A Picture's Worth a Million Interpretations

We are raised to believe books make us smarter, broaden our vocabulary and open our eyes to different viewpoints. What about the books that dare us to challenge the knowledge we have gained and force us to learn the messages behind words that describe how we act everyday? What about when we read to defy every viewpoint we have consciously and unconsciously come to believe in?

This is exactly what "True Enough" by Farhad Manjoo does, but not from one bias viewpoint, in the manner many issues are dealt with in our world today, but from every angle of every "what if," while giving each side a fair opportunity to plea it's case.

Manjoo has somehow separated the objective from the subjective to explain the effects of the two that we see, and live, in society everyday. Being a subjective person is something many people don’t want to admit but, as Manjoo says, "We all want objectivity, but we disagree about what objectivity is."

There is a topic in his book that I consider profound and would like to break apart from my own point of view and mere curiosity...

I've still in my head at this very moment the work of Ken Light, a photographer Manjoo writes about. Light believes it is "difficult to shake criticism that comes through a camera because people sense a deeper truth in photographs" but today, the faith we have in finding the truth in photos is slowly slipping away, thanks to the day and age of Adobe programs like Photoshop. It is easier than ever for anyone to distort a photo. I can personally say that my own experiences with Photoshop have never been ones I thought could change what I allow people to take from a photo, until now.

Light is most famous for his monographs including “Texas Death Row”, photos of men awaiting execution. I chose to talk about Light's photography because as Manjoo writes about the lack of accuracy even in our most trusted sources, being pictures, people still take many different angles from a single photo-even the most powerful pictures, like those taken by Light- distorted or not.

Manjoo quotes Hastorf and Cantril who said "It is inaccurate and misleading to say that different people have different 'attitudes' concerning the same thing, for the thing is simply not the same for different people." In this case, that thing being a photo.

While many people may see Light's photos of “Texas Death Row” as photos of monsters, men who have disregarded the worth of life by taking it away from others, I saw that, and more.

Light's photo of Glen McGinnis is of a young boy who is sentenced to death for murder. The photo is one of him on his 21^st birthday spent awaiting execution.

It’s hard, even as an aspiring journalist, to put what I felt when looking at this photo into words, but with some time sitting in my quiet apartment, this is what I took away…

I took away sorrow, pain, regret and a lot of darkness from this picture, a boy with a need for guidance. A future lossed, a family devasted... or a young boy who wished he had a family who cared about whether he spent another day alone waiting for death. I took away the feeling I had on my 21^st birthday, the excitement, the happiness. I took away how naïve I was at 21 to the pain and struggle in this world. I saw a life wasting away and lost to the streets of crime. I took away a feeling of wanting to change someone's life, because we never know what our words may do for someone in pain.

Someone else may take away a kid waiting to get exactly what he deserves to get-death. It’s hard to say if anyone ever deserves death, and who we are to decide this, but that is another blog for another time…

This picture is not for me what it may be for someone else, therefore already setting the platform for different interpretations, as Hastorf and Cantril mention earlier. Photography has always been intriguing to me and I could never explain exactly why, but Manjoo helped me understand that we all pull from photos a different viewpoint that is a part of who we are and how we view the world, and for that I must say, I’m grateful.

The Odd Couple: Kindess meets the Courtroom

It's amazing the things you see when you sit outside a coffee shop, or stand at a busy intersection. It's just as intriguing to sit in the back of Judge Nick Nazaretian's coutroom as domestic violence cases leave the podium just as quickly as they arrive.

I chose Judge Nazaretian, a county court judge in the 13th Judicial Court here in Hillsborough, not only because he speeds thru domestic violence cases daily, but because he has a wit that makes his courtroom more than a serious place of dealing with unlawful citizens.

Judge Nazaretian also handles animal court cases and can be watched on Tru TV as he adjudicates animal citations and violations. It takes personality to be on TV and as I saw, this judge seems to hold back none of it.

Going to court has always been a nerve-wrecking experience for me. I felt this feeling creeping up again as I stood in the doorway of the courtroom peaking inside. "Your going to have to go in or out Ma'am" said an officer. I turned to see a man in orange cuffed at the ankles and wrists being held back as he waited with the officers for me to step aside. I didn't hesitate.

I took a seat in the third row next to a man who smelled of cigarettes and engine oil. I pulled out my notebook and went to work."Do you work here?" he asked me. I forced a smile and said "no, I am a student."

Judge Nazaretian greeted each defendant warmly but disciplined those who misbehaved like classroom children.The first case was against Alana Marcio, a pregnant woman charged with domestic battery or more plainly put-punching her boyfriend. She pleaded as I suspected she would have-"Not Guilty your Honor!"

The next man explained his story as people in the back began to whisper with impatience. He then spit out a random "I am not guilty!"

Judge Nazaretian seemed to ignore him and asked if he wanted trial by a judge or a jury but the man stood in silence, confused."Ever watch Judge Judy?" asked the judge,"It's fake, that's not real court, this is!"The man's public defender was no help and didn't say a word. The man somehow decided on trial by a judge and then stepped to the side of the courtroom to receive the necessary papers.

I felt the scent of cigarettes and engine oil getting stronger as I realized the man next to me had leaned over my shoulder. "I want to go back to school for criminal justice." I smiled again and continued to write.

The next case, the woman asked the judge where she would go to get an expungement. The judge said "Where do we go for expungements courtroom?" The people off the streets had become a congregation as they yelled in unison-"Lois!" they all seemed to have been waiting for the question.

I sensed everyone who stepped up to the podium was nervous, some shaking. Judge Nazaretian made a special effort to relieve all fears, all doubts. He joked, he poked fun, he smiled often.
It was amazing to see the interaction he had with these people who had committed the act of ignoring morals and having complete disregard for the fact that hitting and beating a wife or husband is wrong.

He forgave but made each person aware of their mistakes. I enjoyed watching the childlike discipline strategies of simple words and cutting eyes. Reminded me of being ten again.

After all of the not guilty's and no contest's, I took away from Judge Nazaretian more than I could have learned from any law book. The reason we all make mistakes is because we are not perfect. This doesn't make us less human but it makes us realize we can either become better people or continue for destruction. Each person who stepped away from that podium didn't get the results they wanted, but they all had smiled or laughed with the judge.

He kept the element of "We are human and not perfect" present in his courtroom and for this, my day in Judge Nazaretian's courtroom was time well spent.

Today I went to the public meeting held by the Hillsborough County staff concerning possible locations for the new Northwest Skateboard Park.

A little background on the prospective project:

The possible skate park includes the construction of a 10,000 square-foot outdoor concrete park. The cost for the design and construction is about $500,000 and will be paid through Parks and Impact Fees.

Now for the opinion side of this particularly interesting public meeting...

The roads on West Hillsborough leading to Alonso High School, where the public meeting was held, had already convinced me this side of town knew nothing about construction, but I gave the county officers and the Director of Parks, Mark Thorn, the benefit of a doubt.

I walked into a cafeteria filled with young high school kids who wore tight jeans and clunky sneakers. They all sat intelligently as they waited for the moment when they would get to voice their opinions.

Thorn began to explain his concerns with the fact that the City of St. Pete owned the prospective skate park property and the trouble the community would face with securing the area.
He said he didn't want to ask them to sell the land because he knew the answer would be no. From that moment on, he somehow managed to slip his personal opinion of St. Pete into the agenda...

He began a small rant about how St. Pete doesn't care about the voters and has no loyalty. He went on to talk about the city being more concerned with the highest and best use of the land, which seemed to not be turning the prospective land into a skateboarding meeting ground.

As for the media, if a man wearing a fedora with one hand fumbling through his phone and the other on the tripod of a small camera spinning aimlessly around the room counts, then the media was present.

A parent raised his hand and asked for the link to where the map of the prospective park could be found. Thorn, who admitted his incompetence to answer any question pertaining to technology, simply said he didn't know. Another man from the back told him he could take one of the big maps spread across the oval lunch tables. I got the feeling this was in an effort to silence the parent who exposed the county officers lack of proper preparation.

I looked across the room as the shaggy haired boys who began to get restless with their skateboards in their laps.

All they wanted to do was skateboard.

After another parent asked if the kids would be involved in the design of the new park, I took immediate interest to the attention these officials gave to these young boys. They listened to a few of their ideas and seemed to be pleased. Thorn asked all of the boys to fill out a form if interested in having a say in the design of the park. They all flooded over to the table I stood by and the smell of sweaty kids almost made me forget where I was, but I managed to get out before the crowd became overwhelming.

As I walked down the hallway of the high school that was better known as "Home of the Ravens," I realized the need for a skateboard park as the rails and stairways turned into a skating jungle gym. I felt like a tourist out of my element but laughed to myself as I felt for these kids, and found myself wanting them to get their park.

Band students walked around but tonight the talented musicians weren't the stars, it was the sweaty, foul-mouthed skateboarding teenagers who came out to support the efforts of officials to give them a skate park.

Even kids take part in issues these days and it's good to know they have that option, no matter how young or careless they may seem at times. In all, it was a casual meeting with outbursts and laughs, almost a family setting. I drove past a group of parents waiting for a bus to take them further into the country end of Hillsborough. Regardless of the lack of decent roads, what counted tonight was the effort being made, and those who were the main focus of this public meeting-the skateboarders.

Numbers are Everywhere...Even Journalism

There's always been some form of currency that has made the world go 'round-gold, pesos and now, the dollar. Whether we like the idea or not, there is no way to get around the numbers game when it comes to understanding money and more specifically, budgets, says Preston Trigg. As the Director of Administration for the Hillsborough County Tax Collector County Center, Trigg's job involves more than meets the eye.

Understanding the basics of government budgets pertaining to revenue and expenses is important as journalists if you want to understand what your looking at when you look at a budget. Trigg broke it down to the penny for us:

Because government budgets in Florida are public, the access is not the issue. Because most corruption involves money, Trigg explains, the issue lies in understanding the numbers so that you may break it down for those who need to know-the public.

Trigg pointed out a few basics to scoop out of the hefty book of budgets that can lead us in the direction of clarity.

-Always look for the revenue and expenses (and sometimes the debt)
-Look for major increases in any area
-ALWAYS ask if you don't understand
-Remember the 3 types of expenses
-Personal
-Capital
-Operating

What I personally found to be interesting was understanding the concept of operating expenses. As a full-time college student also working to support myself, understanding where my money goes when I pay for utilities struck a nerve. Many people seldom think about what there utility payments are used for but knowing where your money goes as opposed to "I just have to pay the water bill" is important. These decisions have impacts on the way we live and the improvements we see in our communities.

Trigg also brought back memories of microeconomics with the mention of milage, which is a property tax based on the value of your home as set by the county tax appraiser. I'm glad he did because it unveiled an understanding of how property taxes are determined and the system used to keep a consistent flow and fairness.

Trigg was informative and excited about enlightening us to government budgets. Numbers are everywhere whether we like it or not. So, with a better understanding of budget, I'm almost ready to try my hand at Algebra...almost.

A Dark Day with the Medical Examiner

So maybe my expectations of seeing this were a little over the top, I admit, but Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Vernard Adams' presence still created the same dark feeling that I was afraid would bring up my lunch.

Since all I knew was the basics-medical examiners do autopsies-this was a great opportunity to get into the dirt with what the job really entails. Aside from determining the cause of death whenever someone dies, Dr. Vern is also responsible for conducting meetings with families and attorneys to discuss documents like the autopsy report and the cause of death, which is not public information. He also keeps track of all correspondents from attorneys, which are all public.

Something interesting that Dr. Vern mentioned was the importance of understanding that there are two different kinds of Death Certificates:

The first contains the circumstance of a death and the details of whether the death was accidental, natural, or violent for example.

The second kind of death certificate doesn't have these details but can still be used to prove death for purposes such as closing a bank account.

He is also able to do HIV testing without asking for permission and sends out investigators for criminal investigation scenes where a death has occurred. None of these records are public either.

The medical examiner is also responsible for all photos and video tapes kept on file for the deceased and can be charged with a felony if any of these documents are made public, due to the Earnhardt Act. Dr. Vern was very informative when it came to sharing the ins and outs of the job but it was time for the tour...

After visiting the extraction lab where specimens are mixed and tested for substances such as poison, drugs, alcohol or anything out of the ordinary, it was off to the autopsy lab.

Dr. Vern may have made the mistake of letting us in too soon but lucky for us, we got a quick glimpse of an autopsy in progress. Nothing as gruesome as my imagination may have planned for, but it was something I had never seen.

Overall, great experience with a professional who loves his job, making Dr. Vern the darkest doctor I've ever met.

County Commissioners get Ripped a New One

At last Wednesday's County Commissioner meeting, Mark Sharpe, commissioner over District 7, began with "no question shall be directed personally at any commissioner" but was interrupted by a old lady in the back who yelled "FAT CHANCE!" the room wasn't full of people but was at capacity when it came to personality and opinion.

Once the moving of the colors was complete and the addendum was summarized, citizens began to loosen up. I perked up as I realized where this meeting was going.

Some of the issues to be discussed included Chinese Drywall, performance audits and, of course, the "emailgate" and the suspicious pay increases to deputies given by County Administrator Pat Bean, who sat unmoved as negative comments were thrown her way.

Citizens like Ms. Clouston named each employee she believed needed to be fired, like County Attorney Renee Lee, who received a 1% pay increase from Bean in 2007. Others were more concerned about the environment, like the bearded scientist who addressed the commissioners as morans and idiots.

While some spoke intelligently, like a young attorney who called Al Higginbotham on his mistakes of not understanding certain laws he claims to be for, some spoke and served as nothing but mere entertainment.

Like Mr. Robinson, who stepped up to the podium and immediately reminded me of Al Sharp. He through quotes at the county commissioners like "Don't throw the baby out with the bath water" and "what you see is what you get" before yelling out "freedom is NOT free" in closing. He didn't outdo the little old lady from the back who stepped up and ripped Pat Bean a new one but two hours later the same issue existed without any realistic suggestions of solution.

Bean, who has admitted to getting someone to download Auditor Jim Barnes' emails and has been accused of presenting a less than productive vision for her last two years in office, would cost county commissioners over $400,000 to fire.

This is where the heat came from Wednesday morning-out of frustration on a matter than can't be solved at the drop of the dime without a big price tag.

I definitely found this public meeting informative and interesting on many levels. Maybe the next county commissioner meeting they will actually discuss Chinese Drywall.

Order in the Court!

The Clerk of the Circuit Court is never a quiet place. I saw this first hand on Tuesday and came to understand why after our tour with Director of Juvenile Court Operations, Dana Caranante. While this tour may have been more informative than thrilling, we did have the opportunity before hand to sit down with Pat Frank, the Clerk of the Circuit Court and Comptroller for the Tampa Court.

As an elected official, Frank's daily duties included everything from keeping records for the court-such as leans and mortgages-to taking care of finances and making sure everything is properly invested. As of now, her office has hold of 1.8 billion dollars.

Talk about responsibility.

With a very transparent system that keeps all minutes and meetings available for review online and open for viewing on television, there are still a few unraveling hems to be hemmed, atleast in the eyes of Frank herself.

With the turn of events our economy has seen in the past year, foreclosures are up and the legislature seems to be holding back when it comes to, but of course, spurting out additional money for additional help. The need for staff goes up as the paperwork and duties required of employees goes up as well. This is a burden that is yet to be fixed.

On a brighter note, Caranante took us on a tour of what is necessary to really utilize the Court to fullest of it's ability. Everything from where the jury meet to where probate records can be found. Downstairs is where all records pertaining to family law can be accessed. This would include divorce settlements, child support and so on. One thing it would not include are child abuse cases. These are confidential unless requested by someone involved in the case.

Civil Suits can also be found downstairs. This is where any settlement involving less than 15,000 dollars involving landlords and tenants can be found. Circuit Civil is the office where all public records are kept, it's just important to know the case file you are requesting to make the process run smoother.

Everything has it's place in the Clerk of the Court's office, which makes it important to understand what you may be looking for and what those public records can do for you. Now with a better understanding of what is where and how the system works, I can't say I'll be running to the courthouse every chance I get, but I can say I will have a much smoother time one I do end up there digging for the dirt.