Story by Noor Alahmadi, reporter
Campus Viewpoint: How do you feel about finding water on Mars?
Tag: Noor Alahmadi
Cops, Camera, Action
Story by Noor Alahmadi, reporter
More police departments around the country have started implementing the use of body cameras.
When Eric Garner’s death was caught on camera, massive public outcry spread across the nation calling for the use of body cameras as a solution for police brutality incidents.
“We just received about $3,000,000 worth of funding that we will be able to start using,” Art Acevedo, Austin Police Department Chief, said. “We plan on rolling out 500 cameras this next fiscal year. Hopefully next year we will get the remainder of the funds so everybody will have a body camera.”
Linguistics major Zac Conard likes the idea of police body cameras.
“It’s fantastic that they are being held accountable for what they do,” Conard said. “The fact that we can monitor them and see what they’re doing I find reassuring.”
Another student, Emily Hoelscher, wasn’t as enthusiastic.
“I feel so so,” Hoelscher said. “Honestly it depends on the people and how they use it. I feel iffy about it.”
Hoelscher says that body cameras can be easily manipulated in favor of the police, a view mirrored by Nelson Linder, president of Austin’s chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.
“It’s not enough,” Linder said. “Police brutality is a symptom of a much larger problem in this country.”
According to Linder, the deep rooted racism in the U.S. must be addressed if any sort of change is to be made. “The viable lessons of social progress need to be learned and the citizens need to fight the battles locally,’ Linder said.
“You need to change things from within,” Linder said.
Black Lives Matter gathered at the Capitol September 19 to protest the multiple police brutality incidents against members of the black community. Conversely, a rally consisting of police supporters,calling themselves Blue Lives Matter, had a rally that same day in support of the police officers who had lost their lives in the line of duty. Acevedo asked that any APD in attendance to not wear their uniform.
“Because I support Black Lives Matter doesn’t mean I don’t believe the vast majority of police officers are good people,” Acevedo said. “Join us in holding the bad apples accountable and help lift up the good ones. Don’t believe the false narrative that the community of color doesn’t support police. They not only support good policing, they demand and deserve it.”
Acevedo’s public support of both rallies has been viewed as controversial to some in the black community.
Margaret Haule, founder of the Austin chapter of Black Lives Matter, considered Blue Lives Matter to be counterproductive to the Black Lives Matter movement.
“The hijacking of the Black Lives Matter rally by the Blue Lives Matter rally wasn’t created to foster dialogue,” Haule said.
“[Acevedo] cannot support the efforts of both Black Lives Matter and Blue Lives Matter, while also expecting any sort of positive change for the black community,” Linder said.
His main complaint about the Blue Lives Matter rally was that the organizer, Robert Chody, a former APD officer whose use of force in the form of a choke hold, caused a 15 year old African-American boy to go into a seizure.
“I told [Acevedo] not to do it,” said Linder. “Robert Chody worked for APD and choked a kid, yet he still organized [the rally] with Art’s approval.”
Acevedo has yet to respond to Linder’s accusations.
“I do think that people understand that the police are getting a lot of bad press and it’s deserved,” said Lee Aidman, who’s studying Game Development. “But they understand that the police are good in general.”
Student Debt, Student Threat
Story by Noor Alahmadi, reporter
Student debt is a looming black cloud affecting many students in America. According to the U.S. Department of Education, student loan interest rates have gone down about one-third of a percent in the last year from 4.66% to 4.29%, which according to Blake Ellis with CNN Money Investigations, is still crippling forty million Americans.
U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett attended a student press conference at the Highland Campus Sept. 4, to speak about H.R. 1260, The American Opportunity Tax Credit Act of 2015, a bill which he is both the author and sponsor.
“It’s a $2,500 tax credit,” Doggett said. “If you do not have that much in taxes, you will get $1,000 refund.”
The main goal of this act is to allow students to receive a college diploma without being accompanied with a mountain of debt. Debt restricts students’ choices and Doggett believes that it ought to be possible for people to renegotiate their interest rates just like on other kinds of loans and prevent debt from piling up.
With the upcoming primaries and ultimately the Presidential election, candidates have been offering up their own solutions to the rise in student debt. Hillary Clinton’s approach mirrors Doggett’s when it comes to thesoftening of student debt.
“For those who already have student debt, my plan will give you the chance to refinance at lower interest rates,” Clinton said.
Doggett said he would like to do more, but must be practical.
“I have mixed feelings about providing free college to every- one as our first priority. I would like everybody to be able to get all the education they want, but knowing how limited our resources are, I want to see it focused on those with the biggest obstacles.”
Doggett said there will be another attempt at perfecting this bill in 2017, should he be re-elected.
Brian Who? Millennials Change Channels on Tradional Media
Story by Noor Alahmadi, Editor in Chief
Young viewers move away from network news and tune in to on-demand and citizen sourced news while consumers ponder traditional notions of journalistic integrity
Brian Williams’ fall from grace revealed the younger generation’s shift from traditional media toward online news outlets.
While NBC’s 30-and-older demo- graphic wonders what they will do without their beloved anchor, many younger viewers don’t seem con- cerned.
“I don’t know who Brian Williams is,” Valeria Montoya, an ACC physics major, said. “I read news through sources like the New York Times’ online website, a TIME subscription, and blogs I keep up with on social media such as Tumblr and Twitter.”
Appointment television, where people watch a show at a specific broadcast time, is giving way to push notifications and website checks, Paul Brown, assistant professor of journalism, said. “I think the days of people watching network newscasts, in terms of the younger generation, no longer exists.”
Constant updates to online information provide faster, easier and perhaps more entertaining ways to receive news. Many newspapers publish content online before their papers are printed, while Twitter and Facebook make it easy for just about anyone to become a citizen journalist.
YouTube has allowed those without formal journalism training to create news broadcasts such as The Philip DeFranco Show and SourceFed.
Now that news is no longer exclusively in the hands of journalists, this new generation of news providers and consumers must decide whether the old standards of journalistic ethics and accuracy apply to online media and bloggers.
“Unlike traditional journalists who face repercussions from their networks, the repercussions for YouTubers and bloggers comes from their audience directly,” Logan White, an engineering major at ACC, who does not watch network news, said.
With numerous sources vying for attention, do audiences value sensationalism over accuracy?
This may be the very question Brian Williams asked himself after being suspended for embellishing accounts of his war-zone experiences.
The Williams’ scandal was highly publicized. However, if the prized 18-33 year old demographic isn’t watching, maybe the importance of journalistic integrity is losing ground.
TIPA 2015
Six members of Accent’s student staff attended the 2015 Texas Intercollegiate Press Association conference April 9-11 in San Antonio.
Congratulations to Accent Editor in Chief Noor Alahmadi who was elected Secretary of the 2016 TIPA student executive committee.
Congratulations to the following Accent students for being recognized in five categories including two First Place awards:
- First Place Critical Review – Joseph Van Vranken, Multimedia Editor
- First Place Picture Story – Dave Creaney, Photographer and Preston Bezant, Layout/Design Editor
- Honorable Mention News story – Manal El-Haj, Reporter
- Honorable Mention Feature Page Design – Preston Bezant, Layout/Design Editor
- Honorable Mention Illustration (Non-photo) – Daniel Groh, contributor
TIPA was established in 1909 at Baylor University and is the oldest collegiate press association in the nation.
This year 442 students and 76 advisers attended the convention from 62 member colleges and universities. The convention hosted journalism contests ranging from TV News Broadcasting to Newspaper Headline Writing. Professional journalists and journalism professors held workshops on networking, resume writing, and various aspects of journalism.
“The contests were very competitive and drove me to put my best foot forward,” Ryan Fontenette-Mitchell, Accent reporter and business clerk said. “The workshops were detail oriented and gave me a lot of information that I can apply in my career.”
Community College Receives Increasing Attention
Story by Noor Alahmadi, Editor in Chief
Panelists focused on the increasing importance of community colleges at the South by Southwest Education summit held March 10 at the JW Marriott Austin.
The seminar on Re-Designing Higher Education for Student Success aimed to boost awareness on how schools can increase graduation rates and gave students a unique opportunity to share their own ideas and experiences about strengthening college opportunities.
“I went to the University of Massachusetts in Boston with a scholarship that I had believed would cover tuition,” Valerie Inniss, a student panelist said. “But it only covered two-thousand dollars with thirteen-thousand in hidden fees.”
Innis said had she known about all of the scholarship, advising and counseling options available to her at the University of Massachusetts in Boston, she would be in better financial shape and on a more clear-cut path to graduation. Ultimately she left the school to transfer to the University of Massachusetts Amherst.
In addition to student panelists like Innis, education experts on the panel discussed alternatives such as online learning, reducing required credit hours and the importance of utilizing community college education.
Dr. Jill Biden, second lady of the United States, gave the keynote speech on the heels of the panel discussion. Biden is a community college teacher of 20 years and an educator of 30 years. In addition to stressing the importance of a college education, she expressed her love of teaching at community college and stressed its importance as a stepping stone for higher education.
“I think making community college free would make us better as a nation,” Biden said. “In the next ten years, two out of three job openings will require a college degree.”
Gavin Payne, director of the United States Program Advocacy and Communications for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, spoke about his organization’s role in promoting community colleges.
“We have a challenge as a foundation. When someone says college, they think of a four-year institution.” Payne said. “There are a lot of ways to get there and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation wants to make these paths more accessible to students.”
Community College Grows in Importance
Story by Noor Alahmadi, Editor in Chief
“In the next ten years, two out of three job openings will require a college degree,” Dr. Jill Biden told a crowd gathered to hear her speak at the South by Southwest Education summit.
The Second Lady of the United States gave the keynote address to a room full of college students, top educators and researchers. The summit aims to boost awareness on how schools can better help students get to graduation.
Not every college student today knows how to navigate his or her college options.
“I went to the University of Massachusetts in Boston with a scholarship that I had believed would cover tuition but it only covered two-thousand dollars with thirteen-thousand in hidden fees,” said Valerie Inniss, a student panelist. Innis said she ultimately left the school to transfer to the University of Massachusetts Amherst.
Had she known about all of the scholarship and advising and counseling options available to her at the University of Massachusetts in Boston, she said she would be in better financial shape and on a more clear-cut path to graduation.
Biden spoke on the heels of a panel discussion at the JW Marriott Hotel, during which students opened up about their own educational experiences. Some students echoed Innis in describing their own obstacles.
The focus and the energy of the panel changed when Dr. Jill Biden entered the stage and gave a speech on the importance of community college as a stepping stone for higher education.
In addition to stressing the importance of a college education, Biden expressed her love of teaching at community college. She is a community college teacher of 20 years and an educator of 30 years.
When asked about making community college more affordable and whether or not free community college would change the value of getting an education, Biden said, “ No, I think it would make us better as a nation. I am a true believer of community college and if we could make it free, that would be even better.”
During a Q and A session, Gavin Payne, director of the United States Program Advocacy and Communications for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, walked around the room, met students and facilitators and took questions.
“We have a challenge as a foundation. When someone says college, they think of a four-year institution but there are a lot of ways to get there and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation wants to make these paths more accessible to students.”
Some students say a stigma surrounds the idea of choosing community college over a four-year university. The Gates Foundation, Dr. Jill Biden and all of the speakers at the summit are working to make choosing community college a logical, attainable and appealing option to all students considering a higher education.