The Effects of Social Media
By Aimee Dodge
Social media outlets like Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, Wikapedia, and Flickr are changing the way disaster situations are received and handled. They have played a major role in disaster response efforts over the past decade. Social media outlets allow people and organizations access to niche audience and enable multinational corporations to engage with employees in ways that have never been possible before.
Within hours of an earthquake striking Port-Au-Prince, Haiti, social networking sites were forming groups to support those effected. The New York Times created a Facebook page and Twitter account just to cover the news and current happenings in Haiti. The New York Times is only one of many news sources that created social networking accounts to get information out to more people. Through the use of social media networks, organizations not only succeeded in engaging and informing people, they also succeeded in mobilizing them. Eight days after the earthquake donors had contributed more than $355 million to aid Haiti through 35 U.S. nonprofit groups, according to Chronicle of Philanthropy.
The ability to instigate action is one of the most important aspects of social media. With the ability to make a single donation in one single rapid movement, social media promotes impulse donating. People are no longer left wondering how they can help because today’s social media and networking makes it easier than ever. All one has to do is send a text message or follow a link to a fund raising page to make a donation. Mailing donation requests is not a reliable means of reaching people. The majority of donations made to the relief effort in Haiti were made via the web.
Social media allows people to create communities and start movements. The day after the Haiti earthquake multiple Facebook groups had been formed to help Haiti, many having more than 100,000 members. People also used their Facebook accounts to let their friends know that they had donated to the relief effort and where they could go if they wanted to donate as well.
Friday, April 2, 2010
Friday, March 26, 2010
Speeches, etc.
University President Celebrates New Facility Opening
By Aimee Dodge
3/26/2010
University of Maine President, Robert Kennedy, celebrated the opening of Orono Spectral Solutions new facility today. Kennedy praised OSS and the many other spinoff businesses that have been produced through research at the University.
Kennedy announced that Maine ranks first in the United States for spinoff businesses created, the University of Maine being the leader in creating new businesses from research done on its campus. Orono Spectral Solutions “is an excellent example of the kind of opportunity that can grow from university research,” stated Kennedy, during his speech. Orono Spectral Solutions started in UMaine’s Laboratory for Surface Science and Technology. Kennedy went on to say that the LASST lab is a great incubator for ideas and that “the lab’s interdisciplinary nature fuels the kind of collaborative thinking that can lead to the big ideas that can become economic development opportunities.”
Orono Spectral Solutions is a small, high tech company currently supported through several contracts with the Department of Defense. They focus on developing innovative absorbent materials and sampling methods which enable trace level detection of chemical/biological agents in both air and water backgrounds. Currently, the company is pursuing commercial opportunities in the areas of air and water quality monitoring.”OSS is making its mark in the sensor industry, which is a critical research area with concern to homeland security and human health.
President Kennedy sounded sincere when he said that the University of Maine is proud of its association with OSS. The creators of OSS live only a mile away from the campus where they created their successful business. “Orono Spectral Solutions represents a great example of how we can , as a state, finds ways to keep the best and the brightest right here in Maine.”
For more information about Orono Spectral Solutions visit their website: http://www.ossmaine.com/index.php
For more information about Orono Spectral Solutions visit their website: http://www.ossmaine.com/index.php
Friday, March 19, 2010
Job Cuts in Bangor, Update
Aimee Dodge
March 19, 2010
Job Cuts in Bangor, Update
Two weeks ago Eastern Maine Medical Center announced that 48 workers were going to be let go. With 23 of those people nursing staff, new concerns are coming to light was to what will happen in the nursing student s graduating this spring. One person states that this is not what they would call an “employment crisis”.
The American Association of Colleges of Nursing reported that they have seen an “easing of the nursing shortage”. This is due to recession cutting costs. Healthcare facilities all across American have been eliminating nursing positions and in some cases eliminating nurse to help solve budget crises. The AACN says that the nursing industry has stabilized because of the recession, but they also expect nursing demands to increase in the near future.
Although the AACN talks about the economy’s effect on the current job prospects in nursing, they also encourage people to continue in nursing. They state that there are nursing positions all across the country. Nursing graduates should think about broadening their ideas on where they would like to work; there is a good possibility that they will have to seek employment outside their present state of residence.
At the University of Maine, nurses are prepped to interview for and enter the job market before they graduate. Chief Nursing Officers from surrounding health institutions offer advice on interview tactics and job prospects. They also convey that nursing students should look outside their preferred areas to work in and their desired areas of specialty, intensive care vs. geriatrics.
Even though jobs are being cut in the Bangor area, people are still hopeful that there are jobs out there for graduating nurses. Temporary or out-of-state positions may be the only options for some at the moment which may be hard for some new nurses hoping to stay in the area due to family. Only time will tell.
Sources for this article wish to remain anonymous.
http://www.aacn.nche.edu/Media/pdf/Economy.pdf
http://www.bangordailynews.com/detail/138213.html
March 19, 2010
Job Cuts in Bangor, Update
Two weeks ago Eastern Maine Medical Center announced that 48 workers were going to be let go. With 23 of those people nursing staff, new concerns are coming to light was to what will happen in the nursing student s graduating this spring. One person states that this is not what they would call an “employment crisis”.
The American Association of Colleges of Nursing reported that they have seen an “easing of the nursing shortage”. This is due to recession cutting costs. Healthcare facilities all across American have been eliminating nursing positions and in some cases eliminating nurse to help solve budget crises. The AACN says that the nursing industry has stabilized because of the recession, but they also expect nursing demands to increase in the near future.
Although the AACN talks about the economy’s effect on the current job prospects in nursing, they also encourage people to continue in nursing. They state that there are nursing positions all across the country. Nursing graduates should think about broadening their ideas on where they would like to work; there is a good possibility that they will have to seek employment outside their present state of residence.
At the University of Maine, nurses are prepped to interview for and enter the job market before they graduate. Chief Nursing Officers from surrounding health institutions offer advice on interview tactics and job prospects. They also convey that nursing students should look outside their preferred areas to work in and their desired areas of specialty, intensive care vs. geriatrics.
Even though jobs are being cut in the Bangor area, people are still hopeful that there are jobs out there for graduating nurses. Temporary or out-of-state positions may be the only options for some at the moment which may be hard for some new nurses hoping to stay in the area due to family. Only time will tell.
Sources for this article wish to remain anonymous.
http://www.aacn.nche.edu/Media/pdf/Economy.pdf
http://www.bangordailynews.com/detail/138213.html
Friday, February 26, 2010
News
Aimee Dodge
February 26, 2010
Job Cuts in Bangor, Who’s Next?
The unemployment rate in Bangor is 7.10%, just lower than the national average, and jobs in the area have decreased by 0.60%. Although the unemployment rate is below average, it is still a major area of concern for local people out of work and looking for jobs.
The Bangor area has been hit hard since the recession came to Maine. One of the largest employers in the area, Easter Maine Medical Center, has already cut 24 filled positions and eliminated another 52 unfilled ones. The medical center told the Bangor Daily News that the measure was “essential to ‘getting EMMC back on track.’” They may be planning another round of cuts in the near future. Eastern Maine Medical Center is not the only major employer in the area that is folding under the recession pressure. Penobscot Bay Medical Center announced recently that they too will cut positions. They plan to cut ten positions and reduce hours for several others. They may be cutting more positions in the near future as well. Movie Gallery, a movie rental franchise, recently filed chapter eleven. They are in the process of shutting down not only the six stores in Maine, which includes two stores in Bangor, but eight hundred stores across the country. Movie gallery stores employ between ten and twenty workers on average. Other local businesses, including music clubs and restaurants, have also started cutting positions or have closed down completely. Club Ice, which recently opened, is now closed, to many people’s surprise.
The recession is far from over so the question is who will be next to cut positions. Wal-Mart is a large employer in the Bangor area as well at St. Joseph Hospital, who has worked very hard in recent months to cut cost within the hospital. Will these major employers be cutting next?
February 26, 2010
Job Cuts in Bangor, Who’s Next?
The unemployment rate in Bangor is 7.10%, just lower than the national average, and jobs in the area have decreased by 0.60%. Although the unemployment rate is below average, it is still a major area of concern for local people out of work and looking for jobs.
The Bangor area has been hit hard since the recession came to Maine. One of the largest employers in the area, Easter Maine Medical Center, has already cut 24 filled positions and eliminated another 52 unfilled ones. The medical center told the Bangor Daily News that the measure was “essential to ‘getting EMMC back on track.’” They may be planning another round of cuts in the near future. Eastern Maine Medical Center is not the only major employer in the area that is folding under the recession pressure. Penobscot Bay Medical Center announced recently that they too will cut positions. They plan to cut ten positions and reduce hours for several others. They may be cutting more positions in the near future as well. Movie Gallery, a movie rental franchise, recently filed chapter eleven. They are in the process of shutting down not only the six stores in Maine, which includes two stores in Bangor, but eight hundred stores across the country. Movie gallery stores employ between ten and twenty workers on average. Other local businesses, including music clubs and restaurants, have also started cutting positions or have closed down completely. Club Ice, which recently opened, is now closed, to many people’s surprise.
The recession is far from over so the question is who will be next to cut positions. Wal-Mart is a large employer in the Bangor area as well at St. Joseph Hospital, who has worked very hard in recent months to cut cost within the hospital. Will these major employers be cutting next?
Friday, February 19, 2010
News Release
Aimee Dodge
February 19, 2010
News Release
For Immediate Release
Awarding-Winning “Cats” Coming to the Collins Center for the Arts
Orono, ME – Sir Andrew Lloyd Webbers award-winning master piece “Cats” is coming to the Collins Center for the Arts on the University of Maine campus in April. This is the first time that “Cats” has come to the CCA. The production will be playing for one night only on Thursday the 22nd of April at seven o’clock in the main theater.
“Cats” is one of the longest running stage productions of all time, starting in 1981 in London’s West End. It then moved to Broadway a year later. It played for over 20 years in London and over 18 years on Broadway. It has been performed all over the world and in over 20 different languages. The musical has even been made into a motion picture for television.
“Cats” is based on T.S. Eliot’s “Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats”, which was a childhood favorite of Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber. Webber later turned in the book of children’s poems into the masterpiece that we all know and love today. The musical is made up almost entirely of T.S. Eliot poems set to music composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber. “Memory”, the most famous composition from the musical, is one of the few exceptions, having been written by Trevor Nunn. The musical encompasses a wide variety of musical genres, from pop to jazz and from rock to classical compositions, making it a somewhat unconventional musical.
For more information about “Cats” you can visit the official website: www.reallyuseful.com
If you would like more information about the show or if you would like inquire about purchasing tickets you can call: 1 800 622 TIXX or log on to: www.collinscenterforthearts.com
February 19, 2010
News Release
For Immediate Release
Awarding-Winning “Cats” Coming to the Collins Center for the Arts
Orono, ME – Sir Andrew Lloyd Webbers award-winning master piece “Cats” is coming to the Collins Center for the Arts on the University of Maine campus in April. This is the first time that “Cats” has come to the CCA. The production will be playing for one night only on Thursday the 22nd of April at seven o’clock in the main theater.
“Cats” is one of the longest running stage productions of all time, starting in 1981 in London’s West End. It then moved to Broadway a year later. It played for over 20 years in London and over 18 years on Broadway. It has been performed all over the world and in over 20 different languages. The musical has even been made into a motion picture for television.
“Cats” is based on T.S. Eliot’s “Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats”, which was a childhood favorite of Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber. Webber later turned in the book of children’s poems into the masterpiece that we all know and love today. The musical is made up almost entirely of T.S. Eliot poems set to music composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber. “Memory”, the most famous composition from the musical, is one of the few exceptions, having been written by Trevor Nunn. The musical encompasses a wide variety of musical genres, from pop to jazz and from rock to classical compositions, making it a somewhat unconventional musical.
For more information about “Cats” you can visit the official website: www.reallyuseful.com
If you would like more information about the show or if you would like inquire about purchasing tickets you can call: 1 800 622 TIXX or log on to: www.collinscenterforthearts.com
Friday, February 12, 2010
Profile Who?
Aimee Dodge
February 12, 2010
Student Profile: The Hard Working Student
Dylan Cayer meets me in the Memorial Union after a day of lectures and photocopying. From his expression it looks like it’s been a long day. As we search for a quieter place to settle down for the interview, he strikes up idle conversation. He’s a bit nervous, not having done many interviews, but he quickly gets down to business.
I first noticed Dylan in my Shakespeare class. He has an air about him that makes you curious to know him and once you talk to him you start to understand why. As a senior in the English department, he is taking on the challenge of a more than full course load, trying to complete his capstone requirements and putting in hours at the International Department. He admits that his schedule is stressful, “[it] takes a big toll on you.” His days are long, some starting mid-morning and ending somewhere around ten o’clock in the evening and leave very little time for rest or relaxation. Dylan isn’t unaccustomed to hard work; he grew up in a mill town and came to realize early in life that you have to work for what you want.
Not everything is stressful for Dylan though, in his junior year he applied for a year abroad and found himself in England and fulfilling his life-long desire to go abroad. There he took courses and immersed himself in the English culture. He talked to me about the differences between the culture he was used to and the English culture that he was exposed to and found that the social environment was more interesting and agreeable than the one he left behind. "In England, you sit down at a pub with four or five of your friends and you all get drinks,” Dylan told me as he talked about the differences between the social cultures, “but it’s all about the social aspect.” He also talked about how polite and interested the locals are in visitors, “they’ll start asking you legitimate, intelligent questions.” He also talk about the chance to experience football or soccer the way that is was meant to be experienced, "being with seventy thousand people chanting."
At the end of his current term Dylan will be graduating and though his plans after undergraduate school have changed recently, he would really like to return to England and study for his master’s degree, “I really enjoyed education there.”
February 12, 2010
Student Profile: The Hard Working Student
Dylan Cayer meets me in the Memorial Union after a day of lectures and photocopying. From his expression it looks like it’s been a long day. As we search for a quieter place to settle down for the interview, he strikes up idle conversation. He’s a bit nervous, not having done many interviews, but he quickly gets down to business.
I first noticed Dylan in my Shakespeare class. He has an air about him that makes you curious to know him and once you talk to him you start to understand why. As a senior in the English department, he is taking on the challenge of a more than full course load, trying to complete his capstone requirements and putting in hours at the International Department. He admits that his schedule is stressful, “[it] takes a big toll on you.” His days are long, some starting mid-morning and ending somewhere around ten o’clock in the evening and leave very little time for rest or relaxation. Dylan isn’t unaccustomed to hard work; he grew up in a mill town and came to realize early in life that you have to work for what you want.
Not everything is stressful for Dylan though, in his junior year he applied for a year abroad and found himself in England and fulfilling his life-long desire to go abroad. There he took courses and immersed himself in the English culture. He talked to me about the differences between the culture he was used to and the English culture that he was exposed to and found that the social environment was more interesting and agreeable than the one he left behind. "In England, you sit down at a pub with four or five of your friends and you all get drinks,” Dylan told me as he talked about the differences between the social cultures, “but it’s all about the social aspect.” He also talked about how polite and interested the locals are in visitors, “they’ll start asking you legitimate, intelligent questions.” He also talk about the chance to experience football or soccer the way that is was meant to be experienced, "being with seventy thousand people chanting."
At the end of his current term Dylan will be graduating and though his plans after undergraduate school have changed recently, he would really like to return to England and study for his master’s degree, “I really enjoyed education there.”
Friday, February 5, 2010
What would you do?
I went on to the BBC News website for this week’s assignment and streamed the one minute news segment. The point of doing the previous was to watch and learn, paying careful attention to word usage and other interesting and note worthy things.
The BBC delivers the news with clean and concise professionalism. Always briefly and politely introducing themselves, they get into the news right away. The news casters keep good eye contact with their audience and speak clearly and conversationally, even with their British dialect. They expertly use present tenses and active verbs for events that have happened in the past 24 hours, like the incredible amount of snow that has fallen on Washington D.C. Topics like Haiti are written in past tense but only because it happened weeks ago and not because the writer thinks it’s less important. The one minute news segment used a lot of footage clips which helped along the talked about news topics and saved us all from the having to view elderly bloke covering the news desk. The news caster also keeps an unbiased and/or unemotional tone when talking about controversial and upsetting news stories, such as Haiti or bombings in the Middle East that result in deaths. I have also noticed in my many years of watching the BBC World News that the writers never seem to lean one way or another politically, which makes it an excellent source of unbiased political news.
The BBC always delivers the news well. They never have distracting backgrounds or annoying tickers running along the bottom of their screen. They keep things clean and simple, which allow people to concentrate more on the news.
I wouldn’t change anything in the news script. I think that it was well written and delivered perfectly and professionally. Check out the BBC World News for yourself at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/
The BBC delivers the news with clean and concise professionalism. Always briefly and politely introducing themselves, they get into the news right away. The news casters keep good eye contact with their audience and speak clearly and conversationally, even with their British dialect. They expertly use present tenses and active verbs for events that have happened in the past 24 hours, like the incredible amount of snow that has fallen on Washington D.C. Topics like Haiti are written in past tense but only because it happened weeks ago and not because the writer thinks it’s less important. The one minute news segment used a lot of footage clips which helped along the talked about news topics and saved us all from the having to view elderly bloke covering the news desk. The news caster also keeps an unbiased and/or unemotional tone when talking about controversial and upsetting news stories, such as Haiti or bombings in the Middle East that result in deaths. I have also noticed in my many years of watching the BBC World News that the writers never seem to lean one way or another politically, which makes it an excellent source of unbiased political news.
The BBC always delivers the news well. They never have distracting backgrounds or annoying tickers running along the bottom of their screen. They keep things clean and simple, which allow people to concentrate more on the news.
I wouldn’t change anything in the news script. I think that it was well written and delivered perfectly and professionally. Check out the BBC World News for yourself at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)