| Subject: Experienced Editor/Copywriter |
| From: "Barrett Brown" <barriticus@gmail.com> |
| Date: 9/28/08, 14:47 |
| To: gigs-858444932@craigslist.org |
BarrettBrown________________barriticus@gmail.com
Copywriter/ Feature Columnist/ Contributing Editor/ Book Author
With focus on political satire, policy analysis and contemporary humor.
Published Work/ Freelance Media Experience:
Enlighten the Vote Currently serve as director of communications for New Jersey-based political action committee founded in 2005 and concerned with advocacy of the Establishment Clause of the U.S. Constitution. 2008 present
S.K. Oil and Gas Currently serve as copywriter for Dallas-based energy finance firm. 2008 present.
Texodus Media Currently serve as copywriter and marketing consultant for Brooklyn-based production firm specializing in marketing and game development. 2008 present.
Studio 2a Currently serve as marketing consultant for Chicago-based architectural rendering firm, handling all sales letters, marketing copy, and long-term branding strategies. 2007 present.
PoliticalBase.com Created content and served as paid blogger for online political news start-up founded by CNET. 2007-2008.
Fox Business Channel, Yahoo, Minyanville.com Writer on freelance creative team for animated humor series Minyanville, which aired on Fox Business Channel's Happy Hour program as well as on Yahoo Finance. 2007
The Onion A/V Club - Freelance copywriting for The Onion's features department. 2006-2008.
Sterling and Ross Publishers Authored nonfiction book of political humor, Flock of Dodos: Behind Modern Creationism, Intelligent Design, and the Easter Bunny, released in March 2007. Book received praise from Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz, Rolling Stone, Skeptic, Air America Radio, Huffington Post, others.
Anglesey Interactive, Inc. Produced online marketing collateral (web text, press releases, blogging, etc.) in support of firm's "" integrated search engine from June 2007 to March 2008 Riight.com
Dining Out - Feature writing for national restaurant publication. 2006-2008
National Lampoon - Occasional contributor; past features included "Pick-Up Lines That Don't Seem to Work," "Craig's Conspiracy Corner," "A Guide to Dealing with Housecats," more. 2003 - 2006
Evote.com - Weekly columnist and feature writer for political analysis site from October 2004 to November 2005.
AOL CityGuide - Web content writer from 2000 to 2004 Researched/ created coverage of event and entertainment venues. Served as regional correspondent for Dallas, Austin, New Orleans, Houston and Little Rock markets.
Additional magazine work - Ongoing, have contributed feature articles from serious political commentary to humor pieces to fine dining overviews for outlets including business-to-business publications Pizza Today, 360, Club Systems International, Destination Dallas, D.C.-based public policy journal Toward Freedom, London-based public policy journal Free Life, humor magazine Jest, regional publications The Met, Austin Monthly, Dallas Child, Oui, literary journal Swans, dozens more.
Additional writing projects - Created both print and online marketing collateral for New York tech start-up Organic Motion, Inc. Created online marketing collateral for New York corporate training firm Illuminata Global. Researched and wrote entertainment/dining/venue content for Dallas ad agency Avacata and clients' marketing collateral, including that of luxury resort real estate firm. Have created marketing copy for Verizon via Dallas ad agency Sullivan Perkins, produced website copy for design firm NPCreate.com, provided public relations pieces for Texas energy company EBS and Dallas real estate firm Dunhill Partners.
Education:
1999 - 2003 University of Texas at Austin, College of Communications
( City or County) passes Social Host Ordinance
to Curb Underage Drinking
- Holds adults who host parties responsible-
CITY, STATE- DATE- "Kegs of beer and trashcans full of mysterious 'punch' are often the centerpiece of teen parties - the most common setting for underage drinking among high school and college students - and most of these parties take place at private homes," says (Mayor or City Council member). Luckily, a new Social Host law that holds responsible those adults who own the property where such parties take place has just been passed by the (city council, county commissioners ) in ( city or county.) (City or country) thus joins the more than 150 cities and counties and 24 states that have adopted such Social Host ordinances. (Mayor, City Council member) thinks the ordinance will make a difference. "Police officers are often unable to determine who supplied the alcohol when they arrive at a teen party," said (Mayor or Council Member), "but they can easily determine who the property belongs to, and charge that individual for allowing the underage party to take place."
The new ( city or county ) ordinance, which will go into effect on (date) will
(details vary locally) and can result in punishments including but not limited to _____________.
According to ( Mayor or Council Member), awareness of the law can be a helpful deterrent in and of itself. "We want to get the word out that this law is in place. We hope this law will be a strong deterrent for parents or other adults to make sure they take the steps necessary to prevent a party from ever occurring."
-more-
Page 2- Social Host-
Teen parties take place wherever there is opportunity - pastures, ranches, lake houses, in homes where parents are out of town or even just out of earshot. However, the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation notes that underage drinking parties "can be particularly problematic because of the number of drinkers involved, and the large quantities of alcohol consumed. Reports of alcohol poisoning, traffic crashes, property damage, community disturbance, violence and sexual assault are all too common as a result of these parties. "
Research shows that 46 % of parents do not know what their liability would be if someone else's child were caught drinking in their home. Some adults still dismiss teen drinking parties as a "rite of passage" and recall their own teen drinking experiences. According to (Mayor or Council member), parents even host parties, using the argument that "if they are going to drink, it will be safer to have them drink at my house." (Mayor or Council Member) thinks that such a mentality simply constitutes giving in to social pressure from teens. "They won't drink if they don't have a place to hold the party," he explains. "This law sends a clear message to parents who are considering hosting a party, or who are looking the other way while a party takes place, that they will be prosecuted for their role."
Among the states with no Social Host laws is New Mexico. In 2005, Kim Knox sent her 18-year-old son, Jarrod, off to college there, far from his native Missouri, because he had a chance to make the baseball team. Adult co-workers at his part-time job supplied Jarrod with alcohol at a home, then, as they admitted, "propped him up in his car so he could find the steering wheel," and sent him back to campus. Jarrod was killed when his car hit a culvert and flipped end-over-end. His BAC was .238. The consequence - Jarrod's boss, a 26-year-old woman, was fined and placed on probation for purchasing the liquor. The host and resident of the house where the group was drinking did not even receive a fine.
-more-
Page 3- Social Host
"I want to make people stand in my shoes, and understand how it feels to lose your only child because an adult was reckless and negligent," says Kim. "It is about making parents and other adults see that underage drinking is not a rite of passage, and they are irresponsible to allow it to take place."
Fortunately, research shows that interventions which modify the environments in which adolescents find themselves have an impact on alcohol consumption levels. "We know that policies that increase the liability of adults who provide an opportunity for teens under the age of 21 to consume alcohol will help reduce underage drinking," says (Mayor or community leader).
More information about Social Host laws and their effectiveness can be found at on MADD's website, www.madd.org/socialhost. The new (city or county) Social Host Ordinance is available at (link).
Facts about underage drinking:
Underage drinking is not a benign youth activity, and it is not a right-of passage for teens. Alcohol use among adolescents is associated
with serious harm. Research shows that the earlier drinking starts, the more likely they will become dependent to alcohol and other drugs as well as be susceptible to such dangerous practices as drunk driving.
The brains of underage youth are more susceptible to damage from alcohol than adult brains. In fact, recent evidence suggests that excessive adolescent drinking may result in permanent damage to the developing brain.
The combination of drinking and inexperience can also be dangerous. Drinking drivers under the age of 21 are involved in fatal crashes at twice the rate seen among adult drivers. Additionally, there is a strong correlation between youth alcohol use and violence, risky sexual behavior, poor school performance, and suicide.
Compared to youth who wait until they are 21 to drink, those youth who drink before the age of 15 are 12 times more likely to be unintentionally injured while under the influence of alcohol.
My Good Version
Party's Over: Social Host Law Will Reign in Teen Drunk Driving Deaths
Talking the talk on underage drinking is easy enough. Now it's time for (locality) parents to walk the walk as well.
A 2007 survey found that one hundred percent of parents agreed with the statement that "It is not okay for teens to drink when parents aren't home." Nonetheless, private homes remain the most popular place for teens to gather for illegal drinking sessions of the sort that rarely stop with just a few beers.
In light of this crisis, many local governments have adopted a new tactic to thwart this dangerous practice. Social Host laws, now in place in more than 150 cities and counties and 24 states place a new and justified legal onus on adults who own the property where such illegal gatherings take place.
(Locality), though, has yet to follow their lead. This is unfortunate; with binge drinking among teens reaching epidemic proportions from coast to coast, and with the effectiveness of these laws in preventing drunk driving deaths becoming more evident with each passing year, the implementation of a Social Host ordinance in this jurisdiction ought to be a no-brainer. That, as one might expect, is the opinion of (locality) (name and title of high-level police official). "Police officers are often unable to determine who supplied the alcohol when they arrive at a teen party," (he/she) says, "but they can easily determine to whom the property belongs and then charge the individual in question with allowing the underage drinking party to take place."
Underage drinking parties are crimes of opportunity; teens will hold such things in pastures that aren't visible from nearby roadways, campgrounds surrounded by trees, on ranches located far from prying eyes, at remote lake houses, and homes in which parents are nowhere to be found. Though often written off as a harmless "right of passage" by teens and even some adults, these sorts of activities are far from benign; a recent study by the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation found that such parties "can be particularly problematic because of the number of drinkers involved and the large quantities of alcohol consumed. Reports of alcohol poisoning, traffic crashes, property damage, community disturbance, violence, and sexual assault are all too common as a result of these parties."
The success of Social Host laws in preventing such tragedies in other jurisdictions has provided further evidence for what common sense tells us anyway if we want to prevent our children from being dangers to themselves and others, we must cut off the underlying cause of such dangers at the source. The Social Host approach helps to do just that by providing a strong impetus for parents to keep tabs on what crimes may be committed on their property, lest they face the just legal consequences of aiding illegal activity.
Today, studies continue to indicate that about half of parents do not know what their legal liability would be if someone else's child were to be caught drinking in their home. Some of these same parents actually host teenage drinking parties themselves, relying on the argument that, if kids are going to drink, they'll be safer doing so in the home. That, of course, is a big "if" - kids can indeed be prevented from engaging in underage drinking if they receive responsible guidance and are otherwise prevented from doing so. As (local police official) says, "They won't drink if they don't have a place to hold the party. We would love to have a law like this in place, as they send a clear message to parents who are considering hosting a party, or who are looking the other way while a party takes place, that they will be prosecuted for their role."
The experts agree that it's time to put an end to the party. Do you?