goals

I was swamped this week, especially doing the group project, and forgot about my final project goals. I think the most important thing is to finally decide what I want to do it on. After our conference, I think I'll make my project about sexual violence at UNH. The only goal we really set for that one is to contact SHARP, which I did not do. Here is a list of stuff I need to do, people I need to contact, etc.

1. Gather data. I need to dig up those SHARP records and I think the sociology department's independent study, police records, as well as any other records that may exist.
2. Find interviewees. This must include victims, and could include all or any of the following: SHARPP people, high ranking administration, police officers, assaulters, trauma counselors, professors who are experts, random students on whether or not they knew this was such a problem.
3. Do interviews. But first, really think about what I want the composition of the story to be and how I can conduct interviews in a way that will lead to that. Become semi-expert on the technology of video/audio and practice taking stills.
4. Edit and organize content. Yay, final product!

EDIT

I forgot to write down what the class could help with. It would be awesome if everyone could network a bit and try to contact someone they know who has been a victim of sexual violence or definitely knows someone who has. I figure if the statistics are right and one in four UNH women has been victimized, it's almost certain that we could get ahold of someone.

final project idea, refined

So I would still like to do my project on the transgendered student who lives across from me. I don't know exactly what details you want on it that I didn't include last time; I basically addressed why it's journalistically relevant and what I would like to cover. I guess I'll flesh out my idea here.

I think I'd go at it like a bio, without trying to complicate it by broadening it out to anything like "transgendered people in NH" or "gay, lesbian, and transgendered." I think it will have more impact if I just focus on her story, and hopefully her story will comment on the more general implications. So it would be a bio. This would cover (if possible, if she agrees) her young life (I guess coming to question her gender identity), when she decided to make herself into a girl (how that came about, the qualms she had, the different influences on this decision), and life since changing (reactions, difficulties, relationships). I think this last part would be the bulk of the project. I would like this to be described in a mix of audio and video, probably sometimes audio transcribed over video (just of her walking around in day to day life, so it's not all just her sitting in a house). Pictures that would be good: obviously portraits of her, pictures of her in her room/other interesting parts of life. I don't know if it would be an invasion of privacy/inappropriate/unethical to take pictures of her as a guy "transforming" into a woman. I guess if she agreed and was totally fine with it, it would be okay.
It would be amazing if I could also incorporate interviews with people close to her (family, friends, roommates).
However, the one big issue with this story is that I don't really know her at all. I basically have just seen her going to and from the bus stops, and we smile and say hi, but I don't even know her name. So I don't know how realistic this story really is. I have no idea how I would approach her or if she would agree. I think she could tell an important story, I just would completely understand if she didn't want to, which makes me hesitant to even ask. I definitely need a conference, Sandy.

final project ideas

There is a transgender student living across the street from me who I see at the bus stop sometimes. I think a biography on her would be amazing. I'd want to find out what it's like being transgendered in small-town New Hampshire, what her childhood/family life is like, what school is like, what her friends have to say, etc, just because I can't imagine it's ever been easy, especially living here. She dresses very feminine but in a stylistically interesting way, not just like any other girl, and I think a lot could be added to the story with visuals. A lot of what being transgendered involves is basically what you look like and how you carry yourself, and photos or video would capture that essential part of her story. I think this bio would be the most journalistically significant story I've ever covered. There's not much diversity out here, and even the smallest differntiation is ridiculed, I can't imagine how hard it must be to be her. People should know how brave she is, and maybe her story would show some of the issues with diversity here and how people who are different are still really cool people.

So that's my one awesome idea. I would LOVE to do it, but it'd be tricky to approach her.

I wrote an article last year about sexual violence on campus and found out that it's much more prevalent than one would think. I haven't thought much about this idea, but it would be interesting to try to do something along those lines. I think the audio could be really great, like interviews of women who have been targeted, but visuals would be really tough. I don't know how I would get that, other than just a face shot or video of them talking (which most women probably wouldn't want). I think it's an important issue that doesn't get talked enough about on campus though; I just don't know if a multimedia project is the best way. If done well, it could be even more powerful than a written story.

Out of personal interest, I'd like to do some sort of story on veterans at UNH, or maybe at college in general. What it's like to be coming from combat into college, how they're treated by peers, what problems they have, how well government help is working, etc. Basically covering the transition. It'd be cool to contrast them with ROTC cadets who are going the opposite direction. The audio would be great, but again pictures might be hard. Obviously I couldn't get any of them in combat, so that would be sorely missing. I'm afraid it would just end up being them on campus doing normal things, and there really isn't anything compelling about someone eating at Hoco. But I'll keep thinking about what visually I could do for this story. This is journalistically important because it's a national issue that really isn't being covered well (I think). UNH students seem to have absolutely zero idea about veterans and what it's like for them, and I bet it's tougher than we think, and more pressing than we think.