ADPIdol

ADPIDOL is a singing competition on the lines of American Idol. The BU sorority Alpha Delta Pi is organizing this event which proceeds go fully to the Ronald Mc Donal house charities. Teams of 1-3 people will compete in the contest, singing songs to impress the audience and the judges.
The Judge panel includes Dean Elmore,  a member of the Dear Abby's a-cappella group, the president of the Panhellenic council, a member of ADPI national sorority and the president of the Inter-fraternal council.
This was the first time ADPI had organized this event and it was a success. The Morse auditorium was packed in every order of place and the crowd was very involved and enthusiastic about the great performances like this one


The singers were great and included mostly greek life members and a few a cappella groups. A special mention goes to a solo singer of "Call me maybe" who tried his best to read the words from a sheet of paper but only managed to a laugh from the crowd.
The contest had two winners: the judges choice and the people's choice. The people's choice award saw the Chi Phi trio triumph with their special version of the song "Your beautiful" by James Blunt.
The event kicked off with a video showing what the sisters of ADPI around the US had already done for the Ronald McDonald House Charity.

When I think of McDonald i certainly do not think of charities, but this event introduced me to the great things that the McDonald group is doing for people with severe health issues. At the bottom of the page I have created a map with all the Ronald McDonald House charities in New England with contact information and location.
"ADPIdol 2012 is an event that is bound to be repeated every year" said Meghan Quinn who co-produced the event, "We raised $2,500 which was way more than we expected."
 The greek community at Boston University has recently been under a negative light because of some incidents regarding alleged hazing activities. This event like many others that occur on and off campus every semester are a positive representation of the community work and philanthropy that greeks do on a regular basis. Last month two members of the Sigma Delta Tau sorority were sent to the hospital after what appears to be an alleged case of hazing involving large quantities of alcohol. In another instance, the Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity who was suspended from any activity on BU campus since 1995 was found keeping new members tied up together with welts. The police officers who entered the house after complaints from neighbors found 5 people tied up in the basement with all kinds of condiments around them. The national fraternity has indefinitely suspended the Boston University chapter and has stated that "The actions being reported at Boston University do not reflect our fraternity's values or principles of brotherhood."
ADPIdol 2012 is just one of many events that greek life puts together to raise money and awareness for good causes. Two days after that, Dancing with the Sigmas, organized by the sigma kappa sorority brought more than a thousands people around a podium to raise money for the Alzheimer's Association. Their national organization is the second biggest donor to the Alzheimer's Association after the Federal Bank.
That said, my wish is that more people who are not in Greek life go to events like this to see how devote greeks are to giving back to the community.
Im also going to take this time to thank Nick Barber for a great semester of online education and preparation for the real world! This class really helped me and was eye opening in light of future job decisions. I wish him all the best!

ADPIdol 2012

 
View Ronal McDonald House Charity in New England. in a larger map

Farewell GlobalPost

Every good thing has to come to an end.  As the school year is getting close to an end, my coverage of the GlobalPost will also be terminating soon. It all started off as a painful endeavor for one of my journalism classes but it turned into a very interesting investigation into the world of GlobalPost. 
I have seen the website develop and improve, the home page got a very nice polishing and is now clearer to read and easier to find what you are looking for. The GlobalPost is a young online newspaper and it was interesting to see how they developed through these 4 months. I had the pleasure of discussing the news sector with GlobalPost vice president Charles M. Sennott. 
This gave me an in-depth sight of what the GlobalPost was, how it worked and how it got the money to finance its operations. 

With the technology developing as quick as it has for the past years, people more frequently connect to the internet and get their information online. GlobalPost has been at the forefront of online news-writing since 2009 and is really making a push to become one of the most read websites in the world. They are doing a great job. I think that if GlobalPost continues on their track, they have the opportunity to go very far in the news business. One day i would love to have the opportunity to contribute to the newspaper and gain some valuable experience from it.
I am going to try to keep this blog going even when i finish this class. I am interested in the revolutionary way the GlobalPost conveys their information and how they gain support in what they are doing!
I hope y'all have enjoyed my writings so far and are ready for more! I have to thank Boston University for pushing me to create a blog and find interesting topics to write about. 

Chatter

GlobalPost Chatter blog is a daily updated news blog that covers a multitude of news as it happens. It is often very up to date with current issues but certainly doesn't go in depth with the most important and life changing issues that are dealt with in the rest of the online newspaper. The Blog is lead by a team of 5 journalists positioned around the world and mainly presents current snippets of news as they happen. I really like this part of the blog and think it should be given more importance. As it is certain now that younger people get there news from the web, it is also true that they don't spend a great amount of time looking at and reading the news. The Chatter blog condenses all the news that is happening in a page. The writing is very young and enjoyable. The small snippets of every news feature tend to keep my attention more than a long article. 

Front page of the Chatter Blog

The topics discussed in today's Chatter blog are: the failed missile test in North Korea, current methods to maintain the cease-fire in Syria, British Prime Minister David Cameron's historical first trip to Myanmar, the summit of the America's most recent discussion on drug legalization and lastly a short account on how smart Baboons are. 

A baboon in the Cape of Good hope (S. Africa)

 All in all Chatter is a great addition to the website and confirms the great strides forward the GlobalPost is making. I would almost certainly say that an avid reader of the GlobalPost is daily given its new feed in a very extensive manner and also can learn of unexpected things around the world.
On a negative point, there are even more advertisements and pop-ups on the website which are normal because this is a free online newspaper but is still very annoying.

A New(Balance) Field for BU

Late this February Boston University announced that the Boston based company, New Balance, would donate  $3 Million toward the creation of a new stadium for the Field Hockey and Lacrosse teams. The New Balance field will be a state of the art facility set to be built on the current Babcock street parking lot. The field should be ready by 2013 to bring the field hockey team back on campus. The D1 team has played on both BC and Harvard's fields since 2000 after a renovation to the turf on Nickerson field that made it impossible to play on. It is unthinkable that such a successful team (5 time America East Champions since 2000) has to play far away from campus making it difficult for students to attend the games. 

BU Field Hockey player in action

The new field will also be useful to attract prospective students and athletes who look at sports as being an important factor when applying to colleges. This project almost doubles BU's already large recreational area. The men's Lacrosse team is set to become a varsity D1 sport starting next year.  The promotion of the Lacrosse team from club to D1 is the first instance at BU since 2004 and has been happily welcomed by current students and alumni.

The existing parking lot on Babcock Street is frequently used by BU staff and others who benefit from this parking space.  The construction of the field will enable 350 new covered parking spots, thus preventing car damage from the neighboring softball field. The field itself will seat up to 1,000 people and will even have a 500 square foot press box. The hope is that the facility will be constructed quickly in order to get the much needed parking space back.

With the field being placed on campus near student dorms, there is hope to create an increased interest in BU sports and school pride.  "New Balance Field will be a major addition to our athletic and recreational facilities" school president Robert A. Brown told BU Today. "I am very grateful to New Balance for its leadership and support and to our alumni who have given generously to make this facility a reality. The field will benefit not only our student-athletes and the greater BU community, but it will allow us to expand our very successful NCAA Division 1 athletics program."

Here's how the field should look

The investment New Balance is making for BU is part of their program to give back to the community.  "As a Boston-based company with a long-standing commitment to promoting health and fitness and giving back to the local community, we are excited to help provide this valuable athletic resource for the Boston University community" said New Balance President and CEO Rob DeMartini. Boston University students are already excited about this new field, which will also act as fields for intramural sports.  One of the problems to consider is the leveling of the parking lot that has a visible slope. This will add on to the cost of the project, which is estimated to be around $24 Million. 

On the 6th of March a task force dealing with the planning of the field gave a final, positive decision to start building.  Construction is expected to finish by July 2013 says Tim Whitney, the project architect. There are many people working on this project right now. Pamela Beale is the chairman of the task force and thinks “It’s all about really making it a better place to live and be a student.”

I am confident the New Balance field will be a great success and will add to the already glamorous reputation held by BU. Every aspect of this new field is being studied in detail to ensure that neighbors and students can enjoy the field without being disturbed. I wish this field would've already been completed in my time at BU but it will certainly benefit the future Terrier generations! The BU administration and New Balance ought to be congratulated for enhancing the campus and making a better use of space. 

New Balance Field Soundslide

Map of Field Hockey fields around Massachusetts

View Field Hockey Arena's in Massachusetts in a larger map