The Name's Corey...
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I'm a journalist who is embracing different forms of media to tell and share a story. I also love social media and know how to use it to share a story or promote a company. I like coffee, video games and dogs!
EXPERIENCE
EDUCATION
2018-Present
Reporter
The Morning Sun
This is a newspaper in central Michigan that covers three counties. I write stories on a daily basis, including features, and I take photos to go with my stories.
CM Life
I have worked for Central Michigan University's student-run newspaper. I covered the Colleges of Health Professions and Communications and Fine Arts. I wrote weekly stories, briefs and occasionally took photos if needed.
2016-2018
Staff Reporter
2015-2016
Food and Beverage Writer
Grand Central Magazine
I was a feature writer who was on the Food and Beverage beat. I wrote features on food topics, food-related clubs on CMU's campus, and a feature on a new coffee shop that opened during on that time.
2013-2018
Bachelor's Degree
Delta College/Central Michigan University
At Delta, I recieved my general education and an introduction to media studies. At Central Michigan University, I am currently working towards my Bachelor's of Science in Journalism and my minor in Multimedia Design.
2009-2013
High School Diploma
All Saints Central High School
I received my High School Diploma here, located in my hometown of Bay City, Michigan. I also started my page design experience here working for the yearbook.
SKILLS
AP Style
Microsoft Office
Graphic Design
Adobe Creative Suite
Photography
Social Media
Digital proof of insurance, registration now valid at traffic stops
Morning Sun, 2/07/18
Several drivers were ticketed just in the past several days for driving without insurance in Mt. Pleasant, a stop that’s become common statewide since computers started providing that information to officers on patrol.
With a new amendment, a phone or other device can be used show both a proof of insurance and a proof of registration, allowing drivers to avoid a citation if they have a digital copy.
Hoping to add efficiency to drivers, a recent amendment was added to the Michigan Drivers Code allows drivers to use their phones to show that their car is registered.
The amendment was signed into law in Nov. 2017. A similar law that allows insurance information to be read on a phone or tablet was passed in 2015.
The amendment states that an electronic copy of their registration certificate can be used in place of a paper copy, if the device displaying it is given to an officer.
The machine is taken back to the police car, where the officer can read the information in a safe environment.
“When we take your phone, that does not constitute a search on that phone,” Mt. Pleasant Police Chief Jeff Browne says, “We would still need a warrant to do that.”
An electronic copy is defined as a file containing the information of the certificate or a picture of the physical copy, as long as the information is visible.
If the device is shut off or timed out, the document must be immediately accessible after turning it back on.
The person may be required to forward the electronic copy of the registration to a specified location provided by the police, if the officer deems it necessary.
“If the phone is accidentally dropped and something happens, the law states that the officer or post isn’t responsible for the damages.” Mount Pleasant State Police Sgt. Lance Cook said, “If an officer intentionally breaks a phone during a stop, that’s a civil court matter.”
Browne said that the idea of the amendment is to put this law into the modern age of phones and e-mails, where most documents are stored on a device.
“I like the convenience; I feel like it will ease tensions for both sides,” said Mt. Pleasant resident Cheryl Moe, “there will be less suspicion because officers won’t have to worry about where people are reaching and the drivers won’t get as frustrated, so things won’t escalate.”
Cook says that officers feel less tense when the driver is waiting patiently for instruction.
State Trooper Brent Haag sees the benefits, but also the drawbacks of electronic documents.
“It can be helpful for those who know their technology well, but it can also take them a long time if they don’t know where the documents are in their phone.” He said, “the less time we’re on the side of the road, the safer we are.”
STORIES WRITTEN
Q&A: Video professor Limarenko talks Traverse City Film Festival, student work
CM Life, 10/22/17
Eric Limarenko has been teaching students in the School of Broadcast and Cinematic Arts the intricacies of film making since 2009. He currently teaches three classes on video production, ranging from basic to graduate level.
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Some of his past work includes editing commercials for companies like Ford and Wendy’s and working with musicians Zac Brown of the Zac Brown Band and Trey Anastasio of Phish. Most recently, his reputation brought him to lead a lecture on low-budget filmmaking at the Traverse City Film Festival this summer.
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CM LIFE: What did you do at the festival?
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Limarenko: There’s a program at the festival called “Film School” that allows people to attend a lecture. I believe it's $5 a ticket and experts speak on different topics. I did one last year and they invited me back again this year to talk about filming video on a budget – mainly about the use of lighting on a budget.
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What is recruitment like at the festival?
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People at the lectures tend to be looking to get in the film industry. Having the College of Communication and Fine Arts and BCA attend gets those people excited and helps brand Central Michigan University. Being seen with the same signage that also features Michigan State University and University of Michigan puts us on the same level.
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What were the specifics on what you spoke about?
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We were looking at investing in production gear you’d really need. I can simply buy a $3 piece of poster board and use the white for the poster board to bounce off light, instead of buying expensive lights. When you handle hot lights, you can go to Menards and get gardening gloves that will work just as well for that purpose. We also talked about the recent influx of LED lights. We talked about different time lighting setups like the traditional three-point lighting and using room lighting and sunlight. We also looked at what sort of look you can get from what position the sun is in the sky with the magic hour and sunrise hour.
What is the “magic hour?”
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The "magic hour" is the hour right before the sun's going down. It gives you a certain look that can’t be replicated. A good example of it in practice is the film "Days of Heaven," which was shot primarily during the magic hour.
Did you show any of your work at the festival?
We are able to showcase CMU work, so we played films from the BCA 521 cinematography class. We also showed some collaboration films with Heather Beardslee’s dance class and Jay Batzner’s music class. The last thing we showed was my short film, Whatnots. It’s made up of 13 music videos based on the album I wrote and performed. They’re linked together to make one narrative, so it's like my version of Pink Floyd's "The Wall."
Were there other films from students or professors featured at the festival?
We had one of our graduate students, Mason Flick, show his documentary “Ithaca: The Climb,” which was shown at the Opera House in Traverse City.
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It was sold out and there were people standing in line to see if they could get in. It was an exciting night; there was a great reception and applause. Unfortunately, Mason couldn't come due to a prior engagement, so myself and CCFA dean Janet Hethorn did a Q&A after the session and we answered the questions we could about the film and specifically the CCFA because this is also a recruiting event for us.
What are you working on now?
I've got three documentaries happening right now. One is in post-production and that is called "Nor a Drop to Drink" and that's with a sociology professor, Cedric Taylor, and it's about the Flint Water Crisis. Cedric shot it and did all the interviews and he came to me and asked me if I could edit it.
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The other one is about women in radio and the challenges they face, specifically on air but all positions in radio, and that's with Patty Williamson from the BCA department.
We are doing a documentary on social justice and design with David Stairs and he's on sabbatical shooting in Africa right now.
In Europe, I believe we were interviewing designers all over the country, as well as in San Francisco and Los Angeles. That's what I'm doing right now.
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I believe in the work we're doing.
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Any advice for new filmmakers?
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The most important advice I'd give is just do it. Don't be held back by equipment limitations that you think you have, just do it, even if it's not good. You just have to keep doing it over and over and over again, make all your mistakes and you learn from the last one and you move on.
Digital proof of insurance, registration now valid at traffic stops
CM Life, 1/24/18
Beginning in Spring 2020, the College of Communication and Fine Arts will offer a major program on animation.
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The university hired associate professor Steven Leeper in April to create the major. Leeper previously was a professor of
animation at Huntington University for 12 years.
"We want to be major storytellers," Leeper said. "We're working with the broadcast and cinematic arts department to create post-production animation for video projects."
Central Michigan University has wanted to adopt an animation program for three years, and hired Leeper to develop the curriculum.
The art department has approved the academic plan for the program. It is currently in the review process, being looked at by the Academic Senate and the administration, said art department chair Jonathan Russell.
Currently, there are only three animation courses offered at CMU: Art 397O, Art 397I and Art 397N — Beginning Animation, Digital Animation and Storyboarding Animation, respectively. Digital and storyboarding are new classes that are meant to assist in the coming program.
Students in the multimedia design program can take the beginning animation class to count toward the minor.
Leeper said students who are interested can start taking classes that will count toward the major. Starting in 2019, the department will advertise the program to prospective students.
Some classes offered in the course will take place in a computer graphics lab that was built on the second floor of Wightman Hall during Summer 2017.
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Leeper worked with architects and technicians to make an optimal animation lab. The lab contains Mac computers with graphics tablets that students can draw on with stylus pens.
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Leeper said roughly 20 students have shown interest in the major. Ben Greer, a sophomore from Mason, is looking to get into the new program, as he sees it as a way to help him become a storyboard or concept artist.
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“I always wanted to draw,” Greer said. “Animation is the best way to research, explore and express creative freedom. I want to draw until I can find something I can narrow in on."
Some forms of animation that Leeper wants to cover in future classes include 2D, 3D, stop-motion, video effects and computer graphics. He also said he wants classes that cover specific aspects of animation, which may happen after two years of the program’s establishment.
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Animator Chad Bierdeman from Copernicus Studio in Nova Scotia will also take part in the course to teach future 2D Digital Animation and Digital Foundations classes, Leeper said.
The classes will cover the use of programs such as Adobe Illustrator and Adobe After Effects, as well as basic analog forms of animation such as flipbook and basic movement. One example Leeper shows his students is how the motion of a bouncing ball relates to its shape.
“If it moves, it’s animation,” Leeper said.
VIDEOS
CONTENT WARNING: STRONG LANGUAGE
PHOTOS
Cheyenne Hole, 20, Bria Sherman, 20, and Emily Hughes, 21, form an impromtu line outside of Finch Fieldhouse at Central Michigan University. Sherman and Hughes talk about the photos they took while Hole figures out a camera.
A line of flowers outside of the Charles V. Park Library at Central Michigan University. The colors of the flowers, Maroon and Gold, are the official colors of the university.
A group of Central Michigan University community health students watching a lecture on the raising of the tobacco sale age. The motion has been adapted in Ann Arbor and Genesse County in Michigan.
Cheyenne Hole, 20, Bria Sherman, 20, and Emily Hughes, 21, form an impromtu line outside of Finch Fieldhouse at Central Michigan University. Sherman and Hughes talk about the photos they took while Hole figures out a camera.