On October 20, 2009, Eastern Michigan University opened its Ballroom doors to hundreds of students and faculty gathering together to spend the day exploring different types of writing during their event for the nationwide National Day on Writing celebration.
According the the NDoW's website, the day is used to, "Draw attention to the remarkable variety of writing we engage in and help make writers from all walks of life aware of their craft." The site also makes sure to mention that the National Day on Writing is a real, officially recognized national day, as of October 8.
Eastern's celebration focused on the idea that writing is used by everyone in everyday life, no matter where we are coming from. It is something that connects people on both personal and professional levels. The different levels of connection were apparent in the selection of activities.
The event offered a selection of activities available to the entire campus community. The activities ranged from creative- like the PEOPs activity in which participants created an image reflecting themselves with writing about what and how they write surrounding the image and a short biographical blurb under the image- to the informative- like the Roving Reporters in which students were given a camcorder and instructed to interview fellow students or staff about writing. Whichever category the activities fell under, one thing was apparent: the student center was alive with writing!
The National Day on Writing celebration showed the deep significance writing has on each person. It showed that we can use writing not only as a way to communicate, but as a way to discover ourselves. The event's activities linked writing to something that is deeply personal and differs between each writer.
Perhaps the most self exploring activities the celebration offered were the Writing Corps and the Bio Poems activities. Writing Corps allowed students access to a Mac computer in order to submit a short blog to Emuenglish.org's National Day on Writing website. The blogs focused on each writers personal stories. Writers reflected topics such as why they write, what they write about, and how writing has changed their lives. The entries, available for viewing on the emuenglish.org website. The Bio Poems activity prompted participants to create a 10 line poem about a themselves, a person they look up to, or the person they hope to one day be. Though the activity is rather easy, it probs into a deeper part of the writer, asking them to look seriously into the personal qualities they deem important.
Overall, the October 20 celebration was a successfull one: It was thought provoking and exciting. The event brought together people from all different walks of life to bond them with writing. The event managed to be both educational and fun, Eastern created an learning experience that was not painful, but rewarding.
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Tragic Accident Causes Chaos
The crash scene looked like a battle field.
Early this morning, a serious accident occurred on Interstate 790, leaving two people dead and many more injured. The accident started initiaally by two tractor-trailers colliding. This caused a chain reaction which involved a total of four tractor-trailers and 14 cars.
The accident required all five of the department's ambulances to respond to the scene. What they found was bodies scattered on the road. A helicopter was also on the scene to fly two of the most seriously injured to a trauma center in Statesville. Four others involved in the accident suffered from injuries that may be life threatening.
Though the accident took place in the northbound lanes of Interstate 790, the severity of the situation caused all lanes to be shut down. There is no word yet of when the lanes will reopen.
Written By:
Kristine Trickey, Jaclyn Reardon, Kelly Cook
Early this morning, a serious accident occurred on Interstate 790, leaving two people dead and many more injured. The accident started initiaally by two tractor-trailers colliding. This caused a chain reaction which involved a total of four tractor-trailers and 14 cars.
The accident required all five of the department's ambulances to respond to the scene. What they found was bodies scattered on the road. A helicopter was also on the scene to fly two of the most seriously injured to a trauma center in Statesville. Four others involved in the accident suffered from injuries that may be life threatening.
Though the accident took place in the northbound lanes of Interstate 790, the severity of the situation caused all lanes to be shut down. There is no word yet of when the lanes will reopen.
Written By:
Kristine Trickey, Jaclyn Reardon, Kelly Cook
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
38.8 Percent
A measly 38.8 percent. This is the shocking and staggering statistic recently released by the Education Trust regarding Eastern Michigan University's graduation rate. As a hardworking EMU student, I find this number appalling. It amazes me that with all of the time, work, not to mention money, that we as students put into our education here, that much less than half of us will graduate within six years of enrollment.
While we do not hold the award for the lowest graduation rate (that honor is bestowed upon Wayne State University, coming in at 32.4 percent), we are far to close to the bottom for comfort.
While we do not hold the award for the lowest graduation rate (that honor is bestowed upon Wayne State University, coming in at 32.4 percent), we are far to close to the bottom for comfort.
Monday, October 12, 2009
Michigan's Broken 'Promise'
Students on college campus' all across Michigan are in a flurry. The talks of the Michigan Promise Scholarship, a $1000-$2000 scholarship offered to Michigan college students for high MEAP scores, being cut from the state's budget has students in Eastern's community in quite a stir. An article in the Eastern Echo, Black Student Unions unite to save scholarship, showcases the efforts among the Black Student Union and the NAACP to bring light to the issue. In the eyes of most college students, many who rely on this scholarship to continue their education, Michigan has broken her promise. Cutting the scholarship can, and will, have HUGE effects on college students.
First, cutting the scholarship will unneccesarily force many students to take out more student loans, or, in the worst case, drop out of school completly. This scholarship is essential to most of the students who use it, myself included. This will inevitably drive college students into an even bigger pile of debt.
Second, aside from the debt, cutting the scholarship can deter future college students from lower income families from attending a university. This, in the long run will no doubt have negative effects on the colleges and universities themselves.
Third, a slightly optimistic effect of the scholarship cut would be to educate young people to get involved. To write to their congressmen and local officials. To fight for their right to an education. The article described the efforts of not only students at Eastern and U of M but students at MSU to write personal letters describing how the cut would affect them, as well as to plan trips to Lansing.
The Michigan Promise Scholarship has been a blessing for many college students across the state. It has given countless young people to attend a higher education facility in the hopes of achieving their dreams. Why would Michigan want to break her promise?
First, cutting the scholarship will unneccesarily force many students to take out more student loans, or, in the worst case, drop out of school completly. This scholarship is essential to most of the students who use it, myself included. This will inevitably drive college students into an even bigger pile of debt.
Second, aside from the debt, cutting the scholarship can deter future college students from lower income families from attending a university. This, in the long run will no doubt have negative effects on the colleges and universities themselves.
Third, a slightly optimistic effect of the scholarship cut would be to educate young people to get involved. To write to their congressmen and local officials. To fight for their right to an education. The article described the efforts of not only students at Eastern and U of M but students at MSU to write personal letters describing how the cut would affect them, as well as to plan trips to Lansing.
The Michigan Promise Scholarship has been a blessing for many college students across the state. It has given countless young people to attend a higher education facility in the hopes of achieving their dreams. Why would Michigan want to break her promise?
Monday, October 5, 2009
Organize Your Thoughts, Write Better News!
We've all read it: terribly constructed writing. The ideas are jumbled, the page is hard to read, and when you finish reading it you're left wondering, "What's the point?"
All of the frustration involved in reading- and writing- news can be avoided if the author used a few simple tools to organize their thoughts, to really narrow down what exactly they want to say. Additionally, more organization can help an author to draw in readers rather than push them away.
Some helpful tools to thought organization are:
-Free Writing- This can typically be done before you actually start writing article as a way to figure out your main point.
-Use a Light Opening- as Bruce Ross-Larson said in his book "Writing for the Information Age," light openings will help to draw in readers, rather than repel them.
-Keep Paragraphs and Sentences Short- This is another tool used to bring in readers. It is also used to keep similar information together.
-Use Bulleted Lists- Not only are bulleted lists aesthetically pleasing, they help to bring together the main points an author is trying to
Use Quotes- Quotes are like the dialogue of an article. As Ross-Larson says quotes keep articles "conversational." Not only do they add force to your story, they show your audience a real person supporting your point.
Organizing your writing does not stop with this list. Ross-Larson has detailed many other writing techniques in his book. He shows that with a little practice, you can organize and change your writing habits into those that will attract readers.
All of the frustration involved in reading- and writing- news can be avoided if the author used a few simple tools to organize their thoughts, to really narrow down what exactly they want to say. Additionally, more organization can help an author to draw in readers rather than push them away.
Some helpful tools to thought organization are:
-Free Writing- This can typically be done before you actually start writing article as a way to figure out your main point.
-Use a Light Opening- as Bruce Ross-Larson said in his book "Writing for the Information Age," light openings will help to draw in readers, rather than repel them.
-Keep Paragraphs and Sentences Short- This is another tool used to bring in readers. It is also used to keep similar information together.
-Use Bulleted Lists- Not only are bulleted lists aesthetically pleasing, they help to bring together the main points an author is trying to
Use Quotes- Quotes are like the dialogue of an article. As Ross-Larson says quotes keep articles "conversational." Not only do they add force to your story, they show your audience a real person supporting your point.
Organizing your writing does not stop with this list. Ross-Larson has detailed many other writing techniques in his book. He shows that with a little practice, you can organize and change your writing habits into those that will attract readers.
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