April 2009 Archives

First of all, I have to introduce myself. I am a Chinese undergraduate student who studies in Seton Hill University (SHU). Recently, I had been trick by a machinist, and I am going to receive a citation from Greensburg Police for something I did not do. However, the craziest thing is that even if I did not get my car fixed, I am still charged around $150. Alright, let's start the journey to figure out what was happening during last month:

It has been a while. When I brought my car few weeks ago, I tried to find a place to do the inspection. People from other states may be confused about inspection. It is a service that any driver has to do to get a stick so that he or she can drive legally in Pennsylvania.

The place I went to is the closest Auto Service from my campus. It is right down the hill, probably not even 1 mile away from SHU's parking lot. The owner of this auto service, Moore Tire Service, is an old man. He is bald, short, and wears a pair of silver glasses. Some white hairs grow around his bald head making him look smart and skillful. I talked to this guy, knowing his name is Dennis. Dennis gave me the price of inspection is $30 for the inspection and $35 for the admission. It is a very acceptable price, so I was happy to do the inspection in his store, Moore Tire Service.

I left my car in his place, and then I received his phone call the next day. He told me that I need to change the tires in order to pass the inspection. He is going to charge me $95 for each tire, and he also found some other issues. When I went down the hill, he told me that he thinks my wheel bearing is problematic, but he did not even remove the wheels of my car. He also claimed, he found the check engine light is on, so I can't pass the inspection before he figures out what is wrong in the car.

However, SHU has an Easter Break on the week. The school will not allow me to stay in campus unless I pay $60 everyday. Rather than stay and pay a pretty expensive price, I went on a trip. On the trip, I noticed that the tires of my car were not working well, so I stopped by on an auto service in New York. They replaced my tires by $360 at total. Then when I went back, I told Dennis what happened, and he is OK with that.

However when I went to Moore Tire Service yesterday, Dennis claimed my car had problem with Air Pump and Wheel Bearing, so he needs almost $700 to fix it. Since I could not afford so much, I told him I don't want to fix them. However, he claimed that he had already figured out the problems of my car, so I have to pay for his work and time loss. He asked for $250. It is very unreasonable, so I argue that I should only pay the $30 inspection and maybe another $30 for his time loss. Dennis did not accept my offer and kept saying that he has to get what he desires. His wife said, "This is a business place, you gotta pay what you gotta pay." But is it really what I gotta pay? It seems that the argument is not going to solve anyway, and I did not have $250 with me. I asked them if I can pay a part of the price and come back later to pay the rest. I was thinking maybe I can find some local friends to argue with them later. Dennis and his wife still refused my proposal. In this case, I really can't argue with them any further. I went out and started my car and tried to leave. Dennis ran out and tried to open the door in my car. I was threatened, so I reversed and hit the gas. My car was reversing quickly and hit a wall, and then I move forward and left.

When I am still worrying about the damage on my car, a police car came and pulled me over (they reacted really quickly). Apparently, Dennis called the police. The police officer who pulled me over was really nice. He wore a pair of sun glasses, really young, and shining nob. I explained the whole story to him, and review the scratches on my car. They were not too bad, so I was feeling better at that moment. Then the police officer asked me if I can go back to the store and work things out as a group. I said yes and went back shortly.

However, the shinning nob officer did not come with me. I was waiting in my car for his showing up until another officer knock my windows. I was asked out by the police officer who has crew-cut, slightly separated front teeth, and tall around 6 feet. His name is also Dennis. So this Officer Dennis did not allow me to explain anything but asked me go inside the store. The owner Dennis lied to the policeman that I hit one of his cars, and ran away. I was trying to argue but Officer Dennis did not let me. He said, "You are the bad guy here." Then the owner Dennis claimed I have to pay him $150 for check in my car (instead of what he previously claimed as $250), and however money it needs to be paid for fixing "the car I hit". The Officer Dennis said I will receive a citation because I hit a car and left. I told him that I did not hit the car but the wall, and he said, "Then you will receive a citation that you hit a wall and ran away anyway, if you want." It seems that they already had the conclusion of everything, and I the one who needs to pay the bill. I did not have enough money with me on Thursday, so I only paid $50. Officer Dennis let me leave, but they are still going to accuse me by opening a small claim court if I do not pay the rest of the bill by Monday!

It has really upset me because I did not leave right away when Dennis claimed I need to pay him $250. He did not give me a price when I came in (well, the price he did give me is $30), and I tried to argue with him that $250 is a crazy price. Plus, I could not afford $250 anyway. Dennis kept his big price and jumped out to stop me from leaving, which caused my car hitting the wall. He should be the one who is responsible for the scars on my car (even though they are small). Moreover, he made up story and provided dishonest price.

I don't know who/what department I should complain this to. I could not afford a lawyer myself. So I can only write this letter to Chinese Embassy and Greensburg Administration Office. I went to see Officer Dennis today. After I claimed what happened, he became nicer and told me that when I receive the ticket, I can claim I am not guilty and go to court house. I need to sit down with Officer Dennis and the owner Dennis, and argue with the really situation. I will still receive the criminal case if I do not pay for the unreasonable price. Now I am looking at a society that so unfamiliar to me - a society that looks fancy on TV or Movie, and sounds awesome when people mention the liberty and justice. This is the story of how a Chinese young man came to America to look for his justice but involve with something totally opposite.

While the sunshine is turning stronger and the temperature is becoming higher, summer is arriving to Seton Hill University (SHU). Issue 10 was published during April, and Aero Windwalker did his contribution in this issue.

Windwalker has been busy to help Jeremy Barrick, the Editor of Setonian Online to publish photos as well as retouch style sheet for the Setonian Online Edition. He photo edited the following article for Setonian Online:

Men's tennis swings back into action
Men's lacrosse competes and strives for the best
Slumdog deserves both millions and awards
First student accepted into LECOM looks forward to liberal arts core

The jobs Windwalker has done were highly recommended by Barrick, "Aero has learned, through numerous emails, to upload color pictures to the Setonian Online. I think that Aero is a really good photographer, and he should be able to stay with this position throughout the next few years."

In this semester's Setonian, Dennis Jerz, the Advisor of Setonian and EL200, has introduced a new concept about Journalism today. Many journalistic businesses have confronted the economic crisis. Because many companies are firing people, new journalism graduate students have to compete with who are holding a PhD or Master degree or who have 10 years journalistic experience. Even the beginning jobs are getting harder to find every day. Ross Liemer, previous Chief Editor of The Daily Princetonian, comments, "Many of my friends could not find a job even if they have a BA degree from school like Columbia. One of my friends, for example, graduated from Columbia. Now she works for The New York Times. She has been there for three months, but the only thing she did is to review the online article - make sure they look OK on different screen. I have been looking for a job for a while too, but it seems that the only option I have is to go to China and work in Beijing."

Since the Internet News websites "attacked" traditional media, many newspapers or magazines lost their income from advertising used cars or housing information. When people get news or post commercial on Internet by a much lower price, the traditional media is losing their priority in people's life. Dr. Jerz tore out a copy of Setionian print in the Media Lab (EL200) class, and help many wise members in the class started focusing on the digital print out more than ever before. Windwalker states, "Jeremy, Aja and the two Jessis in EL200 are those people who have good anticipations to our Setonian Online. They actually spent time on gathering idea and making affords to make a change. It's definitely going to have magnificent achievements when they walking out SHU in the future."

Windwalker also have great enthusiasm towards Setonian Online. Aja Hannah, a freshman in EL200, comments," Aero seems very interested in the online work. He has made a lot of subtle improvements to the Setonian Online and he has a very keen eye for photography." On the other hand, Chelsea Oliver, the copy editor of Setonian, judges, "Personally, I do not know who has done what with the Online Setonian but overall I think that the addition of color and more pictures has been an improvement. But just as a side-note, the pictures are too large and take away from the actual stories without telling a story by themselves." Besides online photo editing, Windwalker also dedicates in print out photo editing. He spent hours to select and resize photos and put them into the lay-out on March 31 for the last issue. When speak up to the contribution to the traditional print out of Setonian, Oliver says, "Aero was able to come to the office a lot more this semester than last which was nice; however, his time could have been better put to use if he was able to be down there while someone was able to be with him to train him on Quark and Gimp properly."

Today, the increasing number of journalism students is coming to Seton Hill University (SHU). 2009's fall, the upcoming news media student in SHU, or any other colleges in the U.S. will face an awkward stage.

Despite the recent demise of a handful of newspapers around the country, applications to Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism have risen by about 40 percent since last year.-- David Moltz, Inside Higher Ed

Students, especially those are about to graduate, will find that they can hardly find an idea job like what they thought when they were preparing to dedicate for journalism in freshman year. On the other hand, the high-speed-changing journalism field is requiring more professional and specialized skill from those people who already have a job in their current journalistic position. Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism had made its move for this challenge for these journalists:

Only four years ago, the school made one such shift, introducing a one-year Master of Arts program meant for seasoned journalists to hone their knowledge in a specialized area of coverage.-- David Moltz, Inside Higher Ed

Nonetheless, journalism today is not simply the combination of reporting and writing. The myriad enterprises jumped into journalistic business. The challenge of financial survival is stifling many companies, including those green hands and those old brand media. Many business students are needed for this explosive business competition in journalism field the predicable future. In Colombia's would-be journalists in its 10-month Master of Science degree program:

Among other required courses, these students currently take a law course and a course combining journalism history and ethics.-- David Moltz, Inside Higher Ed

The reaction seems to be mandatory, and the results are efficacious:

Lemann reported that the school has hosted more prospective employers this year than last. With news outlets opening and closing daily and technology always on the move, he said journalism schools still have their place and offer their graduates an advantage in the job market.-- David Moltz, Inside Higher Ed

SHU has not started a similar program to solve the current journalistic crisis yet. The reason Grueskin explained:

"Most journalism schools have a historical aversion to teaching the business of journalism," Grueskin said. "It, however, is incumbent upon us to show our students the [changing business] model. We're not blurring the lines between business and editorial. The truth is, business considerations have always enabled or disabled journalism -- more the latter than the former as of late. We're not trying to graduate people to work in ad departments but those who can talk to those in the ad department."-- David Moltz, Inside Higher Ed

How does SHU face the problem in real journalism for the future? Can SHU put down the historical aversion to teach the business for those journalism students? Would journalism students accept the fact they have to deal with?

"None of us knows what the economy is going to look like or what journalism will look like in the future," said Lemman, noting that he believes the school has always tried to keep pace with the changes. "Not that long ago most employers were just looking for a good old fashioned general assignment reporter. Now, it's actually easier to make the case for journalism school because there's a more specialized set of skills that we're finding employers are looking for."-- David Moltz, Inside Higher Ed