It goes without saying that I have an opinion. It hit news stands and front porches today. Hopefully the first of many professional columns printed. In a way it’s a milestone for me. Yes, I’ve had stints as a columnist for the Collegian and I’ve been published in large papers for news and even feature writing but never for editorial. Let me know what you think. I welcome feedback. The good, the bad and the indifferent. I won’t be able to improve without it.
Archives For November 30, 1999
Every once in a long while I come across someone who truly is blissfully unaware of how awesome they really are. Karen Ingram is one of those people. She has a level of brilliance and unrivaled sense of comedic timing that can make her a joy to be around or even just be a fly on the wall.
At times she can be very crass or a frustrating contrarian. She’s definitely rough around the edges, but she’s a Kare Bear on the inside. (She’ll probably accuse me of ruining her street cred because of this post.)
More often than not I find her to be an amazing sounding board and excellent friend. Her insights have been really helpful for me as I work to improve my writing and my outlook on life. (Karen having a completely differing outlook than anyone I’ve ever met.) She often jokes that my life will be spared when her species takes over the planet. I like to tell her to “Trek herself before she wrecks herself.”
Karen and I at the spring Collegian pub crawl. The back of our shirts say “Wizard Emeritus.” Don’t ask.
Karen in my opinion is a very accomplished writer. She was recognized by the Society of Professional Journalists for a piece she wrote about zombies. As an editor she has made an excellent writing coach to many budding journalists. I’ve watched her make time for virtually anyone who walked into the newsroom in Kedzie Hall. This all being true, Karen will be the first to tell you that she wants to be a writer, not a journalist.
Recently Karen was recognized by the Department of English at K-State for her fiction writing. “The Suicide Artist,” tells the story of woman named Verity who makes a career out of committing suicide over and over again. In my opinion it’s the first of many works I’ve yet to read from Ms. Ingram. Good luck Karen, I wish you the best.
Follow Karen’s ramblings on twitter: @nerak1138.
I’ve been meaning to post this. (I’ve been meaning to post a great deal of things.) This is a case study completed by some PR students about a failed campaign at K-State. I will let it do the talking since the subject matter is rather taboo among K-Staters.
I graduated. There I said it. Don’t expect me to be overjoyed about the situation. My collegiate career has come to a bittersweet ending.
On May 12 I walked across the stage in Bramlage Coliseum and was officially declared a graduate of Kansas State University. (That being said I still won’t actually receive my bachelor’s degree in the mail for about another month.) The commencement ceremony itself was long and full of tweets until the 3G went out in Bramlage. The university president did tell a great joke about the jayhawks though. However, I don’t really consider that to be the point in which my college career ended. Instead I like to think my K-State adventure came to a conclusion when I signed the acoustic drop ceiling in the Kedzie Hall newsroom, a tradition that dates back to the 1960s. The signatures include many former Collegian desk editors, Editors-in-Chief, staff writers and special guests from K-State and famous names in journalism like Bill Snyder and Bob Woodward. I’m really proud to be part of this Kansas journalism history found in Kedzie hall.
Be comfortable with the decisions you make… and have some fun too.
When I think back on my time at K-State, I truly feel blessed for the education, friendships and opportunities I received there. I’ve learned so much in these past four years that it seems impossible to quantify it all. I’m not sure I’m ready for this time to end. That being said I’m not sure there’s much left here for me as an undergraduate. (I have a terminal case of senioritis and I find freshman to be odd.) Sure I’ll miss the people, especially the folks at the Collegian, but most of my classmates have moved on to new and exciting adventures of their own. It’s time to leave Manhattan and see what happens next…
I always seem to manage mixing my Collegian duties with my journalism classes. In today’s issue of the Collegian we have a Holiday Gift Guide. In that guide a wrote a column about decorating for the holidays. I think it fits in nicely with the project my group is working on so I thought we would include it. If you haven’t had a chance to take a look at it, here it is:
College holiday decorations can be more than traditional
By: Tim Schrag
College students have a unique opportunity to decorate for the holidays. It’s a time where domestic traditions can be put aside and decorations that exude school pride, alcoholism or campy irreverence can take center stage.
Over the course of my four years at K-State I have seem some pretty interesting decorations ranging from a Christmas tree adorned with purple Bud Light fan cans, to unique interpretations of nativity scenes. I remember decorating my house as freshman; we put decorations up before Thanksgiving and they stayed up until we got back from break. It was really fun bonding experience and we made a big event out of it.
Here in the newsroom, the Collegian staff has decorated for the holidays with a Festivus pole. None of us actually celebrate Festivus, but it seemed like an appropriate way to celebrate the holiday season without a pointless debate on religion. We took our own spin on it and printed off our own ornaments and taped them to the pole. It was a really great staff bonding moment. I proudly displayed my EcoKat ornament at the top of the pole, where I feel she belongs.
I asked my friends for some suggestions on what they do to decorate for the holidays on Facebook, and here are some of the more interesting tips and suggestions they came up with:
“I think smells are equally important to decor at Christmas time. Candles or oils with holiday scents are great for small dorms or apartments.”
“Since many of us can’t put lights up outside, just put a strand around your window(s) inside. Your neighbors will still be able to see your Christmas spirit. Plus, if you get purple, you can leave them up long after the holidays.”
“Paper chains to count down to the end of finals week are fun, too.”
In my opinion, there are many ways to go about decorating, and the best ones seem to work because the decorators really take ownership and make it their own. I have a Charlie Brown Christmas tree with a single red bulb and a Powercat in my room. Whatever you do this year to celebrate just remember to have fun with it.
Tim Schrag is a senior in journalism and digital media. Please send comments to edge@spub.ksu.edu.
Based on what the some of the other groups were doing for MC 580 my group has decided to create our own website for our final project cover the holidays in Manhattan, Kan. Check it out if you have an extra five minutes to kill.
Here's a glimpse of the site. Check it out if you get a chance.
“Oh the weather outside is frightful,”… but so is dead week. That being said we seem to be making some progress completing our final project. Here is the column I wrote for Tuesday’s issue of the Kansas State Collegian it’s about annoyances of the term Happy Holidays.
Debate on seasonal saying is pointless, actual actions are what matters
By: Tim Schrag
I’m just barely old enough to remember a time when the standard greeting during this time of year was “Merry Christmas.” People would place Christmas decorations, displays and trees up in their homes, stores and offices. “Happy Holidays” was nothing more than a song most commonly sung by Bing Crosby.
At some point in my childhood the trend changed and people began to replace the greeting “Merry Christmas” with “Happy holidays.” At the same time, the term “Christmas” was simply replaced with “holiday.” “Holiday” trees, lights and displays started popping up everywhere. Basically the only difference was the name; it was clear that these festive decorations were for Christmas.
In changing the name, we are mocking the less popular holidays and bastardizing Christmas. Occasionally there might have been a Star of David, but outside of that there was really no mention of other winter holidays. I guess the point is that there are people who don’t celebrate Christmas and those in charge didn’t want to offend them. Really though, what’s the point? Using the generic term “holiday” to seem more inclusive without actually including these other holidays seems more offensive, in my mind.
Being inclusive is easier said than done, especially in areas where there is a lack of diversity. My hometown hosts an annual lighted Christmas parade. I don’t see that ever changing, not because they are insensitive to others in the community, but because there really isn’t a need. Almost everyone in my hometown celebrates Christmas. Most of my peers come from middle-class, white, Christian families, many of whom may have only been exposed to other holidays through television specials on shows like “Rugrats.” I was fortunate enough to have gone to a grade school where the teachers felt it was important to educate us about other winter holidays like the Chinese New Year, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Yule and the winter solstice. Then again, I went to a Catholic grade school.
“It’s really hard because it depends on everyone’s personal view point,” said Candice Hironaka, senior associate director of the School of Leadership Studies. “It’s hard when your cultural frame of reference is steeped around one specific holiday. It’s just a matter of continuing to educate ourselves about what the other holidays are that are happening during this season of really good wishes.”
Hironaka says while she does celebrate Christmas, when she is greeting people around the office or in class she prefers the term “seasons greetings” because it is more generic and focuses more on well-wishing.
I’m totally on board with this idea. Still, I say “Merry Christmas” more often than not. I think it’s a good failsafe. In my opinion, “Happy holidays” is an empty statement. What most people are really saying is “Merry Christmas, but I don’t want to offend anyone so I’m saying this instead, even though I mean Merry Christmas.” I have run across very few people who say “Happy Holidays” and genuinely mean it.
Why not cut out the middle man and say “Merry Christmas” if that’s what the statement is meant to convey? “Season’s greetings” also works well, because it’s a greeting that could really be used at any time of the year.
Ultimately this season is a time for well-wishing and joy, and I sincerely hope people have an amazing December and January despite what they celebrate. The purple nation is a diverse crowd, and we should celebrate it, but not insincerely. Good luck with finals everyone, and when you greet each other, just say what you mean. It comes off less condescending.
Tim Schrag is a senior in journalism and digital media. Please send all comments to opinion@spub.ksu.edu.
In an earlier post I mentioned that I was working on a group project for my MC 580 class. We are working on a convergence media piece about Fake Patty’s Day. Last night I uploaded a podcast that I worked on. Today I’m sharing a news package that my teammate Nick Weller. It’s a reaction piece taking the pulse of the K-State community to the recent debate about the possible changes in Aggieville for next year’s festivities.
I’m not a huge fan of group projects. In fact I wrote an editorial about group projects around this time last year. They stick in my craw and I think on the whole they are unnecessary. I can’t seem to go a single semester without having at least one. The problem never lies in working with a group. I think group work is great. It will be impossible to be successful in the professional world of news media without being able to collaborate. The problem I continually see is scheduling conflicts. Trying to sync the schedules of three independent college students has proven to be rather difficult, if not irritating for everyone involved. These last two weeks alone, my media convergence group has tried to meet two times and failed to do so (not because we are blowing each other off, but because things just seem to keep hindering the process).
We may not even up to Ron Burgundy's standards of journalism, but we're getting there.
Luckily for us, the professor of the class has decided to cancel classes for the next several meetings to allow us to work on the project. Today, after another failed attempt to meet up, we all agreed the best time to work together is going to be during Thursday’s class meeting time. It is probably the only commonality among our schedules.
The good news is we do have a very well thought-out convergence package; we will be telling a sequence of stories about Fake Patty’s Day here in Manhattan, a fake holiday that dates back to the mid-2000s’. Currently, the City Commission in Manhattan is trying to change the way the holiday is regulated in the local bar district, Aggieville. We will create a print story outlining the history of the fake holiday and recent development surrounding it’s regulation. Additionally, we will do a podcast and standup package to go with the print story.
This is a set of stories I really want to do. I think we have the potential to tell them in a way that will captivate our audience.
Fake Patrick, pray for us. In Ron Burgundy we trust.
Wow. I cannot believe it’s already week 5 of the fall 2011 semester at K-State. I also cannot believe I’m stuck in another boring lecture here in Burt Hall. The football team is 2-0 and has a huge game coming up this weekend against the University of Miami. I also happen to be tied for second place in the Collegian’s weekly pick ‘um. Talk around the newsroom has been about the collapse of the Big 12 and EMAW for the last 5-6 days. I’m closer and closer to graduation. The newspaper is getting more and more streamlined and the design just gets better and better. You can see a great example of that here on the EMAW front page of Monday’s Collegian:KSU-9-19-11 pg01 I’m very close to finishing my first project for MC 580. (There will be more to come with that as soon as I finish the sound slide.) I can’t help but wonder what happens next…
I can barely plan past next week let alone December or God forbid May. There is one thing I do know: Biochemistry in society has to be the most interesting/boring class I have ever taken at K-State. I suppose I should work on that.
Tim Schrag 