Someone Triggered an Epiphany
Life..Life is interesting. You never know what it has in store for you. Each day is different and a learning experience. Not one day should go by without you learning from it. You see, yesterday I went out to dinner with my ex-girlfriend and her family because her uncle was in town. Now it was the first time I had ever met "Uncle Mark" and when I first walked into the restaurant he did what most uncles do. Of course, thats getting to know the young man that dated his niece. He began by asking a series of questions. What are my goals...what am I going to school for..and what is my next step after graduation. I told him what they were and he responded by saying "Why are you waiting on an interview, become your own boss." It was quite intriquing.
After sharing the fact that I want to become a entertainment journalists and that I like food, fashion and music "Uncle Mark" started talking about the internet. Interestingly enough, he asked me, if I had ever blogged before and I said for class. He then told me that I should start and who knows where it would take me. So, I started thinking seriously about this thing, that maybe I can do this. It would be interesting to see where it leads me.
So...This afternoon as a church family we decided to have dinner at O'Charleys in Belleville. The service was just horrible when it came to getting the food right. It seemed as if the cook was inexperienced. My ex and I both had ordered steaks medium well and everyone one knows that medium well means "slightly pink" not bloody. However, in total we had to send our steaks back at least 5 times and when it was all said and done my ex didn't even eat. The managers came out and didn't want to compensate for anything. Their attitudes were just out right disrespectful and rude. Then I began to think about "Uncle Mark" and what we talked about last night.
So, when I came home and did my readings, here once again was some advice. It's talking about having a voice and how to develop it. Not only that, but not to give up if you don't succeed right away. So, you know what, I think I'm going to listen to "Uncle Mark" the wise guy. Did I mention he owns his own business....See you never know what life has in store for you and whom your going to meet.
Someone Triggered an Epiphany....
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
EMU Enrollment Is Up
Michael Belanger, a senior, chose Eastern Michigan University because of cost. He thinks that the cost is affordable and that Financial Aid is helpful. He thinks that enrollment is up due to the economy. “People are going back to school to get an education because of the jobs,” says Michael.
Eastern Michigan University’s overall enrollment has surged 4.26 percent for the 2009-10 school year. As of Sept. 22, 22,859 students are enrolled for fall 2009 compared to 21,926 at the same time last year, an increase of 933 students. Enrollment is up at both the undergraduate and graduate levels according to EMU.
Eastern Michigan University’s overall enrollment has surged 4.26 percent for the 2009-10 school year. As of Sept. 22, 22,859 students are enrolled for fall 2009 compared to 21,926 at the same time last year, an increase of 933 students. Enrollment is up at both the undergraduate and graduate levels according to EMU.
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Macular Degeneration
The diagnosis of macular degeneration is becoming increasingly more common due to patient awareness, physician access, and new groundbreaking improvements in treatment. Due to new treatment available, the odds of going blind have decreased.
“My grandmother has macular generation, she is legally blind. We have to do everything for her. My mother cleans her house, my uncle takes her shopping and I do her finances”, says, Dr. Todd Gillihan.
Age-related macular degeneration is a common eye disease associated with aging. It blurs the sharp, central vision you need for activities in which you have to look straight ahead in order to perform. Such activities include reading, computer work, washing dishes, eating and driving for example. “We even had to buy her all white plates, just so she could see her food to eat”, says, Dr. Gillihan.
In some cases, this disease progresses so slowly that it really has little effect on ones vision as they age. However, in others, the disease can vastly progress and it can lead to a loss of vision in one or both eyes.
About 1.7 million Americans have some form of macular degeneration. “It is the leading cause of vision loss among Americans ages 65 and over”, says Dr. Arnold Bulos, O.D.
In order to understand macular degeneration, it is helpful to understand the parts of your eye involved with sight. These structures include the cornea, iris, pupil, lens, macula, and retina.
Your cornea is a thin, clear layer on the outside of your eye. The iris, or the colored part of your eye, is a muscle that controls the amount of light going through your pupil, which is the round opening in the center of your eye. Behind the iris sits the lens, which is just larger than your pupil. The iris is enclosed by a thin, clear capsule that holds the lens in its proper place.
When light enters your eye, the cornea and lens form the light rays into a beam of light that is focused directly onto your retina -- the light-sensitive tissue at the back of the eye. The retina instantly converts light, or an image, into electrical impulses. The retina then sends these impulses, or nerve signals, to the brain through the optic nerve. The optic nerve is a bundle of more than one million nerve fibers connecting the retina to the brain.
The macula is located in the center of the retina. It is made up of millions of light-sensing cells that help to produce central vision. This is why blindness occurs, due to the deterioration in the macula, says, Dr. Todd Gillihan, O.D.
There are two types of age-related macular degeneration: Dry (atrophic) form: This type results from the gradual breakdown of cells in the macula, resulting in a gradual blurring of central vision. Single or multiple, small, round, yellow-white spots called drusen are the key identifiers for the dry type. These spots are located in the back of the eye at the level of the outer retina and are detected by examination of the retina with specifically engineered lenses, a slit-lamp biomicroscope, or an ophthalmoscope. Spots typically become visible when a person reaches his or her late 30s or older but are much more common in people over the age of 70. People with these spots may have excellent vision and no symptoms. Most people with age-related macular degeneration begin with the dry form. The dry form of macular degeneration is fortunately much more common than the wet form. Advanced dry macular degeneration, known as geographic atrophy, is the culmination of prolonged, progressive wasting changes in the nerves and sensory retina. Geographic atrophy is the main cause of vision loss in dry AMD, not drusen.
Wet (exudative or neovascular) form: In the wet form of macular degeneration, newly created abnormal blood vessels grow under the center of the retina. These blood vessels leak, bleed, and scar the retina, distorting or destroying central vision. Vision distortion usually starts in one eye and may affect the other eye later. In contrast to the dry type, vision loss may be rapid in the wet type of macular degeneration.Wet macular degeneration affects only about 15% of people who have age-related macular degeneration but accounts for two-thirds of the people who have significant visual loss.
However, there are preventative measures that take place at the eye doctor’s office. “We at Pearle Vision make sure we take steps to help in the preventative measures in eye care” says, Christina, Store Manager of Pearle Vision. When a patient first walks in our store, they must fill out a health form. This allows them to see past history that may help in the process of providing and treating patients accurately. The second step is to be seen by a technician who then pretests and then by the doctor.
“There is an option for patients to have an optomap done, this is when we take pictures of the retina and check the health of the eye”, says, Dr. Bulos.
As you can tell, this is why it’s important to be seen by an optometrist or ophthalmologist once a year. Make sure you don’t forget to get that appointment scheduled today.
“My grandmother has macular generation, she is legally blind. We have to do everything for her. My mother cleans her house, my uncle takes her shopping and I do her finances”, says, Dr. Todd Gillihan.
Age-related macular degeneration is a common eye disease associated with aging. It blurs the sharp, central vision you need for activities in which you have to look straight ahead in order to perform. Such activities include reading, computer work, washing dishes, eating and driving for example. “We even had to buy her all white plates, just so she could see her food to eat”, says, Dr. Gillihan.
In some cases, this disease progresses so slowly that it really has little effect on ones vision as they age. However, in others, the disease can vastly progress and it can lead to a loss of vision in one or both eyes.
About 1.7 million Americans have some form of macular degeneration. “It is the leading cause of vision loss among Americans ages 65 and over”, says Dr. Arnold Bulos, O.D.
In order to understand macular degeneration, it is helpful to understand the parts of your eye involved with sight. These structures include the cornea, iris, pupil, lens, macula, and retina.
Your cornea is a thin, clear layer on the outside of your eye. The iris, or the colored part of your eye, is a muscle that controls the amount of light going through your pupil, which is the round opening in the center of your eye. Behind the iris sits the lens, which is just larger than your pupil. The iris is enclosed by a thin, clear capsule that holds the lens in its proper place.
When light enters your eye, the cornea and lens form the light rays into a beam of light that is focused directly onto your retina -- the light-sensitive tissue at the back of the eye. The retina instantly converts light, or an image, into electrical impulses. The retina then sends these impulses, or nerve signals, to the brain through the optic nerve. The optic nerve is a bundle of more than one million nerve fibers connecting the retina to the brain.
The macula is located in the center of the retina. It is made up of millions of light-sensing cells that help to produce central vision. This is why blindness occurs, due to the deterioration in the macula, says, Dr. Todd Gillihan, O.D.
There are two types of age-related macular degeneration: Dry (atrophic) form: This type results from the gradual breakdown of cells in the macula, resulting in a gradual blurring of central vision. Single or multiple, small, round, yellow-white spots called drusen are the key identifiers for the dry type. These spots are located in the back of the eye at the level of the outer retina and are detected by examination of the retina with specifically engineered lenses, a slit-lamp biomicroscope, or an ophthalmoscope. Spots typically become visible when a person reaches his or her late 30s or older but are much more common in people over the age of 70. People with these spots may have excellent vision and no symptoms. Most people with age-related macular degeneration begin with the dry form. The dry form of macular degeneration is fortunately much more common than the wet form. Advanced dry macular degeneration, known as geographic atrophy, is the culmination of prolonged, progressive wasting changes in the nerves and sensory retina. Geographic atrophy is the main cause of vision loss in dry AMD, not drusen.
Wet (exudative or neovascular) form: In the wet form of macular degeneration, newly created abnormal blood vessels grow under the center of the retina. These blood vessels leak, bleed, and scar the retina, distorting or destroying central vision. Vision distortion usually starts in one eye and may affect the other eye later. In contrast to the dry type, vision loss may be rapid in the wet type of macular degeneration.Wet macular degeneration affects only about 15% of people who have age-related macular degeneration but accounts for two-thirds of the people who have significant visual loss.
However, there are preventative measures that take place at the eye doctor’s office. “We at Pearle Vision make sure we take steps to help in the preventative measures in eye care” says, Christina, Store Manager of Pearle Vision. When a patient first walks in our store, they must fill out a health form. This allows them to see past history that may help in the process of providing and treating patients accurately. The second step is to be seen by a technician who then pretests and then by the doctor.
“There is an option for patients to have an optomap done, this is when we take pictures of the retina and check the health of the eye”, says, Dr. Bulos.
As you can tell, this is why it’s important to be seen by an optometrist or ophthalmologist once a year. Make sure you don’t forget to get that appointment scheduled today.
Digital Journalism on Wikipedia
It was quite interesting to find out that Dr. Tracy, which happens to be my teacher created a wiki page on Digital Journalism. I just would not have imagined that 1st of all she would be the first person to start the "definition" of digital journalism on wiki. That really puts the stamp, when professors tell you not to use wiki as your only source because anyone and I do mean anyone can contribute to it. I'm not saying that I don't trust this particular page on wiki because I do. I'm just really understanding my professors..lol Here is my contribution to the Wiki page on Digital Journalism.
Digital journalism also creates an opportunity for a niche audiences. It allows for people to have an option as to what they are viewing and reading. Whereas, journalism as we know it has a wide range of topics and diversity. It also allows for everyday people to have a way to voice their opinions. Digital journalism, opens up new ways of storytelling, primarily through the technical components of the new medium. It can provide a variety of media text, audio, video, and photographs, unlike other media sources.
Unlike traditional journalism, where things were stable and constant digital journalism will not be. Digital journalism, will always be constantly changing with the times and technology. There will always be a new, better, faster, easier way to access information. Digital journalism also creates more competition per say, because anyone can be apart of this "world". There aren't any bosses in the field.
Digital journalism also creates an opportunity for a niche audiences. It allows for people to have an option as to what they are viewing and reading. Whereas, journalism as we know it has a wide range of topics and diversity. It also allows for everyday people to have a way to voice their opinions. Digital journalism, opens up new ways of storytelling, primarily through the technical components of the new medium. It can provide a variety of media text, audio, video, and photographs, unlike other media sources.
Unlike traditional journalism, where things were stable and constant digital journalism will not be. Digital journalism, will always be constantly changing with the times and technology. There will always be a new, better, faster, easier way to access information. Digital journalism also creates more competition per say, because anyone can be apart of this "world". There aren't any bosses in the field.
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Journalism That Clicked
Here is another interesting article that I found on the npr website. According to the website, "The Online News Association gave its annual award for topical reporting and blogging by a large news Web site to Planet Money. The Planet Money team was set up last year to produce a series of on-air and online reports, blog posts and podcasts that explained the global economy. No easy task -- especially given the international financial crisis that was unfolding as the project made its debut last fall." So go and check out this article at http://www.npr.org/blogs/inside/2009/10/journalism_that_clicked.html. Who knew about awards being given out to websites.
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