Social journalist Sonia Nazario named Reality Journalist by reporting class

A feature writer who focuses primarily on social issues, LA Times‘ Sonia Nazario is this year’s COM 300 Reality Journalist.

For three weeks in November, students from the class acted as spokespersons for their chosen journalists and presented on notable work, credentials, and reasons why their respective journalists should win.

Through student voting, ultimately, the competition was narrowed down to investigate journalist Seymour Hersh and feature writer Sonia Nazario.

Certainly, the work history of both journalists is impressive, as Hersh gained worldwide exposure for exposing the My Lai Massacre and Nazario is well-known for her stories about socially volatile issues such as drug addiction and immigration.

In the end, junior Julie Halm presented the best case for her journalist, Sonia Nazario.

Halm focused primarily on Nazario’s work on a multi-part story entitled Enrique’s Journey. Published in 2003, the work recounted the experiences of Latin American children who travel through hostile, perilous locations to find their parents in the United States.

The series won more than a dozen awards including the Pulitzer Prize for Feature Writing, the James Polk Award for International Reporting, the Grand Prize of the Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award, and the National Association of Hispanic Journalists Guillermo Martinez-Marques Award for Overall Excellence.

But in addition to the awards garnered, Nazario’s work also effects positive outcomes. For example, after the publication of her work on the children of drug addicts, many children were put into child services, and their parents into rehab.

These outcomes lend themselves to Halm’s belief about effective journalism.

“Great writing should make people want to change the world we live in,” she said.

Halm’s case for Nazario was passionate and heartfelt, as she shared what Nazario’s writing had taught her about herself as a journalist.

“Because of her, I try to be as honest as possible, whenever possible,” she said.

But what Halm takes most from Nazario–and what she feels all her readers should–is a lesson not exclusive to journalists, but rather open to all of mankind.

“Somewhere in Nazario’s work, there always is a glimmering piece of hope,” Halm said. “She shows the amount of good and bad in the world. Even in the most desperate situations, she proves that there is good.”

In with the old, out with the new: glancing back with antiques owner Dale McCracken

In August, Reidsville, N.C. celebrated the opening of its New Market Square, signaling the transition between what the town represented in the past and what it will offer residents in the future.

Where a tobacco warehouse once stood, farmers now offer fresh seasonal produce.

But a stroll downtown leads to A Backward Glance Antiques, where owner Dale McCracken has successfully preserved trinkets, traces, and tales of eras past.

An older gentleman, McCracken’s hands show evidence of years of work as a former machinist and the result of running a store on his own. Laugh lines reveal a life of experience speckled with humor and joy.

“In ’93, after years of training other machinists, I got tired of motivating men who didn’t want to work,” McCracken said. “I liked the way things used to be made, so I gave my notice and went into this business cold turkey.”

In 1998, McCracken came to Reidsville and opened A Backward Glance Antiques.  Located on 212 Settle St., the store occupies three adjacent building, including one that was a second-floor boarding house.

“There are thirteen rooms up there, all filled with junk,” he said.

After 11 years as owner of A Backward Glance, clearly, McCracken is no expert on antiques.

“I really don’t know anything about antiques,” he said. “The only thing I know a little about is my market. I’ve got a good idea of what I can sell, and that’s what I base it on…I’ll buy anything if the price is right.”

And perhaps, there is no need to be an expert. McCracken’s approach is simple: He buys estates or contents of houses, typically from the owners who are downsizing. Then, he puts those items in his store.

“I’m a lot more than an antiques shop,” he said. “I’ve got everything from pots, pans, dishes, tools, books, records, and sports stuff. Whatever you would find in a house, I have here.”

Certainly, McCracken has much to show for his method. Curious shoppers could potentially spend a minute with each item in the store and still not see everything after a year.

McCracken mused over the amount of items in the store. “I had a guy spend three hours in here and then come out and ask me, ‘Surely, you don’t buy everything in this store yourself, do you?’,” McCracken said. “Well, how else would I have gotten any of it?”

Each item is organized into a category, and then into its own room or location in the store. There is a room for tools, another for Christmas decorations, one for kitchen items, another for old toys, and a room devoted entirely to glass bottles.

And so, with a pen and a pair of eyeglasses in his left shirt pocket and a mind for his market, he is ready for business.

“The best secret about my business is this: I move stuff,” McCracken said. “I buy cheap, I sell cheap, and I turn it over. The beauty of that is, I have people who come in here three days a week just to see what’s new because it always changes.”

McCracken believes his store is in no danger, then, of following the path of others like it. A Backward Glance Antiques is one of the last survivors of Reidsville’s “Antique Alley,” a 1990s downtown revival effort. Although the effort was successful for a while, all but one or two shops have closed.

“Even though they talk about this recession we’re in, I’ve been doing very well,” he said. “People will buy this good used furniture before they’ll go out and buy something new.”

But as a wholesale house, some of McCracken’s business has been affected.

“Someone asked me the other day, ‘Dale, aren’t you doing great now that your competition is gone?’ But they weren’t my competition; they were my customers and friends. They would buy here and resell, too,” he said.

One of 12 siblings, what McCracken finds most interesting about his job is meeting people and seeing what they buy.

“Usually, when people are in a hurry, I’ll tell them a specific place to go,” he said. “But really, I want them to go and look. The odds are, they will leave with something they wouldn’t have gotten otherwise.”

It’s as much fun for the customers, then, as it is for McCracken.

“I just like old stuff. It brings back a lot of good memories,” he said. “I’ve got a little while longer before my buildings are paid off, but I’ll probably always keep it up as long as I’m healthy. I really enjoy it.”

And it shows. It seems that those who frequent the store come back for McCracken, just as much as they come back for the new items.

As McCracken stands on his toes to dust off an old China cabinet—one of the store’s quality pieces—he shared one last bit of wisdom: “There are two things you can’t be in this business. One is lazy and the other is greedy. I’m neither of those.”

Returning the favor

Reidsville, Nc. was once known as “The Lucky City” because Lucky Strikes were made there.

But like many small towns across the state, not even luck has made Reidsville immune to the recent economic downturn.

Reidsville is in transition now, as it looks for ways to bring jobs to its residents by bringing life back to the historic town.

Part of historic downtown includes A Backward Glance Antiques, owned by Dale McCracken.

As I entered the shop, owner and bell greeted me simultaneously. McCracken is an older gentleman with graying hair, but with the obvious strength of any man half his age.

A Backward Glance occupies three adjacent buildings, including one that was as a second-floor boarding house. McCracken runs the place entirely on his own to keep costs down, and also, because he can.

And after 11 years as the owner, I assumed that he is an antiques expert, but McCracken told me he doesn’t know the first thing about them.

As he said, he’s just filled the whole place up with “junk.”

But McCracken does know what people want.

His philosophy: “I’ll buy anything if the price is right.”

And it shows. Curious shoppers could potentially spend a minute with each item in the store and still not see everything after a year.

There is a room for tools, another for Christmas decorations, one filled with sporting goods, and another devoted entirely to Coke bottles—seriously.

As I rummaged through old magazines, unicorn figurines and old cameras, McCracken told humorous stories about customers and experiences.

I discovered that McCracken’s shop is one of the last survivors of Reidsville’s “Antique Alley,” a 1990s downtown revival effort.

Learning better than to assume anything about McCracken, I asked how he feels about the other stores closing down. These other stores weren’t his competitors—they were customers and nearby friends.

“One thing about antiques—they sure don’t talk back to you,” he said.

He laughed, but his eyes turned down to the wood floor. A second glance highlighted the slow traffic in the store.

But McCracken isn’t worried about his business following the route of others on “Antique Alley.” To him, it is the quality of the sale over the quantity, and his items don’t lack quality. Something else seemed to trouble him.

Another hour in A Backward Glance proved the quality of McCracken’s items. I returned to the front of the store with an old Steinbeck novel, a collection of short stories, and two pairs of vintage earrings.

“Now, I don’t want to upset you, but all of this is no charge,” he said. “I’ve got a favor to ask of you.”

I insisted, but he refused.

“I want you to promise you’ll come back and visit again.”

I agreed.

What he doesn’t know is, after two hours in the store, I’d already resolved to return, not as a favor to him, but instead, as a favor to myself.

Artist Profile: Travis Butler

(Published in the November 11, 2009 issue of The Pendulum)

Senior digital art major Travis Butler describes his artistic vision in one word — “experimental.”

His work with animal bones, found objects, felt masks and mythical creatures gives the sense of a constructed reality never before explored.

Butler has spent the past three months creating and collecting pieces for the installation he will present for his senior art seminar in the spring. A mixed-media artist, Butler sketches, paints and works with fiber and digital programs. Through fiber art, fiber installation and digital imagery, Butler said he ultimately hopes to achieve a detached reality in his installation.

“My installation work uses the material of felt and found rusty, recycled and discarded objects to create an environment that seems weathered and frozen in time but soft like the wasteland of a forgotten dream,” Butler said.

In the senior art seminar, students are expected to spend their senior year working on one project. They build a concept, work with faculty and other students, show their work and finally present and defend a thesis at the end of the year. Butler entered his fourth year already knowing what he wanted to produce.

“This past summer, I took a course at (Virginia Commonwealth University) where I learned different fiber techniques like felting,” Butler said. “I made two of the masks there.”

These masks are perhaps the most noticeable elements in Butler’s installation. Unique in form and emotional expression, Butler makes the eyes and mouth for the masks separately with a basic fiber technique called coiling. The emotions and faces of the masks — which each take about seven to eight hours to create — emerge as the form is finalized and composed. Butler said he plans to create a community of about 10 masked figures.

“I think these anthropomorphic figures are the most recognizable because they could be related to humans or cute, cuddly creatures,” Butler said. “A connection is made between viewer and masked figure because both possess a spirit.”

This sense of spirituality, fantasy and mysticism surrounds all of Butler’s work, especially his sketches. In the installation, Butler takes this theme further, highlighting the soul and unknown history of the felt figures and the found objects that embellish them.

“The found objects contain a certain personality and history to them,” Butler said. “They can all be found on the sides of railroad tracks. But when seen in the context of the gallery, they take on new, fantastic lives. I like to think that when everyone leaves the building for the night, the figures let out a breath of air. Shadowy figures spring to life from their relaxed positions, and the silence of the white walls is broken.”

Butler said he hopes the setting and layout of his artwork will express an openness that emphasizes detachment, adventure, desire and discovery. Butler guides the viewer to experience the installation first as a removed participant, then to search for the adventure and alternate reality.
He said he leaves it to the imagination of the viewers, based on the material he has presented, to create their own stories, myths or histories.

As a contemporary artist, Butler does not want to control viewers. Instead, he presents his work and challenges them to appreciate it more than they may have appreciated other artwork — by literally becoming the art.

“To fully experience life, you can’t be stuck in the same routines,” Butler said. “You have to be adventurous and continually see things in new ways. In life, we are presented with questions. Should we keep doing what we are comfortable doing, or should we try new ways of thinking?”

Butler said he does not expect or want everyone to walk away from his work with the same understanding. Rather,  he said he hopes they will experience the installation at different levels but ultimately grasp the larger themes of different levels of framing, searching and constructed space.

“Every adventure has a starting point,” Butler said. “In many ways, this installation piece is my starting point. I hope I can guide viewers to find their own adventures by sharing mine.”

Rain or Shine: The show goes on regardless of weather

Recognized by the Princeton Review for having one of the nation’s most beautiful campuses, Elon University often finds its draw in the its picturesque backdrop and welcoming college grounds.

Students can easily picture themselves enjoying a book or a lunch between classes while reclining on the meticulously maintained, bright green grass.

“I love having my lunch outside in the sun when it’s nice out,” junior Jessie Frederick said. “Elon is the perfect campus to enjoy the outdoors.”

Yet when the weather is dreary, Elon students are still able to find entertainment and fun.

Senior Chrissie Cordeira enjoys doing arts and crafts in her apartment, while her roommate, junior Blythe Westendorf prefers to watch movies in bed.

Yet come rain or shine, the university itself also provides programming for students. Student Union Board, the largest programming board on campus, offers entertainment for students every Wednesday, Thursday and Friday regardless of the weather.

“We offer everything from acoustic performers and live bands to movies that have not yet been released on DVD,” Student Union Board co-president Katie Gettier said. “The shows goes on whether it’s raining or not. And of course, there is always free food.”

With such options, students are not limited to their dorm rooms; rather, sometimes the weather gives them the opportunity to meet with students and take advantage of university-provided programming that they might not otherwise attend.

Student Union Board co-president Katie Gettier explains the different programming offered to students every week.

Photojournalist David LaBelle instructs students to love the people more than the photographs

Dave LaBelle’s four greatest influences are Rembrandt, Norman Rockwell, John Steinbeck, and Jesus. But LaBelle is not a painter, a writer, or  a priest.

LaBelle, a photojournalist, spoke at Elon Wednesday night in the interactive media floor of Powell.

Originally from western Kentucky, LaBelle left his home in California and has been on a speaking tour since the second week of September of this year. His wife, two sons, two dogs, and guinea pig joined him.

LaBelle’s talk included two parts: in the first, he highlighted the importance of TLC–timing, light and composition. In the second, he share his personal story, philosophy and life statement.

When LaBelle was a young photojournalist, everything was interesting. His keen eye and talent presented him–at 20 years old–to travel the world shooting sports. After much internal debate, LaBelle turned down the offer.

“I wanted, needed to do more than take pretty pictures, ” LaBelle said. “I wanted, needed to tell stories that help people.”

In California, LaBelle suggested that the newspaper he work at begin doing a piece on the homeless. His inspiration were the “Adopt Me” pieces that newspapers typically do on cats or dogs that need homes. Typically, when these stories are published, soon afterward, the animals are adopted.

The newspaper began publishing a piece entitled “Hard Times” every other week.

As LaBelle did the piece each week, he began to identify his vocation.

“I realized my responsibility to change people’s lives for the better,” LaBelle said.

LaBelle shared a story about a college-aged woman named Samantha. A part-time student with a full-time job, Samantha was homeless and lived in her car. After her story was published in the paper, a man called asking about her. He offered her an extra room in his home. “I don’t know what God looks like. . .maybe she is what God looks like,” the man said.

Yet, certainly, not all photographers or photographs highlight positive stories. “The world is good and evil,” LaBelle said. “For whatever reason, most people focus on the evil.”

“I choose to celebrate the good,” LaBelle said. “I want to celebrate the goodness of the human spirit as it has been demonstrated to me.”

Through experiences, LaBelle has learned not only about human nature in general, but also himself and his views on his career.

“I learned photojournalism is a universal language. Today, you are learning a language,” he said. “Who will you speak to? What will you say?”

Slam Poet Garcia-Medina inspires student to perform personal poetry

International spoken word artist and award winning poet Gabriela Garcia Medina performed at Elon University last night as a part of Student Union Board’s SUBStage programming, but it was student Chelsea Yarborough’s impromptu performance that garnered the most applause from the audience.

Garcia Medina has performed at numerous colleges, festivals and conferences all over the world, and she ended her performance at Elon just as she does any other. At the end of an invigorating set, she welcomed fellow poets to the stage to share their work. Though audience members nudged their friends, only sophomore Chelsea Yarborough was brave enough to take to the microphone.

Despite nerves, it was Garcia Medina’s presence that ultimately inspired Yarborough.

“I liked her attitude a lot,” Yarborough said. “Kind of a no nonsense attitude, which is exactly what I like to portray in my own poetry.”

But this was not the first time that Yarborough has shared her poetry. She became serious about poetry during her freshman year in high school, and she has actually participated in a few slam poetry competitions.

This experience enabled Yarborough to give a poised and masterful delivery of her poems.

First, she performed “It’s Just that Kind of Love,” a poem about the euphoric feeling that lovers have when their relationship is so good that it overcomes and overpowers whatever else might happen.

Then, she performed “True Love,” a poem about a love so pure that it is reflective of God’s love.

Yarborough’s performance impressed the audience, including a few friends who were unaware of her poetic side.

“I was amazed not only by her poetry and how well it was written, but also by the passion with which she delivered it,” Jenna Thrash said.

Click the video to see student Chelsea Yarborough perform “It’s Just That Kind of Love” and “True Love.”

Elon Alumnus Erin Mahn: Forget your plans, follow the news

Like many fourth-year journalism students, Erin Mahn had dreams of tackling the Big Apple when she graduated college, but life experience soon reinforced that in the world of news, things rarely go according to plan.

Mahn, who graduated in 2007, lived a short while in New York before discovering that the city was not where she could practice her style of journalism most effectively. Mahn applied to jobs in cities from Alaska to Singapore, but ironically, her first job was with The Daily Banner in Cambridge, only 45 minutes from her hometown Salisbury, Md.

Although it was not what she had originally planned, Mahn was eager to take a position that would not require her to write the “obits” that so many budding journalists fear. “Whatever job gave me the most experience, I took,” Mahn said.

During her two-year stay with the newspaper, Mahn had the opportunity to fly a plane, go on yachts, and even attend the Men’s Muskat Skinning Finals. Yet what Mahn cherishes most are the lessons she learned while covering these stories, however unpredictable they might have been:

1. Treat everyone with respect.
2. Check your ego at the door.
3. People will not like you.
4. People will tell you when you make a mistake.
5. Ask people how they spell their name—twice.
6. Don’t be afraid to ask questions until you understand—your job is to understand.
7. Have fun.

Although Mahn was molded by the journalism program at Elon, it was experiences that she had while covering stories that define her most as a journalist today. In journalists, writers will be required to cover stories that do not interest them. “Elon doesn’t teach you how to be an actor of actress,” Mahn said. Yet the key is to rise to the occasion and report fairly, no matter what.

Click the video to view Mahn sharing her seven lessons with students.

The Reconstruction of Journalism Analysis

Since I began studying at Elon University, I have heard a number of Communications professors say that now is an incredibly fragile and scary time to enter journalism, but also the most exciting and opportunistic time the field has ever seen. As a journalism major, I am fascinated by how quickly journalism–and newspapers, especially–has transformed in just the past few years. To be sure, the Internet has made it easier to gather and distribute news, but it has also simultaneously “undermined” the industry that had brought it in to save it. Downie and Schudson’s The Reconstruction of American Journalism seeks to explore the ways that the traditional structure has failed, as well as the ways financially to support and save news reporting.

While demonstrating what is sure to be the future of journalism, the Internet has also highlighted and weakened the economic foundation of the newspaper. Thus, as it exists now, the structure of journalism is fragile–especially its funding structure. Effective journalism requires “strong professional leadership and reliable financial support,”which the authors argue the marketplace (or, “the shrinking newpaper”) can no longer afford to supply. Consequently, Downie and Schudson suggest a new, diverse range of sources for news reporting:

• New or existing local news organizations should be allowed to operate as nonprofit or low-profit organizations, allowing them tax-deductible donations in addition to advertising revenue and other income.
• Support for local news reporting should be increased.
• Through reform of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, public radio and television should provide local news reporting in every community.
• Universities and colleges should become local, state, and accountability news reporting sources, where faculty and student journalists are members of community news staffs.
• A national Fund for Local News should be created.
• Government, nonprofit organizations and journalists should take advantage of the digital tools available and use them to spread information more widely to the public.

The ideas that Downie and Schudson write are not impossible, nor are they unreasonable. However, they do require leadership in journalism–new leadership. The more I consider this situation, the more I know these changes will have to come from my generation of journalists. While that is an exhilarating thought, it is also a daunting task. Yet if journalism is to continue to thrive as it has in the past, the challenge must be met.

‘Walk to School Day’ highlights road problems in Burlington

(Published in the October 14, 2009 issue of The Pendulum)

Today, students from Elon’s physical therapy department will lead 70 eager second graders from North Graham Elementary School to Graham High School in a walk to celebrate the third annual “Walk to School Day.”

Although “Walk to School Day” was Oct. 7, local event organizers postponed the walk because students at

Submitted photo from 2008 event.

year-round schools were on intercession. But the date of the event is not all they chose to modify.

The international event promotes healthy lifestyle habits, environmentally friendly methods of traveling and awareness of pedestrian safety. Students are dropped off at an alternate location and then walk to school.

But because of a lack of safe walking routes, local advocates have created a day unique to the Graham community.

“There definitely is a need for safer walking routes, but for now, that has to be secondary because we have not been able to gain consent from the school district or parents to get kids dropped off anywhere other than at the school,” said Marianne Janssen, director of clinical education in the physical therapy department.

Instead, Elon students focus on increasing the second graders’ activity levels. Today, students, staff and administrators from North Graham will join the physical therapy students in the walk from the elementary school to Graham High School, and then to Bill Cooke Park for games and other health-conscious activities.

The idea for this event was hatched when Janssen served as chair for the Triad District of the North Carolina Physical Therapy Association.The district wanted to give back to the community as well as celebrate National Physical Therapy Month.

“We decided that with the tremendous increase in childhood obesity and the associated risks of long-term chronic diseases, kids would really benefit from our knowledge,” Janssen said. “When we discovered that October was also National Walk to School month, it just all came together.”

Janssen said she could not have accomplished this idea alone, and said Elon students did most of the organizing. She assigned them the task of helping increase their understanding of the role of physical therapists as consultants. Caroline Thutt, Morgan Rountree and Melissa Melito are third-year DPT students who helped make the event possible.

About two weeks prior to the event, DPT students gave the North Graham students pedometers and taught them how to use them. They also emphasized the need to remain active, suggested safe walking tips and explained what they studied in physical therapy. According to Elon alumnus and principal Gregory Holland, the students look forward to interacting with college students every year.

In the event’s first year, International Walk to School Day occurred during North Graham’s school break and participation was reduced to 30 students from different grade levels. Then, the event was limited to activities at the elementary school.

Following two years’ successes, this year’s event is the first when students will be allowed to walk on the sidewalks.

The day has also become more focused. Realizing the experience might be more effective with one grade level only, organizers picked second graders because they are old enough to understand the need to remain active, but also young enough to apply these habits for the rest of their lives. As the event grows, supporters hope that there will ultimately be safer routes for students to be able to walk from an alternate drop off location to their school.

“It’s literally one step at a time,” Janssen said.

Event organizers hope this experience will encourage students to develop healthy lifestyles.

“We hope this event will encourage them to stay active and find activities they can participate in for a lifetime,” Holland said.

But the benefits and lessons are not limited to the second graders. Janssen hopes that DPT students will learn that being a physical therapist extends beyond treating patients and includes being involved with the health of communities where they work and live.

“Elon’s mission involves educating global citizens who are concerned for the common good,” Janssen said. “To contribute to a way to decrease and, hopefully, eventually prevent childhood obesity is something that is good for the entire world. How much more common can you get?”