CUNY Interactive Journalism

Well, maybe it’s not the “pest” of CUNY, but it is certainly a hot topic that is weighing on the minds of first semester students at the Graduate School of Journalism. I’m talking about the impending November 19 deadline for declaring your subject concentration. Some came to CUNY knowing exactly what they wanted to study. The rest are flip-flopping between the following four very enticing options:

International Reporting
Urban Reporting
Arts & Culture
Business

As if these choices weren’t hard enough to resist, CUNY now offers an exciting Health & Science concentration to further fuel (or confuse) the naturally curious minds of budding journalists.

In an effort to understand the subject concentration make-up of my school, I created a survey asking first and third semester students where their interests lie. While this should not serve as the impetus for your own personal decision (hopefully your choice is driven by your own journalistic passions and goals), it’s helpful to see how your own journalistic interests and pursuits are aligned with the rest of the student body.

58 students responded to the survey with 45% of those students belonging to the 2011 graduating class and the rest in the 2010 class. The majority, or 36%, of those surveyed picked International Reporting as their subject concentration, with Urban Reporting trailing behind at 24%. What came as a surprise were the amount of students who were said their preferred medium of storytelling is print. At 33%, that is almost tied with interactive. This challenged my notion that print is a dying medium.

What this surveyed communicated to me was the diversity and breadth of interest that exists at this school. Malcolm Gladwell says that diversity and variety creates happiness. It is evident in the vibrant community at CUNY that the academic options we’re presented with is churning out a group of pretty diverse (and hopefully happy) journalists.

Are young voters really feeling abandoned by our president, or are they just swinging to a more conservative side? Or is there a better reason why they felt so disengaged from midterm elections?

In the the 2008 presidential elections, the majority of young voters ages 18-29 fully supported Barack Obama, and were actively involved and enthusiastic in helping his campaign. However, despite the tense yet anticipated midterm election results,  it was reported that young voters were mostly disinterested in voting, or didn’t place as much importance on these elections as the previous ones.

In a survey conducted on voters at the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism ages 21-29:

* 14/15 people voted in the 2008 Presidential Elections

* 14/15 are happy with the way in which President Obama has handled the country’s problems in the last two years

and yet…

* 5/15 voted in the Primary Elections

* 3/15 voted in the Midterm Elections

According to this small sample of results, most of the young voters in this poll didn’t vote because they felt unmotivated and it didn’t seem that important, they believed their vote wouldn’t count and that their city was liberal anyway (as they were), or because they felt these elections didn’t portray how any major central political figures would affect their lives in an immediate way. Overall, most of the voters approve of President Obama’s work, yet fail to understand why the midterm elections are weighed so heavily. A similar view is reflected in a poll conducted by New York University’s Washington Square News in which young students felt that the presidential election was significantly more engaging and interesting to them overall.

Even though young voters seem to be uninvolved in the voting process right now, it may not mean that they are all unhappy with the way our president has been performing. It may just mean that the Democrats should pay more attention to the young adults who they won over so ardently before. Continuing to emphasize why primary and midterm elections have a major impact on the current party in power can show young adults that even though the politician of their choice is still the president, their choices can either prevent or push important bills, such as health care, to be repealed.

Having grown up in the suburbs, I was never faced with the difficulties of traveling by foot as everything was always a 10 minute drive away. Now having lived in Manhattan for the past 6 months, I have became well versed in pedestrian etiquette… and the lack thereof.

Commuting from the skinny streets of SoHo to the wide avenues of Midtown, I have seen it all. Umbrella wars, people pushing one another to get to their destination, eye rolls, “ughhhh’s” and “excuuuuse me’s.”

Based off a recent survey, I learned I am not the only one who sees pedestrian etiquette as a long lasting pest of New York City.

After having a wide variety of ages, genders and demographics fill out the above survey regarding Pedestrian politics, the issue at hand is clear: New Yorkers are obnoxious, unapologetic, think streets should be wider to accommodate influxes of people especially during the 5pm dash.

Out of a pool of over 25 people, only 1 person felt as though pedestrian etiquette is not a problem at all and 5 people roll their eyes when someone bumps into them.

Are New Yorkers well versed in pedestrian protocols? Or do we live up to the reputation of being fast paced, annoying and rude? Take the survey and provide your two cents!

The corner of Mulberry and East Houston Streets serves as a home to broken wood planks, spray painted sheds, enormous pot holes and three bright yellow CAT machines. It has been this way for nearly the past 2 years.

290 Mulberry Street is a site of (what someday may be) a 9 unit condo building. It serves as not only a visual disturbance but also is affecting traffic patterns, daily life, local businesses and disrupting neighbors living within the vicinity.

Tanisha Cruz, an employee at Zachary’s Smile (317 Lafayette Street), has observed business trends fluctuate during the past few years due to the neighboring construction site.
Pests by chaselindsayrosen

Andy Warman, a NoHo resident always have to give himself extra time in the morning to get across the street and get a taxi to get to work on time.
Pests by chaselindsayrosen

Eric Rosado, a doorman (Windsor Communities) in the area, has singlehandedly seen traffic patterns worsen over the past few years due to the construction site at 290 Mulberry Street.
Windsordoorman by chaselindsayrosen

Brooke Rosenberg, a SoHo resident lives across the street from the construction site and had to go out and purchase a machine to drown out the sounds.
Pests by chaselindsayrosen

Let’s talk about Handball. American Handball. This game is quite popular in Brooklyn, where we can find children playing it almost every day after class in one of the numerous outdoor fields of the borough. James, Diana, Kary and Thomas were playing last Friday evening at the Fish playground park, between Saratoga Ave and Fulton Steet in Brooklyn.

Diana, 29, is a matron who takes care of special needs persons. She lives a few blocks away, and come here quite often to teach the rules to children who want to improve their skills.

Diana (rules) by edemareschal

Thomas, 14, plays handball almost every day.

Thomas Harris (challenge) by edemareschal

He came with Kary, his niece. She is only 7, but she is already addicted to handball.

Kary by edemareschal

James is one of Thomas friends. He explains some tricks about the game.

James (the killer) by edemareschal

If these people were playing for fun, tournaments of American Handball exist, as well as a United State Handball Association, which counts 8,500 members. A low figure which shows that American Handball’s hearing is still confidential.

It is common knowledge that New Yorkers love good food. The city has a wide variety of delicious foods with plates from all over the world, and weekly markets with fresh, organic fruits and vegetables.

In Hamburg, Pennsylvania, a place called Eckerton Hill Farm has received attention for its amazing variety of tomatoes and chili peppers, and its presence in the Union Square Greenmarket on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays. On occasion, New Yorkers have made their way to Eckerton Hill for the annual pig roast. But if you’ve never been to the farm, that’s okay. Chances are, you’ve tasted this farm’s tomatoes at a restaurant you’ve been to recently, like Peaches HotHouse in Bedstuy.

Farm manager Tim Stark, 48, talks about Eckerton Hill Farm:

On the farm’s beginning:
1. by Luz118

On selling products to the New York City Greenmarket:
3. by Luz118

On the annual pig roasts:
4. by Luz118

The upcoming midterm elections have been one of the most divisive, dramatic and violent in recent history. With Democrats at risk of losing their majority hold in Congress and a country divided about important issues like tax cuts, health care law repeal and federal spending, it is no wonder that the reaction from some shoe-leather reporting yielded responses as varied as New York City is diverse. The question was “how are you participating in the midterm elections?” and below are some of the answers.

Susan, 55 years old – A vote for the environment

Emmanuel, 52 years old – A champion for Democrats

Anthony, 40 years old – No real leaders

John, 28 years old – The indifferent citizen

Carlos, 33 years old – The Libertarian

Jay, 33 years old – The majority vote

Anonymous – A vote for change

It’s easy to bemoan all the bothers of the Big Apple. The CUNY Graduate School of Journalism Class of 2011 has done it well on the Pests of New York blog. But what we may see as offending occurrences could actually be exciting encounters for others. Here are a few people sharing what they think are some pleasing pests of New York.

 Pleasing Pests by redolive

Adrien DeMartini of Jersey City, Olivia Fraser of Brooklyn and Anne-Marie Bauer of Helsinki, Finland share what they find pleasing about New York that others may find pestering.

Vibrant, busy and colorful, the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood in Brooklyn boasts of an infinity of community charms and resources: It is home to the historic and architecturally stunning brownstones, the Bedford-Stuyvesant Restoration Plaza sets the standard for community-investment in the area, and its residents are always willing to share their community’s history if asked. But as with any neighborhood, there are always pest-like problems and issues that need to be addressed. Native Bed-Stuy residents share their views about the area’s current troubles.

Racial Tension.
Jermaine Hardy, 27. by Jackiev83

Condo Craze and Lack of Affordable Housing.
Tammy Gould, 42. by Jackiev83

Rough Roads and No Accessible Stores.
Shekena Mcleod, 29. by Jackiev83

Following a night of interviews, all that was left was the sound of buzzing traffic on the desolate streets of Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn.
Sound of Bed-Stuy Streets by Jackiev83