Word of the Week #4

1. DRUBBING

2. Located in the Sports section of the Spartan Daily on Monday, September 21. The article was about the Stanford/SJSU football game last Saturday--the word was located in the headline.

3. "Spartans take drubbing from rival Cardinal"

4. Drubbing: noun. 1. a beating; a sound thrashing

2. a decisive, humiliating defeat, as in a game or contest

5. I would have loved to see the Chargers give a drubbing to the Dolphins last night, but a win is a win even if the game was a close one!

A Fly on the Wall of Penguin FroYo

Frozen yogurt (or "froyo," if you're a frozen yogurt addict) is quite possibly the most delicious food to be given to the human race--especially an amazing cup of tart yogurt with fruity pebbles and strawberries from Penguin FroYo.

The exposed brick walls and over-sized maroon chair coupled with the modern lighting made the store seem contemporary and homey at the same time. Tables and chairs line the brick walls--seating is ample. The store had some sort of children's entertainment playing in the background, most likely to bring nostalgic memories back.

The ambient noise of the movie is complimented by the sugary smell of ice cream, warm cones, and frozen yogurt. Every now and then, a sweet crepe would be made by one of the employees; the warm sugar scent would loft around the brick walls, circle its way around the room, and settle into my nose, once again resurrecting my hunger pains for more sweets.

Many students came in to eat; they would walk in with some sort of San Jose State apparel, order frozen yogurt, and eat in one of the many large cozy chairs. Those who had been there before seemed comfortable and knew exactly what to do; one customer knew his order by heart and perched himself in a chair. His legs were sprawled everywhere, as if he was sitting in a LazyBoy at his parents' house--once he was done, he tossed his cup in the trash can casually, said his thank-you's, and left.

Comparing Media

The story I chose to cover was about the arrest of Raymond Clark, a Yale University lab technician, who was charged with murder of Annie Le, a graduate student from Yale. Le was last seen alive September 8, and her body was found last week stuffed in the walls of a research building both she and Clark worked at.

The story was printed in the Wall Street Journal on Friday September 18th, and it took up about a third of the page. There was one black and white picture to the left that took up about half of the story's layout--it was a shot of Clark walking in handcuffs with police surrounding him. Within the story, there were six different people who were quoted. There was also a statistic about workplace homicide in the United States. The newspaper story gave all the direct facts, but only had a single picture to see what Clark looks like.

The TV story I found was from the Associated Press, and was 1 minutes 16 seconds long. There were shots of Clark in the courtroom being charged, of Chief James Lewis of the New Haven Police speaking about the situation,and 2 different students discussing the arrest. The TV story seemed like there was less information; thus, I felt the story was not covered as well. I believe the newspaper did the best job of covering this story, even though the TV story had an impact because of the visuals.

Cnn.com had the same story online. The article was about 850 words or so, and there were four different people that offered quotes. The web story contained the same basic information--Clark was arrested at a Super 8, he was charged with murder of Annie Le, and his bail is set at $3 million. A few of the quotes were from the same people in the TV and newspaper stories as well. The online story seemed rushed and not as thought out--I liked this story the least in comparison to the others.

Library Scavenger Hunt

Alex White

MCOM 100W

September 14, 2009

1. The type of organizational system that San Jose State’s Martin Luther King Library uses is the Dewey Decimal system. This system separates books into different categories, subcategories, etc. The books then have a different call number; this way, it makes it extremely easy to find different books without having to search for hours. One can look up the call number and immediately know physically where in the library the book is located.
2. The browsing library on the first floor has many different copies of popular items. This includes popular books (fiction and nonfiction), movies, CDs, audio books, etc.
3. There are several types of electronic databases available in San Jose State’s Martin Luther King Library. There are subscription databases, e-books, and many others.
4. There are two different ways to access MLK Library’s database. The first is to physically get onto a computer within the library—the computers located in the library are allowed access to databases. However, the only way to access the databases at home is to be a SJSU student with an ID number and password.
5. There is a countless array of different newspapers in the Martin Luther King Library on campus. Some of them are The San Jose Mercury News, The San Francisco Chronicle, The New York Times, The Oakland Tribune, The Chicago Tribune, The Sacramento Bee, The San Francisco Examiner, The Los Angeles Times, The San Diego Union-Tribune, The London Post, and The Denver Post. These are just some of the few that the library holds; there is a ton more located within the library itself.
6. I found a DVD on advertising—its call number was XD1351, and it was titled “Advertising and the End of the World.” A video I found on advertising was entitled “A Closer Look at Advertising” and its call number was XS2399. I found a Mozart CD, “Essential Mozart” (obviously by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart!), under CD Classic Mozart.
7. I found a reference book on Internet advertising and ways to improve and draw more attention to advertisements online. Its call number is HF6146.I58 A38 2007. The book was titled Internet Advertising: Theory and Research.
8. I found a book in Spanish entitled, Salimos o nos quedamos II : las mejores mesas, sus mejores recetas. Its call number was SPA 641.5972 Salimos. The DVD I found was “La Otra Conquista,” and it’s call number was XD1248. The CD I found was Selena’s “Siempre Selena” and it’s call number is SPA CD POP SELENA.
9. The library has a ton of different types of magazines. Some of them are Times, Forbes, Business Week, The Economist, and Consumer Reports.
10. I found an article on John Steinbeck entitled “Consillence and Ecological Vision in the Works of John Steinbeck” by Kathleen Margaret Hicks. Its call number is PS3537.T3234 Z7143x 2003.
11. One book about John Steinbeck is by Harold Bloom, and it’s called John Steinbeck. Its call number is PS3537.T3234 Z71546 2008.
12. One of the books found in the California Room about farm labor is Mary Bowden Carrol’s Ten Years in Paradise. Its call number is 917.94.
13. The California Room has a lot of different books in it about the history of California. A lot of the ones I found interesting were about San Jose and it’s history. One of them was San Jose: California’s First History by Edward Beilharz. Its call number is 979.473.
14. A book on minorities in California is Women and minorities in California public postsecondary education: their employment, classification, and compensation, 1975-1985. It’s authorless, but its call number is LB2331.73.C2 W65x 1987.
15. There are three different types of collections in the Cultural Heritage Collection. They are Africana, Asian American, and Chicano. These collections help to promote learning and appreciation for other cultures.
16. In the Center for Beethoven Studies, one can find materials about Beethoven’s life, works, and accomplishments.
17. Someone who is well versed in the subject, and knows what he or she is talking about normally writes a scholarly article. These articles are clearly written, and have a predetermined structure. They are also geared towards readers who are interested in the subject. Popular magazine articles are written for the general public, and are written for informational purposes. This means that the vocabulary in a magazine article will be more general instead of specialized like a scholarly article would be.
18. Advertising and Selling, Advertising Age, The Public Relations Journal, Public Relations Quarterly, and Journalism Abstracts are some of the many different mass communications journals found in the library.
19. There are 34 different art installations in the library.

Favorite Reading

I used to love to read when I was little. My favorite books were Dr. Suess books, especially The Lorax. This book was not only fun to read as a child, but it taught a lot of values that I still uphold today. The Lorax is about this furry little creature that lives in a beautiful forest area. He shares his home with many other types of flora and fauna. One day, someone comes and takes advantage of the environment and begins to take advantage of the forest to make a profit. The Lorax speaks up and tries to save the land numerous times; he does everything in his power to make the company realize that they are ruining the land, but he fails at it. The Lorax ends up leaving with the rest of his animal friends because the land is so ravaged. However, at the end of the book, a child is given the last tree seed in existence and is told that he can rebuild and make life possible again.

Some of my favorite quotes are from this book--the Lorax himself is a small creature (he stands on tree stumps and is still a lot smaller than those he's speaking to), but he has a huge opinion and an even bigger heart. It is silly to say, but I have always idolized him; I'm short as well, but if the Lorax can stand up for what he believed in, I can have the courage to do the same. One of my favorite quotes is "Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not." This is still very much true today for me; I have always lived my life by these words. If you want something done, you have to get it done yourself, you can't rely on other people to do it.