Monthly Archives: February 2014

I was initially trying to focus on the Civilian Complaint Review Board and new developments in their Community Outreach program and with the addition of the Administrative Prosecution Unit. However, last minute, I ran into a lot of problems with access and being allowed to audio record.

I have changed gears, and now am focusing on the Relay for Life event happening at Baruch College, on Friday, March 21st. It has held annually, at the gym, and is an overnight fundraising event in which the Baruch Community gathers together to continue the fight for life. It includes guest speakers who are survivors of Cancer and continue to fight. Last year, when the event was held, there was a disturbance in the gym, and they had to cancel it sometime at night. As a result, many clubs on campus and the Relay for Life committee for Baruch continued their efforts in others ways, afterwards. Now with the event coming, the committee is preparing for the event, and people are getting ready to fight through the night.

I am going to interview a member of  the Relay for Life committee, who is spearheadint the efforts of the event. Most clubs at baruch form their own teams, and then fundraise for the event. Each club gets a table in the gym, in rotations. I am also interviewing the volunteer coordinator of a club who has made a team for the event. In addition, I am volunteering passionate students who have been affected by Cancer in come way and now are supporting the event. I am also trying to find a faculty member who goes out and supports the event every year.

For natural sounds, I am going to the event on Friday night, and will get the sounds of speeches, running and walking in the gym (as they make rounds), and the general sound of the busy and buslting place the gym will be.

For my pitch idea I was thinking of also leaning towards something animal related. Today, I came across a popular news story that made it on New York one news about a Wildlife Rehabilitation Center that offers a home to 120 different species of abandoned or hurt animals around the city. This place is full of interns trying to become vets, doctors, and lots of volunteers that I could interview about all kinds of things that go on there such as how it all began and why they dedicate so much time to helping these wild animals out. I have found that I could schedule an appointment, and possibly even have a one on one interview with the owner of the place. I think it would be interesting because I can get a lot out of this.

For my podcast I would like to think of doing it on NYC’s juice craze and how the trend continues to get more and more popular. I will be asking people who drink freshly made juice why they drink it, and delve into why it is so popular especially in NYC. Most new yorkers are on the go and sacrifice a lot of things because they are in a rush, drinking juice gives vitamins and missed micro nutrients in a quick and easy fashion. Some do it for health or medical reasons, while other do it for wellness, I will be visiting several juice bars and asking regulars about their opinion and reasons for drinking fresh juice.

For my podcast, I was thinking of doing a story about renovations to two train stations in my neighborhood. The Castle Hill train station and the Buhre Avenue train station are undergoing renovations that have been tough on commuters who regularly use these train stations. It has also affected people who drive around that area because of the debris and construction trucks that are blocking off the area where people usually drive. I thought that I could interview people who cannot take those trains and see how it has affected their commutes on a daily basis.

For my podcast I would like to do ticket prices at Madison Square Garden for New York Knick games. The prices are relatively high for games, even when they are not playing a team packed with stars or are even good.  The team is also struggling to put a good product on the court and some might not think the prices are justified for what they came to see. To sit in the “nosebleeds” or top section at the garden it ranges anywhere from $100-$200, especially if a quality team is in town. Other teams who are a at least decent offer gifts and cheaper ticket prices to attend games.  The Detroit Pistons, who are playing just as bad as the Knicks this year have an average of $19 for an upper level seat, the lowest in the NBA. The Brooklyn Nets have tickets currently for similar seating sections priced at $10.

I would interview fans/ticket holders and get there thoughts on the prices to gauge how they feel about the team and the prices. I could also interview businesses in the area to see how the performance of the team affects their business in terms of maybe prices, or amount of customers when they play if at all. There a few angles I can take but this is my current idea.

Aaron Ferrer

I wanted to do a podcast on how students and teachers are reacted to our new governors decision not to use school snow days on days that had predicted snow storms. I plan to interview professors, teachers, students and parents from different schools and boroughs. I also want to see if I could speak to the young boy who started the Facebook page Close NYC Schools During Snow Emergencies. With more predictions of snow coming in this week and in March, this current issue would be great for my podcast.

Take the previous idea a bit further. Instead of exclusively visiting grocery stores, speak to people who work in independent restaurants. Once again on the topic of the food we buy. For example, several spots in Williamsburg promote healthier living in the “fresh” ingredients they buy. In addition, I want to know the exact flip side. I seek to prove that pricing has a lot to do with the decision over which food to buy. However, as is evident in my slideshow, the health revolution is spreading rapidly.

Little Brazil is a small neighborhood in Midtown composed of several diverse establishments such a restaurants, stores and major renovations.