Mi-Whi News Stories - Recently Updated Pages

JRN 303A

chergibbs — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 10:12:45 CDT

WELCOME: Designer needed. Beautifulpage with photo collage using Picasa mosaic tile tool OR Flash animation. Mixture of old and new photos. Click on photo and it takes you to information. DAR Greenville Treaty Line rock must be included. Navigation bar links: Personal stories; Top 20s.

Include DAR Greenville Treaty Line rock

Navigation bar links: Personal stories, top 20s.

Visual/audio: ??

STORIES: Designer needed. Beautifulpage with photo collage using Picasa mosaic tile tool OR Flash animation. Mixture of old and new photos. Click on photo and it takes you to information. DAR Greenville Treaty Line rock must be included. Navigation bar links: Personal stories; Top 20s.

Include DAR Greenville Treaty Line rock

Navigation bar links: Personal stories, top 20s.

Visual/audio: ??

Personal Stories: By Eleni Snider, Kasie Baltes, Jane Lindsay, Kristen Grace, Julianna Roche, Hannah Poturalski, Alicia Frandsen
For the format of the personal stories on the website, we discussed a yearbook- style page with people's younger pictures which when clicked, will lead to more information such as written, video taped, and voice recorded interviews. We are going to incorporate all types of media with the personal stories, instead of just written stories to portray the individual stories of the people of Wayne county.

The personal stories group plans to go to Friends Fellowship retirement home to speak with some of the elders there; interview prominent figures in Richmond, like police officers, teachers, the famous Richmond lawyer, firefighters and other well known people; and interview family businesses that have been around for years and passed down through generations of family members. We also plan to go to the Tales from the Departed and film the actors at the graves and then try to find their family members and friends that are still alive and write or film stories about them and we will visit the Richmond Historical Museum to look at and possibly write stories from the new personal diaries collection that they just received. We will then interview family members and friends of the people who have written the diaries. Finally, we plan to investigate the myths and rumors of Richmond/Wayne county and interview citizens about what they know and have heard about the stories. To help with this, we found a DVD at the museum that is about Richmond ghost stories and mentions the main places in Richmond that have legends about them.

VIDEO INTERVIEWS: Stephanie Hall, Georgie Stocks, Katie Tilly, Austin Fast
- Collaborate with the group that is organizing feature interviews. We will collect video and audio bites from the interviews.
- Collect old photographs to match with sound bites and music to form a slideshow

TOP20S: By Brianna Mulligan, Stephanie Hutchings, Kayla Ruble. Intro page describes the top 20 concept, includes links to the lists.

Lists of top moments/sites in the county's history, includingsports moments, historic sites, influential events and people. As we sort through the information we may be able to tailor to more specific lists or categories. For some items on the list, we can try to find an image to pair with it. This may be more difficult than we anticipate, but we are going to do the best we can from the archived information we find.

Sources:Morrisson-Reeves Library,Wayne County HIstorical Museum,Wikipedia

TIMELINE: By Catherine Couretas, Jillian Engel, Clinton Reinbolt
- Questions: What were some of the most important historical events in Wayne County’s history? How do these correlate with the general history of the United States?
-Sources: Palladium Item, Wayne County Historical Museum, Internet
- Visual/Audio: Still Photos, Adobe Flash Timeline

MANUFACTURING: Pianos, airplanes, etc.

CARS: By Catherine Couretas, Jillian Engel, Clinton Reinbolt
-Questions: How did the Richmond, IN automobile industry affect the county? How many companies were there? What types of cars were produced, and how long was the industry alive? How did it end?
-Sources: Wayne County Historical Museum-car collection, Historical Photos/Documents, Internet Research
-Visual/Audio: Still photos, car photos (from museum)

TOUR OF WAYNE COUNTY
- After we take our class tour of the town we will narrow down points of interest. At a later date we will make a video of a tour of Wayne.
o Voice over
o Music

Share your story ideas!

chergibbs — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 08:58:15 CDT

Click here to return to Mi-Whi News

Thanks so much for coming here to give us your story idea. Unless you are a journalism student, please open the page marked "citizen story ideas" in the box to your left. Click on the edit tool to add your idea to the list.

It is always helpful (but not required) if you include your contact information, in case we have questions about your idea. It is also extremely valuable if you suggest people we might be able to interview about the story and include their contact information as well, if you know it.

We cannot guarantee that we will assign someone to write your story, but we will make every effort to do so — and we believe that even just the act of suggesting the story will help all of us to stay better informed.

If you are a journalism student at Miami University or Earlham College, please add your story ideas to the appropriate page under "Student story ideas." Miami University students should type their story ideas in the following format:

SLUG: By Hooda Writer, 500 words. This sentence will explain the gist of the story, so that editors know what you're writing about and how the story will be framed.

Questions to ask: After this prompt, give your editor examples of the kinds of questions you plan to ask, of whom and why.
Sources: After this prompt, list people you plan to contact, like Sheezan Expert, Heeza Citizen, Sheeza Nuther-Source.
Multimedia components: After this prompt, desscribe what photos will be included with your story, or could be taken; what recordings of interviews or other audio/video elements will be available. (Note that many Miami classes require that students gather material for both print and multimedia versions of stories.)

If you are interested in posting or adding to story ideas on this wiki, please send an e-mail message to Cheryl Gibbs, gibbscj@muohio.edu.

Student story ideas

rochejm — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 11:06:30 CDT

There is no abstract available for this page revision.

JRN 101A

chergibbs — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 14:47:16 CDT

There is no abstract available for this page revision.

Citizen story ideas

chergibbs — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 15:34:53 CDT

There is no abstract available for this page revision.

Public Affairs stories

chergibbs — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 15:21:17 CDT

College students protest college

KUKLA Light in Darkness
After two days without power, students protested Tuesday classes during a city-wide blackout Monday, Sept. 15, triggering a litany of criticism from the media, school administration and people in surrounding areas. According to Student Body President Mike Scott, however, there were redeeming aspects to this event overlooked.

BOWERS Protest Doesn’t Blow Over
As winds raged through Southwest Ohio last week, a different kind of storm brewed on Miami’s campus and has yet to blow over as the topic of conversation.

Miami Tribe exhibit

CARLSON They Still Exist
For many people, keeping their language, culture and tradition alive is not an immediate concern. For the Miami tribe, it is imperative.

Miami University hikes rates for room and board.

BURWELL- Miami raises room and board
Room and Board: This year’s freshman class at Miami University will be the first class required to live on campus their sophomore year. At the same time they will be facing a room and board increase of 5.11 percent. (With graphic)

NGUYEN Room, Board increase
Miami University’s Board of Trustees approved a 5.11 percent rate increase on room and board for the 2009-10 academic year.

Miami University investments slump

HOUSER, Miami investment loss
Budget Line: Miami saw a negative 2.7 percent and negative 2.66 percent return rate on its non-endowment and endowment funds, respectively, during the 2007-08 fiscal year.

Miami University plans for greener future

KORN Miami’s Going Green
The newest trend on Miami’s campus isn’t something you wear, and it isn’t something you eat, it’s something you do. And the thing to do is going green. In the wake of the great Miami blackout, energy and environment is on everyone’s mind, including students, dining hall staff, and Miami’s Board of Trustees. At their meeting on Sept. 19th, the board approved the adoption of energy efficiency and conservation guidelines as recommended by the state of Ohio.

BUSCAGLIA Miami’s Green Initiative
Budget: As Miami raises its efforts to go green; a team of experts devised a strategic plan to reduce energy consumption by 20 percent.

GOODWIN Miami Goes Green
On Friday, Sept. 19, the Presidential Task Force on Environmental Sustainability delivered its final report to Miami University President David Hodge and the rest of the board of trustees.

Major projects at Miami

HAMILTON Bicentennial Center Funding
At the Miami University Board of Trustees meeting on Sept. 19, vice president of university advancement Jayne Whitehead reported the Love and Honor campaign has raised $338.7 million. The campaign provides the majority of the funding for the new student center, which will include innovative amenities and services that cater directly to the student body. Construction will begin in late 2009 and the center will be complete by fall of 2013.

PETERS student center construction
Miami Board of Trustees approve measures to construct infrastructure for planned Bicentennial Student Center.

WILLIS biz school enrollment
Miami University's business school cuts enrollment as it moves into new, bigger building.

"Politics of" stories

chergibbs — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 15:21:01 CDT

RIOTSANDECONOMY: By Hope Norman, 500 words

The Cincinnati riots in 2001 caused many organizations and celebrities to boycott the city
It cost the city over $10 million dollars
How have they made up that revenue?
Sources: Influential leaders in the local communities as well as city financial planners
Visual: photos of the neighborhoods affected by the riots

VIEWOFTHECITY: By Hope Norman, 500 words

The 2001 Cincinnati riots left the city with a bad image and a public relations nightmare. 7 years later, how has the public view changed, and in what way?
Sources: Individuals not from the city but who knew about the riots and Strategic Communications professors
Visual: Still photos

HASCHANGEOCCURED: By Hope Norman, 500 words

The residents of Cincinnati have tried during the past 7 years to move past racial tensions and create a stronger community. That involves larger community involvement as well as trying to make high crime neighborhoods safer. With strong initiatives, has progress been made?
Sources: Cincinnati Police Officer, Leader in Over the Rhine community, Pastor of an influential church, and other residents
Visual: Still Photos

CRIME: By Hope Norman, 500 words

The area hit hardest with the riots is also the area with the highest crime rate. How has that area changed since the riots in demographics, layout, and most importantly crime?
Sources: Cincinnati Police officers as well as local community leaders
Visual: Still photos

JOURNALISMIMPACT: By Hope Norman, 500 words

The 2001 riots made international news. How much of the riots were the city reacting and how much of the riots were the media blowing up the situation? Looking back 7 years later, could the media have handled the riots differently?
Sources: Miami Journalism Professors, journalists from the Cincinnati Enquirer, etc.
Visuals: Still photos

PAYROLLCAP: By Dave Matthews, 500 words

Is it time for Major League Baseball to adopt a salary cap? It’s the only major sports league that has yet to adopt the system. Would it influence ticket prices for fans? Concessions? The benefits of coaches and players?
Sources: Tracy Smith, Miami alum and Indiana baseball coach, the offices of MLBPA Director Don Fehr and the MLB Commissioner, an economics professor
Visual audio: Footage of last collective bargaining agreement, video footage of the New York Yankees

NAPOLEONCOMPLEX: By Dave Matthews, 500 words

After a long summer in Washington D.C., I’ve determined that most politico’s are really short … is it a short man’s complex perhaps?
Sources: Psychological journals, random human interest stories on the average height of your politicians, psychology professors.
Visual audio of Jerrold Nachler (sp?) and Henry Waxman, John McCain … preferably standing next to someone like John Kerry or Steve Chabot…it’s pretty funny

HIRINGSANDFIRINGS: By Dave Matthews, 500 words

How has the economic crisis affected the coaching carousel at schools? Can schools (like the newly coachless Miami football team) afford to fire coaches and hire a new one for more money? How about Charlie Weis at Notre Dame?
Sources: Other news clips on the matter, Brad Bates in the Athletic Dept., Research and see if there are more coaching moves this year than others … is the economy affecting schools shuffling coaches around?

STARSSALARIESGOINGDOWN?: By Dave Matthews, 500 words

Is the economy affecting the salaries of big-time baseball players (kind of creating a salary cap in itself)? With several big names like C.C. Sabathia and Manny Ramirez going into free agency, will their contracts be hurt because of down times for teams? Or are franchises not affected by the economic crunch?
Sources: Following contract negotiations on ESPN, comparing and contrasting with top free agent names of past 10 years. Looking at revenue charts for teams to see if they were affected by economy
Video footage of baseball highlights

INFLUENCEOFPLAYERSUNION? By Dave Matthews, 500 words

Comparing and contrasting the player unions of the NFL, MLB, NBA, and NHL … which has the most influence on their league?
Sources: Looking at achievements (collective bargaining agreements, after-retirement benefits, success of strikes, etc.) each league has had, and profiling the heads of each player’s union. Also, do different schedules and formats of each league affect the duties / influence of the players union (example: NFL has about 16 games and large playing rosters, the NBA stretches over 82 games and has small team rosters)
Audio of interviews with key officials

Santa’s Empty Wallet: the holidays and the economy. By Ida Lieszkovszky. With a weak economy and the threat of another possible economic depression, how will the economic highlight of the year fare? Will Christmas season sales be down? Will black Friday leave malls empty, or is consumerism just too strong to keep people out of the mall? Interviews would include economic experts (for example professors), some shoppers, financial analysts, and maybe some religious figures (Priests, Rabbi’s – does this mean a possible return to the religious significance of the holiday?) 650 words
• Giving and getting in ’08: giving in the holiday season. By Ida Lieszkovszky. Again, considering the difficult financial situation the U.S. and the world is facing, how will charities suffer? Can they expect the same aid they’ve received in the past? If not, how will they make ends meet? Interviews could be individuals working at non-profits such as United Way and certain religious organizations do fundraising during the holiday season. 500 words.
• Where’s the Money Gone? Charity dollars and sense. By Ida Lieszkovszky. The holiday season is also supposed to be a season of giving, but when you give where does the money actually go? Sources would be someone from charitynavigator.org or a similar organization as well as some representatives from charity organizations. Also, someone that usually gives or is contemplating donating for the first time. 600 words.
• War of the Holidays. By Ida Lieszkovszky. For years Christmas, Hanukah, and various other holidays like Kwanzaa seem to be trying to outdo each other for significance, importance, and fun. How did these holidays become the center of the year, when neither of them are the most significant religious holidays of their respective calendars? Sources would include historians and religious leaders as well as “average” citizens that celebrate the holidays. 700 words.
• Holidays in the Public Sphere. By Ida Lieszkovszky. The holidays of various religions have transcended the walls of the family home and burst into the public arena. Christmas trees are a common sight in town squares and inside malls, and menorahs are becoming more prominent as well. How public should religious holidays be? Interviews can include a professor of comparative religion, religious leaders, and citizens. 600 words.

FUNDING: By Kathleen Morton, 500 words.
• Questions: How much do students at Miami care about the government funding anti-terrorism movements? Who funds anti-terrorism groups? How much of does the government contribute? How much money has Ohio been contributing?
• Sources: Students, political science professors, Central Ohioans against Terrorism.
• Visual Audio: Audio recording of sources. Still photos.

WARONTERRORISM: By Kathleen Morton, 500 words.
• Questions: Do students feel that the Iraq war is an important issue? What do students and professors think are the reasons we are in the war? How likely do students feel they will witness another terrorist attack in their lifetime? Who is at risk of another terrorist attack? What laws have been in place to avoid future terrorist attacks?
• Sources: Students, political science professors,
• Visual Audio: Audio recording of sources. Still photos.

TERRORISTMOVEMENTS: By Kathleen Morton, 500 words.
• Questions: How many terrorists and anti-terrorism organizations are there and what kind of efforts have they been making? Are there any movements on Miami’s campus?
• Sources: Ohio anti-terrorism groups, students.
• Visual Audio: Audio recording of sources. Still photos.

PROFESSORPERSPECTIVE: By Kathleen Morton, 500 words.
• Questions: How do psychologists look at terrorism? How do political science professors study terrorism? What are the differences in how people interpret terrorists?
• Sources: Social psychology professors, political science professors.
• Visual Audio: Audio recording of sources. Still photos.

EVIL: By Kathleen Morton, 500 words.
• Questions: What explanations do social psychologists give for why something is evil? How is evil defined? What are students’ definitions of evil? Can evil be good? How does terrorism fit in to one’s concept of evil?
• Sources: Students, social psychology professors, anti-terrorism organizations.
• Visual Audio: Audio recording of sources. Still photos.

ETHANOL: By Morgan Riedl, 500 words. This past year has witnessed gas prices rise to over $4 a gallon and recently drop to under $2 a gallon. This story will look at how recent events are affecting alternate energy industries, specifically what it means for those growing corn for ethanol production.

Questions: How dependent is the ethanol industry on gas prices? What does a fickle market mean for farmers? How do you cope? What is the government’s role? How much do you depend on subsidies and tax incentives? How closely do you work with the processing industries? What does the election of Obama and a Democratic congress mean for you? Why do you need lobbyists? How much of the need for corn is created? How does Ohio support ethanol? How much farmland in Ohio is dedicated to corn ethanol?
Sources: Local corn growers, an economics or political science professor, representative from the Ohio Corn Growers Association (or similar organization).
Visual/audio components: Audio recordings of interviews. Still photos.

ENERGY: By Morgan Riedl, 500 words. The world seems to be on the verge of another “green” revolution. This story will look ethanol’s role in this energy transformation.

Questions: What are the benefits of ethanol as fuel? How does it compare to other cellulosic biofuels? How does it compare to other clean energies? How much better is it than gasoline? What about the amount of farmland it requires? Is it efficient? What are the drawbacks to ethanol? What is the international perspective? What kind of solution does ethanol provide?
Sources: Local corn growers, an economics or political science professor, representative from the Ohio Corn Growers Association (or similar organization).
Visual/audio components: Audio recordings of interviews. Still photos.

FOOD PRICES: By Morgan Riedl, 500 words. This story will examine the role that corn ethanol has had in increasing commodity prices worldwide.

Questions: Why do grow/sell your corn to be manufactured into ethanol rather than eaten? What is the price difference? Do you feel responsible for the increase in food prices? How much does diverting farmland from crops for food to crops for food affect food prices? How much can be attributed to corn? Is this an international problem or is it restricted to the U.S.? What part does Ohio have in this?
Sources: Local corn growers, an economics or political science professor, representative from the Ohio Corn Growers Association (or similar organization).
Visual/audio components: Audio recordings of interviews. Still photos.

CORNSYRUP: By Morgan Riedl, 500 words. America is in the throes of an obesity epidemic, which many attribute to the consumption of not just too much, but of a certain foods – especially processed foods. This story will examine the health concerns regarding the artificial sweetener high-fructose corn syrup.

Questions: How have American’s diets changed? What is the consequence of the consumption of pervasiveness of artificial, processed food? Recent television advertisements have countered the arguments against corn syrup, is there truth to them? Is consumption in moderation healthy? How have government policies/subsidies influenced the kind of corn that is grown and what happens to it?
Sources: Miami’s dietician, health/nutrition professor, Kelly Quinn (American Studies professor), local corn growers, corn processing industry representatives.
Visual/audio components: Audio recordings of interviews. Still photos.

GENETICALLYMODIFIED: By Morgan Riedl, 500 words. Despite being met with skepticism abroad, the genetic alteration of corn has been embraced in America. This story will examine the consequences, both advantageous and disadvantageous to this development.

Questions: Why do you grow the kind of corn you do? What kind of yield can you expect from your particular seed? What does the homogeneity of crop mean? Do you anticipate or have you experienced any problems with insects or weather? How much does government subsidies or market demand influence the type of corn you grow? Why do you (or others) hesitate to consume genetically modified corn? Are there health risks?
Sources: Local corn growers, Ohio corn growers representative, health professor who can speak on organics.
Visual/audio components: Audio recordings of interviews. Still photos.

IMPORTEXPORT: By Morgan Riedl, 500 words. America imports and exports corn and corn products. This story will focus look at the motivation driving these markets.

Questions: Why does America import corn products when it produces its own at home? If its cheaper abroad, why grow it at home? How much influence do farmers have on the government decision? Processing industries (like soda, ethanol etc)? Why would we import ethanol, how is that different from importing gas? How much must the government subsidize the corn industry for it to stay competitive? What foreign industries must be taxed to protect corn? Why do you support/disagree with such actions?
Sources: Local corn growers, Ohio Corn Growers representative, politics or economics professor
Visual/audio components: Audio recordings of interviews. Still photos.

TALLYLEVY: By Kellyn Moran, 500 words. After winning the levy, how will Talawanda use the money effectively and stay afloat in the economic crisis.

Questions: How will the money from the levy be allocated? How did Tally's budget look before the levy - in the red or black - and how does this affect the allocation of money obtained from the levy? What is the history of levies passing in Oxford and what made this year similar/different from past attempts? Will the district seek another levy in the near future?
Sources: Board of Education members for the district, students/parents in the district, taxpayers
Visual/audio components: Audio recordings of interviews. Still photos. Pictures of Talawanda's current facility. Map of future site of Talawanda.

OHIO LEVIES: By Kellyn Moran, 500 words. A handful of levies failed in Southwest Ohio - why didn't voters in SW Ohio favor levies compared to other parts of the state?

Questions: What were the levies on the ballot across the state? What are some of the main monetary issues schools in Ohio are facing, causing them to ask for money? Why did some levies pass and some fail, especially considering the disparity between SW Ohio and the rest of the state? What is the forecast for state funding for public education in FY2010?
Sources: BOE members from different districts, students/parents, voters, Ohio Department of Education
Visual/Audio components: Audio recordings of interviews. Still photos.Graph comparing levy issues on the ballot in different districts. Map showing where levies passed/failed in the state and by what percent.

TESTFUNDING: By Kellyn Moran, 500 words. With an increase in state and federal standards/testing in recent years, how are schools trying to meet the demands and how is a lack of funding holding them back?

Questions: What is the effect of NCLB testing and recent changes to Ohio's testing standards on schools? What changes need to be made? How costly are some of the changes schools need to make? Where are they getting the money for this?
Sources: School principals/teachers, legislators, spokesperson from Ohio Dept. of Education
Visual/Audio components: Audio recordings of interviews. Still photos.

UNIONEFFECT: By Kellyn Moran, 500 words. How have union negotiations for salary and benefit increases affected Talawanda in recent years and potentially in coming years?

Questions: With budgets tightening, and people fearing unemployment or lower wages, how have teachers unions entered into the equation? How much of Tally's budget is spent on salaries? How have recent negotiations affected the school's budgeting?
Sources: BOE members, Ohio Federations of Teachers members, teachers/members of local union
Visual/Audio components: Audio recordings of interviews. Still photos.

CHARTER: By Kellyn Moran, 500 words. How has the growth of charter schools in Ohio affected enrollment, funding, and levies for public school districts?

Questions: How much of a draw do charter schools have on public school systems' enrollment levels? How does state funding or resource support for charter schools affect the level of funding public schools get, if at all?
Sources: BOE members, foundations for charter schools, Ohio DOE spokesperson
Visual/Audio components: Audio recordings of interviews. Still photos.

FDTRANSITION: By Michael Pickering, 500 words. In it’s 175th year in existence, the Oxford Fire Department transitioned from a fully volunteer fire department to a part-time fire department with three firefighters staffing the firehouse twelve hours a day, seven days a week.
Questions: How will this benefit the city of oxford community presently and in the future? What will the city residents be actually seeing as the transition continues. Where does the dept. want to end up? How will it be paid for? Will better services be provided due to the part-time department? How involved will the volunteers still be in the dept?
Sources: Oxford Fire Chief John Detherage, Oxford City Manager Doug Elliot, City Council members, residents of the Oxford Community.
Visual/Audio: Photo of firefighters during the day at the station or around town training or helping the city.

RADIOSYSTEM: By Michael Pickering, 500 words. Oxford, and its surrounding Butler County neighbors are in the process of transitioning to a new digital radio communications system. The radio system cost the county $35 million and was paid for through a .25 percent increase in county sales tax.
Questions: How will the new system help the surrounding public safety departments in communications? WIll this change radio communications between departments? How long was the sales tax increase for? How difficult was the raise in sales tax to pass? What can this new communications system do that the old system couldn’t?
Sources: Oxford Police Dept. Asst. to the Chief for Technology Bill Vedra, Chief of Police Stephen Schwein. Butler County Sheriffs Office Communications Director Matt Franke.
Visual/Audio: Audio of a new radio system conversation over a old radio conversation, photo or video of public safety personnel using new radio system.

PUBLICSAFETYTRUST: By Michael Pickering, 500 words. Every day hundreds of thousands of residence call for assistance nation wide. The people who come to the rescue are immediately trusted by people needing help for whatever reason. What happens if that trust is broken or how is the trust protected?
Sources: Fire Chief, Police Chief, City Council members, residents who have needed assistance both in a good or bad light.

CITYECONOMICCRISIS: By Michael Pickering, 500 words. The national economic crisis is causing budget cuts and layoffs nationwide. It certainly is hurting city budgets including public safety bugets.
Questions: How is the economic crisis effecting public safety? Are residents at risk? Are public safety officers at risk of losing there jobs or having less equipment.
Sources: City Manager, City Finance Manager.

COUNTYWIDE: By Michael Pickering, 500 words. Some people live right across city lines and have to wait longer for their specific fire dept. to respond in case of an emergency. If cities fire departments merged to become county fire departments there could be better response times and public safety can help people in need faster.
Questions: How can this be done? Why hasn’t it been done?
Sources: Butler County Fire Chiefs Association President, Butler County Police Chiefs Association Presidenttl

CONCENTRATED ANIMAL FEEDING OPERATIONS: By Matt Berger, 500 words

In the name of efficiency and the production of large quantities of animal products (meat, milk, wool,etc...) the owners of these setups crowd together large quantities of animals in a limited space.

Questions: Is this method dangerous for the animals? Is this method dangerous for human neighbors? What is done with all the waste? Do animals have rights to certain levels of space, shelter? Does this practice hurt the environment or land on which it is based?

Sources: Pam Tharp (Pal-item), local CAFO owners, animal rights orgs., Indian dept. of environ. management, MU progressive animal welfare society

Multimedia: Pictures, recorded interviews, graphs

ANIMAL OWNERSHIP VERSUS GUARDIANSHIP: By Matt Berger, 500 words

A recent domestic animal rights debate involves a seemingly insignificant change in wording of ownership to “guardianship.” It emphasizes the human’s responsibility to care for the animal over the human’s rights to property. This would, in essence, allow a third party (govt. or other) to petition courts for custody of an animal if they don’t agree with the original owners care practices.

Questions: Is there any precedent for this new view or is it revolutionary? Are animals property or separate individual entities? Does the state have a right to intrude in animal abuse?

Sources:Local pet owners, Constitutional law professors, animal rights/welfare orgs., MU progressive animal welfare org

Multimedia:Pictures, interview recordings, excerpts from legislation/Constitution

ANIMAL LIBERATION FRONT: by Matt Berger, 500 words

This is the radical group of animal rights proponents that forcibly takes animals that are being abused or experimented on. They have also been known to damage the property of the "animal abusers."
Questions: Is the stealing of these animals ever justified? How organized are these "terrorist" acts? Is this stealing or protecting the defenseless?
Sources: ALF representative, students at Miami who conducts tests on animals/disect, MU progressive animal welfare org
Multimedia: Pictures, video of rescues, advertisement pics and media for ALF, recorded interview

DEPICTIONS OF ANIMAL CRUELTY IN THE MEDIA: by Matt Berger, 500 Words

There is legislation prohibiting the abusive treatment or appearance of abusive treatment of animals in movies, pictures, and other visual forms.
Questions: How inclusive is the cultural exception to this legislation? What is the reasoning behind this law? What is being protected? How far can authors of media go?
Sources: MU progressive animal welfare org., MU student filming org., MU fine arts department
Multimedia: Pictures, recordings of interviews, video where animal abuse has been cut OR animal abuse allowed due to exceptions

ANIMALS FOR EXPERIMENTATION: By Matt Berger, 500 words

It's no secret that animals are used--sometimes unnecessarily--for scientific experimentation. For testing genetics, pharmaceuticals, dissection, and more, animals are abused, killed, and mutated for the pursuit of science. Legislation calls for science to be always seeking ways to treat animals nicer and possibly avoid their use in testing altogether.
Questions: How much do researchers actually seek to create new methods that avoid the use of animals? Is there a viable alternative? If experimentation can't be used on animals, should the research be abandoned altogether?
Sources: MU progressive animal welfare org., Pre-med students
Multimedia: Recorded interviews, animal testing videos, pictures

RACEATMIAMI: By Amy Wachler, 500 Words

Info and Questions: We all know Miami is a "white" campus. Even with increased efforts to support and promote diversity, racial demographics among faculty and students remain overwhelmingly disproportionate compared with most colleges. While there's been a push for change among administration and student organizations, that change is hard to come by. How successful has the university been in recruiting students of diverse backgrounds? What is it like to be a non-white student on campus? What is the experience of Black faculty members? Most importantly, what kind of recruit and retention strategies are in place to increase diversity?

Sources: 3rd year clinical psychology grad student Dana E. Crawford, Edwin Shriver, Diversity Affairs Councilmember Edwin Shriver, Assoc. Vice President for Institutional Diversity Dr. Christine Taylor, Miami student Brandon Lampkins, Secretary for Diversity Affairs Una Hrnjak

Media: Video interviews

Music and Politics
LOCALSCENE- 500 Words. Caroline Briggs. Several local artists have made their mark in Oxford, and after this historic election, many voters could see artists sticking their necks out politically. Many famous musicians made their way to Ohio this fall, but is taking an activist stance the best idea for a band or artist?

Sources: Local artists Look Afraid, Louis Rideout, and Jeff Scott Craig, political science professor, music professor.

Media: Music from local artists’ albums, audio and video from interviews

DOWEREALLYLISTEN? 500 words.Caroline Briggs A look at the music in past elections as well as the most recent presidential election. Does making a political statement help album sales? Does it hurt them? How much do people really take a celebrity’s opinion into their own vote? Why have artists moved more toward political stances in the last several years?

Sources: Richard Campbell, political science professors and music professors, Ohio record store personnel, staff from the Nutter Center on hosting political rallies.

Media: audio and video from interviews, video from performances during election season

INOWPRONOUNCE YOUMUSICANDPOLITICS- 500 words.Caroline Briggs Music and politics have gone together since the “I Like Ike” campaign song of the 1950’s. Why is the dynamic so strong between the two? Why are artists motivated to make a political stance today, while musicians in the past shied away from the topics? How much was Barack Obama helped by viral videos endorsing him?

Sources: Political science and music professors, Pat Frank, political activist and music listener, local musicians

Media: “Yes, we can” music video from Youtube, audio and video from interviews

MUSICOF2008- 500 words.Caroline Briggs. For the longest campaign season of all time, historicism theories point to an inevitable response of art. As art reflects music, what are musicians saying about politics politically? How many artists include political messages? What artists have established themselves within their politics? Is this a smart idea to intertwine album sales with one’s political adgenda? How many artists toured this fall for political reasons? How many actually performed at rallies?

Sources: personnel from election rally points in Ohio, political science professors and music professors, students who attended election rallies

Media: videos of election performances, video and audio of interviews, charts of record sales on a national scale

POLITICIANSASPERFORMERS- 500 words. Caroline Briggs. How similar are musicians and politicians during the elections season? While touring on a bus and selling out stadiums, the two should be dissimilar. However, with the price of presidency, voters expect the same kind of gratitude and performace levels from candidates as they would a musical artist. How has the campaing trail changed over the years?

Sources: Political science and music professors, personnel from campaign spots in Ohio, and students who attended campaign rallies

Media: Video from campaign rallies, audio and video from interviews

Election 2008

chergibbs — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 15:20:28 CDT

Assigned stories:

CHANGE: By Morgan Riedl, 500 words. Defining what “change” means to voters.

Questions: What do you think is wrong with government? What do you want to see in a change in? Which candidate do you think will do more to change the government? Is there anything you don’t want changed? How does change make you feel?

Sources: Obama supporter, McCain supporter, Independent, Political Science professor/department representative, everyday voters, different age groups – youth, middle age, seniors, different races, perhaps a focus on one. Source suggestions welcomed and requested.

Visual/audio: Recordings, still photos.

DECIDING: By Amy Wachler, 500 words. How can voters sort through information about candidates' stands on issues so they can then make intelligent choices about whom to vote for?

Questions: What is a reasonable process for gathering information and assessing it? How certain can you ever be that you know exactly what a candidate will do and how well his/her policies will work? Are there resources out there that can help us sort out what will work and what won't? If so, what are they? What's worse -- to vote for someone you really don't know about or to not vote? How much time can people really devote to deciding in elections?
Sources: CNN copy editor friend, poli sci professors, regular people, League of Women Voters group members, DC contacts
Visual/audio: Recordings of interviews, Web cam interviews

DEBATES: Kathleen Morton, 500 Words. What role do debates have in people's decision-making process? Talk to people before debates to find out if they've already made up their minds, what they'll be looking for in the debates, etc., then talk to them after to see if the debate changed their minds at all.

Questions: See above.
Sources: Six people, diverse mix.
Visual/audio: Can link to video of debates online. Also can get video/audio of one or more of interviewees watching a debate.

WHERE IS JOE BIDEN? by Matt Berger, 500 words. Why are people not talking about the Democratic Vice-Presidential Candidate?

Questions: With all the talk about extremes in the candidates of this presidential election, what happens to the normal, Washington insider candidate for VP? Why is he being ignored or getting less attention from the media? Do people have strong opinions about him? Do candidates have to represent more than policy decisions to get the vote in November? McCain has been around for a while too--why does he get hype when Biden doesn't (other than the obvious-McCain for Pres. Biden for VP).
Sources: Student and staff interviews. Rep from new Dem. headquarters in region. CBSnews Opinion poll and any others I find.
Visual/Audio components: photos of candidates (specifically Biden), Biden caricature? Sound bites from interview recordings.

POSTCOLLEGE: Caroline Briggs, 500 words. With the state of the economy right now, seniors are facing a tough job market — and now the bailout.

Questions: How could this election affect our future careers? What are the economic plans of the candidates in regards to producing more jobs? What can Miami students do to be proactive in this ominous landscape of future money-making?
Sources: Economics and political science professors. Hoyt Hall and career services would also be contacted for proactive solutions. Miam students.
Visual and audio components: Graphics would include workshops around Hoyt Hall. Students working at bars uptown and other low-paying jobs.

YOUTHVOTE: Hope Norman, 500 Words. Why aren't America's youth interested in this election? Why are so many not voting? How informed are young people about this election?

Questions: Can you compare this election to 2004 and 2000? Is there research available? Look for registration numbers, indices of levels of information possessed by voters. Are there trends in what young people care have cared about in the past, in terms of issues?
Sources: cnn.com, politico.com, nytimes.com. Students, poli sci professors, psychology professors. Heads of College Republicans, College Democrats.
Visual and audio components: Recordings of interviews. Still photos. Video. Also possible: Comparison graphs.

VEEPSTAKES: By Dave Matthews, 500 words. How important are VPs for a ticket and for an administration?

Questions: What is the vetting process? Why did it take so long? Has any other vice presidential nominee ever gotten the media attention that Sarah Palin has gotten? Will some voters really decide based on the vice presidential candidate? Interesting this year considering many community report people were worried about Sen. McCain or Obama dying in office.
Sources: Chris Kelley of the Poli Sci department for a historical, academic point of view. Students on the street, their thoughts on the VPs. Chad Pergram, FOX News, to provide an angle from the media, if he's sick and tired of all the attention the veeps get.
Visual/audio: Recordings of interviews. Mug shots of sources.

CLINTON FOLLOWERS: By Kellyn Moran, 500 words. The article would focus on the question: How will Clinton followers vote, if at all, in November?

Questions: What are the main characteristics of Clinton followers? Who will they vote for in November? Why? Why won't some Clinton supporters vote? How do former Clinton supporters relate to Palin? How are both parties trying to sway these voters? How will these voters impact the general election?
Sources: voters, especially females; campaigns; pollsters
Visual/audio components: Recordings. Still photos.

REGISTER: Jay Stolkin, 500 words. Many students at Miami are registering in Ohio because it is a swing state. Multiple republicans have Illinois said they are registering in Ohio. Some that are registered in illinois have said they will not waste their time voting because Illinois will go blue regardless.

Questions: Aside from Ohio, what states have the highest representation at Miami? Are a lot of the students from other states registering in Ohio? For what reason do they register in Ohio? Is it because they think their vote will matter? Or because they do not want to deal with an absentee ballot? How else do home states influence student voting?
Sources: Talk to republicans, democrats and others from out of state. Talk to president of college republicans and college democrats. Talk to political science professors. Talk to multiple students from other states and some from Ohio as well.
Visual/audio components: Recordings of interviews. Still photos.

ETIQUETTE: Lydia Smart, 500 words. A story about where and when it is appropriate to talk about politics.

Questions: When and where is is appropriate to talk about politics? Is is considered a taboo to openly or publicly talk about politics? You could really talk to anybody about this topic because it is something that we all face on a daily basis, especially at this time.
Sources: Diverse range of sources.
Visual/audio components: For print you could add photos of people openly talking about their own political viewpoints in a public location

RELIGION: Francesca Cheli, 500 Words. A story that looks into the role religion plays the 2008 presidential election.

How and why church are leaders encouraging their congregations to vote?
What do citizens consider "acceptable" religions for a presidential candidate to follow?
Looking for interviews from a variety of students, a separate survey from students in religious groups on campus, and interviews from religious leaders.
Should religion be an issue?
Why does it matter so much? (in source's own words, not just my own speculation).
Graphs and charts would be a good way to visually display citizens' opinions about the role of religion in the upcoming presidential election.

BREAKING THE STEREOTYPES - By Ida Lieszkovszky. 500 words. This election has a way of fitting voters into nice little boxes...women vote Republican for Palin and blacks vote Democrat for Obama and white businessmen vote Republican for McCain and the leftovers belong to Biden. Or something like that.

Questions: The people that don’t fit these stereotypes, who are they? Why have they decided to support for whoever they chose? How do people treat them when they find out? Are they treated any different by friends?
Sources: It would be interesting to interview several people like this, like the black man that is voting for McCain or the woman that's all about Obama or the businessman that's voting Obama too.
It would also be nice to talk to a couple or best friends where one individual associates themselves as a Republican and the other calls themselves a Democrat, and to find out how they deal with their differences.
Audio/Visual components: photographs of individuals interviewed, captions including their political affiliations.

ROCKVOTE: Michael Pickering, 500 Words. A story about voting drives geared to young voters such as VH1s "rock the vote" or YouTube.com debates that candidates participate in.

Questions: Do these types of voter drives work on the young generation that they are trying to influence or do young voters vote for another reason?
Sources: Poli science professors as experts, student opinions, high school/18-year-olds, older people.
Visual/audio elements: Graphics include possibly a link to the YouTube debates, or a screenshot of a "rock the vote" television program.

Top picks:

DEATH: By ?, 500 words. A look at the theories that Obama will be assassinated or McCain will die of old age. How much of a role are these concerns playing in this election? (NOTE: This story assignment combines ideas originally proposed by Morgan Riedl, Kathleen Morton and Pick Pickering.)

Questions: Do people think either or both candidates’ lives are in danger? Is one more likely to die? How much do the VP candidates mean to you? How important is the vice president in this election? How many students or faculty are basing their vote on the vice president? Does the fact that Palin is a woman help or hurt McCain? Why?
Sources: Average voters, reps from College Dems, College Republicans, people around town. Source suggestions welcomed and requested.
Visual/audio: Recordings of interviews, still photos of McCain, Obama, Biden and/or Palin.

OVERBLOWN: By ??, 500 words. Has the media overblown the election? For those of us intrigued by politics, this presidential campaign is the most fascinating election in quite some time, and certainly the most interesting in most students' lifetimes. But many students are turned away from the election because of all the attention it receives from the media. (NOTE: This story was originally proposed by Dave Matthews.)

Questions: What do students like and dislike about election coverage? What do they wish journalists would do that they're not doing? What do they wish journalists would stop doing as they cover this year's race? What's being overdone? What's being underdone?
Sources: Disgruntled young voters turned off by the election "horse race" coverage (and possibly some who love it?). Ron Scott, COM professor. Howard Kleiman, IW director. JRN director Richard Campbell. Chris Kelley again (because he hates journalists).
Visual/audio: Recordings and interviews, photos.

Still more story ideas:

REGISTERINOXFORD: Caroline Briggs, 500 words. With the upcoming presidential race, young students are volunteering around Oxford to get fellow students to register and vote in the November election.

Questions: Is there an ulterior political motive as to why young people are scrambling to register voters around Miami's campus? Does it have to do with the new Obama campaign office on Walnut?
Sources:
Visual/audio elements: Graphics would include a person registering Uptown with a clipboard or the inside of the Obama campaign office.

INFLUENCES: Michael Pickering, 500 Words. A story about how students are influenced in their voting practices by family, friends, or the lack there of.

How much does family effect how a college student votes?

Looking for interviews from specific students to illustrate what influences them.

For print could use either headshots to divide up story visually, or even a photograph of students displaying their political views.

Sound bites and video if we use the more multimedia approach.

FAMILYINFLUENCE: Lydia Smart, 500 words. A story about whether people are heavily influenced by their family's political views or if they form their own opinions without their family's influence. Many people are influenced by their parents or extended family's political viewpoints. Do most people tend to base their political viewpoints on those of their family members? If your parents feel strongly one way or another, is it possible for someone to completely form their own opinion without the influence of their family? Is it normal for most kids to value what their parents think? You could talk to anybody about this issue because it most likely affects everybody. Images could include a family talking about politics or a video of a family discussing their viewpoints.

VOTINGINITIATIVE: Hope Norman, 500 Words. To figure out what the voting initiative is going around campus. Want people to vote, especially in Butler County.

Questions: Who are the people at the Hub and in front of Shriver? How successful is it? Who is behind the initiative? An organization? group of students? administration?
Sources:
Visual/audio elements:

YOUTHATTENTION: Hope Norman, 500 Words. If youth aren't paying attention to the election, what kind of media are they paying attention to?

Questions: pop culture? sports? financial? How could adding politics to what media help youth become interested in the election?
Sources:
Visual/audio elements?

REPUBLICANS: By Dave Matthews, 500 words. Why be a College Republican?This didn't quite so much stem from our discussion … but I'm intrigued by those who are the minority for their age group, the College Republicans. It seems paradoxical considering Obama's economic policy will help young people with college loans, and relieve their taxes with our entry-level position salaries.

Questions: Why vote for somebody who seems to represent the generation (or two) older than us, and not the young candidate? Is it that they really listen too much to their parents or do they really believe in these conservative ideals?
Sources: Chris Berry, Chair of College RepublicansDoug Haynes, another College Republican, quite fiery Pat Frank, an Obama volunteer, to get the other sideWill Lewis, my half-black Chicago McCain supporter
Visual/audio elements:

MOTIVATION: By Morgan Riedl, 500 words. An investigation into why the youth are going to the polls this election.

Why and how is this election different than previous ones to you? Why do you vote? Where does the sense of civic responsibility come from? What issues determine your vote? How does your vote make a difference? Which candidate has your support and why? If neither, then why still vote? How do you perceive the get out and vote ads? When did you register to vote?

Sources: College Dem rep, college Republican rep, religious-affiliated person, journalist, working student, member of Greek life, campaign volunteer. Source suggestsions welcomed and requested.

Visual/audio: Recordings, still photos.

PERSONALITY v. PLATFORM: By Kellyn Moran, 500 words. This story would look at whether voters are planning on casting ballots based on charisma or the issues.

Questions: Who are you voting for? Why are you voting for that ticket? What are the most important issues? Ultimately, did the candidates' stances on issues or the candidates' speeches and ads convince you? For campaigns - what are they trying to push more: presentation or explanation of issues? What wins a campaign - the ability of a candidate to appeal to the voters or the ability to explain the issues to voters?
Sources: voters in the area, campaigns
Visual/audio components: Recordings of interviews. Still photos.

THE PERSONALITY ELECTION: by Matt Berger. 500 words. Does a candidate's private life really matter in an election and politics in general?

Does it take away from what really matters in the election? Does it add a new dimension that gives us a better picture of the candidates? Were the convention speeches indicative of this? (Maverick, Hockey Mom, Rags-to-riches, Washington insider). What can we learn from the candidates' individual stories? Ask interviewees to give me candidate "stories" in own words and explain what these stories mean.
Sources: Random Stranger student and staff interviews.
Visual/Audio components: clips from conventions if possible, poll stats, photos of candidates and interviewees. Sound bites from interviews or conventions.

THIRDPARTIES: By Charlie Turner 500 words. The main news sources focus pretty much entirely on Democrats and Republicans and neglect the third party candidates. The story will give brief bios and platform summaries for the most popular third party candidates.

Questions: Why run if you won't get elected? Why do third parties have so much trouble garnering votes? How did you come to join your party?
Sources: Bob Barr - Libertarian Party candidate, Cynthia McKinney - Green Party Candidate
Visual/audio components: Audio Recordings of interviews, photos of candidates.

PRESIDENTCAMPAIGNING, 500 wordsby Kathleen Mortonwith photos of McCain and Obama, as well as crowds rallying for both of them. McCain and Obama will soon be campaigning in Ohio, especially since Ohio has a record of being a swing state. It would an exciting story to cover one or both of those rallies. The story would be based on the speech given and the reaction from McCain and Obama supporters.

What are the reactions of those watching the speeches? Will it cause people to switch their votes?
Sources: McCain, Obama, crowd reactions
Visual/audio components:quotes from the speeches and reactions from those attending.

YOUTH "ANTIPATHY" - By Ida Lieszkovszky, 500 words. A lot of "youth voters" say they intend to vote because it is their civic duty, but know very little about the actual issues.

Questions: What's the real reason their voting, and what do they base their vote on if they don't know a whole lot about the actual issues? How do they get their political news and what do they think about voting uninformed?
Sources: youth who are planning on voting and also youth that don't care about politics at all, and a political science professor or two.
Visual/audio components: audio recordings of youth who care and do not care, graphs of statistics on voter turnout by demographic (specifically age group)

COURTINGYOUTH: By Ida Lieszkovszky. 500 words. This election is groundbreaking for several reasons: we have a black man running for president, and a woman running for v.p. as well as an unprecedented youth voter turn out (unprecedented in the last decade or two at least).

Questions: So how are the issues that are stressed changing and how to the politicians appeal to youth voters? In many ways the rules of the game are being broken, how much does this have to do with appealing to a younger audience and how does the media cater to this audience?
Sources: Interviews would include youth voters; statements from local level political party representatives and members of the media preferably covering politics; people from organizations like barelypolitical.com and other sites that make fun of politics and are popular among younger voters
Visual/audio components: video of promotional videos used by political candidates and non-party groups/individuals (like Obama girl)...with permission of course!!

MODERATES: by Matt Berger, 500 words. This story will be about the uninformed moderate phenomenon. Are citizens just getting too lazy to pick a side or are the lines truthfully blurring between Republicans and Democrats?

Questions: Is it more difficult than before to access policy differences between candidates? Do people feel that all politicians are the same? Is the media focus on personality and private life keeping voters from knowing where candidates stand? Are politicians becoming more vague in order to get as many votes as possible? Do people feel informed by the time they reach the voting booth? How do average people get their political news/information about candidates?
Sources: Student and Staff interviews. Reps from College Dems and college Republicans. Zogby polls, etc...
Visual/Audio components photos of interviewed people, sound bites, and a possible poll stats on voting and attitude towards party lines.

AGE: Lydia Smart, 500 words. A story that questions whether or not the age of a candidate is a determining factor in voting.

Questions: Does a candidate's age influence how people vote? If a candidate is old, does the fear of deteriorating health or possible death come into question? Or if a candidate is young, do people question his experience or sense of self?
Sources: Range of sources with a mix of ages.
Visual/audio components: Recordings of interviews. Still photos.

PALINFIRE: Caroline Briggs, 500 Words. The introduction of Sarah Palin to the presidential race has reinvigorated the Republican party and polls reflect that McCain and Obama are now neck and neck in the popular vote.

Questions: Is the change coming from female conservatives?
Sources: Interviews would be around Miami from about 10 females.
Visual/audio components: Graphics could include McCain supporters and young, white females (conservative looking).

FIRST100DAYS: Amy Wachler, 500 words. This story will investigate how presidential candidates follow through with their policy platform goals, particularly during and after the first 100 days of their presidency. Often we see newly-elected presidents begin implementing new initiatives and laws as soon as possible, but then the progress teeters off after the first several months.

Questions: What are the statistics behind this trend? What happens that causes the slowing down/enthusiasm/momentum of the administration? Are these observations in fact true? What happens to approval ratings after the first 100 days? After first 250?
Sources: Interviews will come from political experts, journalists, professors and citizens. I plan to contact the Political Science Department and have already been in touch with CNN Copy Editor for "The Situation Room" John DeDakis.
Visual/audion elements: Graphics/pictures could include images of both candidates and a list of their platform, as well as their plans for how to bring about change. Multimedia components could be added in through recorded interviews with students, faculty and political consultants.

NEWFOCUS: Jay Stolkin, 500 Words. This story will discuss candidates setting up campaign offices in cities that candidates of their party may have never considered in past elections.

Questions: What states are in question that have not been in the past? Where are some campaign offices in these states? Obama has more offices in Indiana than Democrats have had in the past, right? Are any traditionally blue states in danger of going red? Is it only traditionally red states that are in danger of going blue?
Sources: Talk to workers at these campaign offices
Visual/audio elements:

POLITICALADS: Charlie Turner, 500 Words. This story will look at the ads run by each candidate in this election and evaluate them for accuracy and distortion of information. Furthermore, interviews would include the public at large and their perceptions of these commercials.

Questions: Do people believe the information they hear in these ads? Do attack advertisements really work? Look at how ads have historically impacted elections.
Sources: Speak with people at PEW. Speak with someone at the organizations running the ads.
Visual/audio elements: Recordings of interviews. Still photos.

INDEPENDENTS: Charlie Turner, 500 Words. This story will look at voters who don't follow a party line.

Questions: Who will they be voting for and why? Given the likelihood that their candidates won't win, why do they essentially throw their vote away? What kind of constituencies are big among the independents?
Sources: Speak to students on campus. Speak to oxford residents. Talk to a polisci professor.
Visual/audio elements: Recordings of interviews. Still photos.

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Election 2008