Changes Coming to Western Carolina University's Communication Department

Greetings, everyone. There was a really interesting meeting today. The meeting was a requirement for everyone in the Communication Department, meaning that I was not required to attend, but I did anyway.

You see, I may be an English Major, but my concentration is Journalism. This means that many of my classes are from the Communication Department. There is a lot of crossover between English classes and Communication classes. As it turns out, it was a good thing I attended this meeting, as something that was mentioned affects anyone taking the same concentration as me.

The meeting began at 3:00, with everyone filing into the auditorium at the top of the hour. I was early, and was able to sneak in even though I'm not a Communication major.

Upon taking my seat, I noticed there was a professor walking around in front of the stage. This professor very much resembled Steve Jobs. This professor, a Dr. Matthias, was even wearing a black turtle-neck shirt and wireframe glasses.

Dr. Connelly was leading the meeting, giving all the announcements. The first announcement concerned the annual Communications Dept. spring picnic. This is something I've never even heard of, since I'm off in the English Department (and I am damn proud of being an English Major).

Dr. Connelly went on to introduce all the staff members present. This included Dr. Dulaney, the professor for my Ethics class (and someone who is quickly becoming a favorite professor of mine).

Then he was down to business, beginning with commentary on budget issues concerning not just the Communication Department, but Western Carolina University as a whole. WCU is funded entirely by the state of North Carolina. As of now, you're well aware of the global economic crisis we're going through.

This is affecting WCU now. The first evidence of this is the fact that the August graduation ceremony has been officially canceled, due to budget cuts. The August ceremony is the most expensive of the three annual graduation ceremonies. Diplomas will still be sent in the mail around that time, but the official ceremony will not be held. Graduates will be allowed to walk in the December ceremony.

Dr. Connelly addressed this point, as he expects many graduates at this point to decide not to walk in the December graduation ceremony. The thought had crossed my mind. He went on to say that the graduation ceremony was not meant for us students, as individuals. The ceremony is meant for parents, friends, anyone who has helped and supported you along the way.

More was said about budget. This fall semester, WCU will face an 8% overall budget cut. The number may seem small, but it is forcing some drastic changes at Western. For the foreseeable future, Western will be increasing class size, and holding most classes either in the early morning or in the evening.

That's all the gloom and doom. The next bit went on to address some good news concerning the Communication Dept.

First of all, among the 185 students in the Communication Department, the current average GPA is 3.11. This has lead the staff of the department to begin a project to make WCU's Comm. Dept. a standard of excellence not just in the state of North Carolina, but in the Southeast region.

For the past couple of years, Comm. Department staff has been at work on "The Project", which was kept entirely secret not just from students, but other departments at Western. The Project is an endeavor to make the department among the top in WCU, in NC, and throughout this region of the United States. Efforts were made to update the program to remain competitive, to allow students more academic freedom, and to streamline the degree program.

The main purpose of this meeting was to finally reveal the details of "The Project".

First of all, any student at Western who is either in the Communication Department or who is required to take Communication classes for their major, has been familiar with all the different prefixes used in the Communication Department. Among the different classes, you see such prefixes as "CMCR" (Communication Core), "CMPM" (Communication Print Media), "CMPR" (Communication Public Relations), and so on. The first task was to simplify all of this by switching to a single prefix. Starting in the fall, all classes in the department will have the same prefix: COMM. This will make finding classes in the department much easier.

In each major, there are concentrations, which are subsections that provide a focus on different areas. Starting in the fall semester, there will be five concentrations in the Communication Department.

These five concentrations are:
--Broadcasting
--Broadcasting Sales
--Journalism
--Organizational Communication
--Public Relations

As I mentioned earlier, I am an English Major, with a concentration in Journalism. The mention of Journalism in the above list caught my attention. Starting in the fall, the Journalism concentration is being removed entirely from the English Department and housed in the Communication Department. This was a huge announcement, as far as I was concerned.

A new idea being used in the fall is the idea of "Pre-Major". New students who are thinking of going into the Communication Department must take and pass (with at least a grade of C) two classes, those being COMM 150 and COMM 240. Once a student passes both of these with a sufficient grade, they can proceed to the Communication Major program.

The degree program for this has been streamlined. Where before students had to take 26 hours (I noticed this, as my Journalism concentration requires 36 hours), the core Communication degree program will now only require 14 hours. This means that the core program could theoretically be completed in just one semester (the max. number of hours a student can take per semester is 19, with the minimum for full-time student status being 12).

While the pre-major provides six hours, and the core program adds on 14 hours, there is also the concentration. Each of the five concentrations requires 18 hours to complete. Adding these numbers together gives 38 hours. Add to this the 42 hours required for liberal studies, and each Communication Major student will have 80 hours. The state of North Carolina requires students to have 120 hours in order to graduate.

What happens with those remaining 40 hours? This is where the idea of student academic freedom comes into play. Students have the option of doing any number of things with those remaining hours, including opting for a dual-degree. You could gain a degree in one concentration, and another degree in another concentration. This means that, for instance, a student could get a dual-degree in Journalism and Broadcasting. That is a dual-degree I really wish I could obtain, but I'm graduating after this semester.

Dr. Connelly's final message about all of these changes is that, from now on, the Communications Department means "Academic Freedom". The whole idea is to elevate the quality of the education and degree to a standard that competes with the top schools throughout the nation.

I am excited about the changes coming to the Comm. Dept.. However, this is my last semester at Western, so I will not be able to benefit from the changes. To all of the new and upcoming students, I am excited for you. There are a lot of opportunities in store for you.

An Oftentimes Dead Blog

So here I am, updating this blog. Yes, I know this is a practically-dead blog, and you might be wondering why I am even bothering to update this. I usually update over on my LiveJournal blog, mainly because I prefer the user interface that LiveJournal offers.

Anyway, I'm back on this blog, don't know how often I'll post here. Let's make the most of it, shall we?

Things are going well this semester. I don't have that much coursework outside of classes right now, but there are some projects going on. First, there's the website project I'm working on for my ENG. 401 ("Writing for Careers") class. Second, there are the lessons I'm working on completing for my CMPM 404 ("Desktop Publishing") class. Those are basically just following lessons in a textbook, and I finished the last one of those yesterday.

Funny thing about that: I'm way ahead of the rest of the class. Everyone else is basically on the seventh lesson, and I just finished the tenth and final lesson yesterday. Now I'm ready to start on the first actual project for that class. I'll be able to create a document of my own in InDesign.

What else is going on? My plans for going on the Japan trip this May have fallen through. Brief explanation: each May, Takeda-Sensei offers a course that is based around a two-week trip to Japan, visiting different locations (including Naruto University, and locations in Osaka). I'm not able to go on this trip simply because I can't get financial aid to cover the cost, and I don't have near enough to pay the cost on my own.

:-(

Oh, well. Would've been fun, but it's not happening.

Ah, right, my webcomic, "A Step Out of Phase", is going extremely well. I'm working on the "Other Journeys" story arc, which is fun to write. I've got a lot of plot twists in mind, and this will eventually tie into the yet-ongoing plot from Volume One.

Not much else for me to discuss. I'll return to this blog soon, hopefully.

Good day.

Future of Blogging, for Me

Well, since the death of GreatestJournal, I've been rethinking my blogging habits. First of all, I came here to check to see how this site's been updated. I like the layout of Blogspot, but there's an important feature from GreatestJournal/LiveJournal that is missing from here, and that's the ability to do "friends only" posts. I've become so used to doing that, these past years, that changing doesn't seem that favorable.

Now, LiveJournal, of course, still has that feature. So, if you are looking to hear more from me, in the future, scout me out on LiveJournal. If you are a friend, I'll add you in and we can chat over there.

So, this blog is over. Don't ever expect another entry here on this blog.

Be seeing you over on LiveJournal,
--Mike

April Start for DW and SJA on Sci Fi

The Sci Fi Channel has confirmed earlier reports that both Doctor Who Series Four and The Sarah Jane Adventures will begin airing on the channel in April. The channel's news service, Sci Fi Wire, has the confirmation, and Sci Fi's full press release is below.

DOCTOR WHO SEASON FOUR AND THE SARAH JANE ADVENTURES COMING TO SCI FI CHANNEL IN APRIL

NEW YORK - February 4, 2008 - SCI FI Channel has acquired the fourth season of People's Choice Award-nominated Doctor Who and the phenomenally popular series' new spin-off The Sarah Jane Adventures from BBC Worldwide America. Both series are slated to premier on SCI FI in April 2008.

The Sarah Jane Adventures is written and produced by the same creative team behind Doctor Who, including multi-award winning writer Russell T. Davies. Having traveled the universe with The Doctor, Sarah Jane is used to alien encounters. Accompanied by her new young friends Maria, Luke and Clyde, she becomes embroiled in an offbeat world of mystery and danger.

In season four of Doctor Who, David Tennant reprises his role as the tenth Timelord. For his latest adventures he is joined by a brand new companion, Donna Noble, played by award-winning actress Catherine Tate (The Catherine Tate Show, BBC AMERICA) who appeared as 'the runaway bride' in the previous season. 'Martha Jones,' played by Freema Agyeman, the Doctor's most recent companion, who had a dramatic role last season's finale, makes a triumphant return in the middle of season four.

"We are excited to have Doctor Who back on SCI FI for its 4th season," said Chris Regina, Vice President of Programming, SCI FI Channel. "It's an exciting franchise that continues to reinvent itself for new generations of viewers. The youthful appeal of The Sarah Jane Adventures will no doubt attract even younger new viewers."

Candace Carlisle, EVP Sales and Co-productions, BBC Worldwide Americas commented, "The imagination of Russell and the rest of the production team in Cardiff who have produced these two incredible shows is outstanding. We are so pleased that the loyal fans of the SCI FI Channel will be able to meet a whole new range of characters and aliens that are intrinsically linked to the Doctor's history. Both 'Sarah Jane Adventures' and the new season of 'Doctor Who' are jam packed with some of the most creative storylines ever produced by the BBC's brilliant team."

The third season of the new Doctor Who averaged 1.3 million weekly viewers on SCI FI.

The deals were brokered by Lisa Hofer, Vice President of Co-Production & Sales, BBC Worldwide Americas. Executive Producers for The Sarah Jane Adventures are Russell T Davies, Head of Drama, BBC Wales, Julie Gardner and Phil Collinson. The series producer is Matthew Bouch. Doctor Who season four is produced by Phil Collinson; Executive Producers are Julie Gardner and Russell T Davies. Doctor Who season four is a BBC production in association with CBC.

SCI FI Channel is a television network where "what if" is what's on. SCI FI fuels the imagination of viewers with original series and events, blockbuster movies and classic science fiction and fantasy programming, as well as a dynamic Web site (www.scifi.com ) and magazine. Launched in 1992, and currently in 93 million homes, SCI FI Channel is a network of NBC Universal, one of the world's leading media and entertainment companies.

BBC Worldwide Americas incorporates the U.S., Canadian and Latin American arms of BBC Worldwide, a commercial and wholly owned subsidiary of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). With offices in New York, Los Angeles, Toronto, Sao Paulo and Miami, BBC Worldwide Americas has five core businesses: Channels, TV Sales, Content & Production, Home Entertainment and Digital Media. Profit from BBC Worldwide is returned to the BBC public service.

Behold! Lots o' Smash Bros. Brawl Info!

Brawl is released on Feb. 1st, in Japan, and copies are already obtained by some people over there. Characters have been unlocked, stages unlocked. What is there to report? Find out now! Needless to say, expect a lot of spoilers!

Let's start off with today's entry at the Dojo. The initial roster has been revealed.



As you can see, the default characters are:

Mario
Donkey Kong
Link
Samus
Kirby
Fox
Pikachu
Diddy Kong
Zelda/Sheik
Pit
Meta Knight
Pokémon Trainer
Ike
Peach
Yoshi
Ice Climbers
King Dedede
Bowser
Wario
Olimar
Lucas

That's who's playable when you first play the game. Everyone that had said that the Dojo didn't reveal unlockable characters has just been proven wrong. Right now, there is a rumor going around that Brawl will have a total of 35 playable characters. Now, it seems a lot of characters are unlocked through Subspace Emissary, but people who have been unlocking things on the game haven't really been trying the other modes, such as Classic, Adventure, or the Target Test modes. I'm sure additional characters can be unlocked that way.

Now, the intro video was one of the first things leaked. In case you haven't yet seen it, watch it here. It's pretty sweet, but take note of something:

Ness.

Yes, the video reveals that Ness is a playable character. As if you doubted he'd return, but his presence is causing many people to worry that clone characters are returning.

Besides that, the intro is a collection of snippets from cut scenes.

Something that's been flying under the radar, as far as I've seen, is the reveal of the Item Switch screen.



This was included in today's massive Dojo update. This screen shows us all the items that will appear in battles. Note that the Smash Ball is considered an item, and can be switched on/off during battles. Other items that I'm noticing are the Sandbag, soccer ball, and the absence of Red Shells.

Moving on.

Something else we've got is the initial stage selection screen.



23 default stages, all of which are new for Brawl. What do we have to choose from?

Battlefield
Final Destination
Delfino Plaza
Mushroomy Kingdom
Mario Circuit
Rumble Falls
Eldin Bridge
Norfair
Frigate: Orpheon
Yoshi's Island
Battleship Halberd
Lylat Cruise
Castle Seige
WarioWare
Distant Planet
Smashville
New Pork City
The Summit
Skyworld
PictoChat
Shadow Moses Island

Then we've got six returning stages, all from Melee:



Temple
Yoshi's Island
Onett
Corneria
Rainbow Cruise
Brinstar

Okay, you're probably wanting to know: Who's unlockable? Well, here's the most recent character roster.



Unlockable characters include:

Marth
Mr. Game & Watch
Luigi
Falco
Snake
Ganondorf
Wolf
Lucario
Ness
Sonic
Toon Link
Robot
Capt. Olimar
Jigglypuff

Is this the complete roster? If it is, that would confirm the 35-character roster (it was at 34 for a while, until Wolf was unlocked). Already this is angering people, as it implies that clone characters are back, with such clones as Capt. Falcon/Ganondorf, Ness/Lucas, Link/Toon Link, and Fox/Falco/Wolf.

An interesting new character, as I see it, is R.O.B. (called Robot, on that screen).

New stages revealed include a Luigi's Mansion stage, an Electroplankton stage, a stage based on Wind Waker, and stage called "Port Town" that I gather is based off of an F-Zero game. Oh, and also Green Hill Zone stage for Sonic, and a classic Mario Bros stage.

More information can be found here.

Oh, and have I mentioned the soundtrack for this game? IT'S GONNA SERIOUSLY PWN!!!!!!!!!!! Give a listen to some of the tracks in this thread over on NSider2. Seriously, the music is awesome.

Hello? Anyone here?

I guess I'll start using this blog, as opposed to GJ.

Guitar Hero 3 confirmed fall '07; Wii version will have DLC, guitar add-on

Sources: Platformers, Digg.

In an interview with IGN UK, Red Octane co-founder and president Kai Huang not only reconfirms that Guitar Hero 3 is headed for the Wii, 360, PS3 and PS2 (information that was found and subsequently pulled from RO's site last week), but also says that the much-speculated-upon Wii version will in fact use a guitar-shaped controller peripheral instead of solely relying on the Wii standard controllers. He also revealed that the Wii version will have downloadable content and even mentions "online play," although whether this means active online play with other people or passive online leaderboard activity (as in Guitar Hero 2 360) is unclear.

This would be the first Wii game that allows for a microtransaction to add new content to an existing game.

From the IGN UK article:

While the development team is still exploring innovative ways to use the remote, Kai Huang told us: "We are really excited about the Wii game because there are so many options for the Wii remote. However, you will play the game with a guitar peripheral and it will be similar to a guitar you've seen in the past."

He also confirmed that Guitar Hero III on Wii contains features included in other versions of the upcoming game—such as online play and downloadable music.

Many had assumed downloadable content would be present in the PS3 and 360 versions of GH3 but were unsure if the Wii version of GH3 would follow suit. Kai Huang's words show that all current-generation consoles will be able to squeeze all of the rich, chocolatey goodness out of the upcoming Guitar Hero installment. For those about to rock ... we salute you. /Lunker

UPDATE: GameSpot is reporting that according to Kai Huang in another interview, there will be both co-op and competitive online play for all versions of Guitar Hero 3 and there also will be wireless controllers.

Massacre at Virginia Tech: 33 Confirmed Dead

This is the big news for today.

Sources: ABC News, Digg.

April 16, 2007— At least 33 people are dead in what may be the biggest mass shooting in modern American history.

Police at Virginia Tech, in Blacksburg, Va., said that the shootings happened at a dormitory and then at a classroom on opposite sides of the university campus.

"Schools should be places of safety and sanctuary in learning," President Bush said from the White House. "When that sanctuary is violated the impact is felt in every American classroom and every American community."

Law enforcement officials tell ABC News they believe there was a single gunman, firing at least two 9mm semi-automatic pistols. They said he may have been wearing a bulletproof vest, and that he killed himself after opening fire on his victims.