Final Presentation Comments

Here are a few comments on the presentations we viewed last class, listed by project theme:

Girl Scouts:
-I was a huge fan of the introduction with the pledge and pictures of the girl scouts through history.
-The spacing and topic flow were really effective.
-Incorporation of other video with voiceovers gave life to interviews.
-I wanted to see more identification of speakers.

Confucius:
-Subtitles would make it much easier to understand the student speakers.
-Identification would help as well.
-Good flow of audio and subject breakup.

Fire Department:
-Some audio adjustment would help balance the volumes of different speakers.
-Great intro and pictures.

Sexual Assault:
-I would increase the audio volume when Mary speaks
-REALLY nice job taking tasteful and discrete pictures.
-Very compelling interviews that were broken up well throughout the piece.
-This was my favorite so far.

Wiffleball
-GREAT SHOTS!
-Great audio.
-Lots of energy and entertainment factor.
-Maybe include a little bit more information about where this takes place? Who is involved? Are there other leagues?

Moving Off-Campus:
-Interesting introduction.
-The black font was a little bit hard to read.
-The subject and videography of one girl was a bit lacking, but the rest were good.

Final Project Proposal.

After failing to craft a more "palatable" version of HB1652 - a bill that would instate a "tax and regulate" approach to adult marijuana use - the NH House Criminal Justice subcommittee that has been working on the legislature must now wait until after the November elections for their next session and another chance at legalizing marijuana in the state.

The legalization of marijuana, for both medical and recreational use, has been a hot a transitional issue both in New England and nationwide for nearly a decade.  In the neighboring state of Maine, eight dispensary licenses have been issued, with the first location expecting to open after the first of the year. Rhode Island is following close behind.

For my final project I would like to follow the developments in Maine and New Hampshire marijuana legislation and distribution. I would like to speak to currently running candidates about their stances, lawmakers who have been involved in the drafting process of previous bills(namely members of the aforementioned NH House Criminal Justice subcommittee), and opposition parties.  I would also like to speak to those who have been issued dispensary licenses in Maine and track their process as they near opening at the start of the year. Safe Harbor Maine Inc., a non-profit who is projected to be the first open dispensary in Biddeford, Maine, would be my focus here.

final project ideas.

1. Legalization of marijuana in New Hampshire
     States through the US are in transition concerning their ideas concerning the legalization of marijuana and the control of marijuana according to medicical and recreational use. The legislation concerning the use of marijuana is in transition and being debated based on medical, social and legislative fronts.

2. Foreign tourism is on the rise.
     Tourism from outside the US contributes each year to the NH yearly revenue. I'd like to research how that has changed as the exchange rate of the dollar has fluctuated and how the state budget will benefit/suffer accordingly.

3. Preexisting condition clause
    There are a large number of individuals, including children who have been denied health insurance because of a condition deemed "preexisting." What are the guidelines? How do state insurance policies/local policies compare with local ones? Could we improve in certain areas?

Portrait Profile.

Franz Guest has been offering up snacks, sandwiches and smiles to UNH students, faculty and administration, and Durham locals, since he opened Franz's Food in it's 46 Main Street location in 2000. Franz, a resident of neighboring Newmarket, originally came to Durham on a product development project with his business partner at the time but came across the space he now occupies, spent 3 months renovating it almost completely himself (he had dabbled in construction) and opened his small,  red and yellow fast-food window serving up sandwiches that have been recognized on the Phantom Gourmet's "Great Ate" list and Durham's best breakfast, according to The New Hampshire.

While the recognition he has received and his diverse following can attest to the quality of the food he serves, Franz insists his business is about more than the items listed on his menu. "It's like this," he explained. "The truth is, if you don't give it away you can't get it back. If you don't give your smile you cant get it back so I just try to make a happy day for other people." Franz makes it a point to remember his customers by name and urges his employees to do the same, building and maintaining a personal connection with members of the community and many students, some of whom he has employed throughout his decade in business and even a few he has fired who continue returning as friends.

Stills.

My experience with still photographs is pretty basic. I have owned several digital cameras, the most recent being a Canon Rebel T1i that I purchased in December of last year but still only know how to use the most basic functions.  I bought it on a whim after some friends were very happy with the camera's results planning to take up photography as a hobby but have yet to really put much time into developing my skills as a photographer. I have done some limited reading on the qualities of good photography (from an aesthetic perspective, not a technical one). I have never used editing software more advanced than standard mac iphoto, and still choose to shoot in jpeg form instead of raw. I tried to enroll in a digital photography class this semester, but the class filled before my registration slot began. I am excited because it looks like this class will give me the push I need to learn more about my camera and it's manipulation and teach me many of the things I would have been learning in the other class anyway. The batch of photos I uploaded into the class album on Thursday were not taken with the rebel, but rather a smaller simpler camera.

Introduction.

I left the first class extremely excited for what this semester holds in store.  The closest I have come to multimedia reporting thus far is the use of a hand-held recorder to conduct interviews; needless to say, it hasn't been very close at all. I am a little wary about my lack of tech-savvy when it comes to computers (including my own) and editing software. The final project is going to be difficult and, I'm guessing, even more time-consuming for myself than other classmates because of this but I am still really looking forward to it. I have yet to stumble upon any topic ideas for the project but can't wait to see what my classmates and I produce when all is said and done at the end of the semester. I prefer more interactive news, finding documentaries and multimedia clips a much more entertaining and eye-opening than standard print journalism. The use of multimedia provides such a greater opportunity to connect and engage an audience in the issue at hand while giving the journalist more artistic reach as he or she breathes life into story that could otherwise fall flat in print. I am excited to have the oportunity and motivation to finally create a small piece of it myself. I do recognize, however, that discretion is important in the story selection before creating a multimedia piece. Just as some stories deserve more than printed text, others don't have the body to hold their own in video and audio clips. I think the process of finding and planning my final piece will be much more challenging than that of any of my previous work.