All the Sides of Dawgfest

Article by Brittney Vidal, M&M TIPster
Photos by Maddie Kim, M&M TIPster

This past weekend, TIPsters participated in Dawgfest. Dawgfest is a TIP field day where multiple teams compete in a series of events to become TIP champions. This year there were five teams- Orange, Red, Green, Pink, and Blue. Each team was required to come up with a team name and a team-cheer. Below are the interviews with one member from each team.
Madeleine Kim (Maddie) was part of the orange team, the Orange Mongeese. When asked why they chose that name, Maddie replied, “We wanted something goofy and funny. We also wanted it to rhyme with a lot of things for an easy cheer.” Unfortunately the other teams didn’t have as good of a strategy in Maddie’s opinion. She thought that the Red team’s cheer was creepy, and that the blue team’s was interesting, but not everyone knew it. The pink team’s was unmemorable, except for the gymnastics stunt at the end. Green had cool costumes, but it was uncreative. “We were loud and proud!” Maddie says about the cheer she made up for the Orange team. Maddie participated in the Watermelon relay, beach ball relay, and the water balloon relay. Her favorite event to watch was the Seven Seas because it involved people getting hit by flying water balloons. “If we didn’t win, we sure as anything got second. We kicked butt!” says high spirited Maddie. “Go Orange Mongeese!”
Red team member, Emma Lawson shared her thoughts about Dawgfest. She was part of the Red Army, a joke about communism. Her reason for choosing the name “Red Army” was that the guys in her group were obsessed with Russian accents; they wanted to have a silly reference to Russia in their cheer. When asked about the other teams’ cheers, Emma’s reply was, “I thought they were a lot more creative than ours.” Emma participated in the cheesy puff toss and the water balloon relay. In her opinion, rock tree bridge was the most entertaining event to watch. The Dawgfest was a fun day for Emma, however she did not feel that her team was the champion.
The Green Reptars was the name chosen by the Green team. Lorenzo Bright was a member of this team. Lorenzo talks about his fun filled day at Dawgfest. Lorenzo enjoyed watching the other teams’ cheers, but he had to agree that the Reptars were the best. Lorenzo was a part of the beach ball relay and rock, tree, bridge. His favorite event to watch was the watermelon relay. As an extra question, I asked how he felt about the blue teams disqualification from several events; he replied, “I laughed. I thought it was hilarious!” Never one to be put in a bad mood, Lorenzo stayed confident and positive as the green team won only one event.
Very competitive member of the Pink Flamingos, Keaton McManamy had a lot of fun during Dawgfest. As a third year, he enjoyed the traditional events that Dawgfest always hosts. His thoughts about other teams’ cheers were, “They were good. Green was my favorite other than ours.” Keaton participated on rock-tree-bridge, the pudding feed, and the four legged race. Even though he didn’t participate in the seven seas, it was his favorite event because of the water involved. Keaton is very sentimental and enjoys TIP traditions. He was very disappointed when frisbee was cancelled due to lack of time. Fortunately, Keaton believes that his team either got second or first. He anxiously awaits the results.
Keridan Ogletree was a member of the blue team called Blue Ice. “Brittney, my good friend came up with the name,” says Keridan, “she is like in love with Vanilla Ice and she wanted to be able to do the Ice Ice Baby dance.” Keridan participated in the watermelon relay and rock tree bridge. Her favorite event to participate in was the cheers. “Ours was awesome. Everyone else’s was lame. We put a lot of effort into ours and theirs was just FAIL!” says Keridan. Always one to be competitive Keridan was disappointed about the many event cancellations. Though not everything went as planned, Keridan had a good time talking and hanging out with friends. “It was so much fun. I felt so motivated,” Keridan expresses. The downside of the day was that it was extremely hot, sweaty, and dirty. Still, Keridan always finds a way to have fun. She believes that she rocked her events and can’t wait to find out who the champion is.
After interviewing people from each team I would have to say that, as always, Dawgfest was a success. The students had fun in a safe, competitive environment and many made memories of a lifetime. Though not everything went as planned the TIPsters didn’t let that get them down. It was a great day and one of TIPs best ongoing traditions.

George

Article by: Landon Willey, M&M TIPster

George Ling was born in 1988 in Miami Beach, Florida. He now works as a Residential Counselor at the Duke TIP summer program at UGA in Athens, Georgia. As Residential Counselor, George has been assigned a group of TIPsters, or teenagers attending TIP, to take watch over. He is responsible for this group's safe journey from Myers hall to the Bolton Dining Facility every evening for dinner. He is also required to host evening activities nearly every night, unless something came up to prevent him from hosting an event, of course. George has hosted a myriad of events, such as ninja-killer. In evening activity, George receives a group of TIPsters, whom he instructs to participate in whatever this event entails.
George’s RC group are the fourth year male TIPsters. As can be expected over the course of three weeks, much camaraderie has been formed between the group and George. When asked what he thought of his RC group, George replied “They are awesome”. Through hanging out around the fourth year guys, one can easily see the love they feel for George. They constantly badger him in admittedly creative ways, but always in a joking manner. No doubt, whenever this RC group has its nightly meetings, it must be a sight to see.

TIP @ UGA 2010 Term 1 Multimedia Presentations

Click on the links below to view other soundslides.

Ben Calvo

Amber Palmer, Courtney Scoufis, Kristina, Madison

Landon Willey, Abby Hunt, Zack Mahoney

Samantha

Article and Photo by: Courtney Scoufis, M&M TIPster

Samantha Brooks is an RC for a group of girls on the third floor. This twenty year old is a student majoring in English at the University of Florida. English isn’t good enough for Sam; she has also learned to speak Spanish and Japanese. She says that she frequently goes on foreign language sites to practice the languages. She hopes that she will be able to study abroad in Japan to practice her skills.
Samantha was born in West Boca, Florida. When she was 14 she moved to Pembroke Pines, Florida, and she currently resides there when she is not studying at University of Florida.
Samantha enjoys to salsa, write, travel, fence, and read in her free time. Some of her favorite books include House of the Spirits and Tithe. Likewise, she enjoys listening to music. Some of her favorite bands/artists include Mark Anthony, 3 Days Grace, Tiempo Libre, and Motion City Soundtrack. Her favorite movie is Crazy Beautiful.
This RC was also a Duke Tipster. She attended From Wonderland to Hogwarts in 2004, Short Fiction Workshop in 2004. Past is Present the Evolution of Literature, High Spirits in 2006, and Field Studies in Mexico for Creative Writing in 2007. She said she came back because, “I wanted to give what I received.” She certainly has.
A member of her group Marissa Karp said, “She’s the best RC I’ve ever had.”

Broken Camp Experience

Article by: Amber Palmer,M&M TIPster
Photo by: Brittany Vidal, M&M TIPster

OK, well some of you know that a student at Duke Tip at UGA was injured during the term and wound up with a cast on her foot. Well, that was my foot, it is now my cast, and it was most definitely me who got hurt. Granted, there are some bad parts, but don't you dare think it's all bad, just because I can't walk, can't get my own food, can't even go to the bathroom without getting someone else to open the doors for me. There are some good things.
For example, I get to ride in a car to get absolutely everywhere; to class, to meals, sometimes even to evening activities. I have been in every car in the camp and can name every one: Woodstock, Diddy Kong, Ed McMahon, Watson, Scrappy Doo, O'Brian (who hates me), Jane Lane, and Vanna White. I feel very accomplished, because how many TIPsters can say they have ridden in- and memorized the names of- every single car at Duke TIP at UGA? Also, I know who I want to ride around with. For example, Austin drivers kind of crazily; Greg pulls up straight to the front door (because if the pizza guy can do it, he can do it, too) but he listens to The River (bleh); and most of the girls can't drive the larger cars very well (the guys can't either, but they at least pretend they can).
For some reason, people are way more helpful when you can't do things for yourself. They open doors for me, move out of the way, or at least try to avoid being hit by my crutches... that kind of thing. I guess I'm way more intimidating with crutches than without. Another perk is that I've made a lot of new friends since I've gotten hurt, as well. Well, that's kind of the point of going to camp, and I probably would have been friends with them anyway, but this is way more fun. For example, all the office workers know my first, last and middle names and I usually don't have to wait very long for pills.
Another good thing is that I sometimes get to miss parts of class. I show up late occasionally, and have to leave a bit early for the cars to pick me up, and then there are things like doctor's appointments that allow me to sleep in late and miss an entire morning of class. If the appointments take too long, I can get real food for lunch instead of cafeteria food.
Unfortunately, there are some bad parts (obviously). This is my first year at TIP, so I have nothing to compare with, and this (my foot) will probably be one of the few things I remember about the camp in a couple years. Also, crutches absolutely stink. It's hard to get around, and the showers are so small that they can give me trouble, as well. As I mentioned earlier, I can't get through a door without help (although I am learning, or trying to, anyway), and when I leave in the morning (late because I don't go to breakfast) no one is usually around, and can get kind of difficult.
All around, I'm having a bit of fun with the whole hurt foot thing, the cast will be gone before I go back to school, and I can deal with it. However, I do NOT recommend breaking your foot during camp, especially if this is your first year.

Wonders Of the Brain

Article and Picture by Ben Calvo and Madeline Goss,M&M TIPsters

“I would not change anything about my class. It’s just that fun.” Victoria “Tori” Watson, a 15 year old TIPster from St. Luis, Missouri says when asked to describe her class
This year at UGA, the TIP program offered a class called “The Brain, Intelligence and Creativity”. The class is an intense study on the human brain and its function and the diseases that can occur within it. While many TIP students would be scared at the intensity and the workload of the class, students participating in it assure that the class is well worth it.
“The teacher is really good and I like what I’m learning” said Natalie Waino, a 15 year old TIPster from Florida
We observed, during our trip to the class, that the students seem extremely comfortable with their teacher Desi. Tori Watson, Natalie Waino and Adrienne Cassel all agreed that their favorite part of the class is their instructor. Tori Watson said, “She finds ways to bring in people to talk about it so it’s not always the same thing every day.” Students are also fond of their TA Ryan. “He always finds fun activities for evening study,” said Tori.
While most would jump to the conclusion that the class is a hard core science class, Tori says that “the class is open for interpretation.” In addition to learning about how the brain works, students learn and observe how people think and view the world. Debates and discussions are a regular part of the class, and these range from ethical issues and arguments on why things are the way they are. Students also read articles pertaining to new sciences and discoveries surrounding the brain, have group discussions, and as a treat, they regularly watch Freaks and Geeks, a comedy show that the whole class enjoys.
Students also love the activities that come with the class. Natalie Waino and Adrienne Cassel agree that their favorite activity that they have done is the dissection of the sheep brain. Another activity that the class has done is a hallucination exercise where the subject will tape two ping-pong halves over their eyes, and stare into them. The brain, presented with a white plane, will try to place something in front of it, creating a hallucination.
The Brain class provides TIP students with an amazing opportunity to study one of the most complex organs in our body, but allows them to do it in a non conventional way and encourages them to have fun with it. Future TIP students should most definitely consider this class.

Thank Ja'Nelle Simpson

Article by: Amber Palmer, M&M TIPster
Photo by: Geoffrey Graybeal, M&M Instructor

ATTENTION ALL TIPSTERS!

Did you know that every time you walk to breakfast, lunch, or dinner, you have Ja'Nelle Simpson to thank for it? Do you even know who Ja'Nelle Simpson is? Well, you should. She works in the office, and helps to coordinate just about everything at camp.

Originally from Durham, North Carolina, Ja'Nelle spent most of her childhood in Durham. For college, she went to school at the University of Florida before going to work for a manufacturing company. She worked there until this year. Ja'Nelle was at Duke TIP at UGA last year, as well. Starting in August of this year, she will be a grad student at the University of Southern California, to study higher education administration. When she is finished with this, she says, she doesn't want to run a school, just help with the administration process. She said she chose the school because it is in a big city and she had never lived in one. Also, she likes the warm weather in addition to the campus atmosphere.

Here at TIP, Ja'Nelle is the operations coordinator. "Basically, that just means office manager," she tells the Media and Message class. She worked here last year in a successful attempt to "beat the system," since she was invited to TIP as a teenager, but didn't come. This is Ja'Nelle's second year as operations coordinator, and she came back for experience, which she believes will help her immensely in the coming years of school. She likes the UGA campus and thinks it’s a really good place for a program like TIP, due to a large amount of activities available on or around the campus.

Ja’Nelle’s main job is office work, but she also organizes field trips, evening activities, and routes to and from meals. She deals with sick kids and anxious parents who don’t accept generic answers about their children (i.e. “I’m sure your child is perfectly alright”). About ten to fifteen parents call the office per day, and about seven or eight kids get sick and go to the clinic each week.
Added to all her other responsibilities, Ja’Nelle drives and names the TIPcars. Last year, her assistant named the cars after the kids from Jon and Kate plus Eight, and Ja’Nelle was not very happy. This year, they are sidekicks. The names include Woodstock, Watson, Diddy Kong, and Scrappy Doo. “I just wanted to name a car Diddy Kong,” said Ja’Nelle.

Every day is extremely busy for the office workers. The morning usually include tracking down students who are sick or may have overslept, getting medication to students, and transporting hurt students to their classes. Afternoons are filled with finishing projects from previous days and getting ready for evening activities. After that, Ja’Nelle is free to do pretty much whatever she wants.

The office staff shows up two weeks before the campers. That’s a week before even the RCs, TAs, and instructors have to be here! That time is spent setting up the camp and office, training RCs, and getting ready for the campers. Then, after Term 1, they get just five days off before coming back to set up for Term 2. They retrain returning RCs, train new ones, and brace themselves for the next round of campers. Term 2 is supposed to be easier, since the staff knows what to do, but “things just pop up” when you work in the office.

Since Ja’Nelle is the main person in the office, she has a lot of people under her, mostly inexperienced RCs. When things aren’t done right, Ja’Nelle never gets mad at them. “I get more frustrated at myself for not explaining things well enough,” Ja’Nelle said. And things do get frustrating, especially with departure flights and changing things in the middle of camp.

The easiest and most fun part of the day, according to Ja’Nelle, is the evening activities, which she loves to be a part of. She drives groups of students to their destination, and gets to participate in the activity. Ja’Nelle’s best memory of evening activities was an RC group night, when they went to a park. There was a tire swing that Ja’Nelle was thrilled to play on. “I love tire swings,” she told our class, “It was just a really happy moment in time.”

15 Things They Don’t Tell You at Duke TIP Orientation

Article by Kaitlyn Shanks and Courtney Scoufis, M&M TIPsters

1) You will never have enough clothing
2) You will always forget something
3) The busses will run over you.
4) You will always have to pull up more chairs at meals.
5) You will laugh until you cry at least once over the term
6) You will always be tired.
7) Having an orange lanyard is not always a good thing
8) You will need to learn to respond to “The shoe lace camp”.
9) You will forget your key at least once.
10) You will always need more than one dryer session.
11) You will cry on the last night of camp.
12) There will always be a line for laundry and ice cream.
13) A rock will be more comfortable than your bed.
14) The boy’s hallways will always smell.
15) Do not drop trash down the center staircase.

Fo Po, Fo Sho

Article by Courtney Scoufis and Landon Willey, M&M TIPsters

We walked into the American Foreign Policy Tuesday morning to see two groups of TIPsters on opposite sides of the classroom; both avidly debating. The topic? To make a North American Union out of the United States, Canada, and Mexico. This Union would be similar to the European Union. The students were divided into two groups. Each group had three delegates from each country. In each group, there was conflict between delegates from other countries and between delegates from the same country. In order for something to get passed, two of the three countries had to agree to it in the group. The two groups were given three possible results to shoot for in the negotiations and were told to “try for the one which would benefit them the best.” The options given to them were: Mutual Cooperation, Supernational Government, or a North American State. As expected, each option had its own drawbacks and highlighte. A Mutual Cooperation would not be very formal or strict, which in itself sounds a little…sketchy. A Supernational Government would require America, Mexico, and Canada to recognize each other under the same government, but they still would remain separate countries. A North American State would be a virtual super country, resulting in a single country occupying the entire North American Continent.
Group one decided to name their alliance the North American Tri-National Alliance (NATA for short.) A delegate of Canada, Elena Woods, a rising freshman, said that her country wanted a this agreement so they could discuss pressing topics such as, “the economy, and matters of states such as the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.” She said they are trying to stabilize their economy and get a larger position on the world stage. United States delegate Sam Gray, a rising tenth grader said that, “the United States wants to have Canada and Mexico as allies. Also so they would have some influence on what goes on in the other countries. Gray said that the countries could also help each other out economically and that Canada and the USA could help fight the Drug Cartel in Mexico.” Morgan Baskin, a delegate from Mexico, agreed with Gray in the fact that Mexico wanted Canada and the USA as allies.
The ending result for NATA was well thought out and was agreed to by all the countries. Woods admitted, “[Our] plans were basically the same.” The debate for group one resulted in having the central banking system in Montreal. The meeting locations would change between Washington DC, Mexico City, and Ottawa. The capitol would be in Chicago due to its location and the fact the Mexico has stability issues says that it couldn’t handle it. The government time would be a semi-presidency or as tenth grader Keaton McManamy put it, “democracy parliamentary congress.” All of the countries agreed to converting the Peso and Canadian Dollar to the United States Dollar over the time span of five years. This is to “make sure the Peso[and Canadian Dollar] are prepared to move on to the dollar,” said McManamy.
Group number two was the source of many interesting quotes. Canada and America had negotiated each other to an agreement supporting a Supernational Government, and Mexico was heatedly contesting the vote, supporting a North American State. In the midst of the debate, I managed to ask Josh Stallings, a Canadian representative, what he thought of the option the Mexican’s proposition, to which he replied, “It’s not gonna happen.”
In the end, Group number two decided upon a Supernational Government. And, through extensive diplomacy and negotiation, the Canadians and Americans managed to get the Mexicans on board. Daniel Sweat of the Mexicans stated, “Through graceful influencing from Canada, we’ve decided on option number two” which was the Supernational Government. Mexico stated that they agreed to the change, “In order for equal prosperity and development of all nations of North America [and] in order to insure a better future.”

Megan

Article and Photo by: Kaitlyn Shanks, M&M TIPster

“Megan is the lighting bolt to a dark sky! In a good way!” Brittney exclaimed,“She is the sweetest, nicest, funniest, cutest thing I have ever seen and she has amazing dance moves!”

Megan is a rising sophomore at the University of North Carolina. She loves being an R.C. at Duke TIP and she is always happy to greet us, her R.C group, as we come home from class. She always waits right in front of the stair well door and gives us bear hugs as we come in from the quad. She has everyone tell a story from their day at R.C. meetings; if your story is the best, you get the flamingo(yes, a blow-up pink rubber flamingo.) However, if your story is the worst, you get the bird hat( a green visor made of foam that looks like a bird). She always tucks in her campers by playing the “Lullaby of the Night” which changes every day. We have had songs ranging from "Thriller" to "Baby" and "Don’t Stop Believing".
“Megan makes my day- she is always there for you no matter what!” Lolade adds.
It is apparent that Megan is a wonderful influence on her campers; I know the second term TIPsters will love her almost as much as we do!

All the World's a Story: Red and Black Editorial Adviser Discusses Journalism and Newspapers

By Sarah Eutsler, M&M TA

Contributors: Landon Willey, Maddie Kim, Abby Hunt, Marissa Karp, Zack Mahoney, Kaitlyn Shanks, Brittney Vidal


Ed Morales, editorial adviser to the University of Georgia's Red and Black student newspaper, took time Monday afternoon to preach his own journalistic philosophy to a group of aspiring journalists.

"There's a story in everything," Morales said to the high school students. The group is enrolled in the Media and Message course through the Duke TIP program, which hosts an academic camp on the UGA campus.

Morales discussed coming up with the ideas from articles in other publications or through basic, everyday life.

"Find a topic of interest, and ask a question. Then you have a story!" Morales said. "Anything can be a story."

But keeping the audience in mind is key. In order to have a successful newspaper, Morales said, the publication must cover topics that appeal to their audience.

The Red and Black specializes in news that is aimed toward UGA students, reporting on everything that happens on campus and around the campus. The 117 year old publication also has a web counterpart, where articles and video content are published for a wide audience.

"The website isn't just for the University of Georgia," said Morales. "At least one person from every single country in the world has visited the Red and Black website," said Morales.

Aside from high traffic, the website's video content received attention and took home an award from the Society of Professional Journalists.

Morales, however, doesn't take credit for the work, calling himself an employee of the students. Most students on staff are journalism majors, but students from all backgrounds contribute.

"Newspapers help people learn to write, work with people, and discover news," said Morales. He believes working on the student newspaper staff can help prepare students for whatever career path they choose.

The talk wrapped up with a word of caution. Morales stressed the credibility of stories, warning students to not just assume facts.

"Make sure you get it right," said Morales. "We do make mistakes but we try to be as careful as we can.

The Blog Life: Sara Caldwell Discusses Blogging with M&M Students

By Sarah Eutsler
M&M TA

When it comes to blogging, it's all about voice.

Sara Caldwell, University of Georgia student and intern with USA Today College, sat down for a Skype chat with the Duke TIP UGA Media and Message students from Washington, DC, Tuesday afternoon. The students gathered around the large projector to ask Caldwell questions about her work with the publication's college blog, Twitter, and Facebook accounts.

Caldwell explained that blogs differ from hard news stories. She wants writers working for her to work on developing a style and a voice, which is a perk to the style of writing. Hard news stories don't have a lot of room for the incorporation of strong voice. When writing her own blog posts, Caldwell likes to utilize wit and humor.

Aside from voice, Caldwell touched on other key aspects of blogging.

"If you are serious about becoming a blogger, you have to update on a regular basis," says Caldwell. People will become accustomed to reading a blog, but "if all of a sudden that voice stops" people will neglect to read it even when it does become updated. In order to maintain that readership, develop a schedule that is easy to achieve from day one.

Audience is also significant. As the USA Today College blogger, Caldwell spends her time looking for articles to link to and discuss that have a college slant or appeal to the interests of college students. Keeping that audience in mind is important to maintain readership.

Caldwell's talk was the perfect way to get students interested in blogging, inspiring the next generation of media-savvy individuals to get their word out into the blogosphere.

You can follow the live tweets from the talk by searching for hashtag #sarablogs and/or see our Twitter account.

Skit: TV Rap

The M&M class drew genres and were tasked with creating a short skit about the medium they presented earlier in class. Here, the "television" group raps about TV.
Other genres include kung fu, action, fantasy and rock. The rest of the class skits are on our YouTube channel.

M&M Presentation: Film

Film Presentation Duke Tip

View more presentations from Geoffrey Graybeal.

M&M Presentation: Books

Books

View more presentations from Geoffrey Graybeal.

M&M Presentation: Newspapers

Newspapers

View more presentations from Geoffrey Graybeal.

M&M Presentation: Television

Television

View more presentations from Geoffrey Graybeal.

M&M Presentation: Radio

The Radio

View more presentations from Geoffrey Graybeal.

Year 2: Media and Message Day 1

Today is the first day of Year 2 of TIP at UGA. The Media and Message class will work on presentations and skits about the media this afternoon, which we'll try to post later today. This morning, we'll take a Media Inventory survey (Click here to take survey) (password protected so only for the M&M students) and watch this Social Media Revolution video .

You can also follow our tweets on Twitter at DukeTIPDawgs and our videos on our YouTube channel (YouTube.com/DukeTIPDawgs).

Enjoy!