Stephen+Kaliski

Portfolio Project Quarter III

New York Times - Health Thursday March 13 BEND JOURNAL; Drawing Lots for Health Care NATIONAL BRIEFING | SCIENCE AND HEALTH; Shuttle Docks at Station Priest-Cosmologist Wins $1.6 Million Templeton Prize Sex Diseases in Many Gay Men Go Unfound, Experts Say Health Report Raises Dispute Over Great Lakes Pollution Heart Scans Still Covered by Medicare CYBERFAMILIAS; Old Dog, New Trick: Acupuncture SKIN DEEP; Lasik Surgery: When the Fine Print Applies to You PERSONAL BEST; To Stretch or Not to Stretch? The Answer Is Elastic FITNESS; Stretching for Answers

Priest Cosmologist Wins $1.6 Million Templeton Prize This article discussed Michael Heller, a professor and devote Catholic, who asks why the universe has have a cause. He won a very large award for his achievements in this field. To incorporate this in The Bradford, we could try to discuss awards that various students have received. Since we generally focus only on sports accomplishments and prestigious awards, noting other accomplishments would help put more attention on the entire student body. That was one of the complaints of the Columbia report; that we didn't focus on the opinions and accomplishments of all different members of the student body.

SKIN DEEP; Lasik Surgery: When the Fine Print Applies to You This article discussed the writer's terrible symptoms after undergoing Lasik surgery. She was told that nearly everyone was perfectly fine after surgery, only to find out this wasn't the case. To incorporate this into The Bradford, we could do a teen elective surgery expose, or do a poll about eyeglasses, contacts, etc. I am not aware of any students who have undergone any sort of elective surgery (plastic surgery, but includes other vanity procedures), but it would be interesting to investigate.

Friday March 14 Surgeon Held for Deaths in Australia NATIONAL BRIEFING | WEST; California: Immigrant’s Kin Can Sue Over Care NATIONAL BRIEFING | SCIENCE AND HEALTH; A Patch for a Robotic System New Jersey Assembly Approves Paid Leave to Care for Baby or Ailing Kin Panel Seeks New Limits on Anemia Drugs 5 Guilty of Fraud in Health Care Finance

New Jersey Assembly Approves Paid Leave to Care for Baby or Ailing Kin This article discussed New Jersey giving paid leave to employees who must leave to help another or a child. NJ is the third state to offer this benefit, which was strongly disapproved by Republicans. To integrate this into the Bradford, we could examine WHS's policy on paid leave and teacher benefits. We could look into what benefits teachers are given, and what students think they deserve to get. This would also bring school budget issues into the mix. We could also look at MA laws for similar issues.

Panel Seeks New Limits on Anemia Drugs This article discussed the FDA's concerns for cancer patients using anemia drugs. The panel voted for keeping drugs, then voted against certain cancer patients using these drugs. Shutting down these drugs could impact businesses producing this drugs in a large way. To incorporate this into The Bradford, we could look into what types of medicine the nurses office is able to distribute to students, as well as school policy on prescription drugs in the school.

Saturday March 15 Tainted Blood Drug to Face Import Tests NATIONAL BRIEFING | SCIENCE; Up and Running in Space With Contracts Expired, Nurses at Four Hospitals Cite Frustration Eli Lilly E-Mail Discussed Unapproved Use of Drug

With Contracts Expired, Nurses at Four Hospitals Cite Frustration Discusses the possibility of a nurse strike, because hospitals haven't made any movements towards giving nurses what they want. This issue is fairly difficult to incorporate into The Bradford because we don't often find ourselves in a strike situation. But, as mentioned early, we could talk about rights and benefits people have. We could discuss what rights and benefits we want. For example, I would like the benefit of not having to write the IRP, for a multitude of reasons that I will not divulge as to prevent turning this assignment into a "opinions about English department" project.

Eli Lilly E-Mail Discussed Unapproved Use of Drug This article discusses the drug company Lilly and an issue it has had with a drug that created some cases of diabetes. It might be too personal, but looking into the life of a student with diabetes or some other condition could be interesting, as well as enlightening. We could also look into court cases involving students or faculty, yet again maybe too personal.

Sunday March 16 Cutting Dosage of Costly Drug Spurs a Debate Woe Be Gone DIAGNOSIS; When Is a Heart Attack Not a Heart Attack? EDITORIAL; No Way to Run Health Research Drug Maker Stays Close to Doctors and Patients

DIAGNOSIS; When Is a Heart Attack Not a Heart Attack? The article is fairly self-explanatory based off of the title. A man experiences a heart-attack-like experience, but it turns out not to be the case. These health articles slowly have become more and more difficult to incorporate into the paper because a paper that has a health section that pertains to the entire world can write about this, because it relates to a lot of people. But to incorporate i into The Bradford would be difficult because heart-attacks aren't a big issue. Instead, we could focus on other injuries, including sports injuries, that are common at our school.

Cutting Dosage of Costly Drug Spurs a Debate This article discusses the drug Cerezyme, which costs over $300,000 per year. There was a switch in the recommended dosage, and now there is a heated debate, because insurance is for it and the company is against it. To incorporate this into the paper, we could discuss changes in food, whether it be cost, amount given, or types of food. We could look into the debate that ensues as a result.

Monday March 17 Chinook Salmon Vanish Without a Trace New Home in Space for a Nearly Assembled Robotic Device NEWS ANALYSIS; Tainted Drugs Put Focus on the F.D.A. EDITORIAL; One in Four Girls E-COMMERCE REPORT; Even if You’re Ill, You Can Still Stay Connected BOOKS OF THE TIMES; The Case for Another Drug War, Against Pharmaceutical Marketers’ Dirty Tactics

EDITORIAL: One in Four Girls According to a recent study, one if four girls (14-19) has either HPV, chlamydia, trichomoniasis, or genital herpes. The article warns girls of these issues, and promotes preventative actions. I believe we have actually incorporated information like this into the paper already, in discussing the availability of birth control. Nonetheless, writing an editorial about this issue could be a possible idea, as this is another personal subject.

E-COMMERCE REPORT; Even if You’re Ill, You Can Still Stay Connected (Note: it is considered both a health and tech. article) This article describes installing computer systems into some hospital rooms, because it supposedly keeps patients happier. It discusses other hospitals who have installed more televisions. An interesting article for The Bradford would be to look into what WHS is doing to make our learning experience better. This could include new technological devices, new systems, etc. all of which help our learning experience.

Tuesday March 18 PORT-AU-PRINCE JOURNAL; Pumping Iron on Two Sides of Haiti’s Class Divide Progress Slows in Detection of New TB Cases Research Center to Study Health-Race Link New Jersey to Consider Health Plan to Cover All BASICS; In Most Species, Faithfulness Is a Fantasy Teenage Suicides Bewilder an Island, and the Experts WELL; In Sisters, Love and an Urge to Wring Her Neck REALLY?; The Claim: Cold Water Boils More Quickly Than Hot Water. SECOND OPINION; A Daring Treatment, a Little Girl’s Survival VITAL SIGNS; Patterns: Bacterium May Reduce Kidney Stone Risk VITAL SIGNS; Prevention: At Middle Age, Add Alcohol to the Diet? VITAL SIGNS; Disparities: Men Likelier to Be Told to Replace a Knee THE TROPICS; Why a Genetic Blood Disorder Seems to Protect Against Malaria PERSONAL HEALTH; Terminal Options for the Irreversibly Ill

Teenage Suicides Bewilder an Island, and the Experts This article describes recent suicides on Nantucket, MA. Three kids took their lives, and the town is in shock. Since we are currently writing about these issues, I looked at the article for ideas of how to present it. Benedict Cary delicately describes the events that passed, and actions that were taken thereafter. After discussing the case study, Cary expands into the issue in general. It would be a good idea to look at how professional newspapers cover the issue of suicide while we create our current centerfold.

VITAL SIGNS; Prevention: At Middle Age, Add Alcohol to the Diet? The article discusses the benefit of a glass or two of alcohol for those in middle age helps reduce chance of heart issues. Since drinking is illegal under the age of 21, we could focus on other additions to our diets that could help us during the teenage years. I can't think of any specific examples, but simply looking at how small changes in eating habits (like not eating a ton of fries at lunch) could help us positively.

Wednesday March 19 THE PRICE OF BEAUTY; For Top Medical Students, an Attractive Field Scientists Near Source of Altered Heparin A Bid to Lure Wolves With a Digital Call of the Wild Heparin Contaminant Is Identified CVS Settles Medicaid Claims for $37 Million

THE PRICE OF BEAUTY; For Top Medical Students, an Attractive Field This article discusses the popularity of dermatology and plastic surgery as fields for graduating med school students. It has become an increasingly difficult field to get into, due to the increasing number of people applying. To integrate this into The Bradford, we could look at what schools seniors are going to and what majors they want to study. We could examine what are popular fields for WHS students heading into college.

Heparin Contaminant Is Identified The article describes a contaminant discovered in a blood thinner. The FDA is currently investigating how the contaminate got into the thinner, which was linked to 19 deaths. To integrate this into The Bradford, we would ideally find a contaminant in the building and do an expose on it. A more realistic idea would be to discuss issues with asbestos and other materials in the building and how they effect us. We could also talk about the recent outbreak of an infection (I am definitely unsure about the specifics) on a WHS sports team.

After reading the NY Times Health section for a week, I made quite a few observations. The general thing I became aware of was our lack of discuss on health, with the obvious exception of stress, suicide, and sex (the three S's). It most definitely doesn't seem like a large enough issue to create a whole section, but discussing health in general would be a good idea. Whether it be vaccines, eating, restaurant-trans fat issues, etc. In terms of other additions to The Bradford, the NY Times Health section offer small stories, no longer than 3-5 sentences, simply stating a fact. They briefly discuss a small issue not worthy of an entire article, but interesting enough to be in the paper. As a version of the sports sections' "by the numbers" the other sections could also have something like brief boxes of information. Overall, I think that discussing more health issues, as well as including brief blurbs, would be beneficial to the paper. For the blog, these issues are essentially fair game. Lots of remedial health issues that don't 100% relate to the student body would well placed on the blog. Maybe there will even be a new label, health?

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Portfolio Project Quarter II

In terms of the “big picture” The Bradford is overall a solid paper. Luckily, the issues it does have are not too difficult to solve. Before the solutions are addressed, the problems will be described first. Before I proceed, I do not want my comments and opinions to be viewed as cynical or negative, but simply blunt and honest. This is not going to be a fluffed-up response, but simply my mind, and the opinions many others share, on paper.

Introductory Remarks: The Bradford is an interesting newspaper. It satisfactorily covers many groups and sects of WHS students, but for some peculiar reason, its reading base is relatively smaller than I would hope for. In my mind, the release of The Bradford should excite the student body, it should be as intriguing to the student body as the yearbook is. And sadly, not to be mean, but the yearbook does not have the same level of writing skill, as well as potential, as the paper does. All that yearbook has for them is the stigma of a yearbook. This is what I want to create. As I review the morgue of ancient issues of The Bradford, I see things that I don’t see in ours: personality, as well as issues and topics that are intriguing to students. Hence, there exists two things we must obtain to create a successful paper: 1). A strong student interest, 2). Integrity (Columbian Standards). These may seem intimidating, but they truly are not all that difficult. They simply require time. How will we do this? From the ground up.

Balance: The paper has a relatively strong balance. It is able to cover all groups in a full and appropriate manner. Although it does cover all groups, whose voice is in the paper? The voice is paper. The Bradford seems to lack a student based touch. At times I feel that it is too much of an official document/college req tool. Throughout history newspapers have served as an outlet for the people. The people who are unable to otherwise share their opinion. With the invention of the printing press, the views of the underground and the unheard could be mass-distributed. Now although we are not in the middle of a revolution, students have feelings, they have opinions. Why is it then, that we always play it safe. People have ideas, and they need to be expressed. These opinions may not always be accepted by the school administration or faculty, but if its what the students feel, then why not. With the exception of the College Board opinions article, everything seemed almost too positive. WE ALL have issues with the school, so why aren’t all of those in the paper? Simply, the paper needs to be the voice of the student body, not the voice of a select 15 or 20 people.

Writing: In terms of writing, everyone writing for The Bradford are very talented. The only issues that exist pertain to the lengthier articles. Short paragraphs are very important. Additionally, concise sentences and no wordiness are important. Maintaining the reader’s interest in the story are integral to a successful paper. Headlines, also should portray the idea of the article, whilst being whitty and catchy. Most students reading the paper are either looking for a specific article or will be drawn to the one with the best title.

Graphics and Captions: (layout as well) The paper lacks a certain attractiveness to it. Its very bland. From what we learned last year at the Columbia Conference, there are some obvious things we are lacking. These issues are, however, difficult to implement with the medium we are using. Since using glossy paper or white paper is expensive, we must resort to other methods. Instead of placing large ads into the middle of the paper, they should all be centered at some point. Therefore, the other areas of the paper are more fluid and more

Process of Production: Currently we find ourselves as simply a monthly school newspaper. I assume that all members would agree that there is need and room for expansion. And thus, I propose my two-year plan (seeing as I graduate in two years). The overarching goal is to remain a monthly paper, keeping it mostly the way it is, while having a more up-to-date version online. Currently, I am in the process of developing a beta-site that will be used as a test-version prior to the unleashing of the website. In order to create this, changes in the process with which the Bradford functions must occur. With the capability of posting news immediately, stories need to be constantly coming in. Hence, there exists two “pools” of articles. One exists simply as those that will enter the paper. The other are miscellaneous articles, those that don’t necessarily have to do with the current time. The website will be exactly the same as the paper, however it will update whenever new articles arrive. The paper will continue as it is. During times where news isn’t going as well as it should, these miscellaneous articles will act as fillers for the newspaper. Furthermore, there will exist a deadline for monthly issues, as well as weekly story idea sessions, as well as articles being continuously written. This idea adds additional tasks that can not be implemented immediately. Instead, change must be made slowly, however not so slow that there is not time to enjoy the fruits of our labor as well as teach oncoming staff members how to manage and control this new system, as well as the website.

Issues with the production of the paper seem relatively obvious. The current setup we have is ineffective. The distribution of “power” seems very unbalanced, as well as the work load. Although section editors are “below” the EICs, the responsibility and ability to make decisions needs to be shared. Lately, the intro class has lost the ability to publish most of their articles, which as I see is relatively unfair, even though deadlines were given. But how are we to expect that Mr. Mustard is able to conform to whatever last-minute schedule we give. Additionally, the page number was reduced to 12 from 16. Although I don’t neccessarily disagree, where were Conor, Caroline, Sarah O., myself, Rusty, and Caroline D when this decision was made. Why was it that we were not involved in this process? On a completely different note, and not to seem negative, but why is the English Department Head involved in selecting editors, especially since she is otherwise not involved enough to be part of the decision. Is it simply a way to access our grades and class information? Conspiracy theory? Regardless, I think that next time the editors are changed up, we have some serious changing to do. We gotta start fresh. See what the student body thinks. Conor and I were thinking about making an immense case study out of this over the next semester, so we can obtain a strong idea of what will make students read the paper, as well as what intrigues and interests them. This will then be used when the paper is reassessed near the end of this school year. New information will be implemented into the website as well.

Concluding Remarks: Well, 1231, words later and I felt it is necessary to summarize my opinions and assessment of the current status of the paper as well as staff. To effectively create a paper of interest to the student body, it must be the voice of the students, it must appeal to the students, and it must break barriers that before may have been considered “not acceptable.”