Polar Bear Plunge, written for radio

The following is a piece written to be recorded on the Northeastern University student run newsradio program. It is about a polar bear plunge taking place to raise awareness about the Gay Men's Domestic Violence Project:

It was about 40 degrees outside, raining… the water at Carson Beach at 12pm Sunday February 22^nd was almost 35 degrees . People strolled through the sand, walking their dogs like any other ordinary day… unsuspecting of the fact that this day was not quite so ordinary. People who made the trip to the beach solely for the event, cheered loudly while watching the plungers dive into the Boston Harbor. It was certainly a sight to see, as participants were dressed in outfits ranging from bathing suits to a penguin, a statue of liberty, and a full ball gown or two, like those you would see at a high school senior prom. In addition to the noise made by spectators, The Second Line Social Aid and Pleasure Society Brass Band played loud and enthusiastic music, amping up the energy of those about to immerse themselves in freezing water, and building the anticipation of those excited to watch them.
Many participants who actually went for a swim in the icy water insisted that running in was not so bad… at least not until they were completely entrenched.
This Winter Plunge, an annual event hosted by the Gay Men’s Domestic Violence Project, serves as a fundraiser for the organization, which has, like many non-profit organizations, hit hard times due to the declining economy. This is the 5^th year GMDVP has done the plunge, which always takes place at Carson Beach in February. Though it is one of their smaller events, the plunge serves as a quirky, fantastically fun way to grab attention and raise awareness of the organization.
The GMDVP was founded in Massachusetts in 1994 by a gay victim of domestic violence who was turned away from the services provided to female victims of domestic violence. Since then, the organization has expanded and now provides crisis intervention and other services, including safe housing, legal aid and a 24 hour hotline, in Rhode Island and Connecticut.
Operating with only a 12 person staff, GMDVP faces the rising number of male victims reaching out for help every year. According to Iain Gill, Director of Education for GMDVP, the number of clients has risen 23% while the amount of donations to the organization has dropped 60%. Because of the lack of funds, he explained, GMDVP has had to turn away several people needing beds because there just aren’t enough to be able to help everyone. This trend makes fundraisers like the Winter Plunge more significant than ever. While this event helps more with attracting attention and engaging the community, GMDVP holds other, more lucrative fundraisers throughout the year, including themed parties. They also work on projects with Boston Pride and other Pride groups within its reach.
Anyone interested in helping to support the Gay Men’s Domestic Violence Project can provide aid by donating funds or volunteering their time. To find out more about the Gay Men’s Domestic Violence Project, visit
www.gmdvp.org or visit the NUBiLaGA office in Curry Student Center, room 222, for brochures and information cards.

A Hypothetical Obituary for Oprah Winfrey

Oprah Gail Winfrey, [cq] who rose from Southern poverty and abuse to become the biggest television star of this generation, died yesterday when her jet crashed into the South Atlantic Ocean while she was en route to the school for girls she established in South Africa.

Having invested time and love, in addition to $40 million, founding the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls near Johannesburg, she was making the trip to bring more supplies and other monetary gifts, according to her publicist Lisa Halliday [cq].

Gayle King [cq], a resident of Wilton, Connecticut, was Winfrey’s best friend. She said she was devastated upon hearing the news and believes the whole world will feel this loss. “She was a giver, and she gave until her last day on this earth,” King said, at a press conference held last night on the property of Oprah’s main home in Chicago, Illinois,“…her legacy is set in stone, and her life is an example of how greatness can be achieved by those given the least breaks in life. I am grateful to have known her for as long as I have.”

Ms. Winfrey’s long-term and live-in partner Stedman Graham [cq], from Whitesboro, New Jersey, said it’s important to remember how she lived, not how she died. “Let us not mourn her death, but celebrate her life. She would want it that way,” he said at the podium of the press conference.

She acquired the name for which she was best known -- Oprah -- because her family and friends could not properly pronounce Orpah, a Biblical figure in the Book of Ruth for whom she was named. She was a considerate, intelligent girl who learned to project the characteristics of the virtuous Ruth even more as she matured, relatives said.

“Ever since she could talk she was on stage,” Hattie Mae Lee [cq], from Kosciusko, Mississippi [cq], once said of her granddaughter. “She used to play games where she’d interview her dolls, the crows on the fence, and anything else.”

Ms. Winfrey credited her late grandmother for being the one who gave her a “positive sense” of herself. Lee knew the girl was destined to do something special, even as she was raising Oprah in rural poverty in Kosciusko [cq] and had to send her to school in dresses made from potato sacks.

Through the years, billions of people around the world were able to see in Oprah what her grandmother saw from the beginning.

With the first episode of The Oprah Winfrey Show aired nation-wide on September 8, 1986, Ms. Winfrey began her journey to establish herself among the white-male dominated talk-show world. She earned her start, after turning AM Chicago, a low rated, half-hour talk show, into the highest rated talk show in Chicago within a matter of months.

Oprah became a household name, overtaking and far surpassing talk-show competition, and continuing to launch the TV careers of the likes of Dr. Phil McGraw.

She had an unmatched gift for gab and showed viewers a sort of genuine empathy. People that went on her show would share things with her that they would not dream of telling anyone, and in turn, she would share things with them.

During an episode of her show in 1986, when the topic of sexual abuse was being discussed, Ms. Winfrey first revealed to the world that she had been abused as a child by her cousin, uncle, and a family friend. The abuse resulted in her becoming pregnant at age 14, but her son died of health complications a few weeks later in the hospital. In a 2004 episode, Winfrey said that she had a half-brother who died of AIDS years before, leaving her with no more biological relatives.

Winfrey caught the broadcasting bug during her senior year at East Nashville High School in Nashville, Tennessee. After being sent to live with her father, Vernon Winfrey, in Nashville, his strict demeanor led to Oprah becoming an honors student. She joined her high school speech team and won an oratory contest, which secured her a full scholarship to Tennessee State University, where she later received a degree in Communications. At the end of her senior year of high school, at age 17, Winfrey won the Miss Black Tennessee beauty pageant and attracted the attention of WVOL, the local radio station. She was hired part-time to do the news and continued to work there through her first two years of college.

Oprah also became known for giving gifts to members of her audience, from books to household items to new cars. She became an Academy Award nominated actress for her part in Color Purple, directed by Steven Spielberg [cq], launched Oprah.com, published two popular magazines, and had a $55 million radio show contract with XM radio.

Overcoming many adversities, Ms. Winfrey rose to become, at one point, the richest person in the world, having achieved a net worth of over $2.7 billion. “She was not only rich in material goods, but in wisdom and character. She will always be remembered for sharing these things and much more,” said her agent Kevin Huvane [cq] at last night’s press conference. CNN and Time Magazine called Winfrey “the world’s most powerful woman.”

There will be a number of memorial services for Oprah in multiple countries. U.S. President Barack Obama issued a written statement this morning announcing that the Obama family will be holding their own service for Ms. Winfrey on March 27. The President also wrote that he felt he and Oprah had become friends during his campaigning period and he is “honored to be able to take part in celebrating the life of a woman who used her influence to effect positive changes around the globe.”

Ms. Winfrey’s funeral, open to close friends exclusively by invitation, will be held March 26th in Chicago. “Oprah’s last will and testament expressed that as she has no blood family left, she wanted to be buried in the place she felt most loved and at home in her life, here in Chicago,” Gayle King, who is in charge of the funeral arrangements, said. King did not wish to share the invitation list or the exact time of the funeral. “Those of us who loved her like family…need privacy to mourn,” said King.

On Ethics with the Society of Professional Journalism

How far is too far when it comes to getting a story? This question has been at the forefront of many debates revolving around ethics in journalism.

As a journalist, it is your job to find out the truth and convey it honestly. How do you decide what information is off limits and what should not be released to the public?

To address these and other pertinent questions, The Society of Professional Journalism, based in Indianapolis, Indiana, has developed an Ethics Committee, which outlined the proper ethical practices, taking into consideration war-time journalism and other special circumstances.

Technological advancements, in addition to the development of citizen journalism, have caused news to grow less formal, and the clear boundaries of what is acceptable have blurred, according to the Society of Professional Journalists’ website. Andy Schotz [cq], a member of the Society, manages the Ethics Blog and provides internet updates on current ethics issues and SPJ‘s view of the matter, using the same technologies to try and redefine these ethical boundaries.

The media’s role is “to be as comprehensive as possible, to provide all pertinent information, and to exercise a certain amount of judgment,” says Fred Brown [cq], Vice Chair of the Society of Professional Journalism National Ethics Committee.

He agrees that with new-age journalism, how information is gathered and the means by which it is distributed, time is not always taken to consider ethics. However, nearly 10,000 news institutions have become members of the SPJ and have vowed to abide by the Code of Ethics, he said. This suggests a strong commitment by news organizations to maintain respectability.

The SPJ Code of Ethics has four parts: Seek Truth and Report It, Minimize Harm, Act Independently, and Be Accountable.

You must check the accuracy of all the information you gather and respect the obligation you have to report it, said Brown, as This obligation, however, does not give a journalist the right to cause undue harm or distress. Especially in sensitive cases, a journalist must “take into consideration the safety of the people in the situation as it develops,” Brown said.

As far as being accountable, there has been many times where news organizations have come under fire from victims’ families and sympathizers, as well as law enforcement, for airing sensitive video or audio content. Using the pieces of footage from the Virginia Tech shootings, in which a student went on a rampage, killing 32 students and professor before shooting himself, as an example, Brown said he could understand that “some of the video was less sensitive than other parts. The problem is when a situation like this is developing, it is really difficult to take the time to make those decisions…I think the news outlets had an obligation to explain what they did…why they did it.”

He did not say whether he would have made the same decision to air the video, only that he was glad not to have had to make such a decision.

Brown insists that the Code of Ethics created by the Society of Professional Journalists can be successfully applied to just about all situations, but for those more difficult times when journalists need help making ethical decisions, the email addresses of the members on the Ethics Committee can be found on the website www.spj.org. For an immediate response, journalists can call the Ethics Hotline at (317)927-8000, extension 208, when unsure what to do in a tough spot.

A Profile of Criminologist Jack Levin

Jack Levin, Ph.D is a specialist in the fields of criminology, prejudice and social psychology and a world renowned expert on serial killings, mass murders, and hate crimes. But to his students he’s just a colorful, entertaining educator.

Levin has one of the most popular classes at Northeastern University; it is full every semester. Levin said this is because he likes giving a performance and lecturing is his favorite part of teaching.

“Grading is kind of the dirty work of teaching,” Levin said.

Levin said he does not mind teaching for hundreds of students.

“People call it exhibitionist, or a show boat, and I might be,” Levin said with a chuckle.

At age 68, Levin has authored over 30 books, 150 articles, and is commonly featured as an expert on various network newscasts and programs such as the Oprah Winfrey Show. Levin is the go-to guy in the sociology field, but it was a long, twisty road before he got in front of a classroom. He is a revolutionary in his work, an eccentric in lifestyle, and a man of many talents.

“Before the early 1980’s, I had a much wider range of interests. In the early 1980s I discovered that no one had actually studied serial murder so I did a small study that became the basis for a book which was the first book written on serial murder. After that I really couldn’t get out of the business,” Levin said.

After serial murder, he started to study mass killings.

“Then I had another interest that predated research of killing -- bigotry and race relations. I did books on prejudice not only based on race and religion, but also age and gender. In the 1980s the term “hate crime” was coined, so in 1993 I wrote the first book on hate crimes,” Levin continued. Both books were written with other Northeastern University faculty members. Since the 1980s Levin’s focus was on violent crimes.

“In the class I teach, before the midterm we study violence, then hate crimes until the final. Or actually, maybe it’s hate after the final,” Levin laughed.

“I was a high school student under Jim Crow and saw the way blacks were victimized and that stuck with me for the rest of my life. I’m Jewish and I was seen as just a notch above blacks at that time. I think I could’ve gone either way with it. I’m sure there’s some people that would’ve backed away from the things I got involved in because they might have felt lucky to be higher in the hierarchy,” Levin said.

Originally from the deep South, Levin was born in New Orleans, raised in Houston.

“I thinks that’s where my interest in prejudice came from, being from there.”

Levin’s family moved around a lot. They moved to Massachusetts in February of his senior year of high school, and he graduated from Classical High School in Springfield. While his family continued to move around he stayed in Massachusetts because he loved Boston.

“Once I got here I didn’t want to move, and I didn’t!”

Levin has been in Boston since 1963.

Levin told the tale of how he went from Jack Levin, who struggled academically at first, to the Jack Levin, renowned professor and field expert.

“It’s really weird because I was certainly not an exceptional student in high school. I was too busy, I had a rock band. I did everything else but study a lot. My first year in college I majored in partying. I almost flunked out. Majoring in business which I despised… so I changed. It was kind of like the change alcoholics make when they join Alcoholics Anonymous… I hit rock bottom.”

He was lucky enough to meet a friend who he considered a brilliant student and he became Levin’s role model and mentor. Levin gave up his old, partying friends and dropped the business classes, then took up psychology and economics.

“I went from a 1.6 Grade Point Average to a 3.8 average. I became fanatical about studying. When I came to graduate school I was intense about studying. Eventually, I learned to balance studying and fun. Took me a few years but I did it,” Levin reminisced.

Levin got his master’s in communications research and wanted to do advertising research. After three days ss an intern at McCann Erickson, an advertising agency in New York City, Levin realized he hated every minute and knew communications was not for him. Although he did not know what he wanted to do in life he decided to stay in school.

“Wasn’t until I was a third year graduate student that I decided I wanted to teach at the college level. I walked in, gave a lecture and that’s when I knew that’s what I wanted to do the rest of my life. I kind of just felt into it... I loved it immediately.”

Detailing how he managed to build such a lofty reputation, Levin said one key factor was timing.

“First of all, I got in early,” Levin said. “I wrote the first book about serial murder and the first book about hate crimes… so I kind of was a pioneer and that helps,” Levin said. There are dozens of books about hate crimes now, but when Levin wrote the book it was the only one. “I think I kind of get some kind of satisfaction of being the first. I’m not saying I’m the best, but I certainly do like being the first.”

When sought for help in profiling and understanding a perpetrator, Levin makes his analyses on a statistical basis.

“I think of all the cases that I’ve known and studied and I have some kind of concept in my head about what some kind of crimes look like and analyze the next crime. When I analyzed the massacre of Fort Hood, I didn’t think of terrorism, I thought of workplace murder so I was able to give a profile based on the other cases because if tried to do it on terrorism I would have very little to go on.” In a recent USA Today, Levin wrote about how the shooter was a workplace avenger and not a terrorist.

On Levin’s website, JackLevinOnViolence.com, he speaks of having learned many significant lessons through his experiences.

“There are a lot of lessons I’ve learned about violent crimes. First, when people think of motives for violent murder they often think money, love, jealousy, revenge, profit, but they often ignore power and control and dominance, yet many of the killers that I’ve studied are motivated to gain a lot of publicity for themselves or to be big shots, be in charge, be important. Even when they kill their victims they try to maximize suffering and pain because it makes them feel so special.”

Levin said power is often a motive, not just the usual hypotheses.

When asked to reminisce on his toughest case ever, Levin went quiet for a moment.

“The one that bothered me the most was the case of Danny Rolling, a drifter from Louisiana who relocated to Gainesville, Florida where he brutally murdered five beautiful college students… He raped three of the five.” One of the murder victims was a man. He killed the man to get to his female roommate. There were three crime scenes.

“They were so hideous, grotesque, that I couldn’t sleep for weeks. And even now, if I allow myself to remember back to those crimes scenes, I won’t be able to sleep tonight. It was that horrible.”

Though Levin loves the work he does, he admits it is sometimes a hard job.

“People expect you to be a psychic and to predict based on a set of warning signs who will turn out to be a killer, and that’s simply impossible. There are simply too many people who have all the symptoms, but do not get the disease.” For example, Levin continued, school shooters like Virginia Tech or Columbine... you can give a list of warning signs, but those warning signs are shared by hundreds of thousands. One of the warning signs is they hated school, where about 60% of students hate going to class. That’s the biggest problem, Levin believes, using warning signs.

“It’s so much harder than people think.”

To truly understand the genius of Jack Levin, one must get to know the man behind the work. Family is very important to Levin, who has two sisters, a wife, and three children.

“One of my daughters went to NU, graduated with a psychology major and got a master’s in psychology at Arizona State University. She married an NU kid. Both daughters had a little boy within 5 weeks of one another so we have two, four year old grandsons, and one is pregnant with a boy now.” Levin also has a son. “All three of my children live within 20 minutes. When my family moved from state to state I didn’t like it. I like the feeling of stability you get with staying one place.”

When asked about his favorite childhood memory, Levin said excitedly, “That’s a hard one! Oh My God I think I do have one!… When I was in the 6^th grade... there was a campaign between Eisenhower and Stevenson, the Democrat. I debated another student in the school auditorium. I was on Stevenson’s side, and of course Stevenson lost; he also lost among the students of the school,” Levin remembered happily. “It was a high point of my elementary career and inspired me to want to do more public speaking. Other than that, I had a Gilbert Chemistry set and along with a friend, I built a little bomb and blew up the garage.”

On the topic of childhood, Levin thinks back to what he wanted to be when he grew up. “Not a professor, not a criminologist. I think it might’ve been to be either a magician or a musician because those are the things that I did when I became a teenager.” Levin played a guitar and sang in his band and also did magic tricks for a kids camp. “I still do magic tricks in my class.”

Bringing the conversation back to more recent years, Levin recounted his most embarrassing moment. While conducting a study, he was interviewing a serial killer in Washington state and he tried to make him suffer by squeezing his hand as hard as he could. “The killer knew exactly what I was trying to do and he laughed at me… he made a fool of me,” Levin said.

In recounting his greatest achievements thus far, Levin stated that being a father was a tough endeavor and to the extent that he could pull it off is an achievement in itself.

“In my career, I think the thing that made me feel good about myself was when students from other schools called me in my office and said they loved one of my books and it made them want to study Sociology,” Levin said. “The fact that I actually inspired students not even in the Boston area to major in my field was a great accomplishment.”

Levin also said if he was to take the question more officially, he might say that his greatest accomplishment was when the state of Massachusetts recognized him as “Professor of the Year,” but he felt much more accomplished by those phone calls than by having that plaque on the wall.

Jack Levin is known around campus for his eccentric personality. His vast, colorful tie collection includes a nice purple number with a giant, black stuffed spider attached. When asked how he feels people view him, Levin responded that people understand him more than he understands himself. He shared a memory of being in an airport and being recognized by a student from his class in 1979. The former student saw Professor Levin and was so happy to see him. Levin said he loves when students from classes past will see him and recount some incident from class they never forgot, “like my hideous tie collection. I pride myself on being out of the ordinary.” Sometimes, Levin said, others do appreciate the fact that he’s concerned about keeping students coming back to class and not falling asleep.

“I love Northeastern!” Levin said when explaining why he chose to teach at Northeastern University. “I could have left years ago, but I wouldn’t do it. I love teaching here as much as ever. My students are better than ever… the campus went from ugly to beautiful… I can commute… I love Boston. What else would I get?”

NEPA Bulletin article

The following is a link to the New England Press Associations newletter in which I was assigned to cover one of the speakers at the NEPA Convention in 2009:

http://www.nenpa.com/resources/Documents/2009%20March1.pdf

“There will be a quiz in 15 minutes,” said the speaker, Tom Kearney, Managing Editor of The Stowe Reporter of Stowe, V.T., as he passed handouts around the room. Laughter ensued, setting a relaxed, comfortable tone which persisted throughout the afternoon workshop entitled “Making Good Decisions for News Coverage” at the Boston Park Plaza Hotel, February 6^th.

The audience consisted of reporters, editors, mail delivery persons, investigators, and publishers. The catch was that it was usually one person fulfilling all of these roles.

Tom Kearney [cq], 62, spoke to a room of about 30 who were aching to find out how they can put forward their best paper with the most effective content. These people came to this workshop to learn how to enhance their small publication with little to no staff.

Lee Kahrs [cq], News Editor of the Brandon Reporter of Brandon, V.T., is proud to say that she “handles the news from its conception all the way to [the] doorstep.” For the Reporter, she writes the news, decides the layout, edits, puts the newspaper together and then delivers it herself. She attended the workshop seeking help on prioritizing stories and learning how to become a better editor and said she came away with a different way of thinking. Kahrs stated that Kearney was really good in delivering little nuggets of knowledge that will surely be useful in the future.

Some of the highlights of the workshop could be found in the open discussions Kearney allowed throughout the session between its participants. These discussions allowed people to ask questions of, and provide advice or suggestions for, peers in similar positions. This was another factor which turned this lecture-style presentation into more of an open forum.

Some of the main issues addressed included questions of how small publications can compete with the “paper of record,” or those papers most widely read within their demographic, especially when the bigger paper is able to cover so many areas so quickly. Participants also asked for advice in how to attract not only readers, but companies to invest in advertisements in their newspapers.

Kearney answered these questions and many more, providing tips on getting your publication to be taken seriously, how to compete with the bigger, older bears of journalism, and how use limited resources to create a worthwhile and marketable product.

For publications aiming to attract more readers, Kearney advised them to broaden their vision and connect with their community. He stated that in smaller communities, a tiny newspaper’s main competition is probably word-of-mouth, not necessarily a bigger publication, implying that they need to attract more attention. You need to find “some kind of crack-cocaine of the hobby area. If you can become the voice of that, you can help yourself.” He drove this point home with examples of how his own Stowe Reporter has an entire section about snow and also, how another publication solely about horses and everything involved with the animal, is doing quite well for itself. Kearney says that filling niches can greatly boost your circulation.

In competition with larger publications, Kearney said, a smaller publication has the edge of being able to cover a story better and more in depth. A weekly publication, especially, can take the time to cover events with a different, more intense angle, while dailies are pressured to just get the story in while it’s hot.

Addressing boosting your advertisements, Kearney stated that it is your job to focus on making the best publication you possibly can, gaining readers, and trying to grow. If you do that, then advertisers will come. They want to know they are investing in something people will read, Kearney said, so just focus on making a good newspaper.

Kearney also gave some pointers on how to make a newspaper in any condition better than it already is.

“How many of you know your mission statement?” As a single person raised their hand, Kearney looked at the woman and said, “There’s one… and I think you wrote it!” Amidst chuckles, the speaker declared that one sure-fire way to increase productivity and cohesiveness is to know your mission statement. He went on to insist that another must-have to benefit these factors is having news meetings. It is imperative, Kearney said, to gather your staff and decide what is best for the publication, discuss what everyone is working on, and what the final goals are. Meetings, he said after a few people expressed that they were time consuming and hard to get together, actually save time. They can allow everyone to comment on individual accomplishments, possibly provide help, and plan ahead for the next issue. According to Kearney, no matter how small your staff is, “the more you talk about what is important, the better you are.” Even if, he says referring to Kahrs, you are having a meeting of one.

In wrapping up the workshop, Kearney wanted the participants to absorb two most important pieces of knowledge. “You have two things. You have time and you have people. How are you going to use them?” Kearney stressed the importance of planning and aspiration. “The fact that you’re the newspaper that keeps track of what happens in your community doesn’t make you a stenographer…” Make time for important stories, Kearney advised, and don’t get captivated by events. Also, “boring people make boring newspapers… We take the interesting parts and the important parts [of a story] and throw the rest away.” This is the key to being a reputable and well-liked publication, said Kearney.

After the session, while walking to the banquet, Kearney was asked by a colleague if retirement, after so many years in the news business, was in the near future. “I can’t see it really,” he replied, “I like what I do.”