Mylene Martin's blog

Battle of the Bay Classic wrap up

2010-06-22T21:47:00.000-07:00

USF Men’s Tennis team hosted the 1st edition of the Battle of the Bay Classic at the California Tennis Club in San Francisco. This tournament was created by USF Men’s tennis coach Peter Bartlett, Pablo Pires de Almeida and Tennis Director at the California Tennis Club Steve Jackson. It features the best singles players of Division I schools from the Bay Area Stanford University, Saint Mary’s College, California, Santa Clara University and USF.

The tournament started Thursday, October 29 and lasted for four days. The first day started with qualifications as USF Einar Hart won in straight sets 6/3 6/3 against Saint Mary’s Sherif Hamdy. The other Don in the qualification round was freshman Will Shumacher who got defeated by Santa Clara Grant Fleming 6/3 4/6 10/-2.
For the second day of action, four Dons took the stage with a total of two wins. In singles, senior Einar Hart was back on the court but couldn’t keep his winning streak from the day before and was defeated by Santa Clara Jay Wong 6/3 6/4. USF senior, Rainer Nachbauer, was outplayed during his first round by Stanford Walker Kehrer 6/4 6/0. The last senior for USF, Asaf Cohen, had a close first set but could not pull the win as his opponent Dennis Lin, from Stanford, secured his place in the quarter finals 7/5 6/2. The first win of the day came from Sophomore Thai Tu against California Tommie Murphy 6/2 7/6(2). Tu got himself out of a tricky situation to get his ticket for the quarter finals. In doubles, USF Thai Tu and Asaf Cohen fell just short in a really close match against California Andrew and Murphy 9-8(5). The second win of the day came from Rainer Nachbauer and Will Schumacher against Saint Mary’s Maxime Olivan and Lucas Tirelli 8-4.

On Saturday, the players came back fired up for the quarter and semi finals. The first to take on the court were the three Dons in the consolation draw. Einar Hart and Rainer Nachbauer couldn’t handle their opponents as they respectively lost to Nick Andrews and Sky Lovill. Asaf Cohen however brought a win as he beat but had to retire in the next round against Zach Gilbert due to a wrist injury. Thai Tu continued his winning streak in a really tight match against Saint Mary’s Maxime Olivan, decided in the third set tie breaker 6/2 5/7 7/6(5). Tu said: “I wouldn’t have been able to win this match without all the cheering from my teammates and fans that came to watch the matches.” After a hard battle, Tu wasn’t able to pull another win and was outplayed by Stanford Dennis Lin 6/3 6/2. In the doubles action, the pair Nachbauer and Shumacher had another great win against California Andrews and Murphy 8-5 to earn a spot in the finals.

The last day of the tournament started with the consolation final. Two players from California fought for the final win. In the end, Nick Andrews took the best over Zach Gilbert. The final of the main draw started around 12:30pm and saw three sets of great intensity. Stanford Dennis Lin started strong, winning the first set 6/2 but Santa Clara Andrew Kells came back to win the second and third set 6/4 6/3 for a final score of 2/6 6/4 6/3. The last match of the tournament was the doubles final featuring USF Dons Rainer Nachbauer and Will Schumacher taking on Stanford Dennis Lin and Walker Kehrer. As much as the fans were cheering on their Dons, the Stanford team was too strong and outplayed Nachbauer and Schumacher with a 8-1 win.

A video of my profile

2008-04-21T17:17:00.001-07:00

Here is a video of the person I'm profiling doing a speech after we, the tennis team, won our first game at the conference tournament, which was a premier in USF history.

2008-04-10T22:05:00.000-07:00

Dilemma

2008-04-02T15:13:00.000-07:00

HI everyone,

As we talked today in class, I'm doing a profile on Greg Sempadian who works at the Athletic Department. What I didn't think about when I started this is that there is way more to it than I thought. A lot of things that were told during my interviews are really important things that are going in the Athletic Department and that if I write about may end up causing troubles to my sources, even though I don't quote them directly. Also, I don't know, if the Athletic Department would see my finished article, and know I wrote it, how they would percieve me afterwards. I didn't see that being part of the community my profile is in would be such a problem. But I think that what I came to realize is that you really need to be careful about the consequences, because althought we are not technicly working for a newspaper, it might have consequences. And in my case, I still have to be here for at least a year, so it matters a lot.
So I was just wondering what you guys think about this situation, and if you have any experience in that.

Catholic San Francisco

2008-03-30T20:08:00.000-07:00

When the editor of the Catholic San Francisco came I didn't really know what to expect so at first I just listened and took everything he had to say. I've never really read a Catholic newspaper even though my dad is Catholic (and I'm pretty sure my grandparents wouldl love it!), but I just assumed that everything was oriented toward catholicism. So when the editor started to talk about the issues and the stories we could do, I was really impressed with everything he came up with and all the questions he had. I found really amazing how he could take a general issue and turn it into such an interesting story with all the questions he found. I think seeing him doing that in front of me really helped me to understand how you can find really good topic for stories, literally from everything!
And even though this is a catholic newspaper, I think the issue he wsa talking about, like Lester said, apply to a more general audience and doesn't necessarily apply only to the catholic people.

But I think that his advices about feature writing and journalism were really helpful for all of us, no matter what we end up doing.

Runway on the courts

2008-03-07T20:38:00.000-08:00

Serena Williams, ranked 10 in the world at the WTA (Women Tennis Association), enters the court with a purple dress covered with a purple and black warm up. A stylish black and beige purse hangs from her forearm as she waves at the audience. Her big silver Serena earrings are visible from the highest seats of the stand as they shine brightly.
This scene takes place in a professional women’s tennis tournament and is not rare any more. In tennis, you run everywhere, you sweat and your clothes are sticky. Nothing glamorous about it. However looking good, trendy and fashionable on the court has become crucial for the past few years. “People want to see what Maria Sharapova or Serena Williams are going to wear next,” said Jenni Heinser, a sophomore at USF and number one of the USF women’s tennis team. Who would have imagined 10 years ago, seeing professional tennis players coming on the court with purses, earrings or tennis bags matching their outfit? Professionals now use fashion to their advantage. Tennis outfits have become a way to express yourself and your personality on the court. “Your outfit on the court makes a statement,” said Heinser, and so does the brand.
Only recently, famous brands like Nike, Adidas or Reebok use high fashion designers to help them create the perfect outfit for the athletes. As a result, designers like Diane Von Furstenberg for Venus Williams, Stella McCartney for Adidas and Ralph Lauren started to work with the tennis professionals and bring more high fashion looks to the courts.
“For the past few years, the dresses are definitely coming back and there is a stronger sense of fashion,” said Hilary Somers, the USF women’s tennis coach. “The players have a dressier, flashier and more sophisticated look. For example, at the last US Open, Maria Sharapova had a red dress with sequences, rhinestones and a jacket over it that you could wear out.”
A versatile outfit is exactly the point. Tennis outfits are not only made for tennis anymore but also to wear in the city. “You wouldn’t think you are on the court any more,” said Jessy Mekpoh, a freshman and member of the USF Women’s tennis team.
Women’s tennis professionals want to win but they also want to look good as well. So the brands are making efforts to make the apparels more flattering and more feminine than before. Good-bye the floating tops that look like boy tops and good-bye high socks that cover the calves. Today’s women tennis professionals pay attention to every detail and like to show their curves while being elegant. They wear more fitted tops with spandex material to be comfortable. “You see almost only tank tops now, there are no more sleeves,” said Somers. “You also only see the sock less look nowadays but the girls are not rolling over their skirts any more as they used to. The nike tops, for example, used to arrive above the belly button but it covers it now.”
Tennis players feel more comfortable without sleeves as the sport became faster and more physical. “I like racer back with the bra in it, it’s way easier to move than with sleeves on,” said Emma Taylor, a senior and member of the USF women’s tennis team. As you go on the web and look at the different brands, you can see that they all have racer back. Russian tennis player Maria Sharapova has dresses with racer back as well as Reebok and Fila’s lines, to only name a few.
The tops are not the only piece of the outfit to have evolved. The skirts are an important pat of the apparel and as such, they have to be trendy as well. If you go on a court, you’ll see more of their spandex shorts than their actual skirts since they float more in the air than cover the legs. “The skirts are very girly, kind of like a ballerina skirt,” said Heinser. This also goes for the dresses that fit the upper body and are looser at the end. The world top players also made the ‘ruffles’, which were really trendy in the 80’s, back into the spotlights, as Maria Sharapova and Maria Kirilenko had some on several of their dresses.
It also became a matter of shape, material and knowing which one is going to look the best and be the most comfortable. The floating cotton shirt sticking to you as you were sweating, and stuck in your tight skirt so you couldn’t breath anymore, has been left in the closets and replaced by the dry-fit or spandex tank top. “Designers are utilizing different fabrics within individual garments to optimize freedom of movement and overall comfort,” said Emily Walzer, writer for the Sporting Good Business. “Other apparel trends include integrated mesh inserts for enhanced ventilation, fun back treatments on women’s tops, and geometric cut-out shapes for a little extra eye-appeal.”
To appeal even more to the eyes of tennis fans, designers have come up with every piece possible matching the outfit. “You have sunglasses, visors, wristband, shoes and purses that match their outfit,” said Heinser. “The visors are really in now, a lot of tennis players wear them whereas before nobody would wear one.”
Fashion on the court doesn’t stop there. Tennis professionals have to push it to the last detail to be perfect. Why shouldn’t they, right?
As a result, colors became really important. According to the season, the colors are different. “During the spring you have a lot of bright green and during the winter you have more like a royal blue,” said Somers. However, there is another detail that designers have to take into account: the time of the match. Yes, whether you play during the day or at night matters. “There is the day versus the night matches,” said Somers. “Players have a dressier look for the night matches. Roger Federer was in all black at the last US Open during his night matches but he was in blue during the day.” Seriously, where are they going to stop? Shouldn’t their racquets have their own outfit as well?
More seriously, to best resume the trend of the women’s tennis outfit, here are 3 words from Parker Geissler, director of apparel at Diadora. “Flatter yet function.”

Method box:

Interview with: Hilary Somers, USF Women’s tennis coach

Jenni Heinser, sophomore at USF and member of the Women’s tennis team

Jessy Mekpoh: freshman at USF and member of the Women’s tennis team

Emma Taylor: senior at USF and member of the USF Women’s tennis team

Serving Up Style. Emily Walzer. SGB; Jul 2006; 39, 7; ABI/INFORM Global. pg. 24. < http://0-proquest.umi.com.ignacio.usfca.edu/pqdweb?index=0&did=1080822771&SrchMode=1&sid=1&Fmt=6&VInst=PROD&VType=PQD&RQT=309&VName=PQD&TS=1204952041&clientId=16131.>
The Runway At Center Court. Eric Wilson. New York Times. (Late Edition (East Coast)). New York, N.Y.: Aug 24, 2006. pg. G.4. < http://0-proquest.umi.com.ignacio.usfca.edu/pqdweb?index=7&did=1105411481&SrchMode=1&sid=7&Fmt=3&VInst=PROD&VType=PQD&RQT=309&VName=PQD&TS=1204952411&clientId=16131

Performance story

2008-03-07T20:35:00.001-08:00

The key enters the outside lock of the apartment’s door. The door opens and Bijou, a beige 10 pounds French toy puddle, starts running to its owner, Ashley, from underneath the bed and puts its leg on its owner’s. Then, Chloe, a 7 pounds white and beige chitzu, follows Bijou behind and tries to go over it to get its owner attention.
Bijou, on the left, and Chloe on the right playing
After their owner pet them leaning forward toward them, the two dogs start playing with each other. Bijou tries to nibble Chloe’s ear. But Chloe fights back and put her paw on top of bijou’s back. The French toy puddle starts barking as it makes Chloe fall on its back with both legs in the air. They both roll all over each other on their stomachs and on their backs. Following Bijou’s barking sounding like a little child laugher, the chitzu barks back at her with its entire back that we can see tightening up and loosing up from the barking. Meanwhile, it bits its paw in a soft way and both get on their rear paws to try to nibble each other’s face. They look like two wrestlers on a ring fighting and getting back at each other. But there is no anger or competition in their eyes.
After several attempts to nibble each other’s face, coming back on their four paws and standing up going back and forth in the living room, Bijou, suddenly starts sprinting from the room until the kitchen. Chloe chases her. Their pee paths fly on the side from under their paws. Bijou stops in the kitchen, breaths and as Chloe arrives right after her, she runs back to the room. Then, Bijou starts running again to the kitchen.
Chloe follows 1 foot behind with his rear limbs rising at the same time like a rabbit. As she is running toward the living room table, with its owner sat down at it, Chloe suddenly stops and simply sat on her right foot and breathes like she is relieved.

Restaurant review

2008-02-22T08:55:00.000-08:00

The corner of flavor

Who said that American food was all about quantity and big portions to not know what to do with it? Here is a restaurant that doesn’t only rely on quantity but also on quality. Coming from a country, France, where food is more about taste than quantity, I came to see that America is not only big as a country, but eats big as well. You can see plates that have so much food children can hide behind them.
But Han Zen, a yakitori and sushi bar, sees things differently. With a really cozy and welcoming atmosphere that is reflected by filtered lights, you can easily feel at home. And some people do are at home here. You see regular customers say hi and hug the chefs in between making sushis in front of you at the bar. What also reinforces that warm atmosphere is the nice smile you see on the faces of the two ladies who welcome you at the top of the stairs that lead to the restaurant. Most importantly, you can hear night club music outside of the restaurant that puts you in a good mood and makes you warm even though you are wearing 4 layers and it is pouring rain outside.
But the food comforts and warms you up. Even though most of the sushis are cold, you can order warm dishes like chicken teriyaki that never get old. Although the teriyaki sauce is really tasty, it might be too much as it fills you up after 3 or 4 bites. Your stomach feels really heavy quickly, so the sauce could be lighter. But when it comes to sushi, the house knows how to handle that. Their special, the Hana Zen roll, is simple with fresh salmon, avocado and lemon pee but works really well. With a little crunch as you eat it, you can really smell each ingredient. And a good balance between the sweet and bitterness arises in your mouth. Their dinner combination with 7 pieces and a miso soup is well introduced as all the colors are on the plate. For instance, a piece of salmon, of tuna, of octopus, which by the way tastes like robber, are part of the meal.
And among the sushi, all are really fresh. You can especially feel it with the salmon and other fish that feel clean and have a bright taste in your mouth. This goes really well with the fact that you don’t have to struggle to actually eat your sushi, as it happened several times in other sushi restaurant. Yes, in America, since they do everything big, sushis follow the rule. You end up either with a mouth full that you can’t close or messing up your whole sushi. But Hana Zen makes it easier on you, and you are actually able to eat properly without trouble, which feels really nice. However, the prices could be nicer as the dishes that are not sushis are a lot more expensive. You have a chicken teriyaki with miso soup, salad and rice for $19.50 when you have a 8 pieces sushi roll for $13. The deserts, a chocolate cake for instance, that is in a 4 inches wide plate, is $7.95. So, I understand that the restaurant is a couple blocks away from Union Square, but is it really worth it? I’m not sure.
However, what is worth going for is the food but also the presentation. It is always being done carefully, as you can see the chefs putting the sushi on the plates like they were pieces of diamonds. And this goes to all the plates, which are all well presented, with their signature the pyramid shape. Most of the dishes, except the sushi, form a pyramid which matches the round shape of the plates. The attention toward the presentation goes up to the little details like the clock behind the chefs, which is made with sushi for the hours. It looks like a multicolor round decoration but, it really does work, I checked! Furthermore, when you go to a sushi restaurant, you expect to have the normal round shaped bottle with the two spouts red cover. Well, at Hana Zen, bottles that look like the ones used for perfume are used, which gives a classier look to the table. Furthermore, it works really well with the glass plates that come with the dishes. To complete the style of the house, japonese draws are hanged on all the walls throughout the long thin room that is the restaurant but this is definitely contemporary decoration outside of those draws.
Although the presentation is really nice and thoughtful, the waiters could be more careful about theirs. The waitress who was serving smiled once during the entire meal and never came to check up. Most importantly, even though a year ago when I came the glasses were refilled, this time they didn’t even ask us once. I thought that made them look really unprofessional. And they make you feel rush sometimes as they ask you if they can take your plate when you are still eating. So, some improvements can be done in that area.
There is no doubt though that, with their fast service, not up to 10 minutes, their fresh tasty suchi, you would get out of Hana Zen with a not satisfied stomach. But this is a good satisfied; you are not hungry any more, which is the purpose of the restaurant, but you are not feeling sick. You can leave with this image of a really classy but comfy place that could be recommended for a date. And even though there is a line on Saturdays as well as Tuesdays after 7p.m., you don’t wait more than ten to fifteen minutes and chairs are available.

Never been kissed

2008-02-16T09:16:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone!
I was just wondering if anyone had seen the movie "Never been kissed"? as I was watching TV and changed channel I saw that and thought it was really relevant to one of the conversations we had in class about the frontier between friendship and professionalism during an interview with someone. In that movie, the protagonist, a 25 years old reporter has to go back to high school to do an article on teenagers. And she develops friendship with students, gets invited to parties as she is working. She is then asked to focus on a teacher. It becomes then a dilemma between telling the truth and keeping her cover to finish her work. So this raises the question of how far can we go to not cross the work barriere? How to stay professional when your subject wants to be your friend?
Just for your record, she blows up her cover and tell the truth because she can't stand lying any more. She ends up with an article but loses some friends, until she apologizes in the newspaper and explains everything. So is it better to tell the truth or keep the cover when it comes to developing relationships and friendships?

The immigrant's picture

2008-02-14T16:22:00.001-08:00

An immigrant story

2008-02-11T18:51:00.000-08:00

Being a Korean student in the United States
In the United States for six years now, Andy Hong, of his real name Chan Seo Hong, is originally from Seoul, South Korea. Arrived as a sophomore in high school at 15 years old, Andy Hong followed his mother to the United States with his brother, who was 13 years old at that time. As an adolescent, Hong didn’t have any expectation when he came to America but getting out of the school system the South Korea has.
“I came for the studies,” Hong said. “South Korea has a weird system and I didn’t fit in. It goes from 7a.m. until 11p.m. so you study all day from Monday until Saturday.”
Moreover, because school took so much time, Hong also wanted to be able to have a life outside of school. “Every day you go to school and study, you can’t do any sport so by coming to the United States I wanted something different,” Hong said.
This is also the feeling Maki Mizuno has, a student assistant at the International Student Services who came from Japan in 2002. “Asian cultures are pretty stressful and it was too much for me to handle, that’s why I came, as well as wanting to learn English.”
Even though Hong could have staid with his father in South Korea and decided to come, life was not always easy on him in America. Although a good percentage of foreigners believe in “the American dream,” which means that you can succeed in the United States by starting from scratch, it is not always the case.
“When we first arrive in the summer of 2002, we didn’t know where to stay,” Hong said. “We found an apartment but we had to move three times during the first year because the apartments were not that great.”
In addition to that, the first couple of years in High School were though for Hong. The language barrier and the differences of culture were sometimes too much for Hong. For example, the way you make friends is different in the United States than is South Korea. “The hardest thing was making friends because of the different thinking and I didn’t speak English well at all,” Hong said as he was agitating his hands everywhere in the air to show how he was doing so that his friends would understand him. “In Korea, you hang out with your friends around the school and you do sports around the school was because it’s a small country.” With a population of 48,846,823 inhabitants in 2006, according to the U.S. Department of State, it may seem small compared to more than 300 million in the United States, according to the Census Bureau News. “But in the United States, what I found difficult at first is that you have to take the bus or go somewhere to hang out with your friends. Since I didn’t speak English really well, it was for me to be understood and understand my classmates.”
Although coming to the United States was not the easiest thing, some cultural differences are simpler to get used to. For instance, teachers in Korea are allowed to touch and hit students if they have bad grades or think that they did not act properly. So, when asked with what type of objects teachers usually hit students, I have the surprise to see Hong do huge gestures like he would take a baseball bat or something similar. Then as he doing it, he tells me that they would hit him with a hockey stick.
“American teachers can’t touch students but at first if I would get a bad grade like a C, I was still scared to get hit because I didn’t know,” Hong said with a little innocent smile on his face.
Furthermore, as it happens a lot in Korean schools, students fight against each other to know which one is stronger. The teachers are suspicious but do not know everything even though it sometimes happens inside the school. “We punch and kick, so it is a real fight,” Hong said. “I don’t really miss it because, if you compare to here, it seems like a really bad behavior.”
With only a year or a year and a half left, Hong, now 21 years old, should have his business diploma in either May 2009 or December 2009. And at that time, he will have to go back to Korea in order to do his military service that is required by the government. “It is required for every Korean male over 18 years old,” Hong said. “You have until 28 years old to do it and if you didn’t do it by then you go to jail.”
By doing that it would allow him to see his father whom he has seen only few times in six years, as well as his 8 years-old brother who came back to Korea with his mother this summer.
“I miss my family of course and it’s hard sometimes but we did it!”

Sources:
Interview with Andy Hong
U.S. Department of State. Background Note: South Korea. September 2007. <http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/2800.htm.>
US Census Bureau News. Census Bureau Projects Population of 303.1 Million. THURSDAY, DEC. 27, 2007. <http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/population/011108.html>.
Interview with Maki Mizuno, a Student Assistant at the International Student Services.

My resume

2007-12-04T10:14:00.000-08:00

Mylene Martin

2237 Fulton Street #303
San Francisco, CA 94117

Home Phone: 415 387 7531
Cell Phone : 415 298 2346
E-mail adress : mylenemartin1@hotmail.fr

Objectif

Work Experience:

From August 2007– now: work at the Athletics Department
From August 2007-December 2007: worked for the Athletics website

Diploma:

December 2008: expecting a degree, majoring in Media Studies
June 2005: Baccalaureate in economics

Linguistic and informatic skills:

English : read, written and spoken fluently
Spanish: high school level
Informatic: regular use of Word, Excel and internet tools.

Awards/ Honors:

WCC honors
Athletics Scholarships

Activities:

Tennis: 17 years of practice. Active members on campus in the athletics department. Participation in national and international tournaments such as “Les petits As” in 2001, La Baule and Paris Cadets.

Winner of several open tournaments. Regional Champion in 1997 and 1998. Passion since I’m little.
Junior Associate of the International Tennis Club (ITC): did several meetings with the French team against Great Britain, the United States, and the Windmill

Ice Skating: 6 years of practice from 6 to 12 years old. Participation in several competition.
Internet: Member of an internet association in my junior high-school. Help to create the school’s website.

Cursus:
From September 2005 to December 2008: University of San Francisco
From September 2004 to June 2005: CNED
From September 2002 to June 2004: Lycee Jean-Jacques-Rousseau

Men's soccer senior day gallery

2007-12-04T09:58:00.000-08:00

http://usfdons.cstv.com/view.gal?id=19274&template=player_gallery

Women's soccer senior day photo gallery

2007-11-11T10:41:00.000-08:00

Link to the women's soccer senior day photo gallery

http://usfdons.cstv.com/view.gal?id=18004&template=player_gallery

Fall 2007 women's tennis photo gallery

2007-11-11T10:28:00.000-08:00

Link to the women's tennis photo gallery

http://usfdons.cstv.com/view.gal?id=17627&template=player_gallery

Benjamin Dessar's interview

2007-11-11T10:03:00.000-08:00

Mary’s on October, 28th 2007, the goal was simple happiness. “I was just crazy at that moment, it was incredible,” Dessard said.

Dessard, who plays soccer since the age of 4, didn’t go on a field for 2 years. After a great first season in the fall 2005 where he earned a WCC Freshman Team selection, Dessard torn his right ACL at the beginning of spring 2006.

“I had to have a surgery and then do rehab during the entire spring semester,” Dessard said. Then, as he was ready to play for the fall 06, after a couple of minutes on the field during the first match, his back started to hurt. After several examinations, the doctors diagnosed that one of his vertebras was out of place. And because of that, it led to an extra 2 slipped discs.

As a result, Dessard had to go through another surgery for his back called IDET. This is a really recent method to correct slipped discs. But at the end of that, the doctors were really not optimist in his chances to come back to competitive soccer. “There was 50-50% chances that it would get better,” Dessard said.

For Dessard, this was pretty much the end of his soccer career after 3 surgeries. As he was supposed to come to USF during the fall 2004, Dessard tore his left ACL. At that time he was still in Arizona where he was at that time for a year as an exchanged student. “Soccer has directed me my entire life, Dessard said. “But then, as I made a decision not based on soccer, soccer caught me up.”

After 2 or 3 tournaments with his school, USF recruited him. And, as he was ready to come, he tore his left ACL and decided to go back to France to have surgery. So he started his real career as a Don in the spring 2005.

So, after his back surgery, nobody thought that he would ever compete for the Dons again, “For me it was over, I just thought about getting better and maybe play with my friends but that was it,” Bessard said with a little smile on his face.

Since he was not supposed to compete any more, Dessard was actually supposed to come back to France last spring with only a year of competition and no degree. But, as he was really close to graduate, the Athletic Department decided to keep him for a semester so he could graduate. “I had to take 20 units last spring, summer school and I’m currently taking 18 units so I can graduate this fall.” In addition to his physical problems, Dessard also had to study twice as much in order to leave the US with a degree in Exercise and Sciences.

But, as he was doing his rehabilitation for his back, things started to get better. “I started really slowly and step by step the doctors were really surprised with my improvements.”
Finally, on October 12th 2007, comes the reward of all his hard work. Against Santa Clara, he was finally able to play, but even if it was just few minutes, it was just extra for him, “To play again is just unbelievable, especially when the doctors said that I was not supposed to play again. For me it’s just extra right now!” Bessard said with a huge smile on his face.
Even if the team is not doing as good as they would like to, they are still playing to win. “Although we are not qualified for NCAA’s, we are going to play the last matches as if it were the first ones.”

With 17 freshman in the team, this year is a lot harder than the last one. “It’s a transition year. We not only have new players, but we have new styles, so we are trying to find what the style of the team is.”

But, even if this year is hard, Dessard believes in his teammates and know that great things will come out of this difficult year, “The new players have a lot of talent and they are motivated, so they are going to be really strong in the next few years if they work hard.”

But for him, this semester is the last one and being able to score after two years of absence in his fourth match was just too good, “It was just nuts, you feel all your sensations coming back and it’s such an amazing reward for me.”

Now, as the season, and his career as a Don, are coming to an end, Dessard leaves the team with lots of wonderful memories, “As a team, winning the conference in 2005 is my highlight, but personally, this goal against Santa Clara few weeks ago will be my best memory here.”
But Dessard also won’t forget something he always liked about USF: the atmosphere. “I’ve always loved that atmosphere and the team is like a big family to me.”

Finally, as the team is rebuilding, Dessard would advise to the freshman to do something that helped him work harder during those long hours of rehabilitation: take Rob Valentino as an example. “Rob worked so hard to get to the point where he is at right now, he worked individually, for the team and for USF and they should really take him as an example,” Bessard said.

ITA's tournament

2007-11-11T10:02:00.000-08:00

Last week-end was already our last tournament of the fall. Yes, it’s already over for this semester. Time flies!

So, on Friday October, 19th, we left at our now usual 6:15 a.m. for the ITA Northwest Regional tournament held at Stanford. As we arrived everyone was already on the court warming-up and seemed like a lot since the ITA Northwest Regional is a single draw of 128 players. But the Lady Dons will not let anything impress them, even a Stanford team.

And yes, as sophomore Jenni Lee-Heinser and freshman Cecilia Gratian paired to keep up their good work from St Mary’s, they once again played a team from Stanford. Once more, the match up Heinser-Gratian staid undefeated and won their 5th straight match 8-5. Unfortunately, the pair from Cal Poly, Brady and Markhoff, was too much and ended the nice series in a really close 8-6.

The pair Sperry-Taylor, who used to team during the spring 2006, on the other hand didn’t get the same luck to pass one round. As they were sent across the main courts, they fell against a team from Washington 8-3. And unfortunately, there was no consolation for doubles, as so many players are part of this tournament. So, at around 11 a.m., the double tournament was already over for the Dons, as we presented only 2 teams. Originally, 3 teams were supposed to play, but injuries came in the way, which unable 2 of us not to play.

So, now is the time to concentrate on the single tournament. The first one to finish was Jenni Heinser, as she asphyxiated her opponent with a 6-0 6-0 or double bagel, as we call it. But the 2nd round was another story, in every single way. Her opponent from Cal, a 5-4 counter-puncher, who takes every ball right after the bounce no matter what, was ranked 10. But this doesn’t impress Jenni, who went on the court and fought every point like it was the last one, even under the pain. After a pretty low start, Heinser got into the match and came back from 5-1 to 5-4. But her opponent got herself back and won 6-4. Then, even if she tried every strategy she could think of, Heinser couldn’t find the solution to reverse the situation. Even though the 2nd set was 6-2, every game was really close with a lot of advantages. And to give you an idea, her opponent went to the finals

Then, freshman Cecilia Gratian, also got a really good first match. Also kept on her really good momentum from St Mary’s, as she crutched her opponent from Santa Clara 6-1 6-0. She really played a solid match with a lot of winners. But, like Jenni, her 2nd round was a really different story. But what happened is that she played the number 6 seed from Fresno State. So it’s not a surprise when she tells me in French during her 2nd match: “Je suis passee de 32 a -15” (32 is a really low rank in France and -15 is a really high one) which means “I went from a non-player to a top seeded player.” Even though it was really tough, the energizer bunny didn’t keep her energy in and gave everything out there. But the 6th seed was too strong and three times her size. With a 6-2 6-0 she put an end to Cecilia’s tournament but not to hers as she went to the semis and lost to Jenni’s opponent.

Senior Emma Taylor won a really convincing 1st round as she beat a girl from UC Davis in two straight sets 6-3 6-3. The match, that went on for almost 2 hours, was pretty intense as both opponents were hitting the ball really hard. But Emma overpowered her opponent and advanced to the 2nd round. Here again, it was a really tough match against a freshman from Cal. The first was really close but Emma couldn’t pull it out and lost it 6-4. But the 2nd set was a lot harder for Taylor, who may have felt her good effort of the 1st set. So she had to leave with a hard 6-4 6-0

Her double partner, Jenny Sperry, sadly had to withdraw from singles as she injured her forearm.

The last one to play, junior Sarah Oudomvilay, had two heartbreaking matches over the week-end. As she is only competing for the 2nd time in 7 months, this was a really tough tournament to come back with. She started it really well as she won the 1st set 6-3 with really nice passing-shots. But as every athlete knows, coming back from a long injury is not easy and being back in shape either. As she was leading 2-0 in the 2nd set, she felt her efforts from her really good 1st set and had to leave the court with an upsetting loss in 3 sets: 6-3 2-6 0-6.
So this was the end of the 1st day. But on the 2nd day, only Sarah was back on the court. And here again the 3 sets didn’t go her way with a really close 6-4 4-6 10-5 against Santa Clara.

Here it is, the end of the women’s tennis season for the fall. But the Lady Dons will be back in January for more exciting matches and a lot of fun. So come watch us! But take notes in your calendars as we only have 5 home games!

Special thank you to Hilary’s parents and Kristen for coming out and watching us this week-end.

Cheyne Inman's interview

2007-11-11T10:01:00.000-08:00

The native of Vacaville, CA Cheyne Inman, who enters his last season as a Don, is getting back into business with several races already under his belt this season. Even though “we kind of got a slow start because some athletes were injured,” Inman said, “the team is getting healthier and stronger.”
Coming back for his last year, Inman is ready for another great season with several goals in mind: “I was 6 in the conference my freshman year so I hope this is the year. I really want to win it.” But this is not all. After 3 consecutives All-WCC First Team Honors, and All-Conference Honors last year, Inman is looking for more: “My main goal is get another All-Conference Honors,” Inman said with a little smile on his face.
However, this achievement was not necessarily predictable. With injury coming in the way, the path to those honors was pretty unexpected: “I was actually surprised with my own achievement because I was injured during the season” Inman said. With a sprained ankle in the middle of the season, Inman didn’t get the easy road toward success. “I was up and down during last season so I had to take time off,” Inman remembered.
But as those hard times are behind him, in order to reach those goals, Inman has been training hard since, with more and more running over the summer. And now that he is back at USF he is not ready to let it go: “You have to be dedicated; the more you run, the better you are. I run twice a day and work out,” Inman said. Furthermore, since this is his last year, Cheyne is even more motivated: “I really want to do well, it’s my last year.”
Even though the season is really long with Cross Country in the fall and Track and Field in the spring, Inman is really focused and knows what he has to do. Even if the team has the same coach for men and women it doesn’t change anything at all: “It doesn’t bother me at all; we split up the work and a lot of time we do different things” Inman explained. “And even if we practice with the girls, we do different things and you focus on your own exercises,” Inman said.
This also shows how focus and ready to compete the team is. With their best finish ever last year, 2nd at the Conference, the team expects to finish at least at the same rank: “I see us, as a team, at the top 2 again, “Inman said. As the races go by, “We are getting better every race so we are building the momentum,” Inman said.
And their ambition as a team hasn’t been stopped or broke by the arrival of their new assistant coach. Actually, change is not something that bothers Inman and their training is going really well: “Our head coach says what our training has to be like and the assistant coach checks that everything is being done,” Inman clarified. And this attention is something that Inman really appreciate: “Tom (Kloos) pays good attention to our training and it’s really nice,” Inman said.
So, as the season is going, the team is getting sharper and sharper and even if competing during both seasons seems pretty hard with school, it doesn’t seem to be a problem for Inman: “you can’t really stop running anyway. Otherwise you’ll lose all your work, so competing helps you staying sharp and school is not a big problem,” Inman said with a big smile on his face.
And as you ask him whether he is the same on the field and off the field, his response comes with a little laugh that already tells a little bit about him: “When it comes to training, I’m a lot more serious.” But don’t be fooled by this because as he knows what he wants, he will do everything to get it. So all we can hope for is that his seriousness will bring him luck and enable to reach his goals.

Berkeley's tournament

2007-11-11T10:00:00.001-08:00

This past week-end, the Lady Dons kicked off their first tournament of the fall. It was really exciting for all of us since we haven’t been playing competitions for several months.
There were a lot of really though teams out there ready to compete. North Western flew all the way here; Cal, Arizona State University, University of Arizona, Fresno State and Long Beach State made the trip, among others like our “rivals” Santa Clara and Saint Mary’s.
On Friday morning, at 6:30am everybody was ready to go and pumped up for a really long but thrilling day. The doubles were first as usual. Emma Taylor and freshman Cecilia Gratian, also known as the energizer bunny, were the unfortunate first ones to lose against one of the many matches we had with Arizona State University. Then Jessica Kapoor and Nisha Dixit lost against a team from University of Arizona. To finish the double part of the day, Jenny Sperry and I won against another team from Arizona State University. We were really happy because we barely played together. Furthermore, Jenny got the great idea to tell me right before we got on the court that this team might have been in the finals last year and might be ranked as a school. So great start! As we walk out of the court, she says: “maybe I mixed up with another team” while we both laughed. But this victory was nice for us and we had all the girls cheering for us as they got back from their own matches.
Then the singles came. I was really excited because we haven’t competed in so long that it feels really great to be back into it. For my part, I finished at 9:50am my double, went to the second site, and jumped into my single. At least I didn’t have to think!! Well kind of. “She is huge!” I told myself. As the match went by however, I thought, “This is doable”. But after the gain of the first set, my opponent just started to hit winners after winners. I couldn’t get myself back on track and lost 6-2 and 6-1 in the second and third set. This was really frustrating. But I had to regroup and focus for the consolation.
I had an hour to relax, forget and watch some of my teammates’ matches. Jenny Sperry got a great win for her first match and played really well. Unfortunately I couldn’t watch everybody because they played at the same time at the main site. (Who had this great idea to do 2 sites, really???) Even though it was freezing, you could see it as Hilary had her very famous down jacket and two pants on, everyone was cheering for each other with their hot starbucks in their hands. Then everybody got back to business for our second round of singles. Only Jenny had won her first round so we all wanted to bring back some more wins. As I went back on the court my only thought was not to leave the court until I won. I was happy as I got an easy win that put me back on track. Unfortunately, the energizer bunny couldn’t do anything against this huge black girl from Fresno State, who, by the way, won the consolation.
As we were watching Cecilia, Jenny got back from her second round with those words that only belong to her: “I got pissed in 10 minutes.” The girl, just to give an idea, was twice Jenny’s height and width. Joana, who nicely came to help us, came back and said: “I didn’t even know what to tell her, she was insane.” Nisha, and Emma put really good fights but couldn’t close it out. After 11 or so hours, everybody got back home to enjoy a good night sleep.

The next day, at 6:30am, (again!) everybody was back with soreness in addition. So we could hear all over Berkeley “Aren’t you sore? Yes, I’m soooo sore!” But as double started, the soreness was forgotten. And to help, the sun was back in the Bay Area. Unfortunately, everybody lost either in consolation or in the main draw. We played pretty well with Jenny, but we couldn’t put it together which was a little frustrating. Although it was Berkeley in front of us, we were not overpowered. Then, the singles were on again. Only Nisha, Jessica and I were left with singles.
As I got back on the court, although I was sore, I felt pretty confident. The opponent was pretty good so I was happy to close it out in two straight sets. Unfortunately, Nisha and Jessica didn’t get the same luck. After less than 10 hours, I was the only one to come back for the final day. But those two days with the team were good to build back the bond, and have fun, as always with them.

For the final day, we still took the big van, which felt too calm, as only Hilary and I were in it. I was pretty anxious for my match. The girl plays well and she is a lefty. So, as I win 6-4 6-4, after a really physically challenging match, I feel really released. So does Hilary.
For the last match, another dual against Arizona State is expected. But this time around, the dual doesn’t go my way. So, after an hour and a half of trying everything, my nice trip through the consolations ends with a hard 6-2 6-1. I’m disappointed to end such a nice week end that way, but the over whole tournament, in my part, was a success, considering this was our first tournament. Although some of the girls didn’t get a chance to show everything they had, they all put 100% in every match and I know that their chance will come soon enough.
Thank you everyone for those long hours on and off the court, for those memorable words, laughs and pictures!!!!!
Lastly, take note for Saint Mary’s in two weeks. Go DONS!

Darcy Carroll's interview

2007-11-11T09:58:00.000-08:00

Another day ends for junior student athlete Darcy Carroll as she comes out of her volleyball practice at 6 o’ clock pm all smiling and laughing with her teammates.
For her first year as captain, Carroll, who plays as a setter, says that being captain didn’t really change her because her position is so that you take on the lead naturally but “it’s just nice that they respect me.”
This accomplishment was not necessarily predictable for this competitive and perfectionist player who gives everything she has for her team. After two months on crutches last December through February following a knee surgery, she was not supposed to do anything. “But I didn’t want to give up on the team, so I did a lot of strengthening over the summer” says Carroll.
With a pre-season record of 11-5, the team spirit is “surprisingly good even though the pre-season is always long” says Carroll. “We went through rough losses but we had good wins as well” says Carroll. With a total of 16 matches, the pre-season lasts for more than a month which is pretty tiring says Carroll, “so we are now definitely ready and waiting for the West Coast Conference (WCC).”
Waiting, this has been a word that Carroll knows more than what she would have liked to. Starting her freshman year, she had to prove that she could be a starter so she didn’t play that much. And then, she soon got injured during her sophomore year. “Even though I played a little my second year, I wasn’t really myself so the coaches never really saw me play” says Carroll.
As everything is behind her now, “I just want to play with my full potential” says Carroll. And coming into the WCC she and her team will need her at her best. “Coaches have high expectations for us” says Carroll. And when asked whether they have certain goals in mind, Carroll said that “we haven’t made any specific goals, we keep it simple.” After a very successful year, finishing fourth in the West Coast Conference tournament and the most wins in the program history, the team is ready to go to the next level “We’ve worked really hard, we want to be on top” asserts Carroll. “We are always in the middle in the conference but we want to be on top now and show what we can do” says Carroll, whose best memory as a Don is beating Saint Mary’s College at home.
When you see them coming out of the lockers screaming and cheering on each other, spending their time together on and off the court, and having such faith in each other, you realize how united they are and that this union can lead them to reach their expectations. “We are really close and have faith in each other. We always hang out together; actually one of the two freshman is one of my best friends” says Carroll while smiling.
Even though you can see their seriousness on the court, they also have their more laid back times. “It’s always a lot of fun to be with the team, there is always something new” says Carroll. “I remember one time we watched a YouTube video making fun of volleyball and we starting using it as a quote on the court and laughing at it” Carroll recalls.
So, even though being a student-athlete is not always easy, the good parts take over. “The best part in being a student athlete is competing and even though injuries are hard to overcome, it made me stronger” says Carroll.

Women who light the dark

2007-10-06T00:00:00.000-07:00

Kavita N.Ramdas

Paola Gianturco

On October 1st, 2007 I went to the Commonwealth Club of San Francisco on market street to attend a lecture named Women who light the dark. This was in honor of the fourth book published by the photojournalist Paola Gianturco. She went over 30 countries and followed the life of 30 women. She made a book with pictures of those women and about the issues those woen face. So she told stories to bring those pictures she showed us to life.

But she was not the only woman at the lecture. The President of Globul Fund for Women, an international grantmaking foundation in favor of women's rights, Kavita N.Ramdas, was also here. She sponsors, as the President of Global Fund for Women, Gianturco's lectures, book signings and other related events. They know each other well and Paola Gianturco is a really active member of the foundation. For the foundation's 20th anniversary, Paola Gianturco decided to give all the royalties to the Global Fund for Women.

With 58 million dollars awarded to 3,450 women's groups in 166 countries, Global Fund for Women is the largest organization of its kind. Thanks to all this money, these different groups of men and women are able to ensure that women have their voices heard in decision making, or that they get the recognition that they deserve. They also help the countries in need as for instance in Cameroun where more than a million people were trained to know what to do and not to do when they have AIDS.

This lecture was really moving and inspiring as a lot of people from the audience said afterwards.

What is news

2007-04-26T22:48:00.000-07:00

HI guys!
I'm back on to speak about some more journalism.... Haha don't we have enough?
Well, I wanted to talk about an article I saw on the BBC website. I was looking for some news about the world and then about tennis when I saw that article called "Graf cuts lip in Agassi accident" To be honest it caught my attention and then I read through it and it just said that she got stitched by the doctor who paid for this foundraising they were playing for. It just described how it happened. Then I looked back on it and I told myself: but is that news? Is that what I want to read? Of course it is unusual. which fills one of the requirement for a story as we saw in class, but aren't they more important news in sports? I think that more and more news, not only in politics and celebrities, but in sports also, become more and more catchy but the content isn't. I know it's sports and that not everybody reads it, but I think it's important to notice that writing and airing sports is become a huge business and that a lot of money is involved in it now. But is it still about sports?

Graf cuts lip in Agassi accident

Agassi and Graf have raised millions for charitySteffi Graf required three stitches after husband Andre Agassi accidentally hit her in the face with his racket during a fundraising event in Houston.
Graf and Agassi were holding hands - her left to his right - while rallying with a couple of youngsters when his follow-through struck her in the face.
Her cut lip was stitched by a doctor who had paid to play with the couple at the US Clay Court Championships.
Agassi said: "It was an unfortunate accident, but she's okay."
Agassi and Graf were in Texas as part of a US TV reality show called 'The Big Give,' an upcoming Oprah Winfrey production.
An auction benefiting an elementary school in the Houston vicinity chosen for the show raised at least $225,000 on Sunday.
Agassi retired last year at the US Open, having won eight Grand Slam titles.
His German wife retired in 1999 with 22 Grand Slam titles to her name. The couple has two children and live in Las Vegas.

Interview with the Athletics Director

2007-04-18T08:47:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, April 17th I had an appointment to interview the Athletics Director. I was freaking out because I remember the 1st time she presented herself (This is her 1st year at USF) to all the athletes, she was really impressive and seemed really strict and furthermore I heard that she gave a hard time to some students. Moreover I was really afraid not to know what to say or something like that. But before the interview, I prepared my questions, had a focus on my interview and had some background about her. This really helped me because I had my questions ready which meant that even if I had a blank I could always refer to my notes. But what is funny is that the conversation very quickly shifted away from my focus because her answers made us go somewhere else. So what I wanna say is that even tough we didn't use my focus I still could adapt my questions. And actually thanks to her answers, my story has a new focus. So I tink this teached me that you can always find your way if you are prepared and know what you want.Moreover, if the interviewe sees that you know what you are talking about, he or she will be a lot more willing to talk than if they feel that you don't know what you are doing because that person sees you are interested.
So overall the interview went a lot better than what I expected because she was really nice and took a lot of time to answer each of my questions. This gave me more confidence in myself to interview other people.

Examples

2007-04-16T13:25:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone,

as we are heading toward the hand of the semester and the big story I thought that some of us would always need some help. While I looking quicly at the news online, I saw an article about the shooting that occured in Virginia. Well as we see in the article, the official reports are not ready yet. So the reporter gives quotes from officials. I know that sometimes we are not always sure to do it, so I thouhgt this was a really good example we could use. So here is the example:

Virginia Reps. Tom Davis and Randy Forbes said they were told that 32 people, including the gunman, were dead. The two said they were given the new death toll by Gov. Tim Kaine's chief of staff.
The governor's office was unable to confirm that number and the Virginia Tech Police Department, which is leading the investigation, said it didn't know where the higher death toll originated.

And then, as I know we are not always comfortable on how to say we did a separated interview or an after meeting, I found that one really good.

In a separate interview, Forbes said he heard the shooter was a student, but he emphasized he had no solid information on the shooter's identity or his motive.

I hope this will help in the class and later on.

Father Privett's conference

2007-04-01T21:12:00.000-07:00

Hi everbody!
I hope you huys are enjoying as much as I do media studies. Well I'm back on the blog because I wanted to talk about the Father Privett's conference. I have to admit: I was freaking out! The ting is that I had no idea why we were here, so when I learned that we were just goanna have to ask questions I was really afraid. But when I saw it was going and how welcoming Father Privett was I was able to tell myself that it should be ok. But what I want to emphasize is that the way he answered to a lot of questions was really good for me, as a journalist. What I mean is that he is very truthful so he simply says what he thinks which gives a lot of quotes. I don't know what you guys think, but I had a good amount of quotes from him. More importantly I felt like I had time to write down a lot compared to the speech we went to or the conference in class with the teacher. But anyway if you guys have any tips on conferences and everything, don't hesitate I'll take them all!!! SO did you guys think of the conference?

Iraq article

2007-03-23T11:42:00.000-07:00

I went on bbcnews.com to look at some news around the world and I saw an article about Iraq and the war. So I decided to click on it to know what was going on. The lead was talking about the fact that the house of representatives voted in favor of bringing home the troops. When I went into the article, I saw a lot of quotes which is good but except saying that it was from the representative house there was not real attribution. So this is my first question: Is this enough or should the writer have a real name?
Then when I kept going I saw that quote: "The American people see the reality of war. The president does not." And I was wondering if the president, if what has been said offend or for whatever reason doesn't want that quote, can do anything about it or not?
Here is the article:

US House votes for Iraq deadline

Some Democrats want US troops to be brought home nowThe House of Representatives has voted in favour of ordering President George W Bush to pull US troops out of Iraq.
The bill links $124bn (£62bn) funding for the war to a 31 August 2008 deadline for the withdrawal of all US combat troops.
It was passed by 218 votes to 212 by the Democratic-controlled House. Correspondents say it is the boldest challenge yet to Mr Bush's strategy.
The president has made clear he will veto the bill.
The White House says legislators should allow more time for his new strategy - which includes sending 28,000 extra troops to Iraq - to work.
'High stakes'
"The American people have lost faith in the president's conduct of this war," House leader Nancy Pelosi said.
"The American people see the reality of war. The president does not."
However some Democratic representatives voted against the bill, because they said it would not put an immediate end to the war.
Most Republicans opposed the legislation, which they said would represent an admission of failure in Iraq.
"The stakes in Iraq are too high and the sacrifices made by our military personnel and their families too great to be content with anything but success," Republican Roy Blunt said.

Photos!!!!

2007-03-02T21:25:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone!
I'm back with a subject that we talked about in class but that is really relevant those days. Pictures! I just read the article Professor Robertson sent about the accident and as I went by my eyes just stopped in the last picture. The one of a dead person totally bleeding everywhere. I know I've already talk about it but I just can't help myself. I was in shock. I just couldn't believe what was on that picture. Yes I've seen horrible pictures of dead people but that one was just very hard to look at. I just turned my head and kept reading the article. The writer says that we need to have those because we need to know what the real world is and what is going on. In a way I agree with the author, we need to know what is happening in the world. But on the other hand, what I want to point out is that little children can see that and be even more shocked than I was. I think we need to be careful because maybe adults can handle this but should children see that? Are they prepared for that? I think we need to reflect on that. Also, even though we need to be informed, are those pictures essential fo rus to see in order to be informed? Those questions were things that I think could interest you guys. So I hope it can help journalism get into the discussion in order to improve it.

Article about the Canadian's ambassy in France

2007-02-19T13:23:00.000-08:00

I talked to my mum this morning who lives in France and she told me that there has been an alert at the Canadian's ambassy where my sister works. But she immediately reassures me and tells me that everything is allright and that my sister is totally fine. The alert came after an employee started bleeding when he received a package. After that I decided to go check out online for more news. I went to the website of one of the main channels in France, France 2 and read articles about it. Then I saw one entitled "Fin de l'alerte à l'ambassade du Canada à Paris" which means End of the alert at the ambassy of Canada in Paris. There was just a small article saying that the tests about nuclear, radioaction, chimic and bacteries were negative. What caught my attention was the fact that they used abbreviations like NRBC or AFP that are not common. So my question was can we use abbreviations like that in leads, articles without explanations? Or should we use the complete name before and put the abbreviation afterwards since the lead has to be attractive to the readers? So if the readers don't understand it, I think that they won't go further. So, if you guys have any idea I'm willing to hear them. Have a good week and see you in class!!!!!!!

Deformed informations

2007-02-15T05:23:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone, I hope you guys are enjoying the class as much as I am. Today, I thought I could write on something that happened to me, a little anecdote that is interesting. When I was14 years old I got qualified in tennis for the biggest tournament in the world for the 13 and 14 years old. For that you have to play few matches in your region. Then I qualified and for that somebody interviewed me to put it on the local newspaper. I was really excited about that. It happened that the person who interviewed me is the tennis player as well. So she asked me several questions about me, how I came to play tennis, what were my clubs before, who were my favorite players and stuff like that. So I answered, a little bit intimidated. Then after that I waited with a lot of impatient, I have to admit, the article to come out. Then, I started reading. At first I was really pleased with what she wrote, basically saying what I answered. Then I looked back and realized that some of the things I've said had a total different meaning in the article. For example, she said that I admire or my idol was Steffi Graf, a famous german player who retired, when I said that it was just one of my favorite. Then in the background informations, she also deformed some informations. Even though I though it was funny because I was not goanna do anything against the reporter, since I began a reporting class, it makes me realize how important the way we put our sentences is. The words we use, the structures of the sentences can make a huge difference and at a totally different it can really matter. So I thought it would be interesting to share with you guys this anecdote. Wish you all the best!!!!!!!!!

Class of 02/07

2007-02-07T22:06:00.001-08:00

Hi everyone, I hope everything is going well for you in that class. I just came back from the class today and I wanted to write about our class today. Then I had to go to practice and after that another class was waitinf for me. Finally here I am writing on my blog for the 2nd time. I just thought the press conference the teacher made was hilarious. I really enjoyed it, I didn't expect it to be that way but it turned out to be very interesting. Even though I had fun listening to the teacher getting fired up for the circumstance, what caught me was the writing part of it. I already interviewed people for a project back in high school but I didn't have to write an article afterwards. I just found that being able to keep up on writing notes and listening to the person i snot as easy as we could think. You need to catch up the good quotes that can fit into the article, the important facts and etc... Then, once this part is over the written part begins. I've always read articles in journals, magazines, newspapers but never really thought of how it was it made. I realize now that it's more than writing; it has a structure, rules, ways of catching somebody's attention and expectations that I had no idea. Even though what I think of doing is not writing I'm really glad to be in that class because it opens my view of journalism and who knows what will happen later on? However, I'm still kind of worried because even though the tips that we are give, what we read in the text book makes perfect sense to me, from the first feedbacks I got it doesn't seem to be what we are expected to do. So I don't know about you guys, but I hope you can give me somes tips because I think we can have a lot of fun.

Soccer

2007-02-04T11:29:00.000-08:00

I just read an article about Italian soccer on the BBC website entitled " Seeking a cure for Italy's football disease" which talks about how violence occurs over and over again in Italian soccer. The article discusses how fans come to the stadium in order to fight and some come armed. We see referees who are injured, some police officers are killed and bombs come to the field. This violence is even more emphasized in this article with the visual. This is a picture of a goalkeeper laying on the floor and a medical assitant coming to help which, I think, help people realize how bad the sport is becoming in terms of violence. They only talk about Italian soccer here because the federation has decided to cancel matches this week end, so even though this is temporary, this decision brings up a lot of questions. How can soccer, and sports in general can arrive to that point? Having played all my life tennis and playing in competitions, I've seen players, parents and fans getting really mad and almost hit a referee for example. That's why the headline and the visual on the website caught my eyes, because soccer in France has problems like that. And moreover, knowing other sports like ski, tennis, ice skating etc... I can relate to what thy are saying. But this article is at a totally different level and when I see that I just wanna say: why? Why do people come to that point for sports? I know there is money on it but still. How can somebody have bombs or weapons when going to a stadium? That's what I wanted to bring up on my first blog today. How can sports arrive to a level where players can actually not play any more because of violence?