In loving memory

Daniel W. Williams, 52, of Lyndon, Vt., died after a jousting incident with former student Eric Wayne.
Born in Berwyn, Ill., on October 26th, 1956, he was the son of James and the late Mary Williams of Hilton Head, S.C. He was educated at Kansas State University in 1977 with a bachelor's degree in journalism. He then went on to earn his master's degree at Ohio State University.
In 1982, Williams traveled to Munich, Germany, to work at Radio-Free Europe. He remained in Germany for nine years before coming back to the United States to work at CNN. From 2004 to 2006, he was employed by Sanford University as a journalism professor. Beginning in the fall of 2006, Williams had worked as a professor at Lyndon State College. During the summer months, he also remained with CNN as a writer and copy editor of CNN International.
Williams will be remembered as a fantastic English professor. He was loved by faculty and students alike for his silly sense of humor. An avid gardener and chef, his hobbies included cooking vegetables from his home garden. He was a member of College Media Advisers for four years, and was also involved in the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication.
Williams is survived by his wife, Susan Millar-Williams, and their three children, Gretchen Williams of Detroit, Mich., Martin Williams of Providence, R.I., and James "Jimmy" Williams of Lyndon, Vt. He is also survived by his father, James Williams, of Hilton Head, S.C. He was predeceased by his mother, Mary Williams. Williams also leaves behind his dog, Louis.
In lieu of flowers, please submit donations to the Dan Williams Journalistic Excellence Scholarship at Lyndon State College.

FINAL PROJECT!

We are going to film an interview with a professor, asking not-so-typical question to give an in-depth look into their life. We have not decided which professor we will interview yet, pending permission. :)

Old Men, Cuba, and Underwater Concerts: iReport Videos

            The first video I watched on iReport was called "It Will Be Made Right Later!". This video reminds me a lot of another we watched in class about aging people being ignored. I did not like this video. The man's speech pattern was very slow, without much variety. I think he meant to make himself sound more dramatic, but it really bored me. Also, he did not use the Rule of Thirds, meaning he was directly in the middle of the screen. It did not make for an interesting composition. If I worked for CNN, I would not put this on because it just wouldn't appeal to enough viewers.

            http://www.ireport.com/docs/DOC-245649

 

            The second video I watched was called "US Cuba Relations". This video was only 1 minute, 55 seconds long which was definitely a plus. Shorter videos keep viewers interested because there is less excessive 'stuff' in them. If edited correctly, short videos can hold a lot of important information. This video was more interesting to me. The man in the video wants to lift the embargo in Cuba, and he talked about it without dramatic pauses or overzealous language. I liked that. If I was working at CNN, I would consider putting this on, perhaps under an opinion section. It was interesting and very easy to understand.

            http://www.ireport.com/docs/DOC-245655

 

            The last video I watched was called "Guinness World Record For Deepest Underwater Concert".  This was about a woman who held a concert in an underwater oil platform. While the topic was fascinating, and the editing was great, it was just simply too long to go on CNN. The entire length of the video was 7 minutes and 31 seconds. People who want news want it fast, and most would be turned off at the idea of watching it for 7 minutes. If I worked at CNN, I would try to shrink this down into a much more concise video, because it really is interesting.

            http://www.ireport.com/docs/DOC-245715

News Videos

The first video I watched was called "Big Purple Garage" on CNN.com. It was a short news video about a garage in Sequim, Washington that neighbors are very upset about. Because of its bright, festive color, they say the value of their property is decreasing. The video was good because it had good audio, clarity, and visuals. There were interviews from a few neighbors, as well as some information told by a reporter as well. By combining and arranging images of the garage and surrounding areas, viewers were able to get a much better sense of what the video was trying to convey.
Big Purple Garage

The second video I watched was called "Tortoise-napper Caught on Tape" on msnbc.com. This video, like the first, made good use of interview and imagery to show what was going on. In Easley, South Carolina, a tortoise was shoplifted from a pet store, which was caught on camera. The woman put the tortoise in her purse and left the store. The only real problem I noticed with this video is that the video quality isn't the best. The images are not very sharp, which can frustrate viewers. If it were clearer, I would have liked it a lot better. 

Tortoise-napper Caught on Tape