Semester in Review

This semester absolutely flew by.  It seems like yesterday we were sitting in class on the first day, and Dr. Lieb was trying to explain to us how important choosing a topic was for our semester project.   I was completely flustered with the task, and literally took the next two weeks stressing over what my topic was going to be. 

 Looking back on the semester, I really feel like I’ve come a long way in every facet of new media and journalism. 

 First of all, my ability to use dreamweaver and all different technological aspects has really improved.  At the start of the semester, I had a lot of fear regarding the tech aspects, and I’m really thrilled that I’ve gained the knowledge and experience necessary to at least say I have a working knowledge of these programs. 

 Secondly, I think it’s safe to say my writing has come a long, long way.  Getting used to writing with a theme in mind, and writing on a deadline, I was able to hit my stride as the semester went on, and it taught me many journalistic qualities necessary to succeed in the real world. 

 This class really has taught me a lot, and most importantly, everything that went on throughout these few months was relevant to life as a journalist and life in the real world, and I think we all have Dr. Lieb to thank for that.

Links to Comments

9/27/09

http://steveboyle36.wordpress.com/2009/09/25/the-scratcher-offer/#comment-7

http://melanytroy.wordpress.com/2009/09/25/beef-up-your-resume-with-an-internship/#comment-6

10/4/09

http://lilymlee.wordpress.com/2009/10/02/45/#comment-8

http://chrisreilly425.wordpress.com/2009/10/02/z-wilt-and-his-site/#comment-6

10/11/09

http://steveboyle36.wordpress.com/2009/10/09/zack-duker-will-continue-to-make-his-bets/#comment-14

http://daniellekoch.wordpress.com/2009/10/07/research-post-2-12-reasons-to-go-to-grad-school/#comment-10

10/18/09

http://steveboyle36.wordpress.com/2009/10/16/chris-ohr-uses-bad-economy-to-his-advantage/#comment-16

http://arabe1.wordpress.com/2009/10/16/odd-job-number-four-farm-end-at-a-horse-farm/#comment-12

10/26

http://steveboyle36.wordpress.com/2009/10/26/lower-buy-in-hits-jackpot-for-borgata-in-atlantic-city/#comment-22

http://courthammond.wordpress.com/2009/10/22/sixth-interview/#comment-20

11/1

http://courthammond.wordpress.com/2009/10/29/increase-of-stray-animals/#comment-25

http://daniellekoch.wordpress.com/2009/10/30/reporting-post-7-gina-wilson/#comment-22

11/9

http://daniellekoch.wordpress.com/2009/11/06/reporting-post-8-rachel-calloway/#comment-27

http://steveboyle36.wordpress.com/2009/11/06/playing-the-lottery-with-john-reds-grange/#comment-26

http://melanytroy.wordpress.com/2009/11/06/beef-up-your-resume-with-an-internship/#comment-6

Fazzino paintings inspire a non- art lover

As it becomes harder and harder to find new people with different collections to interview, I was able to muster up an interesting interview with an interesting person, who has an interesting collection, one last time.

This week I interviewed Lani Brown, a junior at SUNY Buffalo, who over the last few years has become a collector of Charles Fazzino paintings.  Here is an excerpt of what Brown had to say.

Sorger: What made you start collecting Fazzino?

Brown: His pieces are so beautiful.  The way he uses electric colors and 3D all in one, it’s like paintings out of a fairy tale.

Sorger: Do you collect originals of his work or copies?

Brown: I have a few originals.  A Yankee Stadium original, a Shea Stadium original.  I also have a few copies.  My favorite copy is the New York, NY.  Even the copy is so nice.  That one just isn’t 3D.

Sorger: How many of these Fazzino paintings do you have?

Brown: Well with originals and copies combined, I’d say I have about 10.  My parents have bought me a few, and those are at home.  I have all the copies hanging up in my apartment at school, just in case something happens to them, it’s not the end of the world if they aren’t originals.

Sorger: Were you ever into collecting art before you found Fazzino?

Brown: I never had any type of interest in art, but when I went shopping with my mom a few years ago, I saw his work and just thought they were really cool.  I became interested and that led to the start of my collection of his work.

Coin collecting is one of a kind

The article, “Coin show attracts collectors, dealers,” from The News and Sentinel brings to life a very interesting aspect of the collector industry.

In most aspects of collecting, the value of the item tends to go up in time, provided the quality and care of the product continues to remain at a premium.  It’s very interesting that the value of gold and silver goes and comes depending on the state of the economy.

According to the article, there are several factors that allow you to know the value of the coin:

1. Age
2. Scarcity
3. Historical significance
4. Condition

Coin collectors and dealers are usually long-time collectors and dealers in the business, and that’s what makes coming to these conventions special.  They come to browse and check out what is available, and they can compare it to what they already own.  Most people are not quick to pull the trigger on a purchase, either because they want to hold on to a valuable item, or because the current economy dictates the need to hold on to the item for a longer period of time.

These collectors and dealers, who go to up to 30 conferences a year, look at these events a social gatherings; a chance for a group of people with similar passions to get together and compare and contrast what they have.

This article makes it clear this avenue of collectors is one of a kind.

Some multimedia projects offer more than others

The multimedia project I decided to analyze, The Enron Blame Game, does a terrific job at telling the story.  Not only is the multimedia project attached to an article, it does a solid job of allowing the user to understand what the project is all about. Its simple touch and click capabilities, along with easy to read explanations, make even the least informed user have an understanding of the whole Enron situation.

The multimedia elements clearly enhance the story.  With the 34 different options to click, you obviously are able to gain more knowledge with the use of this project.

I think this multimedia project does the job well, but could be spruced up a bit.  To me, it feels like a rather basic project.  Perhaps the use of some flash into this project would make it more enticing.  When I originally looked at the project, I was pretty underwhelmed.  Maybe it was because of the boring colors that are used throughout the whole project.

Perhaps I’m being a little too picky.  I mean, the multimedia project does the job, which is to add an element to the story and inform the reader.  Maybe I’ve just gotten so used to these over the top, tech driven multimedia projects, that at this point I can’t appreciate a more basic approach.

Baseball cards are a classic collection

While chatting on the phone with my friend Simon David, a student at Ohio State, I asked him if he had any friends who owned some sort of collection that I would be able to interview.  To my delight, he told me someone in his fraternity, Scott Wolkowitz, was a collector of baseball cards.  David got him on the phone for me, and we spoke for a few minutes.  Here is an excerpt from our discussion on his baseball cards collection.

Sorger: When did you start collecting?

Wolkowitz: Probably when I was 3 or 4.  My dad would always tell me to buy a pack of cards for good luck when we came across a store that had them.

Sorger: Where do you keep your collection?

Wolkowitz: I have binders and binders filled with them.  Some of them are more organized then others.  At one point I was sorting my cards by players and by team, but I never got around to organizing all of the cards.

Sorger: How many cards do you have?

Wolkowitz: Wow, that’s hard to say.  Definitely a few thousand though.  Keep in mind I’ve been collecting cards for like 15 years.

Sorger: What’s your favorite part about having a baseball card collection?

Wolkowitz: I like getting that feeling of nostalgia any time I start fumbling through the older cards.  It really is so crazy how quickly time has flown.

Even pro athletes have collections

The article I came across in the Newark Star-Ledger is the epitome of what my semester beat is about.  The original topic for the article was regarding the NHL Hall of Fame induction ceremony that actually took place this past Monday.  All new members of the Hall of Fame receive special blazers that they wear to commemorate their induction.  I’m not too sure where the writer found a correlation to collections, but he moves forward and ends up listing every New Jersey Devils player and what collections they have, or what collections they had growing up.

It’s pretty interesting to survey a group of 23 professional athletes and check out the range of collections that all of them have.  The most interesting thing I found from this complete list is that only one player never had a collection of something.  I guess that means the collection industry still is pretty formidable.

Many of the players had typical collections growing up like coins or baseball and hockey cards.  Some of the other players had more interesting collections, like cars and signed hockey sticks of other players.

I find it pretty interesting that even professional athletes are interested in collecting memorabilia, although I would have to imagine the excitement of getting an autograph doesn’t equal the level of the average person.

Interactive maps bring stories alive

The first map I chose to check out at 10,000 Words was a great interactive map of the casinos in Las Vegas, courtesy of the Las Vegas Sun. Out of three aspects of the map, I chose specifically to focus on the strip portion.

First of all, having been to Las Vegas, it’s almost surreal to stare at a color version of the strip, with all the hotels seemingly in the exact location that they actually stand.  The distances they stand from each other seem to be right on as well.  I think this map does a terrific job of capturing the reader.  First, it allows you to click on any of the hotels, where you receive more in depth information regarding the history of the hotel, casino information, and random facts.  The map also attaches relevant articles, giving this map multiple uses. You also get a decade by decade peak in to how the stripped developed, simply by clicking on the proper decade in the navigation.  Overall, I found this map to be very informative, useful and entertaining at the same time.

The second map I chose to take a peek at was the FluTracker interactive map. This map serves its purpose by doing a few things very well.

1. Uses loud colors to attract the attention of the viewer
2. Offers further information when clicking on a data point
3. Allows the viewer to zoom in to see more in depth information of a specific area
4. Gives data on different forms of the flu

The third map I chose to analyze was The Geography of Jobs. I thought this map did some things great.  Here is a short list of some things that make this interactive map a terrific tool.

1. Uses Flash to bring the map alive
2. Differentiates jobs gained and jobs lost with different colors
3. Chose to use different sizes bubbles to show the amount of jobs gained and lost in a specific area
4. Offers a timeline ranging from 2004-2010

Hockey jerseys to hold on to forever

This week I spoke to Dave Frank, a Towson University student who plays roller hockey for the Towson University club team.  Frank has been collecting hockey jersey since he was a little kid, and he now has over 65 jerseys in his collection.  I sat down and talked to Frank to get some insight into his collection.  Here is an excerpt from the interview:

Sorger: How did you start collecting hockey jerseys?

Frank: It wasn’t originally a collection, it started out with me having a few jersey of my favorite players, and over the years, as I continued to collect, it turned in to something I started taking pride in.

Sorger: You mention you had some favorite jerseys, who were they of?

Frank: Wayne Gretzky, Bryan Leech, Mike Richter.  Those were a few of the first ones I had, and even though they don’t fit me anymore, they remind me of the times when I was younger.

Sorger: So you told me you consider your hockey jersey a collection.  What do you plan on doing with your collection?

Frank: Well first of all, I still wear the newer jerseys that I own.  The other ones I keep in my closet as a memory over the years.  I think one day I’ll maybe put them in a display case or something like that.  I never want to lose them.

Comic book collectors fly cross-country for auction

The article, “Auction of rare comic books has some giddy,” from the Oklahoman, once again brings to light the seriousness of collectors from around the world.

More than 3,000 comic books were found in the basement of the home of a deceased man.  The heir to the estate found the comic books in bins in the basement while cleaning out the house.

The man had collected these comic books while growing up, and most of the comic books were from the golden era of comic book history, the 1940s and 1960s.  The heir to the estate brought these comic books to Mound City Auctions, to set up an auction for the loads of comic books that were still in top condition.

Before bringing these comic books to auction, a private investor had offered to pay a whopping $50,000 for all of the comic books.  The heir was told that rule of thumb is to add a zero to the offer, and that probably is the fair market value.  From there, it was on to the auction house.

People flew in from all over the country to make it to the auction.  The passion from all of these collectors is almost overwhelming.  I cannot imagine flying cross-country to go bid on comic books.  But hey, different strokes for different folks.