McCloudz

            With the recent rise in states moving towards legalizing marijuana, glass shops and glass artists who make artistic pipes are becoming more prominent across the nation.
            With a population of about 12,000 smoke shops in the United States, the glass culture is thriving. New shops are opening that house not only a place to showcase this glass work, but also a studio to create these one-of-a-kind pieces. One of these shops, McCloudz Pipes and Novelties, is housed on Main Street in Norman, Oklahoma.

            To build his shop and studio, TaMike McCloud first needed to make some money. His lawn mowing/property preservation company, Oklahoma Superior Investments (OSI) preservation was started in 2009. Luckily for him, OSI expanded from 50 properties to 300 properties in the matter of a year, and in 2011 McCloudz was able to open its doors in Midwest City. Since moving McCloudz to Norman in 2013, TaMike has stepped away from OSI for the most part, leaving it to his wife Laura to operate.

            For the last year, TaMike has worked to expand his studio. When it first opened in Norman, McCloudz shared space with a screen printing company called Perspectives. The shop was housed in the back half of the suite space, using a curtain as a divider between the two companies. Perspectives later moved out of the suite, deciding that working from home would be more cost-effective for their business. This allowed TaMike to take over the entire space, making McCloudz what it is today.

            TaMike and his employees share a vision of creating a space for art. So far, their vision is taking shape; and as the shop continues to grow, so will their artist collection.

VIDEO: Tyler Jones

RUNS: 1:53

College Stress

Students lining up for free snow cones to help relieve stress. Photo By: Tyler Jones

   
        At most universities around the United States it’s near finals week, and students are procrastinating, studying, crying, and stressing, but not necessarily in that order.
    Whether it be work-related, life problems, or school deadlines, stress is something we as humans deal with on an almost daily basis. Stress is a term that, according to Psych Central, is response to a demand for change. This response is actually a necessity to life. Without stress, we would be less likely to finish homework, do well on tests, perform at work, and be healthy. In a study done by Ohio State University researchers, it was found that a moderate amount of stress during memory tasks actually strengthened the immune system. This is what stress is meant to do: enhance our learning abilities and keep our bodies in sync. But, too much stress, such as for the average college student, can lead to mental health issues.
    Nowadays, stress seems like it is part of being a college student. The National Alliance on Mental Illness says that around 40 percent of college students have experienced a higher-than-average amount of stress in the last year. Along with that, 80 percent of college students have been overwhelmed by the amount of things they have to do in the last year, and 45 percent have come to the conclusion that everything was hopeless. These numbers large, yet not entirely shocking.
    On any given day, a college student can have four hour-long classes, studying outside of those classes (which the recommended amount of studying is double or even triple the time spent in class, depending on the difficulty), and possibly going to a job or internship. Also, keeping healthy relationships with friends and family and managing monetary expenses. Then they need to try to fit nutrition and sleep in there, which often gets put to the side. If this student is in a fraternity or sorority, their responsibilities can potentially double. Students today are faced with more stress than students from twenty or thirty years ago.
    Based on a study done by the Higher Education Research Institute at UCLA, 30 percent of freshmen in 1999 felt stressed entering college. Compare that to only 16 percent in 1985. The stress change over the decades can be contributed to the pressure of being successful in a quicker amount of time and the advancement of technology. With cell phones becoming pocket computers, and young, self-made millionaires on the rise, it’s no wonder young adults are stressing out about their lives. It’s time for students to moderate their stress and make it a driving force, not a burden.
    To live this moderate stress-fueled life, students need to first relieve some of this stress they are experiencing now. One of the best ways to do this is to keep a list or planner of everything that needs to be done day-by-day. This will enable them to look at what to stress about and when to stress about it, so they can push themselves to get it done. Next, excelsior, or always be positive. This can be done by taking any negative thoughts one may have, such as “I have an assignment due in two days. I’ll never be able to finish in time,” and change that to “I have an assignment due in two days. I can and will work well under pressure.” Finally, the most important thing a student can do for themselves is sleep. The best way to get some much-needed sleep is to establish a sleeping ritual: Keep a regular bed time and wake time, even on the weekends. Establish a relaxing bedtime routine (reading, bubble baths, whatever soothes you.) Exercise regularly, even if it’s just going for a walk, but do it a few hours before bed. Avoid caffeine, nicotine, and alcohol right before bed. Follow this routine, and sleep should come more easily.
    College students have much to worry about on a daily basis, and staying mentally healthy is or should be the main focus. Enjoy college life, the atmosphere, the parties, and the people as much as you can.


Alex Lynn, an OU student, tells me what stress does to her and what she does to avoid it.
VIDEO: Tyler Jones
RUNS: :25

Hacker Journalist

Brian Boyer speaks to classes at Gaylord College.  Photo by: Tyler Jones

    The term “hacker” implies a certain negative quality about what a person does. Most would think of a hacker as someone who does illegal things with computers and lines of coding. A “hacker journalist” essentially has the same job description, but uses his skills with a computer and lines of coding to help tell stories.
    Brian Boyer, editor of the NPR visuals team, is one such hacker journalist. According to an interview with Source, Boyer began programming and studying computer science in high school, and hated it. He started skipping his computer classes and worked with ceramics instead. He continued to try to get away from the programming world with a software consulting job in Chicago. After working at the consulting job for a while, Boyer didn’t feel like he was doing anything good with the talents he had, and pursued journalism.
    After passing the GRE’s and getting his master’s at Medill School of Journalism in Illinois, he went to work for ProPublica, a non-profit, public interest, investigative news organization. Here, he used his coding ability to create an application called ChangeTracker that monitored government websites for any major changes. This is where Boyer’s self-dubbed “hacker journalist” title really took seed. After just a few months at ProPublica, Boyer was hired on at the Chicago Tribune where he built a News Apps team.
    “Bryan coined the term ‘hacker journalist’ to describe what he does as a programmer working in journalism,” said Heather Billings, a hiree of Boyer’s at the Tribune, in an email. “Usually, stories and assets would be scattered across a website’s content management system (CMS). Packaging them this way [using code to uncover documents and creating a custom landing page], outside of the CMS, allows the stories to be presented to readers in a coherent, strategic way.”
    Billings was also kind enough to point out a specific story to me, to help illustrate what Boyer is doing with his “hacking.” Here is a webiste Boyer helped build to help the reporters at the Tribune tell a multi-part story of flame retardants.
    Boyer now works for NPR and is the editor for the Visual Apps Team. He and his team have been creating beautiful websites that emphasize the stories they are trying to convey. On his website, he said that to create these sites, they ask themselves two essential questions:
        1) Who are your users?
        2) What are their needs?
After they’ve answered these questions, they can move on to discussing the features each website will contain.
    Recently, the NPR team developed database of handicapped-accessible playgrounds in America. Not only did they set up the database and create the landing page for the app, but they also used their NPR audience to tell them whether or not their local playground was accessible. If it was accessible, it was put into the database, which created a user-generated data source. 
    Currently, Boyer is working with his team on their Borderland project. Borderland emphasizes the stories of individuals and their journey to cross the Mexican border into the United States. You can look here to see how they created Borderland, and maybe even create your own database.


    Brian explains how his coding and databases work to provide information. 

    WARNING: Video contains adult language. Viewer discretion is advised.

    VIDEO: Tyler Jones
    RUNS: 1:53

Art, With Passion

    New artists come and go in the art world, but those who fuel their passions by doing what they can to help their art thrive, like T-Mike McCloud, will be around for years to come.
    In Norman, Oklahoma, there is a shop that relies on these artists so it can thrive. The shop name is Flamewerkz 33, or McCloud’z Pipes, depending on how long you’ve been a fan. Shop owner T-Mike McCloud has been owner and operator of this store for two years now, originating in the Midwest City/Del City area and moving to Norman just a year ago. T-Mike is a new breed of artist in that he isn’t starving, but rather, is succeeding in funding his art and shop.
    T-Mike owns not only his art studio, but also a property preservation company and a lawn mowing company. With his preservation company, T-Mike goes into homes that need work on them in order to be sold and he and his workers turn them around, making them pieces of art as well. He takes the money he earns from both companies, as well as the revenue from selling art pieces, and uses it to support his family, his shop, his other two companies, and his art. He knows how to truly stretch a dollar to make a living.
    “He’s had to invest his time, money, and pretty much his soul into trying to create a shop where there’s artists available to buy from, where other shops essentially only carry production pieces,” said one of T-Mike’s shopkeepers, Elissa Newmeyer, who goes by her artist name, Elnew. “He’s everything to this company. He is the company.”
    Elnew and T-Mike have learned glass working together and have worked together over the span of the last two years. They compliment each other in their vision for the studio and their passion for their own art as well as artists around the nation.
    “We want to show the fact that there’s an artist side to smoke shops. And we don’t really even want to be known as a smoke shop, we want to be known more as an artist gallery.”
    To create and maintain an art gallery and be an art dealer, it takes more than monetary gain, according to the website Art Business. It says the owner has to have a vision, and everything in the gallery must reflect that vision. The owner must create an identity and stick with it. To do this, the shop has to be specialized. To be specialized, the shop workers must be knowledgable about the work they showcase so the consumers can get a better feel for what it is they are really buying.
    For an art gallery to really thrive, it takes time. Years, in fact. The owner must build a reputation in the community and show them what their gallery is and that they are providing the best art possible and consistently do so. It has to be made known to the public that there is actually something worth while inside the gallery, and it should be noticed and appreciated for years to come.
    T-Mike has been glass working for almost three years, originating in marble work. It wasn’t until he went to a blown glass trade show that he really got into making other functional pieces like pipes. He still mainly focuses on marble work, but continues to venture out and try new things every week. Soon, T-Mike and Elnew plan to host glass working workshops where the public can come and learn a new craft while enjoying the art around them.


I talked to T-Mike and got his take on his store and where he hopes to go from here. He allowed me to video him working on a piece to see his artistic side.

VIDEO: Tyler Jones, runtime 1:02

Democratic Demolition in Middle East

    The world could soon lose it's only democratic power in the Middle East with the recent corruption by Turkey's Prime Minister.
    Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan first came to power in 2002 as a part of the Justice and Development Party (JDP), a new party at the time. After Turkey's dysfunctional government throughout the 1990's, Erdogan's fresh face was a welcoming site. He and his party campaigned for democracy, development, and human rights, creating the perfect platform that the Turkish people needed. After being elected Prime Minister, Erdogan created a "Muslim Democracy" by improving Turkey's economy, expanding rights and creating a model for democracy in the region. The "Muslim Democracy" reigned for twelve years, but authoritarian changes became obvious nearly a year ago.
    Fevzi Bilgin, Executive Director of the Rethink Institute, a nonprofit political research group, came to OU to speak about what is happening in Turkey, and what we can expect in the near future.
    Bilgin said, “Going into the elections, JDP was strong, everything was okay, and we were going to see another electoral victory that JDP was used to. But, [the corruption charges] changed everything in a very dramatical manner, and there is no turning back.”
    Since December 17, the government has been trying to deflect the charges by doing two things: First, they are taking nondemocratic and controversial actions and obstructing the judicial process. Then, they moved on to redesign the Judicial branch. Last week, Turkey passed a law that brought the Judicial branch under executive control, and a lack of separation of powers is very detrimental to a democratic society. The government has also taken measures to reduce all press freedoms, taking all eight newspapers and 15 television stations under government control and using them as a "mouthpiece" for Erdogan. Turkey is also controlling its citizens' social media outlets, removing any tweets or posts that criticize the government, and recently have tried to ban the outlets completely.
    In order to justify their actions, the government is maintaining that everything that is happening to them, such as the corruption charges and criticism, are all part of an international plot. Turkey constantly shifts the blame to foreign powers such as Israel, Europe, the Vatican and the United States. The government tells its people that all of these countries are jealous of Turkey's rising power and are doing whatever they can to stop them.
    Moving forward, according to Bilgin, the only way for the Prime Minister to be removed from office is if he causes himself to be removed. If he continues with his recent actions, Turkey will become an authoritarian country. In order for Erdogan to continue his reign, he and the JDP must maintain the majority of the vote in this next election. If this doesn’t happen, the party could split and create multiple factions, allowing for the possibility of a new Prime Minister. However, with the popularity of the JDP party and the Turkish people seeing Erdogan as a sort of savior, it isn't likely that he will lose this election.

Fevzi Bilgin outlines Turkey’s recent corruption allegations.
AUDIO: Tyler Jones, runtime 1:37

Some natural sound captured outside of Gaylord!

Let's Startup!

Jared Rader (right) talks about coding for Edible
Photo by: Tyler Jones

    The innovation ecosystem in our state is highlighted once a year at the University of Oklahoma with the help of Startup Weekend.
    Adults and students of all ages joined forces to create seven different business ideas this weekend. With everything from apps to full-on business ideas and even technological inventions, Startup Weekend is full of intellectual genius.
    With the return of Jared Rader, a Gaylord student and last year's winner, to team Edible, he clearly had the upper-hand going into the weekend. Last year, Rader and his team won with their app, Vocalens.
    Vocalens, according to Rader, "Allows anyone with learning or reading deficiencies to simply take a picture of whatever it is they're trying to read, and it will read the document to them." With a new team and unmistakable drive, Rader pitched a networking idea for the lonely luncher.
    Their app, Edible, connects people with their friends and acquaintances to set up lunch or drink dates, so you never have to eat or drink alone. The app works in real-time, as well as for plans in advance.
    The Edible team built bonds with each other quickly and worked together like a true business team from the very beginning. With minor setbacks of marketing their product and how they are going to make money from it, Rader and his team never became discouraged. Unfortunately, Team Edible didn't win this year's competition, but gave high praise to the coaches and business professionals that were constantly walking around, giving advice to teams and guiding them along their path.
    Susan Moring, Startup Weekend facilitator and a Fellow at the Center for the Creation of Economic Wealth at OU, was one of the coaches. In her second year working with CCEW and Startup Weekend, Susan created an environment that was great for learning and development within the teams. 
    When asked about the weekend, Susan said, "It is a lot of work (for the participants), but fun work. These teams will accomplish more over this weekend than they ever thought they would. The participants can expect to never have so much fun working so hard."
    Startup Weekend is a global organization that allows anyone to participate, no matter where they are in the world. It began as a weekend of collaboration between founder Andrew Hyde and some of his friends in July of 2007, but word spread quickly through blogs and social media, and soon they had dozens of participants. Now, seven years later, there are events happening in multiple cities across the globe every weekend. The organization's main goal is to inspire communities to get together and start businesses, just like they did on their founding weekend.

    From here, Rader is moving to New York to attend Dev Bootcamp, an extensive 9-week program to enhance his code-writing abilities and hopefully start up, or find a job in the city. Startup Weekend will be hosting their next weekend events in multiple cities across the globe. To find out if one of these events is starting up near you, visit their website at startupweekend.org.

By: Tyler Jones