Author Archives: Nelson Oliveira

Memories Destroyed by Sandy

Posted on by at 10:56 am
Reply

 

 

LONG BEACH, N.Y. – When Sandy hit the East Coast on Oct. 29, Long Beach homeowner Chris Maksymowicz had his basement flooded, but he was not worried about the thousands of dollars’ worth of damage to the furnace, heaters and walls.

Maksymowicz said the worst losses were his family photos, some of which dated back to the 1920s, an electrical train set from 1942, his wife’s dissertation work, several documents and other mementos.

“It was all in mud and sand,” he said. “I found some stuff from when I was a kid … my essays, my writings, my awards, my certificates. It’s all gone.”

Maksymowicz, who owns a house right across from the ocean on Broadway in Long Beach, was not alone in his loss. While the hurricane coverage focused on the number of damaged cars, flooded basements and contaminated house appliances, many residents feel like they lost some of their memories along with sentimental objects like photo albums and collectibles.

Continue reading →

JRN 380: demanding but essential

Posted on by at 11:08 am
Reply

As a very long and hectic semester comes to an end, I look back to the first week of class and one thing comes to mind: how bad my photography skills were. After shooting several photo galleries with my DLSR camera, shooting video with that same camera and watching Prof. Ahmad’s grading podcasts, I am absolutely sure I improved a lot.

It was not an easy class by any means. This is a 300-level course and I expected it to be demanding. In addition, Prof. Ahmad has very high expectations for the class, which is understandable since we are supposed to come to this class with a good knowledge of photography (taught in JRN 211 and JRN 320).

I encourage future JRN 380 students to try to review all those basic photography concepts before the beginning of the semester to avoid wasting time learning ISO, f/stop and shutter speed all over again. This class will teach you how to use those settings more wisely, how to use a flash, how to shoot portraits and real breaking news stories like Occupy Wall Street and Hurricane Sandy.

As far as the syllabus goes, I think one thing I would have liked to see more is Photoshop and Final Cut editing. We did learn some of that, but I feel like there are so many different settings on those programs that I’m sure I could have made some of my work look better if I had experimented with them.

Overall, this is a demanding but essential class for journalism students who want to be on top of their game when looking for a job after graduation. Don’t take too many credits while taking this class (especially upper-level ones) and use your camera as much as you can. Go out and shoot random events on campus, go to Port Jeff, New York City or wherever and experiment with all possible settings of your camera. That will only make your life easier when working on your class projects.

Seawolves defeats their first FBS opponent in school’s history

Posted on by at 1:10 am
Reply

The Stony Brook University’s football team proved that the Seawolves are getting better each season when it beat a Football Subdivision team for the first time in its history on Saturday, Sept. 29.

The Seawolves defeated Army 23-3 at Michie Stadium in West Point, N.Y., setting a new record for the Big South Conference team.

Stony Brook’s quarterback Miguel Maysonet, who scored two touchdowns, broke his own record by rushing for 220 yards.

This was the Seawolves’ third win and Army’s fourth loss this season.

Sandy devastates Long Island from the South Shore to the North Shore

Posted on by at 11:55 am
2

Superstorm Sandy hit Long Island right before Halloween last month, but even though the South Shore communities saw the worst of it, many people in the North Shore also saw first-hand the power of the storm’s hurricane-force winds.

Downtown Port Jefferson, for example, experienced record-high flooding and downed trees and power lines could be seen all over the village. Lisa Lucia, of 16 Laurel Dr., was standing outside when a tree was uprooted and fell onto the roof of her house on Monday, Oct. 29.

Roy Brengard, of 21 Marion Ave. in Stony Brook, N.Y., had five of his trees knocked down by Sandy. The largest one fell over power lines and blocked traffic right in front of his house.

On the South Shore, the damage was clearly worse. In Island Park, for instance, dozens of boats were taken by the storm and ended up on people’s backyards, sidewalks and parking lots.

Manuel Gonzalez, a boat maintenance worker, lost most of his belonging when several boats hit his house on Empire Blvd. in Island Park and ripped some of the walls during the storm. Gonzalez said he called 911 at about 10 p.m. that night, but the dispatcher told him no one could help him at that time because there was no way to get there.

Montauk Fall Festival draws more than 20,000

Posted on by at 5:05 am
Reply

The first time Jody Greenstein, a business analyst from Northport, came to the Montauk Fall Festival more than 20 years ago, the event was “a small community fair,” he recalls. Today, as Greenstein describes, the festival has become a large and popular event that attracts people from all over Long Island.

“I don’t think it drew people from nearly as far away as it pulls now,” he said. “It was more of a local crowd. It’s just gotten a whole lot bigger.”

Featuring a variety of family activities, live music and a chowder contest, the 31st annual festival drew between 20,000 and 25,000 people during Columbus Day weekend earlier this month, according to the Montauk Chamber of Commerce, which sponsored the event.

The festival kicked off at 11 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 6, with a clam chowder contest, one of the event’s most popular attractions, in which local restaurants donate gallons of their best chowder to compete for medals and bragging rights, said Sally Krusch, one of the contest organizers. “Food personality” judges, such as local radio hosts and food critics, taste all the chowders and rate them in two categories – New England and Manhattan, she said.

Greenstein said there was a better variety of chowders this year than in previous years, but he complained the festival “ran out of soup too quickly.”

Even though more than 30 local restaurants joined the contest, according to Krusch, there was no chowder left two hours after the festival started.

“I have been told to always get here early,” said Stacey Kramer, one of the festival organizers. “It’s a very popular event and people come out specifically to try the chowders.”

Manucci’s restaurant was the winner of the Manhattan category, Solé East won the New England category and Tre Bella restaurant was the winner of the popular vote.

The festival took place on “the Green,” a plaza located in the center of downtown Montauk. A gazebo, located in the middle of that area, was the stage of two live concerts during the festival. Nancy Atlas and the Uncle Susie Band performed there on Saturday and the 3Bs played on Sunday.

Some of the many activities for kids included inflatable rides, a carousel, face painting, pumpkin decorating and crab races. The festival also featured a farmers market, plant sales, raffles and traditional fall food.

Besides the chowder and all the activities, another thing that drew so many people to the festival was the summer-like weather. On Saturday afternoon, the temperature reached the mid-70s.

Skaters: It’s about the journey, not the destination

Posted on by at 1:46 am
Reply

Skateboarding is common in every campus across the country. When it comes to recreational skateboarding, however, that is not the case.

At Stony Brook University, for instance, skateboards, bicycles and rollerblades can only be used for transportation purposes, but many of the students who ride their skateboards to get to classes or for recreation think the university should change its policy.

Christopher Lu, a senior biology major, said he plays with his skateboard all the time on campus and has never bothered anybody. The police, however, has given him verbal warnings a few times.

Lu is a secretary for the Skateboarding Club, a 2-year-old organization that has been working with the Undergraduate Student Government to try to have the university establish an area on campus where recreational skateboarding would be allowed.

The club’s mission statement says the members want to make skateboarding “more than a mode of transportation to get from Point A to Point B.” Instead, they want to be able to enjoy the ride. Skateboarding, according to the mission statement, is ”about the journey, not entirely the destination.”

According to the university policy manual, recreational skateboarding is prohibited on campus because of the risk of personal injuries and increased damage to university property.

Viktoriya Dorokhova, a junior majoring in English and theater, uses her skateboard to get to classes only, but she believes recreational skateboarding should be allowed in some places on campus because it does not disrupt anybody’s peace, she said.

 

Occupy Wall Street: alive and strong a year later

Posted on by at 4:14 pm
Reply

Occupy Wall Street protestors flocked into Manhattan’s financial district on Monday, Sept. 17, to celebrate the movement’s one-year anniversary.

The New York Police Department was extremely well prepared. Police formed human walls, set up metal barriers and put up flood lights around Zuccotti Park. According to media reports, almost 200 demonstrators were arrested on Monday.

The so-called 99 percenters still made their voices heard on Monday as they marched through the streets around Zuccotti Park with signs and chants that aimed to condemn what they said was an unfair economic system.

A year after the first protestors occupied Wall Street and the Zuccotti Park, many critics have said the movement is continuously weakening. Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein disagreed as she gave a speech at Zuccotti Park on Monday to show her support to the movement.

“The drivers of the [Occupy] Wall Street movement are only getting bigger,” she said. “Why are people here? Because they’re in debt, because they lost their homes, they lost their jobs, they’re college students, they’re young people who are watching their climate melt down. Those issues are just getting worse. Occupy is not going away and we’re not going to stop until we reclaim our democracy.”

Protestors also held several official meetings and drum circles during the celebration. Zuccotti stayed open all night, but very few people stayed late and the drummers had to stop paying at 10 p.m. because of a community’s noise ordinance.

The next official event, GlobalNoise, is a worldwide casserole march – people marching with pots and pans – that is schedule to take place on Oct. 13.

Art show features almost 150 exhibits

Posted on by at 2:32 am
Reply

The 47th annual Outdoor Art Show in Setauket last weekend, Sept. 8 and 9, featured more than 135 exhibitors who were displaying and selling paintings, photography, sculpture, and crafts in ceramic, wood, glass and other media.

The event was hosted by Gallery North, a 47-year-old art gallery located in Setauket. The show also featured live music, free yoga lessons and kids’ activities.