Jail N' Bail

Southern Connecticut State University held their 8th annual Jail N' Bail event on April 23, 2014. The Fraternity Beta Mu Sigma and Southern police hold this event in the academic quad for people to see as they pass by on their way to and from class. This event is to help raise money for the Special Olympics.

Police officers don't just go searching for the people who have warrants, they have helped make this whole event possible every year.  They call other police stations to come help out as well as Southern's finest.  They help run this event as well at the fraternity. Warrants for people's arrest are only $5. Students could purchase the warrants from a Beta brother, from the Southern police station, or even from the office of Student Life, said Mike Sampson, a member of Beta Mu Sigma

photo credit: Jenna Wilson
Student at SCSU

Students lined up to put their friends, and even teachers in jail. "By the end of the day we raised a little more than $8,000," said Sampson.

In the past years,  this event has won awards, which include the largest charitable donation award. It started in 2007 and has been going on ever since.  It has been a big hit with the students, faculty, and police officers.  It is not only for a good cause, it is fun.

"I love going to this event every year.  It is fun to watch people ask for donations while locked up in jail.  I love to take pictures of the people's reactions. Everybody is a good sport.  I mean, what is a better excuse for missing class? It is for a good cause," said Jenna Wilson, a student at Southern who stopped by the event after class to take some pictures of the event.


The cold weather didn't stop this event from being successful.  As the day went on the jail started to fill.  The air may have been cold, but the smiles on everyone's face made the event worth while.

"People were yelling as I walked by on my way to class," Said Patrick Burton, a  Engineering major at Southern.  "It was for a good cause.  So I gave somebody in the jail $5 towards their bail," he said.

5 Shot Sequence

Nicole Labrecque, a History Major at Southern takes a break from studying to sit down and play her piano.

Breaking News Can be Messy

Breaking news is quick, on-the-spot information to inform the public about a situation or event that is unfolding. However, with breaking news comes errors.  As the story develops, events leading up to and after the incident tend to change and become more developed.
Breaking news is messy. Plain and simple. In this video below shows the breaking news coverage over the radio of President John F. Kennedy's Assassination.  As you watch it, you will see all the mistakes made during the rush of this breaking news story.


When there is a rush of information coming in there is a chance that the information can be wrong. Take the Sandy Hook Coverage for example. When the news first came out, the name of the gunman was wrong, the mother's occupation was wrong, and so was the details about the children who got killed was incorrect.  At first glance, it seemed as if the information that was given was correct.  A police officer found an Id and automatically thought that was the name of the shooter. It is understandable considering the evidence is right there on the floor.  However, that Id ended giving false information. The mother of the shooter didn't work at the school. Throughout the article above Andrew Beaujon, a reporter on the media on poynter.com and a previous managing editor of the Washington City Paper, writes about the issues with the breaking news reports from Sandy Hook.

Should breaking news be held back long enough to find out some solid details?  If so, how long is a reporter supposed to wait?  And if there is waiting, would be still be considered breaking news? Is there a certain All these questions should be taken into consideration when covering a story that is unfolding in front of your eyes.

Breaking news updates are great to have to keep the public updated while things are unfolding.  However, people should take it into account that the details can change in a story and the breaking news version isn't always the right version.
Social media gives journalists the ability to upload breaking news at a quicker pace. Breaking news mistakes have been happening throughout the decades.  Even though with Twitter and Facebook distribute the breaking news at a faster speed, doesn't necessarily mean that it is not appropriate to use in the journalism field.

Mathew Ingram a senior reporter for GigaOm.com, a blog that is one of the top leading technology blog in the United States, brings to light that critics have come down on the inaccuracy that social media has had on journalism. Critics are implying that social media is not an appropriate forum for journalism. However, Ingram thinks differently.  He believes that "this is the way journalism works now, and we better get used to it."

Southern's Crime Rate Increase. Raise a Voice Against Viloence

Crime has always been a fascination to some people to learn about.  However, would you want to hear that it is happening close by?  Data charts and information can be very useful when it comes to crime rare in a town.  Southern Connecticut State University is located in New Haven.  According to Business Insider, New Haven is rated the fourth most dangerous city in the United States.

According to Southern 's Uniform Campus Crime and Fire Safety Manual drug abuse and violations have gone top from 2010-2012.  Not only did drug related crime increased, but also sexual offenses and burglary increased. Does this mean Southern is unsafe? Southern Police officers have done their part in keeping the students safe.  Students that attend Southern know of the dangers that happen close to or on campus.


"I mean, I suppose it is to be suspected.  We are a college campus in one of the most dangerous cities in the United States.  So to not expect it would be naive," said Pat Burton, a freshman and engineering major at Southern.

The Southern police are required by state law to inform students and families of the crime rate.  They don't try and cover up or sugar coat anything that happens near or on campus; especially for families with children thinking of applying to Southern.

"We send out an e-mail every time a crime happens around campus. We want to keep them as safe as possible.  Some students have taken their own course of action and carry around pepper spray and things such as that to keep themselves safe," said Chief Joseph M. Dooley.

Southern offers an alternative option for students to have when they feel unsafe  "One of the things campus police do is have an escort service. All  a student would have to do is call our number 392-5275 with your name, location and destination and as long as the student is on camp grounds somewhere, a police officer will come and pick them up," Said Dooley.

Campus police also hold a program called R.A.D (Rape Aggression Defense), which is a program for women to teach them basic self defense moves if they ever find themselves in a bad situation.  However, it is not a Martial Arts class.  It is just a basic hands-on self defense class for women who wan to know how to protect themselves.  To learn more about the other services Southern campus police provide go to this website.

What more could the police do?  They can be found driving around campus at night making sure students aren't getting into mischief and are safe. However, what else can they do to get these crime rates down? There is only so much that can be done. If students have suggestions they should go to the police station and talk with one of the officers.  Don't be afraid to raise a voice against violence. Southern Campus Police are here to keep the students safe.

Students and Stress- How do They Deal?

Instagram has gotten more and more popular. Being able to post picture updates right from your smart phone is easy as snap, teaser, post! News organizations are staring to join the crowds. For example, the Washington post has an Instagram. They post pictures and video clips of compelling news stories they are covering or have covered recently. I think that New organizations should have an Instagram; same as any other social media site out there now. It is a better way to reach a larger demographic. The Washington Post currently has 85,557 followers. I think they are reaching a larger demographic for sure. They would get more people to read their news articles. According to this article ever since technology has become more advanced and journalism is changing rapidly many news organizations have jumped on the scene and started to use a number of different social media sites including Facebook, Twitter, Pintrest, Instagram, Youtube and so many more.

 My job was to post Instagram photos on our Journalism site. Any topic we wanted to do as long as it included Southern students or staff.  The topic i chose was Students and Stress- How do they deal?  Walking around campus and asking students I got a range of interesting and fun answers.


Nicole Larbecque, a junior at Southern, and a History Major said, " Stress? What's that? I don't stress easily, but when that does happenI like to take a nap. Naps let me get away from it all. And plus, I like dreaming." Mark Saravia, a Geography major and a junior at Southern said, "When it comes to stress with college I just stop everything, go for a walk and listen to my music until I calm down."