Education is not cheap

I practically winced when I voted for the TPS levy yesterday.
For the past 13 years, my mortgage payment has steadily increased due to taxes, but the value of my home decreased because of the economy. That levy would have really taken a bit out of my already dwindling paycheck.
But how could I not vote for it? Like my friend Rose once said while playing the game of LIFE, "I got kids!"
Quinn has been accepted to the Toledo School for the Arts, so no TPS worries there.
But Jolee wants to change from her charter school to Glendale Feilbach. We're seriously considering it because of the bus service. Our kids have never ridden a school bus, and this would give Jolee a great opportunity to ride the bus with other neighborhood kids. That's a huge concern - our kids don't know the other kids in the neighborhood because they don't share a bus or a classroom. But because of the failed levy, bus service might not be available for kids living within a 2-mile radius. We live 1.2 miles away from the TP school.
Like it or not, the local school system needs to be supported by everyone in the community because Toledo kids are the future, and I can't imagine a future where Toledo kids don't have sports, arts, gym and bus service.

My hockey helmet

(Andy Morrison modeling the helmet the Blade photo staff made just for me...)

Oh, the blood, the embarrassment, the teasing...
I wish it was a hockey puck that nailed me in the head during the first Walleye playoff game against Charlotte last week. That's what many people thought when they heard I was taken to the hospital in an ambulance during the 2nd period of the game.
That would have been more glamorous. Much cooler than what really happened.
I was crawling under the bleachers to get to my photo gear (long story) when I came upon a steel bar I obviously didn't see! It wasn't the pain that the EMTs were concerned about. It was the blood. It's true that head wounds bleed A LOT.
Anyway, thanks to the Blade workers and Owens students/instructors who voiced their concern; to Margaret who taught my class for me; to Jeremy who came to St. V's to pick up my memory cards and transmitted my images for me.
A special thanks goes to the Blade photo staff who hand-made me this wonderful head protector. I'll cherish it always.

Journalism's future...

I met the future of journalism this weekend.
They are young, energetic...giggly, with a few jocks boasting their letter jackets sprinkled amongst the techies.
Kent State University hosted the Ohio Scholastic Media Assoc. state convention, where hundreds of high school journalism students attended dozens of workshops, and participated in shooting and writing contests. 
The students are being groomed to keep our profession alive, so it was wonderful to witness their enthusiasm in the workshops, taught by a mix of seasoned working media and college educators. I taught the photo ethics session, where I introduced them to the NPPA Code of Ethics and warned them of the dangers of Photoshop.
In Jon Wile's It's a Multimedia World session, he asked the students how they got their news. Very few read a newspaper. Most rely on Facebook and blogs to get their news. 
So, like it or not, the web is their future; they are the ones who will control what that future will be like in 10 years. These kids will be challenged with continuing changes in the multimedia world, like we were challenged with the beginning of it. At least they have the advantage of learning about multimedia in school. Remember when you were handed that first digital/video camera and told to go out and do your job?
Ah, the good old days... Okay, back to the future. 
The OSMA convention was a good training time had by all - the high school students, and their advisors and teachers, who also attended. High school media educators should not be overlooked because they are the ones tasked with the responsibility of preparing these budding journalists for college and beyond. 

Website designed by...me

I know, I know. My last post is getting old. It’s been a month since I last posted; so let me show you one of my class projects that’s been taking up nearly every spare moment I have…

I built a 5-page website from scratch!

That’s right. I started with a blank Dreamweaver page and built it one code at a time. Dreamweaver is a website design software, and I have to admit - the learning curve is very steep. But I have a great online instructor, so the guidance is thorough and necessary.

As most of you know, I’m a grad student at Kent State. I’m learning how to teach journalism students the trade. My classes include journalism ethics and law; how to teach Dreamweaver and Photoshop; and how to teach newspaper design using InDesign.

The accredited Journalism Educator program is taught completely online by instructors who not only teach us the stuff, but how to teach others the stuff. You come out of the Masters of Arts program being a well-rounded journalism instructor with a working knowledge of all of the current Adobe software that’s standard in the industry.

So, here’s my website that I designed in just 4 weeks: www.folioweb.org/kingl/index.html. 
(One word of warning: the website works best when using the Firefox browser. For some reason, the education page with the flash video won't work at all using the Internet Explorer or Safari...)

Be kind. It’s meant to show growing skills, so the content isn’t as important as the working parts - like the nav bar, the photo gallery and the flash video.

Stay tuned for more examples of homework and other thoughts from my tired brain.

Ban Don't Ask, Don't Tell

(This is the final award I received while in the Air National Guard. I served 8 years active Army, 10 years  Army National Guard, and 3 years Air National Guard. I retired in July 2000.)

I am a survivor. 

         Not from breast cancer. That would be more respected, even heroic.

No, I survived the ban.

 I debated about even admitting this for fear of some kind of negative repercussion. After so many decades of living in paranoia, you get used to secrecy and lying.

I have to admit that the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell ban never really kept me in the closet, though. I’ve always been out - just lucky enough to not get caught.

I retired from the military 10 years ago, so I don’t have to worry anymore. But those still serving and sacrificing their lives for our freedom do.

I’m posting this blog for them.

The ban made headline news again last month when chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Mike Mullen proclaimed that service members should not be forced to "lie about who they are." (ban)

Defense Secretary Robert Gates and President Barack Obama agree. After all, maybe they have finally realized it’s absurd that gays living in Massachusetts can legally marry but can’t serve openly in the military. How schizophrenic is that?

Speaking of schizo behavior: 

• I have co-custody of my two young daughters through the Toledo family court system, but I can't legally adopt them in Ohio. 
• I just switched from Nationwide to USAA auto insurance because USAA includes my partner in my plan. Nationwide doesn't. The ironic thing: USAA is an insurance company that covers military service members and veterans. I've been with Nationwide since I  was 18. I informed Nationwide why I switched.
• Dana, my partner of 20 years, and I can register our relationship with the City of Toledo, but there's probably no hope of celebrating our commitment via marriage in our lifetime, unless we move to the East or West Coast. Our anniversary is Feb. 17.
  

Yes, things are slowly improving. The bending-over-in-the-showers fear and the blackmail argument don’t cut it anymore. And don't get me started on the Karl Roves of the world.

The bottom line is this: the military ban will never prevent gays and lesbians from joining. It will never weed them out or get them to change their sexual preferences. Never have and never will.

Unfortunately, the ban will continue to destroy the futures of those unlucky enough to get caught simply being themselves. 

I’m not a gay rights activist anymore. I’ve been too busy building a journalism career and raising a family. But sometimes, well, you just have to take a stand.

I have many lesbian friends courageously serving in the Army right now, and I worry about them in more ways than one. I hope they survive the war, and I hope they survive the ban.

It’s time to end the ban on gays in the military. In fact, it’s way overdue.

 

 

 

 

 

Do photojournalists write?

Imagine this photo of Toledo Mayor Mike Bell without a caption. You wouldn't know what it's about; just a bald head against a white backboard.  He's actually pondering dozens of suggestions by local citizens to trim down the city's $43.8m deficit. (Blade Photo by Lori King)

During a recent Owens Photo Club meeting, a question was asked whether students have to write as part of the Intro to Photojournalism course curriculum.

Here’s my response: photo = photography & journalism = writing. Put the two together and you have a photographer who should at least write down the names of the people they photograph.

Writing is absolutely a part of a photojournalist’s career. After all, a photo never runs in the paper without a cutline or caption explaining what it’s about. The caption can be as long as an extended cut, like a mini-story, or as short as a name and title to label a head shot.

Either way, photojournalists must keep a pad and pen in their camera bags to document the 5Ws and the H for every photo we take, especially if subjects in the photos are easily identifiable.

It’s true that copy editors end up rewriting our captions much of the time. After all, they are the true word doctors in the newsroom. They’re armed with the AP style guide, dictionaries, spell checks, and experience. But we provide the basic facts; proper spelling of names and hometowns, and a short version of what’s happening in the photo.

It’s also true photographers at the Blade and at most other medium to large news organizations do not write stories. But photographers at smaller papers and the military do.

In fact, that’s how I started out. I was an award-winning Army journalist (journalist of the year 3 times) who took photos for my own stories. So I’m one of the few who can do both. I couldn’t image my life without writing, which is why I created this blog!

Anyway, Owens students taking the Intro to Photojournalism Course should have no fear: it’s not a course that involves a lot of writing, just getting their facts right.

 

A life, restored

A recent story on Perrysburg wrestler Nick Hyndman is a story worth reading. Nobody writes a human interest story like Blade columnist Dave Hackenberg. 

It was an honor to photographically portray this wrestler's sheer physical and mental ability on the mat.  Like the headline reads, cerebral palsy is no match for Nick. 

To read Hack's story and see my photo slideshow of Nick at practice, click on this link: Hack