Kaitienglish's Blog

This article is about the new implications at the University of Minnesota in their efforts to curb binge drinking by the students.  This topic of binge and under age drinking among college students has been a hot topic in our class and this article fits in nicely and outlines the way in which this university, among others, is making efforts to prevent this dangerous practice.  This program, modeled after the University of Wisconsin’s Check BAC (said check back, the BAC stands for blood alcohol content) allows student season-ticket holders who are kicked out of a game for being too drunk to go to future games by submitting to blood alcohol testing. Students under 21 must be alcohol-free; those 21 or older cannot exceed a BAC of 0.08.   The alcohol limits are the same as the ones for driving.  This program is definitely a step in the right direction; rather than forbidding these students the right to go to games, they give them another chance which will hopefully teach them to be more responsible in the future.  This system is however not fool-proof.  With all the students that go to the games at such a big school as the University of Wisconsin, there is no possible way to catch every under age or out of control drinker in the crowd.  The TCF stadium in which the Gopher’s play seats 50, 700 people and 10, 000 of those are student tickets.  If a student fails the breathalyzer test after their first offense then the student gets their season tickets taken away.  Only three Minnesota students have violated the system another time.  Wisconsin’s version of this program is named the Show and Blow program.  Perhaps this program would be a better option for sports game related offenses than the BASICs program offered on campus.  At least in this case the University can be sure that there won’t be returning offenders on the same violation, and could perhaps monitor binge drinking by underages students more closely.  Our school’s football program is not nearly as big of an attraction as those at the University of Wisconsin or the University of Minnesota, or at the University of Texas where a 2007 study came out saying that more students drank on a game day than New Years Eve and Halloween or the last day of fall semester classes. This article then goes on to say that the University of Minnesota is very worried about underage drinking, and in the next sentence mention the property damage in excess of $150,000 after their 2003 NCAA men’s hockey championship.  Though the author may not have intended it to sound this way, the worry of the administration about underage drinking is negated by the fact that property damage was mentioned next, this makes it seem like all the University cares about is their property and not the welfare of their students.

I read a few blogs frequently, these three are my favorite:

The one I read most frequently is the Zoe Report on rachelzoe.com.  Rachel Zoe is a Los Angeles based stylist who works with celebrities such as Anne Hathaway, Eva Mendes, and Keira Knightley.  Her blog is updated daily and highlights different products from different designers and companies.  An item is featured, described with Rachel’s original vocabulary, and then is paired with a more affordable matching similar product.  Most items Zoe features are very expensive and her “Parallel Universe” section shows a similar item at a more affordable price.  This blog is not a website for advertisement though it does provide a very good forum for Rachel’s endorsement.  Her blog provides a disclaimer saying:

“The chic variety of accessories, apparel, and other items featured in The Zoe Report and on RachelZoe.com are carefully chosen by Rachel Zoe.

Never in a million years would we accept money (or Barney’s gift cards) in exchange for editorial endorsement. That would be bananas. The bad kind.”

Another blog that I read is title Bitten, it is Mark Bittman’s blog on the New York Times website.  Mark Bittman is a food journalist who also has a column in the New York Times called The Minimalist and is the author of six food related books. His blog highlights different types of foods that are uncommon, recipes, traditions, or anything really that pertains to food, the consumption and or preparation of it.  Bittman provides a thoughtful insight along with his expertise.  The textual blog is always accompanied by a vibrant picture of the featured food. 

This last blog is one that I usually refer to if I’m traveling into New York City.  It is written by two guys, Chris Stang and Andrew Steinthal. These men are self-proclaimed foodies and this blogs main goal is as a very straight forward, honest restaurant reviewing site.  They group restaurants into categories such as “Buffalo Wing Fix”, “First/Early in the Game Dates”, “Laughing at Europeans in Crazy Outfits.”  The restaurants are ranked according to price, venue, atmosphere, and of course the food.  This is a great website, it is comical and truthful and does a real service to those in need of  a restaurant recomendation.

This article is a restaurant review with little text but 11 pictures. The colorful, thoughtful pictures display everything from the restaurants dining room, to their cheese and meat display, to actual dishes. In an article that focuses on something so sensory as dining at a restaurant sometimes words just can’t aptly describe the atmosphere that the diner will experience. SD26 is a restaurant that was opened by Tony May and his daughter Marissa May. Tony was the general manager of the famous New York establishment Rainbow Room for twenty years. This article also encourages readers to post comments of their experiences in the both the new and old restaurants of May. Because this restaurant is in New York City it is most likely expensive, this forum of opinions of other diners could help people make the decision of if they would like to go to this restaurant or not.  For restaurant reviews, this way of reporting could really be more useful than the old way of reporting, or at least a great supplement to traditional restaurant reviews.  Before the internet restaurant reviews in the newspaper may have only had one black and white photo.  This article also provides links to other restaurants in the area and a link to a full travel guide of New York City restaurants.

Another example of new media is also on the New York Times website called Pulse by Karin Nelson, this series of nine pictures shows gift ideas for those on one’s holiday list that are the tough ones to shop for.  This slide show is accompanied by brief paragraphs that explain the photo and why the gift would be appropriate and whom it would be appropriate for.  So though there is not a succinct flowing story, the writer gets their points across very clearly with a beautiful color photo to accompany it.  These little bits of information are quick to read and easy for the reader to comprehend which is what most people want to have.  The New York Times gives excellent examples of new media that set the bar high for other newspaper websites.