Posted: Friday, December 4, 2015 at 3:00 p.m.

Author: Brittany Nicole Waddell

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – As graduation season approaches, students are preparing to enter the workforce. Companies are coming to Universities to recruit students, making the job search much easier, but some millennials are still having a difficult time securing their place in the workforce.

Leslie Poynter, Career Consultant at UT’S Center for Career Development, says “If you’re not prepared for the job search, you have come into a rude awakening when you graduate thinking that a college degree will get you a job, you have to be very competitive in the job market, students don’t realize that and they don’t prepare. It takes on average 4-6 months to secure a job, if students aren’t preparing for that their junior year of college; by doing mock interviews, attending job fairs, learning how to network, those basic strategies, if they aren’t preparing for that it will definitely be a lot harder for them. Looking for a job is a full time job in itself.”

Students have to be a lot more competitive depending on their field. In fields such as engineering and accounting students have very little issues finding employment. But students who are in the colleges of arts and sciences are still having a difficult time securing a job after graduation. According to the Career Services Annual Report from 2013-2014, only 17% of Journalism and Electronic media majors found full-time jobs after graduation.

Elyse Cheatham, a graduating senior, voices her thoughts on life after college. “I have taken advantage of the job fairs that the College of Communications have had, but it never resulted in a job. If anything it was a great networking experience. Most of the information I receive about potential employers is through my adviser and from my own research. I graduate in a week with a communications degree, it has been a really frustrating but I haven’t given up and I do feel a bit overwhelmed, but I think that’s what comes with it. I started my search in August, and even in my last week of undergrad I’m still hopeful that I will find the job that’s right for me.”

Friends gather around the dinner table to discuss if they had one superpower, what would it be and why?

Posted: Friday, April 17, 2015 at 8:00 p.m.
Author: Brittany Waddell

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (JEM 230) Jean-Pierre Brun, from the College de France spoke at the McClung Museum about the historic development and economic activities of Pompeii.
Brun began his lecture by saying that “you think you know Pompeii but you have no idea.” Jean-Pierre Brun went into detail about life in Pompeii and his historic discoveries in Rome, such as the dugout pirogue of Longola at Pogginrino.
Jean-Pierre Brun compared life in the ancient town to today’s modern society. He spoke briefly about perfume shops in Pomepeii. “Each town had perfumeries where perfume was sold and were also prepared.” Brun displayed an ancient painting, titled Casa de Vettni, which walked the audience through the perfume preparation.
The lectured ended by encouraging the UT community to pursue a career in Archeology by promoting organizations such as the East Tennessee Society of the Archeological Institute of America. The organization encourages professional archeologist, non-professionals, and students to join AIA.

Breaking News: Students Prepare for Campus Wide Zombie Games
Posted: Thursday April 2, 2015 at 4:45 p.m.
Author: Brittany Waddell and Adam Hill

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (JEM 230) – Thursday, April 2, 2015 UT junior Ashleigh Kraus announced a 5 day zombie game set to occur on UT’s campus April 7th through April 11th. The nationally known game “Humans vs Zombies” is a moderated game of tag played 24 hours a day for 5 days.
Humans vs Zombies has been played on UT’s campus going on 4 years. The game is voluntary to all students and includes humans, zombies, and moderators. Active member and moderator Ashleigh Kraus describes why she joined the Humans vs Zombies club, “It’s a fun and neat way to familiarize yourself with campus. As a freshman, I wanted to join an organization that would get me on campus and introduce me to a large group of people.”
The Humans vs Zombies Club are having registration meetings on campus, all students are encourage to attend. All players must be registered to play. To ensure the safety of the players and others, the Humans vs Zombies Club requires that all players use Nerf-type foam dart launchers and balled up socks.

Knoxville City Council Approves Tax Break for a New Micro-Brewery
Posted: Wednesday, February 4, 2015 at 5:30 p.m.
Author: Brittany Waddell

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (JEM 230)-Plans are in action to bring commerce to the Knoxville area in the form of a micro-brewery.

Guyot Properties, LLC are looking to partner with the city of Knoxville to develop a brewery that would also serve as a restaurant. The current property the investors are looking to re-develop is a vacant gas station on the corner of West Jackson Avenue. This investment will cost upward to $3 million dollars to re-develop the vacant property. The contractors plan to double the square footage and the new space will be able to hold up to 36-40 parking spots. The City Council will not fund the entire $3 million dollar project but will help the investors by giving them a small tax break to close the gap on the finances.
There was a motion to approve the tax break and that concluded with the entire council voting in favor of the project.
I spoke with the Mayor of Knoxville, Mayor Rogero, and this new development is something she is looking forward to.
“This is one of the kind of incentives we can offer for projects that without this kind of support, financing wouldn’t be available. It requires investment by the property owners but in the end we will get a much better facility and it will bring commerce to the area. I think it is a very exciting concept and I am look forward to going and having a beer there!”

http://www.wysk.com/index/tennessee/knoxville/4xfhgb8/guyot-properties-llc/profile

My website has two purposes. This site will be used to upload my course assignments for my journalism and electronic media  class, but more importantly this site is an online resume to document my collegiate career and my journalistic experiences. My readers can expect monthly blog posts and frequent pictures featuring various topics and information. To learn more about me, visit my “About Me” page.

Brittany