Major Assignment 2 story proposal

Date: 03-10-2011
To: Burnis Morris
From: Kelly Christian
RE: Story Outline: Recession affects United Way funding

Subject: United Way of the River Cities Inc. received less monetary contributions in 2009 than the previous year due to the recession.

Scope: I will research the amount in contributions the United Way of the River Cities Inc. both received and disbursed during the past three years to see how the recession affected revenues and distribution of funds to area nonprofits. I will research how greatly the decrease in total revenues affected nonprofits that receive funding from the United Way and whether or not the change in funding affected services provided to individuals.

Need: The recession affected many businesses that give to the United Way, which affects how much funding the United Way can give to area nonprofits. A decrease in those funds affects services, which affects those in need who depend on the services for their livelihood.

Methods: This story can be documented by drawing together the financial records of the United Way, contacting the United Way and contacting some of the nonprofits that receive funds from the United Way. I can get a list of the nonprofits that the United Way funds now and also compare it to the nonprofits the United Way fund or didn’t fund last year to see if a significant change in the number of nonprofits funded year to year.

Sources: I will pull the amount in revenues the United Way reported on its IRS 990 forms dating back to 2008 to see whether contributions increased or decreased during the past three years, or if it was just a decrease from 2008 to 2009. I will also look at the amounts distributed to each of the organizations from the United Way to see whether funding to organizations increased or decreased. I will interview Laura Gilliam, who has been executive director of the United Way of the River Cities Inc. for five years, to get the United Way’s story of how the recession affected it and the services and funding it provides. During the interview with Gilliam, I will ask her if the organization’s operations have been affected, and if they have had to cut staff or salaries to help offset the decrease in revenues.

I will also use the information the United Way has provided the class and on its IRS 990 to see if the number of organizations the United Way funds has increased or decreased, and will ask how the recession has affected the number of organizations it can help.

I will also interview a couple of the leaders of the organizations that receive funding from the United Way to see how those organizations have been affected by the recession, and if those organizations have noticed a change in the type, quality or amount of funding and services received. If the organizations have seen a change in the type or quality of services or amount of funds they receive from the United Way, I will ask how that has affected the organizations’ ability to provide services to those depend on the organizations.

Presentation: This story is part of a series in which the class is reporting about the United Way and the organizations it funds. My story in particular covers the United Way of the River Cities Inc., which receives contributions and funds organizations in the Tri-State.

Faculty Senate meeting: March 17

A few Faculty Senate members argued about amending language in a proposed bill that would allow candidates for promotion and tenure to receive written rationale about negative comments.

Members deliberated over the language for more than half of the time of the meeting. Some members argued that language needed to be changed to either give time for those candidates to file grievances or to avoid grievances filed for the lack of providing the written rationale. A majority of more than half of the members approved the amendment, while a few opposed it. Other language was amended in the bill that changed the release of profile information by faculty from using a "valid" request to "written" request because it was unclear what would be considered "valid."

Marshall University President Stephen Kopp reported to senate members of the across-the-board raise that was given to eligible faculty. Eligible faculty only included 4-year faculty, and did not include medical school faculty, newly hired faculty and part time faculty.

Huntington City Budget proposal

To: Burnis Morris
From: Kelly Christian
Re: Story Outline: Proposed FY2012 budget for City of Huntington
Date: March 17, 2011

Subject: Proposed FY2012 budget is less than FY2011

Scope: I will examine the proposed city budget for the 2012 fiscal year and find out how much the budget has been cut and what major departments will be affected by the cuts. Departments receiving less money may have to lay off workers, as the mayor suggested in the State of the City address in January in addition to possibly cutting back some other services. I also will compare Huntington to a couple of similar cities to see if cutbacks are issues cities the sizes of Huntington in Ohio and Kentucky are facing, and other cities in West Virginia, such as Charleston.

Need: Huntington residents and Tri-State residents will be affected by cuts in the budget because less money possibly would mean less services, such as in the police and fire department, which affects the safety of anyone who lives and/or works in the city. Also, the departments affected will have an increased workload if staff is cut while attempting to maintain the same amount and quality of services.

Methods: This story can be documented by the city budget that has been proposed by Huntington Mayor Kim Wolfe. I can also examine FY2011 budget to compare how budget cuts for FY2012. I will also examine the police and fire department budgets for my side bar. I will examine news articles about Charleston’s budget and other cities in Ohio and Kentucky.

Sources: In addition to examining the proposed budget for FY2012 and FY2011 budget, I will find some background information that has already been covered. I will review Wolfe’s proposals from his State of the City address to find if any additional major budget cuts have been made. I will talk to members of Huntington City Council about the proposed budget.

To compare Huntington to Charleston, I will look up Charleston’s proposed city budget and will examine news about Charleston’s proposed budget. I will also examine news about cities in similar to Huntington in Ohio and Kentucky to compare to Huntington.

Presentation: I will present two stories – a main story about the proposed budget and a side bar about two of the city’s major departments – fire and police. I will also present charts that show the major sources of Huntington’s funding and a chart showing where the city spends the money.

Follow-up: There will be a follow-up story when City Council adopts the FY2012 budget.

Marshall Faculty Senate meeting: before

I plan to attend the Marshall Faculty Senate meeting March 17 as my last meeting requirement for Assignment 1 on the syllabus. I searched for the meeting's agenda and could not find one. I did find the minutes posted on Marshall's website, but the most recent minutes from the previous meeting have not been posted yet.

Cabell County Board of Education meeting - March 15

Members of the Cabell County Board of Education approved a motion allowing the installation of turf at Southside Elementary and Huntington Middle School.

The purpose of the installing the turf would replace damaged area of grass that board members said would never be able to be fixed otherwise. Board member Garland Parsons challenged the motion before voting for it. Parsons asked about a similar problem that exists at Altizer Elementary and how the board would address it.

Board members also voted to table the naming of the Central Office Executive Board Room until they researched the issue further. The family of former board president Ted T. Barr who died while serving as president of the board, made the request, but board members deliberated that other former board presidents and servants have had just as much impact and should also be recognized in some way.

Cabell County School Board - Meeting Agenda

The Cabell County Board of Education will vote on Meal Supervision Agreement Contracts that would allow school employees to either receive reimbursement for meal supervision or elect to receive a meal in lieu of pay. The Meal Supervision Agreement Contracts have been recommended by the Superintendent.

The Superintendent also recommends approval of synthetic turf at Southside Elementary/Huntington Middle School playground. The synthetic turf would replace the natural turf, which has been deemed inadequate and prevents students from going outside. The turf would be installed during summer months and cost projected is $122,987.58.

Other items on the agenda include a vote on the general fund, the treasurer's report for the month of February and vouchers payable for the month of February will be presented for approval.

Huntington City Council meeting - March 14

Huntington City Council members unanimously approved the second reading of an ordinance that moves the implementation of the elimination of the business and occupation tax for manufacturers and the reduction of the tax for retail and other businesses back from April 1, 2011, to Jan. 1, 2012.

During Monday evening's meeting, Mayor Kim Wolfe said the final compilation of roads and streets will begin within the next two to three weeks.

City Council also unanimously approved a resolution to revise the general fund budget of the fiscal year 2010-2011 to increse the budgeted amounts for fuel to $76,000, for utilities to $122,000 and for salt to $79,000.

City Council Meeting - March 14 Agenda

Huntington City Council will present Monday the second reading of an ordinance that would eliminate the business and occupation tax on manufacturing businesses and reduce the tax on retail and service businesses.

Other items on City Council's agenda include:
- The first reading of an ordinance that would revise filing fees;
- The first reading of an ordinance that would authoruze the mayor to enter into a contract to furnish the Huntington Sanitary Board with polymer;
- The first reading of an ordinance that would authorize the mayor to furnish Huntington Fire Department with a mobile generator set;
- The first reading of an ordinance that would provide the police department with a video surveillance network;
and - A resolution the revise the Fiscal Year 2010-2011 General Fund Budget.

Nonprofits project: United Way of the River Cities Inc.

Many of West Virginia's nonprofits have experienced effects from the recession from which the nation is beginning to recover. For the project of reporting about nonprofits, I plan to cover the United Way of the River Cities Inc. in Huntington, W.Va. The story will report how the recession has affected certain aspects of the organization, including fundraising efforts, total revenue, grants received by the government and how it has affected the organization's ability to disburse funds to other charities and nonprofits in the Tri-State. The story will also report about individuals who have benefited from the United Way of the River Cities Inc. and if those individuals have seen a change in some of their services because of how the recession has affected the organization.

Upon analyzing the United Way's 2009 990 tax form in my initial research, I found the following information:
* Total revenue: $1,269,569;
* Total expenses: $1,393,964;
* Total assets: $3,645;
* Name and title of CEO: Laura Gilliam, executive director;
* Salary of the top officers: Laura Gilliam, executive director -- $59,997 and David Carter, finance director -- $38,278;
* Mailing address: 820 Madison Ave. Huntington, WV 25704
* Telephone: 304-523-8929;
* Web address: http://unitedwayrivercities.org/index.html.

State of the City address

I plan to attend the upcoming State of the City address, which will be Mayor Kim Wolfe's third State of the City. Although I'm not sure what he will say, I imagine he will address the city's budget. I also think he will announce more budget cuts in addition to the cuts made in the last fiscal year, which is information I found in a preview story from The Herald-Dispatch.

SEC filings for AT&T Inc.

AT&T Inc. reports to the SEC on a regular basis filing its quarterly earnings and other reports such as acquisition letters. Some documents also report whether the company has complied to regulations set by the SEC.

The latest AT&T quarterly earnings report filed is its fourth quarter earnings, and the information was sent in a press release. A list of the sources of revenues is listed at the top of the press release before the body text, and the body text then describes what the numbers mean.

Since it is the fourth quarter earnings report, the release also gives full-year results and the companies outlook financially for the new year.

At the end of the press release a description of the company is given.

Other reports filed by the company include charts and spreadsheets of financial data such as operating activities, investing activities, financing activities, balance sheets and other filings stockholders need to know. They also file No Action letters, pension/retirement information and credit information.

State of the Union

President Barack Obama reminded Congress and the American people Tuesday in his State of the Union address that innovation and passionate democracy is what sets the U.S. apart from other nations.

The president began by congratulating new members of Congress, new House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, and paused to remember the empty chair that represented the absence of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz. Obama called upon Congress and the people to remember the importance of passionate democracy despite differences of opinion. 

He said, “We are part of the American family,” and must work together to “win the future.”

Obama used the phrase “win the future” frequently to convey his goals of innovation. 

Although he mentioned success of the stock market rising, economic growth and the tax cuts Congress passed in December, Obama said more must be done to provide better opportunities for the American people. He emphasized innovation similar to former President John F. Kennedy’s 1962 State of the Union address.

Rather than present the typical “laundry list” of legislation and proposals of State of the Union addresses past most have come to expect, Obama approached his audience with a broadened scope of topics. He tried to convey the interconnectedness of several issues including unemployment, creating new jobs in place of those that will not be restored, education reform from elementary to university, competing with other nations such as China and India and renewing and creating new infrastructure. 

The president said, “The rules have changed,” addressing the need for the creation of new jobs where new technology has erased many jobs that were once available. 

He admitted he wasn’t sure what the next big industry would be or from where the next big jobs would come, but said his first step to invest in American innovation is proposed legislation that invests in biomedical research, information technology and clean energy technology. The president proposed reinventing the nation’s energy policy by eliminating billions in taxes given to oil companies to invest in new clean energy technologies.

Obama transitioned into education reform as part of the innovative challenge for the U.S. first by directly addressing families and their roles in children’s education. He said both Democratic and Republican governors have developed standards for Race to the Top, education reform that is to replace former President George W. Bush’s No Child Left Behind, and will ask Congress to make the tuition tax credit of $10,000 for four years of college permanent.

Addressing education reform as a step toward innovation, Obama told Congress that they must work together to take on illegal immigration, an issue that divides Republicans and Democrats. He described how children of undocumented workers who are students raised and educated in the U.S., but aren’t considered citizens who should be considered in creating the innovation the nation needs. 

As his third goal toward innovation, Obama proposed to lower the corporate tax rate to help export more goods and to build and improve infrastructure in the U.S. He also claimed the new trade agreements with India and China would help support more than 250,000 jobs in the U.S., and asked Congress to pass the trade agreement that was finalized with South Korea.

The president’s tone changed from optimism to business-like as he addressed the nation’s budget deficit by proposing a freeze of annual domestic spending, which will “require painful cuts” that already include a pay freeze for federal employees for the next two years. He said other cuts include tens of billions of dollars in defense spending and health care costs in Medicare and Medicaid programs. 

Obama also addressed reforming medical malpractice laws and not permanently extending tax cuts for the wealthiest 2 percent of Americans. And, Obama promised to veto any bill that comes to his desk that contains earmarks, a promise Republicans will closely watch with the 2012 presidential campaign on the horizon.

Troop withdrawals that would end the war in Iraq and would begin to bring troops out of Afghanistan are also both promises Obama said he will work to see through this year, as promised in his 2010 State of the Union speech. He said violence has decreased in Iraq and is confident that troop withdrawal from Afghanistan will begin as planned in July.

Obama relished his administration’s accomplishments in 2010, mentioning the repeal of “don’t ask don’t tell.” He also extended an olive branch to Republicans offering to not repeal health care reform completely but to improve it with good ideas Republicans may offer. 

The president reiterated his bipartisan efforts despite past rhetoric by reminding Congress “as contentious and frustrating and messy as our democracy can sometimes be, I know there isn't a person here who would trade places with any other nation on Earth.”

State of the Union: What the president should address (revised)

President Barack Obama will deliver his second State of the Union address Tuesday trying to convince House Republicans and the American people of his progress and the importance of bipartisan policies.

As Obama reflects on his administration’s accomplishments and strides made by Congress to pass health care reform, as promised during his campaign, and the repeal of “don’t ask don’t tell” that he promised in his 2010 State of the Union address, the president still faces domestic and international issues that he promised to work to solve in his campaign.

The president will address issues including the growing budget deficit, public debt, the nation’s ongoing wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, unemployment and the domestic economy, foreign trade and education.

And, since new Congressional leaders have been installed after 2010’s midterm elections, the president will call for bipartisan efforts with the Republican-controlled House to find solutions to the aforementioned issues or not only risk two years of a lame-duck stalemate on Capitol Hill, but potentially risk keeping and/or gaining new voters in the 2012 presidential election.

Although the president faces partisan opposition on most of the issues he will address, Obama must be able to present a strong plan of how to solve the nation’s budget deficit and to decrease the public debt. The Congressional Budget Office projects a $1.5 trillion budget deficit for the 2011 fiscal year. The CBO also reported the public debt is $9 trillion and projects that debt to exceed $16 trillion by 2020.

Similar to former President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s entrance into the presidency, Obama entered office facing the daunting task to solve the nation’s severe economic problems. Roosevelt said in his 1934 State of the Union address that the nation was beginning to recover from the Great Depression, but the nation needed “a permanent readjustment of many of our ways of thinking and therefore many of our social and economic arrangements…” Obama will try to reach out to the American people as well as his opponents in Congress to continue on a road of economic recovery with a similar attitude to Roosevelt’s.

Obama also shares similar circumstances to former President John F. Kennedy. When Kennedy entered office, he also faced recession, banks failures and unemployment problems. Kennedy searched for innovative solutions in his own time by extending unemployment benefits and by adding stimulus to the economy to create jobs, but admitted more action was needed to help American families. The unemployment rate has decreased since its highest rate of 10.6 percent in January 2010 to 9.1 percent in December 2010, but the American people and House Republicans want to know Obama’s next step to provide additional help.

House Republicans and the rest of the nation will also be waiting to hear the president’s plans to withdraw troops from Iraq and a timetable for Afghanistan. Obama did begin withdrawing U.S. troops in August 2010, and is supposed to have all U.S. troops out of Iraq by 2011. Obama has also vowed to withdraw troops from Afghanistan by July 2011. The president faces pressure similar to former President Lyndon B. Johnson to withdraw troops by his timetable, but he also faces criticism from Republicans of whether troop withdrawal from Iraq was too soon.

Despite obstacles the president faces to move the country forward, Obama will surely present a message of hope and optimism. As past presidents have brought the nation together to solve its toughest economic problems, Obama will remind members of a divided Congress that that’s what it takes to accomplish the seemingly impossible, especially in the wake of the Tucson, Ariz., shooting and assassination attempt on Rep. Gabrielle Giffords.

But, can Republicans and Democrats learn to compromise? One hardly thinks so, as House Republicans have just voted to repeal the health care bill the president signed into law in 2010. One can expect the president to continue to hammer his message of the importance of bipartisanship.

Parthenon errors

The Parthenon published two stories Wednesday previewing the Chesapeake Energy Capital Classic where the Marshall's men's and women's basketball teams would face in-state rivals WVU men's and women's basketball teams. In the two stories, there were several changes I would make.

First of all, the lede in the women's basketball story needs to be shorter. It would sound better as follows: Marshall's women's basketball team will face its first and maybe only opponent ranked in the top 10 this season Wednesday at the Charleston Civic Center.

Another error that plagued both the men's and women's stories was the use of "their" instead of "its" when referring to each team.

In the men's story, the lede began with the time element, which is something that isn't ever supposed to be done unless the timing was of great significance. Again, "tonight" was used rather than the day of the week.

In the women's story headline, Capital Classic is not capitalized where it should be.

By looking at both headlines, it makes it look like the men's team represents all of Marshall, but the women's team only represents themselves -- they are not referred to as Marshall or Herd.''

A sentence in the men's story is awkward and it's difficult to make out exactly what the writer is trying to say. Here's the sentence: The selloout game will be televised on WOWK-TV the Capital Classic Network and will also be available onlin at ESPN3.com. I didn't know there was a "Capital Classic Network," as it is only one men's game and one women's game.

The men's story also states Marshall and WVU have played against each other 39 times, but doesn't give the record.

The State of the Union: What the President should address

President Barack Obama will deliver his second State of the Union address Tuesday before a divided Congress ― a Democratic majority in the Senate and a Republican majority in the House. 

Cue sound effects. DUN DUN DUUUNNNN!

            As Obama reflects on his administration’s accomplishments and strides made by Congress to pass health care reform, as promised during his campaign, and the repeal of “don’t ask don’t tell” that he promised in his 2010 State of the Union address, it is important for the president to address other serious issues including the growing budget deficit, the nation’s ongoing wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, unemployment and the domestic economy, foreign trade and education. And, since new Congressional leaders have been installed after 2010’s midterm elections, it will be important for the president to try to work with the Republican-controlled House to find solutions to the aforementioned issues or not only risk two years of a lame-duck stalemate on Capitol Hill, but potentially risk keeping and/or gaining new voters in the 2012 presidential election.

            Although the president faces partisanship opposition on most, if not all, of the issues he will address, Obama must be able to present a clear, strong plan of how to begin solving the nation’s budget deficit, whether that includes raising taxes for a short period of time and/or cutting additional spending wherever he can, and unemployment. The Congressional Budget Office reported $9 trillion debt the public owns and projected that debt to exceed $16 trillion by 2020.

Not so unlike former President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Obama entered office during a recession so severe that no recession has been reported worse since the Great Depression. And like Roosevelt, who said in his 1934 State of the Union address while proposing his own legislation to move the U.S. out of depression that “we are definitely in the process of recovery, lines have been rightly drawn between those to whom this recovery means a return to old methods ― and the number of these people is small ― and those for whom recovery means a reform of many old methods, a permanent readjustment of many of our ways of thinking and therefore of many of our social and economic arrangements…” Obama will have to try to reach out to the American people as well as his opponents in Congress to continue on a road of economic recovery.

            Also not so unlike another president of the past, Obama shares similar circumstances to former President John F. Kennedy. When Kennedy entered office, he also faced recession, banks failures and unemployment problems. Kennedy searched for innovative solutions in his own time by extending unemployment benefits and by adding stimulants to the economy to create additional nonagricultural jobs. He stated in his 1962 State of the Union address “we began the year in the valley of recession ― we completed it on the high road of recovery and growth. …We are gratified ― but we are not satisfied. Too many unemployed are still looking for the blessings of prosperity…” Though Kennedy worked to decrease unemployment and bring the U.S. out of recession, he admitted that the progression still wasn’t good enough ― more was needed to help American families. Even though the unemployment rate has decreased since its highest rate of 10.6 percent in January 2010 to 9.1 percent in December 2010, the American people, and especially House Republicans, will be waiting to hear the president’s next step in solving this problem.

            House Republicans and the rest of the nation will also be waiting to hear the president’s plans for totally withdrawing troops from Iraq and a timetable for Afghanistan. Obama did begin withdrawing U.S. troops in August 2010, and is supposed to have all U.S. troops out of Iraq by 2011. According to news sources, Obama has also vowed to withdraw troops from Afghanistan by July 2011 ― a war that has raged on for almost a decade. Similar to controversy that rained on Lyndon B. Johnson’s presidency, Obama faces pressure to withdraw troops by his timetable, but he also faces criticism from Republicans of whether troop withdrawal from Iraq was too soon. The president’s timetable for Afghanistan has also been questioned as to whether or not it is too soon for U.S. troop withdrawal

            In the midst of the problems both the president and the nation faces, Obama will surely present a message of hope and optimism. As past presidents have brought the nation together to solve its toughest economic problems, Obama will remind members of a divided Congress that that’s what it takes to accomplish the seemingly impossible, especially in the wake of the Tucson, Ariz., shooting and assassination attempt on Rep. Gabrielle Giffords. But, can Republicans and Democrats learn to compromise? One hardly thinks so, as House Republicans have just voted to repeal the health care bill the president signed into law in 2010, but it doesn’t mean that the president will stop hammering his message of the importance of bipartisanship.

Blog sites

The City Room blogs from "The New York Times"  posts news about happenings locally within the city, such as how students weren't happy that they didn't get a snow day after 9 inches blanketed the city, or local news, such as local trials or new bills proposed by city government, for example. I like this blog because for a paper as big as "The New York Times" presents some localized news targeted toward a more local audience, rather than only presenting national and world news, which is what most people not from New York really may see it as. However, because I'm not from the city, I'm less inclined to read it, because it's not my community.

The Quad Blog covers sports in a way that some pieces are like opinion pieces, and in other ways in which the reader learns something about the athletes, teams and/or coaches that he or she wouldn't typically find in a run-of-the-mill sports story. I do like the Quad Blog because it covers sports across the U.S., but also because of the aforementioned reason -- it's not a run-of-the-mill sports story -- it's reader friendly for someone who doesn't know as much about sports and typically doesn't read much about sports.

The Lede Blog consists of current events -- political, social, etc -- where the bloggers use facts, as they would with a news story, and add in more of their opinion not only based upon facts but also based some on the experience or encounters they have had with others close to the story. While similar to printed columns, blogs are different because they still take on more characteristics of a news story more so than columns do, at least in my opinion. I like this blog because I think it gives another perspective to the story that is happening or has just happened that doesn't always necessarily take a side.

Columnist reading

After going through the list of columnists and reading through a few of their columns, I discovered that I really enjoyed reading those by Maureen Dowd at "The New York Times."

Her writing style is such that it grabs one's attention quickly with a short line of something quirky (if her column is more personal) or of something that with which one quickly agrees or disagrees (if her column is about current issues.) Sometimes, she opens her columns with a short anecdotal story that leads in to her topic, such as the column "Pass the Caribou Stew," where she criticizes former Alaska governor Sarah Palin for the style used to obtain good public opinion by starring in a reality television show.

Throughout both her more personal columns and political columns, Dowd tries to engage the reader and uses language simple enough for anyone to understand and also throws in a satirical line or two every other paragraph or so to keep the topic in perspective and to give the reader a sense of her opinion, which gives a sense of the columnist's character.