Wikinews:Request an interview

This page is for individuals who are not part of Wikinews to request an interview by the Wikinews community.

Shortcut:
WN:INTERVIEW

Here, you can make a short preliminary statement about who you are and on what topic you wish to be interviewed. Wikinews contributors will consider your request and contact you should they wish to conduct the interview.

Interview requests that have been published can be found at Published interview requests. Making a request on this page does not guarantee that you will be interviewed or that an article will be written and published.

If Wikinews contributors do not show an interest in following up on a request within a reasonable period of time, the request will be archived. In such cases, you are unlikely to receive a message to that effect.

Make a request

Clicking the link below takes you to a form where you can identify yourself and make a statement about what you wish to be interviewed about.

Your statement should focus on a single current event or phenomenon, and answer these questions: who, what, where, when, why and how about this news event. If you are "notable" in any way, you should explain how. Do put some effort into your statement. It should make clear why our readers should be interested in what you have to say. It should be detailed and specific, including dates, names, and locations.

It is very important that you read our Neutral Point of View policy before making your statement. Your request should not run foul of our NPOV policy (eg. shouting, personal attacks, etc).

Note that the request will be saved on this page below, and will be visible to all visitors to the website. Please do not place private or confidential information (your own or that of anyone else) in your request.

Fill out the form and click the Save button to create your request.

Click here to make a request.

New World Class, State-of-the-art Research Center to study effects of wind, water, fire and hail

Your name

• Date request was made: May 4, 2010
• Position: External Relations Consultant
• Organisation: Institute for Business & Home Safety
• Web: www.disastersafety.org
• Email address: alove@ibhs.org
• Phone number: 803-413-1044

Statement

WHAT: The Institute for Business & Home Safety (IBHS) is currently completing construction on its new world-class Research Center. The mission of this unique facility is to identify, evaluate, and promote effective ways to reduce and prevent property damage from natural and man-made causes. Research findings will provide an objective, scientific foundation for development of sound public policy, such as enhanced building codes.

WHERE: 5335 Richburg Road, Richburg, SC 29729

FACTS ABOUT THE FACILITY:

• The test chamber is massive with 21,000 sq. ft. which is the equivalent of 1/2 acre under the roof or 4 1/2 basketball courts. It is large enough to accommodate nine 2,300 sq ft homes. It is 145’ wide by 145’ long, by 70’ tall – all of which is clear-span construction.

• The test chamber is as tall as a 6-story building and you could fit more than 50 homes into the volume.

• There are 105 fans with 300 hp motors. Each fan is nearly six feet in diameter; in combination with the engineered fan town and contraction inlet, these fans are capable of generating realistic, sustained and gusty winds of up to 140 mph – the equivalent of a low Category 4 hurricane.

• Each fan is capable of pushing 230,000 cubic feet of air per minute through the test section and together they can push 24 million cubic feet per minute through the test chamber. This flow volume is 20 times the flow going over Niagara Falls, or the same amount of air that would flow through the air conditioning systems of 10,000 homes when they are all running.

• When the fans are turned on, it will be drawing the same amount of power as 9,000 individual homes (30 mega watts of power).

• There is a 55-foot turntable where full-scale, one- and two-story homes and other structures will be placed for testing. The surface of the turntable is 2,375 sq ft - the size of a medium sized home.

• The concrete underneath the fan tower would be enough concrete to fill up a 2300 sq. ft. home (to the ceiling).

TO VIEW THE RESEARCH CENTER: Click here to view the Web camera with shots of the IBHS Research Center (http://oxblue.com/pro/open/ibhs/catastrophelab) and go to www.disastersafety.org for more information about the lab.

IBHS is an independent, nonprofit, scientific and educational organization supported by the property insurance industry. The organization works to reduce the social and economic effects of natural disasters and other risks to residential and commercial property by conducting research and advocating improved construction, maintenance and preparation practices.

Allison Dean Love External Relations Consultant Institute for Business & Home Safety www.disastersafety.org cell - 803-413-1044 e-mail - alove@ibhs.org Twitter/Facebook: allisondeanlove

Wikinews community discussion

Question Have you had any other media coverage? --RockerballAustralia c 02:57, 5 May 2010 (UTC)

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Wikinews community discussion

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Paul Learned

• Date request was made: 05/10/2010
• Position: activist
• Organisation:
• Web: will have website operating by 05/14/2010
• Email address: paul_learned@yahoo.com
• Phone number: 612-749-1889

Statement

My name is Paul Learned. I’m a 34 year old father of three and I reside in Minneapolis, MN. On May 17, 2010, I am beginning a journey which has been years in the making. I will be setting out, on foot, from Lake Itasca, the source of the mighty Mississippi River in northern Minnesota, to the mouth of the river in New Orleans, Louisiana.

This trip began to take shape several years ago when I first began walking for exercise. I would walk for miles along roadways and parkways with my young Labs and we all found great enjoyment in it. There was one thing I kept noticing, however. It seemed no matter where I went there was bound to be litter that was either accidentally, or carelessly, discarded from moving vehicles. In some areas it was far worse than others. For instance, along busier roads and highways where you were likely to find a fast food shop around every corner the problem was much worse. In these areas I found that as I drove by in my car it didn’t look so bad. When I walked the same road, however, I could see all the litter that was embedded in the soil underneath the grass. It seemed I could hardly take a step without my foot landing on a French fry container or a soft drink cup. Even in more rural areas, though, there was no shortage of trash in the ditches and medians.

One day, I had seen enough. I was walking with my sister along a suburban highway and a flying bag of empty fast food wrappers landed at our feet. I couldn’t quite muster a tear like the Crying Indian did so many years ago but I did manage to become quite concerned and disappointed to the point where at that moment I knew I had to do something about it. Almost instantly I told my sister that I wanted to somehow get people to notice this problem and to get people to think about litter again. Putting that tiny little slogan on fast food cups was a great start but I wanted it to be brought back to the front of peoples’ minds. We somehow came up with an idea that day to do a cross country walk picking up litter.

As time went on the idea evolved into what it is today; To walk across the country picking up litter! Not really across, but rather from top to bottom. I decided to choose a route that is close to the Mississippi river, the great waterway that runs from my home state down through the heartland of America and ending in the deep south of New Orleans. Many miles of my route, in fact, will follow the national byway called the Great River Road. The trip is approximately 1500 miles long and I plan to complete it within three months.

I have found that there are many miles of the Great River Road that are adopted by local groups who clean litter from the highway two to three times per year. I have also found that there are many miles that are not adopted. Those will be areas where I will focus on picking up some of the litter as I go. I hope to clean as many miles as possible this way but in order to really keep moving I wanted to plan some actual clean up events with other volunteers on a larger scale and focus primarily on them. These events will take place in areas that are known litter havens. They may be on the sides of roads or on the banks of the river or it’s tributaries. I’m currently having scouts locate possible sites along my route and they will notify me so I can make arrangements with the local or state highway department to arrange for any assistance they might provide in garbage bags, signs, safety gear, etc. I anticipate at least 10 to 15 of these arranged pick-up events and, ideally, at least one in each state I pass through. To get the word out to attract volunteers I plan on using local radio and televisions stations (sending out press releases well ahead of time) and using social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter.

My goal will not be fulfilled to simply complete the walk and have picked up some litter along the way. I want to leave the communities I go through with a reminder that litter hurts and affects us all. I want people to know that their tax dollars are going to the state to pick up after us at an alarming rate. In the states that I will be passing through (MN,WI, IA, IL, MO, TN, MS, and LA) the governments spend over $64,000,000 each year to clean the roads of litter (according to greenecoservices.com and the state highway departments). I want to remind people that local economies are affected by litter in the form of market values for homes, attracting new residents and many other ways. I want people to know that 20% of all litter ends up in our waterways hurting land and water creatures, alike. What my ultimate goal would be then is to bring the wide ranging problems of litter back into the forefront of our collective environmental consciousness. I want people to remember how easy it is to not litter and to learn how hard it is to litter. I want to leave them with encouragement to teach their children that littering is not O.K. And personally, I want to be able to walk my dogs without being disgusted and saddened while wading through miles of carelessly discarded trash.

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Justice at Salem book

William Cooke

• Date request was made: May 27, 2010
• Position: Author
• Organisation: Undertaker Press
• Web: http://www.justiceatsalem.com
• Email address: dogofthecourt@yahoo.com
• Phone number: 410-905-2185

Statement

I am the author of Justice at Salem, a book about the Salem witch trials. In my book I make a case that some of the accused were actually guilty of witchcraft, especially Bridget Bishop, Sarah Good, and George Burroughs. I also argue that innocent people were convicted and explain why. I also draw parallels to the current 'war on terror' and argue that when the rule of law is abandoned innocent people will suffer. The Puritans were not malicious people at heart, but like us, they were capable of acting irrationally out of fear. My book is self-published so I haven't had any publicity for it. It is available for sale online, but I also have published it as a free ebook with a creative commons license as I believe that information should be free. About myself, I am an attorney and do criminal defense work in Maryland.

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11th genital mutilation symposium

Dan Bollinger (talk · contribs)

• Date request was made: 30 July 2010
• Position: Director
• Organisation: International Coalition for Genital Integrity
• Web: http://www.icgi.org
• Email address:
• Phone number:

(following transferred from Dan Bollinger's user talk page) This is my first venture into using WN. Yes, if you have someone near Berkeley, or would like to do an interview by phone or email, the contact information is below. Since they are at the symposium, it is best to contact them via phone to setup an interview:

Marilyn Milos RN, nocirc@cris.com, 415) 488-9883 Georganne Chapin (914) 806-3573

11th International Symposium on Genital Integrity, UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY, CA. Dan Bollinger (talk) 13:40, 30 July 2010 (UTC)

Statement

Mr Bollinger posted this press statement

• http://www.icgi.org/2010/07/recent-events-give-focus-to-genital-symposium/

(extract below)

...The 11th International Symposium on Genital Integrity begins at the University of California at Berkeley on Thursday, July 29.

“In May, the American Academy of Pediatrics flirted with approving a kind of female genital cutting, even though that is illegal in the United States. Scores of boys have died of tribal circumcision in South Africa in the last few weeks. And a Cornell doctor has been testing a new method of cutting back the genitals of intersexed children—without knowing what sex they might want to be when they grow up,” co-organizer Marilyn Milos says. ...

Wikinews community discussion

• This is a 3 day conference that ends today (Saturday). An interview with one of the campaign directors sounds newsworthy to me, though I don't know if any Wikinewsie is available at short notice to go to Berkeley with a camera/voice recorder/notepad. Perhaps someone will volunteer to do this by e-mail or phone/Skype.
• What is the best way to get balance in this interview? Take the other side in the questions, or contact a surgeon and a religious freedom campaigner for statements?

--InfantGorilla (talk) 07:39, 31 July 2010 (UTC)

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Around the Grounds: Football released on DVD

Patrick Gillett

• Date request was made: 17 August, 2010
• Position: Director/Editor/Writer
• Project: Around the Grounds
• Email address: patrick.gillett@firstxvnews.com.au
• Phone number: +61 4 3938 78 11

Statement

Here on Wikinews I contribute Gippsland Football League reports. Off the back of these, I decided to produce a video show calle Around the Grounds.

The first episode is a top level football themed one. It includes an Everton press conference and grabs from the 1966 and 1968 VFL Grand Finals. The Grand Fianl videos are both in the public domain as TV broadcast weren't copyrighted until 1969.

Future episodes will have a focus on local sport. The Next episode will have a cricket theme. No other theme hase been settled on.

A full list of my redits can be found at [1].

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Bundelkhand Akikrit Party in India

sanjay pandey

• Date request was made: Aug 27, 2010
• Position: national convener
• Organisation: Bundelkhand Akikrit Party
• Web:
• Email address: jaibundelkhand@gmail.com
• Phone number: +91-9968371265

Statement

<!Bundelkhand Akikrit Party is a political party in India struggling for separate Bundelkhand state. I want to be interviewed to explain the requirement of statehood.-->

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Nicaraguan elections and human rights

ERNESTO LACAYO

• Date request was made: WENSDAY OCTOBER 20,2010
• Position: INDIVIDUAL
• Organisation: NICARAGUAN CITIZEN CONCERN FOR HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATION AND REPRESENTATIVE FOR A NICARAGUA POLITICAL ORG.
• Web:AOL
• Email address: LACAYO22057@aol.com
• Phone number: 646-912-9461

Statement

I am a nicaraguan citizen living in n.y.c,and will like to speak to some one that have resposibility for the future presidentials election in Nicaragua,Central america.the present goberment of Mr.Daniel Ortega is violating freedom of elections and paying of oppositio leaders to negociate the CSE IN WICH THERE TERMS HAVE EXPIRE MORE THAN 7 MONTHS AGO.HE IS ALSO VIOLATING OUR CONTITUTION.THE CONSTITUTION PROHIBIT THE INMEDIATE REELECTION OF ANY CANDIDATE THAT IS PRESENTLY IS SERVING AS A PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC.THE GOBERMENT IS ALSO VIOLATING THE CORTE SUPREMENA DE JUSTICIA,THE MAGISTER ALLREADY FINISH MANDATE AND STILL IN POWER.THAT IS ANOTHER VIOLATION TO THE CONSTITUTION.THERE ALSO CRIMES COMMITED DURING THE ADMINISTRATATION OF MR.ORTEGA THAT DATE BACK TO 1984 AGAINST THE MISQUITOS INDIANS AND OTHER VIOLATIONS OF HUMANS RIGHTS.

Wikinews community discussion

• I am not sure I fully understand your proposal.
• I don't think anyone from the government will speak to you (unless you contact them directly.)
• However, a Wikinews writer may wish to interview you, if you have a story to tell. Are you interested in an interview, between you and a Wikinewsie, about your own personal experiences or personal role in your country's politics, being written up as an article for this website (or other publications)?
• If not, then Wikinews Water Cooler and Wikinews Story Preparation are the places to discuss ideas for interviews with Nicaraguan officials.
• --InfantGorilla (talk) 15:59, 20 October 2010 (UTC)

=== Your name ===bazonu ginaz

• Date request was made: 3june 2011
• Position: member
• Organisation:indepent
• Web:
• Email address: voncold@hotmail
• Phone number: 263777674182

==== Statement ==== more discovery on the atom

Wikinews community discussion

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in my discoveries i so believe i found one more particle in the atom and to some extent it was the one the hadron was holding a position for. this particle is free of charge(neutrally charged) and its mass is negligible

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фото дрессировки ос, шмелей, пчел и др. насекомых

=== Your name ===VELVAD

• Date request was made: 15 01 2012
• Position: Украина Киев
• Organisation:
• Web:
• Email address: vel.vad@mail.ru
• Phone number: +380638734740[[File:]]

Wikinews community discussion

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Опубликованные фото имеют уникальность, интерес, красоту.
Предварительно их можно посмотреть на VEL.VAD@mail.ru , оценить и
взять у меня интервью для написания статьи о насекомых, которые
подчиняются воле человека и выполняют его указания. Фото сделаны
телефоном, но качество снимков хорошее. Осы. шмели и др. насекомые
выполняли кастинг на цветах. А также был изучен их природный интерес
и  как они просят у человека
еду, защиту.