Today, I published a story I wrote about a group of communication students and alumni who are working on a special film project to educate local youth about HIV and AIDS.

I wrote this story about UH communication students, took all of the photos and designed the page for the web.

Here is the story’s first four graphs:

A scene opens with the dialogue: “And, where are you supposed to be going — I thought you were hanging with me today?”

The questions come from a concerned aunt, standing between her niece and the door, arms crossed and defiant. It’s a scene from a new series of videos called Caught Off Guard that 17 students from the Jack J. Valenti School of Communication are working on to promote HIV education and STD awareness to high school students in Houston.

In the scene, the niece explains it’s the two-month anniversary of her relationship with her boyfriend — and they’re going to celebrate. Alone. The aunt moves closer, her defiance transforms into concern, and she embraces her niece. “Ashley, and are you OK with that?”

The “Aunt Tamika” character is played by Ameka Jackson, a UH-Downtown psychology student. The character’s name is a play off of the name of Caught Off Guard writer and director Tamecia Henderson, a media production major and business management minor who is gaining real-world experience in the film industry between classes and coursework.

Today, a story I wrote about Psychology professor Julia Babcock was published to the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences website.

The story is part of the ongoing Faculty Spotlight series. I also took the photo of Dr. Babcock that accompanies the story.

A faculty spotlight article I wrote about Dr. Julia Babcock.

Here is the first two graphs from the article:

Psychology professor Dr. Julia Babcock said she wishes she knew how to end domestic violence; for the past 13 years she has researched and instructed courses about the subject at UH. As co-director of The Center for Couples Therapy, she guides graduate students in the process of assessing couples who may be at risk, and Babcock believes that what lawmakers are currently doing is not working.

“I wish I knew how to end domestic violence,” Babcock said. “I think the answer is a lot of education and prevention. We’ve done some research to show that the existing treatments that we have that are often mandated by the states aren’t very effective. I’m beginning to think that early intervention and prevention is maybe the way to go. That means intervening with at-risk couples early on … I think that those kinds of interventions that decrease harmful fights are also likely to decrease and prevent domestic violence.”

Today, a story I wrote was published on the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences website about two African American Studies students who have created a new non-profit organization to benefit schoolchildren in Ghana.

The story is part of the ongoing Student Spotlight series. I also took the photo that accompanies the story.

I interviewed Hannah McConn and Randryia Houston, two African American Studies students who started a non-profit group called The Pencil Project, for an article that appears on the college website.

Here are the first three graphs from the article:

It was a comment made by a school administrator in Ghana to a studying abroad group of UH African American Studies students that started it — the revelation that elementary school students in the African country drop out at an early age as a result of something as little as not having a pencil to do their work.

That single complaint frustrated Randryia Houston and Hannah McConn, two of the students who participated in the AAS Summer Study Abroad in Ghana trip that summer in 2009. A friend of theirs, Tiffany Lester — an English major and former president of the Resident Hall Association — came up with the idea that they should start a big school supply drive.

“When we got back, we were really frustrated,” McConn said. “We knew that we wanted to help the Ghanaian people in some way, but we didn’t really know how, and we kind of felt that as students, we didn’t have the means or revenue to do so in a huge way. So, she (Lester) suggested we just start with pencils.”

Recently, I wrote an article that was published on the college website and its online newsletter about awards won by five staff members in various departments around the college.

The story I wrote about CLASS staff members winning UH Staff Excellence awards.

Here is an excerpt:

On Wednesday, May 5, the Human Resources Department at the University of Houston surprised the eight recipients of this year’s Staff Excellence Awards and the one recipient of the Charles F. McElhinney Distinguished Service Award, which is the highest award given for exemplary staff contribution to the university.

“I was caught off guard,” Staff Excellence Award winner Pat Sayles said. “The staff in the Dean’s Office knew, but somehow kept it quiet. I didn’t even know I had been nominated.”

Read the rest of the article in the May 2010 issue of Graffit-e.

One of the best things about working for the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences is that I get to use a lot of my communication skills to fill the needs of departments.

Recently, I launched a new website for the Developmental Psychology graduate program, and one of it’s new features is a place to publish news about students and faculty.

Yesterday, I wrote a brief news article about Professor Bruno Breitmeyer.

An article I wrote about Psychology Professor Bruno Breitmeyer.

Here is an excerpt:

University of Houston Developmental Psychology Professor Bruno Breitmeyer was recently named a Fellow in the Association for Psychological Science for his “sustained and outstanding distinguished contributions” to the field.

Breitmeyer joins seven other University of Houston faculty on the esteemed fellows list at the Association for Psychological Science: Richard Evans, Donald Foss, Merrill Hiscock, Richard Kasschau, Gordon Paul, Lynn Rehm and L.A. Witt.

See the rest of the article on the Developmental Psychology website.

Today, an article I wrote appeared on Tropical Storms / Hurricanes blog on Chron.com.

For the article, I interviewed Spring resident Steve Guthrie, who was in the right place at the right time with a video camera to capture a power line explosion following Hurricane Ike.

This story was published on the Chron.com Hurricanes blog following Hurricane Ike.

Here are the first few graphs of the article:

When the lights flickered on last Wednesday evening, and then began to dim, Steve Guthrie began to realize what was wrong.

After Hurricane Ike knocked out power to his house in the Oaks of Devonshire neighborhood in Spring, a pecan tree in his backyard lost a limb that became entangled with a power line. With no power, that was no big deal.

But when power was restored to his neighborhood, Steve was ready with his camera to capture sparks and explosions that nearly shocked him off his feet. He later posted his videos on YouTube.

Today, an article I wrote appeared on the East End neighborhood news section of the Houston Chronicle’s chron.com website.

For the article, I interviewed Tonja Jones, the UH alumni director of a project that benefits local schoolchildren.

This story I wrote appeared on Chron.com.

This story was part of our ongoing series titled “7 Questions,” where we interviewed local leaders and wrote a story for the website that we advertised in the print edition.

Here is the first four graphs of the story:

Every year, Houstonians have the opportunity to make a difference in a young person’s life by donating to a project called Operation School Supplies.

We chatted with Tonja Jones, Vice President for Alumni and Student Programs at the Houston Alumni Organization who also organized the annual drive. For more information, please visit http://www.houstonalumni.com.

Q. Can a pencil change the world?

A. I believe in the concept of each life affecting another. Everybody’s affected by people who have the things they need to succeed. The project only serves the youngest students, K-5th grade. But it’s a building block. You have to build from the basic time of their lives. Having self confidence starts from a very small age.