Photojournalism Analysis

            The first photo featured in this post appeared in USA Today on April 26, 2011 and was photographed by Toru Yamanaka, an AP photographer. The photograph is an image of a man looking at a ship grounded on the roof of a building Japan after the March 11, 2011 earthquake and tsunami in Otsuchi, Japan. The ship washed up on the roof after massive flooding and is now being considered to be left in place as a national monument to commemorate those lost after the disaster. The news values I find relevant with this picture are timeliness due its rapid release and recent happenings of the event, prominence as it held world impact and affected the culture of an entire country and still is, impact for gathering world attention, and bizarre for the strange quality of the boat being on a building.

            This next photo appeared in the Los Angeles Times on July 10, 2010 and was photographed by Carolyn Cole, a staff photographer for the Los Angeles Times. She is an established and successful photographer and won the Pulitzer Prize for Feature Photography in 2004. The photograph is an image of over 10 million gallons of oil being burned off after the Deepwater Horizon rig spill on April 20, 2010. The spill occurred in the Gulf of Mexico under the responsibility of the BP oil company after the ship caught fire while chartering oil and had worldwide impact on global economics. The news values I find relevant in this photo are timeliness because the photo appeared in a collage close to the time of the spill when the impact was still prominent, proximity because it happened close to the U.S. and affected the Gulf directly, and impact due to the environmental and economic damage the spill had on the world.

            The third photo appeared in Time Magazine on March 2, 2011 and was photographed by Mohamed Abed, a photographer for Getty Images. The photograph is an image of the first day of protest in Cairo, Egypt on January 25, 2011. The protest began in an effort to demand the resignation of Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak and became violent over the weeks following the initial gathering. The news values I find relevant in this image are timeliness because the photo was released when the impact of the event was still relevant, impact because the national effect the protest had in Egypt, prominence because of the severity of the violent protests effects on the nation, and conflict due to the resistance of protesters to the Egyptian police.

            The fourth image appeared in Sports Illustrated on March 3, 1980 and was photographed by Heinz Kluetmeier, an American sports photographer for Sports Illustrated. He has served as the magazines director of photography twice, has been credited for over 100 Sports Illustrated cover photos, and received the Lucie Award for outstanding achievement in sports photography in October 2007. This photograph is an image of what is commonly known as the “Miracle on Ice,” a historic hockey game at the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, NY on February 22, 1980 that saw the United States successfully upset the Soviet Union, a team ranked as the top rated team in the world. The importance of the event was the overcoming of the powerhouse team with a misfit group of amateur and collegiate players. The news values I identify in this photo are proximity because it happened on American soil and was an accomplishment by the U.S. team, impact because it enticed a feeling of national pride for America, timeliness because the photo was release roughly a week after the event, and prominence because the Olympics are effective to the entire world.

            The final photograph appeared in the New York Times on April 22, 2011 and was photographed by Bernat Armangue, an AP photographer. This photo is an image of a rebel fighter on February 15, 2011 preparing to join the front lines of battle in Ajdabiya, Libya. The rebel is just one of numerous rebels that have gone to battle in the ongoing struggle in Libya. The news values I find relevant in this image are timeliness since the photo was released during the time of the rebellion, conflict since it is an image of an armed rebel, impact because of the effect the rebellion has on the people of Lybia, and emotion because of the conflicting image of the rebel holding up a peace sign while mounted on a large weapon in front of the local art in the background.

Young Musicians and “Children of Appalachia” come together to embrace the roots of Southeast Kentucky

Williamsburg, Ky. – “Come as you are. You will be loved.” This phrase has become the rallying cry of the University of the Cumberlands students and alumni that have come together to form The Sowing Season. A collection of weary travelers that have made Appalachia their home and rejoiced in the music that has derived from their experiences, these four individuals are truly embracing a brand of music not commonly matched with the ideals of a young college campus.

            The Sowing Season is a growing phenomenon around the UC campus and beyond as many are growing to love the unique sounds of their traditional Indie/Folk tracks. A folk sound seems far removed from the modern-day college campus but the four members fight to keep the music alive with mandolins, straw-hats, and performances that scream “1920’s.”

            The band consists of Cumberland alumni Brett Ratliff and Justin Adams and current students Hannah Roehrborn and Jared Coleman. Their official formation as a group was in the spring of 2010.

            “We all had a common interest in music. Meeting here at UC was really convenient for us to join together and make good music” said Roehrborn of the group forming together. “We all met though common experiences across campus. The music sort of fell into place in time.”

            That last statement is almost hard to believe when thinking about how many students are all “rocking-out” to indie/folk songs on their iPods as they walk to their next class. Yet, the miracle of these artists joining together is a turn away from the constant replay of rap and hip-hop songs.

“Like doves in a sycamore tree”

            The mass appeal of The Sowing Season’s music can be a number of things, but one quality that can’t be ignored is the creativity of the lyrics for each song. “The driving force, you could say, for folk music is the wording. Our lyrics are really trying to paint a picture of the serentiy that we see in our lives and daily here in Williamsburg” said band member Brett Ratliff. “When we work together to write a song, or just try to come up with a specific melody, we take a step back and observe how the lyrics portray themselves. It’s like seeing words become a painting on a canvas.”

            The words for the band’s music do not disappoint in painting that picture. Listen any number of their songs and you can just feel a euphoric presence in the way the melody and lyrics meld to take you to the time and place of the song’s events.

            The band’s most played song on their band page on Facebook is “Homecoming” with a special link that shows the lyrics word-for-word with the song. This song probably has the best example of the peaceful harmony of lyrics and melody that the band works to achieve in every track.

“She came in a caravan today, her questions veiled like her eyes and just as green,
like doves in a sycamore or terebinth tree.
Her voice is rain on his head and in his ears, falling water on his lips
and in his eyes.”

            The lines to The Sowing Season’s other songs are just as meaningful and deep. Each song is reminiscent of poetry we all have read in an English class or two. Their music is art and they want to share it with those who will accept it. “Come as you are. You will be loved.”

Appalachian Success Story

            The Sowing Season has seen great success. “We came together to enjoy making music. I mean, sure, we planned on trying to play some shows, but its getting a little beyond that now” said Roehrborn of the band’s growing success.

            It’s also true. The band has played numerous performances in and out of state. They’ve had live radio performances. They even have their music readily available for purchase on iTunes. “It’s so great to get to do something like this and all you’re doing is having the most fun you can” said Roehrborn again with a noticeable smile on her face.

            As time goes by in Williamsburg, Ky. we can only wait and see what is ahead for the band. They are the maker’s of their own destiny and are working hard to get their music out there for others. The Sowing Season even has a Summer 2011 Tour planned and hoping to reach places like Nashville, Indianapolis, and even Chicago along the way.

            With flannel shirts adorned and mandolins in hand, The Sowing Season has a bright future that only gets brighter with every new note played.

Curfew is Ineffective for UC Students

The University of the Cumberlands has a reputation as a privately funded college for enforcing its own rules to follow the aspects and virtues of a Southern Baptist institution. One of the more prominent rules that students deal with frequently is the midnight curfew Sunday through Thursday that requires the Residence Hall Security Center to lock all entrances into residence halls. At face this policy isn’t that bad and provides a sense of safety for students, however, the policy tends to be more of an annoyance than a precaution.

The Bock Building, location of the Residence Hall Security Center

            On other university campuses in Kentucky, such as EKU and Lindsey Wilson, the security policy calls for similar actions where dorm entrances are locked at a specific time and require a key for entry, but the major difference is that students with ID cards are capable of doing this themselves. UC requires students to go to the Bock Building, sometimes out of their way in cases of residents living in Mahan or Gillespie, and sign-in with security to drive to the dorm and unlock it for said student. The safety of the students on campus is a very important consideration but the process of traveling back and forth for guards and students is time-consuming, wasteful, and incoherent.

            Implicating a key card or ID swipe system makes a lot more sense to both students and faculty involved when compared to the current system. Students are often faced with study groups that last long periods of time and cannot make it in before 12:00 and even faculty that deal with traveling athletics have to account for every student at the Bock Building which can take well over 30 minutes.

Mark Watts, one of the student workers in the Bock Building, says “the whole process is just a mess. You have students constantly coming in around 12:00, 12:05 that get locked out while RA’s (resident administrators) stand there and tell them to go sign-in because they aren’t allowed to open doors after hours.”

            This happens more often than you would expect and is counteractive to what the administration is trying to uphold. How safe are the students that have to walk back across a poorly lit campus after being two or three minutes late? Sure, they can call for escorts, but isn’t that more time wasted as you wait for a guard to arrive, drive back to the Bock Building, sign-in, drive back to where you started, and then wait for them to unlock the door?

The policy means well in its idea but certainly underachieves in timeliness and order. This chaos alone calls for something more efficient and that is where reconstructing the process becomes necessary. If willing to do so, campus administration could cut out the middle man by installing card swipe systems at the smallest expense of $500 compared to the yearly expenses for paying guards to sit in a chair, including their cars and gas expenses. Over time, the system essentially pays for itself.

As long as UC employs an unnecessary rule to corral students like children then it will only serve to upset an already uneven student body. Student retention rates are low for the school and sometimes unexplainable rules and policies play a role in that. Administration is constantly trying to find ways to resolve the problem, so why not take a step in the right direction? The least the school could do is make a decision that is beneficial to both parties and help reduce tensions among the student mindset. Until that happens, expect a lot of angry faces to walk through the Residence Hall Security Center every night.