The Annual Autumn Leaf Festival and Clarion Homecoming!

The Annual Sunday Tractor Show is a main attraction for the rural residents of Clarion, Pennsylvania. Just as it is on Craft Day and the Car Show, all of Main Street is blocked off and the tractors are on display from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.


Current active duty members of local military branches and various bases join together for their march down Main Street during Clarion's Annual Autumn Leaf Festival Parade.




The Annual Autumn Leaf Festival, which is also Clarion University's Homecoming, is filled with notorious food stands lining both sides of Main Street. The "Poor Man's Apple" is a favorite of many A.L.F. goers.



The first to kick off the Annual Saturday afternoon A.L.F. Parade are local Clarion Vets, earning themselves a standing ovation.



Clarion University of Pennsylvania graduate, Michelle White, 24, discusses what the Annual Autumn Leaf Festival means to her both as an alum, and as a resident of Clarion County.



Above is the Art Gallery that contains the works of many talented Clarion University students, bringing artistic culture to the small, rural town.

Oktoberfest is back in Evans City!

Gambling... Yay or Nay?

The legalization of gambling has been on the center stage of the political arena, specifically in state governments, for years. Protesters of the legalization of gambling in all states are voicing their concerns about financial matters, stating that there is a trend with gamblers; they bet what they cannot afford to lose. On the other side of the argument, we have people defending the claims of economic stimulation, specifically increasing tourism generation and job creation.

Various studies have been conducted focusing on the human behavior aspect of gambling. Recent results of these studies indicate that people always want what they cannot have. Therefore, if legislation increases the number of people who are allowed to legally gamble, this should reduce illegal gaming behaviors. There is an overwhelming amount of social concerns that the public has discussed concerning the parallel of addiction and gambling. Like the addictive substance alcohol, the feeling of winning can be addicting. According to a handful of opinion leaders in cities that have recently legalized gambling, people are participating in more illegal activities in order to obtain the money to go out to these casinos. Along with alcohol, cigarettes, the internet and other addictive items, gambling involves self-control. A responsible gambler enters a casino with an “x-amount” of cash, with clear intent of only using only that amount for that evening. It is comparable to an individual walking into a bar with a few friends with the intent of only having a couple beers. An alcoholic feels they need alcohol to survive. Someone who is addicted to gambling would do everything in their power to get ahold of more money to fund their addiction, just as any other addict would do. Not everyone lacks self-control. Essentially, the argument that the majority of people are posing is, if we make gambling illegal everywhere, then there might as well be legislation banning alcohol, cigarettes, the internet and anything else that the general public uses for recreational purposes.

Looking at it from a political angle, it is a popular opinion that gambling would in fact balance our government’s budget. Sin taxes are taxes on items considered to be harmful or undesirable, such as alcohol and tobacco products. According to public documentation, the amount of federal excise tax revenue on cigarettes in 2011 was nearly $33.3 billion. By taxing gambling, it would provide enough revenue so it could potentially reduce the amount of taxation in other areas, (i.e. food), and lessen the burden on the lower class.

 Research indicates that it is a government assumption that legalizing gambling and enacting sin taxes would be a net gain to society. Debate will continue until the legislation reaches a verdict.  

 

Just Keep Swimming

My name is Autumn Hannold and I am a junior Public Relations major at Slippery Rock University. I'm particularly interested in New Media Journalism because as  PR major, I feel that it is crucial to be completely aware of the changing forms of media in order to efficiently represent clients and conduct more personal ways of business with the variety of publics. I've been a faithful user of social media ever since the times when my biggest worry of the day was what my 'profile song' was, or what color I had set as my background on MySpace. Then, I converted on over to Facebook where one can still find me from time-to-time. Twitter is how I find everything out, and it has become even more appealing now that you can "mute" people, meaning you do not have to start World War 3 by 'unfollowing' someone, you can just delete them from your timeline and they will have no idea.

Writing has always been a hobby of mine, whether it be for a class, blog, poetry, or an occasional Facebook rant. However, after participating in a few business courses my junior and senior years of high school, I soon discovered that I also had a passion for entertainment, sports, and traveling. It was then that my teacher introduced me to the oh-so-wonderful world of PR. A perfect little combination of business and writing? This certainly sounded like a game plan to me.

Going into college, I was focused primarily on American politics and government PR. Although I still hope to land a job on Capitol Hill some day, I have recently become interested in the tourism industry. I am happiest at the beach and take a serious interest in marine life and aquatic animals. I love traveling and exploring new cultures. So, someday down the road, I'll either be the White House press secretary, living on the beach in Charleston, SC, or I'll be boarding a Caribbean Cruise Ship loving my life.


As far as traditional news outlets are concerned, I tend to watch MSNBC. Politics are an interest of mine, so I do watch Fox News, too, to prevent selective exposure. I also religiously watch the 6:30 Nightly News Broadcast with Brian Williams. This could be because it is the quickest and most detailed recap of the day's events, or because someday Brian and I are getting married. Most of the time, however, Twitter is the quickest way to discover new information in today's media landscape. 

In terms of a new-media outlet, I shamefully admit that BuzzFeed takes up storage on my Apple iPhone. As non-credible and unprofessional as they are, the app does have some perks. When the user first downloads the application, they have the ability to select news that seems interesting to them. So, BuzzFeed essentially caters the news to your personal interests, unless it's a breaking news story, of course. Since younger people are not as interested in the news, Buzzfeed is an efficient way to expose them to stories that they would not have seen, had they not downloaded the app.