Introduction

Hello everyone,

My name is Ryan Catanese, I am a junior journalism major at Elon University, and this is my blog.  On this page, I will be posting all of my writing, so that I can start accumulating a portfolio, and also just for practice on becoming a “mojo,” or rather, a “mobile journalist.”  Feel free to peruse through my writing.  I hope you enjoy my pieces, and if you are a newspaper editor and would like to use any of my stories, or just want to contact me, please contact me at rcatanese@elon.edu.

Happy blogging,

Ryan

Club Sports Athletes Offer Refreshing Perspective on Sports

Weekend Warriors

By Ryan Catanese

Beep-beep, beep-beep, beep-beep.

It’s 7 a.m. on a Saturday. It will be at least another four hours until the average college student opens his groggy eyes and tries to rub the Friday night buzz from his bloodshot eyes.

Ryan Bleam, however, has beaten his cell phone alarm and is standing in the bread aisle of a supermarket. He is one of four customers in the store.

He smiles. “I always do that,” he says, reaching into his pocket and silencing his rumbling phone.

Bleam is not a construction worker getting a beat on the day nor is he a hunter beating the sun to his post. He is a student, a brother and a son, but above all, he is an Ultimate Frisbee player.

“Classes are just my excuse for being at college to play Ultimate,” he says only half jokingly.

Members of the Elon Community Voice Their Hopes for Barack Obama’s Inauguration Speech

Members of the Elon Community Voice Their Hopes for Barack Obama’s Inauguration Speech

By Ryan Catanese
December 11, 2008

It is January 20, 2009 and the stage is set for the most historic inauguration speech of all time.  The streets of Washington DC are lined with people, and not a single shred of confetti is going unlaunched into the air.

Is it before or after that when Obama whips out an electric guitar?

The internet has been flooded with rumors and suggestions for Barack Obama’s inauguration speech, including everything from a throwback to the Gettysburg address to “Barack Obama should close his speech with a guitar solo.”

Math Tools Chapters 9-12

Math Tools Chapters 9-12
By Ryan Catanese

Directional Measurements

A mile is 5,280 feet while a nautical mile is 6,080 feet.  A knot is a measure of speed, one nautical mile per hour.  When working with time, rate, and distance problems, make sure to keep the units of measurement the same.  Distance = rate x time, Rate = distance / time, and Time = distance / rate.

Speed indicates how fast something is going, while the velocity also indicates the direction.  Average speed = distance / time.  Acceleration is the rate of change of the speed, acceleration = (ending velocity – starting velocity) / time.  In order to determine the ending velocity, (Acceleration x time) + starting velocity = ending velocity.

A g-force is a measure of acceleration, with one “g” represent the force of gravity on the Earth’s surface, or 32.2 feet per second per second.  For reference, a kick exerts about 300 g’s on a soccer ball.

Weight and mass are not the same.  Mass is a measure of amount wile weight is a measure of the force of gravity pulling on an object.  So, mass stays the same regardless of gravity, while the weight changes.

The decibel is a unit of measure for the intensity of sound.  One decibel is the softest sound detectable by the human ear, and the ears begin to hurt at 120 dB.

Question: If a boat is traveling at 20 knots, how many miles per hour is that?

Progress of Elon University’s Sustainability Campaign

How Green is Green?

By Ryan Catanese

December 1, 2008

Elaine Durr, Elon's first full-time sustainability coordinator

Have you noticed anything different on Elon’s campus lately?

Have you seen the signs around campus for locally-grown food?  Have you noticed that Elon security now has several Smart Cars in their fleet?  Or maybe you have seen the shiny new Priuses parked outside of Moseley that are dedicated for student use?

There is a spectrum of views on sustainability.  Some think that it is of the highest importance, and some think it is less of a priority.

Regardless of what your stance is, Elon is spending a lot of money to be more sustainable, so if you are a student here, this pertains to you.

In 2006, Elon created an Environmental Council, and in 2008, hired a full-time employee, Elaine Durr, whose sole job it is to push Elon towards a more sustainable future.  So what have they done?

Math Tools Chapters 5-8

Math Tools Chapters 5-8

Polls and Surveys

Polls and surveys are extremely important, because they capture the sentiment of a journalist’s research on a topic or number of topics.  They are used by everyone from political candidates to marketing firms to news rooms, so being able to translate them to the audience is crucial for any journalist.  The book defines a poll as an estimate of public opinion on a single topic or issue based on representative samples of a population, while surveys are the same, but center around multiple topics or issues.

Twitter: Changing the Face of Interconnectivity

Twitter, the new obsession of the Technorati, is instigating a social revolution

By Ryan Catanese

November 21, 2008

What are you doing?

It’s a simple question with a simple answer, presented simply at the top of the window. It’s Twitter, the new

Twitter's straightforward layout

social interactivity tool that has swept the nation’s top media outlets and is growing more and more popular as a more informal communications tool, especially with young people.

The concept is straightforward: you have 140 characters, including spaces and punctuation, to tell the world exactly what you’re doing right now, whether by text message or a computer.  This straightforward concept has made “microblogging” one of the fastest-growing phenomena on the Internet, according to The New York Times.

The Importance of Understanding the Public Record and Open Meeting Laws

The Importance of Understanding the Public Record and Open Meeting Laws
By Ryan Catanese
November 19, 2008

The most important aspect of journalism is being able to find the facts, the complete and unabridged facts.  It is the journalist’s responsibility to be the eyes and ears of the people on all matters, whether it’s who won the Panthers game or who won the Presidential election.

In order to be able to fulfill this duty journalists have to know their boundaries: where they can step and where they cannot step.  Most people don’t realize how far they can probe, and not doing this to find the absolute core truth in any story is a journalist not doing his or her job.

This is why it is absolutely imperative for a journalist to know the laws of his or her state, especially those pertaining to Open Meeting law and Public Record law.

Libertarian Chris Cole is an Alternative Choice for North Carolina Senator

Chris Cole: A Voice for Young People

Chris Cole: "I'm a chance to try something different."

By Ryan Catanese

Chris Cole works long hours.

Do you know who he is?

“Unlike my opponents, I have a day job, which makes it difficult for me to campaign like Elizabeth Dole and Kay Hagan do, because, well, they’re professional politicians,” Cole said.  “They don’t have to punch a clock.”

Welcome to the world of a Libertarian politician, a place where the status quo is under constant attack and 40 hour work weeks are considered vacation time.

So, Chris Cole works a lot, but what does he actually think?

Should Some People Not Vote?

Members of the Elon Community Respond to Stossel

By Ryan Catanese

November 4, 2008

Should some people not vote?

In a recent column run in the Burlington Times-News, 20/20’s John Stossel made the bold claim that some voters, particularly the uninformed ones, shouldn’t vote.  This column obviously coming in the closing days of a historic election year and the most enthusiastic voter turnout in recent memory.

It is easy to scoff at these claims, saying that it is imperative for all people to vote.  But on a closer examination, does Stossel have a point?

This theory, as shocking as it may be, is not a new idea.

“There is an old Aristotelian argument that only the educated and well-informed, only the wise should make decisions for the rest of us who don’t know anything,” said Betty Morgan, political science professor at Elon University.

Math Tools Chapters 1 – 4

General number use

            The use of numbers is important.  The precision and accuracy of numbers lends itself to getting an accurate point across.  That is, if you don’t have any numbers, you are not being as accurate as you can be.  Here are a few lesser known style tips for using numbers correctly: