Jennifer Palilonis: Heart Illustration

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Mike Spillman: Personal ethics

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Adam Kuban: Reflection on the Fourth of July assignment

SUSI participants on the Fourth of July were tasked with a news report on Independence Day and this is a reflection of my experience. One of the worst things anyone can do with their work is to underestimate it. It was a mistake I unintentionally made and it had affected quality of work. Though I knew what I wanted my story to be on, I had to change it at the very last minute because of circumstances. This would not have been a problem if I had prepared a Plan B and had another angle with a different variety of questions. It is also important to gather more material than you think you need. That way, if anything goes wrong, there is always backup. Time management is something I learnt as well. We only arrived at Minnetrista around 8.30 pm and the sun was slowly setting. I made a mistake by choosing to gather audio before taking photos and this led to some grainy pictures.

I went and did the assignment without enough preparation but tried my best to use what I had. Interviewing strangers is still something that I have to be comfortable with and I realise that every assignment is a new assignment. Even though I have done some interviews before, I got nervous and found it challenging to approach potential interviewees. I managed to curb some of that fear by telling myself  "You gotta do what you gotta do." Overall, this was a humbling learning experience and the lessons learnt here will definitely be applicable to future assignments.

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Suzy Smith: Independence Day Soundslide

The pictures and audio were gathered at the Minnetrista Cultural Center on the Fourth of July 2013.

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Adam Kuban: "Independence Day: What does it mean to you?"

Muncie, IN - Residents gathered at the Minnetrista Cultural Center on the 4th of July to celebrate Independence Day with their family and friends.

"Getting really to be together with family and friends and see the fireworks," said local Ryan McCune on why the day is so special to him. This holds true for many others as Minnetrista was packed with people who were there with their families, ready to see the fireworks.

There was much excitement in the air and just behind the Culture Center, America's Hometown Band was performing. On the field were people on lawn chairs enjoying the patriotic tunes. The band was form back in 1985.

Ren Mei Xu, who is from China, was among those in the crowd listening to the performance and waiting for the fireworks. "I think it's the spirit," explains Xu on why she thinks the Fourth of July is special. "I like seeing the people come here to celebrate the independence of America."

Another local, Diana Bailey spent her evening enjoying the band. To her, the Fourth of July is special because it celebrates the country's independence. The evening ends on a high note with amazing fireworks and cheers were made after the show ended.

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Adam Kuban: What will you do to sufficiently prepare for your story at Minnetrista on July 4th?

So far I have prepared for the story at Minnetrista by reading up on the Fourth of July. I feel it is important to understand what the day is about and why it is such an important day. It is also to prevent myself from asking obvious questions that may have answers easily accessible from the internet.

I have also looked at older news reports on the event to have an idea of what goes on during the event. Since Independence Day is an annual event, there might be similar things that will happen. For example, the Hometown Band will be performing again and getting some information on that will make this assignment slightly easier.

I have prepared some questions to ask on the day itself so that I will know what to focus on. The focus will change if something more interesting happens on that day.

To ensure things go smoothly that day, I will double (maybe even triple) check my equipment to make sure they are fully-charged and ready to go! It's going to be a busy day tomorrow and having enough sleep is a must. Now I just need to pray and hope I won't get tongue-tied while asking questions. (I'm also crossing my fingers and hoping everything will go well.)

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Second Harvest

A group of SUSI participants volunteered at Second Harvest on the 27th of June 2013. They were one of the two groups that had to do community service as part of their programme.

President and CEO of Second Harvest, Tim Kean

The nine participants got to meet the President and CEO of Second Harvest, Tim Kean. After the brief introduction by Kean,  they had the chance to ask him a few questions about the organisation. The participants were given a tour after that and they were shown the different programmes that Second Harvest runs.

Operations Director, Joe Fox explaining the different programmes that the organisation runs.

The students then helped out by labelling cans and packing onions and oranges. There were other volunteers around but they were a small number. A volunteer said she usually comes during the summer because there were not enough volunteers during the summer. Since most of the volunteers were from Ball State University and most were away from the summer, they did not have enough volunteers.

Working in a group, they managed to accomplish a lot and were quite reluctant to leave. If you have some free time during the summer and if you would like to do some good, do give helping hand to Second Harvest. For more information on volunteering please call Joe Fox, Operations Director, at 765-287-8698 x106 or e-mail him at jfox@curehunger.org

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