FINAL - Buddy Morris: From Nothing to Something

    Buddy Morris was born in 1956. He came from a Western Pennsylvania suburb named South Park. Buddy was one of five Morris brothers. His father left the family at a young age and left his mother alone to raise five boys. Although times were rough, Buddy found a way to see the light through sports in order to make something of himself.

Buddy was a star track and field athlete at the University of Pittsburgh until 1980, in which he was hired to become the head strength and conditioning coach of the Pittsburgh Panthers. He was one of the first ever strength and conditioning coaches hired, especially being at a big university such as Pitt. Buddy stayed there until 1990, when his daughter Claire had to have a liver transplant. Buddy then worked at a sports medicine clinic in a hospital until 1997, when NFL hall of fame quarterback Dan Marino had called Buddy to see if he'd return to Pitt. Buddy's second stint at Pitt was from 1997-2001. Buddy's career was just beginning at this point and he would later return to PITT again for a third stint.

      In 2001, Buddy got a call from the Cleveland Browns, and was asked if he'd join their team to be the head strength and conditioning coach. This was Buddy's first job in the NFL. Buddy worked for them until the end of the 2004 season. During the 2004-2005 season, Buddy was unemployed. In 2006, Buddy joined the University of Buffalo, which ranked 119 out of 119 in terms of D1 football schools. So Buddy went from the NFL to the very last eligible D1 college football school. After the season, former Pitt head football coach Dave Wannstedt called Buddy and asked him to return for his third stint. Buddy turned down jobs from both the Washington Redskins and Green Bay Packers just so his daughter could get free tuition from Pitt because she was attending PITT's nursing school. 

    After just one season at Pitt, Wannstedt was fired as Pitt's coach which left Buddy jobless. He sat around for a year and then the year after he opened a performance center gym in the Buffalo area which did not go as planned. Finally on March 4, 2014 Buddy got the call from former Steelers' offensive coordinator and good friend Bruce Arians to take the head strength and conditioning job with the Arizona Cardinals. Buddy is in the process of completing his first season with the team and they currently lead the NFC West division in the NFL.

      Today, Buddy is considered one of the most highly regarded experts in the industry. Buddy Morris went from nothing to something. Being one of five brothers to basically a single mom and managing to make something great out of his life was not an easy thing to do. Buddy Morris has taught himself most of the things he knows today and his workouts are pretty much self-made, just like himself. In the end it just goes to show that even when you have nothing, you can still make something out of it. Buddy has battled adversity in a variety of ways. Whether it was growing up without a father figure in life, to getting fired from a job, Buddy has handled being resilient very well.

Progress on Biography Project

Biography Proposal

     For this assignment, I am choosing my uncle Buddy Morris. Buddy was born as one of five boys in the Morris household. His father left his mother when he was very young, therefore he never quite had a father figure in his life. However, he is pretty successful in life nowadays. He is the strength and conditioning coach for the NFL's Arizona Cardinals.
 
    Buddy went through a lot of jobs and obstacles to get where he is today. Including coaching stints with the PITT Panthers, University of Buffalo, the Cleveland Browns and now currently Arizona Cardinals. Obstacles include new coaches, which means coaches affiliated with the head coach being replaced usually get fired, so it was hard for him to find work. Today he is with one of the best NFL teams the Arizona Cardinals, who could contend for the Super Bowl this year.

   I believe this is newsworthy because the of the timing, being that the Arizona Cardinals are a relevant football team this year. In terms of significance, any one who is a fan of the Arizona Cardinals and / or football in general could find this interesting. In terms of proximity, Buddy hails from the Pittsburgh area and got his start at the University of Pittsburgh, so locally it could be considered proximity. When it comes to prominence, he's not so famous himself, but the coaches he's worked with and NFL players he's trained throughout his career are. Examples include Dan Marino, Bruce Arians, Dave Wannstedt, Darnell Dockett, Larry Fitzgerald, and Andre Ellington just to name a few. Lastly, when it comes to human interest, this story may appeal because maybe many people can relate to growing up without a father figure, lots of siblings, and trying to make something of their life. Either way, I think doing my biography project on my uncle Buddy Morris will gain a lot of interest.

Winter at the Rock: The Struggle is Real

Winter is here at Slippery Rock. Here is a brief summary of the past winter, what to expect this winter and how you can prepare for it.

Meograph Project Proposal: Winter 2014-2015

     On November 14, 2014 SRU saw it's first snowfall of the season, although it was a dusting it was still enough to get people talking. November 16th night brought us more snow, covered sidewalks and the first real taste of winter.

 With winter upon us at Slippery Rock University, I would like to do my Meograph project on winter and try and get opinions of what we can expect this winter here at SRU. I will attempt to find students who have never experienced snow and or lived in an area like this where so much snow is common and get their opinions of the weather. Also, I will include a timeline of the previous winters throughout my life, including the Blizzard of '93 AKA the "storm of the century", as well as the winter last year that lead to a few delays and a closings at SRU and many winters in between. I would like to try and get a winter forecast projection from one of the departments at SRU and or a newscast. In addition, with more snowfall expected this week and colder temperatures, I will try and capture some videos of the winter and hopefully record traffic problems and or something that happened because of the weather to make the story more interesting.

 I believe winter a very newsworthy topic for students at SRU because it will all impact our lives. The timing is perfect as we've already been hit with our first snowstorm. The significance of winter affects all students in terms of traveling, class schedules, work, life, etc. Proximity is perfect too considering SRU and anything north of Pittsburgh is known for brutal winters. In terms of prominence, if the right interview is available or the right source, the project could have prominence. In terms of human interest and emotion, most people get really angry when they hear "snow is on the way", or "temperatures below 0" so there is human interest here.

Governors Race: Election Day, November 4th, 2014

November 4th is a pivotal day every two and four years. The 2014 Pennsylvania governors race is the hot debate, especially for a small town college town. It seems as though change is coming as many students, faculty and others will turn to the polls to vote democrat Tom Wolf into office and give current governor, Republican Tom Corbett the boot. In these videos, Joe Lofton a war veteran, VFW officer and former Slippery Rock physics and chemistry professor Dave Taylor discuss why Tom Wolf is needed for Pennsylvania. On the contrary, Susan Oliver discusses why Tom Corbett needs to stay in office. Lofton and Taylor support future governor hopeful Tom Wolf because they feel that Corbett's education cuts have really hurt Pennsylvania students and teachers, citing that $1 billion dollars was cut as well as 27,000 teachers fired. Susan Oliver believes the answer is not taking more taxes from people and giving it to others, and believes that taking money from other people is wrong. Also, she believes Corbett will keep taxes low. Either way, this year's governor election will be very important to those in Pennsylvania as many are fed up with how Corbett has handled the budget and his term in office. Voting hours in Slippery Rock township run from 7AM to 8PM so voters have all day to go out and vote. Either way, this election proves to be an important one for not only Slippery Rock township members, but Pennsylvania as well.

SRU Opinions: PA Governors Race

Preview Pennsylvania Governor Race

KettleCorn Proposal

  For my KettleCorn Proposal, I want to film video on who students plan to vote for governor of Pennsylvania Tom Corbett or Tom Wolf and why. I want to ask students, AND faculty why they support the candidate that they do and what they believe the candidate brings and what the other one lacks. The election is held November 4th and I believe this is a hot topic around college campuses.

A Trip to the Strip.

A Trip to the Strip on Dipity.

Delmont Arts and Apples Festival

New SRU Tailgating Policy

Pittsburgh Penguin's Training Camp 2014

Controversy About Creationism

Creationism has always been a hot topic because it's the belief that a higher power or deity created the universe versus scientific facts and evidence. Creationists can range in their beliefs but some go from one extreme to the next. For example, some creationists believe in a flat, young earth while some believe in old earth. Generally most Creationists do not believe in evolution and or any scientific reasons for why life exists today.

The debate between Creationists and scientists has been ongoing since Charles Darwin published his Theory of Evolution back in 1859. The people who strictly follow the Bible reject Darwin's Theory of Evolution because they claim the Book of Genesis is a historical depiction about creation, however no scientific facts are supported.

In a survey conducted by People for the American Way, the overall consensus was 83% of people want evolution taught in public schools. In addition, many support in-school discussion about religious explanation, however they do not want these religious explanations taught as "science." Most importantly, the survey shows that there is no clear choice between Creationism and Evolution. Twenty-percent of people agree that schools should just teach evolution while sixteen percent think schools should strictly teach Creationism.

So with the lack of science and "proof" behind Creationism why teach it in schools? More people today are objecting to just evolution being taught in public schools. Creationists claim that their scientific model can be more complex than the one describing evolution. However, main issue with Creationism is that it runs into the issue of religion in a public school. Creationists say this can be avoided if they (the school instructors) just discuss the science behind it and not mention the bible. Also, lack of funding in most schools is keeping Creationism out. There is hope for Creationism to be taught in the future though. Fourteen states will spend close to $1 billion dollars in 2014 on vouchers for private and religious schools to teach their students to go against the teachings of not only evolution but cosmology, biology, geology and math.

In the end, although Charles Darwin started it all with his Theory of Evolution, it seems like the debate has only just begun. With more public schools going against the teaching of evolution and states beginning to spend money to teach against it, there is a chance Creationism could indeed be taught in schools. One thing is for certain, if Creationism is taught in schools, religion must be kept out of it. Students can and should be able to make up their own minds about which belief they agree with.

Internet Superhero

   My name is Zack Morris (yes, like the 90's television show that ruined my life). I am studying PR and communications at Slippery Rock University. Technically I am a senior but due to completing my internship next fall I will be graduating in the Fall of 2015. Hockey is my life and I play club inline hockey for Slippery Rock. In addition, I am an avid Penguins fan along with many other NHL teams. I am a Penguins blogger for a site called "Heyyyyy Fannnssss." I love baseball, football, and golf as well. I aspire to be a public relations director for the Penguins after graduating from Slippery Rock. Although I know it'll take working many small jobs and for minor league teams to get there, I'm willing to do what it takes to obtain my dream job. I live in Pittsburgh but was adopted from Russia. I came to the United States when I was just 10 months old but I will always be proud of my Russian heritage.

Formal 2013

To be honest, I'm a Twitter superhero and you can find me there. I usually tweet way too much about hockey, life or food. Also, I am #TeamFollowBack so follow me. As for Facebook, although it is still a big social media site, I feel its use has declined, especially for myself with the evolution of Twitter and other applications that are geared towards microblogging and getting news on the go. I love blogging, I blog for a site called Heyyyyy Fannnssss, which is all about the Pittsburgh Penguins. If you're a Pens fan and want all things Penguins such as podcasts, game previews, recaps and interesting facts and opinions please give us a follow!

This semester I decided to take New-Media Journalism in order to see what the word "new" media implied. Also, I wanted to learn how to improve my blogging skills and learn what being a "backpack" journalist is all about. I am really looking forward to the class activities coming up and how they will benefit my writing and knowledge in the long-run. For all of our classworks check our Facebook page or if you're on twitter search the hashtag #nmjatsru.

Slippery Rock Hockey 2014

In terms of a traditional news media outlets, I think ABC News is the best. I like ABC because unlike with Fox News and CNN, there is little to no bias, and the stories are presented in a factual manner instead of trying to sway a viewer to either the Republican or Democrat side. It's what Fox News claims to be "fair and balanced", except in my opinion it actually is "fair and balanced." Although I am not one to sit down and watch the news, and most of the news I do get is off Twitter from certain reporters in the cities the stories take place. For example, when the Ferguson ordeal happened, I followed a Ferguson, Missouri reporter on Twitter versus going through the national outlets that will often show bias.

In terms of a new-media outlet, I think Google news is the best. I say this because I like how all the Google features link together such as Blogger, News, YouTube and Drive (just to name a few). I like the ability to quickly share the stories I read to my Twitter or Facebook feed but also be able to throw the news into my Google Drive folder to have it for later. Basically for me Google facilitates the process of getting information and storing it somewhere useful as well as having one Google account for everything.