1. I would like to do a story about trends at schools and universities using more "green" materials in their dining areas. WSU Dining Services recently partnered with Cedar Grove Packaging, which makes bio-degradable dinnerware, utensils and containers. I would like to focus on this and what other schools and universities in the area have also opted to use more environmentally friendly dinnerware.
2. I could also do a story on the trend of making all new buildings built on campus more "green." I'm not quite sure where I would start with that one, but it's an idea.
Friday, October 30, 2009
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Document story ideas
1. How much money the university has spent on making the "new" CUB more sustainable (the toilets that you flush certain ways to conserve water, the materials used, and such). Maybe how much money the university has spent over the last year for any new buildings that they made sustainable. How much money is this stuff really saving? How much water is actually conserved by the way the toilets flush?
2. How much environmentally friendly stuff has the Bookie been selling over the year? Are sales up because of people buying "green" stuff?
2. How much environmentally friendly stuff has the Bookie been selling over the year? Are sales up because of people buying "green" stuff?
Peer edits
1. The 2,800-square-foot four-bedroom house will be built on a concrete foundation.
2. Carlton, owner of Palouse Synergy Systems, (said eastern Washington) could be transformed into a renewable energy leader if people understood the benefits.
3. “I got a double with a full bath,” WSU Vice President of Economic Development and Global Engagement John Gardner said. “I lived in Gannon-Golds for two years, and then I switched over here—(this is a) huge (no caps) difference.”
4. PCEI is hoping to offer workshops, like the artists’ studio roof, so that locals value and know how to implement sustainable techniques, she said.
5. “The new dorm is likely to receive the silver rating,” Gardner said. (Transition)
"Everything we do has a consequence,” Englund said about sustainability methods, consumption, (no comma) and ecological footprints. “We just have to be aware (of) the butterfly effect.”
6. He also raises money for student scholarships.
7. She said she has been ostracized in her dorm, and she might move to another hall.
8. Though helping to improve Pullman’s atmosphere, SEL doesn'y make Pullman immune from the recession, Sherman said.
2. Carlton, owner of Palouse Synergy Systems, (said eastern Washington) could be transformed into a renewable energy leader if people understood the benefits.
3. “I got a double with a full bath,” WSU Vice President of Economic Development and Global Engagement John Gardner said. “I lived in Gannon-Golds for two years, and then I switched over here—(this is a) huge (no caps) difference.”
4. PCEI is hoping to offer workshops, like the artists’ studio roof, so that locals value and know how to implement sustainable techniques, she said.
5. “The new dorm is likely to receive the silver rating,” Gardner said. (Transition)
"Everything we do has a consequence,” Englund said about sustainability methods, consumption, (no comma) and ecological footprints. “We just have to be aware (of) the butterfly effect.”
6. He also raises money for student scholarships.
7. She said she has been ostracized in her dorm, and she might move to another hall.
8. Though helping to improve Pullman’s atmosphere, SEL doesn'y make Pullman immune from the recession, Sherman said.
Monday, October 26, 2009
Beat update Oct. 27
1. From the Daily Evergreen: "Sigma Nu builds new home."
2. Also from the Daily Evergreen: "Senate passes bill giving WSU $1 million."
2. Also from the Daily Evergreen: "Senate passes bill giving WSU $1 million."
Thursday, October 22, 2009
News profile story
Pullman resident takes “going green” to a whole new level
When most people think of building a sustainable house, they think of throwing a few solar panels on the roof and buying an “environmentally friendly” dishwasher.
For WSU Capital Planning Project Manager Dyonne Davidson, constructing a “green” home meant starting from scratch – solar panels included.
“That was one of my conditions for moving up here,” said Davidson, who moved to Pullman from Portland, Ore. “That I would get to design this ‘green’ house and eventually have it built.”
Davidson said her main goal in designing the house, located at 1310 SE Harvest Drive, is to reduce the energy consumption caused mostly by heating and cooling.
Homes and other buildings use 70 percent of the state’s electricity and are responsible for more than 30 percent of Washington’s carbon dioxide emissions, according to a house bill passed in the state of Washington.
After Davidson’s house is built, she said her energy use could potentially be cut by about 75 percent.
The 2,800-square-foot four-bedroom house will be built on a concrete foundation. The main floor of the house is also made of polished concrete. Davidson said a dark chocolate colorant was added to the floor cement mixture, along with some colored river rocks.
“Before we build any interior walls, we will take a grinder to bring down the surface of the concrete until it slices through the top of the aggregate, then bring it to a smooth polished finish,” she said.
Underneath the concrete lies 150 tons (two feet deep) of sand. Davidson said the sand plays a key role in retaining and storing heat throughout the winter. The sand bed retains heat through solar thermal panels mounted on the roof that send excess heat to the hydronic tubes located in the sand. The insulation around the sand bed helps to store the heat, essentially heating the house from the bottom up. Davidson said the sand alone cost her around $3,000.
Davidson said the solar thermal panels will also heat the water tank in the house, creating the hot water needed.
The house will not have an electric air conditioning system. These two essentials for any house, heat for the winter and cool air for the summer, will take care of themselves through Davidson’s designs.
Davidson designed the house so it has many windows placed strategically around it. These windows will create cross ventilation throughout the house. With those windows and a whole-house fan placed in the central area of the house, the house temperature will fluctuate little throughout the year.
Pullman Senior Building Inspector Greg Colvig said Davidson’s home is the only “green” building being constructed in the Pullman area that he is aware of at this time. However, Colvig said he was told by one contractor that a house constructed on Hanna Street is a LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) and there is also a commercial apartment building that developers have talked about being LEED-certified.
“Buildings built to the Washington State Building Code are required to be designed to meet minimum standards,” Colvig said. “Houses built in the state of Washington are very close to being ‘green’ buildings due to the requirements of the state energy code.”
Along with Davidson’s solar thermal panels, sand and concrete heating system, and windows placed around the house, her roof is also a sustainable one. She said she decided to have to roof made out of metal. When it rains, the water coming off the roof will be clean and won’t grab any of the toxins shingles or other roof materials might contain. The metal roof will also be very durable, lasting for a long time.
Donald Bender, professor and director of the wood materials and engineering laboratory in the College of Civil Engineering, said materials used when building a “green” home are important. Bender said wood is clearly a “green” material, being the only major construction material that is renewable.
“With other building materials such as concrete and steel, fossil fuels are required to make the material into useable products,” he said. “So, for these materials, they result in net carbon gain to the atmosphere.”
Not everyone has the financial means to build a “green” house from scratch like Davidson’s. However, she said some kinds of solar panels are a bit cheaper these days, providing opportunities for almost everyone to be able to do something more “green” with their house.
She said, however, that she definitely spent quite a bit more money on the materials and building costs for this “green” home than she would have to build a regular home. She said she is just hoping that in the long-run it will end up being cost-effective. Davidson said that most people, however, probably will not start from scratch to build a “green” house unless it’s made easy for them.
“Until something is really in your face, people aren’t really going to change,” she said.
SOURCES
Dyonne Davidson: Phone- 509-335-5974
E-mail- dyonne@wsu.edu
Greg Colvig: Phone: 509-338-3287
E-mail- greg.colvig@pullman-wa.gov
Donald Bender:
Phone- 509-335-2829
E-mail- bender@wsu.edu
When most people think of building a sustainable house, they think of throwing a few solar panels on the roof and buying an “environmentally friendly” dishwasher.
For WSU Capital Planning Project Manager Dyonne Davidson, constructing a “green” home meant starting from scratch – solar panels included.
“That was one of my conditions for moving up here,” said Davidson, who moved to Pullman from Portland, Ore. “That I would get to design this ‘green’ house and eventually have it built.”
Davidson said her main goal in designing the house, located at 1310 SE Harvest Drive, is to reduce the energy consumption caused mostly by heating and cooling.
Homes and other buildings use 70 percent of the state’s electricity and are responsible for more than 30 percent of Washington’s carbon dioxide emissions, according to a house bill passed in the state of Washington.
After Davidson’s house is built, she said her energy use could potentially be cut by about 75 percent.
The 2,800-square-foot four-bedroom house will be built on a concrete foundation. The main floor of the house is also made of polished concrete. Davidson said a dark chocolate colorant was added to the floor cement mixture, along with some colored river rocks.
“Before we build any interior walls, we will take a grinder to bring down the surface of the concrete until it slices through the top of the aggregate, then bring it to a smooth polished finish,” she said.
Underneath the concrete lies 150 tons (two feet deep) of sand. Davidson said the sand plays a key role in retaining and storing heat throughout the winter. The sand bed retains heat through solar thermal panels mounted on the roof that send excess heat to the hydronic tubes located in the sand. The insulation around the sand bed helps to store the heat, essentially heating the house from the bottom up. Davidson said the sand alone cost her around $3,000.
Davidson said the solar thermal panels will also heat the water tank in the house, creating the hot water needed.
The house will not have an electric air conditioning system. These two essentials for any house, heat for the winter and cool air for the summer, will take care of themselves through Davidson’s designs.
Davidson designed the house so it has many windows placed strategically around it. These windows will create cross ventilation throughout the house. With those windows and a whole-house fan placed in the central area of the house, the house temperature will fluctuate little throughout the year.
Pullman Senior Building Inspector Greg Colvig said Davidson’s home is the only “green” building being constructed in the Pullman area that he is aware of at this time. However, Colvig said he was told by one contractor that a house constructed on Hanna Street is a LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) and there is also a commercial apartment building that developers have talked about being LEED-certified.
“Buildings built to the Washington State Building Code are required to be designed to meet minimum standards,” Colvig said. “Houses built in the state of Washington are very close to being ‘green’ buildings due to the requirements of the state energy code.”
Along with Davidson’s solar thermal panels, sand and concrete heating system, and windows placed around the house, her roof is also a sustainable one. She said she decided to have to roof made out of metal. When it rains, the water coming off the roof will be clean and won’t grab any of the toxins shingles or other roof materials might contain. The metal roof will also be very durable, lasting for a long time.
Donald Bender, professor and director of the wood materials and engineering laboratory in the College of Civil Engineering, said materials used when building a “green” home are important. Bender said wood is clearly a “green” material, being the only major construction material that is renewable.
“With other building materials such as concrete and steel, fossil fuels are required to make the material into useable products,” he said. “So, for these materials, they result in net carbon gain to the atmosphere.”
Not everyone has the financial means to build a “green” house from scratch like Davidson’s. However, she said some kinds of solar panels are a bit cheaper these days, providing opportunities for almost everyone to be able to do something more “green” with their house.
She said, however, that she definitely spent quite a bit more money on the materials and building costs for this “green” home than she would have to build a regular home. She said she is just hoping that in the long-run it will end up being cost-effective. Davidson said that most people, however, probably will not start from scratch to build a “green” house unless it’s made easy for them.
“Until something is really in your face, people aren’t really going to change,” she said.
SOURCES
Dyonne Davidson: Phone- 509-335-5974
E-mail- dyonne@wsu.edu
Greg Colvig: Phone: 509-338-3287
E-mail- greg.colvig@pullman-wa.gov
Donald Bender:
Phone- 509-335-2829
E-mail- bender@wsu.edu
Monday, October 19, 2009
Beat update Oct. 20
A story from The New York Times titled "Green, convenient and wallet-friendly" by Lisa Prevost talks about some "green" apartment buildings that were being constructed in an area in Connecticut. The story discusses how occupants energy bills were much less due to the fact that these apartments were built "green."
Another story featured in The New York Times, but written by the Associated Press titled "Green walls taking root in green building design" is about a new form of "green" building called "green walls." These walls are covered in vegetation and provide natural insulation and remove air pollutants.
Another story featured in The New York Times, but written by the Associated Press titled "Green walls taking root in green building design" is about a new form of "green" building called "green walls." These walls are covered in vegetation and provide natural insulation and remove air pollutants.
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Records exercise
Page 1. On June 16, 2006, the Seattle P-I requested records on Enrique Fabergas. Who is Enrique and what records did the journalists find?
Enrique Fabregas is a man who was licensed as a foster parent, even though he had multilple referrrals due to allegations from his two foster daughters that he sexually and physically abused them. I believe the documents that the Seattle P.I. found were the 25 referrals about the girls in his file. These referrals came from teachers and other adults in the girls lives that believed Enrique was abusing his daughters. There were also reports found that say Enrique was also doing drugs. The documents were obtained from the Department of Social and Health Sciences.
Page 2. In February of 2005, The Spokesman-Review requested access to something called BART, which was overseen by something called the “Mitigating Circumstances Review Board.” Find the news story that resulted from this request.
"DSHS check clear convicts; 174 kept jobs despite murder, rape and more"
Page 3. This is an internal records release form. How is this different from a public records request?
I am not 100 percent sure, but I'm assuming the internal records are ones that an agency chooses to give to a reporter, and the public records request just ask for all public records that legally have to be given to the reporter if they ask for them. Internal ones would include these legal ones, but also if the agency wants to give more information and more records than they have to.
Page 4. This is the agency’s response to a records request. What does RCW 13.50.100 say about public records?
(1) This section governs records not covered by RCW 13.50.050. (2) Records covered by this section shall be confidential and shall be released only pursuant to this section and RCW 13.50.010. (3) Records retained or produced by any juvenile justice or care agency may be released to other participants in the juvenile justice or care system only when an investigation or case involving the juvenile in question is being pursued by the other participant or when that other participant is assigned the responsibility of supervising the juvenile. Records covered under this section and maintained by the juvenile courts which relate to the official actions of the agency may be entered in the statewide judicial information system. However, truancy records associated with a juvenile who has no other case history, and records of a juvenile's parents who have no other case history, shall be removed from the judicial information system when the juvenile is no longer subject to the compulsory attendance laws in chapter 28A.225 RCW. A county clerk is not liable for unauthorized release of this data by persons or agencies not in his or her employ or otherwise subject to his or her control, nor is the county clerk liable for inaccurate or incomplete information collected from litigants or other persons required to provide identifying data pursuant to this section (In a nutshell...)
Page 5 through 9. Review the pages.
a. It’s actually the same two-page report with two copies in the state records system. Why two copies?
One has notes on it and one does not.
b. What is the priest’s account of how the boy lost a 4-inch clump of hair?
He said that the boy was attempting to run away from the ranch and that he was supposed to give 5 hacks and the boy refused the hacks. The priest said the boy attempted to get up from his chair suddenly while the priest had his hair in his hand, resulting in the chunk being pulled out.
c. What are the alleged and acknowledge forms of corporal punishment at the home?
Haircutting, hacks, hand-slapping
d. Why are notes written on the page but not included in the body of the report? Can you use those if they aren’t in the official report?
Yes, we can use those.
e. The ‘Incident Report’ page has been labeled ‘draft.’ Why was it released?
f. Why is a routing slip included in the report? Find the RCW that requires the release of this slip.
g. Who or what precipitated this investigation?
The mother issued a complaint and a counselor at Morning Star also called.
h. Finally, here’s the story that resulted in 1978. Why did the state refuse to release the report in 1978?
Because of "confidentiality of clients."
Enrique Fabregas is a man who was licensed as a foster parent, even though he had multilple referrrals due to allegations from his two foster daughters that he sexually and physically abused them. I believe the documents that the Seattle P.I. found were the 25 referrals about the girls in his file. These referrals came from teachers and other adults in the girls lives that believed Enrique was abusing his daughters. There were also reports found that say Enrique was also doing drugs. The documents were obtained from the Department of Social and Health Sciences.
Page 2. In February of 2005, The Spokesman-Review requested access to something called BART, which was overseen by something called the “Mitigating Circumstances Review Board.” Find the news story that resulted from this request.
"DSHS check clear convicts; 174 kept jobs despite murder, rape and more"
Page 3. This is an internal records release form. How is this different from a public records request?
I am not 100 percent sure, but I'm assuming the internal records are ones that an agency chooses to give to a reporter, and the public records request just ask for all public records that legally have to be given to the reporter if they ask for them. Internal ones would include these legal ones, but also if the agency wants to give more information and more records than they have to.
Page 4. This is the agency’s response to a records request. What does RCW 13.50.100 say about public records?
(1) This section governs records not covered by RCW 13.50.050. (2) Records covered by this section shall be confidential and shall be released only pursuant to this section and RCW 13.50.010. (3) Records retained or produced by any juvenile justice or care agency may be released to other participants in the juvenile justice or care system only when an investigation or case involving the juvenile in question is being pursued by the other participant or when that other participant is assigned the responsibility of supervising the juvenile. Records covered under this section and maintained by the juvenile courts which relate to the official actions of the agency may be entered in the statewide judicial information system. However, truancy records associated with a juvenile who has no other case history, and records of a juvenile's parents who have no other case history, shall be removed from the judicial information system when the juvenile is no longer subject to the compulsory attendance laws in chapter 28A.225 RCW. A county clerk is not liable for unauthorized release of this data by persons or agencies not in his or her employ or otherwise subject to his or her control, nor is the county clerk liable for inaccurate or incomplete information collected from litigants or other persons required to provide identifying data pursuant to this section (In a nutshell...)
Page 5 through 9. Review the pages.
a. It’s actually the same two-page report with two copies in the state records system. Why two copies?
One has notes on it and one does not.
b. What is the priest’s account of how the boy lost a 4-inch clump of hair?
He said that the boy was attempting to run away from the ranch and that he was supposed to give 5 hacks and the boy refused the hacks. The priest said the boy attempted to get up from his chair suddenly while the priest had his hair in his hand, resulting in the chunk being pulled out.
c. What are the alleged and acknowledge forms of corporal punishment at the home?
Haircutting, hacks, hand-slapping
d. Why are notes written on the page but not included in the body of the report? Can you use those if they aren’t in the official report?
Yes, we can use those.
e. The ‘Incident Report’ page has been labeled ‘draft.’ Why was it released?
f. Why is a routing slip included in the report? Find the RCW that requires the release of this slip.
g. Who or what precipitated this investigation?
The mother issued a complaint and a counselor at Morning Star also called.
h. Finally, here’s the story that resulted in 1978. Why did the state refuse to release the report in 1978?
Because of "confidentiality of clients."
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