The Beginning of a New Chapter

The Beginning of a New Chapter

By Melia Wright

As the time for graduation is nearing, applying and interviewing for jobs constantly weighs on the mind of graduating seniors. It should at this point in time for many, as for myself, I will have to put off a full-time career for a few more years of being a student.

I always viewed the ACT as the most important test I would take in my life, until now. Four years after taking the ACT I am now preparing for the GRE, something I had never even heard about in high school, in hopes to make the transition into graduate school.

Since I was a young girl I have always envisioned working in the world of sports. As I have learned more about the field and what I need to do in order to succeed in the world of sports, I have found that it is in my best interest to put off the “real world” for another two years and earn my master’s in Sports Management.

While earning my master’s I hope to gain experience by working in the Athletic Department of the university I attend. Once my master’s degree is completed and I have gained a few years experience, I hope to enter my dream job as the Director of Event Management in sports. It is a job in which I can use not only my master’s degree in Sports Management, but also my bachelor’s degree in Public Relations.

Because of my love for sports and goal of one day working in this field, I immediately began searching for internships in this field. As a public relations student, an internship is almost a must in order to get a job in this competitive field. I received an internship at the Oklahoma City All Sports Association and after a semester of working with them, my love for sports was reinforced and I knew the area of sports is where I had to be.

Earning my master’s is the next step I need to take in order to reach my goal and the University of San Francisco is where I hope to take this next step. It not only has one of the top sports management programs in the nation but the time and effort you put into earning your master’s at USF pays off well and almost guarantee’s each of its graduates a job in the field of sports.

I have found throughout my four years in college that many people do not enjoy, appreciate, or even use the degree they earned in college. I am not one of those people, for I am very excited to use not only my bachelor’s degree but also my master’s. I thoroughly enjoy the world of public relations and all that it entails and I look forward to using my public relations skills specifically in the world of sports. It would be a dream of mine to earn my master’s and enter the “real world” in an area that I love so much.

TUNE IN FOR THE LATEST

TUNE IN FOR THE LATEST
BY: MELIA WRIGHT

A few weeks ago in my final Public Relations class, Public Relations Campaigns, my team of five, PR4OU, was assigned to research and present a successful campaign for the University of Oklahoma student-produced news station, OU Nightly (http://tv4ou.ou.edu/newsfull.html). OU Nightly is televised on TV4OU (http://tv4ou.ou.edu/), the OU television station, twice a day, Monday through Friday. Our goal for this campaign is to raise awareness about the show and to increase viewership.

OU Nightly is an award-winning broadcast yet many people, including students of the university, are not aware of this. Despite the many awards the show holds, OU Nightly lacks not only viewership but credibility as well. Due to the fact that OU Nightly is student-produced, we currently feel as a group that many viewers will not choose OU Nightly as their news source. OU Nightly competes with large Oklahoma news stations such as KOCO, KFOR, and KWTV. It is our mission to change the public’s perception of a student-produced news station and raise the number of viewers.

From researching other successful student-produced news stations, PR4OU found that in order to be successful, OU Nightly must be set apart from all other news casts. We found something special about OU Nightly and what makes OU Nightly different from other news casts is that they found their niche in their daily “Franchise Pieces.” In order to be favored, OU Nightly must be unique and bring its own characteristics to the competitive world of news casts. OU Nightly found its uniqueness in these pieces and is a great opportunity for the show.

PR4OU spoke with Professor Dana Rosengard about what he hopes for us to accomplish during this campaign. From speaking with him we found he has high hopes for the show and hopes to air statewide soon. The Dean of the College of Journalism is working with Cox Cable on this project and Rosengard is confident that by December 2007, OU Nightly will be available statewide.

How Does This Happen?

Michael Hoffman of the Military Times as well as the Associated Press reported that six nuclear-armed Advanced Cruise Missiles were mistakenly flown on a B-52H bomber from Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota to Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana on August 30.
How does a United States Air Force pilot trained in nuclear warfare take off armed with six nuclear warheads? It is unclear as to why the warheads had not been removed but I find it hard to believe that the pilot did not notice a weight difference when flying the plane. The warheads alone weigh 150 kilotons each and I would think the weight alone should have told everyone this plane was much heavier than the other planes.
More importantly, of course, is the issue of the safety of the United States and harm that could have come from such an inexcusable mistake.
Hans M. Kristensen, in his own blog, makes note of several ways in which the Department of Defense and Department of Energy manage the thousands of nuclear weapons in the U.S. Nuclear Stockpile.
Missiles are designed to only detonate if purposely detonated and are hopefully encased appropriately. Regardless, if this plane had crashed, I am weary of the fact that the missiles would not detonate and it is not something that should never be put to the test, even by mistake. Mistakes often happen and fortunately nothing came of it but it is the responsibility of commanders and officials to make sure mistakes like this never happen again.
I felt that Pentagon officials handled the situation rapidly and appropriately with the firing of the munitions squadron commander as well as the temporary decertification of crews involved with the mistaken load.
Officials cannot prevent every mistake from happening and protect the United States completely, but when mistakes such as these happen they can act accordingly for the interest of our country.