Practicum snag
Feb. 16th, 2006 04:00 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
beandelphikiOkay, so I'd figured I'd pretty much landed a practicum with Alberta Parent. The editor, Sylvia MacIver (her name's on the site, so I won't worry too much about concealing it) has contacted me back and said she has writing for me. Initially, I suggested I could do layout for them, since their site says that their spring issues comes out on March 15, and my practicum period is March 6 through March 17.
This is the email I got from her today; formatting is hers:
Dan,
We postponed the deadlines for our spring issue, in light of our new partnership with Sobeys/IGA of Alberta. (Our magazines will now be available at no charge to interested parents, as they go through the till at all the grocery stores in Alberta.) Sobeys can't take the next issue until mid-April, so we've got more time for editorial.
Below are particulars regarding a story I'd like to run on the Poker Craze among our youth. We don't seem to think twice about allowing our youths to gamble in several different ways...everything from Roll Up the Rim to Win; to buying lottery tickets (several retailers turn a blind eye); to even betting with their classmates on the winner of the next Flames game. We are now seeing a huge surge in the popularity of poker (texas hold 'em) among our kids and I want Alberta Parent to carry some information on it in our next issue.
1. Contact Mike Lynch, a counsellor at AADAC in Edmonton (780-415-0041). You can reach him toll-free through the 310-0000 prov. gov. number. He has a wealth of information on the topic.
2. Ask Mike for stats (as up to date as possible) on youth gambling (calgary & edmonton)
3. I attended a life course session at Central High School recently where a former gambling addict spoke to the Grade 10 class. I will write the story and run it as a sidebar to your piece.
some questions to ask Mike:
- why the sudden surge of interest in poker among youths
- how does the prov. gov. get the stats from youths?
- what are the warning signs for parents?
- do we differ from other provinces in Canada? If so, how?
- what role has the internet/television (media in general) played here?
- what does the prov. gov. have in mind to combat this problem?
Of course any other questions you feel are relevant Mike. Maybe you know a compulsive gambler that you could interview.
I'm looking for about 800-1000 words Mike (not including the stats of course). and would like to see at least a rough draft by end of the month. Send it to me and I will forward comments to you prior to the final version.
Have fun. Enjoy. And don't hesitate to contact me.
[Her name, address, etc.]
Okay, I'm not exactly sure what to do here. Cascading thought series:
1) I'm going to have to be writing this over the next month while attending school and working. JOY, like I wasn't behind/struggling enough ALREADY. Crap.
2)I'm not clear from this if she's actually going to have something for me to do during the period of my practicum. I'm off school for those two weeks on the assumption that I'll be working for my placement as if it were a regular job. Now, for CHADD I actually worked from home because they don't HAVE home offices for me to work in. (I'm not sure if that's technically "allowed," but it never came up with my instructors.) So if she doesn't need me to go to their offices, that's fine.
But does she really grasp this whole idea of my being on practicum? I mentioned my practicum dates to her both times we've spoken.
3) If she doesn't get 2), I'm not sure how the news of "you need to sign this waiver form for my placement" will go over.
4) I don't mind working on this story through the rest of February, as long as it means that I'll still have something to do for practicum, or that I'll get grades for it. I just don't really know how to scope out this situation. If I point out the dates to her a third time and ask if she'll have something for me to do, and she says NO, I don't really have a placement then. I don't know if I should tell my instructors what's happening or not...
5) If this isn't a workable placement, I'm kinda screwed. I really only have until next week to finalize something, and nobody else I've contacted yet has gotten back to me, however promising they looked. Apparently a lot of people are in trouble for finding practicum placements this year. (Our instructors think more people are placed or almost-placed than actually are; some people have outright lied about it.) Finding another spot doesn't look good.
6) Not-so-subtle hint from her; I need to track down a young person with a gambling problem. Um...actually, one of my classmates did a similar story for the Weekly, I'll ask him.
7) My mother suggested possibly that she wants to see some of my writing before she accepts me. That's fine, but the main issue here is I need to be finalized right away, not by the end of the month. Back to 3), her not signing the waiver form. And some of this is my fault, because maybe if I'd contacted her back at, say, the start of January, this would be dealt with. (Although I have no idea if she'd have had a story for then.) But I'm still slightly annoyed by the hoops here.
AHHHHHH! What do I dooooooo?!
This is the email I got from her today; formatting is hers:
Dan,
We postponed the deadlines for our spring issue, in light of our new partnership with Sobeys/IGA of Alberta. (Our magazines will now be available at no charge to interested parents, as they go through the till at all the grocery stores in Alberta.) Sobeys can't take the next issue until mid-April, so we've got more time for editorial.
Below are particulars regarding a story I'd like to run on the Poker Craze among our youth. We don't seem to think twice about allowing our youths to gamble in several different ways...everything from Roll Up the Rim to Win; to buying lottery tickets (several retailers turn a blind eye); to even betting with their classmates on the winner of the next Flames game. We are now seeing a huge surge in the popularity of poker (texas hold 'em) among our kids and I want Alberta Parent to carry some information on it in our next issue.
1. Contact Mike Lynch, a counsellor at AADAC in Edmonton (780-415-0041). You can reach him toll-free through the 310-0000 prov. gov. number. He has a wealth of information on the topic.
2. Ask Mike for stats (as up to date as possible) on youth gambling (calgary & edmonton)
3. I attended a life course session at Central High School recently where a former gambling addict spoke to the Grade 10 class. I will write the story and run it as a sidebar to your piece.
some questions to ask Mike:
- why the sudden surge of interest in poker among youths
- how does the prov. gov. get the stats from youths?
- what are the warning signs for parents?
- do we differ from other provinces in Canada? If so, how?
- what role has the internet/television (media in general) played here?
- what does the prov. gov. have in mind to combat this problem?
Of course any other questions you feel are relevant Mike. Maybe you know a compulsive gambler that you could interview.
I'm looking for about 800-1000 words Mike (not including the stats of course). and would like to see at least a rough draft by end of the month. Send it to me and I will forward comments to you prior to the final version.
Have fun. Enjoy. And don't hesitate to contact me.
[Her name, address, etc.]
Okay, I'm not exactly sure what to do here. Cascading thought series:
1) I'm going to have to be writing this over the next month while attending school and working. JOY, like I wasn't behind/struggling enough ALREADY. Crap.
2)I'm not clear from this if she's actually going to have something for me to do during the period of my practicum. I'm off school for those two weeks on the assumption that I'll be working for my placement as if it were a regular job. Now, for CHADD I actually worked from home because they don't HAVE home offices for me to work in. (I'm not sure if that's technically "allowed," but it never came up with my instructors.) So if she doesn't need me to go to their offices, that's fine.
But does she really grasp this whole idea of my being on practicum? I mentioned my practicum dates to her both times we've spoken.
3) If she doesn't get 2), I'm not sure how the news of "you need to sign this waiver form for my placement" will go over.
4) I don't mind working on this story through the rest of February, as long as it means that I'll still have something to do for practicum, or that I'll get grades for it. I just don't really know how to scope out this situation. If I point out the dates to her a third time and ask if she'll have something for me to do, and she says NO, I don't really have a placement then. I don't know if I should tell my instructors what's happening or not...
5) If this isn't a workable placement, I'm kinda screwed. I really only have until next week to finalize something, and nobody else I've contacted yet has gotten back to me, however promising they looked. Apparently a lot of people are in trouble for finding practicum placements this year. (Our instructors think more people are placed or almost-placed than actually are; some people have outright lied about it.) Finding another spot doesn't look good.
6) Not-so-subtle hint from her; I need to track down a young person with a gambling problem. Um...actually, one of my classmates did a similar story for the Weekly, I'll ask him.
7) My mother suggested possibly that she wants to see some of my writing before she accepts me. That's fine, but the main issue here is I need to be finalized right away, not by the end of the month. Back to 3), her not signing the waiver form. And some of this is my fault, because maybe if I'd contacted her back at, say, the start of January, this would be dealt with. (Although I have no idea if she'd have had a story for then.) But I'm still slightly annoyed by the hoops here.
AHHHHHH! What do I dooooooo?!
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(no subject)
Date: 2006-02-17 09:12 am (UTC)does sound like a good article though. and i'm guessing this is for end of Feb she want's this in? she didn't really specify.
One story sounds like not alot of work for a practicum, and getting that one won't really take too much time either.
i vote email her back, and try to get some more specifics about time frames, and point out the dates for 6-17th, you can do work on other dates then those, but they are what we have the time set apart to work.
and not wanting to be disrespectful to your mother, but i don't really agree with 7, my experiance with writing, and writing for magazines like these, (i worked for a Special Needs Parents magazine in BC) they don't really need samples, they will like any work, specially voluntered work from an experianced journalist. sounds to me like you are hired. heck if you really probably wanted you could do the one story and give her the paperwork and pass with flying colours, :p (sounds kinda boring though)