23-Year-Old Blogger Lectures Class

“If any of you are ever offered a job covering politics and asked to start the day before Election Day, don’t do it. It’s a bad idea.”

Jimmy Vielkind, 23 of Troy, NY, spoke to a group of journalism students tonight at UAlbany. Vielkind, former cops reporter for the Times Union, recently took a position as a blogger for politickerny.com. Vielkind covers all things upstate New York politics for the site.

Vielkind admits that his recent career choice has its risk.

Jimmy Vielkind image courtesy of timesunion.com

“I left the Times Union, bastion of stability and important part of community, to join an online media outlet that might not be around in 153 days,” said Vielkind.

Some of his colleagues at the Times Union thought he was nuts, but Vielkind would argue it was a well-reasoned move.

“Online media appeals to me. I’m convinced online media is the way to go. Every morning you wake up and get the newspaper delivered to your door, its state of the art technology as of 100 years ago,” said Vielkind. “You don’t have to just use words; you’re not constrained as a writer to just use words. It’s a more powerful medium.”

The new challenge of using photos, links, and videos to supplement his work is not the only perk of his new job. Vielkind said that during his time at the Times Union he worked the night time cop shift from 4 p.m. to midnight.

“The only people I would socialize with were the old women at the library where I would check books out in the morning,” said Vielkind.

His new job at politickerny.com offers him more regular hours.

Overall Vielkind couldn’t have seemed happier with his new job, and his optimism about the field of online journalism was inspiring to the room full of students.

“I’m seriously convinced that this is the future. As we as a society figure out how we are going to consume news and information in the future, and we as journalists are deciding how to report news in the future, I want to be a part of it,” said Vielkind.

Campus Reacts to Obama Win

Last night Barack Obama won what was being billed as the most important election of our lives. 

Nearly 24 hours later some students on UAlbany’s campus are still feeling the excitement, while for others it’s just another day.

Kyra Pearson, 20 of Mount Vernon NY, had just woken up when she heard about the results last night. “I wanted to cry, but I couldn’t. My eyes were dry.”

Pearson joined a celebration of students in the Empire Commons section of campus.

“I ran outside yelling and screaming. There were a lot of people outside.  It was pretty crazy,” said Pearson.

Students also celebrated by the Campus Center.

image courtesy of barackobama.com

“I have never seen every single person in one place so elated,” said Fola Badejo, 20 of Hudson NY. “people were running and dancing by the fountain.”

Badejo was not registered to vote.  “If I could have I would have voted for Obama 100 percent. I cried for 20 minutes last night,” she said.

Badejo got the good news via text message.  “When I woke up this morning I cried again,” she said.

For Max Rubinstein, 19 of Marlboro NJ, it was just another day on campus. Rubinstein voted for John McCain over a week ago using an absentee ballot.

“I was a little disappointed. I expected it to be closer,” said Rubinstein. “Some people seemed pretty happy about it, for me it was just another day.”

Will Jackson, 19 of Houston Texas, also voted for McCain. “It’s like a silent majority. It’s taboo for young college kids to not like Obama.”

Holly Smith an 18-year-old freshmen has a unique perspective on the election. Smith is from Staffordshire, England. “I couldn’t vote. Back home we all wanted him to win though. He has gotten all the press.”

Smith thinks that Obama’s win might help how European countries feel about the United States.

“I think it will make people more attracted. I don’t like America being the world police. And I don’t think Obama will act that way,” she said.

Students React to Uptown Shooting

 

Richard Bailey, a 22 year-old student at UAlbany, died Tuesday October 21^th after being shot in the head the night before.  Bailey was walking alone around 11:20 p.m. when he was gunned down at the intersection of South Lake Avenue and Yates Street, just blocks from his off-campus home.

Memorial on South Lake Street photo Cindy Schultz/Times Union

A week later police are still looking for suspects and students are still looking for answers.

“It’s awful.  A random act like that.  It could have been anyone, any one of us,” Said Vince Laviano, 23 year-old English major at UAlbany.

The incident hit close to home to Vince even though he currently commutes to campus from Troy.

“My girlfriend lives right near there.  It’s creepy because it’s not like a bad neighborhood.  There are families living there, its not even all students,” Said Laviano.

He says he’s not sure if the shooting changes his mind entirely on the safety of the neighborhood, but it has definitely made him think about safety.

“I was walking to my car the other night and I did feel different.  Even leaving class, I have a night class and even on campus, it’s messed up because you don’t know what could happen,” said Laviano.

Vince Laviano speaks about shooting photo by Adam Marschilok

Students received an email alert from the University felt little change on campus.

“I had a mid-term exam Wednesday morning,” said Zane, 21.  “It went on like nothing happened, there was no mention of it.”

Zane lives on Quail Street in a popular student neighborhood.  He doesn’t see much he can do to change other then walk in groups at night.

Dan Carroll, 24, graduated from UAlbany in 2007 and lives and works in Albany.  During his time as a student he lived in an uptown neighborhood until he was the victim of a home invasion and robbery.

“I came home one day and I’d been robbed, someone broke in,” Said Carroll.  He decided to move soon after.

The death of Richard Bailey may be a tragic exclamation point on an already existing problem.

“It got to a point where I didn’t feel safe and had to move,” said Carroll.