A semester as news editor of The Huntington News

I spent the spring semester as the news editor of Northeastern University’s student newspaper, The Huntington News, where I coordinated coverage of all on-campus (or near campus) news, including student government, administration and other student issues.

It was a totally new experience, and learning to manage a staff and coordinate photography and reporting for multiple stories at once was definitely a challenge, but I am very glad I had the chance to do it. Some of the stories I’m especially proud of from the semester, in no particular order and not necessarily written by me:

Coverage of the Barstool Sports Blackout Tour, which sparked controversy from women’s rights activists at Northeastern:

• Barstool Sports party sparks controversy (By Angel Feliciano and Bill Shaner)
• Knockout group protests Barstool party (By Taylor Dobbs)

Coverage of a proposed Chick-fil-A location in Northeastern’s Curry Student Center, which caused outrage in the LGBT community:

• Curry, Marino renovation plans unveiled (Nick Jacques)
• Critics organize against CSC Chick-fil-A location (Nick Jacques)
• SGA votes against Chick-fil-A on campus (Nick Jacques)
• Chick-fil-A not coming to NU (Nick Jacques)

Northeastern’s cafeteria workers spoke out against their managers, who they say mistreated them:

• NU cafeteria workers claim mistreatment (Kristen McCleary)
• Chartwells workers speak out against managers (Taylor Dobbs)
• Chartwells workers vote to unionize (Taylor Dobbs)
• Chartwells workers join Local 26 union (Taylor Dobbs)

I’ll be spending another summer with VTDigger.org starting tomorrow. I’ll be covering the campaign season here in Vermont, as well as other political happenings.

Some hockey coverage

I got the privilege of covering some Northeastern women’s hockey games this past weekend when The Huntington News’ normal beat writer was unable to make a pair of games. It was a fun change of scenery.

The then-No. 7 Northeastern women’s hockey team left nothing up to chance this weekend as it blew by the University of New Hampshire Wildcats 8-0 Saturday and the University of Vermont Catamounts 5-1 Sunday.

The team’s first offensive line had an especially productive weekend, scoring nine of the 13 Huskies goals, including two hat tricks.

Junior forward Casey Pickett scored a hat trick on Saturday and freshman Kendall Coyne put together three of her own goals Sunday, the Huskies’ first two hat tricks of the season and the first of Coyne’s career.

The Saturday game was a historic one for both teams as it was covered live on ESPN 3, making it the first-ever women’s hockey game on an ESPN station. A record crowd of 1,227 attended.

Read the rest at HuntNewsNU.com.

In Haiti, a health care oasis

I wrote for Haiti Rewired about a new hospital in Central Haiti, finishing construction this year.

MIREBALAIS, Haiti – Officials and builders from Haiti, The Dominican Republic, and the United States gathered here Tuesday to celebrate the completion of phase one of construction on the Mirebalais National Teaching Hospital. The 320-bed facility, located just outside downtown Mirebalais, is the result of a collaborative effort between the Haitian Ministry of Public Health and Population (MSPP) and Partners in Health, an American non-profit focused on international public health.

Dr. Paul Farmer, co-founder of Partners in Health, spoke at the event about his first time in Haiti as a young medical student in 1983.

“The first year, let me tell you, was a terrible experience medically,” he said. Farmer recalled the disappointment he felt when he visited a clinic he was involved with. “[It was terrible] to go into a clinic that you were actually involved in running, as I was, and supporting, as I did ardently, but see that the quality of care was so poor that it would be a better idea to shut the clinic down, which is what we did.”

Farmer said that first year inspired a dream, which is being realized by the new hospital in Mirebalais.

Read the full article on Haiti Rewired.

New England independent news

During the Spring 2011 semester, I wrote for the New England Newspaper & Press Association’s e-Bulletin about independent online news sites around New England.

Disclosure: After I submitted this story to the e-Bulletin, I secured an internship with Anne Galloway at VTDigger.org. No plans were in place for that internship prior to or during my reporting for this story.

The story:

VTDigger Stories

Below is a list of the stories I wrote this summer (2011) for VTDigger.org.

• Scott, House GOP agree with Democratic governor – Vermonters are taxed out
• New law makes “complete” streets a priority
• Shumlin signs veterans tax credit legislation
• FCC report ranks Vermont 38th in broadband access
• Shumlin’s decision to veto water safety bill perplexes proponents
• Welch: Flood relief for private companies, homeowners not likely
• Sanders proposes bill to end oil speculation
• August is the soonest VTel can roll out fiberoptic cable
• State officials urge homeless advocates to find efficiencies
• Seventy five percent of Vermont primary physicians adopt electronic patient records
• Activists placard Vermont Yankee’s “emergency planning zone”
• Lack of cell coverage hampers electronic monitoring of Vermont inmates
• Lawmakers approve rule to prevent gaps in treatment for drug addicts
• Rural Vermont, Agency of Ag spar over on-farm slaughter rules
• Digital Media Festival joins technology with nature
• Campbell says Vermont’s broadband initiative is on target, cell service lagging behind for 2013 deadline
• “Master facilitator” says Shumlin’s broadband promise is on schedule
• Welch introduces law to protect public from warrantless GPS tracking
• VTel files petition to add TV to fiber project
• Vermont Medical Society proposes business, research initiatives or doctors
• USDA rep says limited resources pose threat to hungry youth
• Welch: “No excuse” for federal debt default
• Consumer group says corporation charges 30 percent more for funeral services
• VPIRG delivers 7,500 comments to DPS on energy plan
• Gay brides sue Wildflower Inn on grounds of discrimination
• PACE program for home energy efficiency back on track
• In Profile: State’s chief technology officer says innovation is a “people question”
• Vermont Electric Co-op members vote to approve line upgrade
• From the archives to digitized: Historic Vermont newspapers get new lease on life online
• Standards Board, Vermont NEA at odds over “blank check” teacher waiver power
• Hunger Mountain Co-op reaches settlement
• Traces of Strontium-90 found in flesh of fish near Vermont Yankee
• Shumlin says Vermont Yankee not necessarily source of Strontium-90 in fish
• Hospital budget hearing draws handful of participants
• Barre task force members at odds over $600,000 offender reentry program
• Norwich grad among the SEALs killed in downed helicopter
• Shumlin asks for No Child Left Behind waiver
• State, local pols clash over Barre offender reentry plan

VTDigger Introduction, Stories

Fellow intern Eli Sherman and I were introduced on VT Digger today, where we’ve been writing for about a week now. This week, I’ve written a few stories, listed below.

 

Story + video: Scott, House GOP agree with Democratic governor — Vermonters are taxed out - May 17, 2011

Lt. Gov. Phil Scott, a Republican, and House GOP members told reporters at press conference on Monday that like the Democratic Gov. Peter Shumlin, they don’t support raising taxes next year to resolve the state’s $70 million budget gap.

Scott wasn’t, however, ready to take a no new taxes pledge.

“Obviously, we don’t know what the federal government is going to do and until we see that we certainly don’t want to have (to cut) any catastrophic areas to those in need,” Scott said. “We all want to make sure we take care of those in need.”

New law makes “complete” streets a priority - May 24, 2011

It’s official: “Complete Streets” rules are now in play.

The Complete Streets Act, signed last week by Gov. Peter Shumlin, asks municipalities to make streets safer for pedestrians and bikers. The Vermont AARP was the lead advocate for the legislation, which is particularly aimed at making sidewalks and roads more user-friendly for older pedestrians. Under the new rules towns will be encouraged to incorporate modifications such as wheelchair ramps and extended crosswalk times into downtown transportation projects. In addition, towns and cities will be urged to install new sidewalks, re-stripe roads for bike lanes and add bus kiosks.

Shumlin signs veterans tax credit legislation - May 25, 2011

COLCHESTER, Vt. – Gov. Peter Shumlin signed the Veterans’ Tax Credit act at Camp Johnson today as Vermont National Guard members looked on.

The new legislation will give employers a $2,000 tax incentive to hire soldiers who have returned from deployments in Afghanistan or Iraq in the last two years. In order to qualify for the tax credit, businesses must employ veterans between now and the end of 2011. Veterans who start new companies this year can also apply for the benefit.

FCC report ranks Vermont 38th in broadband access - May 26, 2011

A Federal Communications Commission report released last week ranked Vermont 38th in the nation in broadband penetration.New Hampshire was in a three-way tie for the nation’s best cell and internet access with Alaska and Utah.

The International Broadband Data Report is released annually by the Federal Communications Commission in an effort to record and inform U.S. broadband development by comparing American broadband with coverage, speed, and pricing in other countries. This year’s report was released on May 20.

Shumlin’s decision to veto water safety bill perplexes proponents - May 30, 2011

MONTPELIER – Gov. Peter Shumlin had a day of firsts last Thursday. Shortly after he inked the nation’s first single-payer health care legislation, Shumlin also vetoed his first bill, S.77, which would have mandated water testing for private wells.

The bill would have required all newly drilled wells intended for use as a potable water supply to undergo testing for contaminates. The same tests would have been required if such wells were sold.

Rep. David Deen, D-Putney, said he was “absolutely flabbergasted” when he learned that the governor planned to veto the bill.

Welch: Flood relief money for private companies, homeowners not likely - May 31, 2011 (Editor Anne Galloway contributed)

Congressman Peter Welch, D-Vt., arrived in Barre City Monday on a tour of the flash flood damage to central Vermont not long after the “crisis de jour,” as Mayor Thom Lauzon put it.

A mudslide on West Patterson Street early Monday morning took out a power pole and a large maple tree. Two nearby residences were inspected and one was evacuated. On Sunday, part of a granite retaining wall gave way and a fracture developed in the bank below Hilltop Avenue. Three residences on
Hilltop and four homes at the base of the slope on Kirk Street were evacuated.

 

TWE: Tufts Students Follow WikiLeaks’ Example

On The World Exposed, Friday, April 15 and Associated Content April 29:

Will Ramsdell sits at his desk, the windowsill in front of him cluttered with potted plants, a box of floppy disks at his feet. A beige PC monitor behind him pointlessly flickers between a bright array of colors. But Will’s focus isn’t on his plants or his technological work of art. His focus is on his MacBook, the only evidence in the dorm room that the 21st century has already begun, and Ramsdell and the organization he represents are part of it.

Ramsdell is working on JumboLeaks, a student-run document leaking site for Tufts University documents. As he works, he chatters on about the nature of the internet, the philosophy behind leaks, and what JumboLeaks is about.

JumboLeaks launched on April 2, 2011 with the release of what they say is a leaked list of companies in which Tufts had direct holdings. On the list was Monsanto Corporation, Goldman Sachs Group, and Lockheed Martin, companies noted on the site as “ethically suspect.”

As tuition-paying students, Ramsdell and the small group of five or six students that started JumboLeaks are concerned about where their money is going.

“In a capitalist society, money is a vote,” Ramsdell says, noting that universities aren’t democracies, nor do they claim to be. The hope for JumboLeaks, he says, is to push Tufts towards a more democratic system.

The reference to democracy-by-leaking draws a noticeable parallel to WikiLeaks, but JumboLeaks and WikiLeaks have their differences. Though JumboLeaks calls itself “a little Wikileaks for Tufts,” the goals of JumboLeaks aren’t totally in line with those of WikiLeaks. While WikiLeaks hopes to eradicate secrecy from governing bodies and totally eliminate the ability of these groups to conspire, JumboLeaks isn’t so extreme.

“There definitely is room for secrecy in almost all instances,” says Ramsdell, but “deciding what should be private and what should be public is almost impossible.” Ramsdell and JumboLeaks, though, prefer information – especially about the money they and their peers are spending – to be public.

Click here to read more on Associated Content.

NE Journalists, Newspapers Honored by Howard Scripps Foundation

Published in the NENPA e-Bulletin, April 1, 2011:

8 Scripps Howard journalism honors for N.E. recipients

The Boston Globe, The Providence (R.I.) Journal, The Burlington (Vt.) Free Press, and Boston University have been honored with national Scripps Howard awards.

The Free Press won the First Amendment Award “for its aggressive editorial stance that made open government a paramount issue in the 2010 elections and spurred reforms.” The Free Press was awarded $10,000 and a trophy.

The Journal was named a finalist in the breaking news category and the Journal’s Froma Harrop was named a finalist in the commentary category.

The Globe’s Peter Canellos and Dante Ramos were finalists in the editorial writing category and the Globe’s James Carroll was named with Harrop as a finalist for the commentary award. Maria Sacchetti of the Globe was a finalist for the human interest writing award.

Caryl Rivers was a finalist for the Journalism and Mass Communication Teacher of the Year Award.

Winners will be honored at a dinner hosted by the Scripps Howard Foundation May 3 in Cincinnati.
The annual awards, given by the Scripps Howard Foundation, honor the best work in the communications industry and in journalism education. There are 18 awards categories total, two related to journalism education and the rest for working journalists and news organizations. Winners will be awarded a total of $185,000. Finalists are runners-up.

Columnist Receives Education Writing Citation

Published in the New England Newspaper and Press Assocation’s March 18, 2011 e-bulletin:

Globe’s Jackson wins national education award citation

Derrick Z. Jackson, a columnist for The Boston Globe, has received a special citation from the Education Writers Association for opinion writing.

Jackson’s citation came for columns in the Globe on schools, providing commentary on everything from race issues to sports to budget problems in schools. He has won the opinion award from the Education Writers Association twice: first in 2000 and again in 2002. Jackson was also a finalist for the 2001 Pulitzer Prize in commentary.

The association’s awards recognize the best coverage of education in print and broadcast media.

A total of 59 entries won awards from a pool of 345 nominees in 18 categories. Entries were judged by a panel of 13 teachers, professors and journalists.

The awards, $200 cash for first-prize winners in each category and a grand prize of $1,500, will be given at a luncheon at the Education Writers Association’s 64th National Seminar April 9 in New Orleans.

Alicia Silverstone Event

Published in The Huntington News, Feb. 3, 2011:

Clueless star talks about veganism at Blackman Auditorium

“Clueless” actress Alicia Silverstone spoke to a large crowd of Northeastern students Tuesday night about living simply and eating well – namely, by avoiding meat and dairy products. Visibly seven months pregnant, Silverstone sat cross-legged on stage and told the story of how she arrived at – and maintained – her vegan lifestyle.

When she first adopted veganism, Silverstone said she was frustrated by the lack of attention people paid to their food and environment.

“You’re so mad, you wanna scream, like, ‘Does everybody realize what’s going on?’ And you just want to go around screaming ‘rape’ and ‘murder,’” Silverstone told The News. “And then everybody’s not interested.”

Becoming vegan had its upsides for Silverstone, who said that she felt happier and more energetic after making the change. Beyond that, she said being vegan put an end to her cystic acne and asthma.

“I made these changes and suddenly all these things changed,” Silverstone said. She added, “I thought I was giving up everything for this love of animals, but actually I was given the greatest gift of all.”

The event was sponsored by the Husky Energy Action Team (HEAT), NU Vegetarians United (NUVU), Sigma Sigma Sigma sorority, and the Political Science Student Association. HEAT’s executive director, middler environmental studies major Jessica Feldish, said she was happy with the event’s turnout despite the winter storm.

“I think we had a really great turnout and a fun crowd,” Feldish said.

She said the group wanted to put on an event that would appeal to a broad range of students, while still being educational for those who already know about environmental issues.

Silverstone gave The News tips on how students can live healthily on a college budget.

“Burritos,” said Silverstone, laughing. “Burritos are cheap and they give you action-packed food.”

The actress also encouraged students to “steal food from the cafeteria,” taking extra oranges or apples for a healthy snack later.

Stopping short in the middle of her interview, Silverstone giggled, feeling her baby kick.  Despite her strong feelings about veganism, she said she will let her children make their own choices about food.

“I probably wouldn’t say, ‘You can’t eat that,’ but I’d be like, ‘You have a tummy ache, I wonder why you think that is?’ I’ll probably torment them,”she said, laughing.

Being vegan isn’t Silverstone’s only alternative lifestyle choice; she also tries to have a low environmental impact. After claiming her outfit was made up entirely of used clothing (except for her tights and underwear), Silverstone spoke critically about consumerism.

“There’s too much stuff out there,” Silverstone said. “Having the newest thing, what does that mean?”

Silverstone said she hopes that people will continue in this direction, living healthier lives and being more conscious of their impact on the environment.

“It’s a force to be reckoned with: being veggie and feeling this good,” she said.

– News Staff Anthony Gulizia, Anna Marden and Rachel Zarrell contributed to this report.