Frat Party

Loud music and disco lights flooded the room while scantily clad girls danced and sucked down shots of red bull and vodka. Drunken boys cheered them on and served up the sugary drinks that fueled the alcoholic smorgasbord. It looked like the Playboy mansion, only it was in a filthier house, a frat house to be exact.
Fraternity life is something I know nothing about, and it’s a world I’ve largely ignored. But my little brother latched onto the lifestyle with zeal and wanted me to see a real college tradition up close and personal. So over spring break I decided I would hit the sauce at a frat house.
The party commenced with a line of chanting sorority girls walking single file towards the frat. I followed behind them observing intently like an anthropologist establishing first contact with the “natives”.
Since it was my first time at the house, my little brother guided me through the jungle of drunk college kids bumping and grinding on the dance floor.
My brother and I managed to get a beer then I escaped outside to gasp fresh air and fill my lungs with cigarette smoke. I learned that cigarettes usually lead to a classic sorority girl pick-up line: “Do you have a light”.
A blonde girl dressed in what looked like in her underwear came up to me with the line, “Darling do you have a cigarette.”
I actually felt bad for the girl because she had to be cold in that skimpy get-up. But she looked loaded on vodka, which believe it or not can actually act like an internal winter coat.
My brother found me outside and said he wanted to introduce me to his fraternity mentor or “older brother.” When we entered the house again the dance floor was nearly deserted. Everyone had split off to continue drinking other rooms.
My brother led through the frat house’s dark corridors toward his mentor’s room. . It reminded me of a nightmares I’ve had: I’m in dark passage way, dark shadows are darting back and forth , and the noise is deafening but I can’t tell where it’s coming from.
My brother and I walked up a creaky flight of stairs and entered a total 70s disco babe lair. My brother’s “older brother” had a small bar, large bed with curtains, huge stereo system and a gold-colored stripper pole. The frat brother poured more booze into shot glasses and in a matter of minutes, girls were dancing on the pole.
I couldn’t help but feel like I was in the final days of Roman Empire when gluttony and decadence reigned supreme. However my view of fraternities changed. I used to think fraternities were just a bunch guys getting drunk while sitting around on dirty couches. In reality they are tight little organizations that make partying seem like an art form. Getting people together to drink excessively and dirty dance takes charisma, imagination and the stamina to stay up all night. Having a good time takes work but the boys at my brother’s frat are more than up for the task.

Final Project Idea

I'm considering writing a piece on the slow death of traditional animation. Before computer graphics animators employed hundreds of artists whose job it was to animate the character in every single motion, much like making a very long flip book. Each from of these old cartoons was an original work of art. Today computer animation has eliminated the need for hand-crafted cartoons. I know an artist who works for Disney. He still draws animation cells which are sold at the art gallery on Disneyland's Main Street. He is one of the few drawers of animation cells left at Disney, I think there are less than 20. I would like to talk to him and few other artists and do a little reporting on the history of animation and where it is going.

Three genius ideas for improving newspaper Web sites

Newspapers readers have more power to report the news than ever before. Basically anyone with a laptop computer can photograph/film, write and produce their own story. Newspaper Web sites can utilize "citizen journalist" to improve newspaper content. There are three ways newspapers can accomplish this.
One way is to create a discussion board on the Web site. The newspaper could take a hot news topic and focus that topic around a question. Readers would be invited to take part in a discussion; giving their criticism, opinions, or advice. This would create more traffic because it gives people an outlet to let their voices be heard. Even those that do not participate would benefit from the discussion. Some of the participants in the discussion board would be more knowledgeable than the newspaper staff and could give a different perspective on the hot news of the day.
Another way to increase traffic is to display readers' images of news worthy events happening around the local area or the world. The newspaper can not be everywhere at once and has a limited number of photographers. But newspaper readers are everywhere, and most have cell phone cameras. They can be the eyes of newspaper when news breaks and there is no reporter in sight. Readers should be encouraged to email their pictures of news events (such as effects of natural disasters, or even a crime in progress) so that other readers of the Web site may benefit. This last idea is already being done by the Ventura County Star. It is called Your Hub and it is a weekly supplement that is featured in the paper and on its Web site. Basically it is a collection of stories written and photographed by local Ventura County residents, which are edited and published by the newspaper. Many of the articles are small little events or feature pieces that fall through the cracks. People who feel their is an important unreported story can go out and do the reporting themselves. The newspaper editors have final say in what goes on the Web site and weekly supplement, but it is a unique way of getting readers involved.

a pic

Here is my attempt at Photoshop. I cropped it to 300 pixels by 250 pixels. The auto color came out a little dark I thought. You could not even see the kids faces so I went a little lighter. By the way this looks like the Venture pier, which near one of my favorite surf spots. But I have no idea if it is because I didn't take the shot.

Look mom I made a wiki

For my little wiki project I chose to edit an article on Proposition 36, which sends non-violent drug offenders to treatment programs instead of jail.

I became interested in Prop 36 when I was working for the San Gabriel Valley Tribune. I was assigned to cover an arraignment and had to spend all day in court. While I was sitting there I struck up a conversation with this little old lady. She told me she was there to get her daughter who was set to be released into a drug program. The lady had a big glowing smile on her face when she mentioned her daughter's release. It kind of amazed me because most parents seem to roll their eyes when they talk about their children's problems. But this woman was overjoyed.

After a few more cases, the bailiff led the daughter into the courtroom. She was about my age (25 at the time), frail and frightened. She looked out of place in her county jail uniform, like somebody ambushed her and forced the clothing onto her body. The judge ordered the girl released and into the Prop 36 program. The girl could not stop shaking and the judge asked "are you okay?" The girl gazed downward with a faked half-smile and replied "yeah, I'm just scared."

The girl and her mother provided a human face to a voter-approved initiative. I haven't forgotten that day in court or Prop 36. Recently an article came out in my local paper about the debate surrounding the law and I decided to research it further.

For the editing process, I used two sources, the Prop 36 Web site, http://www.prop36.org/, and the Ventura County Star, http://www.venturacountystar.com/.
The wikipedia article on Prop 36 had only basic information on the law. I added some context about the debate and the current changes that the governor is trying to made.
My entry is dated: 20:28 4 March 2007 75.82.71.103

the date before me is: 10:58 25 August 2006 24.126.199.129