More snow falls over SRU

A common theme has progressed over the month of December on Slippery Rock University's campus. And no, I'm not talking about students panicking over finals. I'm talking about snow! Over the entire month of December, Mother Nature has provided the campus community with a plethora of snow fall.

Sunday, December 12, began the change in current weather trends with rain in the early morning. As the day progressed temperatures declined and the rain turned into a frozen mix. Quickly conditions for roads worsened, and SRU professors e-mailed students to update them on the possibility of canceled classes for the next day.

Monday morning SRU students awoke to about six inches of snow covering the campus and nearby community.



Classes for SRU begin daily at 8 a.m. Despite this information, with the rapid amount of snow that was still coming at that time, roadways were unable to be cleared. Main Street, which is used for a majority of commuter students to get to classes, had poor conditions.




As many students joke around that the name of the university should be changed to Snow and Rain University, the recent weather conditions have supported this. So, with the upcoming weather forecast will students have more to worry about during finals week than just exams? Additional snow accumulation throughout the week will be prevalent. Although, Tuesday and Wednesday will only have accumulation up to an inch on each day. Thursday and Friday show no snow accumulation at this time. 

Students and community members of Slippery Rock are more than used to the weather that is common in this area. Many local members of the community purchase four wheel drive vehicles to cope with the amount of snow that this area receives.

Students of SRU should get used to the snowfall. A typical Spring semester at SRU includes multiple months of snow storms.

Last Holiday, Kwanzaa

The last stop on our journey of the holidays is Kwanzaa. Like Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, is celebrated over a span of a few days, seven to be exact. The celebration begins on December 26 and ends on January 1. It was created by Dr. Maulana Karenga in 1966 and has been celebrated with each passing year since then.

Kwanzaa celebrates what is known as the Seven Principles of Kwanzaa. These include; unity, self determination, collective work and responsibility, cooperative economics, purpose, creativity and faith. Each day of Kwanzaa is dedicated to one of these principles.

Like Hanukkah one of the traditions of the holiday is to light a series of candles, one on each day. Kwanzaa celebrators light a kinara, which consists of three red candles on the left, three green candles on the right and a black candle in the middle. Each candle symbolizes one of the seven principles, the red and green candles are lit alternately starting from the outermost candle. The black candle symbolizes the African race, the red symbolizes African bloodshed and the green represents African land.

Like Christmas, Kwanzaa celebrators take part in decorating their home for this holiday. Decorations use the three colors of the candles in the kinara, red, black and green. Decorations include; African art, baskets, harvest symbols and cloth patterns. Like with the other two holidays, it's all about each families traditions and how they make the holiday special and unique for them. Jessica Gordon, 21, celebrated the holiday in her childhood.

From Kwanzaa

Gordon explains the traditions that her family practiced during the holiday. Each night a new family member was the spokes person for the principle that was being expressed.



Although, Gordon practiced this religion when she was younger she no longer celebrates the holiday. After speaking to a few people, I found that many of them celebrated when they were younger and no longer do.



Gordon explains whether or not she will celebrate Kwanzaa with her family she will have someday. She explains it depends on the values and principles of her future husband.



This concludes my exploration of Hanukkah, Christmas and Kwanzaa. Despite having multiple differences, each embraces the traditions that each family has to make it their own and unique.

In the Spirit of Christmas

So, now that you are all educated on Hanukkah and some of the traditions, it's time we look at Christmas. Christmas takes place on December 25 and celebrates the birth of Jesus. Many people say that Christmas has gotten away from the religious aspect, but in many Christians' minds the religious aspects are still very prominent.

Unlike Hanukkah which is celebrated over a span of eight days, Christmas just takes place on the one day. However, planning for this special occassion starts around Halloween. Each year stores seem to be pushing the holidays on consumers sooner and sooner. Christmas shopping for most people starts the day after Thanksgiving on the popular, Black Friday.

Like Hanukkah there are traditions that almost everyone who celebrates the holiday takes part in. For Christmas celebrators this includes decorating their home. Christmas trees, lights and nativity scenes are all popular decorations for people who celebrate this holiday.



Like with any other event that college students take part in, we look to do things on a small budget. For students on a budget typically a lot of handmade decorations are created. In the pictures above some students at Slippery Rock University gathered to create personal ornaments.

Finally, like Hanukkah the true holiday is what you and your family make of it. Every family has their own traditions for the holidays that they celebrate. Morgan Ricketts, 20, and a student at SRU, explains a simple tradition that has been in her family for as long as she can remember.



Carly Stevens, 20, and also a student at SRU, recalls the tradition of attending mass on Christmas Eve. Many churches offer a mass on Christmas Eve, and it is a tradition of many Christians to attend and celebrate the birth of Jesus.



Finally, Stevens explains a tradition that her family takes part in every year on Christmas day. Traditions like these help make the day more special.



Like Hanukkah it is up to your family's traditions to provide a clear definition of what the holiday really is. Each family's traditions help to morph the holiday into something truly unique.

Check back early next week for my final update which will discuss traditions of Kwanzaa.

Handler Takes On Pittsburgh

Chelsea Handler, who is best known for her E! television comedy show, Chelsea Lately, performed at Consol Energy Center Saturday, December 4. The Chelsea Chelsea Bang Bang Tour named after the New York Times Best Seller has traveled to many cities across the United States, but Handler said that Pittsburgh was her biggest show.

From Chelsea Handler

Handler has written two other books that have hit the New York Times Best Seller List along with Chelsea Chelsea Bang Bang. These include her first book, My Horizontal Life: A Collection of One Night Stands, a memoir of her sexual encounters she's had in her life, and Are You There Vodka? It's Me, Chelsea, which is a collection of hilarious essays covering a variety of topics.

Her show, Chelsea Lately, which appears on E! weeknights at 11, provides viewers with a feeling of belonging to her circle of friends and "in" on her inside jokes. Each show features a roundtable discussion consisting of Handler and three other comedians that change from show to show. Chelsea Lately has a guest on each show and finishes out the episode with an interview of them.

From Chelsea Handler

Handler's opening act was fellow Chelsea Lately comedian and friend, Heather McDonald. McDonald also has a book on the New York Times Best Seller List called You'll Never Blueball In This Town Again, which is a collection of personal experiences she had before giving up her virginity. McDonald is well known for hilarious impressions of celebrities.

From Chelsea Handler

Handler has a well known sponsorship with Belvedere vodka, and from what viewers could see at the show she was in no short supply of it backstage. Handler willingly talked about experiences of her own and openly bashed multiple celebrities throughout her routine. As a college student in my final year at school the show provided a great breath of fresh air before I enter finals week.

The Festival of Lights Begins

Despite the recent ruthless jabs from Mother Nature, three popular holidays take place during the month of December. Hanukkah, Christmas, and Kwanzaa all have stories of how they have come about, but it is up to the people who celebrate them to truly provide depth and creativity to each of these holidays. Over the pages of three blogs I hope to share with you the stories of each of these ancient holidays and the traditions people practice to make them unique.

Hanukkah, which is also known as the Festival of Lights or its Roman name Chanukah, is a Jewish holiday celebrated over a span of eight days. The holiday commemorates the rededication of the Holy Temple at the time of the Maccabean Revolt. Lucy Ainsman, 20, and a Hanukkah celebrator, explains the story behind the creation of this holiday, and the tradition of lighting the Menorah. A Menorah consists of 9 branches, one for each night and a raised middle branch for the purpose of lighting each of the other candles.



This year Hanukkah began at sundown on Wednesday, December 1. Ainsman and Rachael Green, 22, celebrated the holiday by cooking traditional Jewish dishes and reciting Jewish prayers. Ainsman and Green prepared latkes or potato pancakes, matzo ball soup, challah a traditional braided bread, and shuk shuka a traditional Israeli dish consisting of tomatoes, garlic and eggs.



Ainsman carries on traditions of many Jewish families like braiding the challah.




On the first night of this holiday three blessings are recited in Hebrew before the lighting of the candles on the Menorah. On all other nights only the first two are recited. Ainsman and Green recite some of the blessings prior to the candle lighting and their meal.



Although being an hour away from home, Ainsman still smiles while reflecting on the traditions of her family from her past. She explains the tradition of the dreidel bags distributed to family during their Hannukah party.



Typically Hanukkah takes place before students who are away at college are dismissed for winter break. Students such as Ainsman and Green make compromises and reflect the Hanukkah traditions of their parents and grandparents even when away from their families. After having the opportunity to enjoy the traditional Jewish dishes Ainsman and Green prepared I have to admit it was hard not to be in the spirit of Hanukkah.

SRU Fine Arts Major Talks Future

Common misconceptions for fine art majors include many different things. Some of these include; they sit around and draw all day or they get to take it easy and play with clay throughout the day. While fine art majors do spend their time drawing, creating ceramics and sculpting it really is a lot more complex than many think. Trevor King, 22, is a senior fine arts major at Slippery Rock University, and provides people not familiar with the major a description of what is entailed.




King began his career at Slippery Rock University as a parks and recreation major, after one day he made the change and went after his ambitions of becoming an art student. From that moment on King has been putting himself to the test not only in the classroom, but also pushing himself to succeed outside of the classroom.


According to King, SRU's fine art major has some differences from other schools. SRU's major doesn't really have an emphasis like other schools, students are able to get a well rounded approach to the arts. It is up to the student to make the time to emphasize a particular medium.

From Trevor King

This "glowing" Big Mac features King's capability to work with different mediums.

From Trevor King

These were featured at the Renegade Art Show on SRU's campus Thursday evening.

King has evolved from SRU's interpretation of the fine arts, and has came up with a style of his own. His style takes the foundations of traditional art and combines it with non-traditional ideas of his own. "It is traditional in form, but not in function," King said.

From Trevor King

This picture provides an example of how King uses traditional foundations to create non-traditional pieces. By mixing chemistry with ceramics he was able to create a realistic looking log.

The fine arts major requires a large amount of time outside of the classroom from the student. King said that typically he will go to class, then go to work, have another class and then spend his evenings in the studio working on creating different pieces. To be successful in the major it requires a lot of self discipline and time.



King's fellow classmate and graduate of the class of Fall 2009, Jackie Cypher, 23, speaks fondly of his work. She sees real potential in him and has taken notice of his motivation. Cypher also can see how King works well with different mediums.



So, now it comes down to what do you do with a degree in the fine arts? What kind of profession do you have, besides being a professional artist and selling your work? King hopes to one day be a professor. Since, there is no doctorate in the fine arts, to become a professor you just need a masters. King hopes to attend graduate school next year.



Along with becoming a professor, King hopes to one day work at an art residency. At these residencies you are given housing, money for food and a studio to work on your art in. King has shown interest to one in Montana called Archie Bray, which is dedicated to enrichment of the ceramic arts.



All in all, speaking with King changed my perspective on fine art majors. He reinforced that it's a serious major and not all fun and games, and just like many other majors requires hard work, dedication and time to really advance.

Slippery Rock Election Poses Large Divide Between Residents

Attention all Slippery Rock University students, Tuesday, November 2, 2010 was Election Day. It seems as though many of the students may have known, but chose not to express their right to vote and instead stayed away from the polling places. Even when the Student Government Association had an attempt to make it easier for students to get to the polling places with the, Election Express.

The bus was helpful to students who do not have transportation while on campus. However, many who decided to head out to the polls chose their own form of transportation.

One of the biggest issues posed in this election locally, was the proposed Government Study Commission that a select number of the borough wished to bring to Slippery Rock. The government study would be a group of officials voted on by the residents of the town to assess the services and finances of the governments of the Slippery Rock Borough and Township. Signs such as the ones pictured below were used to raise awareness of the different standpoints on the issue.

Members who stand behind the study, believe that it will be beneficial for the township. The study which will look at a proposed merger between the township and the borough. This will allow borough law enforcement to patrol the township as well. The study could also reveal that nothing should be changed with the borough or township. Charles Brochetti, a borough resident, explains why voters should vote "yes" for the government study.

The opposing standpoint asks voters to vote "no" for the Government Study Commission. They believe there will be no benefit for the township. Property tax rates would rise not only in the township, but also in the borough. Students residing in apartments throughout Slippery Rock would see increases in rent. John Hines, township resident, explains the consequences of a government study commission.

 Poling places for Slippery Rock Residents were located at the Slippery Rock Township building and the Slippery Rock Park. Polling locations opened at 7 a.m. Tuesday morning and closed at 8 p.m. Tuesday night.

View Slippery Rock Polling Places in a larger map

SRU Homecoming Parade Makes "Haunted" Appearance

Click the items on the map to view videos and photos from the event.

View SRU Haunted Homecoming Parade in a larger map

Special Olympics Athletes compete at SRU

Bocce was one of many events Special Olympic athletes participated in Sunday at Slippery Rock University.

Participants of the Special Olympics competed in the long distance walk Sunday. The event was held on Slippery Rock University's campus.

Participants in the strength competition pose for pictures Sunday at Special Olympics. These three men were the top participants in the strength event.

Volunteers and participants of Special Olympics were provided lunch from Sheetz. The event took place at Slippery Rock University Sunday.

Kara Mattern, 21, Chad Palladino, 19, Ali Doyle, 18, discuss their roles as volunteers at the Special Olympics. The event took place at the Aebersold Student Recreation center on Slippery Rock University's campus Sunday.

Special Olympics was held Sunday at Slippery Rock University. Participants had the opportunity to compete in multiple events such as volleyball.

Students at SRU have opportunity to explore job opportunities with thirty six employers at Job Search 101

Slippery Rock University hosted a job fair Thursday for students in the School of Business, Information, and Social Sciences. Check out my slideshow for images from the event!

Should the government provide vouchers for students to attend private schools?

If someone was going to write a story on a topic such as this you would want to know both sides of opinions. The Deseret Morning News believes that providing these vouchers will cause segregation. The American Civil Liberty Union of Utah provides their argument on this topic well. Not only do they tell you why they are opposed to the vouchers, but they provide background information to support their opinion. The Washington Times explains how the vouchers have become a good thing for families in Sweden. The Alliance for the Separation of School and State provides an entry for both of the opinions on this topic. They also provide multiple links for background information on the topic. In 2002 the state of Ohio had a case appealed to the Supreme Court to see if these vouchers violate the Establishment Clause. Zelman v. Simmons-Harris showed that the vouchers were indeed constitutional. A lot of the arguments made on this topic are regarding whether the vouchers should be able to be used for religious schools. The Americans United for the Separation of Church and State believe that the vouchers are constitutional, as long as they are able to use them at a wide array of private schools.

New West Knows How to Use New Media

New West is an online media source dedicated to providing information on the culture, politics, environment and lifestyle of the Rocky Mountains West. They describe themselves as a next generation media source, which in other words is new media. They wish to provide innovative journalism that evokes participation among their readers. Since their beginning in 2005, New West has been connecting the fastest growing region in the country. I am going to critique certain areas of their award winning website and explain why I think it works or why I think it doesn't.

Design
Upon first arriving at the website, I found the design to be a little busy. However, after taking the time to look deeper into it I was able to see that although it had a lot of information it was well organized. All of the information is placed in boxes and given some sort of heading. If you became familiar with the site and really liked a certain aspect then it is right there for you to find. One of my favorite things about the website is shown when you first log on. I like that they call their home page the Front Page. I think this helps people who are “newbies” to this kind of media source feel more comfortable. It gives it the style of a more traditional media source. All in all I'd have to say I don't love the design of the site, but it keeps everything organized and gets the job done.

Writing Style
After heading to read my first article on the site on the topic of wolves, I noticed another feature that I thought added to the new media aspect of the site. First you are exposed to the headline of the article, and then when you click the article you are given a brief bolded synopsis of what the story entails. I really thought this was a great idea because it allows you to get a general feel of what the story is about. The style of writing on this site is more conversational than a traditional media source. The authors do an excellent job of not burying the lead or the important information. The paragraphs are short and easy to read, however; many of the stories seemed to be lengthy. Another feature that I found useful was that they used links in the stories to go back to reference earlier stories. This makes it easy to guide a confused reader to the right direction.

Video/Graphics
I liked that each story had a graphic that went along with it. On the site they provide a link to look at graphics and video. This takes the reader to a page filled with pictures taken by the writers of the site and also community members. After each picture they have a link for comments so people can converse over the images.

Interactivity
One of the reasons why I like to get most of my news online is because of the interactivity. I love to provide my feelings on the topic after I've read the article. New West provides a link at the end of every article to allow the readers to strike up a conversation. New West strives for as much participation from their readers as possible. They provide links for input at any location they can. Another feature I find really beneficial is that they make it easy for you to share or e-mail the story which can help and boost them through social media.

Social Media
The Front Page of the New West site provides a live feed of their Twitter account. From what I can see they tweet a few times every few days. Their tweets are well written and provide just enough information to get the reader to want to read more. I also noticed that they use hashtags, this will help to gather an even larger Twitter audience. New West also provides a link to their Flickr account on their front page. They provide a featured photo, a slideshow and offer a group for people to contribute to. This is another great way to spark interactivity on their site.

Credible Online Sources for Eminem

I went into this assignment thinking it would be easy, because I was sure there was so much information about Eminem out there. This was true, but a lot of the stuff came from non-credible sources. Here's my top picks for credible Eminem sources.

1.) Fox News - I found this source to be credible, because it is written by a well known media source. Fox News is an outlet that many people use on a daily basis to get their daily news.

2.)Encyclopedia Britannica - I believe this source is credible, because like Fox News the Encyclopedia Britannica is a well known publication. This isn't a site that people are able to contribute their own information on.

3.)Billboard - As many of you know, Billboard is known for releasing it's Hot 100 music charts. They do their research to make sure that they have the correct Top 100 songs. They are well associated with music, and I believe them to be a credible source.

4.)MTV News - This site provides an actual news story that you could reference for interview questions. It provides something other than a biography. I consider MTV to be a credible source, because it is well established in the music scene.

5.)BBC News - Finally, to ask some more controversial questions this article and site could be used. Once again I used a site that a lot of people are familiar with. It is a well established news source.

And So It Begins...

You could say I'm relatively new to the world of blogging, but since this is my first post let's start off on a fresh note with no ambiguous thoughts and just come clean and say it, I've never done any blogging before in my life. Now is as good a time as any to get started, right?


My name is Emma Walter and I am a senior at Slippery Rock University. Like any typical college student I have a Facebook page, and like any Communications student I have a Twitter account. I've always wanted to try blogging, but was waiting for an excuse to get started. My excuse came this semester when I began studying New-Media Journalism. New-media is such a fascinating topic to me, because it is constantly evolving and the possibilities are endless. I'm excited to have the opportunity to not only blog, but also get a little work in my major of public relations, by promoting my blog through the use of social media.


One of the most interesting things in studying new media is to see how much media outlets have evolved in just a few years. ABC News is a great traditional media outlet that provides a variety of stories that reach out to a variety of publics, such as myself. It has a traditional style in its daily newscasts that is more appealing to some. It's website is actually starting to lean towards a new-media outlet. However, times are changing and sometimes people want things a little more informal. They are looking for something that tells them exactly what they want, and when they want it. They want to be able to relate to the story and the author on a more personal level. Take the new-media outlet, The Huffington Post, it provides multiple options for the most up to date news. Such as blogs, which are quickly becoming one of the fastest media outlets with the use of backpack journalism and of course social media. If you are interested on any certain topic, there is a blog out there to help you get the most information in the least amount of time.

I'm excited to begin my journey with new-media and look forward to sharing my details with you.