Reading assignment for Tuesday, Oct. 31

For Tuesday, Oct. 31, please:

- Read the following piece from CJR, a profile on a professional obituary writer:

DEAD ON

And read Bill Roorbach's introduction to "Contemporary Creative Nonfiction: The Art of Truth," which is in your course packet.

We will discuss these on Tuesday.

And on another note, now would be a good time to start thinking about your final project, which will be a feature story on a topic of your choice. Feel free to bounce ideas off me at any time. I'll help you narrow your topic down and develop a nut graph (aka a 'thesis').

Assignment #3: Localization and public reaction

Your assignment for Thursday, Oct. 26, is to write a 2-3 page (double-spaced, 12-pt font) news feature following up on the arrests of the two UAlbany students accused of raping a female student this weekend.
The angle you will take is to assess the reaction of the campus community to this news. You may attempt to discuss the reaction of the campus and community in general, or you may narrow your focus (i.e., localize) to include the reaction of a particular group on campus.
Your story must include five or more human sources, one of whom cannot be a student (i.e., it could be an alumnus, professor, staff member, nearby business owner, neighbor, etc.).
You can use the following material for background purposes. If you use any information from these sources in your story (whether you quote or paraphrase), you must cite the source(s) properly.

Click here to read the Times Union story

What follows is a statement from the provost:

To: Faculty and Staff
From: Susan Herbst, Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic
Affairs and Professor of Political Science
Date: October 16, 2006

I'm writing to personally communicate with you the details regarding an
incident that occurred over the weekend. Two University at Albany
students were arrested this morning by University at Albany police in
connection with an alleged sexual assault of a University student that
reportedly took place on campus in a residence hall early Sunday
morning. The alleged victim was acquainted with the accused.
The arrested students, both freshmen and members of the University at
Albany football team, are currently being held in the Albany County
jail. They have been suspended from the University and the football
team pending the outcome of the investigation.
The University's priority is to allow the university police to conduct a
full and thorough investigation in a timely manner. We are also
offering our support to this young woman and her extended circle of
friends and family. Section meetings are being held this event on
Indian and State Quads to address issues of personal safety, emphasizing
strategies for the prevention of sexual assault.
As part of the University's ongoing prevention efforts regarding
acquaintance rape and sexual assault, we are encouraging each of you to
please take the following safety precautions:
* Recognize that using alcohol or drugs greatly increases your
risk of being involved in a sexual assault or other regrettable sexual
encounter.
* Avoid being separated from your friends. Be cautious about
accepting rides or invitations from people you don't know well.
* If possible, keep a cell phone handy in case of emergency. Call
911 from on or off campus if you need assistance.
Faculty members are advised to counsel students to use good judgment and
common sense regarding their safety. Should a student be victimized,
they should call 911 as soon as possible. Please know, as well, that
the University has services available to assist victims of sexual
assault. For a coordinated response, call Christine Bouchard, Associate
Vice President for Student Success, at 956-8140 or the Counseling Center
at 442-5800.

Now, Our Feature Presentation ...

Tonight's class will introduce the section of the course on feature writing. Below are links to a small selection of feature stories. We will discuss some of these in class as time permits.

A light piece about an unhappy bank customer, from the St. Petersburg Times

A Travel Story about High-Rollers, from The Associated Press

A Business Feature, from National Public Radio (it's an audio feature, so you'll need speakers or headphones)

Your Assignment for Tuesday, Oct. 17, is to do some Web surfing in search of some great feature stories. Select one that you think is strong (how ever you define that: elegantly written, insightful, provacative, humorous, etc.). Bring a hard copy of the piece (or at least the URL so we can call it up) to class and be prepared to discuss its merits.

Reading Assignment for Tuesday, Oct. 10

Read the following document from the New York State Committee on Open Government. We will discuss it on Tuesday.

Your Right to Know

Assignment 2, the follow-up

For Thursday, write a follow-up story on the hypothetical Hopalong disaster. Base the folo on the "press conference" we conducted in class as well as the following material, which I'll call Source #4 and Source #5. If any of the details provided here conflict with Gladys Jones' spoken comments, assume the written material is correct. (Granted, in an actual newsgathering situation, the appropriate thing to do would be to contact the official and ask for a clarification before making such an assumption.) Make sure your new headline and lead emphasize the new information. It will be important to include some background information from the original story, but be sure to put it in an up-to-date context.

Source #4: Another Press Release

The Tynman County Office of Emergency Management handed out the following new press release at the news conference which took place at 9 a.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 27:

County officials have confirmed that yesterday's tornado claimed the lives of three individuals:

- Lloyd S. Jenkins, 57, of Guild Road, whose death was previously reported.
- William J. Andersen, 23, of Topeka, who was apparently hitchhiking along State Route 35 on his way to a concert in Witchita. Hopalong EMS workers discovered his body in a ditch next to the highway at 7:30 a.m. today.
- Tanya L. Smith, 29, of 314 Sandstone Road in Hopalong, whose body was found in the wreckage of her mobile home late last night.

Most of the non-fatal injuries suffered in the wake of the tornado were less serious than initially reported, and all of the individuals treated at St. Dorothy's have been released, with the exception of one elderly man who sustained a punctured lung and remains in intensive care. His identity will not be made public until authorities are able to contact his relatives.

Ten-year-old Peter R. Shardenfeller, who was airlifted to Lawrence Memorial Hospital, was in stable condition as of 8 a.m. today. He is expected to be released from the hospital tomorrow into the custody of his parents, Tremont and Natascha Shardenfeller of Guild Road in Hopalong.

At least five residential homes were destroyed by the tornado, and 25 other properties have been reported as having sustained serious damage. Local officials estimate the total cost of the damage will be between $1 million and $2 million, but a formal assessment will be conducted by officials from the Federal Emergency Management Agency upon their arrival. Xavier Onassis, FEMA regional director for the Central Plains states, is en route with a team of experts.

The Tynman County Chapter of the Red Cross has set up an emergency shelter with cots and hot meals for people whose homes were damaged. It is located in the basement gymnasium of Arlen Elementary School on Reed Street.

Source #5: Mrs. Berk

Since Leonard Berk did not call you back as promised, you look him up in the white pages. He's not home, but his wife, Melinda Berk, answers the phone. She offers the following remarks:

"Oh, the Sullivans are fine. But one of their dogs is missing. It's an ugly Lab named Mr. Tooters. Good riddance. All summer long he kept sneaking into my garden to pee on my tomato plants."

"Their toolshed flew right up onto their roof ... That's right, a toolshed, not a barn. Leonard said it was a barn? He's excitable. It did smash a couple of windows, but it's not too bad. Could have been worse. Sheila -- she's Mike's wife -- she said they're gonna have to get somebody to take it down with a big crane. And they're gonna have to replace their roof, I suppose. Their lawnmower landed right in our pool."

"Yeah, that's terrible about Tanya. They say she must have been asleep on the couch when it hit. Nice girl. She works the graveyard shift at the Blue Moon Diner. Waitress. She wasn't married, as far as I know; no kids. She was taking classes at TCC [Tynman Community College]. She wanted to be a meteorologist. Such a shame. "