Finals week is over, Christmas was great, and now I sit here from (sorta) sunny Las Vegas sniffling myself to death.
I had such plans for the Christmas Holiday. I was going to post on something Christmas-y every day, I was going to re-write the "Chestnuts Roasting" lyrics to express my joy about the end of finals. I was going to write for fun and catharsis, and you were all going to love it.
Problem #1: My wonderful grandmother, with whom I stayed for the first half of the break before Christmas, has no internet. Whatsoever. I realized this halfway through teh drive up to North Ogden after dropping my boyfriend off at the airport. Crap. Not only had I said goodbye to my man for two weeks, but I would not be able to blog for the first four days of the break. I was not in the best frame of mind just then.
I decided I could wait until my Mom and Dad got home. We have internet at our house...I could catch up, right?
Wrong.
Problem #2: When my parents got home, I was dismayed to learn that my father had disabled our super-fast internet connection to save money. The only internet access was on my Mom's laptop...which still uses Windows 98.
I resolved to start up once we got to Vegas.
Problem #3: Daddy accidentally shared his cold with us. Lovely. I am only just pulling slightly out of the tissue fog. I probably won't blog again until I'm over it entirely.
However, I promise to tell of my New Year's celebration and share an adventure a day from now on, as I have always meant to do.
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
Friday, December 10, 2010
A Fun Game for Finals Week Stress Relief
So I'm in college and, as many of you may realize/be experiencing, finals week (or two) is upon we, the college students of America. I am currently running on five hours of sleep, will be doing two papers tomorrow, and I have a headache.
So, I have really nothing I can do on campus for a while. To make myself feel better, I started thinking about all the good things in my life lately, and it has now turned into a game. Therefore, I am now going to play a few rounds of fun-funner-funnest. Not all real words, btu they work for my purposes.
So, here goes:
Fun: Getting free food
Funner: getting free food handed out to you at the Wilkinson student center
Funnest: Getting a free food buffet involving three kinds of chocolate chip cookies handed out to you in advanced writing.
And again:
Fun: going to Book of Mormon with an archaelogist, like Brother Davis Johnson, as your teacher
Funner: Going and not falling asleep because of how truly RIDICULOUSLY EARLY that class is--8 AM is not my friend
Funnest: Going and realizing that your final paper is not, in fact, due until Friday of finals week AND there will be one lass thing on the test than the study guide said!
Fun: commenting on a friend's status on facebook
Funner: Writing on a friend's wall about cloning Tom Felton three time so that a three-way dibs call may be honored/suggesting plans to hang out the next time you're down in Vegas
Funnest: Realizing your New Year's Eve, despite missing your bestie's party for the first time ever, may not be the boring evening at home you had imagined.
Fun: Singing "Do As I'm Doing" in primary
Funner: Singing it in high school for the Seminary opening hymn and still doing the actions
Funnest: Watching Steven Jones--a.k.a. the new spice guy--scat to it with a live jazz band at the Wilkinson student center!!!
Fun: Eating great food
Funner: Eating great southern food
Funnest: Eating great southern food in Vegas--this will happen over break but I'm putting it in anyway.
Fun: Earmuffs that do their job!
Funner: Earmuffs that do their job without detracting from one's hairstyle
Funnest: Earmuffs that are stinking cute because they resemble hot pink oversize marigolds yet do their job!!!
Fun: Scarves
Funner: Ruched, Ruffle-y scarves
Funnest: VELVET Ruched, ruffle-y scarves
Fun: Writing
Funner: Writing something that does not make one feel like a cheese grater is being scraped against one's brain.
Funnest: Writing what one really wants to, be it stories, poems, or blogs, or whatever
Fun: Going home for Christmas
Funner: Seeing Family and friends over Christmas break
Funnest: Staying with my Grandma, near my friend who I haven't seen since August, for Christmas break until my parents return from Hawaii (jealous? so am I)!
Wasn't this fun?
So, I have really nothing I can do on campus for a while. To make myself feel better, I started thinking about all the good things in my life lately, and it has now turned into a game. Therefore, I am now going to play a few rounds of fun-funner-funnest. Not all real words, btu they work for my purposes.
So, here goes:
Fun: Getting free food
Funner: getting free food handed out to you at the Wilkinson student center
Funnest: Getting a free food buffet involving three kinds of chocolate chip cookies handed out to you in advanced writing.
And again:
Fun: going to Book of Mormon with an archaelogist, like Brother Davis Johnson, as your teacher
Funner: Going and not falling asleep because of how truly RIDICULOUSLY EARLY that class is--8 AM is not my friend
Funnest: Going and realizing that your final paper is not, in fact, due until Friday of finals week AND there will be one lass thing on the test than the study guide said!
Fun: commenting on a friend's status on facebook
Funner: Writing on a friend's wall about cloning Tom Felton three time so that a three-way dibs call may be honored/suggesting plans to hang out the next time you're down in Vegas
Funnest: Realizing your New Year's Eve, despite missing your bestie's party for the first time ever, may not be the boring evening at home you had imagined.
Fun: Singing "Do As I'm Doing" in primary
Funner: Singing it in high school for the Seminary opening hymn and still doing the actions
Funnest: Watching Steven Jones--a.k.a. the new spice guy--scat to it with a live jazz band at the Wilkinson student center!!!
Fun: Eating great food
Funner: Eating great southern food
Funnest: Eating great southern food in Vegas--this will happen over break but I'm putting it in anyway.
Fun: Earmuffs that do their job!
Funner: Earmuffs that do their job without detracting from one's hairstyle
Funnest: Earmuffs that are stinking cute because they resemble hot pink oversize marigolds yet do their job!!!
Fun: Scarves
Funner: Ruched, Ruffle-y scarves
Funnest: VELVET Ruched, ruffle-y scarves
Fun: Writing
Funner: Writing something that does not make one feel like a cheese grater is being scraped against one's brain.
Funnest: Writing what one really wants to, be it stories, poems, or blogs, or whatever
Fun: Going home for Christmas
Funner: Seeing Family and friends over Christmas break
Funnest: Staying with my Grandma, near my friend who I haven't seen since August, for Christmas break until my parents return from Hawaii (jealous? so am I)!
Wasn't this fun?
Thursday, December 2, 2010
The Most Dangerous Man In America
We were supposed to turn in a hard copy of a study guide of The Most Dangerous Man in America but a few things happened which prevented me from doing that:
As a brief overview, for those of you who have not seen it, The Most Dangerous Man in America is a documentary about Daniel Ellsberg narrated by the man himself. Ellsberg worked as a startegist at The Pentagon during the Vietnam War years. During part of it, he actiually served in Vietnam and witnessed the war firsthand, as few at the Pentagon or its RAND Corporation, for whom Ellsberg worked by assignment.
Eventually, Ellsberg began to doubt what the US government was doing. So, he read and eventually Xeroxed a top-secret government study, now called the Pentagon Papers, which revealed truths about America's involvement in Vietnam that the public at large had no idea of. Ellsberg leaked the study to the New York Times, which was slapped with the government by a prior restraint lawsuit, as was The Washington Post after Ellsberg leaked the study to them. Eventually Ellsberg himself was sued for breaking his security clearance.
The legacy left by the government's actions in regard to the pentagon papers is complex. The legacy the government leaves behind for itself is one of fear--the same overwhelming fear of communism and its spread that had motivated McCarthy's witch-hunts in the senate twenty years earlier. The Pentagon Papers, combined with Watergate, led to a mistrust of government by both the media and the public at large. It probably shook the public's faith in the democratic system--these sort of things weren't supposed to happen when the constitution was followed, yet here they were happening.
The lesson which may be learned from the Pentagon Papers is that the American people cannot be complacent with government. My Dad always used to tell me "Trust, but verify," and that is what Americans must do. Even though the President has been elected by the voice of the people, we must be ever on alert to ensure he does not betray the trust we have put in him--and that actually goes for any government official but the President especially. That is why journalists are so important. We feed the information to the people so they know if something is wrong (I almost put if something Bad is happening, but I've done far too many obscure Wicked references in already, so no).
The Media brought great publicity to Ellsberg and what he was trying to accomplish even though it took awhile. The government could possibly have downplayed what had happened with Ellsberg's leak if the media had not jumped on the story as they did. Ellsberg was interviewed before trial, surrounded by reporters every time he left the courthouse; the media ate it up, bringing enormous attention to Ellsberg and his cause. The way in which it was covered--the leak of major US intelligence documents during major US military action--is reminding me very much of the current WikiLeaks controversy. I still need to read more about that controversy to get the minute details, but the idea is similar; some guy leaked secret government documents and is facing prosecution. The Pentagon Papers have made the media more aggressively suspicious of the government. The Media grew from near-lapdogs to Watchdogs as a result of this and other scandals of the Nixon Administration.
Journalists, in my opinion, should reveal classified information under the both (not merely either) of the following circumstances:
If the Supreme Court had ruled in favor of the Nixon Administration, or if an Espionage Act suit had been undertaken, we would not have a true free press. The press would be scared to go against the government even when necessary for the public good. I think that may have been part of the motivation behind the court's decision.
I believe that, were major media outlets handed documents like the Pentagon Papers, they would make them public. In the first, just today the New York Times published internal US memos about Russia. In the second place, hello, sales and ratings!!! Classified documents that fulfill journalism's watchdog role are a win-win situation for media companies.
It's an amazing movie that I recommend everyone watch, especially if you're interested in media or history.
- My printer freaks out every time I use it now because, apparently what little I've printed has already run through the black ink.
- The Wyview printer was broken for a profuse amount of time
- I was scatterbrained and forgot my flash drive, plus I have no idea where the on-campus printing stations are because, again, scatterbrains!
- I was scatterbrained because I learned that the reason my father wouldn't call me all day yesterday was because he is in the hospital being tested. Hospitals terrify me. It's probably blood pressure, but that has only been determined this morning. Needless to say, I was unusually worried.
As a brief overview, for those of you who have not seen it, The Most Dangerous Man in America is a documentary about Daniel Ellsberg narrated by the man himself. Ellsberg worked as a startegist at The Pentagon during the Vietnam War years. During part of it, he actiually served in Vietnam and witnessed the war firsthand, as few at the Pentagon or its RAND Corporation, for whom Ellsberg worked by assignment.
Eventually, Ellsberg began to doubt what the US government was doing. So, he read and eventually Xeroxed a top-secret government study, now called the Pentagon Papers, which revealed truths about America's involvement in Vietnam that the public at large had no idea of. Ellsberg leaked the study to the New York Times, which was slapped with the government by a prior restraint lawsuit, as was The Washington Post after Ellsberg leaked the study to them. Eventually Ellsberg himself was sued for breaking his security clearance.
The legacy left by the government's actions in regard to the pentagon papers is complex. The legacy the government leaves behind for itself is one of fear--the same overwhelming fear of communism and its spread that had motivated McCarthy's witch-hunts in the senate twenty years earlier. The Pentagon Papers, combined with Watergate, led to a mistrust of government by both the media and the public at large. It probably shook the public's faith in the democratic system--these sort of things weren't supposed to happen when the constitution was followed, yet here they were happening.
The lesson which may be learned from the Pentagon Papers is that the American people cannot be complacent with government. My Dad always used to tell me "Trust, but verify," and that is what Americans must do. Even though the President has been elected by the voice of the people, we must be ever on alert to ensure he does not betray the trust we have put in him--and that actually goes for any government official but the President especially. That is why journalists are so important. We feed the information to the people so they know if something is wrong (I almost put if something Bad is happening, but I've done far too many obscure Wicked references in already, so no).
The Media brought great publicity to Ellsberg and what he was trying to accomplish even though it took awhile. The government could possibly have downplayed what had happened with Ellsberg's leak if the media had not jumped on the story as they did. Ellsberg was interviewed before trial, surrounded by reporters every time he left the courthouse; the media ate it up, bringing enormous attention to Ellsberg and his cause. The way in which it was covered--the leak of major US intelligence documents during major US military action--is reminding me very much of the current WikiLeaks controversy. I still need to read more about that controversy to get the minute details, but the idea is similar; some guy leaked secret government documents and is facing prosecution. The Pentagon Papers have made the media more aggressively suspicious of the government. The Media grew from near-lapdogs to Watchdogs as a result of this and other scandals of the Nixon Administration.
Journalists, in my opinion, should reveal classified information under the both (not merely either) of the following circumstances:
- When the American people have been lied to in a way that negatively affects their life/liberty/pursuit of happiness by the government they have voted into office and trusted as the "guards [of] their future security" (that's from the Declaration of Independence).
- When doing so will not endanger American operatives or citizens
If the Supreme Court had ruled in favor of the Nixon Administration, or if an Espionage Act suit had been undertaken, we would not have a true free press. The press would be scared to go against the government even when necessary for the public good. I think that may have been part of the motivation behind the court's decision.
I believe that, were major media outlets handed documents like the Pentagon Papers, they would make them public. In the first, just today the New York Times published internal US memos about Russia. In the second place, hello, sales and ratings!!! Classified documents that fulfill journalism's watchdog role are a win-win situation for media companies.
It's an amazing movie that I recommend everyone watch, especially if you're interested in media or history.
Journalism and Faith
I wasn't exceptionally worried about my faith interfering with my career when I thought about becoming a journalist--it never did at the Standard-Examiner. But eventually it began to creep into the back of my mind and just sit there, making itself known only only occasionally.
"Hey...what if something happens which encroaches upon your faith...? Just a thought..."
It began to worry me a little more each--I'll say week or so--and then we learned about faith and journalism.
The Presentation was great, FYI.
However, I'm glad to learn that there are many journalists who hold deep religious beliefs and that there are religious organizations for Christian journalists. I liked that there is an association that trains religious newswriters, because some religious news needs to be handled delicately, and all religious news should be handled in a tasteful, informed way. That's why I was pleasantly surprised when Newsweek asked the LDS girl working for them to handle the feature on Joseph Smith's Birthday--it is good for publications to recognize that members of a particular religion are the ones who will understand the most about that religion and be able to report with taste and context.
A good reporter should not, of course, let their beliefs taint the facts of a story; a Catholic should not smudge facts on a story about child abuse by a priest. But a person of a certain religion will know more about their own religion than someone of another faith.
I'm also glad to see that secularism in secular newsrooms isn't as hostile towards individual reporters with deep beliefs as some portray it. I'm glad to see that ethical considerations can and should be voiced.
And while the book said religion and journalism isn't necessarily most about the religion beat, I like the idea of reporters from one religion being able to "check [their] beliefs at the door" and report honestly and openly about another religion. I'd like to be able to think that we as journalists could focus in that coverage, as the book indicates, on what impact that religion has in teh lives of its members. I think the faith beats could be used to promote greater understanding, stamping out the ignorance that leads to acts motivated by intolerance. This site, http://www.religionwriters.com/tools-resources/reporting-on-religion-a-primer-on-journalisms-best-beat, shown in class, seems like a great resource. I especially like the calendar showing the holidays of multiple faiths on the same calendar. I like the idea that we all have holidays that occur on the same days as other faiths and we can all experience our own Holidays on the same days other faiths have theirs and everyone is ok with it. It is that respect of other faiths that defines freedom of religion in America, and I believe that same respect should define the way journalists deal with faith. There's a owrd for it, we say it at the end of yoga:
"Namaste"
"The Divine light in me honors the Divine light in you."
"Hey...what if something happens which encroaches upon your faith...? Just a thought..."
It began to worry me a little more each--I'll say week or so--and then we learned about faith and journalism.
The Presentation was great, FYI.
However, I'm glad to learn that there are many journalists who hold deep religious beliefs and that there are religious organizations for Christian journalists. I liked that there is an association that trains religious newswriters, because some religious news needs to be handled delicately, and all religious news should be handled in a tasteful, informed way. That's why I was pleasantly surprised when Newsweek asked the LDS girl working for them to handle the feature on Joseph Smith's Birthday--it is good for publications to recognize that members of a particular religion are the ones who will understand the most about that religion and be able to report with taste and context.
A good reporter should not, of course, let their beliefs taint the facts of a story; a Catholic should not smudge facts on a story about child abuse by a priest. But a person of a certain religion will know more about their own religion than someone of another faith.
I'm also glad to see that secularism in secular newsrooms isn't as hostile towards individual reporters with deep beliefs as some portray it. I'm glad to see that ethical considerations can and should be voiced.
And while the book said religion and journalism isn't necessarily most about the religion beat, I like the idea of reporters from one religion being able to "check [their] beliefs at the door" and report honestly and openly about another religion. I'd like to be able to think that we as journalists could focus in that coverage, as the book indicates, on what impact that religion has in teh lives of its members. I think the faith beats could be used to promote greater understanding, stamping out the ignorance that leads to acts motivated by intolerance. This site, http://www.religionwriters.com/tools-resources/reporting-on-religion-a-primer-on-journalisms-best-beat, shown in class, seems like a great resource. I especially like the calendar showing the holidays of multiple faiths on the same calendar. I like the idea that we all have holidays that occur on the same days as other faiths and we can all experience our own Holidays on the same days other faiths have theirs and everyone is ok with it. It is that respect of other faiths that defines freedom of religion in America, and I believe that same respect should define the way journalists deal with faith. There's a owrd for it, we say it at the end of yoga:
"Namaste"
"The Divine light in me honors the Divine light in you."
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