When higher education meeting immigration laws

Scott Thomas Immigration battle and its effects on higher education

Though the immigration debate has sparked tempers on both sides, as well as made politicians nervous and talk show hosts boisterous, the effects can be seen anywhere in the United States. One of these areas not examined as frequently is higher education in the United States.

Modern-day American universities often embrace diversity and welcome students and faculty members from different cultural backgrounds.

As Bob Seese, director of the International Office, said in an e-mail interview “In brief, (bringing in international faculty and students) helps Texas State to have a diverse faculty which brings knowledge and viewpoints that help to enrich the teaching and research missions of Texas State.”

Though many people associate the word immigration with day laborers and people who cross the border illegally, many are people who come here legally to fulfill desired services. According to the Migration Policy Institute, the number of Mexican-born professionals, such as those hired by universities, living in the United States has more than doubled since 1995. According to the Texas Tribune, in 2007 the number was estimated at 552,000. The tribune states this is an increase of more than 20 percent annually.

Furthermore, according to the Pew Hispanic Center, the estimated number of Mexican immigrants in the United States in 2008 was about 12.7 million.

Students and faculty members can be more difficult to recruit because of laws dealing with immigration and who can enter the country. An article in the New York times about the effects of immigration laws on private businesses shows how people from other countries with a desired skill set can be fast tracked into the country. It illustrates this point with a programmer hired by Google. However, it also illustrates the technicalities even these immigrants can face, such as bringing in family members. Though this is talking about a private business with international offices, this anecdote is used to illustrate a larger issue — That even when someone has clearance to enter a country there can still be frustrating technicalities and difficulties. Sees said the most frustrating thing about recruiting international faculty members comes from the lengthy processing times required be the United State Customs and Immigration Services. Indeed, according to the US Customs and Immigration Services Web site, to obtain a permanent residence card (most commonly called a green card), one must submit, • Evidence of inspection, admission or parole into the United States • A copy of the approval notice sent by the US Customs and Immigration Services • A job offer letter from an employer • Two color photos taken within 30 days • At least three different types of forms •

Any other evidence establishing eligibility

Or, as Kosaku Narioka, international student at Texas State, put it simply, “There is a lot of paper work to fill out.” He did downplay it by saying “it’s not a huge deal.” Of course, Narioka is here not for a job offer, like faculty, but on a student visa to study. He came to the United State after going to a Japanese University for two years. He has described coming to the United States as positive with little trouble. However, by any standard, the paperwork can be lengthy.

Seese said that Texas State departments look for the most qualified applicants when hiring, whether they live abroad or not. The departments hire the faculty. It’s the job of the International Offices to get them into the country and keep them here. However, even after faculty members are hired, it can be troublesome keeping them in the country. Few stories can illustrate this as well as that of Byounghak Lee, a professor at Texas State’s physics department. He originally came to the United States on a visa. When that expired last Spring, it became illegal for him to work and receive compensation. Lee obtained a green card, which grants him permanent residence status, in July. However, it was months before obtained the card. During that time his inability to be paid caused a financial strain which he now says has been alleviated somewhat by the provost providing back pay.

Lee said he never believed his situation could devolve into being deported back to his native South Korea. However, Seese said in the past 10 years one faculty member has had to leave the country because of immigration status. So, even though a status from a temporary work visa can expire, that does not mean that individual will be deported. However, even in the realm of higher education, it is not unheard of for professionals to have to leave the country after working here.

Lee’s story illustrates how difficult immigration can be on an individual. However, his problem is also connected to groups’ difficulties in dealing with immigration law. Lee’s problems arose because the International Office messed up a deadline, he said. Lee said after talking with other faculty members he learned the office is understaffed and overworked. Lee said he has seen members of the department responsible for hiring international faculty underprepared and ignorant of immigration law.

“They don’t know the procedures,” he said. “People get in trouble because of it.” Lee, like Narioka, said he has enjoyed his time in America and people have “done their best to take care of me.” He also says the university is more aware of the complications of hiring international faculty members.

One of the concerns of the complication arising from legal immigration is it can lead to illegal immigration, as is argued by the Migration Policy Institute. It is unclear how much illegal immigration would be curtailed by loosening standards. However, one thing is clear: it is difficult to enter the country legally.

All is fair in love and sport

The Bowl Championship Series is a collection of 5 bowl games that take place after the regular college football season is completed. The top two teams in the final BCS standings play one another in the national championship game. There are a few problems however. Many times, as we have seen in recent years, it is difficult to determine exactly which two teams are the best in the nation. Another problem is that only a select few conferences get automatic bids to play in these prestigious games.
There are 11 conferences in the Football Bowl Subdivision and only six of the conference champions are automatically represented in the BCS (Big east, Big-12, Big-10, Pac-10, SEC and the ACC). Then there are five other conferences whos champions are guaranteed nothing for winning their respective conferences.(Mountain West, Western Athletic, Mid American, Conference USA and Sun Belt) What is the point of having conferences if the conference champion doesn’t have a chance to win a national title?
The benefits of the Bowl Championship Series are as follows. Revenue generation is second-to-none. College football is a multi-billion dollar industry, and that’s why we have seen congress try to step in and implement changes. Under the BCS system, every single regular season game has more importance than ever. The pressure to win every game is immense because one loss could potentially cost a team their season. For example, Texas last year.
What the BCS system prevents is having an equal playing field for all the teams in the Football Bowl-Subdivision (formerly division 1-A). In the Football Championship-Subdivision (formerly division 1-AA) every conference champion is represented in the playoff field as well as a few at-large bids. A playoff decides a true nation champion whereas the BCS leaves shades of grey and open debate. There is no arguing that this creates a lot more emotion and attention, but is it fair..? After all, equality is what this great country is based on, right?
Just this past year, the University of Oklahoma was voted into the national championship game over the University of Texas after Texas had beaten them head-to-head earlier in the year. Both teams only had one loss on the year, but the BCS polls decided that OU’s tougher schedule was enough to get the nod to play for the title. Oklahoma would go on to lose in the title game and Texas would go on to beat Ohio State in the Fiesta Bowl.
In the 2003-2004 season USC was third in the BCS poll after the last regular season game leaving OU and LSU to play for the title. USC dominated their opponent in the rose bowl game and was voted number one in the Associated Press poll but LSU won the national championship game.
In the 2004-2005 season Auburn, who plays in the SEC conference,(an automatic BCS qualifying conference) went undefeated and was left out of the national championship game.
Tim Griffin, writer for ESPN.com, thinks that the coaches poll should be made public because it opens criticism to why coaches picked who they picked, and helps eliminate block voting which is where all the coaches from a certain conference vote for the top team in their conference so their schools can receive more BCS money.
Many rules have been changed since the beginning of the BCS existence. More and more flaws are revealed every year to where BCS officials have to tweak the rules to make it as fair as they can. However, until they can include every conference champion in the mix, there will be an unleveled playing field.
This year we are seeing controversy unravel in front of our eyes yet again. With one week remaining in the regular season, there are still six undefeated teams. (Florida, Alabama, Texas, Texas Christian, Cincinnati and Boise State) Florida and Alabama will face off this Saturday eliminating one undefeated team, but leaves the possibility of having five undefeated teams at the end of the regular season. This means that three undefeated teams will not be playing for a national championship. Never before has there been an occasion like this. If the polls hold up then the winner of the Alabama-Florida game will face Texas in the BCS national championship game leaving TCU, Cincinnati and Boise on the outside looking in. The only logical fair way to settle something like this is through a playoff.
In an article written by ESPN college football analyst Chris Low, earlier this year the Mountain West Conference, who does not receive an automatic bid into the BCS series, submitted their proposal for an eight-team playoff where the top eight teams in the final BCS standings will play in a playoff tree to decide a national champion. The playoff idea was rejected however because there is already tons of money generated from many different bowl game sponsors.
In an interview with the Texas State director of sports information, Rick Poulter said, “Many teams who play in the lower tier bowl games actually lose money by traveling to these games.” If there was an eight or even 16-team playoff that would eliminate a lot of teams from traveling to mediocre bowl games who hardly anyone shows up to anyways. I propose a 16-team playoff where every conference champion receives an automatic bid and then the next top 5 teams in the final BCS standings will receive an at-large bid. The first round games would be played at the site of whichever school averages a higher attendance between the two and then having the quarter-finals round played at four regional sites which will be the four big BCS venues. (Rose bowl, Fiesta bowl, Sugar bowl and Orange bowl). One of the four major sites will host the national championship in rotation of years. The semi-finals round could be hosted by the Cotton bowl and one of the other four venues in rotation as well. This will make deciding a champion fair while still getting big advertising money from the five major bowl sites.
In a student poll I conducted on the Texas State University campus, 68 percent of students would rather see a playoff determine the nation champion over the current BCS system. Most people cited that they think it would simply be more exciting to watch and would eliminate controversy.
There is no question that the BCS has been a huge success in terms of dollars generated, but the bottom line is that the system is unfair, and all the nation wants to see is a fair shot for every team to win a national title.

Up to date BCS standings.

Extra Credit -Donna Nall

Today was part of mass comm week here at Texas State University. One of the many events that went on this week was a lecture and question and answer session with Jim McNabb a man who has had over 40 years worth of experience in journalism and TV in Austin. He is also a singer/songwriter and hosts a journalism, media criticism blog at http://newsmcnabb.blogspot.com/. Jim was part of a panel that also included John Bridges who is the current editor for state and local Austin news at the Austin American Statesman. Bridges is a graduate of UT Austin and has been working at the Statesman for 20 years. Michael Pearson was also set to be on this prestigious panel but he absent for the discussion.

Jim McNabb was lively, energetic and seemed to have a genuine enthusiasm for all aspects of news, including the business side of news. He took us through a guided tour of the past 50 years of the news industry in the Austin area and gave us a little insight into the national spectrum of news as well. He explained the business model of the past and how news worked 50 years ago and continued into the present by explaining the current model for business and the fact the news industry is lacking any new models for business. The business of news is in bad shape, according to McNabb, because of the lack of a good marketing and business model for the current news industry. McNabb was passionate and stood up whenever he felt the need to speak. He was the Yin to Bridges Yang. Bridges was more more calm in his approach to public speaking by choosing to stay seated at all times and he took his time on questions and answered them in a much calmer manner.

Bridges expounded upon these ideas by answering questions from the audience about ad space, the internet, twitter and other such new technologies and how the current media outlets are learning to deal with and interact with these new technologies, in a profitable way. Bridges explained that ads on the internet are just plain cheaper and that local papers such as the Statesman are not brining in much revenue from this source of ad space and on top of that they are no longer selling as much classified ad space due to the advent of craig's list, ebay and other such on-line sellers. "Local news is too vital to fail.", said Bridges. Although the industry is struggling it has a committment to the community to succeed. We need to find a balance between new technologies and business models and those of the past. We need to find a Yang for this current Yin that we are facing in the newsroom, marketing room and business room.

What About the Weapon industry?

In the International advertising panel, Ashley Moran, Gretel Perera and Chaeles Webre were surprised by an unexpected question from one of the students in the audience.

“Do you know anything about the weapon industry?” an accented voice asked. The three panelists looked at each other, a long minute of silence sliced the discussion, “No,” said Moran, “no idea,” said Webre, “same,” said Perera.

What about the weapon industry? A quick research about PR and the weapon industry brought some interesting results:

One example for PR and weapons is the nuclear power lobby.The nuclear power industry is spending millions on public relations each year to revise the image of nuclear power from something dangerous, not to be touched, to something clean, green and desirable.

PR companies, have used an ex -Greenpeace spokesman to lobby for the nuclear industry in Congress and will not reveal how much they paid him.

Another example of PR and the weapon industry is the National Rifle Association, the most vocal and most recognized component of the "Gun Lobby." NRA it is best known outside of the shooting community as the most powerful advocate of individual rights to firearms ownership.

The most recent campaign of NRA in Congress was against the nomination of Sotomayor for Supreme Court judge. NRA has warned senators that a "yes" vote on Sotomayor will be included on its widely distributed candidate scorecard, the results are known to all.

So dear student, PR and weapon can be a good match, but your question was out of content. I guess you were not listening to what was said in the panel, maybe you were too busy tweeting or checking updates on your phone. One thing I can tell you for sure, you sure did a good job embarrassing yourself, stupid.

The past, present, and future of television news

by Nancy Pavlich

The past, present, and future of television news session had Patti Smith, president of KVUE-TV as a guest speaker for Mass Comm Week on Tuesday.

Smith was an inspiring guest speaker. She talked about all of the obstacles she has had to overcome to get where she is today.

She once had a professor give her a 'B' in a class where she knew she deserved an 'A', and when she asked about it he told her that women didn't belong in the news business.

"It didnt occur to me at the time that I was breaking gender barriers," said Smith.

She didnt give up, but worked harder and now Smith is the president and general manager of KVUE-TV, the ABC affiliate in Austin. " I absolutelly love what I do for a living," said Smith.

Smith is an example for Texas State students to continue to work hard for their futures.

Ad/PR alumni panel

by Nancy Pavlich

During Mass Communication Week one of the sessions that I attended was the Ad and PR alumni panel. This panel was made up of four young women who have all graduated from Texas State University, and now work in the advertising and public relations fields.

The panelists had a lot of advice for the room full of Ad and PR students. They said that students should build up their resumes as much as they can while they are still in school. Students should join clubs, attend Mass Comm Week sessions, and network. "Not everyone is going to have a job waiting for you right when you graduate," said Michelle Martin, who works in non-traditional PR. It's important to get your name out there and establish yourself. "Think of yourself as a brand," said Ashley Molton, who works in a hispanic ad company in San Antonio.

The panelisits also had some encouraging words for Texas State students getting a degree in mass communications. "Texas State grads have excellent reputations, even over UT and Baylor," said Patti Kelly, who works for State Farm insurance. Molton said, "I think half of our company is from Texas state."

This may be encouraging for Texas State students who are getting closer to graduation. There are a lot of things that students have to worry about when it is time to choose your career. Molton said, "Your future is essentially in your hands."

The ever-changing world of social media

At Thursday's "Using New Media to Keep Up With the Changing Times," professional journalists from the Austin-American Statesman and the Texas Tribune spoke to Texas State students as part of the university's annual Mass Communication Week.

I really enjoyed hearing from these journalists because they provided a lot of hope when it comes to story-telling in the future. Having sites like Twitter and Facebook can really be an advantage to a newsroom when it comes to getting information out quickly to a mass audience.

The speakers present were Robert Quigley, social media director at the Austin-American Statesman; David Doolittle, internet editor at the statesman and Elise Hu, reporter for the Texas Tribune.

The panelists agreed that social media is likely to change (mentioning Google Wave), but that micro-bloging is likely here to stay. As journalists, it is important for us to keep up with and stay in tune with the new social media that come out, finding new ways to use them effectively.

A Whole New Mind

Daniel Pink is a man of many colors, and so he explains how it will be color that employers look for in the years ahead. As mundane tasks begin to be outsourced for cheaper labor, Pink explains how a Master's of Fine Arts is filling more resumes where MBA's were the old standard in "standing out." Today logical, linear, sequential and spreadsheet abilities are essential, but not everything, according to Pink. There are three forces he lists as responsible for tilting the scales: Asia, Automation and Abundance. For one, left-brain tasks are being sold off-shore to the millions of often-times better educated at a fraction of the labor cost. Secondly, automation, as Pink used the example of Turbo Tax, is making left-brain work more rudimized. Lastly, abundance, our country where everything is made on factory belts, is quickly cutting out the unnecessary human chain link where computer can do the job just as well. Using this information as a set-up for his new book, "Drive," Pink further commented on his thesis of a right-brained movement by taking it one step further; how are educators to facilitate right-brained development?
Pink went on to describe the three motivations of humankind. Motivation 1.0 was the primal operating system for humanity that included survival and procreation. We then moved on to Motivation 2.0, which Pink described as 'carrots and sticks,' and is what got us here. Motivation 3.0, which is where we are now, is built around autonomy, mastery and purpose. Autonomy is the urge to be self-directed, mastery is the desire to excel at something we enjoy passionately, and purpose is the human motive for being successful and leadership. In closing Pink described how humans have larger desires and that the science of motivation is in finding grander purposes behind the obvious and mundane. If curriculums can incorporate exercises that stretch the imagination and foster creative thinking, institutions will best prepare their students for the world ahead.

Media for Changing Times

Rob Quigley, Austin-American Statesman Social Media Director, Dave Doolittle, Austin-American Statesman internet editor and Elisa Hu, Texas Tribune reporter spoke about social media and it's role in an evolving print world.

They believe that even though new technology has distracted readers from newspapers, they have found a way to use it to their advantage.

Quigley told students that even though twitter might be replaced in the future, microblogging is here to stay. He urged students to keep up with social media trends like, google wave.

To illustrate the effectiveness of social media he pulled up the Statesman Twitter account on the projector and posted, "Speaking to students at Texas State about journalism and social media for #mcweek. Say hi!" From time to time he'd refresh the page to show live feed back.

Hu says posting on twitter has made journalism stronger, "Makes us more careful, we overcompensate making sure that we’re accurate over verify, made me a better journalist, makes me over verify stuff."

She told students that Twitter is a valuable source for crowdsourcing. She mentioned a story in which she was writing about solar panels and sent out a tweet asking if anyone had solar panels. The response was immediate and abundant.

New Media minds and perspective

Students at A whole New Mind presentation heard a different view of new technology that is taking over the old prehistoric ways of journalism. Anybody can be a journalist, even a five year old. He can blog, twitter facebook, etc....with the best of them. Rob Quigley, Dave Dolittle and Elisa Hu were onsite from the Austin Statesman to give us a run down on how it is different and sometimes a little difficult to get the story with today's technological advances. Twitter seems to be the most compliant with access to the story and the news room via tweet. Letting the crew back at the station an insight on what the story is developing into. Tweeting give the update on wherever the reporter is on a iphone or a laptop. It makes sure you get your facts right. Whatever the communication format you use. Organic communication directly from human to human is allows better access to the story. To be prepared for a career in mass communication is learning how to do all the aspects in media such as audio, video, editing, reporting, webcasting and any other medium that can be used in the market. The skill sets of what college students are learning in school is giving an advantage in the industry. Getting an internship is a must because the student needs experience to learn and bring to the industry once they have graduated.
Monday students discovered a new perspective on how the Public Relations can allow you to network in the industrty without having to dig deep into your pockets. Christina Moore visited Old Main to tell students about PRAccredition which allows PR majors to get accredited in less than 2 years should they want to continue with a master degree. Public Relations accreditation is another way for upcoming major to network in the industry without having to to pay the institution the price of a Cadillac. If so chooses to be accredited, he or she would takthe APR test for about 245 dollars and attend a 3-day bootcamp in San Diego and then attending a TPRA conference in Austin coming up in November. This can help a student learn the knowledge, skills and ability of what it is to be a PR and help establish themselves in the marketplace.

It's Not Always Easy

Amanda Oskey and Stephanie Kusy opened my eyes on Tuesday as new graduates from Texas State University. Both graduated within the last two years from SJMC and received Bachelors' in Electronic Media. But, as Kusy put it, it's not easy finding a job that quickly out of college. Sometimes you have to apply to one hundred places just to get one interview. Kusy luckily found a job working at KAVU in Victoria, TX and Oskey now works at News 8 Austin, where she obtained the job from our Mass Communication Job Fair.

Oskey put it best. "If there's 300 people who are waiting for that one job, you have to make yourself that much better." As scary as that sounded when I first heard it, her statement was the truth. She said that her experience with KTSW prepared her for radio, but when she got a job as a television assistant producer, she had to learn a whole new world of skills.

Kusy confirmed that she had to learn new skills as well. In her studio, she puts together all of her packages in its entirety from shooting it, editing it, to researching her own stories. Both Kusy and Oskey said that their jobs aren't as glamorous as people make them out to be. Instead of getting their hair and makeup done in the morning, they are missing Christmas and birthday parties with their families.

They concluded that even though it's not going to be easy, if you truly have a passion for the business, it's the best business to make a career out of.

Times Are Changing, Media Must Keep Up

Five years ago, typing on your laptop or texting on your phone during a lecture would have been considerered rude and intolerable. Today, with the use of Twitter, both are highly encouraged to make the presentation less linear and more interactional. Students at Thursday's Using New Media Presentation used the new methods of communicating in full effect.

"We can't predict everything that's going to come out. All we can do is stay with the current," Austin American Statesman's Rob Quigley summed up his efforts to keep the newspaper current, while maintaining accurate information. He uses Twitter to include the people's opinions and their views of the news. This way, he can colaborate the people's observations of what's happening to them with the research behind the facts. I thought this was comforting because news is no longer what reporters tell us, newsmakers are now the storytellers as well.

Rob Quigley, along with Dave Doolittle from the Austin American Statesman, and Elise Hu from the Texas Tribune spoke about keeping up with the times and learning to follow them. Doolitte explained how something so simple as watching the trends on Twitter could turn into a story about how a unique butterfly is hearding into Austin. He also used this as an example of why we still need journalists to set the facts straight. Many thought the butterflies were Monarch butterlies and through journalism research, he did the story in the Austin American Statesman accurately.

Instead of trying to find the old norms, these panelists used the changing times with social media to their advantage. With each generational norm and new media, as journalists that is something we will have to learn to do.

What did happen to the Blair Witch kids?

They had quick, short-lived fame, that's what. However, Burnie Burns, founder of Rooster Teeth productions is experiencing ongoing success in the world of online video and film production. The steps getting up the hill weren't to easy though.

Burns was going to the University of Texas in the mid 90s as a pre-med student. The internet wasn't a big deal or a mainstream thing back then, but one day he realised that going to school for another 10 years was going to be a drain on him and his pocket.

He decided that Computer Science might be the way to go, because the business model, for computers, was going to take off any second. He was right, but his net success days were still a ways off. While killing some time he found that UT had a TV studio that wasn't being utilized, so he got his feet wet by editing A and b roll footage. keep in mind that this was before digital, non-linear programs were around, so he had to literally cut and paste film together.

Soon, and after eleven months, he and a few friends completeded a feature film that was about 116 minutes. They soon found out that distribution of the film was a huge hurdle. They had minor success with a few underground festivals, but couldn't get people to see the movie.

After the 'funk' of distributon, they eventually gave up on the project, and the friend who helped him moved to L.A. to begin his own work with major productions.

Burnie got a job, and on the side worked on a project with some buddies called drunkgamers. Exactly as it sounds, the model was essentially for them to try and recieve free video games in return for reviews.

On a whim, Burns decided to film a Mac parody PSA about Macs being bad for gaming, as PC is the preferred platform for gaming. Within 24 hours, his friend in L.A. saw the video from a friend and recognized a mutual friend in the film. To burns' surprise the L.A. friend called Burnie and asked what it was.

The light bulb clicked in Burnies head and he decided to switch the motive for drunkgamers. He could see that essentially what had happened was the internet cut out the ditribution efforts and cut the middleman. Now he could present something to people right away as opposed to 'getting picked up' or 'noticed.'

They soon developed a series of Halo parodies that critiqued real world values, issues, and sometimes off the wall stuff or content from the Halo game itself. Within 6 months of the first episode they were at one point six million views each episode.

Bernie had discovered that while he had experienced 'movie hell', he has tasted 'net heaven!' It was much quicker to do so many things with online video.

He discussed a few of his thoughts on why some people succeed and some follow a sort of reverse cliff pattern. His main point for getting noticed was to use your own platform website, as opposed to using something else, such as Twitter, Youtube etc. he says users who do that enjoy immediate success, but then decline after the initial shock or laugh factor wears off.

He thinks his idea is succeeding because he used his own platform that didn't enjoy great and immediate success, and people are still enjoying 'Red vs. Blue' for the first time and keep coming back because it is something unique and separate from a fad on Youtube.

However, he doesn't think Youtube is bad. He uses Youtube in conjunction with his own site, and thinks it's good to utilize Youtube as a hosting tool. Even some of his newer projects get more hits on Youtube than his own site roosterteeth.com

The net is becoming a huge platform for breaking artists and personalities. it is, as Burnie says, a 'media farm.' The lines between TV and the net is obviously blurring. Burnie says in the UK they have spent more on internet fudning than television programming.

When asked about net neutrality, what he thinks about the future of the net, and the possibility of paying for content, he doesn't think everyone will be forced to pay. Instead, we may see sites that host a higher tier of content for paying users, or special offers to those that donate.

The net has allowed for immediate feedback and cut out the middleman of media. It's a world where a teen can make six figures a year just by posting episodes about his day, thoughts, and a slice of his life. The changes aren't coming, they're here.

A Whole New Wave

In the panel about new media, Rob Quigley, Dave Doolittle and Elise Hu talked about new trends in the new media.

Google Wave is "a personal communication and collaboration tool" announced by Google on May 27, 2009.]It is a web-based service, computing platform, and communications protocol designed to merge e-mail, instant messaging, wikis, and social networking.

Here are some of the Wave's innovative features:
Real-time: you can see what someone else is typing, character-by-character.

Placement: Waves can be embedded on any blog or website.

Applications and Extensions: Just like a Facebook application , developers can build
their own apps within waves.

Wiki functionality:Anything written within a Google Wave can be edited by anyone else,
because all conversations within the platform are shared.

Open source: The Google Wave code will be open source ,to foster innovation among developers.

Playback: You can playback any part of the wave to see what was said.

Natural language: Google Wave can auto-correct your spelling, even going
as far as knowing the difference between similar words, like “been” and “bean.”
It can also auto-translate on-the-fly to more than forty different languages.

Drag-and-drop file sharing: No attachments; just drag your file and drop it inside Google Wave
and everyone will have access.

The only way to start using the Wave is by invitation. As of October, 2009, Google Wave is still in active development and is expected to remain in development until later in 2009.It was launched to about 100,000 users on]September 30, 2009. Google Wave invitation can be requested by filing up a form at https://services.google.com/fb/forms/wavesignup/

A new news world

Patty Smith of KVUE talked about how to land a first job, appeal to an audience and changes in media. Smith was once named broadcaster of the year.

Smith stated that whoever is passionate about there work will get the job. This sounded like a bit of a cop-out to me. There can be plenty of passionate people who want the job, but what specifically would make someone stand out above the rest?

She also told the audience that a station can choose which audience to appeal to. KVUE's majority of viewers are women aged 25 to 54.

Some of the changes we are seeing with TV stations are programming changes due to the financial crisis. In 1999 Smith had 157 employees. Smith currently has 124 employees working for her. She says she loves her job because it is constantly changing. News use to force viewers to a time and place, but that isn't the case any more thanks to the web/ digital recorders. TV stations are constantly trying to come up with new ideas to keep up with this ever-changing profession.

Adapting Is The Answer for New Media

The one common line that a lot of anchors, reporters or anyone in the business of media is "what the future of media will be what you (the next generation of journalists) will decide that." Why doesn't anyone just give us a clear answer? Reason is there's no telling what we will see as journalists in the next few years let alone decade. 

New media known as Twitter, Facebook and any other social site can be used and should be used to stay on top of the game. That seems to be the best answer I've heard to staying adapt to the changes of media and it makes sense. Although Twitter and Facebook aren't legitimate news sources, it's still a way for journalists to be in "the know." The panel was very beneficial to encourage students to join the networking world.

I personally have been holding out on activating a Twitter account, but the way journalists have encouraged us all to adapt to new media I feel I'd better keep up with everyone else and stay up with everything. I enjoyed Mass Comm week and will pass on to the messages to anyone who intends to make it in this business. 

Looking Forward: Making the Transition to Media Future

It's no secret that media as we know it is decaying rapidly. Now is the crucial time for us to rethink and adapt the way media works to use new technology and not have it be an enemy.

For the main part of Thursday's Mass Comm Week panel on new media, Rob Quigley and Dave Doolittle of the Austin-American Statesman and Elise Hu of the Texas Tribune answered questions about how new media is being implemented rapidly in their careers.

All three panel members said that even though sites such as Twitter have given nearly anyone the power to relay news, the media's role will be to validate those statements.

In closing the three panelists answered questions about how to go about getting a career as a journalist.

"You need to get as much real world experience as possible" said Hu.

This panel overall reiterated the fact if how important it is for journalists to stay on top of all the emerging tools at a journalists disposal.

New Media

I never realized the importance of social networking sites before the recent mass comm sessions. Especially in the one we went to as a class, they really emphasized the importance of Twitter. In many of the other Mass comm week sessions, they all say that it is important to be involved with the online community and to start making a name for yourself as an internet identity. I didnt find the session we went to as a class as interesting as some of the others, but it was still very informative.

Twittering into the next generation

I really enjoyed the session we all went to as a class. As we sat there I was inspired that if these editors and writers for magazines and newspapers thought twitter was such a great tool and were using it so much, I'd better have one too, and started working on setting up my twitter immediately. It seems like social networking and Twitter especially is giving reporters of all kinds the ability to be much closer to their viewers, to get feedback and get into their lives and give them information that will definitely be useful. I liked to see that with all of the new media in the world it's not all worthless mindrotting entertainment schemes but can really be used to gage what is news and what's going on faster than we have ever been able to before.

Using New Media to Keep Up With the Changing Times

David Doolittle and Rob Quigley from the Austin American Statesman and Elise Hu from the Texas Tribune held a session and spoke about the evolution of media and how it's constantly changing. Since we can’t predict where technology is going to be in the future, it’s crucial to keep up with it.

They spoke a lot about Twitter and how it’s used to help journalists come up with a more complete story going on in the community. Essentially, Tweets give color and quotes to a story. Not only does it help with a story, but it makes journalists more human to the reader. They emphasized to not be impulsive when publishing a story. Verifying information at hand is extremely important and could make or break your credibility.

For any student wanting to become a successful journalist they offered advice such as, look for internships, read everything and be flexible. Also, make sure you understand what a journalist does and follow them on Twitter along with any other writers you enjoy reading.

Success During a Time of Change

During Mass Comm Week, Patti Smith came and spoke to students about her experiences working in one of the most rapidly changing businesses in the country. Smith is the General Manager and President of KVUE in Austin, Texas.

Starting out at the bottom of the chain, Smith answered phones at a TV station during the day and voluntarily operated cameras for them at night. Though it wasn’t exactly what she had expected to do after graduating from UT, it was enough to get her foot in the door. She explained that in the beginning you shouldn’t be picky about work and just take what you can get.

Running a successful station isn’t easy. When asked how they maintain the success, Smith said that the core foundation is service to the public. If you serve the public you’ll make money in return. She said that, ‘content is king’; you have to have something that people want and need. It's also good to know what audience you're appealing to. Adapting and embracing constant change are also attributed to the success.

Smith's session was interesting and I'm glad I attended.

A Time of Great Change

That’s what we’re living in right now. At least according to the panel Using New Media in Changing Times which consisted of guest speakers Elise Hu of Texas Tribune, Rob Quigley of Austin American Statesman and David Doolittle also of the Austin American Statesman. They talked a lot about were journalism is going and they answered questions from the audience. Twitter was a big focus of this panel, with the guest speakers as well as a good portion of the audience updating their Twitter accounts throughout the entire panel.

Even with all this information at our fingertips the panel stressed the importance of not jumping the gun, of verifying the information. David Doolittle told the story of butterflies all over Austin and how he was about to send out that the Monarch migration had come through but at the last minute he decided to verify the information and as it turned out they weren’t Monarch butterflies, they were American Snout butterflies.

There was a lot of mention of the importance of social media for future journalists. It can be a good source of information as long as it’s used wisely and journalistic ethics still need to be followed, even on Twitter.

Love/Hate Relationship between Reporters & PR People

Robert Wood, Holly Wood, Sean Wood, David McLemore and Matt Curtis were the professionals involved in this panel on Monday. The first question asked was to what extent is the love/hate relationship between reporters and PR people. Capitol Bureau Chief Robert Wood said “it doesn’t have to be an adversarial relationship if you take time to learn who you’re talking to and what their interest is and what their focus is.”

There was a lot of talk on honest communication between journalists and PR people. As David McLemore said “it’s incumbent that you not lie.” Journalists don’t like it when PR people try to squash their stories and PR people don’t like being lied to by reporters about a story or to get a story.

In the wake of all this new technology and social media we were reminded to not forget traditional and mainstream media and the impact they can have. And also try not to send out a press release at 4:45 on a Friday afternoon.

Career advice from a comic

by Jenelle Madrid

Students at Texas State were introduced to a new spin on career guidance Wednesday night.

Daniel Pink’s The Adventures of Johnny Bunko: The Last Career Guide You’ll Ever Need is the first graphic novel to make Business Week’s bestseller list.

His novel is done in a Japanese form of comic book called Manga that he discovered while in Japan.

“Comics have different roles in Japan,” said Pink. “They are ubiquitous.”

He said that like television in the U.S. can tell any kind of story, so can comic books. Stories and/or guides on time management, cooking, and even Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet.

He also noted that while printing material in the U.S. is decreasing, Manga increases.

“I think career books are an endangered species,” he said. “But, books provide strategic advice that online can’t.”

In the book, Johnny Bunko hates his job, and has a realization while eating at a Japanese restaurant.

As he breaks his chopsticks, Diana, an “I Dream of Genie” type character, emerges. She is, as he quotes, a “kick-butt” career advisor.

For each broken set of chopsticks, a new lesson is learned in this order: 1) There is no plan, 2) Think strengths, not weaknesses, 3) It’s not about you, 4) Persistence trumps talent, 5) Make excellent mistakes, 6) Leave an imprint and 7) Stay hungry.

He also advocates finding a career that one has a passion for.

“If you hate accounting, you are going to be a crappy accountant,” he said.

He ended his presentation by career guidebook titles that posed questions asked by different generations. For instance, in the 80’s the question was What Color is Your Parachute?, the 90’s-Who Moved My Cheese? and the question for our generation is “wtf?.”

Daniel Pink is a humorous and insightful author that definitely has a hold on his audience, and his next book Drive: The Surprising Truth about What Motivates Us will be out in late December or early January.

Image from johnnybunko.com

Media Transitions

Thursday’s panel discussion on the transition in media featured three journalists who shared their comments and experiences in the field. Among them were Dave Doolittle and Rob Quigley who work for the Austin-American Statesman and Elise Hu, a writer for the Texas Tribune.

The discussion opened with the speaker asking the audience, “Will newspapers survive?” The answer was not too surprising for many who are expecting the papers to die once new media takes over. Quigley thinks that in about fifteen years, it is unsure to know if papers will still be around; this is due to a couple reasons. Media has encountered serious changes just in the past five years. A move to a more open media where anyone, anywhere can report and respond has made possible the idea that anyone can be a reporter. The second reason is that television stations are falling behind because of a decline in advertising revenue over the past few years. Advertisers are finding other ways to promote their products and services, including Internet advertisements, emails, and even text messages. With many of these possibilities at such a low cost, advertisers are straying away from the pricey television commercials they once could not survive without.

To combat these changes, journalists are trying to provide not just more content, but a higher quality content that the majority of people would not have access to find on their own. Journalists are agreeing the aggregation of media is the best way to make a high number of resources available at once.

Tweeting is one way that allows reporters to be more personal by creating an interaction that was not previously there, said Lisa Lu. Lu also said when people feel they are being listened to and answered, they feel more engaged in the story.

News outlets, such as the Austin-American Statesman, are considering new ways to attract people and gain revenue. The pay-wall idea is thought to be a new source of income. By charging Internet viewers a one time fee to gain access to more content online, news outlets can basically charge people for reading the newspaper online, instead of the old way of charging them for reading it on paper. Advertising through Twitter has already proved a success, and will be the starting point for many media businesses to spread information.

The State of Local Media

"We're fluxed," John Bridges, senior editor at the Austin-American Statesman, said. Bridges was referring to the changes facing media outlets, specifically newspapers. Joined by Jim McNabb, former managing editor at KXAN-TV, both men gave their opinions on the fate of newspapers and what skills up-and-coming journalists should possess.

"The media pie is being cut up into tinier pieces with each one trying to be more profitable," McNabb said. McNabb said the revenue problem has been building for decades due to advances in technology. "We are in the middle and there is no way to know where this will go," McNabb said.

Bridges said that while the Statesman is going through many of the problems most newspapers are facing, they have managed to remain profitable. "We haven't downsized but there have been buyouts," Bridges said. "Our newsroom has gone from 195 people to 152 people."

Bridges said he really felt the hurt when classified sites like Craigslist became popular. "The classified ads are the equivalent of printing money," Bridges said. "The irony is the Internet is all about information and we are information professionals, and we are the ones in trouble."

Beat reporting has gone by the wayside, often being one of the first positions cut along with copy editors, said McNabb and Bridges. Bridges said that beat reporting is vital to journalism. McNabb said he does not believe the future of journalism rests on bloggers. "I don't believe citizen journalists are the answer," McNabb said. "They are good for tips and quotes but they are not trained professionals."

To survive in the competitive field of journalism you have to be a one man band McNabb said. You need to be able to shoot your own video, take your own pictures, edit them, write the story and air it, if on TV. Reporters today can't rely on just being good writers McNabb said.

Bridges and McNabb gave their advice to future reporters. Bridges believes that writing is something you just have to do. "It is more like a trade," Bridges said. "A plumber can't fix a pipe from reading a book, he has to do it."

McNabb disagreed, he said he believed journalism is a profession not a trade. "It must be practiced like law or medicine," McNabb said. "You have to want it, you have to really, really want it."

Professionals dicuss new media uses

Elise Hu of the Texas Tribune, along with Rob Quigley and Dave Doolittle of the Austin American-Statesman, provided insight into the use of new media at today's "Using New Media to Keep Up with the Changing Times" session.

I came into this session with the same mindset I've had for previous ones this week in which professionals discussed the importance of social media. As many mass communication majors are aware, social networks have been a major factor in the ever-changing journalism era. I knew that several newspapers have finally jumped on the social media bandwagon with Facebook and Twitter, using the networks to send out news and get tips and information from readers.

However, I learned new aspects about these experts' uses of social media that I did not know before. The panelists gave somewhat of a "behind-the-scenes" look at their social media use. While I see these media outlets' breaking news tweets, what I don't see is what goes behind these tweets, such as the verification process, the news tips from readers, the aggregation of data, etc. Just hearing about how these professionals use Twitter and other social networking sites to do more than just post breaking news was encouraging to hear. It made me realize that utlizing social media to do more than just post news is something that I could learn easily and use to my advantage in the journalism industry.

Overall, I enjoyed today's panel about using new media. This session gave me a new insight on the topic and I plan to use the information I've acquired today as I continue to study in the mass communication field.

Red vs. Twitter

Today Burnie Burns spoke at mass comm week here at Texas State University. Burns is an independent film maker, the creator of a popular web series called Red vs. Blue and the founder of Rooster Teeth productions. Burns is a graduate of UT Austin where he received a degree in computer science.
Burns was extremely casual but also very professional in his approach to today's speech. He answered many questions from the audience, showed clips from Red vs. Blue and other online shorts that he has helped to create. Burns also spoke on the business side of being in the mass media and internet professions. Burns noted that although technologies such as Twitter and MySpace might be great social networking programs they don't always further your business or your revenue streams. He mentioned the fact that although Ashton Kutcher has over 3 million Twitter follows he can't seem to get that many people to go to his new movie, Spread (which I had never even heard of). The point is to learn to adapt to new technologies and not to put all your eggs into one basket. In other words, use Twitter and MySpace in addition to your own personal website and your own body of work. Those are the things that will never go out of fashion and can be adapted to new technological trends.

Naked News! Read All About It!

Today, at mass comm week here at Texas State University, I got to enjoy a panel discussion on the future of journalism and convergence. The guest speakers were Rob Quigley, who works for the Austin American Statesman; Elise Hu, who is a reporter at the Texas Tribune and Dan Dolittle, who is the metro editor for the Austin American Statesman. The panel took questions from the audience and addressed issues such as the future of the news industry and how to work in new technologies in the newsroom.

The main question on the minds of many in the news industry is whether or not the news, as we know it today, will survive. This panel explained why it will survive. One way it is surviving is the fact that many news stations and news papers are embracing new technologies such as Twitter, blogs, Facebook and other social networking sites. Many reporters at the Statesman use Twitter to get the news out as fast as it is happening. Hu pointed out that this is a great form of engagement between the media and the consumer. The two can now interact and get feedback from one another thru social networking sites. Another reason why the news will survive is the fact that it is credible. Quigley told a very funny story about a naked man that had been spotted on the top of Applebar in Austin. Everyone at the scene had been twittering that the man had hostages and a gun but it was a reporter for the Statesman that discovered neither of these rumors were true. People still trust the news to deliver the facts and although many people use twitter those same people will still fact check a Twitter message with a local or national news source.

The problem with social media sites is the fact that they just aren't bringing in any real revenue for the media. Many news outlets are looking for new business models and ideas to fix this problem. The Tribune is experimenting with a non-profit business model while the Statesman has experimented with ads on Twitter. No one knows, yet, if any of these models and ideas will stick but the point is that they are trying to make them work or find something that does. Social networking sites are here to stay and so is the news.

Report on "Using New Media to Keep Up With the Changing Times"

This session began with the age-old question in mass media as of late: "Will newspapers survive?" The answer to this question was brighter than expected, as Rob Quigly, Austin-American Statesman Social Media Director stated that the model will change but not vanish. He further commented that the industry is too busy evolving with changing social media trends to be concerned, and that the industry is taking along people who are willing to change with that model.
Dave Doolittle, on the other hand, who is the Statesmans' Internet Editor, commented more frankly: "We don't know." As Doolittle explains, it is hard to predict trends, and the only thing that matters is trying to stay ahead of the curve. The final panelist present, Elise Hu, a Texas Tribune Reporter, added a description of journalists needing to adapt to a "tectonic shift" in reporting; one that demands connectivity and knowledge across the board of social media in this quickly evolving Web 2.0 world.
In response to whether newspapers have credible advantages in this day and age, Quigly eagerly replied "credability." In a world of cyber rumors and tweets, Quigly added that where people turn to when a search of the truth is a matter of great importance is a newspaper, because they know its rooted in evidence and verified research. Some other things newspapers are offering these days is accessability and aggregated news strories. According to Hu, the cyber age has provided newsstaffs freedom to release reporters to more important and more time-costly stories.
With that said, certain issues still need to be addressed and changes made in order for the industry to stay afloat. Some experimentations in journalism include a non-profit model built upon sponsorships and advertising, Paywalls which allow more in-depth coverage online for a cost, and other various collaborations with social media outlets such as Twitter and facebook in order to create a cohesiveness with the people in delivering news stories.
As a conclusion to the panel discussion, all three panelists offered the following advice to current journalism students. First of all, don't lose your ethics as a journalist simply because the platforms and speed of delivery of news is changing. If ethics in the newsroom changes, then the news industry will surely crumble. Secondly, do not specialize. Employers are looking for individuals proficient in everything from handling a camera to recording a soundbite to posting stories on a website. Finally, Hu remarked that what truly impresses newsstaffs are "go-getters" and those willing to do what it takes. In an age where the media industry is doing more and more with less, professionals like Doolittle, Hu, and Quigley know that if you truly love and give your all to what you do, you'll never work a day in your life.

Gary Vaynerchuk talks promotion through social media and passion

Gary Vaynerchuk, author of “Crush It,” spoke to Texas State students on Wednesday as part of the university’s annual Mass Communication Week. Vaynerchuk discussed ways in which to promote a personal brand through social media.

He was able to revamp the wine industry by promoting it on social media networks. His wine website, Winelibrarytv.com, was launched in 1997, and Vaynerchuk has since been featured on Jimmy Falon, Conan O’Brien and Ellen (among many others). He has also been covered by the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times.

It was very interesting to listen to Vaynerchuk speak because he was undoubtedly very passionate about his work, book, website and promotion through social media.

He explained that he had an entrepreneurial drive from the time he was very young.

“I was all about the lemonade stand,” said Vaynerchuk. “I had six locations.”

He re-iterated the importance of finding something you are passionate about and delivering your message to people, no matter what platform. He made it clear that the message you send and the way you engage in conversations with people will ultimately measure your success.

“Anybody who can paint me a picture, I’m interested in,” said Vaynerchuk. “It’s not about the tools that deliver [the message,] it’s about what you’re delivering.”

Vaynerchuk also talked about the importance of the internet as a platform we all have provided to us at no cost. We are all able to blog and tweet about things that we are passionate about and promote ourselves through social media by engaging in conversation with people who share common interests.

“The internet is the single most underrated thing in our society right now,” said Vaynerchuk.

I enjoyed this session because I liked that Vaynerchuk got back to the basic principles of what makes someone successful - hard work and dedication. At the end of the day, no matter what fancy software programs, social media outlets or innovative technology you used to get your story out there, those things must be secondary to the message itself.

For journalists, ultimately, people will recognize and appreciate a true story-teller before they get caught up in how you chose to tell the story.

The changing world of Television

Today I got to go see Patti Smith, speak at Mass Comm Week. She is the President and General Manager of KVUE in Austin. I was delighted to found that this workshop was completely relevant not only to my career goals but also to my moral concerns about how television and film will fit into the way standards I want to live my life by. It was great to hear from this woman, who has not only fought for her success in the broadcast world, but also clearly held high standards and a work ethic based on truth and honesty the entire time.

Smith summarized the Television industry by saying that if you were passionate about what you were doing, and about giving people unbiased news and not worried only about making the most money, then you would find a job and enjoy it.

"Passion makes up for a great deal of indecision and lack of knowledge" said Smith encouraging students.

She said that one of the main things that has shook up the industry is the death of "exclusivity". Television is no longer the only place you can get a specific program or information. In spite of this Smith said that the old phrase "content is king" is still true, and even if audiences can get what they want from several different venues, what's important is the quality of what your network is producing.

This line of work, she said, "is all about change". People are hired for their abilities to adapt and their understanding that TV is no longer just TV.

Untimately Smith raised the question of where the industry will go next, and whether or not this business model (running Television news likea business) will be able to continue,especially local news. If the business model fails, Smith said we will lose a lot of invaluable information because the FCC will no longer be able to control the quality of the news. You will have to pay for nws, and there will be no guarantee of what you're going to get.

I was encouraged by what Smith had to say about television and media being right for you if you want to make a difference and like adapting and changing jobs. Looks like I picked the right line of work, thanks Patti Smith!

More Than Meets The Eye

When you first arrive at the Southside Community Center, you think the building is probably abandoned. My first visit was on a Friday morning and all the doors were locked. There was no sign of life and I couldn't find any hours of operation. I decided to walk around the property to see if I could find anything. I peeked in one of the windows and I saw tons of chairs and tables stacked in the corner. "So what is this place all about," I said to myself. I figured if I came back a couple of hours later someone would have to be there. I came back around lunch time and I saw about fifteen people eating on picnic tables on the side of the building. I walked inside (the door was unlocked) and immediately could smell food cooking. In the kitchen there was soup on the stove and sandwiches on the counter. The Southside Community Center is a non-profit organization that helps out the less fortunate in the San Marcos area. The small group gathered around the picnic tables were mostly working men on their lunch break who came to get a free meal and see friends. Families also come to the center when they need help with food or clothing. The homeless even have a place here. Warm beds are offered to those with no place to stay. The Southside Community Center is constantly getting involved with the community. They offer a Thanksgiving feast every year, summer camps for children as well as various other activities.