4 1 WEDNESDAY, Nov. 11, 2009 Speaker discusses job, creating radio content By Allegra O'Neill FOR THE COLLEGIAN Creating a picture with a single sound is how Cynthia Berger, director of public affairs program ming for WPSU-FM, explained writing content for radio broad cast. "Keep it vivid and interesting, you want the audience to be able to see it, therefore you must paint the picture with your words," Berger said. Berger spoke at a Nittany Valley Writers Network meeting at the Schlow Centre Region Library, 211 S. Allen St., to explain her job and talk to other writers. About 17 people attended the event, including one Penn State student, one graduate student, and other members of the club varying in age. Berger, who has published about 100 articles and two books on wildlife, has a masters degree in zoology from the University of New Hampshire and was editor of Living Bird magazine. Berger began her talk by ask ing the writers in attendance about their writing preference and any projects they may cur rently be working on, and then dove into her personal experi ences. "Fbr the past five years for WPSU I pretty much have been like a reporter," Berger said. "My best advice is you should always open with your best sound." Berger then played a sound bite from her story "Expedition to Paternoville," in which she paral lels the football campout tradition with a primitive culture. "Students pounded up dump sters and drummed on them King interview airs at Theatre By Ricky Morales COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER A man standing near the out skirts of a small town is being showered by the debris of a destructed air- plane and bloody animal parts; this is how Stephen King described one of the charac ters in his new "It's a Stephen King moment," he said The legendary horror novelist appeared via satellite on the big screen at the State Theatre on Tuesday night. As a part of "NY Times Talks LIVE in HD," he spoke about "Under the Dome," his latest book, which was released the same day. King was interviewed by New York Times book critic Janet Maslin, who asked him about top ics from his novel, including poli tics, religion and the industry "This is a problem," Maslin said, hefting the 1,088-page tome as she walked onto the stage. "How much does it weigh?" PSU couple talks about acts of love By Paige Minemyer COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER Edgar Farmer wanted to make sure the students attending "Living Like the Huxtables" would remember that love is more than just a word. "Love is an action. You demon strate your love," he said. Farmer and his wife, Barbara, gave a presentation on building and maintaining a healthy rela tionship, which was held in the Chambers Building and spon sored by the Omega Psi Phi fra ternity Edgar and Barbara both work for Penn State he is the head of the Department of Learning and Performance Systems and she is director of multicultural affairs for the College of Information Science and Technology The Farmers have been mar ried for 41 years, and they used their time together as basis for their presentation Students in attendance were asked to choose the topics of dis cussion and came up with a list that included communication, relationship longevity and trust. Edgar and Barbara addressed each of the topics first, giving the male and female perspective on each one. They particularly stressed the impor tance of good communication in a relationship. "That's why we have two ears and one mouth we should Amanda August/Collegian Cynthia Berger, director of public affairs programming for WPSU-FM, talks to the Nittany Valley Writers in the Schlow Library on Tuesday night. She explained how to write for radio and spoke about her experiences. that I felt was the best sound to start that piece off with," she said. She continued by talking about WPSU-FM, which is based in State College and broadcasts to 13 counties. Although the station does not often do breaking news, the employees base their stories on topics that resonate with the listeners, Berger said. "The public radio core values are qualities of mind, qualities of heart and spirit, and quality of craft. Does your story peak their interest? Does it speak to the uni versal of human nature? Or does it balance sound ambience?" Berger said. She spoke of the importance of sound ambience, which is the ele ment of natural sounds around us, to add to the stories since the audience can not see what is actually going on. "The ideal language for radio is language fit for a fifth grader," King replied with an anecdote regarding a critique of one of his books. In it, his critic's number one piece of advice was "Don't read it," he said. "Two," King continued, quoting the review, "if you do read it, don't drop it on your foot." He said the book follows a large cast of more than 100 characters during a week as they live under neath a mysterious invisible dome that covers a town in Maine. Originally, he wanted the book to follow them throughout the course of a whole year. However, if he had it would've been 9,000 pages, he said. He said he first tried writing the book in 1976, but at that time he was daunted by the sheer size of the task. He started writing the book again during President George W. Bush's administration, and it took him two years to write. Maslin also asked him ques tions that exposed King's fears about the Internet's effect on the book industry. "You wonder if the printed word isn't becoming the vinyl of the 21st century," he said. At one point during the inter view, he picked up the hard copy of "Under the Dome" and bran Benedict A Samuel/Collegian Barbara and Edgar Farmer talk to a group of students at the Chambers Building on Tuesday night. The couple discussed maintaining healthy relationships. ten twice as much as we talk," Edgar said. They also introduced the "Rosenthal effect:" the idea that those who expect more get more. The Farmers gave the students a copy of a column they wrote for the Centre Daily Times, referring to it throughout the night and using it to supplement their pres entation. In the article, they detailed the "five love languages" and pre sented them to the audience. The "love languages" included spend ing quality time together and giv ing gifts. Barbara showed off her "bling" for the students to highlight the idea of gift giving. "This is not what I sought, but what I've been given," she said. After the initial discussion, the students split into two groups, LOCAL Berger said. "Long complex sen tences blow right by the average listener. You need to write stories that are very conversational." After answering questions, Berger explained how to prep information for the radio, explain ing the importance of cutting and editing the tape gathered from the interviews. She emphasized the difficulty with editing and the danger of taking comments out of context or changing their mean ing as a result of cutting. She also explained the need for experience in editing software, and showed the audience an industry standard program avail able for download called Protools. "It was very interesting to hear about the internship opportuni ties since I am going to school for broadcast journalism," said Ashley Bennett (junior-broadcast journalism) "I definitely plan to attend more of these meetings." dished it to the audience to emphasize his preference of printed publications over elec tronic books. "I mean, wouldn't you want that?" he said. "That's nice." King said he went to college to become a high school English teacher so he could support his passion for writing. He said a lot of students had already decided they didn't like reading by that point, and he considered re attending college to become an elementary school teacher. "It's like the Catholic Church says: 'Let's get them while they're young, then they're ours forever,' " he said. He also tries to support writers by reading as many manuscripts as he can. Jason Smutz attended the event and is an avid Stephen King fan, having read novels from "The Stand" and "The Dark Tower" series. "I thought he was much more outgoing and talkative than I expected him to be," Smutz (sen ior-psychology) said. "What sur prised me the most is how he never seems to run out of ideas." To e-mail reporter: rams4oo@psu.edu with Barbara leading the women and Edgar leading the men. The two groups discussed the same topics before reconvening and going through them together. As a whole, the group talked about conflicts and how to diffuse them. The Farmers gave person al anecdotes to help illustrate solutions. "One of my husband's favorite responses when I get like that is, `I think you need a nap,' " Barbara said, referring to when she is irri tated. Edgar told the men to think about how their ladies feel they're treated especially when their girlfriend is not with them. "It comes down to, when she's not with you, how do you make her feel?" he said. To e-mail reporter: pemso6B@psu.edu Andrew Dunheimer/Collegian Linda Tataliba, executive director of State College Area Food Bank, speaks Tuesday. The Hunger Banquet informed students about hunger. Banquet teaches effects of hunger By Somer Wiggins COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER Students learned what it was like to be hungry Tuesday night. The Hunger Banquet in Paul Robeson Cultural Center's Heritage Hall aimed to "heighten students' awareness of the inequitable distribution of resources globally," said Gina Hurny, a program director for Center for Student Engagement. Upon entering the hall, stu dents were handed a popsicle stick with a colored dot on it, at random, that designated where the would sit for the banquet. Some students were seated at the upper-class table, a long table covered in a purple table cloth with 10 ceramic place settings, complete with glass cups and intricately folded napkins. These students were given water bottles, which servers poured into their glasses for them. They were served a first course of individual salads a main course of lasagna. The middle class group was centered around a circular table. with a second row of chairs behind the row next to the table. A pitcher of water and paper cups sat atop the table and these stu dents were given paper plates and plastic silverware, and shared a large bowl of rice and another bowl of beans, with serv ing utensils in the bowls. The lower class sat inside a square taped on the floor. Students had trouble fitting into the group but had to squish themselves inside. Inside the square was a pitcher of water and paper cups, but not enough for everyone in the group. They were also served a bowl of rice and a bowl of beans to share but were given neither utensils Dickinson panelists discuss health care Brendan McNally FOR THE COLLEGIAN At a discussion Tuesday hosted by Penn State's Dickinson School of Law, a panel of law, business, health and policy experts all agreed American health care needs to be changed. The program, titled "Lifting the Fog on Health Care Reform: Policy and Transactions," took place at the Lewis M. Katz Law Building and focused on two aspects of health care reform: government policy and business. But there was little debate among the panelists on the need for reform. William Follansbee, master cli nician professor of cardiovascular medicine at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, said health care costs are projected to make up 100 percent of the United States' gross domestic product by 2082, but Americans are getting little return on that huge invest ment. "We've been able to edge out Albania for the 35th best health care system in the world. - he said a stark fact received with chuckles by the audience of about 75. Marilyn Yager, senior policy adviser at the Washington, D.C., firm of Alston & Birdone and of the panel's moderators, highlight ed contentious issues surround ing reform, including abortion, rural care and public insurance options. Public insurance, or what has been called the "public option,- THE DAILY COLLEGIAN for serving or eating nor plates to eat on, and were forced to eat with their hands and share cups of food. Amy Copley, vice presi dent of Oxfam International, a group dedicated to changing inequalities around the world, welcomed the students and gave background information and sta tistics on hunger around the world. "We are here today for the one million people who suffer from hunger," Copley (sophomore political science, international relations and French) said. Students from Oxfam led a dis cussion with the groups and asked what their experience was like for those having to watch some students have very little food while they had plenty and vice versa. Ben Reimold was in the lower class group and said he found the event eye opening. "It helped us see the hungry people better," Reimold (junior nuclear engineering). Some members of the lower class group walked up to the upper class group at one point during the meal and asked if they could have their leftovers. The students complied but Reimold doubted they would have done that had they not seen the stu dents with less food than them selves. Linda Tataliba, executive director of the food bank in the State College Area, spoke to stu dents at the end to give the pro gram a more local angle. Tataliba explained the defini tions of hunger and food security and the difficulty in setting aside ones pride and asking for help. "Those who never thought they would have to use the food bank are now," Tataliba said. To e-mail reporter: sswso7o@psu.edu has been stiffly opposed by Republicans in both houses of Congress as well as by insurance companies. The topic was central to the panelist's discussion on policy. Samuel Thompson, a Penn State law professor and the pro gram's co-chairman, said the public option is a common-sense solution that would create compe tition for insurance companies, ultimately driving down costs. Some worry that publicly financed insurance would be unfair competition for private insurance companies, but Thompson dismissed the idea. - Insurance companies are run by the quintessential capitalists. If they're as efficient as they say, they should be able to beat the government hands-down," he said. Republicans in Congress have opposed the public option, argu ing that it is a government takeover of health insurance and fiscally irresponsible. But Yager said the public option included in the House health care reform bill, which passed Saturday, will not cost taxpayers a dime. "The public plan pays for itself through premiums," she said. Besides health care policy, the program explored business issues that may arise as results of reform. Robert Harper, an attor ney at Buchanan, Ingersoll, & Rooney, said that whatever meas ures are introduced by reform, insurance companies will adapt to remain profitable.
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