I went into work today – and saw some interesting fireworks.

Urbandale Fireworks #1

Urbandale Fireworks #2

A whole bunch of fireworks were seized in Urbandale. Thousands of dollars worth, to be exact. KCCI’s Mark Carlson, photog Bob, and I went to check it out.

These were some massive fireworks. Much more than I was expecting. Hell, if this garage caught fire, it would make for a show. And probably kill someone.

Mark turned what probably could have been a VOSOT into a good package (and I remixed it to make one, as well).

And then, after one short work day, I celebrated the fourth of July weekend.

June 27 – July 1

I went to Minnesota.

OK, so this isn’t part of my internship with KCCI, but I went with my family for our vacation. A couple photos here… some related to the vacation, some not.

I ripped up part of my thumbnail when I fell off while tubing.

My sister, getting ready to bike. I know, not the best picture.

My dad and his helmet before we went biking. Sadly, I had the same one on. And I didn't need it.

Although I’ve secured a great internship at KCCI-TV this summer in Des Moines, I’ll share with you what ended up (probably) causing the demise of my possible internship with CBS in New York:

I was, at random, asked three different questions by the coordinator:

1. Who is the U.S. Secretary of the State?
2. Describe President Obama’s family
3. Who is the anchor of the CBS Evening News?

Apparently, I was spacing off during the transition between administrations and never noticed that Hillary Clinton had become the U.S. Secretary of State. And during that transition, I didn’t catch the names of Obama’s daughters, Sasha and Malia. Finally, in a final blow to my self-confidence, I didn’t know (or remember, at least) that Katie Couric was the anchor of the CBS Evening News.

Seriously?!? How does someone not know the answers to those three simple questions.

The Lesson to be Learned: No matter where you’re applying, make sure you’ve got a solid grip on who is running our country and what the current political issues are. More importantly, make sure you know the names of the people running the business for which you’re applying.

I’m really looking forward to KCCI this summer, but maybe after I brush up on my U.S. political knowledge (and watch prime time CBS television), I’ll get another shot at being a CBS news intern.

I’ll leave you with a Katie Couric clip discussing unpaid internships (which inspired be to write this post). Enjoy.

Although there has been a trend toward using journalists who can report, shoot and edit, the inevitable result is reduced quality and accuracy.

The average viewer might not notice immediately–or even care–but those of us who practice the craft will see the further degradation at all levels.

When local stations and networks choose cost savings at the expense of good journalism, we all suffer.

What does this mean for me?

Should I stop working on my writing, editing, production, and web skills to focus on one area? If so, will I become a better journalist – or will I even have a job?

Furthermore, is this a message our school should be sending? Can we as students be taught to perform in multiple areas of journalism, or are we expected to perform in a “degraded” manner when we graduate just because we’re gaining multiple skills?

Can I be a good writer, a good editor, and a good web developer? Or am I limited by my school to be either mediocre in many areas or good in one area?

Let me know your thoughts.

Within every organization, there tends to be driving force for member participation. Whether it’s a common goal or a set of beliefs, each group has a set of factors that inspire its members to work together and accomplish something. Though different, each organization tends to share one thing in particular: a leader charged with inspiring his or her members to do their part. As a brother of the Iota Omega chapter of Kappa Kappa Psi, a brother of a social fraternity (Beta Theta Pi), and a member of other student organizations, I’ve noticed a number of positive and negative leadership traits that impact motivation within a group. The following are a few traits in particular – I hope you can apply these to your own life, wherever you may go:

Tone

As a leader of a group, you’re expected to handle both successes and failures of your organization. It’s important that, as a leader, you set a tone best relates to your members. For example, in my social fraternity, our president is very approachable, easy-going, and comical. I think this approach has been successful for a group that contains a lot of guys from different backgrounds and of distinct personalities. Our president has been always able to share successes and failures with the organization, and he’s been able to hold members accountable for their actions. The fact that he’s set a tone for our organization helps him do exactly what he needs to do as a leader.

Follow Through

On the Iowa State University campus, I serve as the general manager of a student-run television station. In regards to development as a group, the members of the station (which is run as a standard student organization) are not used to a structured system. I’ve been working to increase our awareness on campus and cover more content, and I’ve run into the problem of motivation on a couple occasions. One of those occasions involved getting people rounded up to film a story. There was a great story idea, and I’d told our members the great things about covering this story. But as the weeks went on, I became busy and personally less motivated to follow through with it. Because I stopped organizing the story, the other students involved just let it go, and it was forgotten about. I learned that it’s important for a leader to follow through with motivational exercises, promises, and goals set by him or her in the beginning to create success.

Foster Brotherhood and Sisterhood

Brothers of Kappa Kappa Psi and sisters of Tau Beta Sigma put forth many hours of work each semester with no monetary payment. In fact, most are expected to pay dues for their membership. However, I’ve noticed that as a brother, I’m more motivated to work on a project if I’m doing it as a brother and not as an individual. Service projects and other events are both more meaningful and easier to accomplish when I feel like I’m living out the purposes of my organization with my fellow brothers and sisters. The leaders of my chapter have done a tremendous job of fostering a sense of closeness within our group, and I think it’s safe to say that we all feel like a family when we meet. As a leader, it’s important to keep your members comfortable with one another and to increase their bond with every project or goal that is carried out.

WCTV is a student-produced television program operated out of a studio at Webster City High School in Webster City, Iowa. The class recently visited the ITEC conference in Des Moines and broadcasted (tape-to-live) a show in front of a live audience to celebrate their 10th season. They did a great job!

I live in a dorm room. During the freshman year of my Spring semester at ISU I became quite bored and decided I’d launch an endeavor to learn a little bit more about technology. I decided to purchase a cheap (but new) desktop computer from BestBuy, specifically and e-Machine. I then attained a copy of Windows Server 2003 through the ISU Computer Science department (they offer software to students enrolled in ComSci classes). I then went through the process of installing the server software connecting to the network. All went well, and I purchased the jplhomer.org domain name from GoDaddy.com.

Next, I configured the web server. Of course, I’ve been using IIS for the duration of this site’s existence, and I’d like to port over to Apache as soon as possible. It sounds like I’d get a better appreciation for the file system and structure of a server using the Apache software.
Either way, all went well, again.

I designed a rough draft of a website, using PHP and MySQL. I played around with a blog using AJAX and a back-end administration interface, but found that to be too much work. Early this semester, I discovered the magic of WordPress. I was browsing the Internet for fancy CSS designs when I ran across http://www.webdesignerwall.com and learned that they ran their site completely with WordPress. I hope to do the same.

I plan to publish my resume and written works on other pages of this site. Hopefully, I’ll continue to publish blog entries pertaining to my opinions and other matters of public dispute for which I insist I have a voice. That’s all for now!