Today was a great day at KWWL! I got away from my desk and went out with a reporter to work on a PKG on the Black Hawk County Health Department's efforts in the I-WALK program. They are partnering with the Cedar Falls Community School District, Iowa Department of Public Health, and the Iowa State University Extension to conduct the I-WALK program, a Safe Routes to School project at Lincoln Elementary. Its a cool program that promotes kids walking or biking to school. We talked with several people and got b-roll of her and her son walking. When we returned to the station I observed her putting the PKG together. POA: Always watch how different people do things, everyone has something unique to teach you.  

I like watching different reporters edit because everyone does it differently and I can learn something from every one of them. I learned so much today and am excited to produce my first PKG on Wednesday. I will be covering Hawkeye Community College's Career Fair and talking with an employee in the career services department regarding job outlooks. 

When I come to KWWL and go out on shoots, I know that this is what I am meant to do and love every minute of it. You guys may heard this quote by reminds me of what Confucius once said:

"Choose a job you love and you will never have to work a day in your life." 

It is my first day back at the station after a week off for spring break. I went home and for once it actually felt like spring! I spent so much time outside with my dog, Winnie, and enjoyed the warm weather. It was hard to go back to class and work today, especially on a slow news day.

I have been really wanting to turn out my first package. I feel like I should have a few done by now but I keep getting distracted on smaller stories that I turn into VOSOTs. Here is a little bit about what these things are for those of you who don't know:

I have mentioned that I am currently a junior at UNI. With all that has been happening at my university with programs being cut, faculty being upset, and student's impacted, it is hard to not pay attention and be involved. 

Over the past two weeks, I realized that I was not nearly involved enough in what was happening at my university in my first few years here. I am paying thousands of dollars to be here and spending countless hours in these buildings while still not knowing what is really happening around me. I am writing this post because I was in class yesterday and reading an article in the Northern Iowan about the faculty meeting and budget cuts when a girl sitting next to me asked me what this is all about. I was completely taken back when I started explaining it to her and three other students listened in and commented that they had no idea. 

I could have been one of these people if it weren't for working at KWWL. I'm sure I would have seen something and been interested but having these opportunities at KWWL have really opened my eyes. It is important to know the politics of what is happening around you whether that be a university or business. Ever since KWWL I am so much more interested in watching the news, reading, and just being a more informed person. 

This has been revealed. Here are the programs that are going to be either cut or altered: http://www.uni.edu/program-changes/discontinued-academic-programs


These programs have contributed to less than 2% of degrees in 2010 and 2011. 

News at UNI has been the buzz around the newsroom the past couple of weeks. Our university has had to make budget cuts in so many areas. 77 programs are going to see changes. It is recommended that 23 undergrad majors close, 19 minors close, 16 graduate programs will be cut and 19 programs will be restructured. This may seem like a lot but these programs represent a mere 2% of degrees given out in 2010-2011. 

The biggest controversy has been surrounding the closing of Price Lab School. Many employees have and will be laid off and children will be finding new schools. In an email sent to all students and staff, President Ben Allen stated he believes we are just so used to having Price Lab and that it may not be the best model for level two education majors. 

But where do I come in with all of this? I accompanied a reporter to a meeting on March 8 where the faculty were meeting to discuss their confidence (or lack there of) in President Ben Allen and Provost Gloria Gibson. I love going out to shoot with this particular reporter. She is always trying to teach me something or give me tips. When the staff began casting their votes on the "vote of no confidence" in the President and Provost, our reporter went out to do a live shot so I gathered some essential video of the votes being turned in and counted. The vote of no confidence passed for both Pres. Ben Allen and Provost Gloria Gibson. Even though I left that night feeling more confident in my abilities, it was a sad day for UNI. 

POA: Always ask questions! In the news business there is different terminology for certain things and all equipment is slightly different. Don't be afraid of sounding inexperienced, this is how you learn. 

I had the opportunity to go to Covenant Medical Center yesterday to interview a family who gave birth to a leap year baby. The family was so sweet and their daughter is gorgeous. They didn't think that the baby was going to be a leaplet (what they call leap year babies) because the clock they were looking at said 11:57p.m. but the nurse told them that it was actually midnight when she was born! 

I was able to do everything on my own for the first time remembering every step when editing. This was the second day in a row that I had a VOSOT on both the 5 and 6. I need to be careful when shooting though because when I was doing the interview, there was a window behind the mother so that threw the color of my shot off. I was able to correct it in post production thankfully! POA: When filming, try not to shoot subjects in front of windows. It will make editing much easier and the product will be much better quality!