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Students tour NBC 4

WASHINGTON — Assistant News Director Matt Glassman of NBC Washington guided us on a tour of the newsroom last week, showing and explaining the inner workings of the control room and studios.

Students were surprised when “Meet the Press” Moderator and NBC Political Director Chuck Todd walked past as we entered the building on Nebraska Avenue in Northwest DC.

Glassman explained the teleprompters and lighting technology on the news set before showing off the historic “Meet the Press” studio.

Then it was off to another studio to see the 11 a.m. broadcast, the most important because people are watching the news on their phones, tablets and NBC 4 app, Glassman said. There are three anchors and one meteorologist on the program, and in the control room there are television screens that showcase NBC’s competitors as well as what the station’s own staff is doing on site and in the field.

The weather patio where the NBC 4 meteorologists do outdoor live shots. Photo by Justin Gick

The students met meteorologist Amelia Segal in the newsroom, who explained how she reports the weather — without a teleprompter. Segal broke away from the students to do her live segment.

Glassman showed us the assignment desk — where the phones never stop. He took the our group for one more look in the studio, where we were able to view the anchors giving their reports.

Glassman is a graduate of American University, where he majored in public communication, learning about group communication and public speaking; he later completed his master’s at New York University. “Don’t be just a journalist, minor in something else and know other things,” Glassman said. It is the key to being a good journalist.

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Taking care with ADHD drugs

WASHINGTON — Coverage of the rigor of college academics often takes a back seat to reporting on the partying that occurs on some campuses, which includes the use of illicit drugs and alcohol. But some university health centers also find prescription-drug use for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, known as ADHD, medications also a problem, as students even without attention deficit, try to gain a competitive edge during college.

In one study of undergraduates at a large, public, Southeastern research university in the United States in the mid-2000s, as many as 34 percent of the 1,811 students surveyed reported the illegal use of these medications. The authors, whose work was published in the Journal of American College Health, reported that students used the drugs “in periods of high academic stress and found them to reduce fatigue while increasing reading comprehension, interest, cognition and memory, and that most had little information about the drug and found procurement to be both easy and stigma-free.”

Many students don’t realize the legal and physical consequences that can result from the abuse of these medications. Side effects of ADHD medications’ abuse can be mild, including headaches, stomach aches, difficulty sleeping, loss of appetite and increased irritability, but also can be more severe, in some cases causing palpitations, an inability to lower one’s heart rate after exercise and neurosis. ADHD medications can also react poorly with other medications.

D14_343_December_Main_Campus_OS nfs David_Reitman, OCL, staff
David Reitman

Dr. David Reitman, medical director at the American University Student Health Center, said there are three illegal activities most commonly associated with ADHD medications: diversion, misuse and performance enhancement. All are “flatly illegal,” says Reitman. Misuse is when someone has a legitimate prescription for ADHD medications, but is abusing them, taking more than the prescribed dosage, or is giving them to a colleague. The most common use is for performance enhancement, when students without a legitimate need for the medications are taking them to focus for long study or work sessions.

The recent legalization of marijuana in the D.C. area may also lead to a rise in abuse of ADHD medications. “Even if you’re just smoking marijuana on the weekends with your friends, it’s going to remain in the fat cells of your brain and leech out over several days,” said Dr. Reitman, who holds board certifications in adolescent medicine, addiction medicine and pediatrics. “That’s going to take away motivation; it’s going to take away ability to organize, take away ability to focus. And then you’re trying to take these medications to try to compensate.”

This may result in students becoming locked into dependence on ADHD medications, as they need them in order to recover their mental faculties after recreational drug and alcohol use, even if only occasionally.

 

 

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AU smoking policy: Does it work?

no-smoking sign
A no-smoking policy is in effective throughout the AU community. Photo by Stephanie Flocks

American University, like 1,400 other universities, has a no-smoking policy. But “the policy is not as effective as it could be,” said Maria Eckrich, originally from South Dakota but now a graduate student at AU. People still smoke or chew tobacco around campus, she said.

Another student, Sydney Ling, says that some of her friends are smokers, and they do not like the system, which hasn’t help them quit, she said. The policy has angered the smokers and some try to get away with smoking on campus, Ling said.

However, Sarah Menke-Fish, an assistant professor at the School Of Communication, said that, overall, the policy was effective because the campus is much cleaner. “There used to be a wave of smoke when I walked outside,” Menke-Fish said. But the university has not always been smoke-free.

The no-smoking policy began in 2013 and received mixed reactions. Kirstin Gebhart, assistant field hockey coach, graduated in 2011. When she was a student at AU she would see people smoking on the quad and in front of building entrances, she said. But now, she no longer sees cigarette butts on the ground and smoke in the air, she said.

However the policy must be policed by the AU community.

Students in the Tobacco Free Ambassadors organization walk around campus until 8 p.m. to make sure it is tobacco-free, said Michelle Espinosa, associate dean of students. If a student or staff member is found smoking, a tobacco-free ambassador collects his or her name and American University ID number. Students caught three times will be referred to a disciplinary panel and will have to defend their actions, Espinosa said.

Resident advisers must check rooms three times a year — but not just for tobacco. They must also check that students don’t have hotplates or coffee makers in their rooms, and to make sure all smoke detectors are working, Espinosa said. Having cigarettes in your room is not against the policy, but if the advisers know a student has been smoking in their dorm room, they will take the cigarettes from students.

“Freshman have been less influenced to smoke,” and may change the future of AU, said Menke-Fish.

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Families pitch in at Newark Street

Susan Akman explains the process of creating viable compost. Photos by Meagan Pruitt
Susan Akman explains the process of creating viable compost. Photos by Meagan Pruitt

WASHINGTON — There’s still a two-year wait list, but 190 gardeners have become increasingly involved at Newark Street Community Garden and Park in this Northwest neighborhood near the National Cathedral.

Since its creation on National Food Day in 1975, the garden and park have expanded to four acres and grown to encompass all families in the District. The environment includes 200 plots to grow flowers or vegetables, and also a dog park, children’s playground and tennis courts.

Newark Street, the largest of the District’s 26 urban gardens, still dominates the four-acre park and offers what many members found in the first place — a respite and an opportunity to give back to the community.

Stephanie Cope, a sophomore at nearby American University, works as a nanny and visits the playground three times each day.

“It has a lot of different activities for different ages,” Cope said. “And it’s safe.”

The garden offers a free children’s program, in which kids are taught about the fundamentals and learn about different types of worms. They harvest and water plants in a separate area by the playground.  Susan Akman, coordinator of the program, doesn’t recall families being so involved in the gardens when her children were young, and said she is glad that kids are learning the importance of growing food and flowers alongside their parents.

The park, open to the public, gives families a spot to grill and picnic, too.

And even if a member is too elderly to perform certain tasks, others help them so they don’t lose their plot.

“We invite people in because we feel like we’re an education source,” Akman said. “It’s to be an inviting, pretty park.”

Elwood Gautier's plot of gardens are displayed neatly.
Elwood Gautier plants vegetables in orderly rows.

Elwood Gautier, 76, maintains a neat garden. He washes and packages his vegetables and plants and donates them to Miram’s Kitchen, Akman said. Other gardeners donate to So Others Can Eat (SOME) in the District. And those at St. Alban’s Senior Citizen Centre come to the gardens to collect produce as well.

And when times are difficult, some members of the community came to the gardens for refuge. After the 9/11 attacks, Akman recalled one woman coming here before she went anywhere else.

“The first place she came was the gardens because she found such solace in it,” Akman said.

 

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Can’t stop the heat or the Nats fans

WASHINGTON — Despite rising temperatures, the energy of 40,015 Washington Nationals fans just got higher. With temperatures reaching 94 degrees on Sunday, the Nats still pulled off a 9-2 win against the Pittsburgh Pirates. After pitcher Max Scherzer’s rare no-hitter on Saturday, the fans were even more inclined to show their support for the team on the following day.

The Nationals started out strong with a whopping nine points scored in the first inning. Outfielder Bryce Harper shocked fans with a successful homerun coming off of an injury. Nats fan Anne Smith said, “I love him. I have a Harper Nation flag hanging over my desk.” Baseball enthusiast Joyce Schwartz says that the Washington Nationals also seem like genuinely nice people.

Ray O’Neill buys a beer at the game. Photo by Angela Frank

Screech, the team’s mascot, arrived at the game with an eagle chick in tow to celebrate Father’s Day. Other fans joined in the festivities by representing multiple generations of Nationals fans.

Even the rivals got in on the action. Pittsburgh residents Mark Halligan and his 10-year-old son, Declan, were excited to represent the Pirates. Declan was in D.C. for a baseball tournament. He has been playing for three years and has attended numerous Pirates games as well. “Every year we try to visit a different stadium,” his dad said. Even though the game did not go as they had hoped, they were still able to enjoy snow cones on a sunny day.

“My husband and I come probably six times a year. We’re big fans,” Schwartz says while in line at the Shake Shack. She thinks that the Nationals are the best sports team in the District. Previously in favor of the Baltimore Orioles, she was happy to change her allegiance to the Washington Nationals.

The Nationals Park opened its doors on March 30, 2008, and has been in full swing ever since. Photo by Angela Frank

Another Nats aficionado, Ray O’Neill, also attends about six games a year. “I never really watched baseball until the Nats came to town,” he said. He has high hopes for the season and expects them to win the pennant.

 

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A community grows its own

 WASHINGTON — In the nation’s captial, you might not imagine that people have time to plant their own flowers and vegetables. But The Newark Street Community Garden, on the corner of Newark and 39th streets in the McLean neighborhood, is one of 26 urban gardens throughout the District where people can do just that. There are also education programs where toddlers and young children can learn about plants and wildlife. There are 200 plots and 190 gardeners who maintain this green sanctuary.

As the community garden social services chairperson and veteran gardener, Susan Akman takes pride in how the garden benefits the surrounding community. Newark donates a portion of her crops to local food banks for families that are less fortunate, she said. She recently took this reporter on a tour of the garden.

The garden got started in 1974 on National Food Day, a day that inspires Americans to change their diets and food policies. The grounds where the gardens now stand used to be military offices during World War II. Akman said when the community was looking for space to plant these gardens the foundation was a clay field, which made it perfect for planting crops. The rules of the garden are enforced by a board and members must read and agree to all, Akman said. “Gardeners must commit 10 hours a season, weed weekly, and maintain their plots,” Akman said. In other words, if you do not maintain your plot, the board will ask you to give up your plot and the next person on the waiting list will get it.

The National Cathedral, which can be seen from the gardens, is nearing a $22 million repair job due to the 5.8 magnitude earthquake in 2011. Photo by Justin Gick

The garden also includes a tennis court, dog park and children’s playground. The key feature of these gardens, the largest in the District is that you are able to look out and see the magnificent National Cathedral.

The gardens are a peaceful sanctuary for community members and gardeners to unwind after a stressful day at work. “On 9/11 when the plane hit the Pentagon, one gardener, instead of running home to family like many others, came and just reflected in the garden because it was peaceful,” said Akman.

The community gardeners also take time to educate children, Akman said. “There are special days when children can come and learn about the garden and what insects help fertilize the soil,” Akman said. “The children’s favorite part is when they get a chance to water the garden and get muddy.” After each session the children are given healthy snacks, such as a watermelon slice, graham crackers and water, she said.

In the garden there is a variety of flowers and vegetables, including beans, tomatoes, potatoes, carrots, peppers and radishes. During the winter months, gardeners must have their plots cleared if they are not planting anything. There is one gardener who plants lettuce year-round.

But there’s a two-year waitlist. “It is well worth the wait,” Akman said.

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Into the Garden: celebrating 40 years of community

The sign that welcomes people into the garden.
The sign that welcomes people into the garden. Photo by Emma Geotz

WASHINGTON — It was 1974. The occasion? National Food Day, a discontinued holiday today, but at the time, the inspiration for creating The Newark Street Community Garden, celebrating its 40th anniversary this fall. From international residents to families who live right down the street, the garden provides a service to the community of not only convenience and beauty, said Susan Akman, a longtime gardener and member of the board.

At the garden, deemed official in 1975, those first urban farmers brought their own water for their plants on the previously military-owned property. Their water source now runs through their four acres of land to their points of attraction: the playground, tennis courts and dog park.

Walking through the 200 plots, everywhere one looks there is something new. From arrangements of flowers that cover the entire plot to those that have a robust vegetable patch, gardeners have a creative license when planting to leave their own mark on the community garden.

Although there are many local gardeners, international gardeners have a place in the garden as well. While some gardeners protect their plot from deer and fox, a couple from Lithuania has a taller fence around the plot, in addition to a locked gate, to protect the plants themselves. A man from Africa planted fava beans and a pepper that appears to “look like jack o’ lanterns,” Akman said.

While families may come to the garden to grow for their own dinner tables, the garden also serves as comfort for others. A woman who experienced loss during 9/11 came to the garden as therapy, Akman said. “It is a very peaceful place,” she said, adding that she often comes to garden from 5:30 to 6:30 in the morning, finding comfort in the quiet.

A garden for the community, by the community

The trees planted from the Casey Trees organization help to enhance this unique acreage behind the National Cathedral, visible from the garden. Out of the 30 trees planted, only one has been lost. The trees have “made an incredible difference in this community,” Akman said.

Elwood Gautier, a master gardener, has taken his fresh produce tomatoes, yellow squash and lettuce to Miriam’s Kitchen for about three years. “He would wash every head of lettuce” and send them to the soup kitchen, Akman said.

And while some residents might be choosing air-conditioning during the high temperatures D.C. has seen this summer, gardeners were out tending to their cherished plants on a recent day where the forecast was for the mid-90s. There are 190 gardeners tending to one or two of the 200 plots available; there’s about a two-year waitlist, Akman said. Some plots have gone through generations of families.

Members range from toddlers to those in their 90s. The garden’s educational program “is a big hit,” Akman said. Children can plant, water and harvest their own vegetables and flowers, Akman said, and the children’s garden now features a small wooden picnic table and donated animal statues.

The "Kids Only" play set.
The “Kids Only” playground is adjacent to the urban gardens and the dog park. Photo by Emma Goetz

The playground

When the gate to the playground shuts, one is left with the view of animated flowers towering over a plastic treehouse that reads, “Kids Only.” Children play on the bright green monkey bars, and the plastic log slides lead down to a blue padded ground surrounding the play area.

Katterinee Salgado was visiting the playground for the first time, trying something new for the two kids she babysat, she said. The playground was right down the street “so it’s easy” to take the kids down for an hour of play before lunchtime, she said.

The shade the trees provide was much appreciated, not only by Salgado, but also by Doulat Kapoor, who was pushing his daughter in a plastic car stroller down the blue walkway that curves through the playground. Like Salgado and her charges, this family also lives close by. The park is “right for her age,” Kapoor said. The family goes to the park “almost every day.”

For more information about the garden and Newark Park, go to their website.

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The Newark Street Community Garden: a staple of the neighborhood

WASHINGTON — Newark Park and the Newark Street Community Garden, tucked away behind the Second District Police Station, feature flower and vegetable gardens, tennis courts, a dog park, educational opportunities for children and a strong sense of community. The 200-plot urban garden, with a two-year waitlist, is also the largest community garden in the district.

The community garden features sheds full of gardening tools and three composting bins, which Susan Akman, a longtime gardener, describes as “state-of-the-art composting.”

Photo by Nadav Pais- Greenapple
Newark Street Photo by Nadav Pais- Greenapple

People grow garlic, radishes, lettuce, tomatoes, peppers, beans, blackberries, raspberries, kale and bitter melon. Plots are separated from each other and marked by green posts with numbers painted on them in white.

Newark Park also has three pristine tennis courts, surrounded by trees and isolated from the noise of cars on busy Wisconsin Avenue.

The board of directors and other active volunteers also provide educational opportunities.They teach gardening, and enlighten kids on the animals in the park, including the deer, squirrels and even the occasional foxes that go through the park.

A typical garden at the Newark Street Community Garden. Photo by Donal Mullane
A typical garden at the Newark Street Community Garden. Photo by Donal Mullane

Akman said gardeners range from 18 months to 95 years old, as both experienced and inexperienced are welcome.  And many in the community bring plants and ideas from their native countries, including Portugal and Lithuania.

 

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Newark Street Park: a unique opportunity

National Cathedral
The gardens offer a remarkable view of the National Cathedral. Photo by Kevin Monahan

WASHINGTON ­­­­— Hidden from the rest of the bustling city, the Newark Street Community Park and Garden features a playground, dog park and tennis courts. But the hallmark of this four acres of public land is its community garden, the largest in D.C., which gives city residents the chance to plant a variety of veggies and flowers.

This year the Newark Street Community Garden Association celebrates their 40th anniversary. Where military offices and housing stood during WWII, is now green space, founded on National Food Day. Susan Akman, former president of the garden association, said nothing formal is yet planned but she hopes they find a way to commemorate the occasion.

Vibrant colors fill the 200 plots with an assortment of vegetables from carrots to radishes, zucchini and lettuce. And because the District is such an international city, Akman said, “We have people from all over the world.” Gardeners learn from each other and bring ideas from their native countries as well.

Akman coordinates the children’s progam, and said she likes to think of their organization as an educational one in general, for all ages. “We have a lot of families with children and they’re learning,” she said, adding that she often sees the tasks of planting, weeding and watering become a family affair, especially with the adjacent playground and dog park,

At the other end of the spectrum, Akman said some gardeners keep at it even into their 90s, but sometimes that means needing the help of fellow gardeners.

“We are a community and we promote that community by helping each other,” she said.

To be a member of the garden, owners of a plot must volunteer 10 hours of service a season or pay a $15 fee.  The goal is to beautify the whole area, she said, and that means everyone pitching in. Many residents also donate produce to area food kitchens.

“We never asked the city for anything. We give back to the city,” Akman said.

 

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Extending roots into the community

 


WASHINGTON — The Newark Street Community Garden is tucked between Wisconsin and Massachusetts avenues: two of the District’s busiest roads. Just north of the garden is the National Cathedral. “We’re fortunate that they haven’t put high rises here; we were worried,” Susan Akman, a longtime gardener, said. The garden, celebrating its 40th anniversary, features 200 plots of land tended by 190 different gardeners. It is the largest of 26 community gardens in the District. Each plot has its own assortment of flowers and vegetables, telling the stories of its caretakers.

Whether sprawled out or carefully organized, each plot reflects the personality and diversity of the gardener. Louisiana native Elwood Gautier meticulously arranges his produce into square spaces and donates it to a local food bank, Miriam’s Kitchen. Many others also make seasonal donations, and gardeners host a day in which they donate produce to SOME (So Others Might Eat).

Longtime gardener Akman is always looking for new ideas for her garden, and she works behind the scenes, constantly trying to beautify the entire four-acre park. She has been experimenting with “companion planting,” such as planting cucumbers alongside plants that smell like cucumbers to keep pests away and to attract pollinators. Her garden is filled with radishes, tomatoes, beans, carrots, lettuce, chard and garlic. She also works with young aspiring gardeners, usually ages 2 to 4, and teaches little ones the basics.

While she enjoys her work with the young children in the park, she also cherishes time alone when the garden is quiet. Akman finds solace in gardening, especially early in the morning when only the church bells toll. “I love to come at about 5:30 in the morning,” she said.

Another avid gardener is Marguerite Pridgen, a garden association board member . She has tended a plot for four years after being on the waiting list for more than a year. She describes herself as an ”urban farmer” because she primarily plants crops. “I like to have control of my food supply,” she says. She enjoys growing organic food and shares it with her mother. Her biggest tip for other gardeners is to employ the use of raised beds because they help avoid weeds.

Pridgen is in charge of enforcing the garden’s rules. For instance, gardeners are not allowed to grow invasive plants, grow plants too close to the fence, or neglect their gardens. All of these rules were implemented to ensure that the people tending the gardens actually want to be there. This is especially important considering that there is a two-year waiting list for aspiring gardeners.  When a member is not complying with the rules, she reports them to the board. “People need to stay on top of them,” she said. Recently, issues have arisen because of infractions that are not written directly in the rules, but need to be addressed. A couple has put a grill in their garden, which has been a point of contention for the board. “We try not to update the rules,” she said. She hates to enforce the rules, but “It’s a lot of common sense things.”

Despite issues, the garden community is finding ways to stretch its roots throughout the neighborhood. The garden caters to everyone, with a playground, dog park and picnic area. “We are a community. We help each other. Everyone pitches in to help,” Akman said.