Resume

Profile
Energetic, fast-learning, multi-tasking newshound. I’m an organized, reliable and devoted college student looking to gain experience in a fast-paced news environment.

Professional Experience
2006 – present VCU InSight Richmond, VA Reporter/Photographer/Anchor
· Research and develop news stories for student produced, twice-monthly magazine show, aired on WCVW Richmond PBS.
· Produce quality content and Pocasts for online to enhance story telling and media outlets.

Technical Skills
Non-Linear video editing skills, operation of Beta SP camera, operation of Sony XD camera, operation of Canon Mini DV camera, Adobe Premiere, Adobe Audition, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe PageMaker, Word, Excel, PowerPoint.

Education
August 2003 - Present Virginia Commonwealth University Richmond, VA
Candidate for B.S. in Mass Communications-Broadcast Journalism and a Minor in History, May 2007

Work experience
August 2006 - Present Radio Disney Richmond, VA
Intern
Assist in writing Public Service Announcements, producing radio commercials to promote Disney and help set-up events.

August 2006 – December 2006 Commonwealth Times Richmond, VA
Contributing Writer
Report and write stories for the Commonwealth Times, Richmond.com and VCUInSight.vcu.edu

June 2006 - Present Fairfield Resorts Richmond, VA
Sales Associate
Work around Richmond and Williamsburg at different local hot spots and events to promote Fairfield Resorts and affiliated time-shares.

June 2002 – August 2002 NASA Langley Research Center Hampton, VA
Writer/Public Relations
Work closely with research and development employees at NASA as a summer intern for Tabb High School.

References
Debora Wenger Associate Broadcasting Professor at VCU (804) 827-0250
Rocky Dailey Broadcasting Professor at VCU (804) 827-0252
Laura Lane CMA Manager Fairfield Resorts (757) 592-4236

New women’s rugby coach is a Sweet guy

Published on VCUInSight's website in Oct 2006
http://www.vcuinsight.vcu.edu/stories/Fall06/Oct06/Rugby.htm

By Amanda Zumbrun

The women’s rugby team at VCU has a new coach – a player’s father who hopes to teach the women advanced skills and lead them to the state championship tournament at the end of the season.

The coach is Pete Sweet, who has being playing rugby since 1975 and played for the local amateur Richmond rugby team.

Sweet said he enjoys coaching women’s rugby, which has been a club sport at VCU since 2001. But he said the team needs more support from the university.

“It’s got its good and bad. I’ve coached against people that have a whole lot more gear than them in the way of facilities from the school. … We try to compete the best we can on the facilities that we scrounge up ourselves. The school does very little for them.”

Many of the players say they’ve learned a lot from Sweet’s coaching skills.

Jill Pullen, who has been playing rugby for three years, says the new coach brings lot to the team. “He’s given us strategies and practice routines that we’ve used in every single game we’ve played.”

So far this fall, the women are 2-2, with a couple of games to go.

Sweet’s daughter, Paige Sweet, has been playing on the women’s rugby team at VCU for two years. She said she loves having her dad as the coach. “He’s a great coach in any sport. And he knows so much about rugby that he brings so much to the team.”

Another member of the VCU women’s rugby team, Winnie Autry, played softball and swam in high school. Autry said she saw a sign for rugby around campus, “and it sounded like fun. So here I am.”

Autry said Coach Sweet brings a lot of experience to the team. “I’m a better player now that he’s here.”

The players hope that in early November, they will be in the Ed and Sandy Lee Tournament, which includes both collegiate and club teams, for men and women, from throughout Virginia.

The tournament decides who will go to the state championship and then move on to the national championship.

Before Sweet, the coaches for the women’s team were Ryan Kenzy and Frank Punch.

They left because of work-related issues.

Mattaponi and Pamunkey tribes honor Gov. Kaine

By Amanda Zumbrun

Most people gather with family and friends for the traditional turkey for Thanksgiving.

The governor for the Commonwealth of Virginia, Timothy Kaine, was given buck deer and other gifts by the Mattaponi and Pamunkey tribes at an annual ceremony, which honors the treaties of 1646 and 1677.

The gifts are given to the governor every year on the day before Thanksgiving in lieu of taxes on the lands held by the tribes.

Both the Mattaponi, one of the oldest reservations in America, and the Pamunkey tribes still live on state reservations.

The event was held at the Executive Mansion of Virginia, where the governor and his family reside.

This was Kaine’s first tribute ceremony. He is finishing his first year as governor.

Due to the rainy weather, Kaine invited everyone inside for the ceremony.

“Welcome to your home,” said Kaine. “My wife Anne and I and our three children are tenants here, but you own this house. And I want to say you are a wonderful landlord. We love being here.”

The last time it rained at the annual ceremony was when Kaine's wife, Anne Holton, was living in the mansion. She lived there as a child from 1970 to 1974, when her father, Lynwood Holton, was governor.

Laughter filled the room when Kaine announced that unusual fact.

As the Mattaponi and Pamunkey tribes gave tribute to the governor, the governor praised the Native Americans and their ancestors.

“They played an absolutely incredible role in forming our Virginia values – forming what would become America,” Kaine said. He said the tribes contributed to Virginia’s legacy of “representative government, free enterprise and cultural diversity.”

The chief of the Mattaponi tribe, Carl "Lone Eagle" Custalow, presented Kaine and the first lady with a hand-made peace pipe and a burden basket, which will take away worries and burdens if you hang it on the wall.

“It’s an honor to me to present the 360th tribal tribute to the governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia. This year we have a buck deer,” said Custalow.

The Chief of the Pamunkey tribe, William P. Miles, said this ceremony establish their government-to-government relationship with the state of Virginia.

“It reinforces the tribe’s sovereignty and self-government,” Miles said.

Miles presented a black hand-made pottery vase to Holton.

Kaine was presented a plate with a turtle painted on it, which represents peace, good will and longevity. Miles then presented the Pamunkey tribe’s deer to the governor.

At the end of the ceremony, the tribes preformed a song and dance for the governor and audience.

The room of the Executive Mansion filled with native music that is preformed in honor of people from the past to the present.

The Pamunkey Indian who performed the song said this is “not just for our people but for all people.”

Faculty, staff to pay more for parking

Published in the Commonwealth Times Oct. 26, 2006
http://www.commonwealthtimes.com/media/storage/paper634/news/2006/10/26/News/Faculty.Staff.To.Pay.More.For.Parking-2405112.shtml?norewrite200612041452&sourcedomain=www.commonwealthtimes.com

By Amanda Zumbrun

Faculty and staff will pay more to park in VCU garages and lots beginning Dec. 1.

The parking rate will increase to $58 per month, up from $56.24, as part of the university budget approved by the VCU Board of Visitors for 2006-2007.

The people hit the hardest by the increase are VCU staff members who make minimum wage: A minimum-wage employee would have to work more than 11 hours just to pay for a monthly parking pass.

Many staff workers in the Student Commons said they would rather park on the street than pay for a parking pass.

The downside is that many of them have received tickets as a result.

Rico Pender, assistant manager for the Compass Pointe Emporium at Shafer Court, said he had not heard anything about the rate increase. Neither had his co-workers, he said.

Pender currently parks in one of VCU’s decks. He knows a lot of people who pay for parking. He thinks it’s a shame that the rate is going up.

“It’s rough,” Pender said. “I can’t see it being a good thing, but I guess they need to raise the price for certain reasons.”

Emma Minor, assistant manager for VCU’s Parking and Transportation Services, said the parking fees pay for a lot of things.

“Cleaning, security, and cashiers are included in the cost to keep the parking lots and garages running,” Minor said. “Your parking pass also includes assistance like a jump start when your battery dies and flat tire repair.”

The fees also pay for construction of parking facilities. “With all the new faculty, staff and students VCU is bringing in, we want to make sure there is enough room for people to park by building new decks to park in,” Minor said.

The university announced the rate increase through e-mail last month.

Also in that e-mail, VCU Parking and Transportation Services notified faculty and staff that their 2006 parking passes were about to expire.

Jonathan Tarr, a Commons worker, said he hadn’t heard of the rate increase. But he said he “read somewhere about how VCU Parking and Transportation wants you to update your information online so they can send you a new parking pass.”

The new pass will be valid through Sept. 30, 2007.

Minor said VCU instituted online renewal of parking passes because “our customers are very busy people.”

“We hope online renew will be more convenient to our subscribers and show that Parking and Transportation is keeping up with new technology,” she said.

VCU students who park in the decks and parking lots pay up to $155 a semester. During the fall semester, the pass is good from the first day of school until Dec. 31. That’s about $38 per month.

The daily rate for parking in a VCU deck is $3.25 for students and $5 for faculty and staff.

VCU offers alternatives to help alleviate the increase in parking rates.

One option is to park in the decks that accept cash and pay only for the days you are on campus.

Another option is to ride the Greater Richmond Transit Co. buses. “We work with GRTC to make is easier for people to get to campus,” Minor said.

She said VCU employees can use payroll deduction to pay for parking on campus.

“Full-time faculty and staff can also sign up for the payroll deduction, which is automatically taken out semi-monthly,” Minor said. “When they do that, it’s not taxed by the government.”