Week Three at WOIO

As a whole, the week wasn't that busy for me, but Friday was definitely something special. For one, I was on TV in this video!



That video was a portion of the 5 o'clock news from Friday night (5/21). We shot the clips of Tony and Bob Golic and the Bernie Kosar thing earlier that day. And, for those wondering, I only needed two takes for that, ha.

I also was able to meet and interview Bernie Kosar and Bob Golic for my project that I'm doing with Tony Zarella. It was sort of nerve racking to meet both of them, as they are true Cleveland Browns legends. However, I was prepared with my list of questions and even though we didn't have much time with them, Tony let me ask as many questions as we had time for. After we finished the interview with Kosar, Tony had me start writing the script for the package. It was really awesome to just sit and write something that is going to eventually be on the air. He would check in on me every so often to see how it was going, and the first time he read the first few paragraphs, he said something to the effect of "Wow Myles, this is good enough to be a column!"

Later he and I were talking to his wife, Denise (who also works at 19 Action News as a reporter) and he told her that most college interns can't handle themselves and conduct interviews like I did with Kosar and Golic. Obviously, that was really nice to hear.

The other highlight of the week came from talking to anchors Paul Joncich (4:30 & 5:30) and Denise Dufala (4, 6, 11). Their cubicles are connected in sort of a triangle formation with Tiffani Tucker's desk, and because she doesn't work Thursdays or Fridays (it's her weekend, since she anchors the weekend newscasts) they put me at her desk to use the computer. Both of them are so nice, and they're also really funny. Thursday, Paul showed Denise and I this youtube video of an unfortunate college anchor who doesn't usually do sports and then his teleprompter went out. He thought it was hilarious; Denise just felt bad for him. Then she told me about how when she first auditioned for a news station, she did weather. The thing about weather is that it's all ad-libbing - you really have to memorize what you're going to say for 2 and a half minutes. She said she just couldn't handle it, she freaked out, hyperventilated and was just a complete mess. Then told me that it happens to the best of us, and to not worry if it happens on my first audition since everything gets better with experience. She is so incredibly nice, and I really appreciated that advice.

As far as I can tell, my package on Cleveland Flameouts will probably air the last week of project since we'll be finishing interviews this week. I'll let you know when there's a set date.

-Myles

Week 2 at CMNH

Last Friday I got to go and watch three baby Peregrine Falcons be banded. Fist a skinny guy from the Division of Wildlife squeezed through a narrow window an grabbed the chicks from the nest while trying not to be knocked over by the very angry mother Peregrine Falcon whose name is SW. After grabbing the babies we moved into a larger room so that all the press and people who had come to watch could see. First they put a band around the bird’s ankle with a number on it that’s equivalent to our Social Security number. Then they put on a purple band on the other ankle with an I.D number on it that birdwatchers could see. Finally they drew blood from the birds. They believe that two of the falcons are girls and one’s a boy. They were named Arrow, Dart, and Spike. Then we were allowed to pet the baby birds. I can honestly say that they are probably the softest things that I have ever touched. After all of this the same skinny guy from the Division of Wildlife put them back and again tried to avoid being attacked by SW and Ranger (her mate). After all this was over we went back to the museum and I got to work in the deer yard which is becoming one of my favorite things to do. The deer are so sweet and try to eat your cloths. Later that day I was allowed to get Sweetie (one of the museum’s Red Tailed Hawks) on the glove which took me about 5 tries before I was successful. If you want to see the baby Peregrine Falcons then go to: http://snipurl.com/w8ogb

-Emily

Week Two of Fighting Crime in Shaker Heights

With my second week of project complete, I think it's safe to say that there is never a dull moment at the SHPD. This past week, Halle and I have observed court/arraignments, been out on more ride-a-longs, worked with detectives, observed the dispatchers at work, and even got some time at the range. While I could easily go into depth and share many stories about each thing we did this week, I'll spare you the boredom and just share three highlights.

1.) Witnessing an arrest!!
Oh yes, I did in fact see an arrest happen this week. A warrant for a woman's arrest came up when the officer I was doing my ride-a-long with ran her license plate. Upon pulling her over, the officer told her why she was pulled over and then waited for a confirmation of the warrant. When we received the confirmation from dispatch (and also got another police car to the scene), the officer cuffed her and placed her in the back of our car. The woman had a passenger in her car, but since he did not have a valid license, the car she was driving had to be towed (something she was quite displeased about....more so than the fact that she was being arrested). The officer I was with had to search her car, leaving me alone in the car with the arrested woman. Needless to say, it was incredibly awkward. The warrant for this woman's arrest was active in another city, meaning the SHPD cannot take her into custody. So instead, we had to drive to a meeting spot to hand her over to the correct jurisdiction. Definitely an exciting afternoon out on the road.

2.) Visiting a "crime scene."

I put the phrase "crime scene" in quotations because it was not technically a crime scene; it was more a scene of an incident. On Thursday, I was with the detectives when a call came in. Apparently, a man was out mowing the lawn, and he happened to have a gun in his pocket. Somehow, the gun discharged, injuring the man. His wife made the 911 call. When officers first arrived to the scene, the man said he was not mowing the lawn at all but checking the air in his tires. Upon further questioning, the stories between the wife and the man did not add up, leading officers and detectives to think that they were not telling the police something. I went with a detective to the scene because he needed to do a gun residue test. The scene was buzzing when we got there; about six cop cars were present, along with an ambulance. The street was blocked off for through traffic. The man was already in the ambulance when I got there, so I didn't see anything too bloody. I originally stayed out on the street (I didn't want to get in the way of the process), but one of the detectives beckoned me onto the lawn and told me to get right in there with everyone else. So I got to listen in when the police asked the wife more questions, and I got to observe when officers tried to recreate the scenario and search for the missing bullet casing. The injured man is alright, by the way. They took him to the hospital, and he's doing fine. In all, the police decided the the gun discharging was an accident, although there is just a little more investigating that needs to be done.

And finally (best for last)...

3.) Time at the range

Halle and I actually got to shoot at the range twice this week. With help from an officer, we learned how to load and shoot a handgun, an MP-5, and an M-4 (the gun which the military uses). The MP-5 and the M-4 can either shoot single round or multi-round (I'm not sure the correct term for it is), which is like a machine gun effect. Our first time around we were only allowed to shoot on single round, but on our second day at the range, the officer let us try putting it on the machine gun-type mode. It was pretty alarming, especially on the M-4 since it has a kickback to it. But we both had a lot fun down there, and we're hoping to try to shoot again at least once more before project is over.

Yikes, this was much longer than I had planned. So for those who dozed off while reading, my apologies. Hopefully you'll wake up to see the pictures below.

<-- Me rockin' my bulletproof vest.

<-- Halle in the bite suit. I talked about this a little bit in my last post (I think?). Well, in case I didn't, we got see a K-9 demonstration in our first week, and Halle volunteered to put on the bite suit and have a police dog bite her. Sorry for the blur.

^The MP-5 I shot. It's quite heavy. The big round black barrel with the duct tape around it towards the front of the gun is like a silencer.

<-- The M-4. It's even heavier. Kind of pathetic, but my arm is a bit sore from it...

<--And the handgun.

Well, that does it for this post. Hope everyone's projects are going well!

-Becky

The Bun Man Comes to Visit...

The representative from the Nickles bread company came to the park around lunchtime with a few big containers of various bread products. Never before did I realize that picking out bread was such an important decision!

We first started with the hamburger buns. There were a lot of factors that went into the ultimate decision. We set all of the various buns out on the table and examined them. We looked at their sizes, their weights, etc. We also picked up all of the various buns in our hands and felt how firm / soft they were. Some of the buns were also significantly denser than others. We also looked at the aesthetic appeal of the buns. For example, some of the buns had more of a yellowish / light brown tint than others (which is desirable in retail locations). Some buns also had different types of toppings (like brushed garlic or herbs) which is desirable because it makes the buns look more substantial and expensive.

The winning hamburger bun is the one in the lower right hand side of the photo:

We then moved on to hotdog buns, where many of the aforementioned factors applied in this decision. We also debated between the hot dog buns with the split center verses the solid center. Also, we looked at the normal sandwich bread, garlic bread sticks, etc.

The next step involves taking all of these bread products into the park and actually working with them. They will test how they look with the actual hamburger patties / hot dogs / meat / etc. in them. They will also look at their moisture tolerance and shelf life.

Overall it was pretty cool to be able to help pick out the bun that will be eaten by hundreds of thousands of guests this summer!

- Andrew

Business & Web Development at Smart Solutions Week 2

With the formalities out of the way, I was able to spend the past five days working on the website. I set up two “demo sites” on the company's server, as previously mentioned, with one displaying the existing site with tweaks and another being a total overhaul. The former has already been finished and I think the overhaul is coming along pretty well. (I would link to previews, but this blog is public and internal corporate stuff is confidential etc etc etc)

I began working on tweaking a copy of the existing site last Tuesday (following the meeting on Monday), and had implemented all of the proposed changes by mid-Wednesday. If they end up choosing to go with the minor update, it's already available, sans some in-site content that I will need to work with employees to come up with (ie; text, photos, updated contact information).

Creating a revamped version of the website has been my primary focus since. The existing site runs on Wordpress with a custom theme. I figured I'd start from scratch, so I copied the site's users/pages/posts over to a fresh Wordpress installation with the default theme. I'm designing it with the existing color scheme (corporate colors, no choice, but I have no problem with them) and with a similar page layout in lieu of the original so that the changes won't seem too radical. I hope to finish or come close to finishing the overhauled version by the end of this week so I can have some time to collect feedback and go from there.

-John K.

Week 2 at GaREAT/ReCreation

This week I did not get to be working out at GaREAT as my sponsor was on a business trip. Instead I was working at his office in Chesterland. I worked on various projects and research that he gave me daily which included the Rock N' Roll Marathon Series, International Junior Golf Tour as well as basic things for GaREAT like ticket systems and fitness equipment. Prior to this week I was not really sure what the Rock N' Roll Marathon Series was about. My tasks with this involved researching the Rock history for each city that a marathon is going to be held in. The purpose of this was to find things like artists that started in the city etc. Therefore they could tie those things to the event. I also got to put together a preliminary list of 10 hours of rock music for the events. I liked working on this project as it allowed me to explore something I was interested in. I was also given the job to find things that could be sold or exhibited at the events whether that is face painting for kids or rock memorabilia. One of my days in the office I spent trying to contact golf associations in various states to find out about their databases and how many people they reach out to. This was a bit trying as many of them are not allowed to give out that information. Overall this week presented a lot of learning opportunites and a change of venue. I look forward to a few more days with my sponsor before I head off to Boston for the second part of my project.

~Dani

Week Two at WOIO Channel 19 Action News

My second week of project allowed me to sort of settle into a rhythm of coming in during the early afternoon and sticking around for the evening news broadcasts. WOIO is unique in that it is the only news station to broadcast a 4 o’clock news in its viewing area, so I’m pretty lucky in that I get to see 3 broadcasts at work from 4 to 6:30. In the beginning of the week – including my sponsor Sharon Reed – who are all incredibly nice, helpful, and willing to help me with whatever I need. One anchor, Denise Dufala, was joking around with the producers and me on Monday and then she showed us the proper form of how to throw a discus. It was great, the producers wanted to take a video of it to put on Facebook but she wasn’t going to do it again.

Tuesday I was able to go down to the Q with Sports Director Tony Zarrella and he showed me the media room and all of the special amenities that those in the press get behind the scenes there. We had a lot of down time between his segments for the 4, 5 and 6 o’clock news, so we talked about what I could do as an intern to make my project truly meaningful, and so we decided that I would work on a substantial story that would air on the Sports Extra show on WUAB. He’s going to allow me to really come up with the concept, and then he’ll help me write it, edit it, produce it, the whole nine yards. We both think it’s going to be great resume material.

Wednesday was sort of an exciting day at the news because of the house explosion. It was a story they interrupted normal programming for in the morning at probably 8:45am, when they only had one anchor in the building because their morning show was over. I didn’t go into the station until 11:30 that morning, but I was later told that the 12 o’clock news was put together in under an hour because there was still so much flooding in from ground zero of the explosion.

To sort of wrap things up for the week, I sat in the camera bay on Monday and then again on Friday. The in-studio cameras are all operated electronically by a joystick and a touch-screen computer monitor. Since I had observed her on Monday, Danielle let me go on headset with her on Friday and let me set up some of the cameras for the next segments during the commercial breaks. Then, towards the end of the broadcast, she even let me do a “push” (zoom in on an anchor when they’re talking. WOIO does it because they are “action news”) on one of the anchors.

With all of that, it was certainly an “action news” packed week and I look forward to working with Tony Zarrella this coming week to put our story on the air.

-Myles