Media Coverage of Donald Trump

           Over the several months, it seems the media has been focused more on Donald Trump than any other candidate. At least every morning when I am watching the Today show, or CBS this morning, or when I am scrolling my Facebook feed, there is something about Donald Trump.

Now, to give the man credit, he is honest about his opinions and is so far one of the smarter business people in the world, he is even worth $4 billion. Now comes the criticism. While Trump is honest about his views, he is sometimes politically incorrect and just wants to cause uproar to divert the attention to himself. 

           He has no real background in any of the topics/ areas a presidential candidate needs or should have. Now granted most politicians talk their way around the questions, but still give creditable information. Trump however just ignores the question, talks around it without giving any piece of relevant information, or just states it was an unfair question.

          For example, after the August 6th inaugural Republican presidential debate, Trump went off on a tangent stating: “The questions to me were not nice. I didn’t think they were appropriate. I thought it was an unfair question. They didn’t ask those questions of anybody else. So I thought it was an unfair question.”

           Another example of how Trump talks his way around and out of a question is when CNN's Jake Tapper asked him how he would handle ISIS, Trump responded, "we've got to hit ISIS hard ... hit their source of wealth, which is the oil." Then when Tapper tried to get specific details from Trump, he said, “I hate to say specifically because ... I'd hate to give up all my information up front.”

           Lately the media has been taking note of these aspects and characteristics of Trump's campaign. One reason they are taking note is largely due to his recent hosting of Saturday Night Live.  The show had it's biggest ratings last night since 2012. This itself is one of the many prime examples of how Trump uses the media to his advantage. The public seem to like him for a few different reasons, one of which is he's not afraid to speak his mind, he's a different and unique type of presidential candidate. The media, however, should take what they have been reporting on, such as the topics covered in this post, and start researching more into Trump's views and plan's and start grilling him more on these subjects. If more of the media do so, then perhaps he may give some more insight and information. 

2015 List of Journal Packages Cut (Library Beat Update)

2014 List of Journal Packages Cuts (Library Beat Update)

Comcast Cable Internet Experience

In spring of 2012, I was setting up an account with Comcast Cable for internet service. I selected the current promotion of "$29.99 for six months." According to the information I was given and was told, I would pay the $29.99 a month for six months, and then the regular price of internet would take into effect. I had repeatedly asked the representative that the rate after the six month period would in fact be the final rate. I was informed by the representative that it would be the final pay rate.

After the six month period, the rate went up to $44.99 a month. I had assumed from the information that I was given that that was the final rate. I thought to myself that it was a fairly decent price for internet. After another six months of the $44.99 rate, I received a bill for $65.99.

I was puzzled when I opened and reviewed the bill. I checked my bank accounts and past payments to confirm I had not missed a payment. After confirming the information, I called the costumer service number for Comcast Cable to ask why the rate had went up. The representative informed me that the $44.99 rate was the second part of the promotion and that the $65.99 rate is the final rate. I calmly argued I was informed by the previous representative when I signed up that after the first six months the final rate would kick in. The representative informed me that I was misinformed and that there was nothing she could do to assist me.

 I replied that every phone call in a major call center is recorded, as my partner works at Directv and knows this information and that if they were to bring up the call and listen to it that they would hear him state the information I had claimed to have been given. I also stated that if Comcast was not the only cable internet provider in my neighborhood and if I did not need internet for school, I would not have it. She apologized and asked if there was anything else she could do, I told her no and hung up.

To investigate the matter, I would pull up the finer details of the internet promotion and read them carefully. I would also called the Better Business Bureau to file a complaint and to see if any others had made similar complaints as well. Another action is I would call the City of Huntington and the West Virginia Attorney General to also file complaints and to see if there were similar ones filed. I would document my findings with my personal experience and propose a news story to my editor to proceed more with a more investigative story or write up an editorial with using the information I had gathered and have it published in the opinion section of the newspaper.

Worksheet of Infographic (Library Beat Update)

Library Budget Infographic (Library Beat Update)

March 19th City Council Work Session Notes

On Thursday, March 19, 2015 the City of Huntington City Council met for work session.  About 31 people were in attendance; this included three Huntington Police Officers and the mayor. A few members not in attendance. The following notes are what we briefly discussed at the meeting:

-Pledge

- Reports and reminders from the mayor:

·      Introduction of Rick Edgar, new manager of Big Sandy:

o   Been on job for week.

o   Plans for big summer events

o   Making connections in tow

o   Multiple ways of recruiting

Concern with new billing system at sanitary board

Problematic with bills: 60 days behind, trying to catch up, loss and lack of communication, no one will have the charge of lateness on the bill, a letter of explanation will be sent out, 12 months to pay, no late fee, no termination, meeting next week to further discuss the matter, should have been handled differently, new billing cycle to catch up, not to worry, talking to everyone that calls in, software issues, were told the current software is what was needed and we had to adapt, not going to happen next time, citizens are the customers, high compliments to the staff for taking care of issues.

#5: Business sidewalks and the removal of snow issues- businesses need to keep them clean and clear for safety reasons.

#6: Amending sections: charter- brings in line with current legislation: Chapter 8 Article 4: 8-24 is now 8-8.

#7: Payment of municipal fees for members of council: have the fees and bills withheld from members of council’s wages until it is caught up

#8: 9-51 ordinance fee-exemption for low income renters, clarifies that landlords of low income renters can claim exemption are taking advantage of this policy, needs to be rectified.

#9: Planning commission and house keeping ordinances/charters to be caught up with current code

#10: March 9 meeting- recommended by state: 3 changes to ordinances:

o   Addition of definitions and terms

o   Clarification on elevations

o   Attributing on preferences

#11: Resolution of City Hall renovations, 100^th anniversary coming up, volunteer work on construction saved money, take up of floorings and removal of glue costs, still have over $55,000 for renovations in foundation funds, agreement with one crew that worked on Visual Arts Center to remove flooring and glue at $21,000, 1985 was last renovation yea on building.

#12: Douglas Center Update: Mr. Runyon, finance director, volunteers as president of Ebenezer Outreach Clinic, 3 clinics in building, dental, medical and pharmacy, multiple tenants, non-profits, Marshall to purchase to operate, to add offices as well, proceeds to pay off loan, adds $130,000 back into the organization’s budget, approved transaction in April, 50 year designation has to remain with the historical integrity of structure of building, debt service of $780,000, responsibility of building fall to Marshall and the state or city, Outreach will continue to pay it’s share of the rent.

#13: General Fund Budget: Saturday a resolution to be made for 2015-2016 to be adjusted to add revenues and expenses for two items: collection of $265,000 extra, $455,00 more for extra paving making budget $1 million, rest of budget proposed stays same. NOTE* Reads different because of state revenue: adopt to meet language of Charleston, special assessments, elections in line wiggle room for more adjustments to budget, 27^th is when it is due.

Dr. Brooks Interview Transcribe (Library Beat Update)

Dr. Monica Garcia-Brooks Interview Transcribe:

“The bad news is that over the last five or six years we’ve had cuts, as I mentioned we have lost about 20 percent of our overall buying power, with combination of cuts and inflation. Because publishers have forced publisher inflation and we don’t get to negotiate with that because they have a monopoly on several of the titles. In fact that one publisher has the most significant lock on all the science, technology, engineering and medical journals in the world. The own something like 20 percent of everything that is published in the world. So if you are an engineer and you like the number one journal in your field because you’re teaching your students and you want them to have access to this information there’s only one publisher that we can get that journal from, and they can decide how much they want to charge us. It’s a little bit frustrating. (The publisher is Elsevier Publishing, a Dutch company.) The good news is that the university has been working on a whole new budget model, and the chief financial officer has been working with information technology to address the inflation issues for the library. So we are very hopeful that the inflation will be addressed for 2016 and beyond and the library will no longer have to make cuts because of journal inflation. We are excited about that.  We are probably over time going to recover what we have lost, but we can’t do it overnight because some of the materials are really expensive. But as new programs are created at the university, now there is the process of where some of the programs write into their budget. So if we start a new program that requires an expensive journal then the deans and chairs and program coordinators who are establishing that program work with us to make sure they get current pricing information, and they know long term what the projected cost will be and they can write it into the program. At the committee meeting we reported that we were working on these things, but we at the time did not have the concrete numbers and figures, so it is kind of a bummer we think. There were two areas in the Health and Sciences Library, which is under the medical school; they had two big packages of journals JAMA and portion of their STEM packages that they were scared that they would not be able to renew, and the next day we got word that they were able to. I would say the library is on an upswing because the new budget process will now address some critical needs; especially inflation and we are now involved in the establishment of programs creation and development. We write that and we base it on all the expenditures from the previous year, and each year the library vendor will help us aggregate all of our subscriptions, in this case its EBSCO, and they will provide a projection of what they think inflation will be for the upcoming year and that’s what we base our projected costs on. For this upcoming year we are projecting a six percent increase in inflation. And we EBSCO gives us a projection, it’s an average, so it’s possible some journals won’t increase at all, others might increase by 12 percent, and there will be some in the middle at around five or six percent. We have to balance all these things in determining the cuts.”

Edna M. Meisel Interview Transcribe (Library Beat Update)

"My role on the committee is Recording Secretary. I attend all of the meetings and participate as a member. And, as secretary, I take minutes, type them up formally for the committee and for Faculty Senate review. The Library Committee advises the Dean of Libraries on matters of library policy such as library services that directly affect students of Marshall University; the acquisition of library materials and resources; library funds and budgets; cancellations of resources when needed; maintenance of library spaces, and other concerns directly related to our Marshall University Libraries. We also review the activities carried out by the administration of the libraries. Library administrators make up part of the committee as non-voting members. We carry out studies relating to library functions. We serve as a liaison between the faculty of our respective departments to inform them of library issues. We are also the liaison to the Faculty Senate; we report issues at the Faculty Senate monthly meetings. And we are liaisons to the university libraries. Recently we have talked about budgets and resources of the library and how this affects students here at Marshall University. We also discuss how the libraries are serving faculty with requests for materials that can benefit their teaching of MU students. We strive to cover all of our responsibilities as presented in your second question above at each of our meetings; focusing on those that are most important at the time. This has mostly impacted the MU Library’s ability to maintain journal subscriptions, and the acquisition of new books and other resources needed by students and faculty. A shrinking budget impacts the “amount of funds spent per student” in library resources here at Marshall University. The MU Library Committee encourages Marshall University students to contact WV Legislators who control budgets to express their concerns of how budget cuts affect their library resources. And of course we also encourage students to express their experiences with the MU Library system and how it benefits students here at Marshall University!"

State of the City-After

As expected, Mayor Steve Williams’ state of the city address included the topics that were in the preview article. However, there were many more topics that were not included.

Having not questioned Williams more about his speech when he answered student’s questions last Wednesday, Feb. 11, I was unable to fully predict the topics that would be included in the state of the city address today.

In addition to the development projects, and budget, a new reform development plan for Harris Riverfront was proposed, crime and drug traffic issues, competition against other river cities, diversity progress and the LGBT and black communities.

The Harris Riverfront plan is expected to take six to 10 years in three phases to complete. It is from a partnership with Superior Marie that embraces a long-term development plan recently created by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The plan is to bring commerce to the riverside of the floodwall by developing.

“It will include a 260-slip marina and dry dock, a boat repair and retail facility and a boardwalk with retail and dining facilities, potential condos, a spray and splash park, a skate park and RV camping facilities,” Williams said.   

Williams then said the city’s single largest issue was drug addiction. He said that the focus the past few years have been on dealers and less on addicts. The goal is to eventually help the addicts and their families. Williams said that it is time to for the Office of Drug Control Policy with partners in government agencies, recovery programs and houses, hospitals, medical centers and personnel, clergy and elected officials to act and organize a plan.

“The level of addiction in our city is a burden that will prevent us from achieving the heights which we are capable of accomplishing. It is time for us to act,” said Williams.

The mayor also said that the city would be entering America’s Best communities competition, sponsored by Frontier Communications and DISH Network.

            “Communities with populations between 10,000 and 80,000 within Frontier’s footprint are eligible to enter. It will be a rigorous competition of cities like Huntington across the country. We expect to win,” Williams said.

            Finally, the mayor said that he has promoted inclusiveness and diversity in the city the past few years and still has some who have feelings of loneliness and the pain of exclusion come and to him. Williams has formed an LGBT advisory committee that meets monthly, and said that there is more work to be done in regards with race relations. A Community Coalition on Public Safety is being organized. Along with meeting with the local Black Pastors Association and creating a Committee on Diversity.

"We don't have time or luxury to exclude anyone from community affairs and field of mutual ambition," Williams said. "My vision for our city is that we embrace diversity and seek inclusiveness as we learn to stand as one people celebrating our differences."