Anderson Cooper Takes Elon University for a 360 Degree Ride

 by Kevin Clang

Even though he often questions whether or not his work will actually change things, CNN’s Anderson Cooper does see the value in reporting the news, and bringing attention to stories that would otherwise recieve none.  So he told over 2,000 students at Elon University’s Alumni Gym in a speech delievered this Tuesday.

Anderson Cooper stresses the importance of fact-checking and objectivity in journalism at Elon University's Alumni Gym (picture from E-Net)

In a whirlwind of a day, Cooper arrived on Elon’s campus via jet just after noon, taking a tour of the School of Communications and making a surprise appearence in a few afternoon classes.  After a quick brown bag lunch, Cooper fielded student queries in an hour-long question and answer session in Whitley Auditorium.

In Whitley several students were given the oppertunity to ask Cooper direct questions mostly focused on the media and his own journalistic opinions and experiences.  At 4 p.m. Cooper spoke at Alumni Gym, a speech titled “A 360 Degree look at World Events.”

As it’s title suggests, Cooper’s speech was mostly serious look into the issues facing America today.  Cooper described his own experiences as a war correspondent for ABC, with whom he visited countries such as Somalia, Iran, Israel and Rwanda.  There were also some lighthearted moments peppered throughout the speech, especially when Cooper discussed the uselessness of his Yale degree in political science.

Throughout the day Cooper stressed the need for objectivity in journalism, saying he believes in “facts, not opinions . . . people are smart and can figure it out for themselves.”  He came down hard on the ideological reporting of some of his competitors, asking whether they were “pundits or reporters.”  With regards to papers, he stated that the possible disappearence of the newspaper was “scary,” but recognized that “the cost of printing and distributing paper is prohibitive (to the industry).”

A Yale graduate, Cooper was initially rejected for an entry level job at ABC News.  He accepted a job as a fact-checker at Channel One, a news program seen in middle and high schools across the country.  Eager to do more, he decided to leave the job to shoot his own stories overseas in Burma and Vietnam.

Eventually he was hired as a correspondent for ABC News, being appointed as anchor of their World News Now in 1999.  In 2001, Cooper joined CNN first as a correspondent and then as their weekend primetime anchor.  Cooper has hosted his own show on CNN, Anderson Cooper 360, since 2003.

Elon School of Communications Board Members Discuss the Future with Students

Debora Wilson and Graham Woodlief addressing students

Journalism is currently stuck in a constant state of change.  Every other week there seems to be some major change in the way reporting is either done or published.  Nobody can really be sure what is coming next, a fact that has been particularly troubling to the Elon University journalism students who will be entering the job market in the coming years.

Luckily, School of Communications board members Debora Wilson and Graham Woodlief were able to take time to talk to eager students about the state of media and what changes we can expect in the future.  Wilson, former president and chief executive of The Weather Channel and Weather.com, and Woodlief, the vice president of communications company Media General, took time to discuss their experiences in media and answer student’s questions.

Wilson Weighs In

A recurring topic was exactly what media companies need to do in order to remain viable in the future, especially with a struggling economy and the strength of the Internet.  According to Wilson, media providers always need to be asking themselves “where are people going to be, and what do they want?”

As an example she used her own experiences with The Weather Channel, who were among the first major companies to move to the Internet fifteen years ago.  She claimed that when the usefullness of the Internet was still unproven, her company did a good job in anticipating the needs of its customers.  As a result, weather.com is one of the top 15 web properties on the Internet.

“Every media company is going through economic struggle in this economy,” she said.  “Most will be fine, some will evolve.  Leaders must know where to go.”

Woodlief’s Words

Woodlief had a similar opinion.  After 44 years in the media business, he said he had seen “quite a bit of transformation.”  While things look bleak for some newspaper companies at the moment, Woodlief believed that they would not be disappearing completely any time soon.

“Information is very important to people,” he explained, adding that the job of any newspaper is to gather and provide information to its consumers.  Woodlief explained that recently his company has overseen the convergence of six markets and major restructuring in five markets, decisions that were reached after asking the question “How do we produce information that is better for our customers?”

Advice for Students

For graduates entering the job market, both Wilson and Woodlief were clear in their advice.  “Don’t own the word ‘entitlement,’ ask what you can do to add value to your organization,” said Wilson, adding ”Step up and lead.”

Woodlief encouraged students to view “obstructions as oppertunities.”  Students should be “glad to work, and always want to work harder.”  Reporters these days need to know how to do anything, so students should also be eager to learn during their time at school.

Mac DeMere Races Towards Journalism’s Future at Elon University

by Kevin Clang

When it comes to picking what field of study one wants to major in, some students spent months agonizing over the important decision.  For Mac DeMere, it was easy.  “There was no degree in race-car driver,” he said.

Mac DeMere Visits COM 310

DeMere, a freelance auto-journalist who has spent his career working in newspapers, magazines, public relations and the automotive industry itself, visited Elon University today to discuss the changing face of journalism.  DeMere discussed his career, offering stories and advice, and finally asking students their opinions.

“You must be an expert in your field,” DeMere explained, adding that an expert should be able to “spot fudges and lies, and hear what they’re not saying.”  When you don’t know something, DeMere stressed that you “always find and expert that does.”  The auto-journalist also detailed with the class some of the ways in which journalism is changing.

“I did not take a variety of classes,” he said, mentioning television classes specifically.  “These days, you have to do everything; journalism is in flux.”  Print journalists are now expected to write for the web and television as well, and the three media could not be more different from one another.

DeMere talked about his first experiences in front of a television camera, something the company he was working for sprung on him with little to no warning.  “My first efforts on-camera were terrible,” he said, “Print journalism on air doesn’t work.”  Despite initial setbacks, DeMere admitted that television writing did become easier the more he did it.

The most important advice DeMere dispeled on the class was what he viewed as a journalist’s number one priority: accuracy.  “Give up on completeness for accuracy,” he explained, adding he would rather turn in a story late than turn one in that was not facutally sound.  “One error could lose you your audience for your career . . . not being wrong is all you can hope for.”

As most newspapers and magazines move on-line, DeMere questioned the future of quality journalism.  Although video often obtains ten times the number of on-line hits that print receives, “Written word is still important, powerful, and necessary,” he said, adding that the Internet was best for quick news and fast hits.

The Curious Case of Art Kramer – Professor Dicusses Age and Memory at Elon University

by Kevin Clang

George Bernard Shaw once said that youth is wasted on the young.  According to Art Kramer, that might not be the only thing.  The professor of psychology at the University of Illinois believes that memory may also be something that the young may not be taking advantage of.

Art Kramer comes to Elon University

Kramer stopped by Elon University for the Science Department’s “Voices in Discovery” lecture series to give a talk titled “The Aging Mind and Brain: Use It or Lose It.”  The lecture, which was originally scheduled to be held at McCrary Theater, took place Monday night in Moseley Center room 215.

The Efforts of the Young

Despite the falling snow, which caused the cancellation of all the day’s classes, hundreds of students and faculty squeezed into the meeting room for Kramer’s talk.  Once chairs in the room ran out, students lined the walls and even sat on the floor to hear the lecture.

“Many changes, some not positive, happen (to the brain) through aging,” said Kramer, who throughout the night compared scans of the brains from seventy-year olds to those from eighteen-year olds.  “You guys are at the peak of your fluid intelligence,” Kramer explained, referring to the many students.

“Fluid intelligence” refers to how quickly a person can learn new information or how to perform a new task, and it reaches it’s peak sometime during college.  Conversely when one gets older, their “crystallized knowledge,” anything they would use everyday in a job or hobby, becomes more concrete.

Improving Your Memory

Kramer addressed the effectiveness of new video games such as Ninendo’s “Brain Age,” which claimes to increase one’s memory.  Do they actually work?  Kramer says no.  For this million dollar industry, Kramer says that “there is little science to back up these claims.”

One thing that does work, however, is education.  “Educating yourself is the most important thing you can do to help prevent a brain disease,” stressed Kramer.  He explained how in an enriched environment, the brain can learn tasks more quickly.  Good nutrition, social interaction, and other positive lifestyle choices also help.

With education, “the brain can maintain cognition at high levels of pathology and function well with diseases.”  Diseases such as Alzheimer’sand other forms of dementia ravage the minds of those who don’t take care of their brains.

Old Dogs, New Tricks

Kramer says that statistically there is a high risk for age-associated brain diseases for those with no education and bad nutrition.  Kramer stated that 50 percent of people over 85 who do not read have Altzheimer’s disease.  That number is reduced by 44 percent when reading is factored in.

Even though “Brain Age” showed little improvement, strategy based video games such as “Rise of Nations” or “SimCity” may help one retain memory.  Kramer says that some patients over 70 showed “some improvement” after playing the games for sixteen hours over the course of a month.  “It is very promising data, but very early data,” stressed Kramer.

Games such as these are famous for their micromanaging systems.  Kramer used this example as proof that “you can teach old people new things,” and added that some patients “got quite good” and even enjoyed playing the games.

Scientists use MRI machines to test the effectiveness of these and many other strategies to change brain structure and increase memory.  With each experiment, they employ a “control” group who is not administered the variable as well as a group that is.

William Schulz Tells Elon University how to Restore America’s Credibility Abroad

William Schulz comes to Elon

by Kevin Clang

As a mother cat walks her kittens down a sidewalk, they encounter a vicious dog.  The kittens, frightened, jump behind their mother for protection.  Seeing her kittens fear, the mother cat looks at the dog and begins to bark loudly.  Stunned and confused the dog turns around and runs away in the other direction.  The mother cat then turns to her kittens and says “See?  That is the advantage of knowing another language.”

William Schulz opened with this story when he spoke at Elon University Thursday night.  Schulz, who served as executive director of Amnesty International from 1994 until 2006, titled his speech “Restoring America’s Credibility: Human Rights Challenges Facing the Obama Administration.”  In it Schulz addressed America’s problems, both generally and specifically.

America's Favorable Rating in Great Britain

“The United States has made an enormous number of mistakes in the past ten years . . . and the consequences have been deadly,”said Schulz.  The War in Iraq, Guantanamo Bay,  Abu Ghraib, Israel and Palestine, the genocide in Sudan, ignorance of Russia and China; the list goes on.  Human rights instances such as these have significantly affected America’s image across the world.

According to Schulz, America had an 84 percent favorable rating in Great Britain in 2000.  Just seven years later, that rating had dropped to 42 percent.  “We see ourselves as a model for others to emulate . . . we spread our way of life throughout the world,” he explained.

This problem dates back to Puritan-era America, said Schulz.  Too often people confuse the Pilgrims, who fled to America to escape religious persecution, and the Puritans, who landed ten years after the Pilgrims with intentions to create a Christian utopia.  “The most difficult challenges are rooted in American character,” Schulz said.

Despite the problems, Schulz believes that simplistic thinking will never do.  “Repairing is the easy part, the hard part is deciding America’s role in the future.”  And even though he, like much of the rest of the world, is very excited about the possibilities of an Obama presidency, Schulz admits that “Not even a president can do everything.”

As and example, Schulz used the War in Iraq.  “Iraq made it impossible to use military without suspicion,” he said.  If we had not invade, America may have been able to occupy Sudan and prevent some of the catastrophic tragedy that has eclipsed the region.

After thirty years of standstill, though, Schulz believes that America is finally going in the right direction.  “The world admires not America’s military might, but our citizen’s human rights,” explained Schulz.  “Human rights emerge out of a common misery and give voice to our deepest yearnings.

Four Elon Leaders Meet at LaRose Digital Theater

by Kevin Clang

Even though they have been at odds with each other at times throughout their careers, there was one thing that four significant leaders from Elon’s history could all agree on: optimism.  “It is important upon leaders to convey a positive image,” said current Elon President Leo Lambert.

Four Executives Meet at LaRose Digital Theater

Lambert, the eighth president in Elon’s history, was joined Tuesday night by Earl Danieley, Elon’s sixth president, Noel Allen, president of the Student Government Association (SGA) from 1968 to 1969, and current SGA president Chase Rumley for a discussion titled “Leadership, a Presidential Perspective.”  The talk was a part of Elon’s LEADstrong 2009 campaign and sponsored by Elon’s Center for Leadership.  The four executives discussed different aspects of leadership and what leadership meant to them during their time at Elon.

“Leadership is a team phenomena,” said panel moderator John Sullivan in his opening remarks, “it is embedded in time and circumstance.”  It was clear that some aspects of leadership, among them discipline, integrity and a sense of priorities have remained constant throughout Elon’s history.

Danieley fondly recalled his first few years as President.  “I didn’t want to be a dictator,” he explained, saying he likened himself more to an autocrat.  “Collegiality and transparency had not been invented.”  Even though he appointed his own board, Danieley encouraged them to discuss matters and not go by everything he said.  He was the first to organize the board into separate committees and delegate tasks to them.

The tradition has since carried on.  Lambert offered the name change from “Elon College” to “Elon University” as a defining moment in his presidency.  “Elon was on the cusp of doing wonderful things,” he said, but some worried that a change in name would also trigger a change in values and communities.  His determination eventually succeeded.  Lambert advised students to “stick to your guns,” especially when they really believe in somthing.

On the opposite side of the spectrum was Allen, who claimed his greatest failure during his time as SGA president was “never pissing Danieley off.”  Allen encouraged students to look at matters from a perspective different than their own, something he learned to do after being elected.  As an example Allen offered his approach to having mandatory Chapel abolished.  Rather than hold a huge protest and walk out, SGA went to several ministers in the community and had them sign letters condemning the practice.

Rumley offered the creation of the Acorn Society, Elon’s student giving community, as his greatest achievement.  The set-up was important, but Rumley also stressed his commitment to the project as principal to its success or failure.  He is unsure of what will happen when he leaves Elon this spring, but is confident that the project will continue to thrive thanks to its leaders.

The best advice the four could give was to trust the team around you.  “Identify talent, delegate ta ks, and take advice,” said Allen, now a practicing lawyer.  Rumley told his peers to “respect your mentors and build up a set of leaders.”  Danieley offered praise to Elon students.  “I tend to get discouraged by the media,” he said, but that is often alleviated by student’s “ability and commitment to do what is good and right.”

Parvez Sharma Offers Perspective on Islam and Homosexuality at Elon University

by Kevin Clang

He’s visited over 35 countries and speaks multiple languages, but Parvez Sharma‘s favorite accomplishment is the idea that a person can walk up into a movie theater and request one ticket for “Jihad.”

Parvez Sharma visits Elon University

Sharma, a filmmaker who’s documentary “A Jihad for Love” has been riling up praise and controversy all over the world, visited Elon University‘s Love School of Business to discuss his film and his life.  The movie looks at Muslims all over the world who also happen to be gay, and the natural conflict that arises between those two ideologies.

The road to completing the film has been a long and harrowing one for the director.  Sharma, who was born and raised in India, conceived the idea shortly after September 11th and began initial production in 2002.  Along the way, he faced adversity everywhere from religious zealots to foreign governments.  In strictly Muslim countries such as Iran, Sharma had to film in secret, posing as a tourist rather than a filmmaker.  “The first and last ten minutes of every tape I filmed was tourist footage,” in order to alleviate suspicion while traveling, Sharma said, “and I always left copies with friends.”

“Debate on religion has intensified,” says Sharma, “and many are not able to reconcile their theologies.  Islam used to be a religion that tolerated, even celebrated homosexuality, but in the past hundred years that attitude has changed.  “Arabic has very few words of affirmation (for homosexuals),” Sharma explained.  He does not think that the Islam world will see homosexual lifestyles as acceptable in his lifetime.

Though he has spent years investigating this one issue, Sharma admits that there are no easy answers.  “The Islam world is not one constituency . . . there is not one type of Muslim.”  Sharma believes that theological bickering from four separate schools of thought has been counterproductive, and in the end “true believers will create reform.”

While he admits Islam has a troubled core, Sharma believes that the media is responsible for “problemitizing” the religion.  One of his goals in making his film was to prove that Islam is not problematic, evidenced in his choice of title for his movie.  The word “Jihad” is commonly thought to mean a “holy war,” but its original definition is “religious struggle.”

Another goal was to prove that so-called LGBT Muslims do in fact exist, even though he says these terms are Western constructs.  He hoped to bring insight into their lives and struggles.  People interviewed in the film experience everything from pride to shame to fear about their sexuality and its conflict with their religion.  “There is an enormous degree of complexity,” says Sharma.

Sharma spent five years making his movie, but says he is “still learning what it means to be a good Muslim.”  The deeply religious director has put a new emphasis on reaching out to people who aren’t familiar with the Quaran.  With more films like “A Jihad for Love,” they’ll be able to learn and understand much more.

Nancy Knowlton Discusses Coral Reefs and Climate Change at Elon University

by Kevin Clang

It is no secret that climate change is affecting every part of the world, from the North Pole to the Amazon Rainforest.  According to Nancy Knowlton, one of the species it has had a large effect on is right under our noses. Underwater, actually.  Though they are often ignored by humans, Knowlton thinks that coral reefs can actually serve as warning signs for climate change danger in the future.

Nancy Knowlton Speaks to Students

Knowlton, a renowned expert on coral reefs and the Sant Chair for Marine Sciences at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, visited Elon University on Wednesday, February 18, as part of the Voices of Discovery lecture series to speak to students and faculty about the impact of climate change on the planet’s reef systems.

“Coral reefs in the Caribbean have experienced an 80% decline in the past 30 years,” said Knowlton.  The main reasons for this degradation include disease, bleaching, and predators.  Most of these can be linked back to humans.  “Humans put carbon dioxide, nutrients, toxics, sediments, and aliens into the water, and take out any coral longer or taller than five centimeters.”

None of this was a worry when Knowlton began researching reefs in 1975.  In just a few years, habitats went from coral domination to being dominated by seaweed.  Thanks to the extra carbon dioxide in the water introduced by humans, temperature went up by one degree Celsius.  Because of this sea urchins, which act as “lawnmowers,” removing seaweed and other unwanted predators off of coral, began to die off.

Should this trend continue, the temperature of the ocean could rise by as much as six degrees Celsius by 2100, a fact that would be devastating to coral reefs.  Carbon dioxide makes water more acidic, and worst of all it is very persistent.  Once introduced, carbon dioxide can remain in the atmosphere for hundreds of years.

Knowlton views this issue as a global problem.  “Reefs aren’t disposable,” she says, adding as an example that to an island such as Hawaii, coral reefs are worth $18 billion annually.  Knowlton went as far to say that coral reefs are the rain forests of the sea, in that they can be home to thousands of different species.  “Coral creates structure that everything else depends on.”

Unfortunately, we may have already caused too much damage to save them. Unless humans significantly change their approach to underwater species in the next few years, our effects may be irreversible, and more species of coral could become extinct. Knowlton lists long-term cryopreservation as a possible solution. “Awareness is not enough,” says Knowlton, “we need to act.”

Thomas Mac Mahon Speaks About Recessions, Bailouts, and the Economy at Elon University

by Kevin Clang

Thomas Mac Mahon, Chairman of the Board and former CEO of Laboratory America (LabCorp) came to Elon University’s Love School of Business on Thursday, February 12, to discuss how to manage a public company during the current economic downturn with Elon business students and faculty.

Thomas Mac Mahon

Recession-Proof

LabCorp is a medical testing facility with over 40 offices across the country, but mainly based in North Carolina.  They are the largest Cancer testing facility in the world and the largest employer in the Piedmont Region of North Carolina with over 4,000 workers.  This makes them one of the top five employers in the state.

The corporation runs thousands of tests every hour and about two million a day.  About 90 percent of these tests are returned to doctors offices within 24 hours of completion.  LabCorp posted $850 million in earnings in 2008.

“Recessions are very good for the health care industry,” said Mac Mahon, adding that increased stress during economically trying times often leads to more visits to the doctor.  Mac Mahon went as far to say that the health care industry is “recession-proof.”

Cash Is King

But not every industry is so lucky.  The best way to survive, according to Mac Mahon, is to “have a lot of cash on hand.”  Obsessively crunching numbers and using the standby ‘revenue minus expenses equals profit’ equation will never go away.  “Manage your company by the metrics,” Mac Mahon stated, “there is value in appreciating numbers.”

With cash, Mac Mahon stated a midsized company can then show strength in a down market by investing in growth by buying out smaller companies or repurchasing shares.   “By buying back your own shares, there are then less shares in the market, making their value rise.”  he explained.

Mac Mahon particularly stressed the need for the process of risk management, a technique used manage a company’s uncertainties and threats.  “Anticipate the negative, believe the worst will happen,”  he stressed.  “The concept of risk management is more important than ever.”  Mac Mahon believed that a greater attention to risk management may have saved the banking industry from their collapse in late 2008.

Plenty of Blame to Go Around

In the late 1990s, people were signing up for loans “equal to more than the value of their home,” said Mac Mahon, a drastic change from the past process.  Everything is fine until people can not afford to pay their bills, which Mac Mahon says “really hurts us.”

Mac Mahon stressed that we need to loosen up the markets in Washington, and that President Barack Obama’s plan to regulate CEO pay was a “serious mistake.”  If someone does a good job, he explained, they should be rewarded.  If they fail they should be fired.  Under his philosophy, there is no need to regulate pay: “Compensation should be linked to appreciation of stock, with no maximums.”

It is up to CEOs and Chairmen to make sure stock appreciation increases.  Mac Mahon encouraged Elon students to work hard and be ambitious, and in the end they would be rewarded for their efforts.  “People look for confidence in their leaders,” he said,  “communicate to the people who need to hear your story.”

Alex Kreitman Returns to Elon university with Advice for Online Writing

by Kevin Clang

Alex Kreitman, Online Editor for the Burlington (N.C.) Times-News, spoke about the future of journalism as it pertains to technology at Elon University this morning.  Kreitman graduated form Elon in 2006 with a degree in Journalism.

Kreitman offered both career advice for upcoming journalists and his take on how the world of online reporting and its relationship with print media has evolved during his tenure at the Times-News.

The internet now offers us an instant medium, stories can be posted immediately after they happen.  Kreitman said the Times-News takes this into account when choosing which stories to feature on the front page of its print edition.  National stories are online all day, so often the Times-News instead chooses to put local stories on the front page.

A recent goal of the Times-News has been to get more video to accompany news stories on its website.  In the past any video was good video, but today the Times-News strives to have its video look less amateure and more like broadcast.  Videos should look professional and tell their own story.  “Print and broadcast are converging,” said Kreitman.

One thing that Kreitman says newspapers can do to remain relevant is to be what he calls hyper-local.  “Bigger papers put too much effort covering National stories themselves,” said Kreitman.  By running a story from the Associated Press instead of sending their own reporter, the Times-News saves money.  Remaining loyal to local stories can also help smaller papers seperate themselves from their larger competitors.

Kreitman encouraged aspiring journalists to develop their video and photography skills in addition to their writing.  “Be innovative.  Use your technology advantage.”  The news world is quickly changing and many older reporters are being left out of the loop.  Today, words and video market stories.