The Website. The Monster.

The website was a lot harder than we anticipated.

After coming up with what we felt was an above average splash page, we came to the realization that we needed the rest of our pages to be up to par.

It's going to be a long few days until Wednesday.

I kinda want to do some flash animation for the splash, I figure I'll get my buddy Joe on the phone to help me walk through that horrible application.

I think I've finally gotten a better grasp on Dreamweaver, now we just need to come up with a similar styled template for the other pages on the website.

I've got some pretty good ideas I'll try to implement. Thank goodness for my group. They're the hardest working bunch of people I've ever had the pleasure of working with in my academic experience. They each add something different to the group chemistry, and the output of work we've been producing has been nothing short of great.

I'm looking forward to what we'll have come Wednesday.

Second Story Progress.

To make for a more cohesive follow up story, I decided to compile information and interviews about the "Heroes to Hometowns" program - a veteran's care and assistance program ran by the American Legion.

They basically take care of all the needs a wounded soldier from Iraq (this is one of the most important requirements to qualify for the H2H program) with everything they'll need to reestablish themselves into normal society.

Health care, housing, childcare, etc., are all a part of this amazing program.

I was lucky enough to speak with Sunny Farrand, the head of the San Diego American Legion "Heroes to Hometowns" department. What a story.

A decade ago, Farrand was homeless. Now he's the sole employee behind the H2H department in San Diego.

These are the kinds of stories I wanted to report. And I think I've got some pretty good stories to work with now for our project.

www.heroestohometowns.org

My Little Commander Angel.

So I hastily set up another interview with the Commander of the Santa Ana post of the American Legion, Shirley Stephenson.

My goodness, what a great move that turned out to be.

Not only was she full of information and great stories, she was the sweetest person I could have hoped to interview. She did not hesitate to answer any of my questions (the same ones I asked the two gentlemen a few days prior) and was nothing but warm and welcoming to me, a complete stranger.

Her story is especially interesting because she operates the only Legion post comprised of blind and disabled veterans. She clearly has a huge heart and I'm very grateful to have met her.

Finally, some good progress comes along.

SNAFU.

Well, today started off nicely at least.

Had a nice early lunch with my buddy Joe at CPK in Cerritos, where I just happened to run into Professor Amara Aguilar and her twin (she has a twin?) sister. So far, so good.

Headed home to prepare for my two interviews I had set up at the American Legion post in Long Beach. So far so good.

I get to the post and set up my equipment and meet my two interviewees. They seem like great guys and ask me if I want an O'Douls. I gratefully decline and begin the interview.

I knew something was wrong when they started off by asking me to show my CSULB student ID card. Frank, the gentleman in glasses wanted to "make sure I was one of the good guys." I didn't pay much attention to this and continued with my course of action.

To make a long story short. They weren't very cooperative.

The majority of my questions were your basic journalism questions: the 5 w's, a little background information on them, etc. Frank kept on stressing the dangers of this personal information getting into the wrong hands and basically addressed me as a possible terrorist; in the nicest way he could.

So I left there with a scant handful of quotes I felt were somewhat usable.

I need to find more interviews. And fast.

Worst Case.

So guess what? My first story topic has changed. AGAIN.

Mr. Richard Beam never got back to me. It appears he is on vacation leave. Indefinitely.

So goes my 3rd attempt at a story topic. A few days ago, on my way to Long Beach Community College, I passed by a small building that I had always seen, but never really "took in."

Off Carson Street in Long Beach, there's a tiny building that is connected to a church and outside is a marquee that reads "American Legion Post."

I've always heard of the American Legion, and knew that they were somehow related to the Military, so when I got home, I did some research.

Turns out they're a Veteran's assistance program, and are a tightly regimented organization. This is my next story.

I know for a fact not many people know much about the American Legion and what they do - they may have heard of it though I'm sure.

I think a piece on this organization would make for a great addition to our project.

As far as interviews go, I already have two set up for tomorrow and after all this waiting, I'm ready to go.

www.legion.org

Richard Beam, Where are you?

After a week, still no word from Mr. Richard Beam.

I've left several messages with him and his secretary and at this point I feel like even if he ever does receive my messages, he'll just be completely turned off by my annoyance.

It seems like with this project in particular, all I ever do is worry. The actual article is due soon and I still have no material to work with.

I Know the VA Hospital would be a great topic for my first story, but I have to prepare myself for the possibility of it falling through. If Mr. Beam doesn't get back to me within the next few days, that may just become a reality.

Luckily, I have a few more ideas up my sleeve.

Reach Out & Touch Somebody.

So begins my quest to contact a representative for the VA Hospital.

It started off very positive because Tamani Moore, the secretary of Public Affairs over at the VA Hospital got back to me extremely quick with contact information for Richard Beam, the head of Public Affairs over at the hospital.

Unfortunately, he's currently on vacation and won't be back for the next few days.

Thank goodness for efficiency of answering machines. God, what a dated method of information delivery.

Well hopefully once he gets my message, he'll contact me back because he's the only and most important lead I've got on this story right now.

According to Tamani, I can't talk to ANYONE until I talk to Richard Beam.

So Mr. Beam, I hope you had a relaxing vacation because we've got some work to do!

In Memoriam... POW Memorial.

So remember the POW Memorial I was planning to attend on campus last Friday?

That didn't happen.

I showed up around noon, thinking the ceremony would still be in full effect, but when I got there, it was a graveyard. As I stood there, with all my reporting equipment, mouth agape, the only thing that was flying through my mind was "what the hell am I going to write about now?"

I drove home, racking my brain about what emergency precautions I could take into coming up with a new story. Driving past the Veteran's Hospital on 7th Street, it finally came to me.

So my new story is going to be about the Veterans at the hospital and their feelings on the current war in Iraq. Woo!

http://www.long-beach.med.va.gov/

Drawing Up Blanks.

The division of labor was set up this week.

This is the part of the group process that I hate the most. Sitting there in a circle, everyones eyes on you, waiting for something amazing to spew out of your mouth. Again, I have to be honest. I have NO IDEA what to write about, and the thought of coming up with content for two full stories frightens me to death.

Duke had an idea of covering a POW memorial on campus this week, so that appears to be my only lead thus far. I'm hoping for a big turnout so I can collect as much information as possible, but I'm not holding my breath. It is a Friday, after all.

I'm worried about how I'm going to digest all the information that'll be eventually coming my way. How am I going to take pictures, take down notes/quotes, etc. all by myself? A flash voice recorder sounds might enticing right now... Perhaps I'll stop by the Sony Style store on my way home later...

I love mixing retail therapy with school work. Makes it seem all the much more justified.

Group Deliberation: Topic, Anyone?

Professor Aguilar assigned us our groups and I got teamed up with Samantha Kercheval, Bita Hodaei, Duke Rescola and Stephen Sabetti.

We sat around for what seemed like hours and in a circle, we each revealed to one another what our ideas were concerning our group project. We all knew that we had to pick a topic that we would feel strong about up until the end of the semester. After much deliberation, the two topics we were leaning toward were: fashion and the current war in Iraq.

Samantha seems to have a strong connection to this topic, hailing from Twenty-Nine Palms, a military community. Her fiancee, Tim, is also a Marine.

I have to admit, I'm having reservations about covering such a serious and sensitive subject. After hearing some of the other groups ideas, I especially felt kinda hesitant to tackle this topic. I guess we'll see how it goes.