My Photo Journalism

My name is Stephen Montisano.  The focus for my photo journalism is to capture people's emotions.  To get good photos of emotion you have to go looking for this and have your equipment ready at all times because you can miss your opportunity and the shot.

This is Emily on Easter Sunday 2014 proudly showcasing her Easter eggs that she has found in her hunt.  Her mother, Kristi, represented by the shadow in the bottom right corner follows her around, capturing every memory that she can. 

Easter Egg Happiness Hunt

Photo by: Stephen Montisano

 

Little Emily finds happiness on Easter Sunday 2014 by collecting Easter eggs in her basket.  Her mother (represented by the shadow on the far right) follows Emily around the back yard trying to collect memories of her little girl.  

Avila University Spring Fling

Photos by: Stephen Montisano

Avila University's own, Josh Coleman gets his self portrait done by Trish Smith at Avila's Spring Fling on Thursday, April 10th.

Ben Koener takes advantage of the tricycles that Avila's Campus Ministry brought to the Quad for Spring Fling on Thurday, April 10th

Avila's Mr. Eagle Taylor Wright gets in the wrestling ring with Aisha at Spring Fling on Thursday, April 10th

Mr. Eagle contestant, Cody Miller (fourth from the left) used a candy filled piñata to woo the crowd at the Avila Mr. Eagle contest as Taylor Wright (far right) watched. 

Glenn Rodriguez plays his saxophone for his talent at the Mr. Eagle contest at Avila University. After Glenn finished his tune he fell off of the back of the stage. Nobody was severely injured. 

Avila softball players (left to right) Morgan Greenwood, Laken Cagle, Sheyanna Thompson entertain the crowd at the Avila Mr. Eagle Contest, Thursday, April 10th, by playing a "guess who is lying" game. 

Do Eagles Fly High in the Cold?

This is a pregame photo of part of the team before the cold day of games on a Friday.  Do they show defeat?

Do What You Love

Coach Cronk's Inspiring Interview

Daryl Cronk is the head baseball coach here at Avila University.  This year marks his third year here at Avila and he already has a HAAC Conference Championship under his belt with the Eagles.  But, it obviously did not all start at Avila.  Coach Cronk had to have some qualifications to get a head coaching job just the same as any other line of work.  Coach Cronk’s college career as a pitcher, at Pitt State University in Pittsburg, Kansas was a very successful one.  Daryl Cronk was an all conference pitcher three straight years, a two time all-region pitcher, and an All American.  He was also voted top one hundred greatest athletes in Pitt State history in all sports.  In the Ban Johnson summer league in Kansas City, he received the Championship Tournament MVP.  As a coach at Pembroke Hill High School he got Missouri High School Assistant Coach of the year and then of course at Avila, he in his first year led the team to a Conference Championship in his first year as a head coach.

After Coach Cronk’s successful career at Pitt State, he was asked by his coach to stick around and be the pitching coach.  Cronk says, “I never really thought I wanted to coach as a profession.”   He loved the game of baseball but did not really give a whole lot of thought to coaching; however he had one more year of school left to finish his degree, so he accepted that role with the team as the new pitching coach without hesitation.  He played independent pro baseball with the River City Rascals in the St. Louis, Missouri area during the summer for two years and coached at Pitt State during school.  After that he moved back to Kansas City, got married, and bought into a franchise in the gas business.  He worked that business franchise for two years and was not coaching anywhere.  Cronk says he really missed coaching,  “The itch to coach really in that two years was really getting at me and so I really wanted to get into coaching at some level.  I never really dreamed that I would be a head college coach at some point.”  He would not rule any opportunity out so he got an opportunity and took it Pembroke High School in Kansas City as the pitching coach there for four years.  After that, he got another opportunity to be the pitching coach and get his Masters degree in athletic administration at the University of Central Missouri.  Cronk was at Central Missouri for two years.  After those two years and finishing his Masters degree, Rockhurst University called later and brought him on as there pitching coach.  Avila University was looking for a new head baseball coach so he heard about it, applied and got the job.

Coach Cronk would not have been able to start his coaching career if he had not had his franchise and contracting opportunity with Kansas Gas Service.  He has a family to support and being a pitching coach does not pay enough to do that.  His work in the gas industry snowballed into more work than he could handle on his own, so he was able to hire extra help to run a successful business. That allowed him to have enough time to continue coaching. Up until three years ago Cronk did all the work as an owner/operator with the help of a few others as well. The business has gotten even more successful and he doesn’t have to physically do the work because he has hired several people to do the work with him overseeing everything. 

Coach Cronk had a desire to coach because the game of baseball is what he loves and coaching was the way to be around the game by helping young players play.  Cronk’s advice to young students is to right your dreams and goals down.  Make your dreams known and do not be afraid to talk about them no matter how big or small you might think they are.  Secondly he says to look at those who are in the profession that they dream about and study them.  Do whatever it takes to find out how they made it to where they are, and find out as much as you can about it.  Have specific goals and move towards them one day at a time.  “Have a five year goal, have a ten year goal, and then figure out what you gotta do today to make it work.”

Coach Cronk has a great reputation with his players.  He is refered to as a “Father figure,” ‘a great coach’, ‘really respectful guy who knows what he is doing,’ by his players.  It is fair to say that Daryl Cronk has found his niche in life all because he followed his dream and set out to do what he loves by coaching baseball.  

February: Not just about Valentine's Day

byline: Monti says what is the point?

Thoughts on Friendship

Teammates are eating breakfast together

Making memories with friends at lunch

The boys

Ladies talking about who knows what

Real friends will talk in the cold

Stephen Montisano

Intro to Journalism

2/24/14

February: Not only about Valentine’s Day

            Did you know that it is international friendship month?  Do not sweat it, neither did anyone else that was interviewed.  It seems that not very many people know that it is international friendship month, so why is it even necessary to declare it.  The whole idea of having a month to really devote time and effort into friends is silly due to the fact that people always want to do something fun and they want to have that fun with their friends.  Fun is a priority in American culture these days more so that it has been in the past.  But people do not just sit at home and have fun by themselves all the time; they have fun with their friends.

            When I asked Mr. Montisano if he was aware that February is international friendship month, he answered saying, “Well, I have not really checked my Hallmark calendar, so I was not aware.  I did not know.”  I then followed that question with the question, is it necessary to have an international friendship month and if so, why?  Mr. Montisano answered very well and said, ‘well at first it sounds unnecessary, because we should have friendship every single day, but it is always good to be reminded of good things like that. 

            I asked Mark Montisano if he thought that he would try to make some international friends or acquaintances in the spirit of the friendship themed month and he said, he is not opposed to that idea of making some international friends if that is how things play out, but he said he will probably just do what he always does and just hang out and make plans with his friends that he has right now.  Mark Montisano said that he will make sure to tell his friends that they mean a lot to him and that he appreciates their friendship but he said humorously, that he probably will not call them all on the phone and tell them to have a happy friendship month.  

            Being a student at Avila, I walked around campus asking the same question; “Are you aware that it is international friendship month.”  Everybody looked at me like I was being weird, annoying, or they just nicely said that they did not know.  The funny part is that nobody knows or seems to care that it is international friendship month.  This is the reason why I believe it to be unnecessary.  Where did international friendship month come from anyway?

            It turns out, there is not much research or literature on the international friendship month.  Some say that international friendship month started in South American countries like Paraguay around the year of 1958. (Wikipedia).  There is not a whole lot of official literature on international friendship month.  It seems that several months have a day devoted fro friendship and doing nice or appreciative things for your friend or friends.   So why then does February have to have a whole month devoted to it and why do people not even know that it is declared international friendship month?

            In conclusion to my research about international friendship month and its relevance or the need for it, I found that there really is not a need for a whole month dedicated to friendship.  It seems that the general consensus about friendship is that most everyone does well with having friends, talking with friends, and hanging out with friends.  I also found that social media is a great contributor to having, building, and making friendship.  People have that need and want for support and to love and be loved by other people.  We seek out friends.  Friendship is not an area that the general population struggles with therefore, I find it unnecessary to devote a whole month to 

Marcus Smart Suspension: Was it enough?

 By line: Monti gets the opinion of other athletes

msn.foxsports.com

What Did You Say to Me?

espn.go.com

Marcus Smart gets T-ed Up.

collegesportsblog.dallasnews.com

Come on Ref, Did You Hear What He Called Me?

Mark Montisano's thoughts on Smart's Suspension

Stephen Montisano

Intro to Journalism

2/17/14

Marcus Smart Suspension: Was it enough?

            There is a lot of controversy over the Marcus Smart suspension of three games.  Is three games enough, is three games necessary, does this hurt his draft potential?  Should he have to apologize?  Should the fan who said the things to Marcus Smart to provoke him have to apologize and should he be banned from Texas Tech basketball games?  These thoughts and more are running through many sporting fan’s heads. 

            Anthony Ziccorelli, an outfielder for the Avila University baseball team said that, it probably will never be truthfully reported, what the fan said exactly, but because Marcus Smart is an athlete he is going to be held to a higher standard than the fan, even if what the fan said was nasty and hateful.  But, Anthony Ziccorelli says, there is no excuse to ever walk up into the stands and get in the face of a fan and lay hands on them.  This will hurt his draft potential, it will hurt his team because he’ll probably get suspended, he should have been ejected or kicked off of the team.  No matter what is said to a player by a fan, the athlete has to have enough self control to at least walk away.  Anthony says, I feel sorry for Marcus Smart because in the heat of the moment we all do stupid stuff that we should not do, but at the same time, I do not feel sorry for him because he is responsible for his own actions and has already thrown temper tantrums on the court this year.  You cannot be a hot head like that and lose control and common sense like that.  Marcus Smart hurt his team. 

            Mark Montisano another colligate athlete says that his jaw dropped when he saw it happen live on camera.  “I was in total shock, when I saw it happen.  He cannot lose control like that and touch a fan; no matter what was said.”  Mark Montisano is a supporter of the three game suspension because he said if athletes are allowed to push the envelope and not held to a standard of rules and code of conduct without bluffing of things like suspensions and school’s/coach’s power to kick a player off of a team, then they will push the envelope further and further and then there will be trouble all the time.  Mark Montisano says that it is better for Marcus to learn this now, before he goes to the NBA for the fact that fans there will haggle players even more harshly than the college fans do.  “If you want to be a pro athlete you have to be able to handle trash talk from the opposing players and fans.  Fans say horrible and dumb things to professional athletes at sporting event that they participate in.  If he cannot take the heat, then get out of the kitchen.”   

            In conclusion, the general consensus of athletes asked about the suspension based on the actions of Marcus Smart is that it was well deserved.  They also agree that the fan should have some kind of punishment or suspension as well from being allowed to come to home games at Texas Tech.  These athletes made it clear that being an athlete comes with a responsibility to behave oneself because there is always someone watching.

Snow-apocalypse: What happend to Monti?

What happened to Monti on his snow day?

Snow-apocalypse 

Will dad make it to work?

Taking matters into our own hands. 

Stephen Montisano

Intro to Journalism

2/10/14

Snow-apocalypse

            Let it snow, let it snow let it snow!  February 4^th and 5^th were snow days for most every school and university in the Missouri and Kansas area.  Specifically, Avila University canceled classes due to the massive amounts of snow.

            At my house, in Blue Springs, MO it snowed 11 inches total. The city of Blue Springs, normally does a fantastic job of clearing the roads of snow, and making it safe to be out and about, for those that need to be.  The snow that fell of Tuesday and Wednesday proved to be too much snow to handle.  The cul de sac where my house sits upon did not get cleared of snow by the snow plows until late Wednesday evening on the 5^th.  My father, Mel Montisano had to go to work on Wednesday but was literally snowed in due to the smaller car he drives to work and the amount of snow that had accumulated.  Mel found the only was to make it to work was to shovel the driveway and the cul de sac all the way to the street.  So, Mel grabbed his two sons, Mark Montisano and myself, and put us to work.

            The snow that day was a dry and light weight powdery snow.  I remember saying more than once how lucky we were that it was a powdery snow instead of a wet snow because a wet snow is heavy.

            We got the snow shoveled and taken care of and sent Mel off to work.  The rest of the day was spent working on homework and school projects. I was assigned to write a descriptive essay on a work of art that is held currently in Avila’s art Gallery.  The art work is called the “Shrine of Holda.”  It was a very attractive piece and I enjoyed writing my essay on it. 

            Overall, I believe my snow days were well spent.  I got caught up on school, I got caught up on sleep and relaxation, and I even got some exercise in shoveling all of that snow off the driveway and the cul de sac.  Snow days are well spent when you can take care of business and get some extended relaxation in as well.

           

            

Superbowl Commercials: do they measure up to the past greats?

www.adweek.com

Laurence Fishburne sings in KIA luxury commercial?

www.superbowl-commercials.org

Most boring Superbowl commercial ever

www.dailymal.co.uk

Clydesdales are always a big hit in Budweiser commercials 

www.usatoday.com

Doritos strikes again!

Which Superbowl commercial was the most well done. 

Stephen Montisano

Intro to Journalism

2/5/14

Super bowl Commercial criticism

            The Super bowl is watched by millions of people all over the United States and several other nations as well; not all of which are football fans, some of these viewers just enjoy the commercials.  This is with good reason because the Super Bowl is the biggest stage for TV commercials all year long.  Some critics say that this years super bowl commercials were disappointing and boring compared to the past Super Bowl’s commercials.

            The Budweiser commercials every year feature the Budweiser Clydesdales and they are always a fan favorite for their sentimental value.  Every year the commercials are well thought out, different from past commercials, and always memorable.  This year it was based on puppy love.  The owners of the land who owned the Clydesdales were giving puppies away.  This one puppy did not want to leave it’s home or it’s Clydesdale friends.  When they would give the puppy away to an owner the puppy would always escape and make it’s way back to the Clydesdales.  Then one day the owner of the puppy gave the dog away to a man and when the man was driving home the Clydesdales chased him down and set the puppy free and walked back home.  The owners of the land with the Clydesdales and the puppy decided there was no getting rid of this little pup, so they kept him. This commercial was very well done.

            The Kia luxury car commercial was fantastic.  It showed a lot of the great looking car inside and out.  The commercial also gave off the vibe of how quiet and sophisticated this car was so sophisticated that featured the famous actor Laurence Fishburne who “sang” an opra tune that was very pleasing to the ears. This was a very good commercial.

            The Doritos commercials around Super Bowl time are always funny.  Specifically the commercial with the boy who smarts off to his mother when asked to carry the groceries inside; his mother says that she guesses that means nobody wants Doritos in a taunting way.  The boy then jumps out of his chair, gets off of his phone, and flicks his little sisters hat down and it covers her eyes.  The little sister then whistles for the dog, she is then seen riding her dog like a horse over to her brother who has the bag of Doritos.  She lassos the Doritos then lassos her brother and ties his legs up like they do in the rodeo event called calf roping.  The mother comes outside and sees this and cheers for her daughter after roping up her brother (and her son). Not sure how anyone could help laughing at this commercial. This commercial was very funny. 

State of the Union Address: Anticlimactic?

america.aljazeera.com

President Obama tells the people what they want to hear

thirdage.com

President's speech is interrupted 85 times by applause 

futurefortified.org

President Obama delivers a very upbeat speech. 

Stephen Montisano

Intro to Journalism

Professor Snorgrass

1/29/14

State of the Union Address: Anticlimactic?

President Obama entered the chamber in Washington for his State of the Union Address with thunderous applause.  This style of delivery of the State of the Union Address (giving it in person with a live audience in house) was the original style of giving the address.  Then Thomas Jefferson decided to change this due to the fact that he thought it was an inappropriate way of doing things.  He did not want the applause because he thought that praise was not the purpose of the address.  Then Woodrow Wilson in 1913 made it a speech again.  Some commented on Obama’s entrance saying that it felt like a royal entry or like the queen’s address.  Obama came in shaking hands and greeting people, carrying himself very well as usual.

The talk before the address was about how Obama would propose to get Congress to back his ideas and policies.  Congress has not been very cooperative with President Obama.  Many think that this is due to the fact that he said too many negative things about conservative republicans over the years that the republicans in Congress do not want to help him.  The question before the address was, what are his new proposals going to be and how is he going to approach getting Congress to be on his side.

President Obama had a very upbeat and positive vibe with his speech.  He talked about all of the things that have improved like the unemployment rate improving and the stock market being higher than it has been in a few years.  He sort of treated it like a pep rally or a campaign speech, and at the end said that Congress needs to help him or he is going to do things himself.  The President’s speech was around an hour and five minutes and he was interrupted eighty-five times by applause.  Obama was saying all the right things and said that many things can be accomplished with the cooperation of Congress.

He touched on many areas and said many things that would please any American.  Talk of helping the hardworking people who have become unemployed who are trying to live the American dream; the notion that no one who works full time should have to raise a family in poverty.   He wants   He wants to increase upward mobility but raising minimum wage so that it is possible for the middle class and below to get ahead and move to the upper class.  He wants the primary education of American’s young children to be a world class education.  He wants to prevent crisis like Sandy Hook and other gun violence so that our people are safe, and many other wonderful dreams were mentioned.

President Obama did not propose anything new besides MyRA which he will propose on the 29^th of January.  The President mentioned MyRA but did not give many details about this new program.  He was said to have talked about his “Stale old ideas,” said Wisconsin representative Paul Ryan.  Paul Ryan said that the President was not very combative in the nature of his speech and that he only pushed the same old ideas and then gave the Americans and Congress the idea that, it is my way (Obama’s way) or the highway.  This means that he will go around Congress if Congress will not help him. 

The overall consensus on the State of the Union Address was that it was anticlimactic because nothing new was proposed and he said he was going to go around Congress and make some things happen.  While everyone knows this is ambitious it cannot be very effective.  Many looked at the speech to be sort of like a pep rally to get the American people behind him and his dreams for this country and to get on Congress’ case for not helping him put these ideas into effect.  The President approached his speech in the “safest” way possible. 

Monti's take on the President's speach: did he tell us anything?

Student Organization Fair was a bust?

The Theater table featured many pictures of their recent performances

Students sign up to join clubs and organizations

These students took a black light test to find out how clean their hands really are. 

Student Organization Fair: going down the tubes?

            The Student Organization fair that was held in the Marian Center on January 23^rd, 2014 was a great opportunity for students to participate and join student clubs and organizations on campus, and to really feel like they are a part of the campus. Or was it? The campus organization called the Avila Singers were a no show at this organization fair, as were several other organizations.  But, why? Why would an organization that could be not very well known, not show up to an organization fair to get their name out there and to get other students signed up to join them in a club that they believe is important to the campus? This was not just the case for the Avila Singers.  Many other student organizations were not present at this event as well. 

            Jason Baldwin, the director of Student Life for 12 years at Avila, tells us that there are two Student Organization Fairs every year.  The first fair happens in August where they have every student organization present along with free food, snow cones, and other popular attractions that make for a great student turn out.  The second fair happens at the first of the year in January and has very little participation on the part of the students and the student clubs and organizations. Baldwin believes that the cold weather in January has a direct effect on the participation of students attending the fair or not.  Baldwin says that it is up to the clubs and organizations if they want to have a table set up or not, but many decide not to have a table set up because very few students turn out anyway.  Baldwin used free hot chocolate with marshmallows to lure students in to talk to them about joining a club or organization. 

            So after knowing all of this, you may ask was this fair really successful or necessary?  If you ask the kinesiology club that question, their answer could very well be, yes it was.  The Kinesiology Club had several people join their club as their table was front and center in the Marian Center. Just another day in the life of an Eagle.