GOOD GRAPHICS
Siren story makes good use of new technology

The Missourian article "Sound of sirens" by Adam Buckallew makes use of a graphic showing how a siren works and an actual copy of the six propositions on the ballot for the Nov. 8 election. I think that these are both excellent uses of new technology, allowing the reader to gain more information and have a deeper knowledge of what the article is reporting on. With the siren graphic, most people know what a siren is and that it goes off during emergencies, but not much else. The graphic explains technical aspects of the siren, such as a pinion gear and a rotator gearmotor. The graphic also explains the process of setting off the sirens when an emergency situation arises. The copy of the propositions informs and prepares citizens (voters) on what exactly they'll be voting on come Nov. 8, which can only be helpful.

Story Link: http://www.digmo.org/news/story.php?ID=16741

GOAL POST TASK FORCE
Are you kidding?

In the Missourian article "Task force on postgame chaos named" by David Walle, it is revealed that a new task force is being created solely to prevent events like the tearing down of both goal posts after Mizzou's glorious triumph over Nebraska last weekend. While the group will have a minimal presence at the last home game against Baylor on Nov. 12, the task force plans to be in full effect by the time the next season rolls around.
I, personally, think this is just a little ridiculous. The task force only involves six members, who "will focus on security and promoting positive fan behavior." Six people are not going to stop tens of thousands of fans from rushing the field. While this idea may be good in theory to those looking to curb potentially dangerous behavior, but with only six members on the "task force," the idea falls flat.

Story Link: http://www.digmo.org/news/story.php?ID=16720

SAFE WALKING
New sidewalks to schools

The Missourian article "Sidewalks to schools are goal of proposals" by Matthew Graham details the new sidewalks on Propositions 4 and 5 on Columbia's ballot for the Nov. 8 election. The sidewalks, according to a graphic featured in the article, would be constructed around five elementary schools. The sidewalks are being built to help make students' trips to school safer.
Back when I was in elementary school, my mom would not let my younger brother and I walk to school due to the lack of safe pathways and sidewalks leading to my school. She always drove us or got another adult to get us there. I actually remember one year when a kid in my brother's grade got hit by a car due to the fact that there was not a sidewalk for the kid to walk on. In my opinion, as I learned from that experience, sidewalks are always a good idea in areas with high foot traffic, especially children.

Story Link: http://www.digmo.org/news/story.php?ID=16718

DEERCAM
This isn't a joke?

The Missourian article "Candid camera catches deer" by Brodie Govan details the MU natural resources program that's putting cameras on deer to view their lifestyles.
When I saw the little blurb for this story on the news page, I thought this was a joke. It is cruel and unusual to strap a camera on a poor, innocent deer. First, they tranquilize the poor animal, take it away from its home to the 10-acre conservation area set aside for the study, and finally put the equipment on the deer for audio and video. All this to study the natural behavior of deer. How natural is the deer going to act when it is away from home and carrying camera equipment around?
Up next: $1 million from the National Science Foundation to advance "deercam" studies. No joke. Oh, and one more thing: yes, the footage of the deer is actually going to be online.

Story Link: http://www.digmo.com/news/story.php?ID=16661

MU LOOKING TO CHANGE ADMITTANCE REQUIREMENTS
ACT score won't be the primary factor

According to the Missourian article "Faculty Council to look at use of ACT" by Rachel Riley, MU and the other schools in the UM system are looking to change a few things with the admittance procedures. Instead of automatically getting in according to an ACT score of 24 or higher, the schools would allow students in the top ten percent of their high school class to be automatically admitted as well.
I think this is a very smart idea. Some students do not do well on tests, especially the ACT, but they maintain a high GPA over the entire four years of high school, which would put them in the top ten percent.

Story Link: http://www.digmo.org/news/story.php?ID=16648

FILM FOR MIZZOU
Group of students gets together for film major

The Missourian article "Mizzou looks at film major" by Frances Romero reports on the group Mizzou Students For Film (MSFF) and what they're doing in effort to get a film major at MU. In addition to attending a meeting of the student-started group, Romero talked to the dean of the College of Arts and Sciences to get his input, which seemed positive, on the issue.
The film major would pair theory, analysis and history classes already offered through the current film studies minor with some technical filmmaking classes that have been started through the College of Engineering.
I, personally, am very excited that the group got the press coverage. More coverage of MSFF can only help the group's mission of establishing a film major. As an aspiring film critic, I would love to dual major in journalism and film, or at least be able to take a few extra film classes.

Story Link: http://www.digmo.org/news/story.php?ID=16617

LET THE GOOD TIMES ROAR
Homecoming 2005

The Missourian article "A reason to celebrate" by Selam Kidane details the events going on across campus this weekend to celebrate Homecoming. The article does a good job of presenting the basics of each event, such as street closures, but the story seems to be missing some key details. Except for a picture of a storefront, this year's theme, "Let the Good Times Roar," was not mentioned once in the article.
One of the events described was the lawn-deck skits put on by the fraternities and sororities, which blocked off most of Greek Town last night. The skits were fun, based on cartoon characters including Batman, the Smurfs, the Peanuts gang, Scooby-Doo and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

Story Link: http://www.digmo.org/news/story.php?ID=16543

VIRUS HITS THE FACEBOOK
One more thing to make the site's popularity decrease

People already have to worry about stalkers on the Facebook, but now they have to worry about getting a virus from it as well. The Missourian article "Facebook.com gets hit by virus" by Samantha Friedman reports on the popularity of the college networking site and its recent warning to its members about a virus passed through chain messages or e-mails sent through the site.
Some people I know have already had enough problems with the Facebook, caused by random people messaging them and/or requesting to be their friends. Due to these kinds of problems, the Facebook now has privacy options that allow users to only be visible to their friends or people at their schools. You can also block specific people from your Facebook as well.

Story Link: http://www.digmo.org/news/story.php?ID=16539

NEW MAJOR AT MU
Students learn how to create video games

The Missourian article "MU students learn to design video games" by Caitlin Cernovich and Tammy Ritterskamp reports on the beginning of the information technology major at MU and the classes offered.
What I found to be the most interesting aspect of this article was the statistic from the Entertainment Software Association used in the lead saying that "75 percent of heads of households play computer or video games and the average game player’s age is 30." This information was very surprising to me. When I think of people who play video games, I don't think of parents or people older than I am, I tend to think of teenagers, people around the same age or younger than I am.

Story Link: http://www.digmo.org/news/story.php?ID=16467

RAGTAG: DOUBLE TAKE
Columbia's indie theater doubles

Ragtag Cinemacafe, Columbia's independent theater, known for its couches, intermissions and different selection of theater food, is moving from 23 N. Tenth Street to 10 Hitt Street. The new location, according to the Missourian article "Coming attraction: Ragtag, showing on two screens" by Selam Kidane, will have enough space for two theaters instead of one.
When I first read this, I was scared, because I thought that this might mean the Ragtag would lose its more cozy atmosphere. However, by the end of the story, it was revealed that it would be the same old thing, just two times better. Both theaters will have the well-known couches, only one will seat 12o and another will seat 60, as opposed to the current seating capacity of 75. The theater's program director, Paul Sturtz, maintained that the theater will maintain its "funk quotient." The Ragtag will also do this be relocating the well-known statue, "Race to Ragtag," to the Hitt Street location as well. I know it's hard to tell from reading this, but I am absolutely psyched by this development.

Story Link: http://www.digmo.org/news/story.php?ID=16426

OFFICE OF CULTURAL AFFAIRS BUDGET RELEASED
Good things for lovers of the arts

The Missourian article "City budgets for art" by Laura Schlereth details the city of Columbia's monetary plans for next year's cultural events and the arts. $8,651 was allocated for the True/False Film Festival, sponsored in part by the Ragtag, which is fastly becoming one of the number one film festivals in the Midwest, if not the number one documentary film festival. The Office of Cultural Affairs budgets money for the School of Service, Ragtag Programming for Film and Media Arts, Theatre Reaching Young People and Schools, the University Concert Series, the Missouri Symphony Society, the "We Always Swing" Jazz Series, the Columbia Entertainment Company Community Theatre, the Columbia Corale, the Columbia Civic Orchestra, the Maplewood Barn Community Theatre, Performing Arts in Children's Education, VSA arts of Missouri, the Columbia Art League, the Columbia Community Band, the Columbia Handbell Ensemble, and Infopower International.
I, personally, think this is great. I'm from St. Louis, and most of the focus there tends to go towards sports and politics, not the arts. In Columbia, a lot of attention seems to go to the arts, and I think that is a wonderful thing.

Story Link: http://www.digmo.org/news/story.php?ID=16411

FESTIVE FALL
What exactly are all the festivals about?

The Missourian article "A festive fall" by Catherine Bailey and Domenica Bongiovanni does a good job of listing all the fall activities in the Columbia area in a nice sidebar, but fails to give any detail about them. They go into great detail about all of the current ones, but give no little detail as to what exactly will be happening in future events.
However, I think it was last week when they started adding sidebars to the stories, and I think that's a great idea. The sidebars give a lot of information that people would be curious to know about after reading the story, to get more detailed information on items from the story. However, in this particular article, there is very little (if any) mention of future events, which allows for at least a little confusion.

Story Link: http://www.digmo.org/news/story.php?ID=16338

THE WIDE WORLD OF FILMMAKING
Women can make movies too

The Missourian article "Performing arts school opens" talks a little about the film program available at Stephens College, which is a predominantly female school. The dean of the new School of the Performing Arts, Ken LaZebnik, said he was excited about the chance to show the female students that they can be successful in the mostly-male dominated business of filmmaking. Sure, there are the Sofia Coppolas, Jane Campions and Penny Marshalls of the world, but for each one of them, you can usually find about ten Quentin Tarantinos, Curtis Hansons and Steven Spielbergs.
I ran into the perfect example of this the other night when I attended a meeting for a group of students interested in getting a film major at Mizzou. I was the only female in attendance, out of about 30 or 35 people total. According to this, the ratio is more like 30:1 instead of 10:1, which may be the case.
Ultimately, the role of gender shouldn't really make a difference. Women want to make an impact on the movie world just as badly as men do, but, unfortunately, it seems like they are either too scared to or just have to work harder to accomplish their goals. In the end, hopefully the hard work will pay off.

Story Link: http://www.digmo.org/news/story.php?ID=16199