch, I started conversations with the other first-timers in the room. A couple of them were UMass students, and were just as nervous as I was. After forcing small talk, my eyes wandered around the office. I noticed framed pictures of people skydiving on the wall. Several of the pictures had people throwing the thumbs up and smiling on the way down. I scanned the wall further and saw a picture of a woman who couldn't have been younger than 70 falling through the sky. The knot in my stomach became bigger ? "I can't back out, some old woman did it. What would they think if I just walked out right now? I've seen 'Final Destination,' and I know how things like this end." I started looking for the door.
A man in a ridiculous white jumpsuit walked into the room and clapped his hands together, "Hey guys. You all ready to get orientated for your first skydive?" The man was Dennis O'Loughlin. He is a 34-year-old resident of New Salem, Massachusetts, and he has been jumping for 10 years. We walked into the back room and O'Loughlin closed the door behind him. He walked into the middle of the room, turned the chair around and said "So, you guys ready to jump?" No one said anything. "Any of you nervous?" We all smiled and raised our hands. "Now first thing I'm going to do is show you the parachute." He went on to explain how he had recorded over 600 jumps in his lifetime, and that the parachute had not one, not three, but four backup parachutes. I began toying with the thought that I was going to live through this.
"Today we will be jumping from 15,000 feet, and that means you're going to have about a minute and a half of free fall. You'll be falling at about 150 miles per hour - and you will be strapped to one of our veteran jumpers."After the meeting, we walked back into the waiting area and sat down for about 15 minutes. Several of the other rookies were noticeably freaking out - I remained stoic in an attempt to be the "cool rookie" in the group - but I was definitely scared.
The door opened back up and O'Loughlin told us we could all come out and get suited in our flight gear. I hope they have something in extra long. A kid who couldn't have been older than 19 walked over to me with his hand out - I shook it. "Hey my name is Scott - I'll be jumping with you today." There must be some mistake. I'm a first timer - I'm paying money to jump with some kind of grizzled ex-Navy Seal, not a pre-teen. He strapped me into a flight suit and slapped both of my shoulders like it was the Super Bowl. "You nervous about the jump?" I shook my head no. "You ever done this before?" I say smiling, but at the same time completely serious,"Yeah, I have over 900 recorded jumps and will probably do four today. Don't worry man ? you'll be fine."
As we boarded the camouflaged twin engine airplane I began remembering some obscure fact about how 90 percent of all airplane crashes occur in small low-flying airplanes. It may actually be a fact, or it could be something someone stupid had said to me one blurry night. We slid down the bench, and I began picturing the beginning of "Band of Brothers," and how while watching it I had convinced myself I would have died early on had I actually fought in World War II. I turned to Scott and asked "How long you guys had this plane?" "Oh we've had this thing for years. It's called the 'Spankin Otter.' We got it from the Norwegian Airforce. It's a Twin Otter, she's not new, but she'll get ya up there. Besides, you don't even have to worry about the landing." I laughed even though I didn't think it was funny. We took off. After about five minutes into the ride, the veterans in the front began eyeing down the newbies. They exchanged glances and smiled at us. Scott slapped the back of my helmet and started strapping me into his harness.
"This might be a little tight," he says as I basically sat in his lap. "No problem dude ? I don't want to fall out." After about 20 minutes in the air, the vets up front slid the door open. The entire cabin filled with air. The first couple of jumpers started jumping out, and my stomach dropped. "Oh my God. I'm about to go skydiving. I'm definitely going to die," I thought.
As each vet fell out of the airplane, it became closer and closer to being my turn. Eventually, Scott and I were the only ones left on the plane. "You ready bro?" I shuffled closer and closer to the edge. Eventually my toes were over the state of Massachusetts, and I couldn't hear anything but wind. I heard Scott start counting, "One?.two?..three?" The Spankin' Otter banked, and we flew out.My stomach immediately flipped. I could see the airplane after the first front flip, but after the second it was completely gone. I am going to die. Scott then tipped us straight up and down so we were flying vertically toward the Earth. The wind was deafening. My eyes were watering, and I could feel my cheeks flapping like I've seen in so many movies. I stopped worrying about the fact that I was nervous, and started enjoying the view.
The feeling of going 150 miles per hour is amazing. We curled back into a helicopter spin that lasted about 25 seconds, and then we straightened out. Scott slapped the back of my helmet and passed me the ripcord. I remembered what I was supposed to do from training ? I'm supposed to pull it. I pull the ripcord and immediately Scott's and my bodyweight were pressed into the harness latched inconveniently on my crotch. The pain from the sudden jerk was quickly replaced with gratification that the chute had actually opened. It hit me that I was going to make it. I did it. The wind stopped, and we started to bend around to the landing sight. It took about a minute and a half for us to come down in the chute, and we stuck the landing very smoothly something I was certain I was going to blow.
After jumping for the first time, I immediately started saving for my next jump. I have gotten my friends interested in it, and plan on taking a group jump with the package that lets you not only take mid-air pictures, but also film the jump. "Jumptown" is open on Thursdays and Fridays from 10 a.m. to sunset and on Saturdays and Sundays from 8 a.m. to sunset. And as for winter hours, they are open, but you should call ahead because it is based strongly on the weather. They will be shut down for the entire month of January, but are operating the other 11 months of the year. Get out there and do it.
"Jumptown," a skydiving facility located in Orange, Massachusetts gets its share of student jumpers from the University of Massachusetts. "Jumptown" is the home of the Massachusetts Sport Parachute Club (MSPC). They recently relocated to Orange because it is the birthplace of skydiving in the United States.
"Jumptown" started as the University of Massachusetts Amherst skydiving club in 1959 and was located in Turners Falls until 1995. After 1995, they moved to a larger facility in Orange. Since then, they have built up a reputation as one of the best and most convenient places to jump in Western Massachusetts. A month ago, for my birthday, I tried it for the first time, and have been thinking about my second jump ever since.
If you are a first-time jumper, you are required to perform what they call a "tandem jump"- which means you are strapped extremely, and often times uncomfortably, close to a trained professional. In order to jump by yourself, you must perform a minimum of 20 freefall skydives with an instructor.The thought of going by myself was not something I had considered before my first jump, but afterwards, I analyzed the financial benefits of becoming certified. The prices drop dramatically, and you can plan a jump on almost any weekend.
The morning of my scheduled jump, I woke up hung over from a long night of drinking in uptown Amherst. I had told my roommates all about the jump, so that morning I was greeted with comments such as "I hope your chute opens," and "If you die I'm keeping your laptop and the Xbox." I printed out directions to the address on the "Jumptown" Web site and made my way to Orange. The ride was surprisingly quick - it only took about 15 minutes to get there from the UMass campus. I parked my car next to the runway, and as I pulled up it dawned on me that I was actually about to go skydiving. I walked into the front office, and paid the woman for my jump. She told me that I would be orientated in a couple of minutes, and I should just grab a seat on the couch.
While sitting on the couch, I started conversations with the other first-timers in the room. A couple of them were UMass students, and were just as nervous as I was. After forcing small talk, my eyes wandered around the office. I noticed framed pictures of people skydiving on the wall. Several of the pictures had people throwing the thumbs up and smiling on the way down. I scanned the wall further and saw a picture of a woman who couldn't have been younger than 70 falling through the sky. The knot in my stomach became bigger ? "I can't back out, some old woman did it. What would they think if I just walked out right now? I've seen 'Final Destination,' and I know how things like this end." I started looking for the door.
A man in a ridiculous white jumpsuit walked into the room and clapped his hands together, "Hey guys. You all ready to get orientated for your first skydive?" The man was Dennis O'Loughlin. He is a 34-year-old resident of New Salem, Massachusetts, and he has been jumping for 10 years. We walked into the back room and O'Loughlin closed the door behind him. He walked into the middle of the room, turned the chair around and said "So, you guys ready to jump?" No one said anything. "Any of you nervous?" We all smiled and raised our hands. "Now first thing I'm going to do is show you the parachute." He went on to explain how he had recorded over 600 jumps in his lifetime, and that the parachute had not one, not three, but four backup parachutes. I began toying with the thought that I was going to live through this.
"Today we will be jumping from 15,000 feet, and that means you're going to have about a minute and a half of free fall. You'll be falling at about 150 miles per hour - and you will be strapped to one of our veteran jumpers."After the meeting, we walked back into the waiting area and sat down for about 15 minutes. Several of the other rookies were noticeably freaking out - I remained stoic in an attempt to be the "cool rookie" in the group - but I was definitely scared.
The door opened back up and O'Loughlin told us we could all come out and get suited in our flight gear. I hope they have something in extra long. A kid who couldn't have been older than 19 walked over to me with his hand out - I shook it. "Hey my name is Scott - I'll be jumping with you today." There must be some mistake. I'm a first timer - I'm paying money to jump with some kind of grizzled ex-Navy Seal, not a pre-teen. He strapped me into a flight suit and slapped both of my shoulders like it was the Super Bowl. "You nervous about the jump?" I shook my head no. "You ever done this before?" I say smiling, but at the same time completely serious,"Yeah, I have over 900 recorded jumps and will probably do four today. Don't worry man ? you'll be fine."
As we boarded the camouflaged twin engine airplane I began remembering some obscure fact about how 90 percent of all airplane crashes occur in small low-flying airplanes. It may actually be a fact, or it could be something someone stupid had said to me one blurry night. We slid down the bench, and I began picturing the beginning of "Band of Brothers," and how while watching it I had convinced myself I would have died early on had I actually fought in World War II. I turned to Scott and asked "How long you guys had this plane?" "Oh we've had this thing for years. It's called the 'Spankin Otter.' We got it from the Norwegian Airforce. It's a Twin Otter, she's not new, but she'll get ya up there. Besides, you don't even have to worry about the landing." I laughed even though I didn't think it was funny. We took off. After about five minutes into the ride, the veterans in the front began eyeing down the newbies. They exchanged glances and smiled at us. Scott slapped the back of my helmet and started strapping me into his harness.
"This might be a little tight," he says as I basically sat in his lap. "No problem dude ? I don't want to fall out." After about 20 minutes in the air, the vets up front slid the door open. The entire cabin filled with air. The first couple of jumpers started jumping out, and my stomach dropped. "Oh my God. I'm about to go skydiving. I'm definitely going to die," I thought.
As each vet fell out of the airplane, it became closer and closer to being my turn. Eventually, Scott and I were the only ones left on the plane. "You ready bro?" I shuffled closer and closer to the edge. Eventually my toes were over the state of Massachusetts, and I couldn't hear anything but wind. I heard Scott start counting, "One?.two?..three?" The Spankin' Otter banked, and we flew out.My stomach immediately flipped. I could see the airplane after the first front flip, but after the second it was completely gone. I am going to die. Scott then tipped us straight up and down so we were flying vertically toward the Earth. The wind was deafening. My eyes were watering, and I could feel my cheeks flapping like I've seen in so many movies. I stopped worrying about the fact that I was nervous, and started enjoying the view.
The feeling of going 150 miles per hour is amazing. We curled back into a helicopter spin that lasted about 25 seconds, and then we straightened out. Scott slapped the back of my helmet and passed me the ripcord. I remembered what I was supposed to do from training ? I'm supposed to pull it. I pull the ripcord and immediately Scott's and my bodyweight were pressed into the harness latched inconveniently on my crotch. The pain from the sudden jerk was quickly replaced with gratification that the chute had actually opened. It hit me that I was going to make it. I did it. The wind stopped, and we started to bend around to the landing sight. It took about a minute and a half for us to come down in the chute, and we stuck the landing very smoothly something I was certain I was going to blow.
After jumping for the first time, I immediately started saving for my next jump. I have gotten my friends interested in it, and plan on taking a group jump with the package that lets you not only take mid-air pictures, but also film the jump. "Jumptown" is open on Thursdays and Fridays from 10 a.m. to sunset and on Saturdays and Sundays from 8 a.m. to sunset. And as for winter hours, they are open, but you should call ahead because it is based strongly on the weather. They will be shut down for the entire month of January, but are operating the other 11 months of the year. Get out there and do it.
Thursday, April 19, 2007
For interview with planner of vigil go to http://www.minorcrisis.net/
type in the search column- interview at vigil.
do it. do it.
type in the search column- interview at vigil.
do it. do it.
Thursday, April 12, 2007
THE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY OF THE PRESS: DIFFERENT VIEWS.
http://http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=4Q-oePDdcC8C&oi=fnd&pg=PA1&dq=social+responsibility+of+the+press&ots=F1-QmepNw1&sig=HIEpLgVFWIJwf8QAzbWxBXyfDIs#PPA39,M1
http://http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=4Q-oePDdcC8C&oi=fnd&pg=PA1&dq=social+responsibility+of+the+press&ots=F1-QmepNw1&sig=HIEpLgVFWIJwf8QAzbWxBXyfDIs#PPA39,M1
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