60th College POY: Casey Templeton

January 2006
For News Photographer magazine
By Jenn Fields
In 2004, Casey Templeton took a week off from the fall semester of his junior year at James Madison University to observe the judging of College Photographer of the Year. Templeton’s school in Harrisonburg, Va., doesn’t have a journalism program. CPOY judging was to be his photojournalism education for [...]

Today’s biological clock for men

Guys, is your clock ticking? According to the “Today Show,” it should be.
Men have a biological clock, too, according to the segment. As men get older, they can pass on an increased risk of autism, Down’s Syndrome and a variety of other genetic disorders.
When will this happen? How common is it? Don’t look to “Today” [...]

17-year-old whiz kid takes a stab at the national fencing scene

By Jenn Fields
For Vox Magazine
March 24, 2005
Two faceless opponents stare each other down from behind dark masks. Swords are poised gracefully yet powerfully in their hands; they are ready to strike at a whisper of motion. Andrew Gardner is the shorter of the two. [...]

Coup d’École

I sent in my draft of the final bit of writing for my MA degree yesterday. I’ll still have revisions to do, and I still have much organizing and formatting to do, but it’s starting to look as though I might actually finish this degree.
This has all the feel of a coup.
But I’m not done. [...]

Incomplete reporting “Today”

Jenna Bush is all grown up now and has a book coming out about an HIV-positive woman in Panama.
Is this image control, publicity for the former party girl who embarrassed the president (as if he needed any help)? Today asked a book publisher — it was unclear whether this was her publisher or a randomly [...]

Retreat for compassion, or from compassion

At Buddhist retreats, everyone is usually too blissed-out to drum up unkind words or an angry spat. You also don’t hear much complaining about money. After all, dharma is priceless. It’s like a Visa commercial.
Comfy yet sturdy meditation cushion: $60
Pack lunch so don’t have to leave your mountain retreat for food: $5.50
Weekend retreat with enlightened [...]

Tuesday’s Today

Lots of fluff today on Today — the circus is there, a bit on guys and chick-flicks, a bit on make-up and beauty beyond 40.
It would seem there’s nothing going on in the world.
But wait. Cut to two minutes of news briefs. Earthquake in Indonesia. Bunch of soldiers died in Iraq. Guy flys his plane [...]

Monday’s “Today” — the cyst

Good Monday morning! Yesterday was a beautiful day in Colorado, warmer, achingly blue skies, and today promises to be even more gorgeous. And how did we start this lovely day? A cup of coffee, a bagel, and a 90-plus pound ovarian cyst on our television.
Okay, it is an interesting story, a medical anomaly, a cyst [...]

Today — Second Life Twice

Today, Today did a segment on Second Life. The other day, Today did a segment on Second Life.
Seeing double?  Well, the only difference I could see is that this time, they made an Avatar (Second Life character) of Matt.
Next week, they’ll do a segment on Second Life. Maybe it will have an Avatar of Al.