Nancy's Cupcakery-Final Project

In 1796, the term cupcake was first introduced in an American cookbook by Amelia Simms. These mini-cakes can be used for almost any event, from a child’s birthday party to a four-tiered cupcake arrangement for weddings. For eating, the record for consuming these petite treats is 29 in 30 seconds. For baking, the current holder is GourmetGiftBaskets.com who baked a 1,224 pound giant cupcake with over 2 million calories baked right in.

Ironically, today is December 15^th known as National Cupcake Day and many cupcake lovers around the world celebrate their love with tons of flavor and sweetness. In Norman, Nancy Russell celebrates in her store Cookies ‘n’ Cards with sugar crazed college students, as well as children and adults.

Nancy is unique because of her love and passion for baking.

Run Time: 2:20

Video By: Katie Piper, Rachel Santschi, Megan Gay and Megan Lawson

Never Big Enough

Americans are some of the most superficial humans in the world. Everyone is caught up in having the greatest status, the most expensive things, and looking the best, and women have it the hardest. One of the most expensive and most popular items a female can spend on herself is an alteration of her body, her breasts. In America, three to four thousand dollars are spent on each breast reduction or implantation surgery. In a local office in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, Dr. Mike Gonce has patients that spend $3,200 to $4,200 per breast augmentation. That adds up to about 14 surgeries in comparison to the cost of an out-of-state tuition at the University of Oklahoma! Although over $4,000 are spent on this specific surgery, breast implants are one of the most risky surgeries to have done.



Silicone gel filled breast implants



Before women should decide to go forth with breast implant surgery, they need to consider a few facts about things that could go wrong:

They can break

Breast hardness

Nipple numbness

Dying skin

Additional surgery

Back and chest pains

Implants can make it difficult to detect breast cancer

Other things that women need to know before they transform their body:

·         In November 2006, the FDA approved silicone gel breast implants for the first time for women age 22 or older only.

·         Four of ten reconstruction patients need extra surgery within 3 years of implantation.

·         In 2007, there was a decrease of breast surgeries by 12% due to the struggling economy.

·         Breast surgeries are the number one cosmetic surgeries performed in the U.S.

·         In 2009, over 289,000 breast augmentation procedures were performed in the U.S. with a little less than 1/3 of those surgeries were on patients from age 30-39.

For Dr. Gonce, cosmetic surgery is a way for him to provide individual time to his patients to make them feel better about themselves. Dr. Mike Gonce graduated from the University of Oklahoma and received his Cosmetic Surgery training from Lenox Hill Hospital in Manhattan, New York. On his web page, Dr. Gonce mentions that he believes in honesty and a strong work ethic which allows him to excel in the cosmetic and plastic surgery industry. For more information, visit his website at http://www.gonce.com/html/about.php.

New York plastic surgeon Dr. George Lefkovits talks about the future of breast augmentation in the next 10, 50, and even 100 years. In Dr. Lefkovits opinion, within the next 10 years natural breast augmentation will use stem cells to improve reliability and some clinics are starting to currently use this method for surgeries. In the next 50 years, Dr. Lefkovits says that scientists will create a tissue mold that will give breasts a desireable size and shape so that women can custom-grow their breasts. As for the next 100 years, women will be able to control their breast growth by learning to turn them on and off at will with genetic triggers. Therefore, with all of these new technological practices, breast augmentation doesn’t seem to be going away for quite some time.

Photos courtesy of Wikipedia and Gonce.com

Prevention and Risks of a Nail Biter

There are many risks with getting acrylic nails, yet many women still want them. These reasons may be to stop a nail biting habit, for beauty purposes, or to make their nails look longer. However, when thinking of fake nails, many don’t consider the health risks that could damage your real nails.

Some of the common risks and side effects of using acrylic nails includes:

Burning skin

Turning color of nails (green, brown, or white)

Disintegrating nails

The aftermath of having fake nails

These health issues occur for many reasons, but to the prevent them from happening, the department of health must ensure that every worker in a salon is licensed.

One of the biggest issues with fake nails is a risk that is a misconception with many women. There is a fungus that is commonly called acrylic nail fungus, but it has nothing to do with acrylic nails. However, if an acrylic nail is not put on properly, the fungus can form under the nail, but the fungus can happen with or without the acrylic nails. Also, many nail salons use a gel called methyl methacrylate which is used as a sealant for the acrylic nails. This sealant can give nails an infection and must be treated by a doctor.



A minor case of ingrown nail on the right side



As there are many nail salons in Oklahoma, the risk to develop a nail disease through a nail salon is high. Fortunately, there is a place where victims of nail fungus can get help. There are many locations of the company Laser Nail Center throughout Oklahoma, where victims can get a drug-free laser treatment to eliminate fungus pathogens. To keep customers warned about the dangers of getting different nail procedures done, every nail salon is required to be licensed for practice by the Department of Health, all cosmetologists must have a license, and the salon must have their license displayed or available to show if asked to view.

Many success stories have come from the Laser Nail Centers in Oklahoma. The treatment has really impacted those who needed help and they shared a few words of gratitude. “The staff and physicians were all very upfront and honest about all aspects of the laser toenail fungus treatment, explaining, costs, success prognosis and how the treatment would work. I am very pleased with my experience with the Laser Nail Center,” quoted from a customer of Laser Nail Center.

From my research, hopefully readers will think about if they are willing to risk infections and maybe nail damage at salons. The various locations of the Laser Nail Center are still currently taking calls for appointments all throughout Oklahoma and can continue helping people with their nail problems.

Nancy's Cupcakery

In a tiny shop on Campus Corner, a woman uses flour, eggs, the oven, and love to create the best cupcakes in all of Oklahoma. She has displayed her pride and joy at her store Cookies N Cards for 26 years and will do anything to make her customers happy.

Nancy Russell is unique because of her love and passion for baking.

Runtime: 2:32:11

Video By: Katie Piper, Rachel Santschi, Megan Lawson and Megan Gay

Comm Speech

A Bed of Cancer

Many teenagers want to have a tan complexion all year round, but it is safe to lather your body with color? Within the last two years, at least 32 states have passed laws restricting minors to use tanning equipment without parental consent, and other various restrictions. These new laws are to prevent young teens from developing skin cancer as adults. This risk comes from the ultraviolet lights used in many tanning beds and the exposure gives young teens a very risky future.



Photo of a Melanoma skin cancer spot


There are two different types of skin cancer that teenagers can get from using various tanning equipment, melanoma and nonmelanoma. Both types are very similar however, melanoma is more dangerous and potentially fatal. Melanoma is most likely to spread through sunburns, fair skin, freckles, moles, and family histories of melanoma. If caught during the early stage, melanoma and nonmelanoma skin cancer can be treated. To lower the risk of developing skin cancer, the American Cancer Society suggests to stay out of sunlight from 10 am to 4 pm which the sun's rays are strongest, weat protective sun gear while outside such as hats and sunglasses, and of course avoid tanning devices with ultraviolet lighting. Unfortunately, the National Cancer Institute reports that about half of Americans who live to age 65 will develop skin cancer therefore, nobody is safe.

Unfortunately, out of the 32 states with tanning regulations, Oklahoma is not one of them. In 2009, State Senator Andrew Rice proposed Bill SB 544 to prohibit minors to use tanning devices without a parent/legal guardian consent form, and for children under 13 to have a parent present along with a physician consent form. In 2010, the bill was not passed but if it had been, the state Health Department would've been required to investigatee salons and complaints and violations would be fined $500. Luckily, some tanning salons in Oklahoma do have their company consent forms that they are legally allowed to give out. The At The Beach Oklahoma City location requires customers under the age of 14 to have a parent present and written permission.


An example of how bad tanning can affect your beauty

When Senator Rice was promoting the SB 544 bill, he really tried to express the need for this bill to pass, "My hope is that my bill will help Oklahomans and make parents and others more aware of the dangers of tanning, particularly among adolescents." Of course, the bill didn't pass but the impact that Rice put on the bill hopefully stuck with many parents who have children who tan or are wanting to begin using taning facilities.

Only time can tell when or if Oklahoma will pass a law about minors who tan, but 32 other states have successfully began to shield younger children and teens from risking their health just for a little color. This future bill could save a life from skin cancer, so why are we waiting?


Photos courtesy of whydidigowrong.co.uk and skincanceronface.com

The Adventures of a Cameraman

Ray Bribiesca spoke Monday, November 1^st in the Hall of Fame Room of the Gaylord College of Journalism and Mass Communication about his job with 60 Minutes. Bribiesca gave us an idea of what his job entails as a photojournalist by showing a 60 Minutes video segment about American soldiers fighting in the war against Afghanistan. This story showed what Bribiesca does every day in his job. The war clip in particular showed Bribiesca putting himself in danger to get the story told. “The point of a photojournalist is to document a story so that the audience knows what’s going on if you turn the audio off,” Bribiesca said.

Bribiesca also played a video clip from the 60 Minutes website where viewers can watch behind-the-scene videos to get more in depth with different stories. Bribiesca went on to talk a little bit about how even when he’s not working with 60 Minutes, he feels that he needs to always be prepared for a news story to break out. He does this by always keeping a camera in his car just in case something happens.

Bribiesca fought in the Vietnam War, so when he had to shoot footage for the war in Afghanistan, it was a little more meaningful to him. However, in the video we saw him take shots of video footage where he had nothing protecting him from getting shot by the Afghans. Bribiesca mentioned that the story was important for people to see and he wanted to do anything to get that story across. This was a true sign of how dedicated Bribiesca is to his work.

Bribiesca gave different insights on what he thought was important to keep in mind for the field of journalism. He used many examples from his own personal work to back up his advice for the students who listened to his lecture. One thing that stuck out in his speech was directed toward measuring yourself in the world of journalism. “In 60 Minutes, you are only as good as your last story,” Bribiesca said.

Bribiesca is now retiring from 60 Minutes after decades of filming. The day after his lecture at OU, he left for Yemen to finish his final work as a photojournalist for 60 Minutes. However, for Ray Bribiesca, his work will never end.

Midterm Project- Amanda Guerra

The person whose job I want in the future is KOCO’s Eyewitness News 5 team member Amanda Guerra. Amanda grew up in Dallas, Texas but graduated from the University of Oklahoma in December of 2007. Amanda interned at KOCO-TV before signing on as a general assignment reporter. Amanda’s job entails reporting on site for different news stories such as house fires and deaths and filling in as an anchor when needed.

Amanda’s job has a great impact on the world and especially the world around the Oklahoma City area. With her updates on the news, people can understand and be informed about what’s going on in their area. The KOCO-TV is an affiliate of ABC News and has been owned by Hearst Television Incorporation since 1997. KOCO-TV has recently changed their beginning newscast to 4:30 a.m. to allow more time for news reporting. Amanda’s schedule is 9:30 to 6:30 p.m. which is the highlight of news reporting for the Oklahoma City area. In the tables below, is the average audience viewing of newscasts. There was a fall in viewership in morning, early evening, and late night news shows between 2008 and 2009. This decline is in comparison between all major television affiliates. (NBC, ABC, FOX, and CBS) The Hearst Television Corp. is trying their best to keep ratings up. Unfortunately, even due to this decline, their yearly financials is costing over 4 billion dollars.

Total Average Audience for Early Evening News, 2009 In Millions

Sweep Month	2008	2009	Percentage Change
May	23.8	22.5	-5.4%
July	22.3	20.9	-6.3
November	26.3	25	-4.9
Average	24.1	22.8	-5.5

Source: Nielsen Media Research, used under license
Note: Numbers represent ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC affiliates 

Total Average Audience for Late News, 2009 In Millions

Sweep Month	2008	2009	Percentage Change
May	29.6	28.6	-3.7%
July	25.7	23.9	-7
November	28.6	25.9	-9.1
Average	28.0	26.1	-6.5

Source: Nielsen Media Research, used under license
Note: Numbers represent ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC affiliates

Total Average Audience for Morning News, 2009 In Millions

Sweep Month	2008	2009	Percentage Change
May	12.9	12.5	-3.9%
July	9.9	9.2	-7
November	13.1	12.2	-7.6
Average	12.0	11.2	-6.

 Source: Nielsen Media Research, used under license
Note: Numbers represent ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC affiliates

 

Even though the ratings of 2009 viewership were down in comparison to 2008, the local news investment stated that over 400 jobs were lost in 2009 but more than 1,000 jobs were lost in 2008. There must be something that needs to change in the industry to keep these jobs alive. According to State of the News Media 2010, the local revenue over the past 7 years has been slowly up and down, but the past two years has been at its lowest. Fortunately, financial analysts say that the revenues for advertising should increase in 2010 which is projected in the chart below. Hopefully this will positively impact the news industry.

Local Television Revenue, 2003-2010

Total Revenue

 

Source: BIA/Kelsey Group

Amanda took me on a tour of the Eyewitness News 5 studio. Different things about what she has to do in a day stood out to me. She also provided many things that other people in her company do to make her job easier. "Our photographers will edit our packages," Amanda said. "But as far as VO's, teases, even sports stuff and stuff for us, they do it all." (Referring to producers in the  studio.) The most important thing that stood out to me is what Amanda was told by her boss and by then knowing she was stepping in the right direction towards her career. "She came up and she just said 'I like what you're doing...you work hard.' And then she walked away."

When I asked Amanda about what she thought her future entailed, she didn't really give me a straight answer because she said she didn't really know, but she really enjoys her job. This was the key to her advice for others who want to join the career of journalism. "You have to know what your getting into," Amanda said. "You have to like what you want to do because some days the stories are going to suck and you are not going to like it." 

 
 

Caring About Color Care

Many women in society decide to change their hair color for many reasons. Whether it's to cover gray hairs, try something different, or to fit in with the popular crowd, many women believe the only important thing about coloring their hair is what color they want. Before deciding if coloring your hair is something you want to do, one must know the different types of hair color:

Permanent hair color- Permanent change in pigment of the hair shaft. Will fade, can be removed but never to original color.
Single process color-Color is lifted and deposited.
Semi-Permanent- Can cover gray and go dark, but not lighten.
Deposit only color- Deposits color, glazes color, enhances color.

A lot of things go into coloring hair, and many women don't realize what goes into their hair and how they're hair is effected. To know exactly what coloring your hair entails, consumers need to remember two rules of what coloring really means:
1. Hair color is not hair paint.
2. Do your homework before you color.

Along with rules and things to consider with hair coloring, women need to understand levels of hair coloring. Levels consist of light versus dark color and reflected versus seeing color. Some colors may reflect better color than what you really see. Without knowing these facts and doing research about color, prevents mistakes in hair coloring that can ruin your hair.

Hair coloring can make you or break you. A lot of women who have colored their hair want to make a statement to the world. Hair master Henry Amador of South Florida reaches out to clients by quilting hair strands on clients for a unique look that nobody else has. In an interview with a representative from hairboutique.com, Amador mentioned that some people today still want to follow trends of popular celebrities, but mostly want to "do their own thing".

The big question in hair coloring is why do some people decide to color their hair and why some women never want to color their hair. Freshman Emily Otness has never colored her hair. Below is her testimony on why she's never decided to go beyond her natural color.

Melissa Halley has colored her hair practically every color in the rainbow. She began at age 16 and still colors it to this day. "I first highlighted my hair because I wanted a change, something different," Halley said. "Ten years later, I still color my hair. Unfortunately, I gray early, so that's the main reason why I still color."

Hopefully, a few facts, things to consider, and personal opinions helped you learn more about hair coloring for the next time. Always be careful in your coloring decisions, study the effects, get a friendly opinion, or see what the newest trend is. This trend is very popular and doesn't seem to be leaving soon.

Audio Test

Here is my audio test.

"I'll have an order of cosmetics, hold the animal cruelty"

Samina Akhter released a halal certified makeup line in Birmingham, England of June 2010 to ensure ethical ingredients for her and other Muslim women. Akhter's line, Samina Pure Mineral Makeup, consists of lipstick, eyeliner, blush, and mineral foundation that are all halal certified. Under Islamic law, halal food and products are permissible. Halal excludes anything containing alcohol, pork, and by-products of animals that are slaughtered or harmed.

After two years of research, Akhter was glad to present this line for Muslim women under Islamic law, but didn't expect such a high interest in non-Muslims as well. This line took a hit with a variety of consumers because it is a line of animal and alcohol-free products. This was a great impact for the Middle East whose current growth in the cosmetic industry is 12 percent each year.

Akhter began her research simply by reading and investigating the ingredients on the backs of different beauty products. She found some shocking discoveries. Collagen and hyaluronic acid comes from pig or cow placenta and are commonly found in anti-aging creams. In many foundations, mascaras and moisturizers, stearic acid is used coming from pig's stomachs. Even some hair products use chemicals from animal hair, nails and hooves. All of the ingredients in these products of course went against Islamic law, which was Akhter's initial drive to find an alternative.

Akhter really gave her insight on the reason she wanted to create this line. "I was becoming more of a practicing Muslim, and I was concerned that the same things that are not permissible for me to eat might be in the makeup I'm using," Akhter said. "I never had any clue what was really in my makeup."

It's obvious that the makeup line appeals to Muslim women and women against animal cruelty, but do the products work any better without halal ingredients? Style editor Bobbie Thomas of the TODAY show put in his two sense on the answer. "Some companies use these ingredients for economic reasons- because they are cheap to get...," Thomas said. However, Thomas also claimed that makeup lines such as Samina Pure stood a chance in today's cosmetics world because it's different.

Information courtesy of TODAYshow.com. Photos courtesy of Samina Akhter and Samina Pure.

The effects of chewing gum

Chewing gum can be used for relaxing purposes, to reduce stress while studying, or just for something to keep your mind and your mouth occupied. This reliever may be fun to chew on, but is it healthy for your teeth? In many ways it is. A few years ago the popular chewing gum flavor Big Red was recognized as a gum that reduces bacteria that causes bad breath in Chicago. Along with Big Red, Xylitol sugar free gum is considered a great gum that is healthy for teeth.

Xylitol is proven to fight and reduce plaque, fight cavities, increase bone mass and other things to keep your teeth healthy. Gum also helps stimulate saliva production which can wash away bacteria acid. Chewing gum also moistens your mouth and freshens up your breath. However, because gum contains sweetener, if it’s left in the mouth too long it can damage the teeth with sugar residue. Also, too much gum chewing can result to jaw clicking and popping, and mouth muscle pains.

In retrospect to the effects of chewing gum, sugar free gums and regular gums obviously have their own pros and cons. Chewing gum originated in the mid 1800s in the tropical rain forests of Central America. The saps from tropical trees were peeled off for a flavorless food to chew on. Of course, gum is now a mass-produced product. The best thing to do to prevent gum damaging effects is to find gum with Xylitol to prevent gum diseases and decay.

Dental hygienist Carla Lewis mentioned a few things to keep in mind while choosing what gum to chew and how to take care of your teeth while chewing the gum. “Xylitol is really good especially if you don’t have time to brush,” Lewis said. “If you have to drink soda that is not diet or sugar free, always try to rinse your mouth out afterwards.”

Specialists and dentists are still trying to find the cleanest and healthiest gum to chew every day. Not every type of gum will be completely healthy, but dentists recommend Xylitol to being closest to perfection. The best advice is to choose what you want your gum to do for you and make a selection on what fits your needs. Whether it’s to keep pearly white teeth clean, or just a mouth full of flavor to last you through the hour.

5 Graph on "Blogging for Social Change"

The News:

Mona Eltahawy spoke Wednesday, September 15th in the Heritage Room of the Oklahoma Memorial Union about Blogging for Social Change. Eltahawy teaches "Women in media in the Middle East" at the University of Oklahoma and is an activist in residence. Eltahawy also spoke about her blogging experiences (started in 2005) and other countries that have been blogging the last few years.

The Impact:

Eltahawy explained how the Middle East was using blogs and used these facts:

• Middle East blogs are perceived as dictatorships that are just venting.
• Egypt now has over 6,000 blogs in circulation.
• Egypt has been under severe police brutality for almost 30 years.

Eltahawy spent alot of time talking about an incident that happened with blogging in Egypt. A man in Egypt had been killed by the police force after he posted a video on facebook of a police officer being involved with a drug deal. This had led Eltahawy on a further interest in blogging.

The Human Dimension:

Eltahawy talked about many of her own personal experiences when dealing with blogging. After the tragedy of 9/11, Eltahawy began opinion writing which is usually how most amateur blogs begin. Eltahawy mentioned her opinion on how to be a good  blogger, "The best way to blog is to go out there. Challenge yourself in your blogs and in your writing." The audience seemed to really connect to her statement, therefore the questions they asked went deeper into being a better blogger.

What's Next:

Learning about how blogs are effected in the social world, really helped develop the importance of not only blogging in the U.S., but accurate blogging for a purpose. The lecture made the students in the audience understand better about blogging, how and why to blog, and now the function of blogging can make a difference in the world, whether negative or positive.