News and Gratitude

Hello all! So, that last post was a long time coming; I just had to finish it before I posted more current stuff. I'm weird about incomplete thoughts that way--I can't stand to leave a thought incomplete for anything.

I've been back home from college for about a week. Of course, you may wonder why I haven't blogged more since then. Well, I've been a little busy settling back in and helping my Dad.

See, we keep a place in Vegas at an undisclosed location. We've had it since just after I was born, with very few problems aside from heat, bugs, and the occasional breakdown of the air conditioner.

And then, three weeks ago, a pipe started leaking and nobody was there to fix it. Nobody knew until my Dad's neighbor saw some water leaking from under the garage door and called Dad to tell him (thank you, Sheldon). There was a lot of water damage, and my Dad had to go down to get the place in better repair as well as getting an estimate from the contractors. Thing is, he hasn't been feeling so good lately. So he asked me to come down and help with some of the organizing, cleaning, and heavy lifting. He also offered to pay me for my time. So, I figured, why not?

That trip made me realize how good I really have it. For various reasons, including unemployment, I was feeling pretty sorry for myself. I was longing for my life at college, and some aspects of life in high school. However, after the trip, I realized that, even though things aren't going quite the way I wanted, I have quite a lot to be grateful for right now:

• A Bed: My room was one of the worst hit by the water damage, so I was sleeping on the couch in Vegas. I won't be complaining about mattress quality for a long time.
• A working tub and shower: The bathroom with the leak? Only tub in the house, and now its holds the toilet. And the remaining shower? Hot is cold, cold is hot, and I didn't know. I'm grateful to be back in a house with a nice, hot, put-together tub. 
• The right to walk around my house barefoot: The entire top floor except for one room had been ripped of its carpet and pad, leaving only the plywood floor beneath it. It was only safe for me to go up there to work if I wore shoes. I'm kind of a barefoot girl in Summer, so that was unpleasant. So, I'm glad I can now go barefoot all over my house.
• My stuff where it should be: I could not find my toothbrush for freaking EVER. Everything was jumbled together, and my Mom asked me to find her few nice things. Guess where they were? At the bottom of a black trash bag. I am, therefore, grateful that my stuff here is where one would expect it to be. It's nice to know that my toothbrush is in my bathroom, and that all our clothes are in actual closets.
• Air Conditioning and Normal Temperatures: It was 109 degrees in Vegas, and we couldn't turn on the AC until my Dad had plugged up all the holes in the house. Even once you turn on the AC in Vegas, especially in Vegas, it takes awhile to cool a house down. I am grateful that I am not dying of heat, an that my house is cool.
• My Dad: He paid me to go and do what any good daughter would have volunteered to do. Granted, I had plans, but he was so good to me while I was there. I got to go to my favorite restaurant, got to see the Las Vegas Mob Experience--SO amazing, I cannot recommend it enough--and got paid to lift a few things and do some cleaning.

So, while my life is by no means perfect, it isn't as bad as it can seem in my more despairing moments, I do have a lot to be grateful for right now.

How to Have Fun whilst Temporarily Homeless

No, no I was not evicted. But on moving day, those of us who move out of our winter apartments and move into another for Spring, there is a period of temporary homelessness. For my friend Cherie and I, this period lasted about five hours. Luckily, we survived and moved in ok with Hailey's help.

{Little plug for Hailey, she's an incredible friend and she deserves it: Hailey's blog has some pretty funny stuff in it, sometimes she even mentions me! Yes, it's a wordpress blog, but nobody's perfect. ;) Love you girl!}

So, here is how Cherie, Hailey, and I had fun while homeless.

We piled our stuff into my car and the back of Hailey's truck, Little Buddy. My Prius, Dillinger, was so stuffed that the poor little guy was un-driveable. So we took Little Buddy to the library and then to J-Dawgs so we could eat lunch.

I don't know if any of you have ever ridden in the cab of a smallish Toyota Tacoma with two of your friends. For those of you who haven't, it is an exercise in togetherness. We have, over the course of Spring term, figured out how to sit so that Hailey can still drive. I love Little Buddy to death, but his is not the roomiest of truck cabs. All the better for bonding!

They kicked us out pretty early in the morning, so we were not quite yet ready for the pure awesome that is J-Dawgs, so we went to the library instead. Now, the Harold B. Lee Library is quite something, but we see that one every day on campus. The Provo Library, on the other hand, was alluring in its novelty. It was the home of the Brigham Young Academy before it moved to Temple Hill and became the University it is today. We parked and went inside. The sheer number of books overwhelmed us. We REALLY wanted to get library cards, but guess what you need for that? That's right, you need proof of address. So we couldn't exactly do that. We still need to, actually.

After a while we were actually hungry enough to eat a full lunch, so we left the library for J-Dawgs. This wonderful place, for those of you who do not know, grew out of a small stand that still sits outside the new location. They sell, as the name implies, hot dogs...some of the best hot dogs you will ever eat.  They have all the traditional condiments available, and then their special sauce...it's like honey-hickory-sweet-smoke-barbecue HEAVEN! I get a polish dog smothered in special sauce and ask  them to line the bun with their wonderful, salty, crunchy pickle spears. It sounds completely weird but that is how I like them. You can personalize your hot dog there, which is just one more reason it's great. Hailey and Cherie had never been there before, so we thought it was a good time for them to try it out. They actually quite enjoyed it.

After that, we were quite tired and we still had a few hours left before we could move in. We decided to go to RC Willey, a large furniture chain. We moved from couch to couch until we found the most gloriously comfy leather couch. We were pretty darn sure it had memory foam inside, and stayed there for about an hour. We wanted to buy it, but it was real leather so we couldn't afford it. Eventually, we started examining mattresses, including a really nice memory foam one that we also wanted to buy. We joked with the floor salesman about donating to poor college students...they laughed.

But at about this time we could move into our new places. We helped each other get everything in. It was a really fun bonding experience, and it could have been a horrible hassle. But anything goes better with friends.

Good Night, and Good Luck

           Good Night and Good Luck is the story of Edward R. Murrow’s brave stand against the unfair practices of Senator Joseph McCarthy in the so-called senate “witch-hunts” of the early 1950’s. Murrow was the first and practically the only member of the news media to stand up to what McCarthy was doing--persecuting others with little or no evidence in the name of fighting Communism.

Murrow began with the story of an air-force lieutenant denied due process. Throughout the movie, the same kind of sealed manila envelope, allegedly full of proof that people are communists, threatens Murrow and the CBS employees.  Murrow goes on, despite McCarthy’s allegations of Murrow’s Communist activities. Murrow even disproves the allegations McCarthy made against him on CBS airtime given McCarthy for comment and fact correction. Eventually, the air force lieutenant is reinstated.

It is't all victory for the brave journalists, though. One of the news anchors commits suicide because of pressure from a reviewer, O’Brien, obviously on McCarthy’s side. The anchor, a friend of Murrow's, had already been struggling with the emotional baggage of his divorce, and O'Brien's review eventually put him over the edge. But a lot of people were that upset and desperate--McCarthy's actions ruined many lives.

Fred Friendly, played by Jeff Daniels, asks Murrow before the first newscast if he doesn't think they’re going beyond just reporting the news, and it brought up an interesting concept I remember learning in Principles of Journalism: sometimes, you can’t be “fair and balanced” to each side in reporting the facts. There will be times when one subject in a story you are covering has clearly done something wrong or illogically. At those times, if you are completely fair and without bias toward both sides, you won’t actually be telling the truth. You should never slant the news in any way, which can be done by being “fair and balanced.” You have to report the facts, all of them—especially when nobody else is courageous enough to do so.

 It seemed like, even after McCarthy’s downfall, Murrow’s air time was cut. This didn't seem fair to me, but either way the movie was excellently shot and very educational.

Some of the Most Dedicated Journalists I have Ever Met

Recently, I attended a lecture in the atrium of the Brimhall Building. I was told that a panel of international journalists from Iraq would be speaking to us; I figured it would be American or BBC journalists who were covering the conflict.

I was also told there was extra credit involved.

I got there, ready for it to get done so I could write and start my weekend back home.

The panel walked in and I realized that I had been wrong. These were Iraqi journalists; a professor at the University of Baghdad, three former students now working in the field, and the host of a political news program. There were also two translators.

Everyone on that panel has had their life threatened. No, not just by the explosions all Iraqis have to worry about; these brave people have received death threats. They refuse to give up their work.

The Professor (I attempted to catch everyone's names, but I am afraid to put them on here and butcher them) said that, to be a journalist, you must have the talent and readiness to be one, then go to school to hone your skills. Journalists should be bold and courageous to get "reports"; in Iraq they have to be.

He also informed us that Iraq has 25 different newspapers (daily, weekly, and monthly combined), which blew my mind. I mean, yes it is a country, but a small one without much stability. You wouldn't expect that in a place so torn by war, or at least I didn't.

They went through each panelist, each saying something to us. The only woman on the panel was the first to wish us luck in our careers.

One journalist, while covering in Fallujah, was faced with double danger; the Americans thought he was working for Al-Qaeda, and Al-Qaeda thought he was working for the Americans.

We have to maintain objectivity and professionalism, try to keep our emotions out of our stories as much as possible. This is especially important when covering the dangerous situations they do; your professionalism and objectivity will build and maintain your reputation and integrity. However, this does not mean that you won't cry, or be scared, or have to go to the hospital. You will. Your strength comes, one student said, when you face those challenges.

We were reminded to use simple words and avoid aggravating anyone unnecessarily.

Working in the field will be different than school; your editor may do something different than you are used to, and you also realize just how responsible you are to the people. Your outlet may--as many do there--have an agenda they try to push, don't get caught up in it! Learn to separate that agenda from the truth.

They described Journalism as a humanitarian mission, without borders. If you are working as a journalist in an international situation, as they have, it is important to not take sides; just reflect what is going on around you.

They also put a few myths to rest:

• Did you know that there were actually Christians in Iraq before there were Muslims? I certainly didn't.
• Female journalists face the same risks as male journalists do on the job; however, they may also face socio-religious issues depending on where they work.
• The Muslim religion as a whole has been, sadly, quite inaccurately portrayed. According to the Koran, a good Muslim is one who keeps others safe--even a non-Muslim who does this can be a good Muslim! I found this very interesting, and also very cool. The people who call themselves Muslims but act without humanitarian principles (read: the terrorists) are Muslims in name only.
• There are provisions for Freedom of Press/Speech/Expression in Iraq's constitution, but the parliament is still working on passing laws to enforce them. 

The last question they were asked was whether or not they have media with a bias in Iraq, like our MSNBC and FOX News here in America. Now, up to this point it had been pretty diplomatic and calm. When the translator asked them this question, however, everyone started talking at once. I don't know if you've ever heard people having a discussion about the political biases or lack thereof in various media outlets, but I can say this: It is at least ten times more awesome when it is done in a middle eastern tongue. 

I feel a tremendous amount of respect and admiration for these people. I may never receive a death threat from a faction or terrorist group, but I like to think that I could be as brave as they are.