Talon Marks Broke from Its Traditional Format for One Day Only

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: December 8, 2010

Media Contact: Aya Abelon, Public Affairs; (562) 653-7878

NORWALK, Calif. – December 8, 2010 – If you pick up a print version of Cerritos College’s student newspaper Talon Marks today, you will find 3-D glasses.

The December 8 issue of the award-winning Talon Marks is what is thought to be the first 3-D student newspaper – complete with cardboard viewing glasses.

All of the color photos in the special edition were given a three-dimensional effect, but the black and white photos and the text remained two-dimensional.

The idea for this project came a month ago in the editorial board meeting. After some research, Talon Marks Editor Joey Berumen and Production Manager Gregory Horsey Jr. took up the challenge and tested various methods of implementing 3-D pictures in print. They went through three different draft stages and finally found the best way to creating 3-D photos.

“It definitely caught our attention, and it’s great that [Talon Marks] is trying something new,” said student Krystal who picked up the paper this morning.

Advertising revenue from this semester allowed Talon Marks to purchase 4,000 pairs of 3-D glasses that come with the December 8 issue of Talon Marks.

Talon Marks has been striving to transform its print edition all year, according to Berumen. Three dimensional pictures have not been the only technological advancement it has had this semester. The paper also introduced QR codes to its print edition. A QR code is a matrix barcode readable by smart phones or mobile phones with a camera. The information encoded – text, URL or other data such as audio, image or video – appears when scanned.

Talon Marks Advisor and Journalism Department Chair Rich Cameron always encourages innovation in the student newspaper, whether it be story selection or new idea for the newspaper presentation. “Giving students a freedom to try new things at the college level while they are learning their skills is important,” he said.

“In this (3-D) experiment they are developing their Photoshop skills to take a 2-D photo and manipulate it to 3-D. They may never have to do that again, but the process of thinking outside the box and learn new skills is something they will have to do many times in their lives.”

According to Berumen Talon Marks is the first college newspaper to issue a 3-D edition. So far, Belgian newspaper La Derniere Heure issued 3-D newspaper in March and England’s tabloid Sun printed a special 3-D edition to commemorate the World Cup games which contained 3-D ads and editorial in June.

“I feel that students should be on the forefront of technology, running a 3-D issue is simply a statement that print media is changing. Students need to learn and experiment different avenues and methods of telling a story. I feel 3-D is just another way to utilize skills we are learning at Cerritos College,” said Berumen.

“It is exciting to see everyone gather around a project like this, the staff has worked hard on this and I feel in a changing world we have to meet a changing standard.”

<a href=”http://www.collegemediainnovation.org/blog/2010/12/cerritos-college-talon-marks-experiments-with-3d/”>

In area such as New York, this phobia makes it hard for some people to live their daily lives, containing more than 2,000 different bridges in the state. Manhattan alone has 19.

Like most fears the fear of bridges can be traced to watching movies. One of the most famous is the 1979 Cassandra’s Crossing.

Their fear may result partly from the fear of enclosure (claustrophobia) or the fear of heights (acrophobia). Phobic drivers may worry about being in an accident in busy traffic or losing control of their vehicles. High bridges over waterways and gorges can be especially intimidating, as can be very long or very narrow bridges.

The fear of bridges is perhaps one of the only phobias that cities actually devote tax money to, for example in San Francisco/ Oakland, authorities will actually dispatch a tow truck to take drivers to the other side.

For some the worst part is knowing that they have to cross everyday, but in the same respect some who have this fear have learned to ignore it because of having to drive across them on a daily basis. ” Ever since I moved up to San Francisco, I kinda got use to it, if you want to get across the bay, you really don’t have much of a choice sais, Jenna Davi, a theatre major at San Francisco State University.

According to Jan Heering, who is a phobia specialist this is a real phobia and much like the fear of spiders or heights, many of the same feelings or symptoms come along with this phobia.

For some it may be that in their past they may have seen someone finding it immensely difficult to spell or pronounce a long word. Some picked up the fear and began worrying about long and complicated words.

Heering goes on to say,”You simply start attaching negative emotions to the thought of uttering a long and complicated word.”

You start thinking, “Oh my God, the word is so big to pronounce and the spelling of the word is too difficult. How can I utter the word correctly? I will definitely stammer and make a fool of myself. What will others say? They will think I am so stupid.”

It seems as though the phobia can easily be linked with the fear of embarrassment. While the longest word in the english language is under debate it is said that the longest is 189,819 words long and in a type a protein.

With 42.5 Million households in the U.S, having dogs, it is easy how one would be deterred from going outside or taking a walk to the park.

According to an article written on Wikihow.com there are several steps one can take to help releave the stresses of Cynophobia.

1. Evaluate the situation. Why are you afraid of dogs? What happened? Think it over in your mind.

2. Remember: Dogs aren’t out to get you. They are man’s best friend. Say this to yourself at least five times a day, EVERY day. Once you start saying it, you will start believing it.

3. Make a goal list. Write steps down such as “pet a puppy,” “hold a puppy,” and “walk a puppy”. Right now though, you have a while to go, until you reach these goals.

For most dogs are mans best friend but when researching the facts of how many people get attacked by a dog each year, it is almost stunning. It is estimated that two percent of the US population, 4.7 million people, are bitten each year.In the 1980s and 1990s the US averaged 17 fatalities per year, while in the 2000s this has increased to 26. 77 percent of dog bites are from the pet of family or friends, and 50 percent of attacks occur on the dog owner’s property.

So what does this mean for students? Well if you walk to school one should be aware of its surroundings. If one is to be attacked by a dog it is advised to not turn and flee, instead stand your ground and avoid eye contact is possible.

While for some the fear of flowers can be overpowering, for most, especially around Valentines Day they love and appreciate flowers. For some the love of plants and flowers even propel them into a career. 97 different Colleges in California offer degrees in Botany, the study of plants.

“My mom is a florist, she has been working with flowers ever since I can remember, its funny to me that people would actually be afraid of them,” said Cerritos College student Orlando Dominguez.

According to the theflowerexpert.com, People suffering from flower fear experience undue anxiety even though they realize they face no threat from flowers. There is no specific flower which causes this fear, any genus or species of flowers can instill fear. So can any flower part, such as a petal or stem.

While there are many different symptoms someone can suffer from, some of the common ones include, breathlessness, dizziness, excessive sweating, nausea, dry mouth, feeling sick, heart palpitations, inability to speak or think clearly, and even the fear of dying.

For the people who suffer from this phobia, bad news is the flower community is here to stay. On valentines Day alone more then 110 million roses will be sold. It seems for some Halloween has come early.

Students like Cerritos College student Kelli Lawson, believe that it is healthy to have a fear of failure. “People are afraid of what they don’t know, its natural. I think in order to keep ourselves sane we need to be reminded that we don’t know everything,” she said.

While students like Lawson believe it is a healthy fear, some people have seen their lives diminish because of the fear. Putting themselves in situations that prevent them from failing but in reality, isolating themselves from the world.

According to way2hope.org Sometimes, there are a couple different reasons why someone gets this phobia. “We’re so concerned about failing that we don’t try an activity we want to try. Other times our fear of failure is so strong we subconsciously undermine our own efforts so we don’t have to continue to try.”

The next time that big test come around and you are cramming last minute, ask yourself, is it you just trying to be diligent, or is it Atychiphobia?

In the 1981 Movie Indiana Jones and The Raiders of the Lost Ark, the fear of snakes is shared by Indy. His famous quote, “Snakes, why did it have to be snakes,” while almost comical in reference, it also has it serious side.

In a 2009 study,psychologists found that both adults and children could detect images of snakes among a variety of non-threatening objects, quicker than they could pinpoint frogs, flowers or caterpillars.

Many researchers link this to evolution and the human’s natural survival instincts. Being able to detect danger in the wild would undoubtedly be a crucial trait to surviving before the industrial age.

So perhaps this fear is warranted and is not completely comical or unwarranted, after all more than 8,000 people are bitten by venomous snakes in the United States each year.

Most of the bum raps snakes get come from the poisonous cousins, like the Black Mamba, which can kill a full grown man in less than a half hour. More than having a potent bit the Black Mamba is also the world’s fastest snake, reaching speeds of up to 14 m.p.h. indigenous to Africa, the only “black mamba” they are use to is Kobe Bryant, and many are happy about that.

“I hate snakes, I’ve heard about the Black Mamba, cause of Kobe Bryant, but I’m glad I don’t live in an area that has them,” said German Lopez, a Cerritos College student.

Acrophobia belongs to a specific group of phobias called space and motion discomfort that share both similar etiology and options for treatment. Like many of the other fears we have discussed, some of the symptoms include, sweating, increased heart rate, nervousness and irrational behavior.At times this fear is mistreated, often being mistaken for vertigo.

According to essortment.com the first step in overcoming a fear of heights is learning to control the physical symptoms. When faced with a threatening situation, taking slow, deep breaths can help slow the heart rate and increase the oxygen flow to muscles to keep from tensing up.

At a recent visit to Six Flags Magic Mountain, Philip Rivas, a college student, was confused as to why he was even visiting the park. ” I don’t know why I even let my friends drag me along, I’m terrified of these roller coasters, I guess its because im also afriad of heights.”

According to Jan Heering a phobia expert,the reasoning is explained by a psychological imbalance that makes the victim, not be able to look at feet, not be able to see feet and in most cases not be able to talk about feet.

FOr some people this fear can seriously cause disturbances. This about going to the beach, a usually fun time can be turned upside down into a time of fear and disgust. Or school, how many people like to wear sandals everyday, not even acknowledging that podophobia could be a real thing.

There are a few ways in dealing with phobias. Neuro Linguistic Program works effectively in treating the fear of the feet. This is the fastest and the most successful means of overcoming any phobia or similar condition.

I myself have suffered from this for many years, while I don’t have a morbid fear of feet, I definitely try to stay away, I think something in my past brought this on but I don’t remember exactly what. It gets to the point where I would even make my ex girlfriend wear socks in bed. While I choose not to try treatment for it, I have just come to the conclusion that there are some things I just don’t like, and feet are one of them.

Needless to say I used it sparingly and that was only because my phone sends updates to Facebook, Myspace and Twitter. So this past week I have made an effort to not only tweet bit to fully learn how the site works. One thing that was made clear quite quickly was tweeting can be utilized for journalistic endeavors.

Twitter is perhaps on of the quickest growing forms of communication in the world having over 160 million users and adding more than 300,000 every day.

During the past week I have been twittering three times a day, which by comparison is nothing to some celebrities I follow. My biggest reservation is, I am at school over eight hours a day, I really don’t have much to tweet about, other than. “yay, I;m in Poli Sci class.” It honestly fails in comparison to Shaq who changes his location on an almost daily basis, tweeting from different parts of the country.

“I think twitter is overrated, why do you want everyone to know your buisness anyway,” said Cerritos College student Toshina Crockett.