C-SPAN Civics Bus Visits JMU

Following class this afternoon, several of my classmates and I flocked across the Quad and boarded the C-SPAN Civics Bus, which was parked in front of Wilson Hall today as part of James Madison Week. The inside of the bus was pretty impressive, complete with all sorts of technical equipment that was definitely appealing to a SMAD digital video major like myself. There was even a soundproof interview/edit room in the back of the bus. We were escorted onto the bus and sat down on a couch that faced two large flat-screens. The presenter proceeded to show us a split-screen that demonstrated the difference between C-SPAN's unbiased, non-commentated coverage as compared to the presentations of the same story as presented by other popular news networks, including CNN, Fox News, and MSNBC, in which these stations used split panels in order to emphasize certain aspects of stories. She also showed us C-SPAN coverage of the steroid hearings from several years ago. The sneak peek into the bus was really cool, and it was neat to have an opportunity to take a behind the scenes look and realize that there's more to C-SPAN than just the seemingly neverending telecasts of Congressional hearings.

Advocacy Project Topic in Planning

My advocacy project group met today after class in order to narrow down our advocacy project topic. Initially, we had tossed around the idea of putting together a Fun Run/Walk for kids that would provide healthy snacks for participants, along with display tables that would promote healthy lifestyles at a young age. However, we realized that this would be a pretty large undertaking for only four students without a means of providing funds for this event. We thought about getting sponsors for such an event, but then decided that it would be difficult to get everything together by April. Instead, we have decided to sponsor an on campus lecture in which a panel of speakers in nutrition and health fields will discuss the fallacies of junk food advertisements and how we can advocate healthy lifestyles/eating in a more appealing manner. We still have some specifics to nail down, like who in particular we plan to ask to be on the panel, when/where it will take place, etc. However, we are excited about the event that we are advocating and hope that with the necessary planning and publicity it will be successful in raising students' awareness of the importance of healthy eating.

As always, thanks for reading, and if you have any suggestions for health/nutrition professionals who we could invite, please let me know. :)

Have a wonderful afternoon!