Time for Maine to take role as environmental leader

The map shows the average wind power across the United States. The darker blue the area is, the more power the wind has on average in that area.

Maine has become one of the nations leading eco-friendly states but it could do more to pioneer a strong national movement towards a healthier environment.

Nationally Funded Programs

The perceived notion of global warming has brought worldwide awareness to energy efficiency over the last decade. The state of Maine is widely recognized as a leader for energy efficiency in the United States and for this was granted $30 million by the federal government as a part of The Recovery Act. The amount given was the second most to any state; only New York Received more money than Maine.

As a part of this plan, both businesses and homeowners alike will be offered funds to “go green.” This will be offered through a newly created loan agency called the Maine Home Performance fund. This will allow a cycle where loans will be given to create a more eco-friendly environment and then will be repaid. The results of this system will not just help the environment, it will offer new jobs to may people and it will save people money with lower energy costs once they have switched over.

To be eligible for a loan the home or business must be located in a town that has adopted the Property Assessed Clean Energy program (PACE).

Possible Wind Resources

This is a good sign for clean energy management in Maine because it actually has an impact on society and the environment; it is not just another idea that gets wasted. There have been previous ideas to put up wind turbines along the coast although nothing ever happens, as people seem to be more concerned with what they have to look at in the present than the future of the environment. Maine contains some of the greatest resources in the country to be retrofitted with wind turbines that could be used for alternative energy purposes.

Don’t be mislead, some places in Maine have installed wind turbines but these places are mostly inland areas and there are numerous untapped resources along the coast. The downside of these seems to be a loss in property value and some noise complaints have been made in the form of lawsuits.

Conservation

If people are not willing to install wind turbines in their towns then the other option is simple; make better use of the resources provided. It’s as easy as turning the light off when you leave a room, or unplugging the “beer refrigerator”. Do what you can, when you can to save energy. Other things may require the spending of money to save money but that is where the Maine Home Performance fund can be utilized. A few examples of this would be: weatherizing a home to save money on fuel consumption costs in the winter; or installing solar panels on the roof of your house to be more bio-friendly and less costly; or buying appliances with an energy star rating.

Now, with all of the different resources and options at hand to make the state more eco-friendly, it is the people that have to make the difference. Privately owned corporations, the state government, and the federal government have done all they could be expected to do to allow the country to become more energy efficient

The reoccurring problem with the effort to become more eco-friendly is that it would force us to change, and it is in human nature to resist change. If Mainers are truly willing to change the way they want to live for the good of the environment and for their own financial gain then they need to make sacrifices.

A new complex or a new trend?

An apartment complex design was brought to the Orono Community Development Committee on Wednesday April 21. This may sound like business as usual at a first glance but it could signal a change in the town setup.

For years, the town of Orono has had a distinct traditional style of architecture mostly constructed using brick. When the lot of the old Webster Paper Mill became available, Developers Collaborative LLC saw an opportunity to create a new riverside living area. The architects, David Lloyd and Kevin Bunker, thought it might be time to try something different. Their intent is to come up with something not offered on the market right now. They have planned the building to have a very modern look and merging a piece of the past by using both metal and brick siding. The complex was also designed to have the front entrance be reminiscent of the old mill.

Depending on how much popularity the apartments get from the town this may start a trend for the future of Orono architecture. It will also open up the real estate market by giving buyers more options. As with any new idea, there are always critics. One board member is worried about how it will look “ten years down the road.” His concern is that it will have a dated look that will look nice now but will be out of style in the future. With the exception of this one idea all other concerns brought up by the board seemed to be previously thought out by the architects and they are willing to make some changes if the board deems necessary.

As of Wednesday, the building will have 4 floors and a total of 24 units. A nice amenity to the buyer is that half of the units will have riverfront views and all will have a private deck. The complex also offers different sized apartments; the larger ones will be located at each of the four corners of the building.

An interesting piece of information that the buyers might want to know about is that there are two sources of contamination on the site. Only one area of contamination was discussed at the meeting and that was the coal storage yard. This space could be cleared to make way for a parking lot but the more likely option is that it will be filled. The company is willing to negotiate on what to do with the area as the plans are “very loose” on this topic. Once all the plans have been set in place the demolition would take two to three weeks and the construction is estimated to take 10 months.

Towards the end of the meeting the draft agreement was proposed to the committee. It dealt with a lot of logistics and legalities but some important information was brought up. To make a profit on the deal one-third of the units must sell at a minimum of $200,000.This is not too big of a worry for the company seeing as how the economy has been looking up. Now the only question that remains is, will it sell?

*Photo taken by Justin Fisk

links for assignment

http://www.maine.gov/tools/whatsnew/index.php?topic=Portal+News&id=95952&v=article-2008

http://www.recovery.gov/Pages/home.aspx

http://www.pacenow.org

http://www.efficiencymaine.com/pdfs/CorningCaseStudy.pdf

http://en.openei.org/wiki/Maine_-_Property_Assessed_Clean_Energy_%28Maine%29

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/22/business/energy-environment/22CAULK.html?src=busln

http://www.bangordailynews.com/detail/141698.htm

http://www.masshightech.com/stories/2010/04/19/daily37-Maine-snags-30M-stimulus-grant-for-energy-retrofits.html

http://www.efficiencymaine.com/

http://www.dcpsc.org/images/energy_map.gif

http://wiki.colby.edu/download/attachments/109805653/AquaticLife.gif

Sprinkler accident wreaks havoc in Cumberland Hall

Orono, Maine – Wednesday seemed to be a pretty normal day, partly cloudy, not too hot, not unbearably cold, just normal. The residents in Cumberland Hall were surely going about their everyday study routine and then it happened. A sprinkler in room 327 was unintentionally set off by the male resident whose name is being kept undisclosed. As a result, the building had to be evacuated at approximately 4pm and had to wait three hours to be allowed back in.

The residents were quite angry with the series of events. It was a disruption to their everyday lives; one girl said “it made [her] late getting to class.” For those living in the rooms beneath 327 on the second and first floor it was more than just a disruption. The sprinklers supposedly release 60 gallons per minute. The water eventually leaked all the way down to the first floor, damaging many valuable items in the rooms along the way. Some of the students living in these rooms were displaced to other rooms or halls.

A resident said that the “fire department, police, and UVAC were all called in” to take care of the situation. The water was turned off and then the cleanup process started. Although the majority of the water was gone by the end of the night, the cleanup process is still far from over. Ceiling tiles still need to be replaced and there is a possibility that mold spores may grow from the leftover moisture.

Rumors are flying abound on the whole ordeal. Questions like “who is going to be charged for the damage?” “how much is this going to cost?” and “how did the sprinkler actually go off?” are already being answered by many residents. But the simple truth remains that these questions have yet to be officially answered and the dorm has not been assessed for damage.

Bibliography for Social Networking in the Media

http://www.examiner.com/x-14552-Social-Media-Examiner~y2010m4d1-Rhode-Island-flooding-Where-is-the-help-Twitter-rock-stars-celebrities-RI-needs-you

http://www.canadianbusiness.com/markets/market_news/article.jsp?content=D9ER47682

http://www.boston.com/news/local/breaking_news/2010/04/in_ri_coping_wi.html?comments=all#readerComm

http://www.facebook.com/

Social Networking in the Media

The new fad in the media is the use of websites like facebook, twitter, and wikipedia as resources for current event coverage. The reliability of the information from these social networking sites can be called into question, so news sources often say that this information is “unverified.” If the information cannot be verified then why should it be published? It is the job of the journalist to present the public with true information which seems to be at risk with the use of these websites as sources.

There are some cases in which the media could successfully use these websites but not to retrieve information. Over the last three days Rhode Island has been battered by severe rain storms, resulting in statewide flooding. Governor Donald Carcieri says, “It has been the worst, worst flood in our state's history.” Media outlets such as CNN and Fox News should use the social networking sites to get opinions on issues or to gain support for certain causes rather than trying to piece together a story by peoples recollections that have very little accountability if any. In the case of the Rhode Island flooding, facebook or twitter could be a good way to get some personal stories or opinions on what has happened to people living in areas affected.

Cheryl Phillips, a writer for Examiner.com, was upset with the amount of support that has been given to the people of Rhode Island by the rest of the country. She thinks it’s great that the country is willing to donate so much time and money to Haiti to help support the earthquake victims but she asks “who takes care of the people who are right here?” So many people used facebook and twitter to help the cause in Haiti but not too much has been done to help our fellow American citizens in Rhode Island. There aren’t any celebrities that are going out of their way to draw the attention of the public to the events in Rhode Island like they did for Haiti.

If a person were to go on to facebook to find groups supporting the disaster in Haiti, they might find hundreds of groups but not many for Rhode Island flood victims that most likely will not be covered under insurance. It is also important to note how quickly the wikipedia page went up for the Haitian Earthquake in 2010 and no wikipedia page has been published for the worst flood in Rhode Island state history. Is a change needed in the media or in our own mindsets and how we perceive the media through social networking?

VO Broadcast Script

[Newscaster]

President Barack Obama spoke at the House Democratic Caucus to reiterate the importance of the proposed healthcare bill on Saturday.

[Take VO]

[CG: patients and doctors walking down the halls at the Mayo Clinic]

He explained the importance of the bill for the entire country. It would especially help those who have been greatly affected by the recession and those who have had prior health conditions.

[Take VO]

[CG: Random patient talking to a doctor]

These people would be given the opportunity to get the public option for healthcare.

[Take VO]

[CG: President Obama speaking to the House of Representatives]

His main talking point was that the government has the responsibility to do what is best for the people, and that is the reason why he went into politics.

[Newscaster]

Obama will be hoping that he has done enough to convince the house to pass the bill, which will be brought up later this week.

House Democratic Caucus Speech by Obama

Healthcare reform has come under some heavy debate since Barack Obama was elected into the presidency. Many attempts to pass national healthcare bills have all come to the same conclusion thus far, failure. In an effort to change history, the president has once again brought the idea into consideration. At the House Democratic Caucus on Saturday he spoke about the importance of the healthcare bill to the entire country.

He started of by explaining that it was the decisions of this government that got America to break free of “the worst recession since the Great Depression.” The aftereffects from the recession are still seen today, like an unusually high amount of people that are still unemployed. Well those are some of the people that are unable to qualify for healthcare and are in need of a public option. He explained how the House of Representatives, time and time again, has had to make significant changes to benefit the people of the country. This decision on healthcare should not be made because of individual opinions on the issue, but what is necessary for those in need, and what is needed is to give everybody the equal opportunity to receive healthcare according to Obama.

Obama recognized that this would be the most significant decision involving healthcare since the installment of Medicaid. He declares that, “this is the toughest insurance reforms in history.” With such a major decision at stake, it was vital for the president to get the backing of most of the Democrats because it is not supported by many Republicans.

The main objective in the bill was that, “[the government] is making sure that the system of private insurance works for ordinary families.” Obama’s goal was accomplished on Sunday as the bill was passed through the House, without a single Republican voting the bill through.

Progress with York Toll Relocation

For the past couple of years the town of York and the Maine Turnpike Authority (MTA) have been working in conjunction with each other to find a new location for the York toll plaza. The current toll plaza possesses many problems which hinder its ability to operate to its fullest and safest capacity. Both the town and the MTA have been struggling to find a new location for the plaza for numerous reasons but the one that the townspeople are concerned with the most is that they do not want to displace those living in the proposed locations.

The simplest plan would be to rebuild or renovate the current toll plaza but it was built on wetlands in 1969 when it was legal to do so; laws today prevent construction from being done on wetlands. This is also the main safety issue with the toll plaza; it is sinking at a slow rate and requires constant work to be maintained.

Other deficiencies of the current site are: it is at the bottom of a hill on a curve, it is very close to the exit at mile marker 7, and its location cannot easily be seen in the distance. All of these problems have been taken into consideration when finding locations to put the proposed plaza, and although some have been found, they interfere with the lives of citizens of the town.

Of course the Maine Turnpike Authority possesses the power of eminent domain which is looking to be avoided by the town. Eminent Domain is the government’s right to take land without the owner’s permission but the owner must be reimbursed with a reasonable amount of money. As a result every measure is being taken to find a location that is best for all parties involved.

The project took a big step on February 24, and the preliminary plans have been sent to the Army Corps of Engineers (A.C.E.) with four possible locations for the new plaza. One of the sites, as a formality, is where the current plaza resides, and two other sites would not force anyone out of their homes. A local citizen said, “It’s good to hear that there are options that won’t kick people out of their homes.” Another citizen called it “a relief.”

Now that the plans have been turned over to the Army Corps of Engineers, the MTA has no authority on the matter. “[The town] will try to convince [the Army Corps of Engineers] with its own documentation that the "do nothing" option is the best option” (The York Weekly). This has been the town of York’s opinion on the issue since it was brought up and it does not look to change anytime soon. One citizen says that “it might be beneficial for the town to loosen its stance and negotiate to find the best location. So we at least have some control over our destiny instead of arguing over something that looks unlikely to happen.” This definitely does not speak for the whole community as another citizen believes that “we should not change our position.”

Opinions may be torn but everyone is just looking out for what is best for the town as a major decision should be made over the next year.

York Toll Relocation Conundrum

For the past couple of years the town of York and the Maine Turnpike Authority (MTA) have been working in conjunction with each other to find a new location for the York toll plaza. The current toll plaza possesses many problems which hinder its ability to operate at its fullest and safest capacity. Both the town and the MTA have been struggling to find a new location for the plaza for numerous reasons but the one that the townspeople are concerned with the most is that they do not want to displace those living in the proposed locations.

The simplest thought would be to merely rebuild or renovate the current toll plaza but it was built on wetlands in 1969 when it was legal to do so; laws today prevent construction from being done on wetlands. This is also the main safety issue with the toll plaza; it is sinking at a slow rate and requires constant work to be maintained.

Other deficiencies of the current site are: it is on a curve, it is very close to the exit at mile marker 7, it is at the bottom of a hill, and its location cannot easily be seen in the distance. All of these problems have been taken into consideration when finding locations to put the proposed plaza, and although some have been found, they interfere with the lives of citizens of the town.

Of course the Maine Turnpike Authority possesses the power of eminent domain which is looking to be avoided by the town. Eminent Domain is the government’s right to take land without the owner’s permission but the owner must be reimbursed with a reasonable amount of money. As a result every measure is being taken to find a location that is best for all parties involved.

News Release

For Immediate Release Anthony Molino

207-555-5555

Anthony_Molino@umaine.com

Unexpected Relief from Afar

Bangor (ME) - The University of Maine may be 1834 miles away from Haiti, but that won’t stop the Black Bears from finding a way to help out. Last month, an earthquake devastated the small country of Haiti, bringing down homes and businesses as well as killing more than 200,000 people. In an effort to help relieve the country, the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee has planned a raffle and numerous donation areas at the school’s home hockey game this Saturday against the University of Massachusetts-Lowell.

The group will hope to draw in a lot of money with a kayak as a grand prize. Raffle tickets are being sold at the entrances for five dollars for the first ticket then one dollar for each following ticket. All of the money raised will go to Haiti’s relief organizations.

The game between the River Hawks (15-13-2) and the Black Bears (14-11-3) will start at 7pm Saturday. It will be the second of the two match-ups the teams play this weekend.

Bibliography

http://www.uscho.com/m/maine-black-bears/mens-college-hockey/team,me.html

http://www.uscho.com/m/mass-lowell-river-hawks/mens-college-hockey/team,uml.html

http://goblackbears.cstv.com/genrel/012110aac.html

Profile Story

When Gary Lane first got accepted to the University of Maine in January of 2009 he never thought he would become a participant in the University’s Alpine Race Team. He claims that he is “just average” right now, but his performances have steadily increased since the beginning of the season.

Gary started skiing when he was nine years old with the sole expectation of having fun. He is still having fun but now he is doing it as a part of a team. He said, “When the opportunity came, I had to take advantage.” Although his skill level has dramatically improved, little else seemed to change. When he was a young boy growing up in Groveland, Massachusetts, the nearest major ski resorts were about two hours from his house; he is in pretty much the same situation in Orono as far as driving goes.

As well as being a part of the team, he is also a member of the University’s Ski Club, and the Maine Outing Club. Even with all of these different activities, Gary still managed to earn a 3.0 grade-point-average for the first semester of his freshman year.

Gary’s next race will be at 9:30am this Saturday at Hermon Mountain. It’s just a short drive from campus which will be “a nice change of pace” because his previous races have all been at least an hour away. He’s not too concerned with how well he will do in the race, he said that he was “nervous at first, but [he’s] now becoming more at ease with the pressure”; he also believes that the future is “wide open with possibilities.”

Newscast Critique

The video that I chose to review was from the Bangor news channel, WVII. It was a clip from the newscast that focused on an 18-year-old that was being charged with murder. There were many unscripted parts of the newscast because the reporters asked the suspect’s friends what there opinions were on his conviction. This made the assignment more difficult but there were still numerous changes that could have been made to the scripted parts of the broadcast.

One of the first things that I noticed in the video was that the reporter used unnecessary words in her story that could have been taken out to make the story more brief. An example of this is when she said “According to a court affidavit, two groups of teens had planned to meet last Wednesday evening to fight. The altercation ended up taking place on Cumberland Street that night.” The word “had” in the first sentence is not necessary nor is “ended up” in the second sentence. I think these two sentences could have been made into one shorter sentence like, “According to a court affidavit, the incident took place during a planned fight between two groups of teens on Cumberland Street, Wednesday night.” I would rather the statement be made this way because it sounds more brief and does not repeat things like the time.

Overall, there were not many errors, or changes that needed to be made to the newscast. The entire clip was done using active voice but if I had been in charge of editing, I would have made the statements more assertive. The reporter seemed to speak with a very “unsure” tone; frequently using terms like, “has been” or “had planned.” If she had taken out the extra words like “has” or “had”, she would have been more convincing, or seem more knowledgeable on the subject.

Citations:

http://www.wvii.com/ (Carr in Court-video)

Citations for Convergence and Consolidation in Journalism

Mencher, M. (2008). News reporting and writing. New York: McGraw-Hill.

Convergence and Consolidation in Journalism

Journalism in America faces a major problem not in the future, but now. Large corporations are taking over numerous news sources which is causing a consolidation in the industry. This affects each and every person in this country that keeps up with current events from the media; whether it’s in a newspaper or magazine, or even the internet and television, people are being affected.

Every news source that is owned by different people or different corporations has their own ideas on what should and should not be published. All news reporting is based on company policies and the owner’s preferences. This allows for a type of diversity on what is reported on and eventually published. Dissimilar points of views are needed in the journalism industry and should not be limited to a few companies’ policies.

There is no denying that people favor some news sources over others, and the people have the right to chose what they want. The availability of this choice shrinks everyday that the larger corporations invest more into the convergence of news sources.

A statistic from Melvin Mencher’s News Reporting and Writing claims that “four of five newspapers are owned by groups…” as opposed to fifty years ago when “families owned almost all the daily newspapers” (p. 74-75). It sounds like these “groups” or large corporations are monopolizing on the industry, but legally they are doing nothing wrong. Does a change need to be made?

What’s best for the owners of the large news reporting corporations is not what is best for the majority of people living in this country. Most of these corporations are more interested in money, which means more focus advertising and less focus on news reporting and journalism. The quality and selection of reporting should be just as important to these corporations as it is to family owned newspapers. News reporting and journalism isn’t just about putting out what will “sell,” it’s about getting the necessary information into the minds of the people.

Citations for Article Critique

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/01/22/2798705.htm?section=justin

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8473891.stm

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601116&sid=acPSsTx3SqcI

Article Critique

The title of the news article that I chose to critique is, Religious gang war leaves hundreds dead; it was written by Andrew Geoghegan for the ABC News website earlier today.

Geoghegan did some things in this article very well but he could’ve focused some more time elsewhere to get a more believable and complete story. I am in no way claiming that the information stated in the article is inaccurate but there is a bit to be desired as far as sources and verification go. It is vital that a story has the facts but without the sources to back them up the reader could lose confidence in the journalist’s information. As might be the case with this sentence, “It is unclear what sparked the clashes, which also forced about 17,000 people to flee their homes.” Where did the “17,000 people” statistic come from? Is it just a guess or is it fact? The reader would not know the answer to either of these questions which weakens the believability and accuracy of the article.

I cross checked this article with other reports from BBC News, and Bloomberg on the activity in Jos and the statistics were the same. However this does not change the fact that the statistics should be cited the best they could be.

The stand-out components of this story were its brevity, objectivity, clarity, and selectivity. This may sound like a lot of things that Geoghegan did well, but little more could be asked of these components. He wrote the article in seven sentences and still managed to fit in the necessary information. The other articles that I read on the subject were significantly longer but they had included a short history of the sectarian violence in Jos as well. The brevity of this article helped make it clearer than the other ones that I had read.

A main goal of journalism is objectivity, to tell the story without introducing your own opinions into the article. Relating to this are the components of balance and fairness, which were both executed perfectly. Not a single sentence influenced my opinion to which side was right and which was wrong.

An entire discussion on whether or not this article appeals to the human interest in America could be started. While I am interested in international news, I don’t believe many other Americans would read this article because it does not have a strong enough impact on their lives. We live in a selfish society and while there are exceptions, most people would rather read about what’s directly affecting them. I also believe that people would like to think that they care about this situation but the fact is that not many people are willing to take the initiative to try to find a solution to the problems, if there is one. This last paragraph is my own personal opinion and I apologize if others disagree.

Burdan of Morality in Journalism

“What role should journalists play in society?” An important question that was put in my mind after reading the summary of an online talk show at philosophytalk.org. Dale Jacquette, a guest on the talk show and a Professor of Philosophy at Pennsylvania State University believes that “journalists are obligated to provide relevant truth telling in the public’s interest.” I believe that the one major ethical problem with this statement is that not everything should be published in the “public’s interest.” If the public wants to know something that compromises the privacy or any other rights of someone else then it should not be published under most circumstances. This is why there are laws but if by some chance the piece of information is not covered by any law then the journalist needs to make a judgment call. There is a large responsibility that comes with being a journalist, and part of that is being able to make a morally sound decision on what and what not to publish.

A dilemma from Melvin Mencher’s book, News Reporting and Writing is that a young woman charged a member of the Kennedy family with rape, and then different news agencies published the woman’s name when it was discovered. Was this in the public’s interest? No, there was no real reason to publish her name. All it did was sacrifice her right to privacy after a reportedly traumatic incident. The moral thing to do would’ve been to ask the woman if they could reveal her identity and if they did not get recorded permission then they shouldn’t have revealed it.

In my opinion journalists are supposed to relay information to the public but without compromising anyone’s rights unless it is significantly for the greater good of someone else, not out of some “obligation” to report to the “public interest."

Mencher, Melvin. "The Morality of Journalism". News Reporting and Writing. New York: The McGraw-Hill Companies, 2008.

"Ethics in Journalism". Philosophy Talk. 1/14/10

www.philosophytalk.org/pastShows/EthicsinJournalism.html>.