Tornado Warnings: Too Much or Not Enough??

This morning, a text went out to half of campus, warning students of their imminent doom. "Seek shelter immediately," it read. Shrieks of terror ensued, followed by a panicked rush to the lowest level within close distance.

20 minutes later, nothing happened. Another text read "Tornado warning cancelled." The entire campus sighed collectively.

Ok, maybe I'm exaggerating a bit.

But still, the tornado warning system seems to be a bit overblown. These warnings (often issued for storms in distant parts of the county) freak out much of campus for no real reason. I understand that safety is the main concern, but screaming "fire" seems a little unnecessary.

This being said, the text from Carl Loney came out a whole ten minutes after the tornado was reported. By this time, the entire Witt campus could have been in severe danger had a tornado actually come through in that time. Why wasn't the warning sent out closer to the report? When danger was actually a possibility?

Loney's email said that his information came from Channel 7, which lead me to believe that the Security Office does not use the National Weather Service as a resource. This seems almost like a game of telephone; the best way to get info is right from the source. Why doesn't Witt use technology like an Emergency Alert System (WUSO has one, for Christ's sake)? Strange.

I have no real opinion on whether the weather alert system is too much or too little. I'm positive students have opposite opinions, so I'm leaving it up to you! Get at me with those responses.

Scheduling... it sucks

Maybe I chose an "Easy Major." Maybe I need to add another minor. Maybe I just did too much planning ahead. Whatever it is, I seem to have a giant, gaping space between finishing my major and graduating.

I'm a communication major, journalism minor. Both of these programs are suffering from huge growing pains. Last semester, I was shut out of almost every COMM class I needed to take... as a junior! This time around, I managed to pick up my two remaining COMM courses.

Journalism has a total of 6 availible credits next semester: one is the half-semester Making News course, the other is Beginning Journalism. I've taken both of these courses.

Now I'm not exactly worried about not being able to finish my major or minor. In fact, I'm pretty sure I've already completed journalism. It would be nice, however, to gain a little more experience in the field of journalism (when was the last time Feature Writing or Opinion Writing were availible?).

So for now, I'll sit back and maybe pick up a few Sociology classes. They're about the only mildly interesting thing I can find right now... any suggestions are welcomed with open arms.

My Least Favorite Thing About Witt

It's hard to pick something that I "hate" about Wittenberg, for two reasons. First, I've been generally satisfied with my experience at Witt; I feel that most schools have their fair share of problems, so I don't think anywhere else would offer much more satisfaction than this school. And second, the problems Witt DOES have are ground to death by students. We've heard all the complaints about how annoying secret societies are, how superficial the administration is, or how bad the cafeteria food is. We get it, they suck.

So, these things aside, my least favorite thing about Wittenberg is unquestionably the staircase in from of Zimmerman Hall.

Seriously!

It sucks. The stairs are unevenly separated, so, when I walk down them from Hollenbeck to Reci, I always feel like one of my legs is working harder than the other. It's really frustrating.

If anyone shares my feelings toward this apparent flaw in Witt's campus design, please humor me. Comment and share your thoughts about this cruel bit of concrete.

My Favorite Thing: WUSO

My favorite thing about Wittenberg is also the most underutilized and unappreciated resource on campus: the radio station.

Maybe I'm biased; I've been WUSO's Head Music Director for over a year now, and I've DJed since my first semester at Witt. But from my very first encounters with the station, I have seen a huge amount of untapped potential.

WUSO has the ability to be great on campus. The possibilities are endless: news, music, sports, talk, etc. But due to YEARS of poor structure virtually no promotion (besides T-Shirts, which at least inform students that we HAVE a radio station), WUSO has fallen from Wittenberg's radar. WUSO has become, to most, an outlet for students to give shoutouts to friends and play mainstream pop and hip-hop music (and, for some, a bed of CDs fresh for stealing, but that's another rant).

Part of my reason for coming to Witt was the radio station. I had some idea that radio was a field I wanted to explore, and WUSO seemed like a fountain of opportunity. When I came to Witt and experienced WUSO firsthand, I found that it did offer much opportunity: the station was structured so poorly that I could play practically whatever I wanted.

The station seems to currently be in an upward swing in terms of popularity and enthusiasm, but what will it take to reach the level of professionalism occupied by other schools? In my last year at Witt, I would like to see major leaps forward for WUSO. Not just for personal gain, but out of love for the medium and the station.

Big Story: Alcohol for Underage Students

My semester story idea involves a sort of ethical problem... how do I expose the ways in which underage students acquire alcohol around Witt without ruining those sources for future students? Should this story go to print, or should it stay anonymous?

Any feedback on this story will  be helpful; I'm also interested in where to beging and who to talk to.

So far I have these on my list:

Plum Market
Valero
Wine Works
Obvioulsy students about their experiences
Some Dean or Faculty member in charge of this (who?)

Thanks for any feedback!

Wow.. spring break is in two weeks? Where did that come from.

Break usually seems like it takes ages to arive, and whe it does, it flies by. Maybe I've been busier this semester, but I'm not used to Spring creeping up on me like this.

With the weather the way it's been the last week, I couldn't be more ready to drive down to Panama City, FL for some heat. I've got the Spring Fever, for sure.

This is the third year in a row I will be going to Florida for break. While the weather might not always be warm enough for swimming this time of year, nothing beats a cold beverage on the beach. No responsiblilties, no work... perfection.

Of course, now that I've uttered these words, I'm positive the next two weeks are going to drag on slower than molasses. But when things get rough and it starts snowing again here in Springfield, I'll be closing my eyes and enjoying the beach... the glorious beach... once again.

My past/future stories

My last story was a little undercooked. Actually, that's an exaggeration... it was likely to produce salmonella poisoning. I wasn't able to contact the sources I needed, and the topic (state of the dorm computers) wasn't anything new.

Today, however, I received some information that would improve my story by a great margin. The dorm computers are being replaced! So I spoke with Mark DeVilbiss, and I feel that I now have something. My hopes are to publish story for the latest issue of the Torch, which will actually put us ahead of the computer installments! I know, breaking news!!

My next small story will be about the Livestrong guy speaking at commencement. Not too much worry there, should be able to get some background info and opinions from faculty and staff. If anyone has any suggestions, you know how to comment!