12/10/2019 0 Comments podcast Pals: Abbi and Elena
I interviewed Elena Ramirez for the podcast project on Monday afternoon in Kimpel Hall. Elena and I discussed her most recent data story, "Setting the Example: First Generation Students Raise the Bar", a look at how first generation debt at the University of Arkansas has increased while first generation enrollment has decreased. Elena's piece looks at a seldom discussed topic in an interesting and easy to understand way. Her interviews help give a face to a story filled with shocking numbers. Learning that one of her interviewees has $29,000 in debt when the UofA average is $14,000 for the first generation median debt was shocking.
Elena interviewed one college student, one high school student, one UA professor and two high school counselors. The chance to host a podcast was really fun, and after the initial nerves, was something I loved doing. It was a weird feeling going into the project but after we started talking, things just flowed and it went by so much quicker than I would have thought. At one point, I realized that we had been talking for five minutes and I was not recording. It was definitely a learning moment. I would totally do another podcast in the future!
Elena Ramirez is a junior studying journalism and political science. She focused a story about first-generation students with student loan debt. For the fall semester she focused her beat on DACA. Elena helps out on community podcast, District 3 podcast, and plans to pursue investigative journalism.
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11/26/2019 0 Comments City resources- text over video
After working through some user errors, creating a text over video project was very easy using the Quik app. The set up of the app is easy to get familiar with after looking through it for a few minutes and the step-by-step approach makes the task less daunting. I liked how you chose your videos, then your theme, then music and so forth and so on. The variety of options for music and theme were also really nice. It was fun to be able to create the mood that fits my story perfectly.
I did struggle uploading my video projects after completing them. Finding the two ways to save them was easy, but something about uploading them just did not work. I'm not sure if it was the file size or just my phone. Over all though, using Quik was a good experience and something I would feel comfortable doing again.
Labeling bags of cat and dog food, finding the best contractor to fix a hole in the roof of a family home and meeting with recently rehomed families are all in a day’s work for employees of the city Community Resource Division.
Resources offered by Fayetteville tackle several issues those in need might face, including transportation, finding housing, repairing houses and securing housing. “We are kind of hitting it from all points,” said Yolanda Fields, community resources director for the city.
The Fayetteville Hearth program provides assistance with rent, housing and utility deposits, as well as case management, according to the September 2019 quarterly report.
The program has helped house and provided case management for 196 people since February of 2016. At the end of September, 38 scattered-site units were occupied across the city, housing families and individuals, Fields said. Hearth Place is a part of the program in which the city collects everything from home goods to toiletries to kitchen essentials and gives them individuals in a laundry basket when they are housed, Fields said. The Hearth program uses a survey to assess the situation of clients and goes from there, said Robert Bradley, one of the case managers for the city. “If you have three kids and are sleeping in your car, you are going to be higher on the list,” Bradley said. After getting in touch with individuals to determine whether they will need short-term or permanent assistance, they will complete an application and they then have 30 days to look for housing, Bradley said. The city assistance for permanent housing is available as long as needed, as long as rules are followed, Bradley said. There is no cap on the number of families the city can help, but there is only so much a case manager can handle, Bradley said. If people do call for immediate services, they are referred to the Salvation Army, Bradley said. The pet food bank is another one of the city’s resources available for those in need Ranger's Pantry Pet Food Bank was founded in 2010 and works to keep struggling families, individuals and their pets together during financial hardship, according to the Fayetteville Community Development Program website. Through Oct. 25 the pantry has distributed more than 160,000 pounds of pet food, according to the city website. Ranger's Pantry has assisted 118 families, including 238 pets, and distributed more than 8,000 pounds of food for the year through Oct. 24, according to the official Facebook page. Winter is the busier season for the pantry, especially for day laborers, but it aligns with the holiday season where people are more inclined to donate resources, said Adam Roberts, one of the project coordinators for the City of Fayetteville. The main focus of Ranger’s Pantry is cat and dog food, but it does occasionally get bedding for rodents, birdseed and other items, Adams. The pantry also accepts pet beds, leashes and toys. The only restriction for the program is that clients must live in Fayetteville. If a client is homeless the pantry will accept somewhere such as 7Hills Homeless Shelter for their address. Others are required to bring a bill for proof of address, Adams said. “Income requirements are set by the Department of Housing and Urban Development, but we take it by faith,” Adams said. The city assists with resources including taxis and transit services, housing rehabilitation program and the Help a Neighbor Fund. The latest count showed 529 people in Fayetteville were facing homelessness on Jan. 24, 2019, according to the Northwest Arkansas Continuum of Care’s Point-in-Time census. NWA Continuum of care is is a non-profit coalition working to end homelessness in the region. Volunteers are passionate about ending homelessness in the region, according to their website. The Point in Time Count is a HUD-required count of sheltered and unsheltered people experiencing homelessness on a single night in January that HUD requires Continuums of Care conduct. For those 529 as well as families and individuals who might not have been counted, a variety of resources are available in Fayetteville.
Whitney King had a plan. She had just graduated from Arkansas State University with her bachelors’ degree in journalism and was accepted into a masters program at the University of Arkansas.
She made the move from Jonesboro, Arkansas, to Fayetteville and thought she was set. Then she got an email on August 15 saying that a payment was overdue by 11 days — a loan she thought she would not have to start paying back until after she graduated with her masters’ degree. King, 24, said she thinks there needs to be more information given to a borrower beforehand. “I hadn’t taken out a loan before, so I think it would be beneficial to know the ins and outs,” King said. “It was a lot of information thrown at me on that day. Out of all Arkansas college students that graduated between 2015 and 2017, on average, 14 percent defaulted on their student loans. The average amount of debt a student graduated school with between those two years was $14,000. Borrowers default for various reasons, including divorce, health problems and not finishing school, Joel Doelger, Director of Community Development and Housing Counseling for the non-profit Credit Counseling of Arkansas. “There is no typical reason,” he said. A loan is considered in default after a borrower goes 270 days without making payments, Deolger said.
King said she enrolled in her graduate courses in May and thought the loan would automatically defer until after she graduated with her masters. King then got a letter informing her that loan was in default in August and quickly began the process of getting it deferred. After proving her enrollment, King is now considered to be out of default.
Todd Hertzberg, a Fayetteville-based bankruptcy attorney, said about half of his clients have student loans with some loans reaching up to $350,000. Hertzberg urges his clients to get out of default as soon as possible, even if they plan on filing for bankruptcy. Penalties for defaulting on student loans can be severe. Unlike other creditors, student loan providers only have to send one notice before they can have employers garnish wages, meaning loan payments are forcibly taken from a paycheck. Interest rates on loans in default can spike as high as 30 percent. There are few options for relief for those struggling to pay down student loans. Student loans are non-dischargeable in bankruptcy, unless they pose an undue hardship. This means that even if other debt is waived through bankruptcy, student loans are not except in rare cases, Hertzberg said. “There has been a myriad of court decisions around the country as to what constitutes undue hardship and the courts have not opened the doors very wide,” Hertzberg said. “It has been narrowed to nearly complete physical disability.” Some undergraduates who took out loans are nervous about paying them off in the future. Rachel Thrash, a junior advertising and public relations major at the University of Arkansas said she worries about balancing living expenses and student loan payments after graduation. She will have to begin repaying her loan six months after she graduates. “After college, I’m going to have to start paying on an apartment and a car and all these different things and then on top of that also paying for student loans,” Thrash said. Options for those in default are limited. A defaulted loan will be transferred from the original bank or loan servicer to a collection agency, Doelger said. Two options for borrowers after defaulting are rehabilitation and reconsolidation. For rehabilitation, a borrower will contact the collection agency and ask for a rehabilitation plan where a payment amount is determined, The borrower will need to make nine payments in 10 months to get out of default, Doelger said.
If a borrower chooses rehabilitation they can have the default mark removed their credit report, Doelger said.
If a borrower has more than one loan, they can consolidate them, Doelger said. The consolidation process can take borrower out of default in one to two months, a quicker option that rehabilitation, Doelger said. It also offers a wider range of payment options, but consolidation does not allow the default mark to be removed from credit scores, Doelger said. Income-driven plans are available for both options, Doelger said. Some students do not understand the full implications of taking out student loans and the repayment process, he said. “I think it’s human nature to be more aware of what’s going on today than what’s going to happen six years down the line when loans are going to be payable,” Doelger said. Noel Morris, a finance professor at the Sam Walton College of Business at the UofA, said students need to approach student loans like any other loan. “It has the same impact as if you stop paying for your car or you stop paying for your house,” said Morris. “They cannot repossess it like they would a car, but it will not go away. It will hurt your credit for about seven years.”
10/16/2019 0 Comments Echelon Story
The Salvation Army of Northwest Arkansas is one of many resources available for those in need of shelter, food and other resources. As the winter months approach, volunteering and donations become more important and more frequent. An upcoming program in affiliation with the Salvation Army is fitting into that need while also creating service and social opportunities for young professionals in NWA looking to give back to their community. There are Echelon chapters across the U.S. and the NWA one will be the first in Arkansas. A kick off event for the chapter will be held on Oct. 24 in Springdale with more events and service opportunities to follow.
This story is a look at the upcoming Echelon chapter being started in Northwest Arkansas and the chapter plans on bringing to the area. The group focuses on social and service opportunities for young professionals. Echelon is closely affiliated with the Salvation Army, and proceeds from their events go back to the Salvation Army, helping those in need. This story is relevant now because the chapter kick off events will be held soon, and because there is an increase in people volunteering during the winter months. Three people I can interview for the story are Blair Cook with the Salvation Army, Katie Howe a member of the upcoming chapter and a member from the Dallas Echelon chapter. I found this story by talking with sources on my beat. I am regularly in contact with the Salvation Army and also keep up with their social media pages. Facebook is where I originally saw a post about the group and I talked with Blair Cook about it. Making this story visual will be difficult, but I plan on taking a photo of the Salvation Army’s building. A graphic showing Echelon chapter across the U.S. might also be helpful. I am working on gathering information about Echelon as a whole, what members think it will bring to the area, what type of service opportunities will be available as well as member experiences.I am in the process of setting up an interview with a member of the Dallas Echelon chapter as well as trying to reach out to Meredith Counce, a UofA alumni who helped start the program.
9/16/2019 0 Comments 100 Girls of code voice overWorking with Videolicous to create the 100 Girls of Code video was frustrating in some aspects, but overall was not a bad experience. There is a learning curve with any new thing and Videolicious is no exception. Working through get the voice overs just right and where they didn't have holes where my speaking video showed was really hard. In the end though, I worked through it all and created a video I am proud of. Working with the app is getting easier and it does make me feel much more valuable as a journalist to be able to work an app like Videolicious that could be so helpful. With future videos I really want to focus on getting edits done more efficiently as well as working on my presence on screen. 9/11/2019 0 Comments Creating a digital business card
Creating a digital business card through Canva was actually really fun. Canva is a great website for beginners like me and helps you every step of the way. Choosing everything from the fonts I liked to the clip art I used really made it a fun experience. The only issue I encountered while working on my business card was when I finished and was saving the card. When I saved it as a PNG, it seemed like everything was fin but when I went to use it the images were blurry. I think digital business cards are a great asset. People are so connected to their devices and the internet and it is a good way to spread info about your business while connecting with audiences.
I had never used Videolicious before this assignment, but I think it is a great resource and one that should be brought up more. I did not know an app like it even existed. Being able to record and edit in the same and to do it quickly was super helpful. There was no awward back and forth between different apps or hours of frustration. I think Videolicous is an amazing app not only for college reporters, but any reporter. You never know when you might need to make video, and it gives you all of the tools you need to make a great one, including a teleprompter. That feature helped make this assignment so much more doable and helped make me feel more comfortable doing it. â
by Abbi Ross
The Razorback Reporter Nearly four in 10 college students in a survey of 43,000 reported that they did not have adequate housing, according to a national research on four-year and two-year colleges. Researchers at Temple University and the Wisconsin HOPE Lab surveyed students from 66 institutions in 20 states and the District of Columbia and concluded that 36% of college students did not have proper housing. They define homelessness as “a person is without a place to live, often residing in a shelter, an automobile, an abandoned building or outside.” They define housing insecurity as students who are staying with friends, struggling to pay rent or need to move frequently. Data from the UofA on the number of students who face homelessness is not clear. Students are only required to list an address when they apply to the university. When students apply, they have an address. University officials do not know whether it is not their home address, said Suzanne McCray, vice provost for enrollment and the dean of admissions. UA freshman who are under 21 years old and do not live within 70 miles of the campus must live on campus their first year, according to the UA housing page. After their first year students have the option of moving off campus. For some students who are in that in-between stage of affording dorms or apartment leases, one option is crashing on couches, moving from place to place and more. Some might end up being classified as homeless. Homelessness in college students is not what most people consider homelessness, said Kevin Fitzpatrick, a UA sociology and criminology professor. “They will likely be couch surfing, they won’t be in the places we typically find homeless people,” Fitzpatrick said. Multiple resources are available for those in need. The 7Hills Homeless Center serves those in need in northwest Arkansas in a variety of ways. 7Hills has a Day Center that helps meet basic human needs such as meals, showers, storage lockers, laundry, clothing, blankets and a safe mail drop. The center serves more than 500 individuals a month at the Day Center, according to the 7Hills webpage. The Walker Family Residential Community, a 7Hills program, provides transitional and permanent supportive housing. The center also has a veterans service program. The Salvation Army of Northwest Arkansas has served both traditional and nontraditional students, said Ambra Bruce, director of social services for the Salvation Army in Fayetteville. A variety of services are offered such as access to a food pantry, access to a case manager and access to clothing and food vouchers, as well as prescription assistance, Bruce said. The Salvation Army also has emergency shelters in Fayetteville and Bentonville. “Quality of life and wellbeing are critical determinants of student success,” Fitzpatrick said. 9/8/2019 0 Comments INtroductory Post
I’m a journalism major with a news and editorial concentration. I am mainly interested in more features and human interest stories. I love stories about things that people maybe don’t think about enough but should (how college tour guides walk backwards! There’s a great Atlantic article on it) or that shows an in-depth look at something daily. I hope through this course that I learn more about visual journalism and how to best utilize it. I also hope to learn more about how to keep up with all of those aspects on my social media. I plan on acquiring those skills by attending class regularly and making sure that I absorb the content.
Multimedia journalism takes many forms and has actually been around longer than some would expect. Even in the 1990s, journalists were working to bring content to the public in a variety of ways. The equipment and styles have changed, but the goal of bringing content to the table in a variety of ways has not. Video from the scene, photography, interactive graphics and audio are all aspects of multimedia journalism. Those aspects are constantly evolving, there are always new ways to brings the news to people. Multimedia journalists are still looking for great stories and honest answers while sharing those stories and answers through a variety of mediums. The article on Journalism Ethics put into words on a page a lot of the things that I’ve heard as a student so far. One of the “ten commandments” that stood out to me the most was the seventh, “Thou shalt live in a glass house.” Judgment and hypocrisy are such difficult things to deal with in any lifestyle, especially ones where you subject yourself to the public view like in journalism. As a journalist, you are constantly under the public eye and their scrutiny, making sure you do your best to not do that to other journalists is a really big thing to me. Treat others the way you want to be treated, and do not do anything that you would judge someone else for doing. The part on not paying for sources also stuck out to me. It’s something that it seems like should not even have to be said, but I know for some people it has to be. Integrity is so important. Here's the link to two great multimedia articles I found on the New Yorker! I chose two articles because they show different aspects of interactive stories. The first story on a new "silk road" is great because it shows beautiful images as well as quotes in a more personal way. The images and quotes flow in front of reader onto the screen. The second article is not as focused on showing multiple points of interaction. Instead it showcases one major interaction for readers. At the top of the article is an incredible illustration of The Vessel, an art piece created by Thomas Heatherwick. The article gives readers the opportunity to have a 360 degree look at a captivating illustration of the sculpture. There is also the option to listen to the article being read. https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/01/08/a-new-silk-road https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/02/26/thomas-heatherwick-architectures-showman
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Abbi RossUniversity of Arkansas Journalism Student || Arkansas Traveler Reporter || Lemke Digital Media Lab Student Archives
December 2019
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