Multimedia Assignment

Review of Videos

Kayak Polo: I liked the video because it showed a interesting topic. However, I don't think it really told a story. It was more about one specific subject and not so much a story line. The video was good and it had nice footage. I liked the use of nat sound.

Barber of Seville Opera Set: I really enjoyed this video. It gave the story of how the set was put up. I loved how the used the video at a faster speed to show the whole process of it being built. I also liked the guy describing everything they were doing and the fast music helped add to the excitement of the video. Overall it was a great video.

Slow Flow Let's Go: I thought this video was really great. I liked how they used video and still shots to capture different moments and emotions. I liked the lighting because it was real and kept to the nature of the radio station. I liked the nat sound at the radio station also.

Polar Bear Jump: The video was definitely not edited as professinally as some of the other ones, but still a cute video. I liked the topic because it was original and different. The shots were fun and showed a varitety of different people that went out to this type of event.

Ballroom Dancing: The video was shorter than the others however, it was cute. I didn't think it was a professionally done but still a good video. It showed a different age range of people dancing which I think adds to the stories uniqueness.

HTML codes practice

This is me practicing how to use the html codes! yeah! HTML codes are so fun and easy to use!

USDA Paper with Links

LAKELAND, Fla. (February 10, 2009) – The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) today released its February orange crop forecast for the 2008-2009 season, reducing its earlier estimate by 2.5 percent, or 4 million boxes.

The USDA did not attribute the decline to the freezes that hit the Florida citrus belt in late January and early February. The USDA attributed the decline to smaller sizes and increased fruit drop and said it would continue to assess the impact of the freezes.

The crop is now expected to total 158 million boxes.

“The USDA has taken off several million boxes since their original orange estimate in October and with the field reports we’re getting regarding fruit damage and juice yield loss from the late January and early February freezes we would expect less juice production than we were just a month ago,” said Michael W. Sparks , executive VP/CEO of Florida Citrus Mutual.

Sparks believes that “as a result, we would anticipate better grower returns for the late crop than what we experienced for the early crop.”

Sparks said this is “most definitely a challenging season however he believes “Florida citrus growers will continue to produce the quality citrus known across the globe for its taste and health benefits.”

Florida citrus was hit with a cold spell on January 22 and February 5 which dropped temperatures below 28 degrees for several hours on both nights.

In its release Tuesday, the USDA said “A freeze survey…conducted on (January 27-28) showed little or no damage at that time. Additional assessments will be made in mid and late February.”

Visit www.nass.usda.gov/Statistics_by_State/Florida/Publications/Citrus/cpfp.htm for the complete USDA estimate. The USDA makes its initial forecast in October and then revises it monthly until the end of the season in July. In 2007-2008, Florida harvested 170.2 million boxes of oranges.

The USDA maintained its prediction that 23 million boxes of grapefruit will be produced in ’08-’09. 
The early and midseason crop is now projected at 83 million boxes, down from 84 million boxes.

 

 The Valencias projection is now at 75 million boxes this season, down from January’s forecast of 78 million boxes. Florida specialty fruit is down; the USDA predicts 1.3 million boxes of tangelos, down from 1.5 million in January, and 4.6 million boxes of tangerines, down from 4.9 million. The yield for from-concentrate orange juice (FCOJ) is expected to be 1.61 gallons per 90-pound box, down from 1.62.

The Florida citrus industry creates a $9.3 billion annual economic impact, employing nearly 76,000 people, and covering more than 576,000 acres. Founded in 1948 and currently representing nearly 8,000 grower members, Florida Citrus Mutual is the state’s largest citrus grower organization.

For more information, visit www.flcitrusmutual.com.

Other great sites include:

http://www.tropicana.com/

http://orangejuiceblog.com/

http://www.simplyorangejuice.com/

http://www.webtender.com/db/ingred/445

http://www.floridajuice.com/nutrition_orange_facts.php

 

Linking Media

I think that linking Media is a good idea. I think it's useful and beneficial when done correctly. However, if sites have broken links or links to sites that are not credible that can cause problems. I don't think this will decline web traffic because will always go to the original sites that they favor. It's just a great idea because it gives the media a chance to share multiple stories on related issues. I personally look for links when I'm reading off of websites and usually will go on to the next site to see what they have about the story. I don't believe that AP will become obsolete because I think they are such a well known and credible source. AP will always have great stories and pictures that other sites will most likely get them and put them on their sites. However, since AP is the original source it will always be something that the media will always need.

My favorite website is Youtube!

Steroid Abuse In College Athletics: Is it Happening More than We Think?

When it comes to athletics, the use of steroids has always been a controversial topic. However, it seems now more than ever college athletes have been using this powerful drug and other performance enhancing stimulants. One reason more students are using these is because they have become very accessible and can be taken in many ways. Steroids, for example, can be taken orally, injected, or even rubbed onto one's skin in a cream/gel form. These can be very dangerous drugs when abused and there are also bad repercussions with it's use.

1st source: http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/news/story?id=1733808
This website is all about the "politics" of steroids. It has news on how Barry Bond's trainer was recently indicted. It says that this is just an example of how steroid use is no longer an "in-house manner." Since this indictment the attorney's are looking into other trainers that might be showing similar behavior to Greg Anderson. This isn't really about college athletes as it as it about the seriousness of steroids use. This site helps to show how the government is getting involved to stop steroid abuse. So, by stopping pro athletes from using and it can then influence college students to also stop or never start using to begin with.

2nd source: http://media.www.elcaminouniononline.com/media/storage/paper354/news/2005/03/03/Sports/Steroid.Use.By.Professional.Athletes.Has.Impact.On.Students.In.College.Sports-886645.shtml
This website has a similar tone to the first source. It directly talks about how the influence of professional athletes use of steroids can affect college students opinion on the drug. This story talks about not only the influence, but also the long term affects that can come from steroids. It's important to get those facts out there in order to stop college athletes use of the drug before it starts.

3rd source: http://www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov/drugfact/steroids/steroids_ff.html
This site is a government site and it explains exactly what steroids are. It goes over percentages of steroid users and how they are starting in high school. It talks about the health risks and traffiking and production of the drug.

4th source: http://www.drugfree.org/playhealthy/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=ppc&utm_campaign=mlb

This site is extremely helpful and contains all sorts of media outlets with information on steriods. It has a short PSA type video showing the effects of steroids on the body. It also lists reasons why performance enhancing drugs are dangerous overall. It lists links to more videos, blogs, and stories all related to steroid and performance enhancing drug use.

5th source: http://chronicle.com/news/article/667/steroid-use-by-college-athletes-declines-ncaa-reports
This site states that steroid use in colleges may be on the decline actually however, the use of stimulants is not. It talks about the research that the NCAA has done on steroids and stimulants. Students were found using such subtances as cocaine and ephedrine.

6th source: http://www.campushealthandsafety.org/audiences/athletes/
This site discusses ways to spot steroid use in athletes. It talks about how coaches and trainers can influence the athletes positively. Also, try to teach the students ways to avoid the use and give them a "game plan" to help them keep from using it. It seems more like a PSA type site, but it does have good facts to see warning signs and so on.