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University of Missouri School of Journalism

Below is a collection of works I created while taking classes at the University of Missouri J-School. "At Missouri, real-world media experience is part of the curriculum.

The first school of its type in the world, the Missouri School of Journalism educates students for careers in journalism, advertising and other media fields by combining a strong liberal arts education with unique hands-on training in professional media." (Via Journalism.Missouri.edu)

One Read Binds Mid-Missourians Through Arts

By Tyler Castner and Miranda Craig | 12 Sept. 2013

 

COLUMBIA - There wasn’t even shifting in the seats.

 

No pages rustled in the audience, no cell phones on vibrate buzzed, no one coughed as Keija Parssinen (CQ), the Columbia-based author of the book “The Ruins of Us,” read an essay Tuesday night at Orr Street Studios.

 

For Columbia's One Read program, that is the sound of success.

 

Parssinen’s essay reflects on her childhood in Saudi Arabia. The essay was part of the Hearing Voices/Seeing Visions series, an exhibit reception featuring artists from around Mid-Missouri who contributed works on the theme of “home.”

 

Orr Street Studios and One Read partnered to host this event and bring people together through reading.

 

“One Read is about creating community, providing an opportunity for connection and discussion with a book as the vehicle for this connection,” said Lauren Williams, co-chair of One Read. “Two people in line at the grocery store or at the dentist office might have nothing else in common but this book they have both read.”


Parssinen’s book is a work of fiction set in Saudi Arabia. The book marks the 12th year for the One Read Program in Boone and Callaway counties.

 

The community-wide reading program is coordinated and funded by the Daniel Boone Regional Library System. Additional funding comes from the Friends of the Columbia Public Library. Each year community members help select a single book, and One Read provides a wide range of programs exploring the themes and topics that relate to that book.

 

When Doyne (CQ) McKenzie, the collections manager at Columbia Public Library, and fellow librarian Sally Abromovich (CQ) founded the program in 2002, their vision was to take One Read beyond the book itself.


“Sally and I wanted to have more than just a book discussion,” McKenzie said. “We’ve tried to have discussions mornings, afternoon and evenings so that people can come, but we wanted to have more than that, like a movie.”


Despite their ambition, the first year still came with some challenges.

 

“That first year we didn’t have much of anything and we were actually in a partnership with the Kansas City area,” McKenzie said. “We ended up having to do so much of the programming ourselves that from then on we’ve always chosen our own book and run our own program.”

 

One Read has grown to be more than just a book club.


“The idea now is to incorporate all aspects of the book, not only discuss it thoroughly, but try to reflect it in art, reflect it in movies and reflect it in music, so we’ve always had some type of all those things,” McKenzie said.

 

Participation numbers have ranged over the years from 400 to 1,300 participants. As of Tuesday’s exhibition, 385 people have taken part in just the first week of this year’s program, which runs until the end of September.
 

Williams credits this increase to the advantage of having a local author, such as Parssinen, write the book that was chosen.

 

“There is a feeling of having someone famous in our midst, which is a bit of a thrill,” Williams said. “But at the same time she is very accessible, engaging and open to participating in a number of events.”

 

Linda Reed Brown, whose husband gave a storytelling performance at the event, has participated in the selection process every year and runs a local book club, which always features the book from One Read.


“What I love about it is that, no matter what we choose, some will love it, and some will just hate it. Some will connect deeply with the book, and some just won’t get it at all,” Brown said. “But no matter what [everyone thinks] about the book, we can still discuss it and get every perspective.”

Missouri Re-entry Programs Help Offenders Return to Community

Bu Tyler Castner, Jordan Gardner and Abigail Keel

 

BOONE COUNTY - In 2002, Missouri was the first of eight states chosen to participate in the Transition from Prison to Community Model, which helps criminal offenders re-enter society by helping them to adjust to living in society again. Renamed the Missouri Re-entry Process, this model was founded with the belief that offenders who aren’t prepared to return to society are more likely to return to prison.

 

Boone County is home to several programs involved with the re-entry process. Dan Hanneken, the director of in2Action, a faith-based re-entry program based in Columbia, recognizes the risks associated with offenders, but he believes that with the proper help, they can transition successfully.

 

“When we’re talking about people released from prison we already know they’re absolutely capable of committing crimes. We know that they’re absolutely capable of taking victims in our community,” Hanneken said. “So, we don’t have to attack the problem with such a broad brush. We just focus on these individuals coming back into our community and our efforts here at in2Action are to reduce the likelihood that they will re-offend.”

 

The Boone County Offender Transition Network has identified five barriers for offenders in their reintegration into society following incarceration. These barriers included employment, housing, substance abuse, transportation and community attitudes. Michelle Thompson, the administrative director for Reality House Programs, Inc., believes it is the responsibility of re-entry programs to help their clients overcome these obstacles.

 

“Anytime you can help people reduce barriers, it helps them to concentrate on doing the right thing,” Thompson said.

 

Thompson, who has been serving as director for the last 20 years, agrees with the Transition Network that having a job and a steady place to live has been the Department of Corrections’ key points for offenders to successfully re-enter society.

 

“The trend in the market has been an emphasis on employment and stable housing,” Thompson said. “I would say that employment has been the trend for the last eight-to-ten years.

 

Hanneken agrees that an offender’s success in re-entry is often determined by employment.

 

“Full time employment is a very good predictor,” Hanneken said. “It’s actually the strongest predictor of success for people who are released from prison more than anything else.”

 

In2Action averages 40 offenders a month in the program and provides safe and drug-free housing, as well as transitional employment opportunities. Hanneken said that they use a scattered housing model for offender re-entry in residential neighborhoods.

 

“When we are helping people successfully transition back into the community, we feel the best place to do that is in the community,” Hanneken said. “The residents who live here consider this home. We want them to know that they have neighbors and that they need to respect their neighbors. That you have a house that you need to keep your house clean; so that’s all part of the transition process.”

 

Missouri Vocational Rehabilitation is another reintegration program based in Boone County that deals specifically with offenders who have a history of substance abuse. Rebecca Largent, the assistant district supervisor for the program, said that the time spent in prison creates a challenge when searching for jobs.

 

“The big gap on resumes, as a result of prison time, is easily noticed by employers,” Largent said. “At Vocational Rehabilitation, they work to sharpen their abilities, skills and aptitudes.”

 

Job Point, a re-entry program located in Fulton, has a contract with the Department of Corrections to provide free help to offenders at the Community Supervision Center. Job Point serves offenders who live in Fulton, helping close to 200 clients per year. Brenda Overkamp, the director of marketing and research at Job Point, says her clients have a real desire to get back to work.

 

“Offenders really want to work; their probation depends on work,” Overkamp said. “They have a very strong incentive to work. Our staff is constantly helping to build them up.”

 

In Missouri, there are more than 70 thousand offenders on probation and parole with the Department of Corrections. Missouri Reentry Process focuses on providing the opportunity for these people not to repeat their past by assisting them with employment and education.

Depression therapy techniques have a wide variety

By Tyler Castner and Aubrey Leiter | 10 Oct. 2013

When Sarah Cardoza needed treatment for depression, she tried several different techniques before finding the one that worked for her. She tried individual therapy, group therapy and other techniques before finding success with equine therapy. Cardoza’s case is not unusual.

 

Licensed Professional Counselor Tiffany Borst says different therapy techniques work for different personalities. “(The key is) getting them relaxed, a lot of times sitting on the floor and going and getting a soda, getting them in an atmosphere that feels relaxed and comfortable to them gets them to open up,” said Borst, who once had a patient who would only talk while Borst curled her hair.

 

In addition to equestrian therapy, there are many other therapy techniques for children and adolescents who have depression.
 

Borst works mainly with cognitive behavioral therapy, a method of helping patients through situations by shifting their thinking to be more positive and healthier.

 

“That can improve their mood significantly from a behavioral standpoint,” Borst said. “I’m trying to get these girls active and involved in something that they love and enjoy. Helping them to set some reasonable goals for themselves so they can feel like they’re accomplishing something.”

 

The Burrell Behavioral Health clinic in Columbia likes to provide cognitive behavior therapy using techniques that have been proven successful said Marlene Howser, a professional counselor there. They also have parent management training, a program teaching parents better techniques to cope with their child’s behavior. Howser stresses it’s important to include family in the child’s treatments.

 

Borst said therapy techniques for small children are different than adolescents because small children cannot express their emotions as easily through talking. She said it’s common to treat young children for depression and anxiety through their play. Adolescents, too, can find therapy through something they enjoy.

 

Another type of therapy Burrell uses for young children takes place in their Parent-Child Interactive lab. The lab has a one-way mirror to allow the parent and child to play on one side while the counselor observes their interaction from the other. Through this process, the counselor provides advice to the parents by means of a listening device in the parent’s ear.

 

“That is very effective because the child that young can’t talk about what’s bothering them, but their behaviors, that is how they really express what they’re feeling,” Howser said.

 

Missouri Art Therapy Association, an affiliate chapter of the American Art Therapy Association, is an example of an organization that specifically uses an activity to be therapeutic for people. The organization believes the creative process involved in art is healing and enhances life.

 

The American Art Therapy Association defines art therapy as the use of art-making and creativity for therapeutic purposes. According to the association’s website, “the goal in art therapy is to improve or restore a client’s functioning and his or her sense of personal well-being.” Art therapy practice requires knowledge of visual art and the creative process, as well as an understanding of human development, psychological, and counseling theories and techniques.

Headline: American Legion struggles, but all-women’s posts give hope for growth 

By Tyler Castner, Ashley Reese and Sam Richmond | 24 Oct. 2013

 

The American Legion has seen a significant decrease in membership over the years. Some posts have even shut down recently due to a lack of members.  However, there is one type of post that is thriving: women’s posts.

 

While women have traditionally been associated with the American Legion through the American Legion Auxiliary, which is for veteran’s family members, posts have given women who have served the same opportunity to get involved as men.

 

Department of Missouri Adjutant Lowry Finley-Jackson is a member of one of the three all-women’s posts in Missouri. She says her post in St. Louis, which was chartered in 1946, has seen a 10 percent increase in membership over the past three years.

 

“It’s because we have active involvement in the St. Louis area,” Finley-Jackson said. “We attract those women veterans and we seek them out.”

 

Her post, which has around 300 members according to the American Legion, has multiple programs that are designed specifically for younger women, such as a baby shower every year for young veterans in the VA system.

 

“We also have what’s called ‘The Girlfriends Project’,” Finley-Jackson said.  “We go and partner with the younger veterans and try to help them with the new VA system and be there for different problems they are having that we may have already experienced being a little older than they are.”

 

With a growing number of service women in Missouri, it makes sense to have a place for them in the organization, said Tom Goodin, American Legion Missouri Department Manager.

 

“In Columbia we just started a women’s post because 22 percent of service personnel are women now,” Goodin says. “And we saw that need. And that post is growing. It’s the second one we’ve opened this year.”

 

Post 1111 in Columbia is up to 15 members after being chartered on Sept. 16, according to the American Legion

 

Finley-Jackson says all-women’s posts are playing a role in helping eradicate the notion that the American Legion is made up of strictly older men.

 

“I think that it’s hard to break that stigma,” Finley-Jackson said. “You have to invite individuals, again you have to tell them it’s not like that anymore. It’s not my grandfathers American legion anymore.”

Headline: American Legion struggles, but all-women’s posts give hope for growth 

By Tyler Castner and Aubrey Leiter | 7 Nov. 2013

 

 

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Increased earnings might not bring change for those living on minimum wage 

By Tyler Castner, Jordan Gardner Ashley Reese | 5 Dec. 2013

 

MOBERLY - Maryann Cornick,  gets up four days a week to work a 6 a.m. to 4 p.m. shift at Hardee’s in Moberly, Mo. She, like an estimated 79,000 Missourians[J1] , works a minimum wage job and does her best to get by.   

 

“I’m lucky,” she said. “I have a lot of stuff paid off; so from here, it’s just day-to-day living[J2] .” 

 

Cornick’s lifestyle is difficult with her current earnings and she said she believes minimum wage should be raised to help individuals meet their costs of living. Beginning Jan. 1, the Missouri minimum wage will rise to $7.50 an hour, 15 cents more an hour than 2013[J3] . This could affect as many as 80,000 Missourians, according to ProgressMissouri. This raise would a full-time worker with an additional $312 a year, an effort to help them achieve financial stability. 

 

“It’s rare to find an individual who makes minimum wage and is financially stable,” said Brenda Procter, Extension associate Professor of personal financial Planning at the University of Missouri[J4] .

 

Cornick is one of the few – though just barely. When her husband died in 1992, she began supporting herself and managing the little savings the two had together, she said.

 

She owns two vehicles, a mobile home and the land she lives on, she said. Having a little money in the bank and things paid off is a blessing and a curse, Cornick said; she has to pay taxes and bills, thing that take most of her paycheck.  

 

“There is no easy answer when you don’t have enough money,” Procter said.

 

Procter works with people all the time in poor financial situations. She said there’s no textbook way to help those people managing their money: they just don’t have enough.

 

“After all the taxes and I put my bill money in the bank…every two weeks I live off about $100 for groceries and other stuff,” Cornick said[J5] .

 

Cornick says that while she manages to stay afloat, there is more she gives up than what she gets. She forgoes things like makeup, health insurance, Internet, eating out and new clothes.

 

“You don’t make a lot, you don’t get to do a lot,” Cornick said. “I don’t see my family very often cause of the price of gas, and they only live 20 minutes away. “

 

For Cornick, she said the 15 cent raise wont be enough help, that it’s not significant. The only thing she can see herself doing is saving the added $312 dollars a year. She said she wished the minimum wage would rise to $8 an hour instead[J6] , 65 cents more than the current minimum wage.

 

 “That’s livable,” she said. “It’s like people say they can’t afford to pay workers that much, but people still buy things—they still go out. We all have to get by.”

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