For our class mobile project, I went out to the Wellness Center in Republic Hall to report on student health and how it has been affected in light of the H1N1 virus.
Using my enV Touch, I live-tweeted all of my observations for an hour. After speaking with the receptionist, I was able to sit down with Maureen Houck, director of the Center, who reluctantly let me text about the availability of “swine flu” vaccinations on campus.
I say reluctantly because she was very concerned about keeping patient records confidential, and having a journalism student snooping around must have made her a little defensive.
She clearly didn’t want me loitering around any longer than I needed to — immediately after she answered a question, she would prompt me to move on. As soon as I ran out of questions, I was shown the door.
When I explained how I was doing this as an exercise in mobile reporting, both Houck and the receptionist looked really confused. Not to sound ageist, but I’ve found that most adults take offense when someone is texting during a conversation.
So I took a little flak from my sources, but at least I got the information that I needed.
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