Second-day lead

Police have checked every house in a six-block radius around the house where 4-year-0ld Angela Melissa Norton went missing from her crib late Monday night.

Martin Stadium renovations

PULLMAN, Wash. — The multi-phase renovation of Martin Stadium that kicked off in 2006 will continue with Phase III, WSU officials announced last week.

Phase III of the project includes the addition of 16 suites, 31 loge boxes, similar to box seats, and multiple club seats atop the north stands of Martin Stadium.

Prior to the Martin Stadium Renovation Project, the stadium had not been renovated for 27 years.

Athletic Director Jim Sterk said the slogan for the project – TEAMBUILT – sums up the process of organizing Phase III.

“We were working with folks and doing interviews and came up with a number of names,” Sterk said. “We settled on TEAMBUILT because it exemplifies what we have done. It was a lot of people working together to build Phase III.”

Head football coach Paul Wulff said the renovations are important to more than just the football team.

“It affects every living Cougar,” Wulff said. “Every person likes the Cougar Pride statue outside the stadium. It allows more pride and national exposure.”

Phase III was initially set to take off last year but the state of the economy slowed the process.

“It (the cost of Phase III) was estimated at $40 million a year and a half ago,” Sterk said. “We know we can get it down to $33 million. It won't be $40 million. We think it will be somewhere in the low 30's." Sterk said the poor state of the economy attributed to lowered construction costs.

Sterk said a large number of the seats have already been purchased. Twenty-six of the 31 loge seats have already been reserved, as well as seven of the 16 suites, Sterk said.

The suites are priced at $35,000 to $50,000 a year and can hold up to 24 people. Four-person loge seats run between $9,100 and $10,200 per year, and six-person loge seats cost $13,600 to $15,300 per year. Outdoor club seats cost $1,700 and $2,000 while indoor club seats cost $2,500 per year. All seats will have access to the new Club Lounge.

Sterk said he expects construction to begin in early 2010, but the finished date is less certain.

“It'll take about 16-17 months to build but it can be built during the football season,” Sterk said. “The short timeline is to start construction in March or April 2010. It may be finished for the 2011 season but more likely will be ready for 2012.”

Wulff said when the Bohler Addition Varsity Weight Room was completed in 1997 it translated directly to success on the football field. He said the new renovations brought in good recruiting classes that improved the overall level of the team.

“(Renovations) help recruit a higher number of players, and a larger pool of players.” Wulff said.

The first two phases of the renovation were completed in the fall of 2008. Upgrades from the first two phases included widened concourses, extra bathrooms and concession stands. The most noticeable additions include the Cougar Pride statue outside the northeast corner of the stadium, the Martin Stadium sign visible from Stadium Way as well as the 40x52 foot scoreboard.

The final phase of the renovation, Phase IV, is set to add 5,500 seats atop the east stands. Sterk said he wants Phase III to be completed before starting construction on Phase IV.

For more information on the Martin Stadium renovations, go to www.martinstadium.org.

Al-Jazeera

The Al-Jazeera English channel was the most surprising news station that I watched. The channel may as well been produced by an American corporation it is so similar to news stations in the United States. My only previous encounter with Al-Jazeera is remembering the news feeds that American channels would get during the 9/11 attacks and the subsequent wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. I watched a piece on the economic growth in China and the impact on the countryside which did not help me get a crystal-clear picture on the channel but still gave me an idea on what they are about.

I watched long enough to get back to the main headlines and the most important story was the Iranian missile launch. Iran launched two missiles farther than they have ever launched any before. They seemed to get both sides of the story including Iranians in support of the launch and Westerners who were strongly against it.

1. I don't think providing free access via the internet will help provide viewership for Al-Jazeera because of its audience. The audience for Al-Jazeera is already set and they will set out to find the station. Al-Jazeera will not draw mass viewership from people outside its initial group of viewers. The audience will grow but not at the rate that Al-Jazeera would like.

2. I don't see any reason why Al-Jazeera English should not be shown in the United States and the rest of the Western world. What I saw was a newscast so similar to American broadcasts that I don't think people would have much of an objection if they watched the channel and gave it a chance.

3. The only difference I noticed which seems a bit odd was the anchor mentioned the reporting piece they did to promote his side to a discussion with a Chinese expert on the economic growth in China. He said something along the lines like "Our piece showed this side of the story" which doesn't seem very news-like.

4. The Al-Jazeera Code of Ethics seems so line up with what was shown on the newscast. The code was exactly what I would expect from any news organization. The one newsworthy story I saw (the Iranian missiles) tried to accurately describe both sides to the story and interviewed one person from each side.

The Al-Jazeera English channel was a lot different than the channel I was expecting to see when I turned it on. It had a very Western feel and, as far as I could tell, adhered to the Code of Ethics published on the Al-Jazeera website. I do think that the channel should be available in the United States but I don't think the viewership would be as prominent as Al-Jazeera expects it would. It is because the station is so similar to other channels already available that people would have a hard time switching over to Al-Jazeera.

LiveStation channel surfing

While surfing through the LiveStation channels I came across a few observations that stuck out to me.

1. Press TV – the Iranian government station – showed international sports news including the Tour Championship golf coverage and Serie A Italian soccer. I imagined Press TV not wanting to show the Western world to its viewers but that was not the case. The anchor also spoke very good English which I did not find on all the other networks.

2. Russia Today - The reporter sounded like he belonged on an American newscast but the anchor spoke with a very strong Russian accent. Again, the channel brought up international issues such as the Somalian pirates. The main story was a piece on migratory paths for birds and I don't think I have ever seen anything like that on an American news station.

3. BBC World News - I was disappointed when I clicked on the link and the BBC channel was audio only. I learned so much more from watching the other two channels because I could see them and the set surrounding the anchors. BBC World News was having a two person discussion on bank bail-outs. It was interesting listening to their take on the issue and strange to think about how other countries are going through similar challenges that we face in the United States. I've never really considered that other countries have to deal with the economic situation even though I obviously know that it is a world-wide concern.

Assignment: Summary leads

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/traffic/2009873777_520tolls16m.html
Motorists won't have to pay tolls on the Highway 520 floating bridge until as late as June 2011, instead of October next year.

This lead mentions who (motorists), what (tolls), where (520 floating bridge) and when (June 2011 and not October 2010). It gives the most prudent information available because in this case why isn't as important because it cannot be accurately described in a one sentence lead. Why is described in the nut graph and attributed to the complications of starting the tolls, in part due to the high cost of installing the tolling methods.

Chevron videos

When watching the two videos on the Texaco and Ecuador oil situation I noticed a few things.  First, the 60 Minutes segment seemed to lead toward being on the side of the Ecuadorians.  They tried to cast Chevron/Texaco in a negative light and set up interview questions that way.  At one point I caught myself thinking that they were purposely setting up the Chevron spokesperson to get her to slip up.  To me, that doesn't seem very "fair and balanced".  It may have just been me but I also noticed that they spent a good deal of effort in trying to expose the poor conditions of the Ecuadorians regardless of whether or not the oil drilling had an impact on it.  The biggest problem I had with the first video was that Chevron was not given a fair amount of airtime to dispute the claims and show their side of the story.

The second video was more of what I expected from what I had heard about it.  Chevron hired a reporter to show their side of the story so when I started the video I expected to only get one side.  They made sure to discredit as much of the Ecuadorian side of the story as possible and they did their job.  They also did not give the other side any chance to put in their opinion which is what I expected.

Neither video was what I would consider newsworthy.  The 60 Minutes piece tries to say it is news but without a fair and balanced report I don't think it is.  The Chevron piece is even less newsworthy than the 60 Minutes piece.