Hands Up

Mass Communication Dinner 2010

2010-04-21T10:08:00.000-07:00

Tips for filing a Freedom of Information request

2010-03-31T13:57:00.000-07:00

Date the letter

The agency has 15 days to respond to your request. The date on the letter starts the clock.

Address the letter to the head of the agency

Start at the top. In the case of elected school board officials with a hired superintendent, address the superintendent.

Mention the S.C. Freedom of Information Act

This is not required, but could make the agency take your request more seriously.

Be specific about what public records you want

Give certain dates and types.

Ask that copying fees be waived

They can still charge you, but you can ask to be notified of an estimated charge when they call to discuss the request.

List your phone number

Request that someone from the agency call you to schedule an appointment to look at the records or figure out another way to send them.

Send the letter through certified mail and request a return receipt

This is not required either, but if you expect any controversy over when the letter was received, this will help your case.

Save a copy of the letter

This will also safeguard you if there is any controversy over when the letter was sent.

Compiled with information from www.scpress.org

225 hidden exemptions to South Carolina Freedom of Information exist

2010-03-31T13:54:00.000-07:00

Chunks of asphalt have been destroying drivers’ cars on part of I-26 and the Mark Clark Expressway in the Charleston area, according to a story by the Post and Courier’s investigative team.

That team is trying to find out how many claims have been filed with the Department of Transportation (DOT). The reasoning of the journalists: the DOT is a state agency, and those claims should be available under South Carolina’s Freedom of Information Act (FOI.)

But the DOT won’t release the claims. Their reasoning: they’re taking the claims as a request from their lawyer, so the information falls under attorney-client privilege.

Organizations like the South Carolina Press Association and the Society of Professional Journalists’ Project Sunshine are in place to help journalists who encounter resistance to FOI requests.

Bill Rogers, executive director for the S.C. Press Association, said the claims should be public record.

"The money and number of claims has nothing to do with attorney-client privilege," Rogers said on the organization’s Web site. "How do we know it's not the department's employees filing the claims? It all needs to be open."

Like the DOT in this case, agencies often try to deny public records to journalists by citing exemptions to the FOIA, even if they are a stretch.

USC graduate student Katie Beck found 225 exemptions to the South Carolina FOIA in her research. These exemptions don’t include the ones listed in the actual FOIA. Those 225 were found in other laws. Most deal with privacy, according to Beck’s thesis.

The courts in South Carolina have generally been in favor of disclosing information, according to Beck’s research. Beck argues that putting so many exemptions outside of the FOIA means the courts will interpret them more broadly. This could lead to other agencies keeping public information private through those exemptions.

Courts in South Carolina have been especially strict with law enforcement agencies, according to Beck’s research. In 2004, a court ruled that the York County Sheriff’s Department was a public body, even though the department argued it wasn’t.

The FOIA does allow access to a wide range of information. The South Carolina Press Association provides journalists and citizens with an explanation of the law.

SC Freedom of Information Act

2010-03-30T18:28:00.000-07:00

Coca-cola colonizes Mexico

2009-11-19T10:51:00.000-08:00

"Coca-colonization."

That's what two researchers are calling the transformation of remote areas of other countries into junk-food-eating communities.

In their 2004 study in Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico, Thomas Leatherman and Alan Goodman, researched how tourism brought about this change in eating habits. Coca-cola, a U.S. icon, has an especially pervasive presence in the Mayan communities that are now tourist areas, according to their research.

Changing community

Tourism now supports these Mayan communities and provides jobs for their residents. Many of the residents are construction workers, tour guides or maids.

The Mayan people realize how tourism has changed their community, according to the article. They also realize how important tourism is to providing them with jobs.

But without as many people working on local farmland, the Mayans don't eat as much local produce. Instead they turn to the unhealthy snacks and sodas brought to big and small stores in the area at least once a week.

'Comidas chatarras'

The Spanish name for all the junk food the Mayans now eat is "comidas chatarras." The malnutrition of the Mayans has led to stunted growth and obesity.

In their survey of the eating habits of the community, Leatherman and Goodman found:

overall child growth has grown in the past decade, but child growth has been somewhat stunted
children were overweight considering their weight and height, but no children were obese
86 % of urban women are overweight
50% of urban women are obese
diabetes is the fourth leading cause of death in Yucatan

The researchers speculate that a Yucatan population that is already overweight and obese will only continue to have those problems because the children don't have good nutrition and are overweight.

No say

The Mayan people are being used for cheap labor at the tourist attractions and "only set an ethnic backdrop at tourist sites," Leatherman and Goodman say.

They suggest that one way to improve the health of the Mayan people is to let them have a say in the government bodies.

Religious discrimination complaints grow

2009-11-04T22:34:00.000-08:00

The first ammendment prohibits the United States government from making any law that would prohibit the free exercise of religion.

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits employment discrimination on the basis of regligion, as well as race, color, sex or national origin.

But businesses and companies still discriminate religiously against workers. From before 2001 to 2008, the number of religious discrimination charges filed in the United States has increased by more than 30 percent, according to a USA Today article. The Equal Opportunity Employment Commission received 3,273 charges of religious discrimination in 2008.

It’s not just people of religions that are new to the United States. Thousands of cases were filed. Among them were complaints filed by Christians.

A Missouri woman was fired from her small town public library in 2003 because she refused to work on Sundays, according to a Fox News article. Three years later, Connie Rehm, a Lutheran, regained her job after a judge ruled in her favor in court.

But Christians aren’t the only ones discriminated against in the workplace based on religion.
Muslims, the fastest-growing religious group in the United Sates, according to the State Department, have been increasingly discriminated against since Sept. 11.

The Department of Justice filed a lawsuit in June 2009 against Essex County for firing a Muslim corrections officer for wearing a head scarf with her uniform.

Being fired simply for following a religion is unacceptable. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 guarantees that employees won’t be discriminated against based on religion. The United States government should make sure businesses are adhering to that law.

Muslims have faced harsher discrimination in the workplace – from employers and fellow employees.

After the train bombings in India, one Muslim woman received an e-mail from a co-worker that began “Dear Muslim,” according to another USA Today article. A study by Yale professor Mona Amer shows that Muslims have worse mental health than Americans in general.

No one in the United States – a country that was founded by people escaping religious persecution – should experience anxiety or stress related to religious discrimination.

If the United States government is going to condemn other countries, like Bulgaria, for religious discrimination, it needs to take a look at the problem in its own country first.

Americans left behind in globalized world

2009-11-04T19:54:00.000-08:00

There are 4,000 reasons Americans should know about the world pointing at us.

Missiles, that is.

It would take only 20 minutes for a missile to reach the United States from Russia, Christopher Van Aller, a political science professor at Winthrop, told his American Foreign Policy class.

The students in his 500-level political science class, however, are among the few Americans who know a significant amount about the geography, history and politics of the world.

A shocking 20 percent of 18- to 24-year-old Americans think Sudan is in Asia, according to the 2006 National Geographic-Roper Survey of Geographic Literacy. An even higher 48 percent of young adults surveyed thought the majority of the population in India is Muslim. (Take the quiz yourself.)

Americans have a mind-set that Stephen Brooks, author of “As Others See Us,” calls one of isolationism. That isolationism is composed of ignorance, insularity and indifference, he says.
Some international students at Winthrop University apparently have this same view of Americans.

Brandi Baker, a junior elementary education major, works as a peer mentor. One of her students from Canada told her many Canadians think Americans “live in a dome.”

A large reason for the mind-set of isolationism stems from the lack of global learning in schools. That’s why organizations like National Geographic and the National Council for Geographic Education have started campaigns to support the teaching of geography to students of all ages.

The view Americans have of the United States as the example for all other countries in the world to follow simply can’t continue to exist in a world in which globalization is increasingly important.

The curriculum for American schools needs to include lessons on the world, starting with geography at a very young age. Knowing where countries are located is the base to understanding more about them and the connections between them all.

Americans rely mostly on television as their source for national and international information about current events, according to the book “As Others See Us.”

This can be dangerous because the coverage of international events on American television networks isn’t necessarily proportional to the importance of events and issues across the world.

For example, the death of Anna Nicole Smith received more coverage than all other countries except Iraq, according to a presentation by Alisa Miller, the CEO of Public Radio International. (See video above.)

The economy has affected the number of foreign bureaus news networks can afford, Brooks said in his book. But television networks are covering these pop culture topics rather than international news because that’s what American viewers are interested in.

An increase of global learning in American schools would spark students’ interest in world issues. Young adults today have seen the effects of not knowing about the world. That's why we need to support global education so that younger generations aren’t left behind in a world consumed by globalization.

Sleepless nights leave Winthrop student burnt out

2009-10-29T09:54:00.000-07:00

Nick Varraso has energy.

When he has to finish a project for a class, he has no problem staying up until 3 or 4 a.m. to finish it. He’s also able to balance three jobs while taking a full load of classes at Winthrop University.

But Nick’s energy comes at the wrong times. When his friends and family are settling down and getting tired from a long day, Nick gets what he calls “a second wind.”

“It doesn’t matter what I’m doing or what’s going on, my body will re-energize at 11 p.m.,” Nick said. “I have to fall asleep before 10 p.m., otherwise I won’t get to sleep before my re-energizing.”

Nick can’t explain his bursts of energy, but he knows he doesn’t get enough sleep because of them. His sleeplessness has caused him to have a hectic schedule — he can only fall asleep between certain hours — and has added more stress to his life.

Nick isn’t alone in his sleep problems. A study in the College Student Journal shows that 76.6 percent of students at a large southeastern college reported occasional sleep problems, and 28 percent reported having insomnia.

Click here to listen to a podcast about insomnia.

Everyone has trouble sleeping occasionally, but people with insomnia have trouble sleeping for more than three weeks without improvement, said Dr. Donna Arand, president of the American Insomnia Association, in an interview on the Academy of Sleep Medicine Web site, sleepeducation.com. Their sleep problems also interfere with their ability to function during the day.

Studies have also shown a correlation between sleep problems and levels of stress.

Not getting enough sleep can increase a person’s stress, according to the article “The Waking Dead” in Newsweek. Studies have shown that people who sleep less have higher amounts of cortisol — a hormone that is related to stress, depression and cardiovascular disease — in their bodies. With a good night’s rest, the body regulates the levels of the hormone that can cause stress, according to the Newsweek article.

But another study shows that stress is the main factor in students’ poor sleep quality. The study, published in the Journal of Adolescent Health, found that stress from school and life keeps 68 percent of students awake. Of those students, 20 percent couldn’t sleep at least once a week due to stress.

“Students underestimate the importance of sleep in their daily lives. They forgo sleep during periods of stress, not realizing that they are sabotaging their physical and mental health,” said Roxanne Prichard, a co-author of the study and an assistant professor of psychology at the University of St. Thomas, in St. Paul, Minn.

Nick often doesn’t sleep at night when he has to work or when he has schoolwork because he can only fall asleep at certain times — before 10 p.m. or between 4 and 6 a.m.

On the nights Nick works at Ouzo’s Pizza, an Italian restaurant, he gets home around 10 or 10:30 p.m., eats dinner and is awake until 4 a.m. or later because his body is re-energized – like he just woke up from a nap.

“I actually feel this happening,” Nick said. “It’s like I’m plugged into a charger.”

Even if he does fall asleep before 10 p.m., he’s only able to sleep for four or five hours.

His freshman year at the University of South Carolina, Nick said he was able to cope with his sleeping problems because he had more free time during the day. Even though he couldn’t sleep normal hours during the night, he was able to go to classes, come back to his dorm and take a nap.

But when Nick transferred from USC to Winthrop, he had “double the stress,” he said. He was living with his family again and working more hours at Ouzo’s Pizza. Trying to balance school, work and family left no free time during his day for naps.

A study published in the Journal of Family Psychology shows that negative family events, coupled with academic stress, resulted in the highest levels of insomnia in students at Florida State University. Family stress had a more significant effect than stress among peers. The authors suggest this is because college students’ family relationships are deeper than their relationships with their peers.

During the 2007-2008 school year at Winthrop, the year he moved back to Rock Hill, Nick said he averaged two to three hours of sleep per night.

Out of the 120 hours in five days, Nick stayed awake 112 of those hours. At the time, he was working long hours at Ouzo’s Pizza cooking and delivering food.

“I’m able to function on very little sleep – and function efficiently,” he said, “but I’m not functioning optimally. I need about seven hours of sleep to function optimally.”

Nick sometimes sacrifices other things to make time for a nap during the day.

“If I have to drive that night (at work), I’ll force myself to sleep so I won’t be a detriment on the road.”

His girlfriend, Melanie Wilton, said Nick’s sleep habits make it difficult for them to spend time together when she comes home to Rock Hill from the University of South Carolina on the weekends.

“He’ll just stay up really late and not be productive, and then he’ll want to sleep until the afternoon,” Wilton said. “If I wake up in the morning I usually let him sleep. It normally cuts our time short.”

He always tells her that he’s tired, no matter how much sleep he gets, she said.

When they first started dating Melanie thought Nick only stayed up late because he had homework to do and papers to write. But, three months into their relationship, school was out, and she realized Nick always stays up late.

Nick has been dealing with his sleeplessness since the sixth grade, but has never been diagnosed with insomnia, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) or attention deficit disorder (ADD).

He thinks he has undiagnosed ADHD, which causes him to have an abundance of energy and not be able to fall asleep.

When he was younger, Nick told his parents he wanted to be tested for ADD, but the test was too timely and costly. Their health insurance didn’t cover a test for ADD. There was — and still is — a difference of opinion about his sleep habits in his family.

“(My parents) just viewed it as me not being able to calm down,” Nick said. “I viewed it as me not being able to calm down because I have too much energy that needs to be expelled.”

Pam Varraso, Nick’s mother, doesn’t think Nick needs to be tested for ADD or sleep disorders. If he scheduled his days more efficiently, he would have more time to sleep and eat, she said.

“He just gets wound up,” Pam said. “It’s all a part of the fact that he says he’s ADD. But he can still sit down and read a whole book cover-to-cover. I think it’s something he can conquer.”

Nick gets too stressed because he tries to juggle too many things and overworks himself, Pam said.

“He tries to help everyone,” she said. “He just doesn’t put himself first. He does have a big heart.”

Nick kept pushing his parents to get him tested, but eventually gave up.

“I just said, ‘It doesn’t matter what I have. I know what I have. I’ll just learn how to use it to my advantage,’” he said.

Mary McKemy, professor of psychology at Winthrop, said ADD or ADHD could cause insomnia, and the treatment of insomnia depends on the underlying problem causing it. Other disorders such as sleep apnea and depression can also cause insomnia, she said.

Nick’s sleep problems do seem to be caused by ADD or ADHD in some ways, McKemy said.

Although caffeine is a stimulant, Nick said drinking excessive amounts of caffeine helps him fall asleep.

“Caffeine, in large quantities, actually dulls my senses to the point that I can sleep,” he said.

McKemy said caffeine could possibly have a calming effect on people with ADD.

Normally, caffeine causes the body to pump more adrenaline and causes the heart to beat faster, she said. However, the drugs that are used to treat ADD are also stimulants, but they have a calming effect on users’ brains.

“So caffeine could calm that same part of the brain,” she said.

In some ways, Nick’s sleep problems don’t sound like those of a person with ADD, though, McKemy said.

“People with ADD or ADHD will continue until they drop, and then they will go to sleep,” she said.

Insomnia can also be passed on to family members through genetics, McKemy said.

Pam takes Ambien, a sleep medication, but her sleep problems are caused by another medical condition, she said. She gets nine to 10 hours of sleep a night. Nick’s father is the night owl, she said, and his grandmother was an insomniac.

Although Nick isn’t on any prescription medications, he has tried everything from Benadryl to Nyquil to make himself fall asleep. When he was younger those over-the-counter medications worked, but not now.

“It’s a very trying experience because there’s just not much I can do about it,” he said.

The only things that do help Nick fall asleep are being extremely physically exhausted or drinking a lot of caffeine.

Even then, it’s not a guarantee he’ll be able to go to sleep.

Nick has also tried meditation, but said he only feels more peaceful, not more tired. When he does meditate, his mind is still turning.

“A lot of times I find that I go on a spiritual journey,” he said. “I delve into my own mind. I can’t just sit still. I’m very uncomfortable sitting still.”

Nick has never been able to just sit still.

“I think a lot. My brain doesn’t shut down,” Nick said. “When I was younger I didn’t know how to control that. Then as I got older, it became a full-fledged piece of me.”

Pam said she thinks Nick’s sleep habits will be detrimental to him in the long run.

“He needs to learn the world’s not going to fall apart if he doesn’t come to the rescue,” she said. “He’s going to burn himself out.”

Obama takes on his biggest stage

2009-09-08T11:13:00.000-07:00

The president will address a joint session of

Congress on health care tomorrow night to

state more specifically what he wants in a

health care reform bill.

Obama will speak on his biggest stage when he addresses the issue of health care in front of a joint session of Congress tomorrow night.

The purpose of the speech is to clear up what he wants in health care reform once and for all.

Critics have said that the problem with the health care debate is that there have been too many opportunities for Obama to speak and too many voices.

"He's now, very late in the game, it appears, maybe going to be a lot more clear about what exactly he wants — and more importantly, what he's willing to fight for," said Tony Fratto, a former spokesman for President George W. Bush, to a MSNBC reporter. "He's going all in from a communications standpoint. The question is whether he's going to go all in on a policy standpoint."

A big part of Obama’s campaign was his promise to have a health care reform bill passed in his first year.

His push to include a government-run healthcare option in the bill was largely opposed by the GOP. That possibility also sparked heated debate at the health care town halls in the past months, too.

Liberal Democrats are now afraid that Obama will compromise with the Republicans and more conservative Democrats by removing the public option just to get a bill passed.

Some critics say Obama’s opponents have misinterpreted his message, but that tomorrow’s speech is his chance to change the “movie” his opponents are watching.

“Opponents of the current reform effort have been hawking a nail-biter of a horror flick: Faceless government bureaucrats take over the health care system, destroy innovation, eliminate choice and empower government “death panels” to decide whether Grandma will live or die,” said Andie Coller, a reporter for politico.com.

Americans have been paying less attention to Obama’s public addresses since his first one on Feb. 9. But analysts say tomorrow’s speech is building anticipation again.

"There are fundamental principles that he believes in," said Obama’s senior adviser David Axelrod to a MSNBC reporter. "He's not dogmatic about how we get there."

Completed Scholars Walk attracts students

2009-08-26T15:38:00.000-07:00

The new walkway between Owens Hall and the DiGiorgio Center encourages students to gather.

Meghan Whitney and Lauren Grogan sat on a swing on Scholars Walk on the second day of classes, chatting.

The two juniors have been at Winthrop for the opening of the West Center, Owens Hall and now the completion of Scholars Walk, which was finished during the summer before students returned for fall classes.

Whitney and Grogan said they love the addition of the walkway, especially the five white swings that stand beside Kinard.

"When we came back from the summer we were really surprised to see it here," Grogan said. "It's a good place just to hang out."

Freshman Jolie Odom said she enjoys the new swings, too.

"I think it's a really nice place," Odom said. "I wish there were more swings."

Scholars Walk was completed on time and will be followed by the DiGiorgio Center and gardens behind Roddey Apartments. When finished, the path will connect the oldest building on campus, the Little Chapel, with the new part of campus, the gardens.

The walkway is part of President DiGiorgio's plan to create a "heart of campus." The recent addition of Owens Hall and the West Center were the start of the campus shift. When the state provides money, a new library will be the last addition.