Was the Police "Brutality" Against California Campus Protesters Justified?

The media often shows police officers taking action in serious situations and portrays them in a negative light by accusing them of police brutality. When an officer shoots someone, arrests someone, or takes some other form of serious physical action, they usually have a good reason for it. The job of police officers is to protect our communities, but the communities often lash out against them in the media. Many people believe that police officers abuse their authority and take things too far, but it is difficult to make these judgements when the public does not know the whole story behind the situation. This issue of police brutality was recently publicized in the media when two California campus police officers pepper-sprayed protesters for not moving and following their orders. Here is the CNN story.

Suffolk County Police Officer Gary Kuhne has served as a police officer for almost thirty years. He is currently an instructor at the Suffolk County Police Academy, and has been there for the last 23 years. He has seen a lot of misconceptions about the police portrayed in media throughout the years, whether it is in local newspapers or on national television. He does not appreciate the way the media makes cops look, because he knows that there is much more to every situation than what is said in the news. And when citizens watch and read these news stories about police brutality, they lose their trust in the people who are working to help them. I interviewed him to find out what his expert opinions were about this story of police officers pepper-spraying protesters.

listen to ‘Protesters’ on Audioboo

When I first asked Officer Kuhne what he thought about this story, he believed that the officers were justified in their actions. As mentioned in his audio clip, the protesters were actively resisting the police officers by linking arms with each other and making a "wall" of protesters. Officer Kuhne then explained the difference between active resistance and passive resistance:

In our interview, Officer Kuhne explained that he could only speak to the laws the he worked by in New York State. He explained that the laws could be different in California, and that he is not familiar with their laws. This could mean that the California police officers were not justified in their actions of pepper-spraying the protesters, but he was able to recognize that he cannot form a strong opinion because he does not know all of the background information. Even as a police officer, he is not ready to jump to conclusions these officers just because the media tells him to do so.



After I conducted this interview with Officer Kuhne, he did some research of his own to find out more about this situation and whether it was justified or not. He found that although the protesters were actively resisting, the police officers had no reasons to believe that they were armed or harmful in any way. He explained to me that there are less extreme measures that could have been used in to diffuse this situation, such as using pressure points to get the protesters to unlock their arms. He explained that the pepper-spraying should only be used if the police officers have probable cause to believe that the protesters could be dangerous. This shows that even a veteran police officer needs to find more background information about a situation to draw conclusions and develop opinions about "police brutality" incidents that are portrayed in the media. If news sources are going to publicize these occurrences, they should find as much background information about the situation as possible to give a story to the public that is not biased in any way. The media should not try to portray police officers in a negative light.

The Effects of Television Shows About Dance

 Television shows about dance have become very popular within the last few years. Before these shows became popular, many people did not know a lot about the dance world and how positive, competitive, and important it is to so many people involved in the field. I interviewed dance teacher/choreographer Stefani Russo to ask how she thinks these television shows have affected the dance world.

Some shows like "So You Think You Can Dance" and "Dance Moms" highlight the choreographers and different styles of dance just as much as the dancers themselves. In my interview, I asked Stefani how these shows have affected her choreography and teaching style with her own students.

http://qik.com/video/45993825

Even though these television shows have been great for the dance world by exposing it to so many people and getting more people interested in the art form, they can "definitely cause misconceptions"-as stated by Stefani Russo- by focusing on some of the negative aspects of dance.

http://qik.com/video/45993822

Overall, the various reality television shows about dance have helped to make the art of dance more popular, well-known, and appreciated. Now that dance is more publicized, many more people are able to enjoy it even if they do not participate in any dance activities themselves. Have you watched any television shows about dancing recently?

Why Do We Put Up With Radio Advertisements?

When I read Ricki Kahn's blog post about radio advertising, I learned that it is a lot cheaper to advertise on the radio then it is to advertise on television. I also learned that radio advertisements can reach a large range of listeners, and that the radio has not been losing listeners- as many people may think. But this seemed odd to me, because I feel that with all of the new technologies in music today (ipods, mp3 players, etc.), the radio should be losing listeners. If we know that we will have to listen to commercials and advertisements on the radio, why do we continue to tune in? If we have these ipods that we can control, why aren't they taking over? I asked this question to Ricki, and here's what she had to say about it:

listen to ‘Radio listeners’ on Audioboo

When Ricki talked about the range of listeners that radio advertisements are able to reach, I wasn't exactly sure of what she meant. I know that when I listen to the radio at home, most of the commercials are for local businesses. When I interviewed her, she was able to clarify this for me:

listen to ‘Range of radio advertising’ on Audioboo

What Is Tellaterp?

I work on campus in Annapolis Hall as a student supervisor for the Tellaterp Call Center. Many students on campus have heard of Tellaterp, but do not know exactly what it is. I interviewed my boss, Andrew Altshuler- who is the Assistant Director of the Tellaterp phone program, so that he could explain exactly what Tellaterp is.

listen to ‘Tellaterp’ on Audioboo

Tellaterp is a great on-campus job for students that are looking to use and improve on their communication skills. As a caller, students call many alumni, students, parents, and friends of the University of Maryland to keep them updated with what is happening on campus and to get them involved with giving back by raising funds for academics, scholarships, athletics, and the Alumni Association. The Tellaterp Call Center alone raises over $600,000 each year for the university, helping to keep tuition down while continuing to make improvements to this great university. Students that work at the Tellaterp Call Center make a huge impact on this university, it's not just any old part-time job.

When I was interviewing Andrew, I also asked him why it is so important for alumni (and other members of the Maryland family) to give back to the university. He explained that even though the University of Maryland is a state school, the funding that we receive from the state is just a small portion of the university's operating budget. The funding that we receive from our alumni helps to fill those financial gaps, helping to keep tuition down for current students. This is one reason why alumni support is so important for the University of Maryland.

listen to ‘Alumni’ on Audioboo

How Serious is Sirius?

Before I got my new car, I had not really listened to satellite radio all that much, and I did not know what all the buzz was about. All I knew was that it was commercial-free, but I didn't know why it was so much greater than regular FM radio. I couldn't understand why people would actually pay money for it, when they have a perfectly good FM radio to listen to for free! But when I got my new car about a year ago, it came with a free 3-month subscription to Sirius radio. I thought that once the free subscription was up, I would just go back to FM radio. But I quickly realized that I couldn't do that, I was hooked! I loved the radio stations that were sorted by categories, I loved that it was commercial-free music, I loved the morning shows and countdowns, but the best part was that I could listen to the same stations no matter where I was driving. This was especially useful for me when I was driving from New York to Maryland. I quickly fell in love with my Sirius radio, and I am happy to pay $12.95 a month to have it.

Satellite radio differs from FM or AM radio in a few ways. As I mentioned earlier, satellite radio does not have any commercials, while FM and AM radios have a lot of commercials. Since satellite radio charges its customers a monthly subscription fee, so they do not have to get advertisers to make money. Satellite radio is also available to more people per area than FM or AM radio. Sirius' satellites can reach large areas, whereas FM can only reach a small area. FM needs a densely populated area for the streaming to be effective.

Sirius radio has faced with many changes in the past few years. In 2007, the company started to merge with its competition, XM radio, to avoid bankruptcy and decrease competition. Both companies were in financial trouble, so they decided to merge to stay alive. When the companies merged, they became Sirius XM Radio Inc. and had over 18.5 million subscribers. This made them the second largest radio company in the country. Immediately after the merger, stocks went down and some subscribers were unhappy because their XM lifetime subscriptions were no longer valid, but the company has thrived. Here is a brief article about the merger:
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5gWpqqvwgW00Q9TWlFXCqFL7ccIxw

Sirius XM Satellite Radio is continually pushing to meet the needs of radio listeners. They have pre-installed radios in a wide variety of car brands (Ford, Toyota, Honda, Hyundai, Nissan, Audi, Kia, Chrysler, etc.), home radios, portable radios, internet radio on mobile devices, marine and aviation applications, and subscriptions for businesses. They stream music, news, sports, entertainment, and traffic & weather. They provide affordable subscription rates, and they are committed to not raising their prices. The company is "committed to integrity, excellence, and diversity among its employees." This company seems to continue to move in the right direction, as they receive new subscribers every day. I know I'm a fan!

More Than a Feeling

In the age of e-readers and tablets, the use and sales of actual books and newspapers continues to decrease. E-readers advertise that they make reading a much more simple and enjoyable experience. While many agree and are switching over to these e-readers, many people still love the "feeling" they get from holding a real book or newspaper. Even though so many people claim that this "feeling" is important and is keeping them from using e-readers, it is very difficult to find just one person that can specifically explain what this "feeling" is. 

Even though I do own an e-reader, I can definitely understand the special feeling that comes from real books. People like how it feels to flip through a book, physically turn the page, fold over the pages, and smell the pages. They like how they can "get lost" in a real book, where it is difficult to do that with an e-reader. This experience is described by one blogger who forgot how good it felt to read a real book until she bought a bunch from a bookstore that was going out of business. http://www.digitizd.com/2011/02/22/the-feeling-of-reading-a-book/ 

Although these features of reading a real book may seem little and insignificant, I think the meaning of reading a real book goes much further. As many of us were children, we saw our parents and grandparents reading books and newspapers, not e-readers and articles on the computer. I think that for many young people today, reading a real book gives us a feeling of nostalgia and reverts us back to our childhoods. When we learned to read, we read real books. When we saw our parents reading, we wanted to be like them by being able to read "big books" or whole newspapers. I think that as children, we would strive to finally be able to read those big heavy books and understand everything that was in the newspapers, so we naturally want to continue with that trend into adulthood.

I also feel that a lot of people are hesitant about switching over to e-readers because they love to get lost in a book. Although this may be possible with an e-reader, it would definitely be difficult to do. With an e-reader or a tablet, it is so easy to get distracted with other things. Since these devices have WiFi capabilities, many people constantly feel the need to check their emails, look something up online, or click on articles or look at other books that may be related to what they are currently reading. I know that when I am reading something on my computer, it is very difficult for me to get through the reading without looking at something else on my computer. With real books, this is not an issue. When reading a real book, you can read for hours-on-end with no distractions, which can better engulf you in the story than an e-reader can.

The feeling that people get from reading a real book has been able to keep books alive, but I don't know how long it will last. As e-readers continue to become more and more popular, children will eventually learn to read with them and see their parents using them. E-readers will soon become the norm, and both real books and the feelings associated with them will soon disappear.

Technology in Education

   As an elementary education major, technology plays a huge role in my field of study. As I am continually learning about different teaching methods, I am also learning that technology is becoming much more prevalent in the classroom. For example, many teachers use smart boards in their classrooms, which allow them to lead interactive lessons where the students can come up and write on the board with electronic markers. There are also many other ways technology is used in the classroom, such as the increased importance of teaching students how to utilize the internet for research and making digital presentations. More specific to elementary education, children are learning how to use computers and navigate the web at earlier ages than ever before. When I observed in a second grade classroom last semester, the students spent 30-60 minutes on the computer each day. They would play math games, read digital story books, and look at videos and pictures that were based on what they were learning in class. The use and importance of technology are definitely on the rise in the education field.

   This semester, I would like to become more familiar with the use of technology. Even though I do own a laptop and browse the web frequently, I still feel that there is lot more that I need to learn. This will be my first time blogging and using twitter, so I hope I will get comfortable using both of those soon. I also hope that learning more about mass media will help me in the future with a career in education.