Boostraps to Success

My latest article for the News explores a new after school program targeting at risk students.

How callow have we become?

I'm at a point, and many of you have heard me say this before, where I'm not even sure if national politics represent anything tangible. I won't reveal who I would vote for, but I'm on the verge of just not voting. When the system fails so often, and politicians in power don't do anything about, words like "change" and "hope" are fairly meaningless.

Take for instance, the federal and state prison systems. With an incarceration rate that gives the US 25 percent of the total inmates in the world (714 per 100,000 residents), its obvious that something is very wrong. Drug laws and policing unfairly target minorities, creating large groups of broken families in impoverished areas. (I'm not saying that all minorities live in poor neighborhoods, but a large portion of sale and possession charges come from these areas.) This in turn raises the possibility of the next generation turning to crime, and creates a vicious cycle.

Furthermore, when convicts are released into society, most do not hold high school degrees, which makes finding a job difficult. And, with the exception of a few industries, employers simply will not hire ex-cons. So what are these people supposed to do? Well one really good option would be to return to a life of crime. Its profitable enough.

So, with 7 in every 1000 Americans in prison this moment, shouldn't politicians be extremely worried about this demographic? Are we hearing anything about this?

On a side note, the fact that the National Democratic Party stripped Michigan of its delegates because it held a too-early primary should serve as proof to anyone that our primary system is ridiculous.

Why shouldn't states' candidates all be chosen on the same day?

Helpful Tool for Interviews

I have, at last count, 4 reporter's notebooks, all with varying degrees of fullness, and all rotating use in my interviews. I love their form, how they fit in the back pocket of my pants, how easy it is to flip pages.

But sometimes, when you're interviewing a person who talks a lot, very quickly, or just in long sentences, its hard to get everything they say down. I can do it, and I have, but it can get downright tiring. Furthermore, if I don't write the story within the next day or so, some of the details of the interview will fade from my mind.

So when I had a chance to choose my winter holiday gift from my grandmother, I knew there was only one thing I wanted: a digital voice recorder.

The model I decided on, the Olympus WS-110, records 69 hours of high quality, digital sound, and all I have to do to put it on my computer is pull the recorder apart and plug it into my USB port.

I've done about five interviews so far, and every one of the recordings has been clear, without any skipping.

I just keep it in my backpack or pocket, and when it comes time to do an interview, I just ask politely, "Just so I make sure not to misquote you, do you mind if I record this interview?"

And, of course, phrased in those terms, most people will happily say yes.

Win-Win, right?

One post note: The audio is of a high enough quality to be used in audio slideshows for the internet, so perhaps this Funky Hatted reporter will post one, one of these days.

Facebook Has a New Face

As 2007 wound down, and the political frenzy leading up to the Presidential primaries ramped up, Facebook, the social networking site, entered into a marketing deal with ABC News.


In the past few weeks, my Facebook news feed (a slightly Big Brother-ish list of recent changes to friends' profiles) has featured items like, "6 of your friends participated in the debate, _________." One of the debates was the role faith should play in a President's governing; others looked at gender issues.

Another recent debate, with an teaser in the sidebar of my Facebook homepage, discussed the war in Iraq.
Has Facebook come to represent more than shallow social interactions that remove most of the social? Could this ubiquitous website be the future, or a t least the foundations for the future, of political organizing? I think so.

See, every politician running for president, senator, house rep , city council, alderman, whatever, is trying to figure out how to improve their political organizing. The two parties are at a crossroads: their bases are splintering (Democrats are split on many issues; Republicans are in-fighting, as each group attempts to become the group of the party), and the voting base is aging. Staunch, pro-union Democrats (mainstays of the industrial and farming Midwestern states) are great, but I think the Democratic party is coming to terms with the fact that they aren't really the party of unions any more - when was the last time you heard about a new labor law in this Blue congress?

No, the group Democrats want is the new, liberal base that is currently between 18 and 30 right now. I mean, if my generation is recruited into this party, we will be voting for at least 20 more national election cycles. So it makes sense to target one of the biggest phenomena in this demographic.

For instance, the new debates program provides an opportunity to make issues relevant; I guarantee that the person who argues a point more strongly believes in it. It's a great way to get rid of ambivalence.

But there's more. Facebook is an amazingly visually appealing site. Even ads look integrated into the page. And the prior mentioned News Feed now offers "news feed stories" that are actually sponsored links. Such as this one:

Facebook is expanding its advertising and marketing models. As they expand, and offer more opportunities for embedded commercial content, it would be behoove the political parties to take advantage of this. I feel the beginnings of a surge of action in my generation, and when it explodes, the parties better be there.