Week 10: Final March post

1. Pelosi's Power of Persuasion: A great read from Time Magazine and Alec. An interesting look on Pelosi's life as Speaker of the House. What do you think of the style of the piece? There's a mixture of personal and professional information. Why would the writer choose to do this? Might this be a format for a profile of an MA person? If so, what person might be great for this style of profile?

2. Pushing Back at Stereotypes: An awesome piece from the NYTimes sports section. There's been a lot of press about the aggressive nature of women's college athletics, but is it something that has always been around or something that's on the rise? Can this be seen in MA's sports programs? Is there an MA hook in here? Is MA doing anything to educate players about managing anger during the game? Is there a time when it's ok to get angry and a time when it's not?

Article Ideas — Edition 7

Please post your ideas for the second edition of the year. Be sure to read the other ideas BEFORE you post your own. You can elaborate on another person's post (with a citation, of course). You MUST format your post in the following format:

Article Idea:
Must interviews:
Why will people want to read this:

This edition will come out in early May.

Week 9

1. Do the Right Thing: From ESPN magazine and Nish. This post is full of insight and questioning about journalism and the media's doings as of late. There's the Kornheiser/Hannah Storm controversy, tape-delayed coverage of the Olympics, Tiger Woods, and more. ESPN's Ombudsman looks at some of the major issues coming up for not only ESPN but all of the media. What are you thoughts? Do any of these issues (specifics being different, of course) resonate at MA?

2. The Millenial Generation is getting Clobbered: From Newsweek, this is the world you have to face as the growing deficit and slumping job market make themselves more permanent fixtures in America. While your generation is more open, more socially aware, you will be faced with an aging population that relies on you for help. There's also that pesky sense of entitlement mentioned; that can't be helpful. What is your generation to do? Is there an MA hook in here?

Layout Work for Staffers

Folks

Here are two courses I'd like you to complete during our layout days. My expectation is that you will work on these courses during class and for homework (you can access the website from any computer), and then take some of the practices and principles from these courses and apply them to a design project.

1. Color in News Design
2. Typography for News Design

Once you are done with the courses, here's the next step:

http://www.greek-islands.us/traditional-greek-products/kimolos/Honey.jpg

Create a label for the MA Honey. That's right, the honeybee folks have harvested a bunch of tasty, delicious honey and now the jars need some art. Fun. I know.

Size/Shape: Oval 2.5" long by 1.5" high for front. 2" x 2" square for back of jar.
Copy: Marin Academy, Honey, Harvested March 2010 from the MA apiary by Club, Apiary is managed and by the MA Beekeeping Club, Raw (unheated), Local (from nearby wildflowers and the MA garden),
Graphics and design: up to you. Maybe a wildcat-honeybee? Sunflower? Honeycomb? Go wild. Just remember copyright laws .... we can't steal images.
Keep in mind: How are you going to split up the information from front to back? How are you going to prioritize the information? Create an information hierarchy; the most important info goes at the top.

You can create the designs on one InDesign document, just make sure each element fits the required size. Good luck. Have fun!

Edition 6 Headline Ideas

Please post your article headlines here. Make it clear what your article is & what section it belongs in. Please post 3-4 options ranging from 30-50 characters in length. Remember, spaces count as characters, and all headlines should have verbs!

Marshall and Jacob have gotten us off to a strong start.

Editor Goals — Edition 6

Please post 3 goals you have for your section. Reflect on the last edition, areas where you have the most to improve and areas where you're doing great work. These goals can be design related, deadline related, or anything else. BUT, make sure these are measurable, outcome goals.

Week 8

An overwhelming amount of goodness in the news this week and last:

Government is not the problem: From Newsweek, an interesting take on why the government isn't doing so well. As you'll see from this story, it's not the government, it's the people. What do you think of this theory on the United States' recent troubles? Can you see any of this mentality in the MA community? Is there an MA angle in here?

Schools New Math: the Four-Day Week: From the Wall Street Journal, this piece looks at the abysmal state of American education. With huge budget short falls and states in a pinch for every extra dollar, education is an easy place to cut. What are your thoughts? On one hand, a 3-day weekend would be nice, but at what cost? What are your thoughts on this situation? What would happen to the MA community if cuts knocked out some school days? classes? after-school programs?

Framing Childhood: From the NY Times, this piece takes an interesting look at how digitizing our lives will impact the next generation. Is this the way of the yearbook? Of the newspaper? Will we all be so consumed with documenting that we forget to live?

What Were They Thinking: Just a fun WSJ read about politicians and their mistakes. While the topic is politicians, you could substitute professional athletes into the story with ease. What is it that makes those in power think they are immune to the consequences of their actions? Maybe politicians and professional athletes are stuck in a perpetual state of adolescence? Thoughts?

Week 7: Hello March!

1. The topic of this piece struck me as something I often struggle with: choice. The Paralyzing Problem of Too Many Choices is an interesting read from the NYT. What do you think about the stye and structure of this piece? Is there a healthy balance between sources and research? What are your thoughts on this topic? At MA, how might too many choices be a bad thing? In what areas do students have too many choices? too few?

2. The Greatest Moment in Women's Sports: From ESPN magazine and famed writer Rick Reilly, this piece is about exactly what the title claims. But there's one little thing: the greatest moment in women's sport came when a woman beat all the men. Reilly has a solid style and structure, and clearly knows his sport stuff. What do you think of the topic of this piece? What about Reilly's opinion? At MA, is there a greatest moment we've missed reporting on? Some experience, some moment, some something we need to expose?