amandarenner

My Final Project

2008-12-04T08:47:00.000-08:00

I recently completed my final project in JRNL 419. I compared energy conservation and recycling at SIUC to ISU. Although I didn't have a solid end comparison, I did find out some interesting things about SIUC.

-According to a graph provided by Andilee Warner, between July 2007 and June 2008 the University diverted an average of 40 percent of its waste.

-According to Justin Harrell, the projects that the $4.2 million dollar grant helped fund, are saving the University money at a rate higher than expected, which means it should take the University less time to pay back it back.

-Although the University doesn't really make it known, SIUC is one of a couple hundred schools that take part in Recyclemania, which is a friendly 10-week competition to see which university can recycle the most. Visit the Web site above to see how you can help SIUC!

This makes for a good home page...

2008-11-30T14:35:00.001-08:00

... on your internet browser. The Reporter's Desktop offers:

(Best of) Web Search

-A collection of all the major search engines

Map It!

-Links to Mapquest and Google maps

Find Them

-All sorts of people finders

Best of Reporting Links

-Exactly what it says

Free News & Information

-Again, no description needed

plus so much more!

Who doesn't enjoy a good statistic?

2008-11-30T14:17:00.000-08:00

The U.S. Census Bureau sure does!

What is going on?

2008-11-30T14:11:00.000-08:00

Find out how to keep track of what is going on in your neighborhood (or someone else's) with this helpful Web site!

Seattle!

2008-11-29T15:52:00.000-08:00

Seattle is a really great city! I just wish I would have been able to spend more time there! We ate in the revolving restaurant at the top of the space needle, toured Seattle Underground (which has a very interesting history, I highly suggest it!) and perused Pike Place Market... such a great city!

I'm so scared of heights!

The space needle at night!

Waitin' for the Seattle Underground tour to begin.

An excavated bathroom on the Seattle Underground tour.

More Seattle Underground.

Pike Place Market had so much stuff! It was great!

Burnin' the city down from our hotel room.

Thanksgiving Day!

2008-11-27T15:40:00.000-08:00

This was both of our first attempts at cooking a Thanksgiving dinner! Between the four of us (Don, Greg, Ben and I) we cooked enough for about 15 people!

It was only a BB gun, don't worry! (For the record, my country roots finally paid off, I had better aim than all three of the guys!)

This was the successful third attempt at baking a pumpkin pie! I think it turned out pretty well! (At least better than the cranberry-apple muffins in the background).

Our table before we ate, so much to be thankful for!

We survived our first (third) Thanksgiving together!

Northwest most point in U.S.

2008-11-23T14:27:00.000-08:00

I was in Sequim, Wash., for Thanksgiving break visiting the boyfriend. We spent a day hiking to the northwest most point in the U.S., it was absolutely gorgeous! Here are some photographs to enjoy:

This is at Lake Crescent, I love the perfect line the snow makes across the top of the mountains!

About half way on the trail!

Look at that gorgeous blue water!

We made it! (Thats Canada in the background).

Zabasearch

2008-10-14T12:56:00.000-07:00

"I'm glad to be teaching everyone how to be the perfect stalker."

-Dan Sprehe

Sprehe is a Certified Fraud Examiner and introduced us to this Web site, which allows you to search individual's public records, giving you a freakish amount of their personal information.

I probably know more about you than you do.

General Web sites.

2008-10-03T17:23:00.000-07:00

Here is a list of Web sites that can be helpful when stalking, tracking or trying to find out information... sometimes known as investigative reporting.

Phone Numbers

-This Web site allows you to type in the area code and prefix of any phone number and it will give you the city, state, service provider and type of phone that number belongs to.

Newspapers

-A list of every newspaper in the nation, as well as links to their Web sites. This is great not only to keep up on news, but to also search stories that might be helpful in your research.

Believe it or not

-Snopes.com lists outrageous statements made about just about everything. This site makes it easy to debunk any rumor with its 5 point grading system.

It rates a story:

-True

-False

-Multiple Truth Values

-Undetermined

-Unclassifiable Veracity

After rating it, the site goes into a good amount of detail about why things received the ratings they did.

Expert Sources

-Sign up as a journalist and the site will connect you with thousands of professionals... at no charge!

A Journalist Guide to the Internet

-Although this site has not been updated since 2003, it still comes with a lot of helpful tips when you don't know where to go.

Investigative Reporters and Editors

-IRE.org dedicates itself to improving the quality of investigative reporting. It costs a lot to become a member, but it doesn't cost a dime to become a fan of it on facebook!

http://www.poynter.org/

-A great site for news from all over. It is a great place to look for story ideas or find stories related to your topic.

Fundraising

-This site will tell you just about everything about campaign fundraising. The search tool on the site allows you to search by Donor, ZIP Code, Organization, Keyword or Industry.

Elections

-The Illinois Board of Elections provides information about the election, voting and campaign disclosures.

Percentage Calculator

-Lets face it, you don't get hired as a journalist because of your outstanding ability to compute numbers. Let's all take a moment to thank the internet gods for the invention of the percentage calculator.

Health Care

-The Illinois Department of Health Care and Family Services has so much information on it, you'll probably want to puke. A fun section of the Web site is deadbeats, which has a profile for every person who owes child support. The site also lists agency information, who to contact for FOIA requests, laws and rules, a phone directory and a lot of other useful information.

Insurance

-The Illinois Division of Insurance has all kinds of helpful insurance-related things! Links to banking, financial institutions, Senior Health Insurance Programs, and news (whats been going on in the insurance world, where to to file FOIA, etc.) are just a few things the site has to offer.

Nonprofits

-This lovely little government Web site offers "Official information and services from the U.S. Government." It has information on grants and loans; management and operations; and tax information.

Business information

-Another government Web site that offers data and statistics on businesses, employment and labor laws, information on licenses and permits, as well as a ridiculous amount of other helpful resources.

Free Venice Beachhead

2008-10-02T12:21:00.001-07:00

I was an intern at a pretty sweet newspaper in Venice, Calif. this summer.

The Free Venice Beachhead is a monthly paper that has been in the Venice community for almost 40 years.

They have 6 years of back issues available as PDF files on their Web site. Pay close attention to the July and August 2008 issues... I have articles in both.

Bananagrams!

2008-10-02T11:11:00.000-07:00

Bananagrams is too fun to not share!

This scrabble-esque game is a fun game to play just about anywhere there is a flat surface. In airports, restuarants, bars or your desk!

Not to mention, it comes in a fun banana-shaped pouch!