1/30 assignment

The pitch I would do would be on how it starts in high school and transitions to college. Pro athletes get much publicity about taking steroids to win championships and (more often the case) huge contracts. As long as there aremillions of dollars to be made in sports, people will try steroids. However, some students in college take it just to make the team and are often uneducated on the effects they have and don't realise the cost will greatly outweigh the rewards. I think these athletes missed out on education programs that are starting for athletes in states such as New jersey, Texas, Florida, and California to name a few. If the education is more widespread at younger ages, will it have an impact?

Here is a feature story on a student athlete who used steroids and committed suicide
http://www.lexisnexis.com:80/us/lnacademic/results/docview/docview.do?docLinkInd=true&risb=21_T5659879931&format=GNBFI&sort=RELEVANCE&startDocNo=1&resultsUrlKey=29_T5659879934&cisb=22_T5659879933&treeMax=true&treeWidth=0&selRCNodeID=22&nodeStateId=411en_US,1,76,11&docsInCategory=773&csi=11063&docNo=7

An article on Florida overnment aproving steroid testing in high schools
http://www.lexisnexis.com:80/us/lnacademic/returnTo.do?returnToKey=20_T5659899522

American Academy of Pediatrics public information on steroid use
http://www.aap.org/publiced/BR_Teen_Steroids.htm

Article on how California requires athletes to attend classes on steroids, particularly note the quote mentioning it costs the state $200 a student for this.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/09/20/MNGNDL90A51.DTL&feed=rss.news

Article on how drug testing is going in Texas high schools. They recieved 2 positive results in 10,000 tests, is it cost effective?
http://www.lexisnexis.com:80/us/lnacademic/results/docview/docview.do?docLinkInd=true&risb=21_T5659879931&format=GNBFI&sort=RELEVANCE&startDocNo=1&resultsUrlKey=29_T5659879934&cisb=22_T5659879933&treeMax=true&treeWidth=0&selRCNodeID=22&nodeStateId=411en_US,1,76,11&docsInCategory=773&csi=8213&docNo=6

Dallas news online feature on steroid use in high schools. Note the information given in the "Understanding Steroids" link
http://www.dallasnews.com/s/dws/spe/2005/steroids/index.html

1/14 assignment

moveon.org

There were a lot of posts about "moveon" members making it seem more of a club than journalism.  In reading the "About Us" section, I learned they coined the term "real Americans" before Sarah Palin.  Although they report news, they do so from one point of view.

Dave Barry

Obviously, this is humorous opinion.  No real journalistic value.

The National World

The anit-moveon.org site.  The front page had Ronald Reagan, a video accusing Obama of lying, and a graphic of a sad looking donkey.  This has a noticeable slant.

Slate

While Slate leans to the left, it doesn't seem as bad as moveon.org.  While the headline glorifies Obama and there is an article of best "Bushisms," there is also an article against Clinton as Secretary of State and an article accusing black women of voting for Obama just because of his wife.  While this is the most journalistic of the four sites here, I would still go to more traditional news outlets before this for my news.

Comm Web Sites

http://www.cas.usf.edu/communication/

http://newhouse.syr.edu/

http://www.communication.northwestern.edu/

http://annenberg.usc.edu/

http://communication.cos.ucf.edu/

The running theme I saw in these comm department sites that is lacking in FSC's site is a list of success stories.  Posting alumni accomplishments can demonstrate skills learned at the school and how they apply in the "real" world.  I was disappointed to see that most of the sites had a lack of student produced videos.  If students are making good quality projects, they should be advertised on the site.  I think FSC's site would be better if it had the latest episodes of SNN, SSN, and Wellness TV in a student activities section.