Latest News

3 Day Startup

by gigo7888 ~ April 4th, 2009

So, I’m here at 3 Day Startup, the entrepreneurial event we talked about during this week’s show. There are a lot of people here (not necessarily students, so I won’t define them all as students) who are brainstorming and trying to come up with a technological business within the next couple of days. 

It seems as though a lot of them haven’t gotten enough sleep =\…Just walking around it looks pretty difficult what they’re doing. I’m not quite sure I would be able to do all of this within the time constraints…

I would tell you the task at hand, but I’m not sure I’m at liberty to say…I’ll wait for Vanessa Castañeda to get back. I’m sure you all remember that Vanessa was the host of our little show and the news director just last year. Well now she’s the communications director for 3DS. She went out to lunch, but she should be back soon. Maybe she could answer some of my questions.

But there are people from different backgrounds here–there are some computer science peeps and some business peeps. I also ran into someone who has a history in advertising. I tried to talk to some of them, but I think their grumpy faces said it all.  If not that, the slammed door was a pretty clear indication.

Other than that…everything seems to be running smoothly. I’ll keep you posted.

The New Mexican-American War

by gigo7888 ~ March 25th, 2009

cartels
On tonight’s edition of ‘In the Know,’ we’ll be talking about the New Mexican-American War–the war on drugs.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is in Mexico this week to try and find out what exactly is going on south of the border. Other members of the Obama administration, including President Obama himself, will soon be making a trip to Mexico as well.

Now, many are fearful that the violence in Mexico will soon spill over onto U.S. territory. But, is this necessarily the case? Also, about 90 percent of the weapons used by Mexican cartels are exported illegally from the United States. Should we therefore assume a majority of the responsibility to help end this war?

Join us tonight at 7 pm on 91.7 KVRX Austin. If you’d like to comment on the U.S.’s involvement in the situation or on tonight’s topic in general, give us a call at 512-495-KVRX or blog with us here on the site.

Hasta luego.

–XO–

Right to live or die?

by gigo7888 ~ March 4th, 2009

euthanasia
On tonight’s edition of ‘In the Know,’ we’ll be talking about euthanasia and whether or not assisted suicide is the way to go.

Although this topic has been out of the limelight for quite some time, we think it’s still a hotly contested issue. Should doctors have the right to pull the plug, or should individuals have the right to continue living, even if their prospects seem dim.

Joining us in the studio is Jerri Lynn Ward, a pro-life attorney in the Austin area who has dealt with cases such as these. Be sure to tune in tonight at 7 pm on 91.7 KVRX as we delve into this tough issue. Let us know what you think! Give us a call at 512-495-KVRX or blog with us here on the site.

–XO–

*photo courtesy of catholicregister.org*

Kicking Cancer’s Butt

by gigo7888 ~ March 4th, 2009

cancer awareness
Unfortunately, I was unable to post the blog for last week’s show on time. But here’s a recap of what happened:

Brandon Mendelson and his wife Amanda joined us in the studio. They are traveling across the country trying to spread the word about cancer awareness and cancer prevention with the help of the 1 in 8 Foundation. They were nice enough to come all the way to Austin just to be on our show.

Brandon informed us about certain statistics specific with breast cancer, especially since the name of their tour is Kicking Breast Cancer’s butt. Fortunately, we found out that more and more people are surviving breast cancer, along with other prevalent cancers such as prostate cancer and colon cancer. However, they still remain some of the most fatal. Suyun and I shared a few of our experiences in terms of having family members who have suffered from cancer. We came to the conclusion that in one way or another, everyone has known someone that has suffered from cancer, even people are own age.

Brandon told us that our generation was also the one being hit the hardest by the disease. All in all, it was an informative show! If you would like more information about their trip, you can visit thebrandonshow.com

–XO–

*photo courtesy of gethealthypromos.com*

What Would ITK Do?

by gigo7888 ~ February 18th, 2009

wwyd

On tonight’s edition of ‘In the Know,’ we’re getting hypothetical! That’s right, another installment of ‘What Would ITK Do?’

Throughout the hour, we will present certain scenarios, many of which are plausible. But what exactly do you do once you find yourself in that given situation?

For instance, what would you do if you caught a parent cheating? Which parent would you remain loyal to? Also, what would you do if you found yourself in the middle of a crime such as a convenience store robbery? Do you save someone who has been injured or do you run away with no intentions of looking back?

These are just some of the many questions we will pose tonight at 7 on 91.7 KVRX. If you have any suggestions or would like to comment, give us a call at 512-495-KVRX or blog with us here on the site.

–XO–

*photo courtesy of specialedandme.com*

Clinton Global Initiative

by gigo7888 ~ February 13th, 2009

Hello ITK listeners!

I’m Suyun Hong blogging live from the Clinton Global Initiative. Xorje is actually shooting the event behind me, so it’s the not the usual Xorje blogging, but I’m here live–ready to tell you exactly what’s happening as it happens.

It’s about 12 minutes before this thing gets started and people are still trickling into the Gregory Gym. One of the organizers said she was expecting about 3600 people here. They’ve got press in the middle with people in front of us and in the bleachers.

Got to say, this is one of the most exciting things I’ve done in a while. I think I can say for Xorje that we feel very special right now :D

Former president Bill Clinton is going to be here–as well as (some might see this as more important) Natalie Portman and possibly other movie stars. Nobody knows for sure though. Who knows, some of them may actually pull out at the last minute, but let’s hope they don’t.

I’m not exactly sure how many organizations are involved, but it looks like there are a lot of different student organizations around here volunteering to help organize.

I think just about every media outlet in Austin is here right now. The press area is very packed.

Xorje wants us (Lee Ann is also here–one of our friends at The Daily Texan) to run to Natalie Portman with our recorder and ask her some questions. I doubt this is possible.

Keisha Senter– director of the CGI is talking now.

I believe the photographers are going up for a short photo session.

It’s now 4:06 and they have yet to start, hoping that the guests come out now.

The lights are off!!! And the music is off too….or not, now they’re playing as Lee Ann says, a “riveting intro video.” :D It sounds pretty inspriational, except I can barely hear exactly what they’re saying.

According to the video, we have two reps from UT Austin–didn’t catch their names. This just in—this place is really cold, at least to me.

End of intro video–nobody yet.

Okay ITK listeners, something to keep in mind. If in the middle of this whole shabang I stop blogging–don’t be alarmed. It just means that my computer ran out of the limited battery that it has. Oh well.

What better way to spend your Friday afternoon huh?

Clinton just came out now. I can’t see anything. Hopefully I can get a picture soon.

Nope never mind–no pictures for me just because my sad sad old camera.

Clinton’s already started talking.

He thinks that we need to “redefine 21st century citizenship.”

Bill Clinton is wearing an orange tie. Does that make me feel special as a Longhorn……uuuhh.

Now Clinton’s talking about all the money issues in Congress.

He’s now talking about the first CGI meeting last year in New Orleans at, I believe, Tulane University.

“Community service projects are going to be funded…more like political campaigns are funded…but society will be stronger…”

“The earth doesn’t know that there’s been a financial crisis.” Clinton now talking about the issues relating to global warming, children dying, etc.

“There are now 20million Chinese factory workers unemployed” because Clinton says that we don’t need or can’t afford their products anymore.

Clinton says already, 1600 commitments have been made, to what I’m not too sure.

I feel like a horrible reporter. Just found the sign that says, ‘Hosted by Student government.’ So now we all know where all these student volunteers came from.

Clinton says that if we had a meeting like this 30 years ago, then we wouldn’t have this diverse a group.

Calls the current financial crisis, a “sharp wake-up call.”

He says “to be a citizen in the 21st century, requires all of us to do the work.”

The change of the BILLS! Prez of UT–Bill Powers is now speaking. Such a raspy voice.

He’s calling him Mr. President—but is that right? Barack Obama is the current president. I believe the correct title would be Mr. Clinton, no? Hmmm…going to have to look that one up sometime later.

Bill Powers–not as great of a speaker as Bill Clinton. At least that’s my opinion.

Natalie Portman has just entered the room and the flashes are going off like crazy.

She’s sitting with three other guests of honor. There are four total panelists (other than Clinton), not exactly sure what they’ll be talking about.

They’re talking about food issues first. Bill Clinton playing reporter????! He’s asking each panelist questions about what they do, why, etc. Hopefully he gets to Natalie before my battery runs out…

On a side note—I just want to let all our listeners out there that there’s some type of weird feedback behind the press area, making it really hard to really distinguish what the speakers are EXACTLY saying. I can hear pretty well, it’s just not as clear as I would hope. So if by any chance I type something that doesn’t seem consistent, please forgive me.

Clinton is now talking to Natalie! Says he met her in 2004, when she “was even younger than [she] is now.” He wants to know why did she compelled at such a young age to do what she did.

She says during her last year in college, a close friend of hers was injured in a terrorist attack in Israel. She says she wanted to suddenly “solve” the

She says she can’t believe that after having graduated a public high school and gone to Harvard, she didn’t know that 2/3 of the world population was living under $3 a day. Saying that it took her until she was 21 years old to learn about the state of world poverty.

Okay ITK listeners. Our time together just might be up. My computer now has about 11% battery left.

I’m going to have to wrap it up now. If for any reason you’re reading this, thanks for bloggin with us…or at least reading my lame blog posts and updates. Don’t forget to tune in on Wednesday at 7pm to our usual ITK show, but until then, enjoy your Valentine’s Day weekend (or for singles out there, enjoy singles weekend!).

Avoiding VD on V-Day

by gigo7888 ~ February 11th, 2009

Vday
On tonight’s edition of ‘In the Know,’ we’ll be talking about the naughty! ;) Yes folks, that’s right, we’re talking about sex!

With Valentine’s Day around the corner, we want to make sure you’re well informed before consummating your relationship. 

Guli Fager with University Health Services will be joining us here in the studio to talk about specifics when it comes to protecting yourself during sex. She’ll also talk about alternatives to intercourse.

Be sure to join us tonight at 7 pm on 91.7 KVRX. If you’d like to ask Guli a question, give us a call at 512-495-KVRX or blog with us here on the site.

–XOXO– XO

*photo courtesy of blogspot.com*

ITK Learns Another Language

by gigo7888 ~ February 4th, 2009

Grammar
On tonight’s edition of ‘In the Know,’ we will be talking about the pressures of learning another language.

Many immigrants who come to this country are pressured into acculturating, especially when it comes to learning and speaking English. But with so many immigrants coming well into their 30s and 40s, how plausible is that?

Also, for those of us looking to acquire better job opportunities, being bilingual seems to be an important deciding factor. So, how soon can we add this to our resume?

Joining us in the studio tonight is UT linguistics professor Cynthia Hansen. She’ll talk about the difficulties associated with bilingualism and attitudes toward language, including accents.

Make sure to tune in to 91.7 KVRX Austin tonight at 7 pm! If you’d like to comment on tonight’s topic, give us a call at 512-495-KVRX, or blog with us on the site.

–XO–

*photo courtesy of discoveries.files.wordpress.com*

Global WarNing

by gigo7888 ~ February 4th, 2009

Global Warming

Unfortunately, I was unable to update the blog in time for our show last week–for that I sincerely apologize. We spent the hour talking about environmental issues such as global warming and climate change.

We had Perla Sarabia Johnson and Bruce Melton join us in the studio. Both spoke of climate change and how global warming affects us today.

Sarabia Johnson has just written a new book entitled Global WarNing, and Melton is with Melton Engineering Austin and Climate Change Now. He has traveled to different parts of the world, including the Arctic, to see first hand the results of climate change.

Melton will more than likely join us again in the next few weeks to talk more about this complex issue. If you have any questions, you can comment here on the blog and we will see that they get answered. Thanks!

–XO–

*photo courtesy of Vermont Guardian*

A Changed America!

by gigo7888 ~ January 21st, 2009

Inauguration 2009
Barack Obama is officially the 44th President of the United States!!!!…or is he?

On tonight’s edition of ‘In the Know,’ we will be talking about yesterday’s inauguration ceremony from the slip-ups, the exceptionally large crowd, and what it all means now to have our nation’s first African-American president.

But now that the festivities have died down, it’s time for President Obama to get to work. However, with so much on his plate, we at ITK figure he may need some help figuring out what should be at the top of his list. So we will be talking about certain issues we feel President Obama should address within the next 100 days, ranging from the war in Iraq to domestic civil rights. We will also reflect on this momentous occasion–talk about where we were and how we felt. Will his inauguration address go down in history?

Be sure to join us tonight at our new time, 7PM!! If you’d like to throw in a couple of cents, give us a call at 512-495-KVRX or blog with us here on the site! Let us know how you felt watching President Obama take the oath of office.

–XO–

*photo courtesy of http://cbc.ca*