An article from the Huffington Post. The legalities involved in the property ownership of each individual church makes this a much more interesting story, which goes beyond this story.
South Carolina Diocese Disaffilates From The Episcopal Church.
- By Chris Misun, Meridian, Miss.
We recently wrote an article for Misun Media that discussed how two local churches were working with members of the LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgendered) Community with in their congregations. We learned that the two churches took two different approaches to how publically they integrated those members into their churches and ministered to them.
The Episcopal Church of the Mediator, under the leadership of Reverend Helen Whitener Tester, has taken a more public approach to celebrating the addition of members of the LGBT Community by allowing them leadership roles with in the church. Just down the road, Highland Baptist Church, lead by Pastor Carl White; take a more private approach to ministering to those members and their needs.
But while that article examines how the churches are working with those community members, there are still debates, discussions and ballots containing issues regarding same-sex marriage. This November, five states will have issues regarding marriage appear on their ballots.
The five states are; Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, North Carolina and Washington, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
Copyright 2012 Misun Media
If you would like to read the article previously published by Misun Media regarding the treatment of same-sex couples in Mississippi Churches, click here.
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By Chris Misun, Meridian, Miss.
The Episcopal Church of the Mediator in Meridian, Miss., will be hosting a workshop in September focused on Centering Prayer, a method of prayer traditionally referred to as contemplative prayer.
According to the Mediator’s website, it describes Centering Prayer as, “facilitating the movement from more active modes of prayer, verbal, mental or affective prayer, into a receptive prayer of resting in God.”
The Reverend Tom Ward will conduct the workshop. He has been an Episcopal priest in the Mississippi and Tennessee area for over thirty years. Over the past nineteen years he has been practicing Centering Prayer, attending prayer retreats as well as staffing them.
Katy Watkins, Assistant to the Priest for Ministries, at Mediator says about the workshop that, “its an opportunity for the people who are unfamiliar with Centering Prayer to have a good introduction to it.” She also says for those acquainted with Centering Prayer, “its an opportunity for them to deepen their experience.”
Who: The Episcopal Church of the Mediator
What: Centering Prayer Introductory Workshop
Where: Episcopal Church of the Mediator, 3825 35th Ave, Meridian, Miss., 39305
When: Friday, September 21, 2012 – 6:00 pm CDT until
Sunday, September 23, 2012 – 12:00 pm CDT
By Chris Misun, Meridian, Miss
In light of the recent Chick-Fil-A Appreciation Day, started by Mike Huckabee, I began an event on Facebook, to encourage people to donate their lunch money to a charity of their choice rather than a profitable company, such as Chick-Fil-A.
On July 23, 2012, Mike Huckabee released a statement on his website and encouraged people to show their appreciation for the Chick-Fil-A restaurant, which was facing scrutiny from the LGBT Community when CEO, Dan Cathy, made comments regarding his stance on gay marriage as, “Guilty as charged.” You can read more on his statements in an article on the Huffington Post as well as many other online news organizations pages.
People flocked to the chicken sandwich restaurant per the push of Mike Huckabee and other organizations, especially many churches. Yahoo! News reported, “record sales,” for many restaurants around the country. I urge people to spend them money in a better way by skipping their lunch on Friday, August 31, 2012 and spend that money at a charity organization of their choice and maybe give lunch to an individual who might not be able to have lunch on their own.
Claire Hassell, a Meridian, Miss., resident and Youth Director at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church helps clear weeds from the gardens at Love’s Kitchen in Meridian.
Photo Courtesy of Chris Misun – 2012
Youth from Church of the Mediator and St. Paul’s Episcopal Churches in Meridian, Miss., are giving back to a local food shelter by keeping the gardens at the shelter clean of weeds and will also be planting flowers in the coming months.
One of the Youth that came to help pull weeds at Love’s Kitchen in Meridian, Miss. The Youth from the Episcopal churches will be helping to keep the flower beds colorful and clean.
Photo Courtesy of Chris Misun – 2012
Please R.S.V.P. to the “Donate to a Charity,” event on Facebook and give back to your community, on your terms.
Have you ever looked at a logo or name of a business and wondered what the symbols in the corners after the name or logo represented? I am referring to the “TM, SM or ®”? These symbols represent a trademark, which according to the United States Patent Office (USPTO) is “a word, phrase, symbol or design, or a combination thereof, that identifies and distinguishes the source of the goods of one party from those of others.” SM or Service Mark applies to a service rather than a good, but “trademark” can be used to identify either. The USPTO describes these definitions on this page.
The “®” represents a Registered trademark with the USPTO and it is important to note that while you have a trademark awaiting registration, you are not allowed to use the “registered symbol,” until you have received confirmation that the Patent Office has filed and registered your image.
The USPTO has created a Trademark Electronic Search System (TESS) that you can use to search out other trademarks and find if there is one that is similar to your own. The database contains registered trademarks prior pending applications and helps give you guidelines to be able to search properly.
Photo Courtesy of Peavey Electronics
Daniel Wolper, a former designer of Peavey Electronics, and now runs Wolper Design Consulting. He describes trademarks as, “a TM isn’t registered, but you are saying it is unique to your business or that it is your intellectual property so “Peavey” is a ® and ‘Innovation. Amplified’ was a TM. Those words aren’t made up by Peavey, but using ‘Innovation. Amplified.’ like that is, so its a TM.” He goes on to explain further regarding the Peavey tagline, “Peavey could register ‘Innovation. Amplified’, but that will cost legal fees.” Part of the duties Wolper was responsible for was designing packaging for Peavey products.
Photo Courtesy of Chris Misun
“A ‘® or TM’ needs to appear once per each side of the package. Technically Peavey wouldn’t need the ‘®’ every time; only each time it appears on a sign or ad.”
The world of design encounters the uses of ‘TM’ and ‘®’ symbols on a fairly regular basis, however celebrities and athletes have been known to make attempts to Trademark nicknames or phrases associated with them such as Jeremy Lin, formally with the New York Knicks, but now with the Houston Rockets. In February of 2012, according to an article with CNN Money, it discusses Lin’s filing was not the first one to try and trademark, “Linsanity.”
Lin is not the only one to file for a trademark on the term, but he stands a good chance of winning it, according to Gary Krugman, a Washington trademark attorney.
“Someone else can’t register a trademark if the term points uniquely to a person or institution,” Krugman said.
The moral of the story when trademarks and registrations come about is to do your research. Use TESS to find out if someone else has taken the steps to registered something similar to yours, otherwise, be aware that registering does come with a price but also comes with more protection than using the ™ symbol.
By Chris Misun, Meridian, Miss.
A special needs students examines a bush during a field trip. Parents at Northeast Elementary are given release forms to sign at the beginning of each school year to allow their children to be videotaped and photographed.
2012 Copyright – Chris Misun
Approaching topics featuring special-needs children comes with special requirements, tasks, and careful planning. When producing a multimedia piece featuring those children, a very important part is obtaining the proper permission to photograph and/or videotape the child. Approaching the parents of the child and providing them with a Video Release or Appearance Release Form, which is defined as “…a simple contract that gives you legal permission to use the image of the person who has signed the form for commercial and noncommercial purposes,” according to WebVideoZone, will help you gain the rights to use the image and likeness of that child in your publication.
Often times the forms can be as simple as these examples from Kino-Eye or as complicated as MTV’s Standard Real World cast-member contract released by The Village Voice Blog. The contract from MTV has evolved over time due to past incidents featuring cast members and the way they were portrayed as featured in an article by Jezebel.
Signing a photo release is a legal document. Don’t be afraid to ask questions when presented with one.
2012 Copyright – Chris Misun
Knowing your rights, as both the producer and the subject, are important to maintaining a positive relationship and helps to keep a solid understanding of what the intentions of the production will ultimately be. As mentioned in the examples above concerning The Real World, cast members have attempted to sue MTV on being portrayed in a “false light” or appearing to have acted different out of context.
It is important to read and understand photo release documents from media organizations to be aware of your rights.
2012 Copyright – Chris Misun
In an upcoming multimedia project by Misun Media, we will be discussing the pros and cons of new technology for teaching special-needs students. At Northeast Elementary School in Lauderdale County, Miss., special needs teacher, Alison Misun says, “Parents are given a form at the beginning of the school year giving them the option to allow their children to be videotaped or photographed during the year by the local TV station, newspaper, the teacher or other approved groups by the school.” The local TV Station, WTOK and newspaper, The Meridian Star is required to contact the school before arriving. Misun says, “We like to give the parents a heads up as to when a news media is coming to the school.”
Copyright 2012 Misun Media
Recently MisunMedia conducted a survey asking people about their opinions concerning the use of computerized devices such as, but not limited to, the Apple iPad to help teach special needs students, especially those with non-verbal disabilities.
Across the board, all of the people who took part in the survey voted, “Yes,” in, “supporting the use of devices such as the iPad in Special Needs classroom.”
The participants also were asked to choose whichever methods they felt were the best ways to work with non-verbal children and 71% selected “Sign Language,” along with,
“iPad or other Tablet PC devices.” A much smaller percentage, less than half in fact, selected “other communication devices,” such as the PRC Vantage Lite and, “Picture Prompts,” as other options.
MisunMedia also posted a story on June 10, 2012 that contained a video that lays a basis for the topic on the pros and cons of using computerized communication devices for special needs children. The video received two likes in particular from two special needs teachers. One works with speech students and another who works primarily with autistic children.
The topic will continue to be a strong topic as the Tablet PC devices have become more affordable, but don’t offer as direct of social interaction as the Vantage Lite does. And as one school year ends and another is on the way and parents are preparing their children for the next grade and trying to determine the proper supplies students will need. Another result from the survey proposed the question, “If schools didn’t provide computer devices for your child, would you purchase one for your home?” The result was 100% for, “Yes,” but one participant commented, “I would like to purchase one, but the cost is too much, as I have so many other medical expenses to pay on,” which still stresses that even though the prices are much less expensive in comparison, they are still more than everyone is able to afford.
As MisunMedia continues to explore this topic, the community input will be invaluable and strongly desired. Please feel free to leave comments on this post or on our Facebook page and let us know your feelings.
Copyright 2012 – Chris Misun
We are now in a new age. Technology is all around us through our cellphones, computers, tablet PCs, in our vehicles and most importantly in our classrooms. Classrooms with Special Needs students are beginning to use devices more frequently as they become less expensive and more accessible. Devices like the Vantage Lite by PRC comes in very pricey at over $7000. Options like these are not easy to come by for most families of special needs students without grants but with the tablet PC world becoming stronger, parents will have more options to choose from. One option that is becoming more popular is the iPad by Apple, Inc. The iPad starts at $499 and you can get apps like the iCommunicate app, which runs for $49.99. Please take the survey below and let us know what you think.
Fill out my online form.
Whether or not these devices will be beneficial or detrimental to the developing skills of special needs students and particularly those that are non-verbal will be told over time. It is important for people to be informed and not get caught up in next best thing and assume that it will be the most ideal thing for their child. Sometimes the saying goes, “if it isn’t broke, don’t fix it.” Are non-computer forms of working with non-verbal students still working and if not, how do we replace them the right way?