A Fly on the Wall

Tucked away in the corner of one of the eating halls at San Jose State is a Burger King counter. The area is dimly lit with bluish-white fluorescent lights mixed with the soft red glow of the company sign mounted on the wall above the pick-up counter. The smell of flame-broiled grease is strong and enticing. Customers walk up with a puzzled look on their face as they decide whether or not they should navigate through the nearly empty black-railed maze that leads to the ordering counter or if they should just walk directly up to the cashier. It’s early in the day, about an hour before the lunch rush hits, so the line is almost nonexistent. At times there are five or six customers in line, mostly students with heavy backpacks weighing them down, some with a skateboard or sweatshirt in hand. Others are on their cell phones or waiting patiently beneath the red glow by the stainless steel counter for their order number to be yelled out.

There are a lot of employees for such a quiet time in the day; two or three are in the front taking orders and filling drink cups while another four or five are assembling sandwiches and stuffing steaming fries into pouches. During the lulls when there are no customers they all meander around the enclosed food prep area or lean against the cool steel service counter with a blank look on their face. And then, once a customer walks up and places an order, they begin to bustle about in a disorderly and lackluster way, appearing to be in a sort of slow motion chaos, fumbling about in each other’s way. After what seems like a very drawn out five minutes, the hungry student’s order is placed on the counter next to the salt and ketchup packets, ready for pick up.

(310)

Word of the Week #4

Word:
noxious (nok-shuh s)

Original Sentence:
"It has accordingly been decided by the practice of the States, that it is better to leave a few of its noxious branches to their luxuriant growth, than, by pruning them away, to injure the vigor of those yielding the proper fruit."

Zelezney, John D. Cases in Communications Law. Belmont, CA: Thomson Wadsworth, 2007.

Definitions:
–adjective
1. harmful or injurious to health or physical well-being
2. morally harmful; corrupting; pernicious

New Sentence:
In most classrooms there are always a few noxious students that make the learning process much harder for those that are trying to get something positive out of the experience.

(108)

Comparing Media

In top national news, the southeast is being battered by a winter-like storm and suffering from severe flooding. I compared coverage of this situation first on ABC 7 this evening, an article in today's San Francisco Chronicle and online with CNN.com.

Though the story isn’t exactly “breaking news”, I was surprised that the situation didn’t have much priority in ABC 7’s coverage. The story didn’t air until about half way through their one-hour program. When they talked about the story, it was very brief, really only a thirty-second summary of the status of the on-going situation. The on-air reporter stated facts as video clips of the affected areas were shown. There was noone at the scene giving a first-hand account of the situation.

The San Francisco Chronicle’s story entitled “Toddler Among 6 Killed as Storms Drench Southeast” was also not positioned as the top story of the day. It was not front page news but rather nearly the last story in the National section. The story was much lengthier than the ABC coverage and included external support of their report with quotes from the family and various county and emergency officials. This article seems to be using emotional appeal to draw readers to their coverage by focusing on the child fatality primarily when compared to the more factual appeal of ABC’s story.

In the online coverage offered by CNN.com the storm story entitled “Five dead in Georgia Flooding; Governor Declares Emergency” was the top article listed on their homepage. This difference is interesting to me. I suppose it could be because they are a nationally based news source whereas the other sources have a more local approach to their coverage. Another key difference is that CNN offered video and photos but they were not a part of the primary coverage. The additional coverage was made available but was not integrated into the story. This seems to be a typical way of presenting information online which makes the story more tailored to the user; they can review as little or as much as they wish. Also, this story seemed to get significantly more into detail about different individual incidents when compared to the television coverage and moderately more detailed than the newspaper coverage. Lastly, this article seemed to present the story in a more profound tone by focusing on the state of emergency than the newspaper article’s emotional appeal with the child fatality first and foremost.

(406)

Word of the Week #3

Word:
certiorari /ˌsɜrʃiəˈrɛəraɪ, -ˈrɛəri/ (sur-shee-uh-rair-ahy, -rair-ee)

Original Sentence:
"We granted certiorari in these cases in which the United States seeks to enjoin the New York Times and Washington Post from publishing the contents for a classified study entitled ‘History of U.S. Decision-Making Process on Viet Nam Policy’."

Zelezney, John D. Cases in Communications Law. Belmont, CA: Thomson Wadsworth, 2007.

Definition:
–noun

1. a writ issuing from a superior court calling up the record of a proceeding in an inferior court for review.

New Sentence:
The defendant knew his appeal case was not going to be heard by the Supreme Court because certiorari was not granted.

(103)

Word of the Week #2

Word:
indelible (in-del-uh-buhl)

Original Sentence:
"Today the most indelible embodiment of the concept is the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, forged in the last half of the 18th century by individuals who built upon their memory of earlier experiences and unchanged in its wording for more than 217 years."

Calvert, Clay and Pember, Don R. Mass Media Law. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2008.

Definitions:
1. Making marks that cannot be erased, removed, or the like

2. That cannot be eliminated or forgotten, changed, or the like

New Sentence:
She made an indelible influence on the advertising industry through her contributions of cutting edge campaign ideas backed by genius insight into future consumer trends.

(113)

My Favorite Writing

One of my favorite pieces of writing is a verse in a Fiona Apple song: "Criminal", off the 1996 album, Tidal.

"Heaven help me for the way I am. Save me from these evil deeds before I get them done. I know tomorrow brings the consequence at hand but I just keep living this day like the next will never come."

I like this verse in particular because she is talking about a topic that we can all relate to, our issues with our vice(s). She is very honest about being apologetic yet acknowledging their inevitability. Although she seems to be reaching out desperately to be saved from herself she is also very accepting of the consequences and totally submits to wherever her choices will take her. I have often thought of this verse when I've questioned a decision I've made. It reminds me to stand by my decisions and get the most out of them because it might be the best, the worst or the last decision I get to make, yet all me.

(175)