Mid-Semester

Well...shockingly I have survived half of my final semester, and now feels more critical than ever. I'm actually halfway through working on my thesis (which has been stressful ALL semester long) and managed to nail two mid-terms back to back in one day. Hopefully I did well on them! There's 57 more days left before I actually walk across that stage to receive my degree. Reality hasn't even hit me just yet that I'm actually graduating, but it probably will when the colloquium rolls around. I'll be so relieved once I finish that paper...it will be as if the universe was risen off of my shoulders at that point. I decided to turn the tide and do my study on why people find hurricane coverage funny rather than informative, so hopefully I can manage and win the crowd over plus graduate :-). For now, I just have to hang in there and keep pushing and doing my best. I pray that this semester will be another C-free one which would land me on the Presidents List yet again for the 2nd time in my college career! I just find it amazing how both my sister who is almost 11 years older than me and myself will be graduating the same semester. It truly is a blessing to even see that happen and to be able to share this time with her and my family, friends, peers, teachers, and everyone who isn't here to physically see it happening. I know they're all proud of the two of us and that makes me feel like I'm getting closer and closer to my dream.

So Far, So Good

Hello hello!

A late and pleasant Happy New Year to all! So far, 2010 has been off to a good start. I began the semester on January 19, and boy it felt pretty good to be back in school. It still hasn't hit me that I'm in my final semester and on my way to my undergraduate degree in a couple of months, but I am definitely enjoying the semester, even though it's partially stressful! I've made some friends with some familiar faces, and so far I've been doing great in my classes. Comm 498 is my biggest challenge of them all, but hey, if I can survive that, anything is possible!

Again, I'd like to say thanks first and foremost to God for everything, big and small. Without Him, none of this would even be possible. I couldn't be thankful enough to be given blessings and opportunities that a person could only dream of. I also want to thank my family, my friends that have stuck by me through just about everything, my role models for paving the way for me and others, my boyfriend who I make two whole years with on the 21st, and my awesome professors throughout college. Everyone has been such a big help in making my dream come true, and I hope that continues even after college.

I almost forgot....the Saints won their first NFC title AND Super Bowl!!! I'm still super excited that I actually got to experience that in my lifetime, and I want to say congratulations to the team once more...WHO DAT!! Today was a snow day and it was definitely a treat to have more snow in our forecast. For once, it is actually like winter in Louisiana! I have to run for now, but hopefully I'll be back with a full report around midterms. If all else fails, there's always graduation :-). God Bless!

This Is It!!!

Well...school is officially OVER for the semester, and I couldn't be more excited! I had a pretty good semester this year shockingly. After a brief "vacation" from school this past spring, I made a promise to come back and do my absolute best. I ended up finishing with a 3.6 GPA, receiving a grant for my academic success (not going to disclose how much the grant was), received an opportunity to work on The Southeastern Channel next semester, and have earned a place on the President's List for the first time in my college career. On December 3, I even received my Southeastern college ring as a physical reminder of how hard I've worked throughout school.

I don't think I could've done it without God first and foremost because without Him, I wouldn't be where I am today. I also thank my family, my true friends, my wonderful boyfriend, and all of the wonderful teachers that allowed me to absorb their materials and sharing their knowledge with me.Lastly, I'd like to thank the ones that I've lost that are with me in spirit always. Aunt Doris: thank you for helping me to learn my weather symbols as well as give forecasts to you. Grandpa: Thanks for all of the fishing trips and all of the summers I spent watching The Weather Channel. Aunt Theresa: Thank you for all of the love and support you gave to me as I grew up and for the great time I had in California. The list is long for the ones I've lost, but I miss them and love them always, and I know they're smiling down and are proud as ever of me.

Looks like the next step is graduation, and I'm pretty nervous about it. While it is definitely a milestone for me, the thesis paper scares me the most of all. I want to go where no Communication major has gone before with research as well as the paper topic itself. I know for sure that I will make the best of it and succeed, and with God and everyone else on my side, I absolutely can't fail. For now, I'm going to enjoy my semester break, and hopefully I'll have something new and exciting for you guys in the upcoming semester. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Coveritlive Chat

Posted by: Amber Narro

Putting it All Together

As this semester progressed, I had no idea what my Writing for Public Interest class would bring. I am glad to say that I learned a great deal by taking the course, and I also felt that I was able to have a chance to show my creativity with each and every one of my stories. I was never really good at writing news-type stories, but once I took this, I learned a general idea of the structure of how the stories should be done. I even had to sign up for a great deal of things such as Blogger, Flickr, Twitter (which I already had since the summer), and an online chat in which our entire class participated in.

For the most part, it took a great deal of ideas in order for me to keep the stories interesting and flowing together every time I wrote one. I also wanted to bring in the emotional appeal of the stories as well as educate my audience for a better understanding of our climate which varies every day. The wording also had to make a lot of sense because if I was to throw a term out there that no one knew, it would confuse several people.

In order to put these blogs together, I had to get used to the idea of even using one for the class. While sometimes technology was a pain and very strenuous to use, it was definitely worth learning it to educate students to expand their horizons and learn to use different ways of communication and showing off their finished products in terms of stories. I made several attempts to chat with professional meteorologists on the local and national level, but due to their busy work schedules, they were unable to get back with me on my stories. However, I was able to speak with real-life storm spotters and storm chasers who work alongside the National Weather Service for a great deal of information and their experiences with severe weather.

If I was to do the media package a different way, I probably would get a head start on most of my stories. I had a time trying to get a hold of reliable sources for each and every one. Also, I would've probably joined these blog websites a lot sooner than this semester so that I would have some exposure on how to use it. I would also have a larger variety of photos to use being that I am a photographer in my spare time. I could even try expanding my topic from more of an informative standpoint rather than just from aspects of experiences and then some.

Observing the Aftermath

By Jana Foggan

[HAMMOND]-As howling winds calm down and silence fills the moist,
southern air, adrenaline runs through peoples’ veins as their hearts nearly
beat out of their chests once the storm has passed. Slowly, they come out
of their safe places only to discover the damage that has been done around them 
which suddenly sends a feeling of shock and sadness through them. When
 something as tragic as a tornado takes place, these feelings and so much more
 can be described as being a part of one thing: the tornado aftermath.

Within the past year, tornadoes have
 been quite frequent not only in Tornado Alley but throughout the United
 States. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration,
a total of 2,192 tornadoes were reported which is almost double the ten-year
 average of storms. During the beginning of 2008, 87 tornadoes occurred
 within the Super Tuesday primary elections. During the Super Tuesday
 Outbreak, Louisiana had its fair share tornadoes, especially the one in the 
freshest memory in the minds of several people in Independence.

On February 13, 2008, strong
 thunderstorms moved through the Hammond area and a few miles down the road,
action was catching the attention of residents of Independence. Mike
Lane, an eyewitness who happened to be visiting family, had a gut feeling as
the skies grew darker and began changing colors. “All I could do was hope 
that nothing was going to drop out of the sky as I was on the highway because
it was like a scene from a movie,” Lane said. Lane was not too far away
from the Lallie Kemp Regional Medical Center as the dark clouds began to swirl 
and extend downwards.

“The second the tornado touched the
 ground, it was heading straight towards the hospital, and I couldn’t help but
 think if everyone was alright. It didn’t look good at all,” Lane said. 
While the tornado was weak, the damage that it left behind was one for the 
record books. Lane said, “After it passed, I was a bit shaken up, but 
when I passed the hospital, it looked like a war zone. There were police 
sirens, medical teams and glass just about everywhere you looked.”

As a result of the storm, one person lost her life after being caught up into the funnel and then slammed into a 
vehicle nearby. The tornado also created minor structural damage and toppled
 a few trees. Even though it was a minor storm, the unfortunate loss of 
life was major enough to catch the attention of locals as well as the country.

The increase in tornadoes continued
 this year with violent storms breaking out sporadically in Dixie Alley and
 Tornado Alley. On June 21, Extreme Weather Storm Chasing storm chaser Forrest 
Lambert and his team were caught in a few minutes of fury 60 miles from Grand
 Rapids, Iowa. “My first thoughts were, ‘are we going to see 
strong tornadoes and damaging winds from the storm?’” Lambert said.

Although the tornado was on the ground
 a few minutes, Lambert reported a shed with damage done to a side wall and a few trees were down but there was no loss of life in the area. “Emotions
 run higher after the storm because you never know if anyone has died in the
 storm after it strikes, and storm chasers are normally first to arrive after a
 storm has hit a town,” Lambert stated.

Tornadoes are very frightening to
 experience but what people see after the storms strike is the scariest scene of
 all. Trees can be snapped in two, houses can be completely moved from 
their foundations and due to not taking safety measures, loss of life can
occur. “Before finding out about the woman at the hospital, I felt this
sense of worry because I had no idea what happened, but at the same time, I was
 glad I was in a safe enough distance to be alright,” Lane says of his
 experience.

Story on NOLA.com

Tell-Tale Signs

[HAMMOND]-As awkward silence occurs, people generally get a gut feeling in regard to the worst that could happen or take place. As severe weather creates this feeling, people cannot help but look at what is going on around them in the atmosphere. The minute the skies grow dark and nothing can be heard for miles, it is then time to watch for more signals in the sky and along the ground, especially when a tornado is in progress.

Incoming Spring Storm

Tornadoes are already viewed as one of nature’s most violent forms of weather, and aside from tornadoes themselves, the signs indicating they are about to touch down in a general area could be far worse than the second they touch the ground. During severe thunderstorms, tornadoes are generally accompanied by pouring rain, low, howling winds, violent lightning and hailstones.



While most signs are obvious, the main one that people should have their eye on is the one that happens in a clear line of view within a thunderstorm. Extreme Weather coordinator and storm chaser Forrest Lambert says, “The most prominent sign to look for is lots of rotation and a funnel cloud that comes down.” People tend to let the blinds be pulled over their eyes when rotation is in progress, but the minute a funnel gets started, they are quick to grab a camera and head outside rather than taking shelter.

As a tornado approaches, they can be hidden within rain and may blindside residents in an instant. Other times, a tornado can be standing alone when there is no rain at all. Skywarn storm spotter Autumn Hartman said, “The rotation is found usually by looking at the base of the storm where there is no rain. Most storms usually have low, hanging wall clouds in the precipitation-free area of the storm in which tornadoes usually develop.”

Rotation within a thunderstorm can be weak at times, generating smaller and less damaging tornadoes. At other times, rotation can be powerful, creating the most violent tornadoes on record. “Rotation develops from wind shear inside of the storm. You gotta have wind shear in order for tornadoes to form,” Lambert said. Hartman said, “Rotation happens throughout the storm. You have rotating updrafts, mesocyclones and in a whole, tornadoes are just a tiny part of rotation in thunderstorms.”

Hail, lightning and howling winds can be pretty fierce when it comes to tornado development, but in the end, the rotation wins the competition by a landslide. “Because most people don’t keep their eye out for it, when they see something that resembles a tornado, they get excited and put in a false report which can cause panic in the general public,” Hartman stated. Rotation can happen so fast that storm chasers, storm spotters and meteorologists have to be on guard at all times watching signs where a tornado is in progress or on the ground.

The general public can put themselves in danger attempting to get a closer look at an approaching severe storm, but when it is all said and done, those getting the information on the storms are at the highest risk. Lambert said, “Chasers and spotters are most likely to see the most damage because while everyone else is taking shelter, they’re out there to warn people and the National Weather Service about what they see in the field.” In this case, storm spotters and storm chasers are the informants of the field, and even in the worst of times, they still stand strong as a unit for the general public.

Location is also a factor in terms of who sees the most damage before a tornado touches down. “In the field, if it’s a highly populated area, vehicles and homes will see the most damage. However, if the storm is out in the middle of nowhere surrounded by chasers and spotters, they will see the most damage from hail and potentially be struck by lightning. It all depends on the location of the storm,” Hartman says.

Tornadoes can definitely bark a lot worse than they can bite, but evaluating the concept of severe storms in general, all of the signs that point to their arrival are just as dangerous. Anyone is open to be struck by lightning if they are in the wrong place or even pelted by hail hard enough to leave dents and small cuts and bruises behind. Once the calm before the storm arrives, people should keep open eyes and ears out for all tell-tale signs of tornadoes before it is too late to take necessary precautions.

Hail Damage

Tornado Signs Story on NOLA.com