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Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Introduction to My Written Work
This blog was created to display my published and professional writing. I have written for a few publications including The State Hornet where I was named "Most Improved Features Writer 2005/2006" and "Best Features Writer 2005". During my high school years, I was Editor in Chief of the Colonial Gazette (Fairfax High School's print news publication). As a junior I headed both the Sports section and all other editorial columns. My foundation is in journalism but more recently I've branched out to include professional bios and screenwriting to my written interests. I am currently doing research on my thesis proposal which is based upon stereotypes of certain age groups and its affect on media viewership.
DJ Sidekick
As the premiere tour DJ for rapper Snoop Dogg among other industry notables, DJ Sidekick etched his way to entrepreneurship working with top artists nationwide. DJ Sidekick has worked with such artists as Tyrese, David Banner, DJ Quik, Trina, Rick Ross and rocked the annual Clive Davis Grammy Party. Brooklyn born and raised in Carson, Ca, he began mixing at the age of 13 and has mastered his craft through the influences of music greats Quincy Jones, Kid Cupri, Houdini, and Jam Master J. His versatile style and musical control mentality has solidified him as Dr. Dre’s DJ for the infamous Up in Smoke Tour as well as sponsored events by Nike’s And 1 brand.
DJ Sidekick’s current endeavor is TK Entertainment Group, a California branch company that is dedicated to taking the club scene to the next level. TK Ent. Group includes event planning along with event host placement. T.K. Entertainment Group has successfully hosted and provided services for a plethora of the industry’s biggest players including Chris Rock, Chris Tucker, Boris Kodjoe, Nicole Aire Parker, Larenze Tate, Martin Lawrence and Shaquille O’Neal. Also worked with great organization such as The Cedars-Sinai Sports Spectacular, The L.A. Kings Benefit and Auction event, The Toyota Sports Center, Warner Brothers Records, Jive Records, Interscope Records, Avalon Theater, Fox Studios, and The Famous Laugh Factory.
Sidekick is a proud father of two and basketball coach for the YMCA where he mentors youth. Aside from DJing, he enjoys producing music, computer programming, and working on cars.
Professional Bio
Jamaal Finkley
President
BlackTree Media
Jamaal Finkley is quietly carving a niche as a serious player in the current online video-media franchise landscape. His website, BlackTree TV.com, is ranked among YouTube’s top 25 content channels and is featured on over 3,000 websites worldwide.
Since the birth of Black Tree Media, Finkley has provided an array of content coverage ranging from award shows and celebrity red carpet events such as the BET Awards, MTV Video Music Awards, American Music Awards, Academy Awards, and Grammy Awards. With over 225 million viewers, BlackTree TV is the premiere source for urban entertainment news and event coverage, which has bridged a partnership with Google.
Prior to the launch of BlackTree Media in 2000, Finkley spent five years as a BET correspondent, covering the BET Awards, Comedy Awards, Rip the Runway, and Celebration of Gospel. Finkley also authored and formatted various DVDs for Warner Bros. including Troy (director’s cut) Veronica Mars: Season 3, The Reaping, Eyes Wide Shut, Shining, Harry Potter 5, Oceans 13, and 300.
More notably, Finkley has established BlackTree TV as apart of Sprint TV’s entertainment sector where BlackTree Media’s diverse audience can get weekly updates on all BlackTree TV material.
In his spare time, Finkley enjoys traveling and spending time with his wife Lydia and three children. He also has an innate passion for biology and journalism alike. In correlation with his future endeavors, Finkley plans to step out of the executive chair and into the creative chair of his career, where he is determined to make his first feature film.
Sac State students launch site in style
A single Web site that lets you buy books, look for housing, find a roommate, rate professors and get in contact with other Sacramento State students seems too good to be true. But hornetstyle.com, a Web site dedicated to and created by Sac State students, does just that.
Current students Angel Penilla, a computer science major, and Sean Shaghaghi, a management information systems major, thought of this idea in 2004. Since then, Portal Methods LLC was developed as an Internet startup company based in Sacramento. A third co-owner, Robert Clayton, was also brought in to help with the creation of the Web site. After a year and a half of hard work, the Web site was launched.
The two seniors met in a fraternity and discovered their mutual interest in computers and programs and began realizing that Sac State was lacking a Web site that provided various services for their students.
Soon after, the idea of the site, which was initially written down on a napkin in a downtown coffee shop, became a business plan; hornetstyle.com was born.
The site features various services including: making friends, selling and buying books, searching for housing, searching for roommates, expressing opinions in blogs and forms, rating classes and professors and reviewing entertainment. The site lets you hook up with students in your class and even get the notes from a day you missed.
"I think it's kind of cool because you can make your own profile and stuff like MySpace but specifically for Sac State students," said Jessica McGuwin, a psychology major.
Melissa Horat, a senior majoring in psychology, has taken advantage of the services the site provides. "Right now, I am trying to sell one of my books from a class I took last semester," Horat said.
Horat has found the site quite functional already and said she would come to the site for other services including looking for a roommate or a house to rent.
"Instead of searching all over campus for the 'roommate wanted' signs, I would go to hornetstyle.com first," Horat said.
Penilla said this is the intention of the site. "Hopefully it will become popular and students will come to the site and every time they need something they'll come to the site," Penilla said.
However, the site is not complete. "It's a beta site," Penilla said. "These are introductory services for people to look around."
More services are set to be added, including providing fraternities, sororities and non-greek organizations with a portal to manage events, a tutor section, a job search section and buying and selling tickets of event."We want to organize the students' life and make it fun at the same time," Penilla said.
Horat has discovered a feature that keeps the site interesting. "Some other random things I like are the amount of pictures you can put on your site," she said, "Also, the pictures change so it is not one default picture all the time. It keeps it interesting."
The owners of Portal Methods are working to expand their business by providing the same type of site for every college campus in California. "Our first expansion is California State Universities and UC colleges," Penilla said.
Sites have already been created for all CSU campuses. Penilla said the company will now look into working on sites for other campuses.
The State Hornet 2007
LM, features writer
The Scoop: Kanye West's sophomore album is overproduced
Rapper-producer Kanye West released his sophomore album "Late Registration" this week. This follow-up attempt to his explosive first album, "College Dropout," is a decent collection of lyrical punch lines mixed with beats that are over produced.
His first two singles from the album, "Diamonds" and "Gold Digger," seem promising but only increased anticipation for what could have been another classic Kanye album. The majority of songs seem slow and boring at first, but once played over and over, the album begins to grow on you.
This album is quite different than his first and has collaborations with such artists as Nas, Jay-Z, Paul Wall, The Game, and John Mayer to name a few.
With track "Bring Me Down," he consistently uses analogies and thought provoking lyrics like: "Everybody feel a way about K, but at least you feel something."
Although Kanye's flow is not the best, the beats and the music make up for that. Kanye fails to utilize the incredible talents of Nas, Common, and Cam'ron on this album which would have increased the effectiveness of the overall message. This is truly a very self-conscious album that strays away from what most hip-hop albums deliver, but it does not prove to be as impressive as his debut album.
"Late Registration" has received mixed reviews locally since Kanye West was heard on a Sacramento radio station speaking arrogantly and boasting about how famous he is. This is truly a very self-conscious album that strays away from what most hip-hop albums deliver, but it does not prove to be as impressive as his debut album.
The State Hornet 2005
LM, features writer
With shopping on rise this season, retailers guard against theft
The winter holiday season is a time when people are pressured to spend more than usual, and with an increase in consumer spending comes an increase in shoplifting and theft.
The National Retail Federation (NRF) reports that consumers plan to spend more than $738 billion nationwide on holiday gifts over the holiday season ?" a 5.1 percent increase from last year.
Locally, as it gets closer to the end of the year, theft has indeed become a problem. A big department store, like Sears, can spend millions of dollars a year on security, but it may lose as much as $2,500 a day to shoplifters during this time, according to the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department.Shopping malls and big department stores are usually a primary target for theft during the holidays because they are large in size, and people think that they can get away with crimes in spacious places.
Psychology major Jamar Sullivan has experienced theft himself as an employee at Casual Male Big and Tall, a retail store for men's clothing located near Arden Mall. "A lot of young people come in to get urban wear, and sometimes you don't know something's been stolen until you find the empty hangers lying around," Sullivan said.
Both Arden Fair Mall and Florin Mall have increased security in parking lots and stores. In addition, many stores have increased, if not doubled, its loss prevention teams.
Sears department store has always had a theft problem this time of year, said B.J. Gomez, a loss-prevention employee at the Florin Mall Sears location. "There's a lot to talk about when it comes to theft. It's like we lose so much merchandise and most times we never catch who steals from us," Gomez explained.
Increase in theft during the holiday season may have resulted from an increase in online shopping. Although identity theft is one of the fastest growing crimes, more and more people are choosing to order their holiday items through the Internet. A 2005 survey from BizRate Research showed that 43 percent of online retailers plan to offer special promotions and discounts, ranging from free shipping to gifts with purchase, intended to increase revenues online. It is expected that online shopping will be at an all-time high this year, according to the NRF.
A new survey of 1,005 consumers done by San Francisco-based Truste, a nonprofit privacy organization, shows that while 78 percent of U.S. Internet users plan on shopping online this year, more than 69 percent of those shoppers will limit their online spending because of concerns about data privacy, online fraud and identity theft.
Malls and Internet Web sites are not the only place where consumers and companies are at a loss this holiday season. Food restaurants and eateries are also susceptible to this problem.
During the holidays, people are uneasy and food complaints increase, said Deasia Jeffries, a manager at Carls's Jr located near Folsom and Coloma Blvd. "Customers know they can get over on us and complain about food all the time, and all we can do is replace their food because the customer is always right. Sometimes I think they just make stuff up to get free food," Jeffries said.Whether you are shopping online, in the store, or just grabbing a bite to eat, make sure you get what you pay for because the consequences for stealing are just not worth it.
The State Hornet 2005
LM, features writer
Professor turns print fixation into art
you've ever taken a class with Assistant Professor Nigel Poor of the department of design, then you probably know exactly what that question implies. Poor has been asking this question to students and others for more than three years, and the reason is quite simple: She wants your fingerprint. The finger prints are not used to turn you into the authorities, but to turn your unique and distinctive marking into a piece of elaborate artwork. She has collected close to 4,000 individual fingerprints as well as each person's first name, age, gender, and occupation.
"As the collection grows, the piece becomes more exciting because it has been built one person at a time," Poor said.
This multitude of fingerprints is put together into a form of interactive artwork that will be displayed at the Haines Gallery in San Francisco beginning April 6, 2006 to May 13. By that time, Poor hopes to have at least 6,000 fingerprints to complete the collection.
"I will continue collecting until I get enough prints to fill a room with them," Poor said.
Poor demonstrates that one piece of artistry can involve thousands of people, even though most think of an artist as someone who works alone. One fingerprint is a work of art. Each person holds a unique piece of artwork right on his or her fingertips and instead of using these exclusive prints to differentiate people, this Sac State instructor uses them to show unity on one accord.
If you think most people are apprehensive about giving their fingerprint to someone they barely know, then you are surprisingly mistaken.
Out of all the thousands of people she's asked, only about a 100 have said no and most of these people, as said by Poor, "would have said no to anything." One could be cautious about participating in Poor's ongoing pursuit of prints, but without a given last name or Social Security Number, nothing unlawful can be done with a single fingerprint.
Poor said that usually a fingerprint is what excludes you from others. At crime scenes, a fingerprint holds the power to eliminate a suspect from a crime. This project "uses this same process but creates a piece that is inclusive, that is about being apart of something larger," Poor said.Poor has invited all of her students to volunteer 30 seconds to press an index finger onto dark ink and then onto a blank square. She may even be seen around the River Front Center area with her ink pad and tablet or on a busy street corner. Determination seems to obviously be one of her best qualities.
Nearly all of Poor's students have given their print, including junior photography major Vanessa Hunt "Having my fingerprint taken was a wonderful experience," Hunt said. "It made me feel unique."
If Poor looks familiar, you may have either seen her on campus, or possibly on television because she was featured on a PBS special this year.
"I saw her on PBS. I didn't think she would be my adviser," said Desiree Exline, a junior photography major.
Poor's work is being recognized near and far. Her hope is that "when viewers walk into the room containing thousands of fingerprints . . .as he or she looks closer it will become apparent that they are surrounded by a great number of individuals, each working off another to form an assertion of being counted-."
If you would like to donate your fingerprint to Professor Nigel Poor's collection, just stop by her office in Mariposa Hall 5001.
The State Hornet 2005
LM, features writer
Same-sex couples receive praise for documentary film
October is National Queer History Month, and in recognition the Women's Resource Center has planned a special viewing of the documentary "Freedom To Marry: The Journey To Justice."
It will show today at noon in Library 1010.
The documentary, which is approximately an hour long, follows the lives of several same sex couples who seek legal acknowledgment of their marriage in San Francisco. It has attained rave reviews from critics across the country and has received the Audience Award at the 2004 Atlanta Gay and Lesbian Film Festival and Best Documentary Juror's Award at the 2005 Outflux Film Festival.
Showing this film on campus gives students an opportunity not only to possibly gain extra credit for some courses but also increases consciousness of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning, intersex, and ally issues. "It's a good idea [to show this film] because we should have the opportunity to be exposed to current issues. If you are not aware than you have no way to express your opinion about the issue," said Terrhonda Lewis, a criminal justice sophomore.
Pride Program Coordinator Bonnie Sugiyama feels strongly about showing this documentary as a way of demonstrating the real stories behind these marriages. "People take for granite their right to marry whom ever they want to," Sugiyama said. This documentary "shows the real emotion of being able to marry" and the couples profiled in the film show a deeper sense of commitment after receiving their marriage certificates.
Jessica R. Heskin, an advocate and educator for Violence and Sexual Assault Support Services in the Women's Resource Center, takes part in selecting the noon monthly movies and feels that this film is a great way to bring people into the center. Heskin also explained that this film is not just for gay community, but all allies and supporters of equal rights for all. "It's important for college students to understand that the issue of being able to marry or not to marry is a civil right, not a religious one," Heskin said.Additionally, the Women's Resource Center is also supporting The 2nd Annual International Dialogue on Violence Against Women, which will be held Friday and Saturday, in the Redwood Room of the University Union. For more information, please contact the Women's Resource Center at 916-278-7388.
The State Hornet 2005
LM, features writer
A Mother's Tale
Most people have a hard enough time staying focused in school during a regular school year. Senior Artnecia Ramirez knows exactly what this feels like, probably more than the average student. She is not only going to school full-time as a business administration major but she is also raising Makyla Preston, her 2-year-old daughter, on her own.
Ramirez, 22, has been in college non-stop since her freshman year. Because she gave birth to her daughter over the summer, she never took off any time from school .
"Education is important to me," Ramirez explained. "The odds were against me because everyone expected me to drop out." Dropping out of school is the last thing she wanted to do.
Ramirez is continuing her education even though it is hard for her to maintain 15 units per semester, work 25 hours per week and raise a child.The most frustrating part about being a single mother, Ramirez said, is not being able to give Makyla the attention she deserves.
"I can't play with her because I have to study."
When Ramirez gets home after work or school, she has to feed her daughter, bathe her and put her to bed. "And after that, I am tired!" Ramirez said.Raising a child alone as a full-time student seems very difficult and hard to manage with limited help. "I don't really ask for help that much," Ramirez said. She has friends that watch Makyla from time to time, and her mother, who lives in Fresno, keeps her over the summer. However, Ramirez has no family in Sacramento, which limits her resources for help.
One of the resources she does use is the service provided by the Associated Students Inc. Children's Center on campus. The Children's Center offers affordable and convenient child care for student, staff and faculty parents. This service is important because "having reliable child care is the determining factor to getting a degree," Children's Center Director Denise Wessels said.
A family with two parents is much easier to uphold because there is an extra person helping out.
"When they are the only person in that child's life, there is no other person to share the responsibility," said Wessels, a single parent whose children are now adults. "I have a full understanding of what it's like to raise children on my own."
One may wonder where the fathers are in these single-mother families. Ramirez said that Makyla's father is inconsistent in providing for his daughter. He lives in Oakland and rarely visits his daughter or financially supports her needs.
Thanksgiving is a time when families get together and a time to appreciate all the positive things in life. As for Ramirez, this Thanksgiving holiday she will be getting time off from school to "relax and catch up on studying. Ramirez feels bad because most of the time she cannot give Makyla all of her attention.
"I refuse to neglect her," Ramirez said. "She made me stop and realize why I am here. I became more focused because of her."
From her experiences of raising a child on her own, Ramirez, in the future, hopes to start a program for single mothers in college that offers grant and scholarship money, support for single parents and counseling for lonely mothers. Most people think that single parents get more financial aid money but, Ramirez said, that is simply not true.
"I got the same amount of financial aid money before and after I had my daughter," she said.
Ramirez wants to teach her daughter the importance of education. "If I get a master's, I want her to get a Ph.D."
She also wants Makyla to have inner confidence so that she will never have to rely on a man for anything.
"The only man I rely on is God," Ramirez says. Ramirez's advice for other single parents is to never give up.
"It can be done and what doesn't kill you only makes you a stronger person in the end."
The State Hornet
-LM, features writer
http://www.statehornet.com/a-mother-s-tale/article_90b234a1-1253-5cf8-9d19-0d5aa4e92ae7.html
Raiding Campus
To most students and faculty, Jeanette would seem to be the average woman. She comes to work here at Sacramento State five days a week, maintaining academic records and files for undergraduate students. What most do not know, however, is that three times a week, Jeanette, who preferred not to use her last name because of safety and Raiderette policy, commutes to the Bay Area for dance practice because for the last 10 years she has been dancing as an Oakland Raiderette.
Jeanette is a Sacramento native and graduate of San Juan High School who has been dancing since she was a little girl. She is currently pursuing her B.A. degree in criminal justice and is unmarried with no children. She decided to try out for the Raiderettes as an attempt to experience being around other skilled dancers like her. "I just wanted to see the parade," Jeanette said. Only standing 5-foot-1, Jeanette is a reasonably petite package, so seeing the taller dancers was a spectacle during auditions.
Entering into her 10th year as a Raiderette, Jeanette has paved a way for herself, earning veteran status on the team and representing them at the Pro Bowl while being honored with the 2003 Raiderette of the Year Award.This season the Raiderettes have 39 women on the team who come from all regions of the Bay Area. They perform during intermissions and pre-game shows, during timeouts and breaks, and at several public appearances. Jeanette said all 39 girls get along just fine. There are times when outside sources try to cause disagreements within the group but they are always unsuccessful in their attempts to turn the girls against each other. "It's almost like a sorority. The only difference is your family is already picked for you," Jeanette said. Also, each veteran dancer is assigned a "rookie," someone new to the team, to take under her wing. This way, the rookie dancers feel like they are a part of the "family."
Oakland Raiderettes are required to do 10 charitable events per season. Jeanette makes time to visit and talk with high school cheering squads, along with participating in raising money for breast cancer and cystic fibrosis. She makes many public appearances to meet and greet with Raiders fans and sign autographs and calendars with her fellow team members.
In her spare time, Jeanette works with the youth in a cheerleading and life skills camp for teens, which was founded in 2003. This camp is free and is held in cities such as Las Vegas and New York. Jeanette works as the director of the cheer camp sponsored by the youth Life Line Foundation where teens are taught about health, nutrition, computer literacy, financial planning, and goal setting.
The best thing about being an Oakland Raiderette is "dancing in front of a big crowd and pretending that they're all shouting for me-. It's a big ego booster," Jeanette explained. The worst thing about being a dancer, she said, is getting injured. It's difficult dancing when you are in pain. Jeanette has had knee surgery in the past, but continued to dance through anguish. "Dancing is a celebration of life," and her love for dancing shows throughout her dancing career, she said.
But commuting back and forth from Sacramento to the Bay Area is a commitment, Jeanette said, so this season will probably be her last season. She will always be an Oakland Raiders fan and plans on staying involved in many of the charities she has supported over the years and will continue to work in Sac State's admissions and records department.
-2005 The State Hornet
LW, features writer
http://www.statehornet.com/raiding-the-campus/article_608f8bbb-69a3-5594-baaf-c9f8f6082681.html
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