Emit

"They hit the streets playing at the hottest and most visible venues at an early age, and now with years of stage presence have given rise to a rock act any audience gravitates towards. Their tight knit synchronization is evinced by their combined efforts in playing and writing their music. Emit has proven to be progressively maturing all along their six year history. Each of the musicians have studied and prepared by being musically trained at the most respectable colleges around today."

The above is taken from the band Emit's website emitrock.com. This is what I have to look forward to on Thursday night as I venture to Norman to watch Emit perform. Notes and pictures are to be expected. Not only is Emit performing, Jesse Alan Horn will also be there. It should be a very exciting night.

UCO Prop 1

So here is a surprise, UCO would like to charge an additional $10.75 per credit hour to our Student Activity Fees. That is fine if you are an athlete or a part of Greek, for the rest of us that are in school to learn and get a degree, less for the social aspect that comes along with college...this is a terrible idea. UCOSA have many files discussing the proposition..there is a file titled "Why the SAF Increase Legislation is Not Amendable." It argues that the proposition can change where particular funds can be distributed, but it also states where the funding will go during this fiscal year.

"My point is, though UCOSA can change in the future how the SAF funds are distributed, it should only be done if there is great need, it should only be done very cautiously and after much research, and, preferably, with the advice and consent of all parties involved (students, Student Affairs, and Athletics)."

From high school to college it never changes, athletics are always the most important. Being a band nerd for 9 years it has always been a pet peeve of mine when all of our funding revolves around athletics. I understand that they are trying to better the college experience with this prop, but many of the students at UCO don't have time to attend the concerts and other events, they shouldn't have to pay more on top of what they already have to pay to get an education.

"For Athletics, better facilities and more scholarships will attract more athletes. The SAF will get more money when we recruit more students to come to UCO whether they are athletes or not. These student athletes will be paying the SAF, so everyone from student organizations to athletics will have more funding. However, having more student athletes mean that Athletics will have to carry health insurance on them. This is a mandatory cost required by the NCAA."

Charge the athletes, charge the sororities and frats, charge those that have come to college for the social experience. Leave the rest of us alone, we are poor enough.

An Hour with Dr. Hickman...or not.

We were supposed to have Dr. Hickman as a guest speaker today, but I think he forgot. So no insight from Hickman. But we were supposed to blog about what he says, which isn't possible..however, this is better then nothing.

Time to go enjoy the rest of my day off.
Later Days.

We Spent the Hour with Hochenauer

Guest speaker #2 is Dr. Kurt Hochenauer, creator of the award winning blog, Okie Funk. Dr. H was full of insightful tips on how we could better our blogs and possibly make a profession out of it. It is so wonderful to hear from all these speakers because they always give us hope to find a job despite the down warding spiral news outlets are headed for. Okie Funk was created to be a "liberal voice for Oklahoma" and it has been exactly that. He became successful quick, but of course with success comes jealousy from others. Dr. Hochenauer received lots of criticism for his writing and threats. Threats to lose his job, physical threats to his person, and harassing phone calls, but he has learned to ignore those. Everyone will always have a different opinion, some speak up...loudly..and others just keep it to themselves. I think that people should express themselves, but sometimes it just gets taken too far. We also got off subject and learned that Dr. H is against allowing guns on campus. Also he thinks Brad Henry would make a great University President...Don't we all. :) Here are some of the questions we asked with the insightful words of Dr. H, they aren't his exact words so don't quote me..he spoke faster then I could type.

Do you see blogging to continue in popularity?
-I think the mainstream media has absorbed blogging, some sort of website action if you will is going to happen with newspaper. I would learn how to use photography, Photoshop, blogging, and different platforms so you are always ready. Blogging will be around, maybe not certain topics.

How can my opinion get me a job?
-There are jobs doing editorials, but those may be diminishing. Just keep doing it and if you're good at it you'll be successful at it. There will be jobs for tech savvy people.

Does writing blogs help you form your opinion?
-Trying to get this voice out there. Beyond the personal side of me writing everyday, but I do write to see how I feel about a particular ting. It does help me figure out how I feel about it. And it keeps my mind going.

2ndSt Band

From Guns and Roses to U2, you name it I'm sure they will sing it. This local cover band loves to sing the classics. One female and three males and they can bring quite the crowd. Whether you're drunk, sober, or in between they will still sound amazing. 2ndSt's set list includes many classics as well as music you hear on the radio today. I personally love the classics so it was a lot of fun to listen to them rock out and join in singing the songs I know. They definitely know how to keep with what their fans want to hear. You can find them on Facebook and even youtube. I attempted to find some more background information on them and couldn't find very much of anything. Their website seems to be still under construction. But if you're really interested they will be at Dan McGuinness in Edmond in April. So you should definitely check them out. 


So what's next? I will be venturing down to ACM@UCO in Bricktown to watch the Heartless Bastards perform. They aren't a local band, but they aren't famous either, they are from Austin, TX. Here is a quote from their website.."The Decemberists’ guitarist Chris Funk said, "It's been a few years since I've had a voice on repeat in my mind. This voice seems to arrive in my ears while sound checking, often before the shows on a pre-show play list and after shows too -- the songs are just perfect and the band has found their spots behind this incredible woman. A unique and enduring artist arrived into our world once again.""
Sounds like someone worth paying twelve dollars to see. 

Guest Speaker

Yvette Walker came and spoke to our blogging class and like many others I'm sure she gave them hope for a Journalism career or really any Mass Comm. career because frankly news is news and it is beginning to be mostly internet. So why couldn't blogging become a reliable source for news? I think it can. I can't say that I'd find a career in blogging, but I would definitely read a blog that I thought had reliable information. I agree with her when she stated "Journalism is ego- free". I loved this quote because it is so true. If you have a huge ego who is going to want to listen to you? Not many people.

As for the Huffington Post being bought by AOL. I'm having mixed feelings. It could be a good thing or a bad thing, I can only hope that the Huffington Post doesn't change because of AOL buying them. This is just another case of the internet taking over the world.

Due to Snowpocalypse

Thank you Jack Frost. I have loved the last few days off from school, but your wintery wonderland was supposed to disappear before the weekend festivities. I was supposed to blog about where my blog was headed next, well Mr. Frost cancelled my upcoming show for this weekend so instead of letting the snow days go to waste I looked to friends to introduce me to bands I hadn't heard of. And to my surprise I found a few good ones, in my opinion. Of course I may be biased as my favorite genre is sort of an experimental/emo/rock.

Straight out of Glenpool, OK I found a band called Progress in Color. To my surprise they have quite the fan base, with 702 "likes", I guess I was expecting less. Once I heard their music...big surprise I became number 703. They have their own unique sound and I believe that is what will carry them to the top. Their song Never Deserved It is phenomenal and really hits close to home, I can really relate to their lyrics.
"Back then if we were losing hope, it comes, it goes."
Keep an eye out, they've been recording and just signed with Epic Records. You can find them on the ever so popular Facebook, or kick it old school and check them out on Myspace.