LauraFay

Web Rewrite

2008-11-18T00:26:00.001-07:00

Early voting eases pressures on Election Day
Boulder County voters turned out in record numbers to vote early this year, likely the cause of a smoother Election Day

Most Boulder County polls didn’t live up to their notorious standards of long lines, unprepared voters and general confusion this Election Day. The option to vote early in Colorado this year may have accounted for a generally smooth Election Day this year.

An estimated 27,000 Boulder County residents voted early this election, accounting for almost 15 percent of total votes.

Five locations, including the Boulder County Clerk and Recorder’s Office and the University of Colorado’s Recreation Center, were open for early voting from October 20 to October 31, with the exception of Sunday.

The County Clerk’s Office, which recorded the highest number of early voters, saw about 7,400 voters. The CU Rec Center had the longest lines for early voting and saw about 7,000 voters, according to Hillary Hall, Boulder County’s Clerk and Recorder.

One of the primary advantages of early voting, says Hall, is convenience. Early voters may cast ballots at any one of the five polling locations. On Election Day, voters have to find out for themselves which of 170 polling locations they must attend. Particularly for first time voters, she says, it’s one less thing to remember.

Mark Denniston, a political science professor at the University of Colorado, agrees. He says he understands that some schedules make it difficult or impossible to get to the polls on Election Day and the option to vote early increases the odds of getting a voter to the polls.

Early voting also allows increased time to resolve common Election Day issues. The option to vote early lessens the chance of a line on Election Day. Issues like misprints and changes of address can also be more easily resolved with additional time.

One disadvantage of early voting is staffing the locations for an additional 11 days. Staff and volunteers must be recruited and trained much earlier and must serve much longer. However, Debbie Federin, a staff member at Boulder County Democrats, says that early voting allowed volunteers to spend the entire day helping others at the polls on Election Day, without having to leave and cast their own votes.

Early voting also affects candidates’ campaigns. Hall says early voting has “completely changed” the dynamics of campaigning.

“Campaigns are really going to have to look at their strategy of when they get what messages out,” she added. Elena Nunez, program director for Colorado Common Cause, a political nonprofit, agrees. She says early voting means “the finish line is no longer Election Day.”

Indeed, around 50 percent of Boulder County voters cast ballots early, at either polling centers or through mail-in ballots, but both candidates still came to Colorado to rally voters right up to Election Day.

The most noticeable effect of early voting is shorter lines and a smoother election day. Looking around the Boulder County Clerk and Recorder’s Office on Election Day, which was open for emergency voting and registration help, Hall called the scene “pretty quiet.”

To learn more about Boulder County’s election, visit http://www.bouldercounty.org/clerk/elections/

Broadcast Rewrite:

2008-11-18T00:23:00.001-07:00

Early voting eases pressures on Election Day
**The original story, intended for print, covered the possible effect of Colorado’s new early voting option on the Election Day experience. The print story included turnout numbers and sentiments from Election Day and generally looked back on the whole experience.
However, in the world of broadcast news, I think the story would be more appropriate if it was aired in the weeks leading up to the election, when early voting was actually happening. (Probably true with the print story, too… but, that’s the way it goes).

Anchor:
For Boulder County voters, long lines and Election Day confusion may be a thing of the past. That’s because one of the newest options for Colorado voters, the option to vote early, is already underway this week.

[b-roll: rolls of “I Voted” stickers, or a shot of voters leaving polls wearing them]

This year, voters have the option to cast their ballots well before Election Day on November 4th. Five polling centers, located throughout Boulder County, opened early this week and, already, almost #### voters have taken advantage of the option.

Boulder County Clerk and Recorder, Hillary Hall, says early voting has many advantages and is a huge proponent.
[Interview with Hall: advantages include being able to vote at any location, avoiding lines on Election Day, having extra time to cast your ballot, etc]

In addition to affecting some voters’ schedules, the option to vote early could also affect many candidates’ campaign strategy. Hall says early voting has completely changed the dynamics of campaigning. Elena Nunez, a member of Colorado Common Cause, agrees.
[Interview with Nunez: what candidates must change, why]

The most noticeable effects of early voting are expected to be shorter lines and a smoother Election Day next Tuesday, but you may not have to wait until then to reap the benefits. If you’re interested in voting early, you may go to any of the five locations, all are listed here on our website [URL on screen], up until October 31st. The polls are open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. every day except Sunday.

Story Ideas for the Political Beat

2008-10-23T12:16:00.003-06:00

1) How many people have already voted at early voting sites?
- look at both students or Boulder County residents
- check with the Rec. Center and other early voting sites
- interview early voters : sentiments about the elections, why they wanted to vote early, what their expectations are, what other people they know are planning to do

2) What problems are expected at the polls?
- interview poll employees: what kind of training they've had, why they decided to help out at polls, what they expect on Nov. 4
- what has been done to solve last year's problems?
- does Boulder County have any new technology this year?
- what do different polls expect in terms of numbers?

3) What will happen to the mail-in ballots requested by over 50 percent of Colorado residents?
- what is the actual number of mail-in ballot requests?
- how does it compare to years past?
- if total is less than enough to swing the county, district or state, will they even be looked at?
- what are the procedures? how should ballots be filled out, what should be included to make sure the vote counts (ex: photocopy of a photo ID)?

4) What are the implications of a "yes" vote on Amendment 48?
- interview OB/GYNs, Planned Parenthood employees, students, parents, conservative proponents
- when will it go into effect?
- who will it have the most significant effects on?
- what are the laws of surrounding states? how would a win for 48 compare?

5) Could any of the amendments or referenda on the ballot affect CU's funding?
- what are financial expectations for Colorado's public universities in the next few years?
- will any of the ballot measures take money away from, or increase spending on, educational funding? if so, how much?

Grammar Exercise

2008-09-29T21:14:00.001-06:00

Rich textbook, p. 117

Grammar Exercise
Rich p. 117

a. She felt bad about missing the school board meeting, but her editor fired her regardless of her excuse.

b. We will join together in prayer for the students who died in the shooting; we will also fly the flags at half-staff.

c. It’s all right if you miss class for a job interview, you can make up the test tomorrow.

d. We’ll divide the workload among three students.

e. The St. Joseph Board of Commissioners is planning to submit a proposal for a bond issue to pay for road improvements. They are hoping the election committee will reach a consensus of opinion to put the issue on the ballot.

f. I know you are eager to get this job, but each of the applicants will have a chance to discuss their strengths and weaknesses with the personnel director.

g. Based on your writing skills, it looks like you could be a good journalist.

h. Each of the students will receive a plaque with their diplomas at graduation.

i. She was embarrassed that she had fewer than five answers correct on the quiz.

j. After the boss read the report, he gave it to Jim and I to rewrite. He said it’s due back by Monday.

Left-handed apparently not the ‘right’ way

2008-09-17T23:04:00.001-06:00

Left-handed people may be at greater risk than their right-handed counterparts, study claims

An American who is left-handed may have a shorter life expectancy than right-handed citizens, a new study indicates. In fact, right-handed people live an average of 75 years while left-handed people live an average of only 66.

The study, conducted by Diane Halpern, a psychology professor at California State University at San Bernardino, and Stanley Coren, a researcher at the University of British Columbia, was reported in today’s edition of the New England Journal of Medicine.

The team looked at the death records of 987 people in two Southern California counties and found right-handed people were four times as likely to die from injuries while driving and as much as six times more likely to die from accidents of all kinds. Women who are right-handed tend to live six years longer than their right-handed counterparts. The difference in men is even more striking. Right-handed men live as many as 11 years longer than left-handed men.

The team wanted to investigate the fact that there are less left-handed people among the elderly. “We knew for years that there weren’t as many old left-handers,” Halpern said. “Researchers thought that was because in the early years of the century, most people born left-handed were forced to change to their right hands. So we thought we were looking at old people who used to be left-handed, but we weren’t. The truth was, there simply weren’t many left-handers left alive.”

The team suggests the reason for the difference may lie in engineering. “Almost all engineering is geared to the right hand and right foot,” Halpern said. “There are many more car and other accidents among left-handers because of their environment.”

“It’s important that mothers of left-handed children not be alarmed and not try to change which hand a child uses,” Halpern warns. “There are many, many old-left handed people.”

2008-09-08T17:45:00.001-06:00

1. Who has won most total games in the series?
CU has, by far, won the most total games. The Buffs’ have gone 59-19-2 in the Rocky Mountain Showdown’s 80-game history.
(Nick Bernal, Graduate Assistant Sports Information Director at Colorado)

2. Why is the venue changing for this series?
The Colorado-Colorado State game will be played in Boulder in 2009 because the Buffs needed a sixth home game for their schedule. Both teams are in a contract that lasts until 2010 that allots certain games for each team to consider “home games.” The teams can decide to play those games either on their own turf or at Invesco Field. Colorado State has opted to play the 2010 game in Fort Collins.
(David Plati, Sports Information Director at Colorado)

3. How many students from each school were in attendance for the game?
The stadium didn’t record attendance according to team, but 69,619 fans nearly filled Invesco Field to its capacity of 76,125 for this year’s game. According to a friend in attendance, Colorado fans appeared to outnumber Colorado State fans, but no one knows for sure.
(Nick Bernal, Graduate Assistant Sports Information Director at Colorado; Georgia Hamilburg, CU Student that went to the game)

4. What negative events (if any) occurred in the last five years during tailgating gatherings?
For the 2008 game, an unnamed Invesco Field employee said that there were at least 15 ejections prior to the start of the game. The only alcohol served inside Invesco was in clubs, suites, and box seats.
(Invesco Field main information line)

5. According to Invesco Field security, which tailgating crowds are more likely to cause problems: professional football crowds or college football crowds?
Which crowd is most likely to cause problems? According to Lance Rankin, a security guard from Stadium Management Company (the company who runs security at Invesco Field), “that’s easy. The CSU-CU game is the most difficult event of the year.” According to Rankin, the 2008 game was better than the past two years. He assumes each of the schools talked to the students about celebrating the game respectfully (this is true; all CU students did get an email about behaving at the game). Rankin thought somewhere between 40-60 students got ejected from the game this year. No alumni got too crazy? “Nope – it was all drunken students.”
(Lance Rankin, Stadium Management Company)

Story Ideas

2008-09-02T10:19:00.001-06:00

Coverage of the CU/CSU Game (with interviews from each grade)

1) Look into the tradition of the Rocky Mountain Showdown
-2008 = 80th playing of the game
-who has won most total games?
-history – uniform changes, best/worst coaches, school spirit stories, etc
-sense of continuity

2) The hard story of the 2008 game
-final score, highlights, stats
-what the Buffs’ win means for the rest of the season
-players’ and Coach Hawkin’s thoughts on the game

3) Freshman experience of first game
-excitement of the game
-transportation woes
-CU pride
-alcohol/drug abuse at the game

4) Colorado hosts Rocky Mountain Showdown in 2009
-why the switch?
-who has the rights, how does it work?
-how do CSU fans feel?
-will people miss excitement of Invesco?
-what can fans expect?

5) How college students celebrate gamedays in 2008
-interviews of bus drivers
-tell-all story of alcohol, drugs, sex
-how gameday celebrations have changed from a few decades ago
-history – riots, etc
-how the need for buses/formal transportation may change the way students celebrate before this particular game

2008-08-28T13:14:00.002-06:00

"The news of the day as it reaches the newspaper office is an incredible medley of fact, propaganda, rumor, suspicion, clues, hopes, and fears, and the task of selecting and ordering that news is one of the truly sacred and priestly offices in a democracy."

One of the most important roles in a democracy - separating fact from fiction in the newsroom – can only be so if, in the end, the facts actually do matter to the democracy. With that in mind, this statement carries with it some degree of danger for journalists that are unsure of their responsibilities.

In particular, young journalists have an enormous amount of learning and understanding to do before entering the newsroom and statements like Lippmann’s can give the impression that journalists can do no wrong. Comparing a journalist’s role in society to that of a priest opens the door to many wrong interpretations. The role of a journalist is somewhat ambiguous in that many people and organizations define it in different ways. The basic tenets of truth and accuracy and relevancy will always be agreed upon but the method for reaching these ideals is harder to define.

More than anything, the next generation of journalists will be responsible for regaining the public’s trust in the media. Most likely, regaining this trust and mutual dependence will require a generation of journalists that excel at not only all of the field’s age-old requirements, but who are also humble about their work.

So, while the job of collecting and delivering the news remains one of a democracy’s highest callings, the best approach may be to not emphasize that point to the youngest apprentices in the profession. In the earliest stages of a journalism career, stressing the many serious responsibilities of the job will likely bring about the right conclusion in students anyway.