Baton Rouge is chock full of culture.  The sights, sounds, and even the tastes (as we hope to try a bit more of today) are very different from anywhere else in the country.  So we decided that in order to report about the people within Baton Rouge, we’d need to see what makes the South so special and unique.  Friday we blogged about our evening at Live After Five, where a zydeco band had the locals showing off their dancing skills.  Now we’re about to check out another southern favorite-jambalaya.  There’s a festival going on nearby and we can’t wait to share our latest adventure with you. Check back with us tonight.

-Courtnee and Racquel

After four days of immersing ourselves in Baton Rouge, we decided that today would be our “day of rest”.

We started the day cleaning our hotel room. There is only so much room to walk around when it is packed with tons of technical equipment and two weeks worth of clothes, especially when you are traveling with Courtnee. She packs for all four seasons and for about six months worth of clothes.

Courtnee said that on our day of rest we should, or rather I should, experience some good ol’ southern cooking. So we headed to a restaurant we saw during our exploration of Baton Rouge in the earlier days. Frank’s Restaurant was the place on Airline Expressway.

The minute you walked into the restaurant the smell of fried food made your mouth water. Courtnee instructed me what to order and trust me, we ordered a lot. From fried pickles to fried jalapeno poppers to fried catfish to french fries, I think after today I’ve had my quota of fried food. But Courtnee said she was ready for seconds.

From there we walked off our southern comfort food at the Mall of Louisiana and ended up bumping into one of the employees at our hotel.

But today, there was some work amongst the play. We got in touch with the professor of the LSU student who was creating an iPhone application. Looks like we’re headed to New Orleans where he lives. Don’t feel too sorry for us. Sometimes what we do feels too good to be work. I

-Racquel

“Let the good times roll.” That’s pretty much what we did today here in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. We started out our day with a ton of phone calls, trying to make more connections with folks in the city. Racquel chatted with Saiward Pharr, who works in the news department at WRKF 89.3, the local NPR radio station.

After our morning of phone calls, we headed to LSU’s campus to talk with Chris Normand. Normand, an engineering student, is trying to develop an iPhone application. In talking to him, he said young people have a lot of great ideas, but that the younger generation has a harder time executing them. We made plans to meet up with him next Wednesday, when we plan to catch him in action as he deejays on KLSU, the campus radio station.

On our way to and from finding Chris on the LSU campus, Racquel and I got a reality check on just how hot it can get here in Baton Rouge. Pretty, stinkin’ hot. Walking through campus was an experience as we scurried from tree to tree to stay in the shade. Total giveaway that we are out-of-towners…as well as the fact that Racquel has a distinctive New York accent (Sorry Racquel, that’s too bad…Good thing I have a slight southern accent to balance us out).

Then around four this afternoon we grabbed a bite to eat at a recommended pizza shop called “Schlittz and Giggles” (no, you just can’t make a name like that up). I felt like a movie star because Racquel was a little zealous with her photo-taking. Lucky for us, Saiward Pharr joined us for a slice and good conversation. She gave us the ins and outs of Baton Rouge, a huge help when you’re coming to a city that you barely know. Thanks again, Saiward!

After dinner, it was time to take in the sounds of Louisiana. We headed to Galvez Plaza for Live After Five, where a cajun band, “Steve Riley and the Mamou Playboys” were jammin’ out. The atmosphere was intoxicating, everybody, and we mean EVERYBODY was having a good time and dancing. Couples, both young and old, twirled around the dance floor while mothers bounced to the beat with their babies on their hips. Others just sat and slightly swayed to the music while tapping their feet to the beat. So it was obviously a fabulous place to ask 50 people all the same question; “How would you use technology to rebuild the world?”.

All of you Baton Rouge natives had some really great responses, some different, yet all the same message. One big theme we noticed was the need and desire for an improvement in transportation into and out of the city. Racquel and I had so much fun getting to know everyone. The smiles were contagious and we truly felt welcomed. What a great way to spend a day here in Baton Rouge. Thanks y’all!

We’ll be sure to upload videos and pictures tomorrow!

-Courtnee

Today has been a very fun and full day. Racquel and I headed back to McKinley High School around 7:15 this morning-after battling some pretty intense Baton Rouge morning traffic. At McKinley, we went straight to Ms. Middlebrook’s 10th grade social studies class. With the help of Ms. Cooper, we encouraged the class to share their worries, concerns and problems that they have with Baton Rouge. Responses ranged from crime to standardized testing, transportation to insufficient funding for art and music programs. It was moving to hear some of the more personal stories that the teens shared with us. After hearing their concerns, we then asked them how they could solve those problems using technology. Plenty of great ideas floated throughout the room, and Racquel and I were able to capture some great footage of the discussion.

We also got to meet Brittany and Leroy for the first time today. Both seemed very enthusiastic about sharing their work and we were able to get a clean recording of their “slam” poem. Leroy and Brittany are definitely talented, their words and voices were so powerful…Racquel and I are both excited to spend more time with them later this week.

After a long but productive day, we grabbed a bite to eat at a Filipino restaurant. It was my first time trying these type of dishes, so Racquel ordered for us. It was delicious! During our meal, we also started sharing our purpose in Baton Rouge with the owner, JoJo. He and his staff seemed very interested in News21 and invited us to come back over the weekend to meet other folks and teens in the area!

-Courtnee

Talk about making some ground. We met some really great people on our first full day here in Baton Rouge, LA.

EVERYONE has Good Ol’ Southern Hospitality.

We started the day out at McKinley Senior High School and met with Destiny Cooper. She teaches creative writing at the school.

This past school year she had her students create a video about how technology can change the future of Baton Rouge for the better. It was really inspirational. These students say a monorail is key to improving Baton. Two students, Leroy and Brittany, were the two students behind the poem interlaced throughout the video and it was so insightful into why this community really needs it.

Tomorrow, Courtnee and I will get to meet the two students and talk to them about their work. They sounded really eager about getting involved.

We will also get the chance to hold a discussion/dialogue with a high school class about what their concerns and worries are with Baton Rouge, what personal experiences do they have with those concerns and worries and how do they think technology can change those said concerns and worries?

Today we also got the chance to stop by this great organization called City Year. It’s an organization devoted to urban development through peer-to-peer leadership.

In talking to them, they mentioned this school called University Terrace Elementary. They said they have have more than 35 languages spoken in the school and technology is one of the only ways the language barrier is broken. We are going to head over there tomorrow after we meet with Leroy and Britney at McKinley High School where they are going to read their poetry for us.

Should be really fun.

-Racquel

Donald Tapscott, author of "Grown Up Digital"

One of the supporters of our project is Don Tapscott, the author of the book Grown Up Digital, has agreed to sponsor a contest with the grand prize being a thousand bucks.

Here are the simplified rules:

1. Create a 90-120-second video or multimedia story in the spirit of a soap opera:

Since we’re “The Young and the Wireless,” we’re looking for stories about relationships, specifically how technology helps maintain or hinder your relationships  or your everyday life.  Have fun with this! Let your creative juices flow. Entertain us. Teach us. Make us laugh. Make us cry. Make us feel something.

2. Your video must be in “.mov” format (we also encourage HD) and can be submitted to us while we are here from May 19th to May 29th. They can also be sent to us via our website (Upload feature coming soon).

3. If you don’t have equipment, contact us. We have a basic camera you can borrow.

4. The videos will be screened, and the posted to our website.

5. The best video nationally will win $1000 and has the potential to be mentioned in Tapscott’s next book along with the News21 program.

Think & Go.

Racquel

rgasa@syr.edu

(914)263-1341

Racquel and I have finally made it to Baton Rouge, LA.  Our day began around 7:30 this morning with a flight from Syracuse to Newark. We barely made our connecting flight to Dallas, the last boarding call was being made right when we arrived at the gate.  Everything else went pretty smoothly for us and after grabbing my car in Dallas we set off for our final 7 hour leg of the trip! We had some  team bonding time over that road trip (I learned Racquel can really belt out a song). But, as for now, it’s late and I really need to get some sleep before discovering Baton Rouge tomorrow.

Here’s our Plane:

Our Plane: "The Smallest Plane On Earth"

This plane gave us one of the most bumpy rides ever.  Both Racquel and I were anxious about riding because there was so much dipping on the plane that turned our stomachs upside down. Please note the fact that this is JUST a two propeller plane! =/

It looks like teens in Baton Rouge are just as interested in technology as we are at News21.  I’ve been talking to a teacher at McKinley High School and her creative writing class just found out that it placed in a Sony contest! The topic? How technology will affect the community in 2050.  The film focuses on how a monorail would be a great solution to the transportation problems in Baton Rouge.  Congrats to Mrs. Cooper’s class!