Go Big or Go Home

If you can't stand the heat; get out of the salon.

Magazine Cover project for Design for Journalism at Temple University.
Thanks to Lacy Bingaman the model and google.com for the hairspray top which I photoshopped. This is not a real magazine and it is not for sale. These are all my original ideas including, content, design, etc. Also, there is no hairspraymagazine.com. This is for project purposes only.

Sassiness. Attitude. If you can't feel the heat reflecting from the cover, make the image bigger by clicking. :)

This magazine is intended to be read by the cosmetologist both new and old and also anyone interested in hair/beauty/business. Enjoy

Brogan Honey King: A Different Outlook

Usually, a Venetian glass necklace is hanging from her neck, but today this piece of jewelry is missing.
Sitting comfortable on the oversize lounge chair in the Tech Center at Temple University she picks a loose string of the fabric. Along with her tie-dye shirt, unbuttoned oversized maroon cardigan, and blue jeans, her light brown hair is tied back in a loose pony-tail.
Last Thursday night, on March 19, while walking down Washington Avenue near 13th street in Philadelphia, Brogan Honey King was robbed. She was put it a headlock and thrown on the ground before two men covered her face with her own scarf and ripped her purse off her arm.
King was stripped of personal belongings both replaceable and irreplaceable and the two men were never found. Yet, only a few days after the incident there is no evidence of anger or frustration as she tells the story of what happened. Instead, there is only a sense understanding and sympathy for the criminals.
As a college student she believes most student victims of crime are targeted. She says residents of the urban ghetto thrive off of naïve college students because, “they don’t have any money, don’t have a job, and there is no other way”. She believes the items stolen, which she assumes will be sold for money, will help them in their financial struggles and she feels that they deserve a break. This outlook isn’t of a typical college student who falls victim to crime.
This open-mindedness has allowed King to adjust from life in the small town of Milford, Delaware, and be successful by jumping on every new and exciting opportunity that has come her way in the city of Philadelphia while helping others along the way.
As an out-of-state student, she pays for most of the expenses on her own, she said. In addition to the costly tuition, she has to pay rent each month at her house on the corner of Spring Garden and Mt. Vernon. Because of high living and college expenses she must juggle two part time jobs.
King is a server, but she is not the average server. King works on the Spirit of Philadelphia, a ship that cruises over the Delaware River. Wearing a Polo t-shirt and a Hawaiian lay, she serves her customers alcohol with a smile while trying to keep her balance and not spill the colorful drinks on the swaying ship. The typical serving atmosphere is not present on the Spirit of Philadelphia.
King mentioned there isn’t a turnover like at traditional restaurants, “once you get on the boat those are your guest for three hours,” she said. Therefore, she had to learn to deal with every customer and get comfortable around many different types of people.
Kings uses these skills in her everyday life.
One late night after her shift on the Spirit of Philadelphia, she was on her way home when she saw a man lying on the side of the road near the river. She was concerned about his well-being and asked him if he needed help. He appeared to be drunk and when he stood up she noticed there was blood coming from slits on his wrists. She didn’t panic or run away from the situation, she simply called the police and did not leave his side until they arrived.
She puts herself in danger for the well-being of others. When asked if she was frightened, she replied, “I was scared but more scared for him.”
King also does promotions for Philly weekly. She worked with Philly Weekly at the Beer Fest from March 6 to March 15. During this time she did promotions for the newspapers by giving away free merchandise such as beer openers and movie tickets. Her job is to promote the paper by getting to know people, something King loves to do.
Brogan Honey King, 20 is a small town girl who loves the big city. She lived in South Jersey for 5 years until she moved to Delaware with her family. Her father is a Mercedes Benz mechanic and her mother is a school teacher. She is the middle child and very close to her family.
She was raised on art and music and is in love with concerts and the Grateful Dead. During her years in high school she volunteered at summer camps as a craft shop director. She also made her prom dress out of duck tape.
She began Temple as an advertising major but switched to Communications. She wants to have a career involving art.
She loves being around people. She spends a lot of her time with her boyfriend Collin O’Brien or hanging out with her lady friends. She loves living close to the Philadelphia Art Museum and can be seen riding her bike back and forth to and from classes.
King is an open-minded, warm-hearted individual. She is a diamond in the rough. Her boyfriend exclaimed, “She is not like other girls, she is actually nice, and my parents love her”. He is thankful for having her in his life and added, “She’s so sweet, she buys me cookies.” His favorite thing about King is the “southern twang” in her voice.
Nothing can be taken away from Brogan Honey King that will change her positive outlook on life. Even the Venetian glass necklace that meant so much to her did not dwindle her spirits when it was taken out of her possession. With a smile on her face she is always waiting to wave and say hello. Her boyfriend says, “She’s just real, you know.” He believes one cannot find another female like Brogan Honey King.

Class project for Writing for Journalism Freshman Year

BarCamp NewsInnovation: How to Reenergize the News Industry

BarCamp NewsInnovation: How to Reenergize the News Industry

Over 100 journalists and news loving people from all over the east coast gathered together for the BarCamp NewsInnovation in Philadelphia, an event to brainstorm how to reenergize the new industry and discuss ideas for preparing for what is to come in the future of journalism, on Saturday, April 25, at Temple University.

The non-conference was the last of the series of national brainstorming events in the region. Upon arrival there was no planned schedule so participants were depended on to fill the designated slots with either discussion topics or a planned demonstration of his or her ideas both in regards to the future of the ever changing news industry. The event was planned by Sean Blanda, Jared Silfies, and Brian James Kirk of Temple University.

Participants were greeted at 10 a.m. with Dunkin Donuts, teased with a limited amount of pizza for lunch, and at 6 p.m. left with a grab bag of junkets promoting Philadelphia.

The topics discussed ranged from subjects as complex as the business model failure to issues as broad as the branding of a journalist.

Just a few journalists who led discussions included: Wendy Warren, editor of Philly.com, Steven King, editor of innovations at the Washington Post, Patrick Thorton, founder of Beatblogger, and Scott Karp, CEO of publish2.

Throughout classrooms scattered from the basement to the third floor in Anneberg Hall, the sound of tapping computers keys was non-stop as journalists blogged the event live or tweeted characters to their maximum limit on Twitter. The entire day participants had their laptop, I-Phone, or traditional pen and notebook in hand and the future of journalism on their minds.

Howard Weaver, 59, a longtime newspaper editor, is concerned with the 24-hour news cycle the internet has brought to journalism. He said, this change in relationship between the journalist and the audience is the biggest change and “we’re behind catching up.”

Due to the conglomeration of media outlets, globalization, and new technology, the news model of traditional mainstream media is failing. Advertisers are no longer relying on newspapers and television for advertisements because not enough people are watching or reading from a single news outlet. Therefore, due to the lack of funds from advertising, which journalism relies on, the field is desperate for a new business model.

“When the newspaper was delivered it had an agenda” Karp said, “now content is floating.” He asserts that because of the power of the internet now “all we have is our content.”

The internet has allowed Americans to get the news they want easily, quickly, and whenever they desire. The internet has led to an information overload and the new crazes such as blogging and twitter created a journalistic phenomenon. This new technologically savvy mindset was prevalent at the BarCamp.

The internet has had both positive and negative effects to industry.

Amy Quinn, freelancer and adjunct at Rowan University in New Jersey, said thanks to the internet she built her personal brand as a blogger and a freelancer. She believes “people don’t want to be talked at anymore.” She believes the audience wants to interact and become personal with the journalist so as an individual, with the help of blogs and twitter, one can achieve this.

Seth Goldstein, Web designer, said that institutions tend to be unethical and one does not have to have classical training today to be a credible journalist.

Goldstein says with social media, with which he is obsessed, “more and more people can get inside,” and today people are fascinated with bloggers. Goldstein said he has more than five Twitter accounts and believes Twitter will incorporate ads into their feeds successfully because “corporate America loves Twitter.”

Eric Richmond, journalist, disagrees and said news on the internet is like grabbing a handful of sand and because of the internet “media companies can’t sustain.”

The idea of information overload was accurately presented at this event and demonstrates a good example of what the field of Journalism is evolving into.

The internet may help the distribution of information making it fast and easy but it is detrimental to professional journalists and prospective students when considering a traditional job in the field.

Bobbi Lee Hitchson is among the many Journalism students and current professionals who are questioning their chosen career path, nervous about where the news industry is going, and fearful of not being able to find a job.

With evident frustration and hopelessness in her posture, Hitchson slumped over her desk in the Annenberg Hall classroom. “Nostalgic,” is the word Hitchson used to describe what she thought of her four years of Journalism education at Rowan University. Hitchson explained she feels Journalism school was a waste of money because it seems today anyone can acquire the skills needed and the industry is failing.

Because the economy is in a downturn even current professionals have a negative attitude toward the future of journalists because companies are laying off current employees instead of hiring new ones. So far newspapers alone have laid off thousands of journalists and many newspapers have went out of business.

Michael Klein, columnist at the Philadelphia Inquirer said with irony in his voice, “we’re in bankruptcy.”

At this time in the history of journalism it seems in order to get the business thriving again the field needs reenergizing. According to participants at the BarCamp News Innovation, it seems because the industry is fighting to recover from the modern dilemma caused by the internet it also needs reorganizing.

Many innovated ideas were voiced at the event but no definite answers were provided.
As Jackie Hai, student from University of Massachusetts headed to the publish2 event, she said in regards to the future of journalism, “Sit back and watch the fireworks.”

This event was sponsored by the School of Communications and Theater at Temple University, ReportingOn, SEJ, Technically Philly, publish2, and The City University of New York School of Journalism.

For more information go to www.bcniphilly.com or use the code name #BCNIPhilly on Twitter, which was ranked 3rd that day for the most read tweeps.


By: Stephanie Lauren. Final Project for Writing for Journalism, event story.
Pictured in respective order, Steven King, Amy Quinn, Member of CoPress.org

The Topic of Gay Marriage Launches a Question of Pennsylvania’s Future

Picture found at dorsetforyou.com
After Vermont legalized gay marriage on April 8 following Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Iowa, the hot topic of the future of gay marriage and the question of whether gay marriage will prevail or strict traditional marriage laws will withstand is on the minds of many.
Many strong opinions exist on the issue of gay marriage. Of the 12 people interviewed, 10 support marriages between individuals of the same sex, while one opposes and another is unsure.
As Melanie Hullings, 22, a Chemical Engineering major at the University of Pennsylvania sat on a high barstool at the Mainline Center for Bartending in Manayunk eating a vegetarian salad, she expressed her support for gay marriage, “Marriage is a legal relationship between two people, it should be allowed for anyone who wants to be married.” Hullings is a firm believer that the government should not interfere with personal relationships.
But others disagree.
Corey Ringcamp, 21, of Southwest Philadelphia who is in between jobs disagreed and said bluntly, “I find gay marriage foul. It is disgusting. It shouldn’t be allowed. That’s just not how it’s written.”
Supporters like Hullings, find his blunt words harsh.
Cynquetta Barnett 18, an Accounting major at Temple University is torn between sides. As she sat on her bed in her college dorm, she explained, “I’m kind of in between, I don’t want it to be legal but don’t feel as though it should be illegal. That’s weird I know… I don’t feel as if it’s right and natural but I don’t think I have the right to decide who someone could love and who they can’t.”
Whether for, against, or in-between, the intense debate continues on whether gay marriage is a matter of civil rights, or a legal marriage between those of the same sex is a route to traditional family obstruction. The important question is if Pennsylvania will soon follow Vermont and if Philadelphians are ready for the social modification.
Barnett tried to explain her objections to gay marriage: “Because that’s not what’s socially popular,” she said, “for a man to be with a woman is socially accepted, but a man with a man or a woman with a woman, not so much.”
Pennsylvania passed its own version of the Defense of Marriage Act in 1996. This piece of legislation grants the state the right to ban gay marriage and not recognize gay marriage licenses granted in other states. According to domawatch.org over 30 other states have similar legislation.
Many supporters of gay marriage argue the law goes against civil rights and is discriminating against certain groups of people.
A law student at Temple University, Chris Wickman, 23 of North Philadelphia, supports gay marriage and takes a break from studying to voice his opinions on the law, which he believes is “meant to police morality.” He thinks the government should not be able to interfere in this way. He argued, “Marriage of who we want is a legal right and to not do so is establishing a class system; banning marriage of certain groups of individuals and not others.”
Kelsey Urban, 18, a student at Philadelphia University eagerly agreed with Wickman, “I think gay marriage is perfectly fine. Banning it goes completely against individual rights. My mom is gay. I don’t think there is a difference in feelings that gays and straight people have. Everyone should be treated equally.”
A popular argument against gay marriage is that many find it contradicting to their religious beliefs, their views on traditional families, and do not want it to be taught in schools.
Barnett, sitting on her bed with a cross hanging on her wall, spoke about her strong religious commitment and how gay marriage contradicts her beliefs, “In my religion marriage is between man and women with the two main goals of serving god and procreating.” She added, “I would much rather have my child have a question and ask me. I wouldn’t want a whole lesson plan on it at school.”
While every person interviewed expressed their moral opinions on gay marriage freely no one thinks gay marriage in Pennsylvania will remain illegal.
Ringcamp said reluctantly, “In the next ten years gay marriage will be legal in all states.” He is not looking forward to the outcome.
Supporters for gay marriage pointed out that many who are opposed to gay marriage are “scared or homophobic” as Chris Augustine, 33, Senior Building Administrator said, or “because they are ignorant”, Melissa McGary, 34, a bartending Instructor in Philadelphia explained.
Yet, Ringcamp, who is opposed to gay marriage, argues he is not ignorant or homophobic and said, “My uncle, he’s gay, he thinks it should be legal.” He maintains his opposition to gay marriage despite a member of his family being directly affected by the ban. However, he is not insensitive to his family member’s decision, he says, “At the end of the day, do what your heart tells you to do.”
Out of the 12 people interviewed half have friends or family who are directly affected by the ban.
As Hullings finished up her salad she exclaimed proudly, “Hey! My friends are gay!”
In all, it seems Philadelphia comes to an agreement that Pennsylvania will follow the four other states in legalizing gay marriage whether they are ready for the change or not.
As McGrary turned her attention back to the computer screen to complete her lesson plans she said, “Live and let live.”

Class project for Writing for Journalism class. Freshman Year. By: Stephanie Lauren

Veteran Mice, Can We Win the War?

"I scream. I jump. I get chills," Ashley Carmicheal 19, Elementary Education Major at Temple University describes how she feels about mice in her room at the Temple Towers, "They're disrupting my privacy and disrespting me."

Carmichael, along with her three roommates who live on the second floor of the Temple Towers, have seen 5 mice in their dorm room since January, caught two from traps provided by Temple maintence, and clean up mouse droppings on a regular basis.

Temple students have tried everything to get rid of the mice in their dorm rooms including sneaking in a cat and bobcat urine. Yet, the mice keep coming and nothing seems to work. The mice in the Temple Towers are veterans and it seems mouse traps are not going to stop them from feeding off of college students and pooping on their counters.

Temple Maintenance has not returned a phone call in regards to the mouse problem.

Are mouse traps actually getting to the root of problem or are they just bad kitchen decorations?

Ignorance In Philadelphia

It seemed like more shopping carts were floating around the parking lot of the Wal-mart located on Roosevelt BLVD than customers on Saturday, March 21. I was concerned about the wind blowing and hitting my precious 1998 Chevy Cavalier. If anything hurt my baby that day I expected it to be a stray buggy passerby but I was encountered with another enemy.

An explorer parked beside my vehicle after I was out of my car. Inside was four females. The female in the back seat of the driver side appeared to have hit my car with her swinging car door. It is unknown whether she hit it or not.

She had an attitude and asked me if I was leaving so she could get out of her car. On the phone and distracted, I quickly answered no, "just moving this buggy", and went on with my business and phone conversation.

As I walked into Wal-mart I had a bad feeling.

When done with my shopping, the explorer was gone but someone had left their mark.

My car had been keyed, and scratched all over the back seat passenger side with an unknown object.

My red 1998 Chevy Cavalier had been assaulted.

Whether or not the females in the car were responsible, is unknown. There is no proof, no evidence, nor did i file a police report.

However, it is known that I was victim to ignorance in Philadelphia.

Should Wal-Mart be responsible for the chaotic parking lot mess and vandalism that occurs on their premises?
**Above image found in Google Image search on cache.daylife.com..

*Picture is not of Wal-mart of Roosevelt BLVD in Philadelphia.

A Regretful Indulgence

Image found on Red Lobsters website
A Descriptive Essay
For the past year I have been surviving in a dry desert of food. My tongue has been sanded by rice cakes that taste like old, dusty pieces of cardboard. My gums were damaged by the countless amounts of raw carrots I ate every morning. My stomach constantly felt like a blimp filled with gas because I ate handfuls of dry roasted peanuts to numb my hunger. When I did eat, what normal people call normal meals, I grinded dry Honey Bunches of Oats cereal in my mouth until my jaw hurt. Food is my enemy. Many times just thinking about food makes me physically ill. Watching people fill their plates with high mountains of food, dumping salt on the top, because it tastes better when the food is overloaded with sodium, and shoveling it in their mouth like a father shovels snow after a snow storm disgusts me. I first saw many foods as extremely unhealthy so I omitted them. After I saw the difference in my body, I began to omit more things until my dry desert of food no longer was a health trend. My choice of food and losing weight turned into an obsession not because I thought I was fat and wanted to lose weight, but because I wanted complete control. I lived strictly in a dry desert until I reintroduced myself to a moist dessert.

The dessert hugged me before the waitress even placed the warm plate on the table cloth in front of me. I was salivating uncontrollably like a large animal with bad table manners. The picture of the dessert looked so tempting to eat that I was surprised there wasn’t already a bite out of it. The familiar smell of chocolate was so strong it reminded me of Vicks Vapor Rub right underneath my nose. The advertisement compared the desert to a volcano with chocolate lava. I’m not a fan of natural disasters, but I was ready for Mother Nature to take its toll.

I felt like I was waiting a decade but finally I saw the waitress carrying an exact replica of the advertisement on her round tray. She slowly lowered the plate onto the place mat in front of me. All the clattering, banging, and chattering noises of the restaurant disappeared as though someone had a big controller and pressed the mute button. My spoon growled with desire. Without even thinking about the amount of calories laying on this dish I clenched the cold spoon and dove the utensil into the freshly baked chocolate chip cookie not missing the chilled, vanilla ice cream resting perfectly on the top. I shoved the spoonful in my mouth. The hot and cold temperatures were a perfect combination. The cookie melted on my tongue as the ice cream chilled my mouth afterwards. The scar I created with my spoon was oozing with chocolate. I dove into my second bite with no time to breathe in between.

I forgot all the values I established in the past year. I forgot just how unhealthy this treat was. I forgot my attitude toward food that it isn’t for pleasure, it is for energy. I forgot to worry about the 100 calories I was consuming with each bite and the lack of nutritional value it had. The only thing I thought of was how delicious each bite tasted. How the dripping chocolate soothed me. How good the hot cookie felt pressed into my teeth. The dessert controlled me. I didn’t think of discontinuing my spoon diving. I didn’t think of sharing it with my mother. I didn’t think of how fast I was consuming it. I didn’t think of anything else but how good it was and how beautiful it tasted.

I scraped every last drop of chocolate off the dessert plate. I scooped every last possible bite of ice cream up with my exhausted spoon. If I wasn’t in a public place I would have picked the plate up and licked every crevice and groove until it sparkled clean. When I was done, I sat my spoon down onto the table and pushed my empty plate away from me. My placemat was now bare and I could no longer smell chocolate. I could no longer feel the hot temperature radiating off the plate. I consumed the dessert in under a minute. My stomach hurt. My stomach turned. I consumed 1000 calories in less than 60 seconds. I felt sick from the massive dessert but I felt even worse because of what I just did. I felt like I should be sentenced to a life term in a cold dark prison cell.

I felt like what I just did was wrong. I felt guilty. I felt horrible. I felt like the dessert was in my body transforming all its sugar and strategically storing the fats around my stomach into the shape of a tire. My jeans began to feel tighter like I could no longer breathe if I didn’t unbutton them. I felt like my belly was bulging out over my jeans like a muffin. I felt my chin start to duplicate. I felt dehydrated like an overweight woman who just walked up a flight of stairs. I sat in the restaurant waiting for my mother to make the first move to get up out of the booth. I was scared I was stuck and wouldn’t be able to get out. I began squeezing my butt cheeks together in hopes to burn some calories.

The regretful indulgence of satisfaction hangs over me. I have visualized the warm, moist, cookie underneath the perfectly shaped vanilla ice cream scoop for the past 3 weeks now. It hangs over me like a weight that cannot be lifted by the strongest man alive. The seductive desert was a disguise. It was a thief and robbed me. I allowed myself to become an easy target. Like a traveler looking at his map in New York City. I thought that the dessert would give my desert a little bit of the rain it needed. However, it drained me of all the energy I had and condensed me into a dry powder. Now, I feel like a weak woman who no longer has control of her diet and no hope to ever be in control of her life.
By: Stephanie Lauren


For more information on Eating Disorders go to: The National Eating Disorders Association Website