Journalism 133: Prof. Craig: Story Ideas Exercise, Part II

Story Ideas Exercise, Part II

Textbook costs
This story is about the fact that some majors require to buy ridiculously priced textbooks. There is no way around it because the book will come with some type of online code that allows the students to do their homework. The main elements would be the concept that there is no cheaper option, that this textbook costs is on top of the cost of the course and that some majors do not have this problem at all.

• On-campus audience
• Interview a couple students from different majors and a professor that is known to require these outrageous priced textbooks.
• The reporter would need to find out what majors have this problem the most. Know how high some of these prices can get to. It would also take some research to find out how much added costs that are suggested by professors.
• Potential secondary stories:
  • Unknown cost of college
  • Which major pays more
  • Opinion piece on if professors should have the ability to force students to buy textbooks over a certain price
  • Are textbooks really needed or are some professors lazy?
    

Favorite spots on campus
The story would be about where students like to hang out on campus or maybe in the area. San Jose State is such a big commuter school and in the middle of downtown, so it provides a different community compared to a lot of other universities. It can discuss the places to relax, to study or to be social.

• On and off-campus audience as it can apply to future students as well.
• Interview a couple students and possibly survey 50 people to get a general consensus.
• The reporter would simple have to be familiar with campus. They would have to find out what kind of student is where and why they prefer that place. Are there any places that came as a shock, is there a pattern and do these places seem popular on a regular basis?
• Potential secondary sources
  • Dorm life vs. commuter life
  • Freshman socialization vs. experienced college students.
  • Downtown San Jose for college students
  • Close places to visit while attending SJSU
    

Food Pantry
The SJSU Spartan Food Pantry just opened at a new location at the Student Union. According to the San Jose State Website, this is the "first full service, staffed, walk-in pantry offering non-perishable goods, fresh produce, and refrigerated goods." Eligibility includes being enrolled at SJSU, bringing a tower card and reusable bags and earning a gross income of $33,385 or less. The process to obtaining food is simple: swipe your tower card, complete the Spartan Food Pantry Intake & Agreement Form, shop and check out. There are six zones to shop. In order from one to six, the zones are produce, multiple use, cool zone, single use, toiletries and grab-n-go. Shopping at the Food Pantry does not prohibit anyone from attending the Monthly Just in Time food service. Students are permitted to shop in the food pantry once per every seven days.

• The story's audience is going to be students currently enrolled at SJSU (on campus)
• The staff of the food pantry should be interviewed, Students benefitting from the food pantry should be interviewed, people who are volunteering, Mary Papazian can also be interviewed to talk about how the school is taking these steps to provide students with food insecurities with more opportunities to get healthy food.
• The reporter should know what kinds of options were available before the new food pantry was opened. For example, the food locker was available to students in the business building, but many students were not aware. Reporters should also know what caused the change to happen and what steps the school made to make the new food pantry larger and more accessible to students. Then the reporter would have to research and interview those involved in working at the pantry to understand requirements/eligibility and rules if any. I would also recommend the reporter go through the process themselves to get a feel of how the process works and then they would see if it is an easy or difficult process and can compare to other food services.
• Food insecurity awareness within students in college, and more specifically in SJSU could be a sidebar or secondary story. The Second Harvest Food Bank is another sidebar that could research how SJSU partnered up with them for the food donations.