Final Entry

As the final semester of my college career comes to a swift and somewhat ‘sad’ end, I find myself reflecting on the many memories I have made since my journey began. First, PR 107 was a great way to conclude all of the lessons that I have learned from the public relations curriculum at Hofstra. The course allows for seniors to have a lot of freedom and responsibilities, which is small glimpse into the real world that we will experience very shortly. My lasting memory of my experience with my PR 107 classmates will be our fantastic event with the LIAA, which went off beautifully and was a great success! In all seriousness, the class was a great opportunity to harness together all of the skills and tools we have all learned at our time at Hofstra and various internships. I recommend that all senior PR majors participate heavily in the course, because it is a microcosm for the life that awaits us after college and will be extremely beneficial for you.

As a graduating senior, I feel like a whole new chapter of my life is about to begin. I have already began the interview process for entry level positions at various PR firms in NYC and Hoboken- which is actually off to a flying start.  One of my immediate goals is to be fully moved out and living independently within a year of my graduation. Also, within the next year or two I plan to do a great deal of traveling and spend a minimum of six months in Europe. I believe very strongly, that is important for a person to experience and see the many wonders the world has to offer.

Former All-Star Manny Ramirez, eye's a comeback. MLB should say NO

In wake of today's news that former All-Star, Red Sox great, and New York Yankee nightmare, Manny Ramirez, officially filed for reinstatement with MLB for the upcoming 2012 season- has raised some interesting questions surrounding the leagues policy on steroids. Back tracking to last April, Ramirez tested positive for performance enhancing drugs and retired in loom of his 100 game suspension (following his first strike and 50 game suspensions from 2009) that would have meant him sitting out for the remainder of the season.  

This possible reinstatement has brought about many different opinions and perspectives, specifically around if the league should even allow his reinstatement to be permitted since his abrupt exit after his offence was a cowardly maneuver to dodge his punishment. After two failed drugs tests, following the leagues campaign to rid out ‘cheaters and juicers’ from the game, Manny has the nerve to come back for a third time. Why should they let him? He’s 39-years-old and hasn’t had a productive season in over 4 years- which also raises the question if in his ‘best years’ was he in fact one of the many players who utilized steroids to increase his productivity? It would be different for me (and many I believe) if Manny had sucked it up, and took his 100 game suspension like a professional, but he didn’t. And now he’s found a way to reduce his penalty to 50 games and be eligible to play after the all-star break of the 2012 season. Personally there is something very wrong with this, and the league should unanimously deny his reentry, pending his failure to adhere to MLB’s standards as a professional.

A students perspective in the PR nightmare that is- Penn State

Over the past week, the nation has been hit with harsh reality that everything that may appear perfect, sometimes isn’t always how it seems. Penn State- A blueprint for how college football should be run has been by a public relations nightmare. In the entire existence of Penn State football, there has never been so much a minor NCAA infraction (Not ONE), but in the past week one former coach for the nittany lion single-handedly brought a storm of controversy over the school that most considered to be the ‘gold standard’ of colligate sports. Yet, unbeknownst to most there is another story taking place on the PSU campus that America has yet to learn.  

Did you know that while this supposed “riot” was taking place where one news van was flipped, thousands of students were up by Beaver Stadium saying prayers for the children and victims of these heinous crimes? I didn’t. Did you know that Penn State has raised about $500,000 in less than a week to stop child abuse? I didn’t. Did you know that before the game on Saturday, the players of both teams met in the middle of the field, with about 108,000 fans watching, in complete silence, in memoriam for the victims? I didn’t. It’s clear that the general public has only been shown just perspective, and unfortunately this doesn’t have a fairytale ending.

 “The actions of a few men do not define what Penn State truly is, and what an outstanding academic institution it represents.”- Owen Kaplan. Owen is one of my good friends from home, and after knowing him for the majority of my life; I knew that he would have unique information of what exactly is going on at Penn State during this ordeal. Owen has been enrolled at Penn State since our graduation from high school in 2007, and like so many has loved every minute of his experience at the university. I even went up to State College, PA once for their Halloween weekend, and ironically was Joe Paterno for his fraternities Halloween party. After speaking with him today (and throughout the development of the story), it was quite clear that his perspective on the situation was quite different than what the rest of America was feeling or seeing.

 Owens biggest issue was the way that the media was portraying Penn State. They were making it out to seem as though the entire town of Happy Valley had done something terribly wrong. Why was Joe Paterno’s name being mentioned every 15 seconds, yet Jerry Sandusky, the man who allegedly molested young boys 15 years ago, was barely being brought up? And most important, why aren’t the victims being brought up, AT ALL? The media loved to make Joe Pa into the scapegoat, and putting all the blame on him, when this man dedicated over 4 million dollars to help Penn State build, what is now called, the Paterno Library. This man had the highest graduation rate of any college football coach, and had been coaching for 46 years, before getting terminated by a phone call. Now at the same time, people have call into question Paterno’s moral fiber, on the grounds that he had knowledge of the compliant and so choosing did not take that knowledge to the police. However, it is critical to note that Joe Paterno did bring this news to his superiors and left it’s in the capable hands of his department who choose to do nothing…..

 Penn State has sympathy for the victims. They held a candlelight vigil that drew over 15,000 students, in replacement of a pep rally. Owen was very upset about the lack of coverage that received, stating, “They will spend two entire days on a riot that barely did any damage, and fifteen seconds on the mourning of the victims. Really shows where the media’s priorities are.” My friends and I are in complete agreement that the victims & there families should come first; it’s just extremely unfortunate that other people do not feel the same way. Owens perspective is quite similar to many other Penn State students, and many questions are yet to be answered. He left me with this quote, which I think sums up the situation perfectly from the eyes of true PSU student.

“I will always have an enormous sense of pride for my school. Through the worst week in Penn State history, the community has banded together and became united, as one. We all know that this great university is larger than any one man, or any one football program, and the actions of a few do not represent the institution as a whole. We just now need America to see this too…” 

Only time will time how this unfolds, and with Jerry Sandusky’s arrangement and trial looming in the near future it will be interesting to see if other details are brought to light. For now, I just feel deeply saddened for my friend, his peers, the victims, their families, and a fine academic institution with a great history.

The PR fued between NBA team owners & players

Today, Yahoo posted an interesting article featuring an interview with Carmelo Anthony, the newly acquired superstar and franchise player with the New York Knicks. In his interview over the weekend, Anthony said, “I don’t think we’re getting our message out there, the owners are definitely doing a great job getting their message out. They have David Stern and the owners, we only have Derek Fisher(notes).” As a public relations person, I would infer that his comments are suggesting that the public opinion over the NBAs lockout is starting to brew out of control and sway in the favor of owners. For those of you who watch ESPN flagship show, Sportscenter, the NBA's lockout has become a daily topic of conversation and so has the public's perception of the lockout. Over the past few weeks, meetings between the two sides have gone virtually nowhere and now speculation that the NBA 2011-2012 season maybe in jeopardy is becoming possible realities. Carmelo Anthony like many other players of the week have expressed their frustration over how few players have publically come out and attempted to make a case for the players. With that said, Carmelo has seemly addressed the problem and a solution- so why doesn’t he do anything about you ask?  After all, Carmelo is one of the league’s top players and he plays in NYC- one of the NBA’s biggest basketball markets. The answer is he like many others including Lebron James, Kobe Bryant, Kevin Durrant, Derrick Rose, Chris Paul, and many others need to stop going on twitter rants and instead make a cameo appearance to voice their opinions on the lockout for the world to hear. That would a good PR decision from the player’s point of view in my opinion. We’ll just have to wait and see how this situation unfolds.

Click here to learn more: http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=aw-wojnarowski_nba_labor_stars_union_101711

Whats the big deal with Urban Outfitters new 'Navajo' collection??

Thankfully I have girlfriend who is not only smart & gorgeous, but, also current on everything fashion related- something that I am not and will never be. With that said over the last week, there was a lot of media coverage over Urban Outfitters new fall collection of clothing/ accessories inspired by the Navajo Indians, because of a outcry to remove the Navajo label from the products entirely. The Navajo Nation Government or NNG was outraged over the new line presented by the company over their misrepresentation of the tribes 'scared' name and trademark violations. Urban Outfitters countered the claim, stating that that they, along with many other fashion designers have “ultizied the ‘Navajo’ name in previous lines with no backlash from the Native American community and do not understand why this case has accumulated so much backlash”. Personally I do not see any harm or wrong doings here by Urban Outfitters, except I do not hail from a historic tribe that has had to endure many hardships over the last few hundred years- so my opinion does not carry a lot of creditability. Obviously though, I can understand the outrage/POV but I think that in this case there is not much harm being done here by Urban. Urban, like many other fashion designers have utilized Native American designs/culture as inspiration for lines for years, which have always been seen as. However, now because the name, ‘Navajo’ appears on a few accessories and underwear the NNG is ready to declare war on the company. Doesn’t make much sense. In addition, Urban Outfitters carries more than 20 under the ‘Navajo’ label on their website, but the NNG is only disputing the rights to the Navajo Hipster Panty," and Navajo Print Fabric Wrapped Flask- which both feature geometric designs common in Navajo arts and crafts. However this ends, what we should take out of this is company’s and designers should be sensitive to cultural wishes/demands because at the end of the day nobody should feel like they are being disrespected in any way, shape, or form. If you want to read more about this, click here: http://www.news9.com/story/15708170/navajo-calls-out-urban-outfitters-for-its-products

So with our first two classes (13 remaining) of PR 107 behind us, we have come to conclusion of our client list and selection. What I thought would be a more difficult/ back-and-forth debate amongst my classmates on which on of the seven potential non-profits would be chosen- was in fact quite pleasant. After our first meeting and run through on the seven companies that we would eventually have to select, it felt, personally, like more and more of the class was getting to caught up on the causes instead of the actually work that we would have to be do for these organizations. Now let me just state that each organization that responded to Professor Morosoff's letter all represent a wonderful cause. Truly, they do. With that said, I'm very pleased the class went with the right decision to nominate our two finalists: I- Try and the A.L.L.I . Both will undoubtedly offer not only many challenges but valuable experience for the class- and I'm sure I speak for everyone that things are about to get really interesting over the next few weeks, as we begin our campaigns. Lets go!