Tragedy Strikes at the "Wyview Crossing"

I am sure that many of you are not aware, but last night, tragedy struck at the crosswalk between Wyview Park and BYU campus (across University Ave.) in Provo.

I still have not heard many details, but what I know at the moment is that one or more BYU students were hit by a 66 year-old Park City man while they were crossing the street.  Emergency personnel (including 3 Police Cruisers and 3 Ambulances, according to witnesses) responded to the scene.  A 24 year-old woman was taken to the hospital, where she died of her injuries.

While I am saddened by the event, I am more than a little frustrated that nothing has been done before.  After all, even a novice reporter like me saw the danger in that crosswalk almost a year ago as a student in an Intro. to Broadcast Journalism class.

You can read about it online - Salt Lake Tribune Article, 08 Jan 2008

I have already posted this video, but I'm posting it again for reference:

Back to Business--For the First Time

Well, after much anticipation, it's finally here--the semester where I'm actually taking classes for my major.  Finally.

Yesterday was my first day of classes as an official Broadcast Journalism major, and it was GREAT!  Every time I go to class, I am reminded why I'm in this major, and how much I love the field.

With classes this amazing, I find myself wondering if I somehow found a loophole in the system--how could something I enjoy so much be considered "college" and how can I get credit for doing something I already love?

Feel the joy.

On another, not-related-at-all note, the New Hampshire primaries are today, and I have been watching political coverage for weeks in anticipation of what will be decided in just a few short hours.  At risk of betraying my journalistic professionalism, I will not say who I would vote for--just that I would be VERY happy if a Mormon won for the first time ever.

Benazir Bhutto, (21 June 1953 - 27 December 2007)

While I was on vacation enjoying good food and good company, half a world away there was no "peace on earth, good will toward men."

Last week, my wife and I watched the movie "Hotel Rwanda." While it is unfair to draw connections between the events unfolding in Pakistan and those portrayed in the movie, there was something from the movie that struck me.  The movie states that when the world sees what is going on in Rwanda, they will say "Oh, that's too bad" and then go back to their lives.

And THAT is why I want to be a Broadcast Journalist.  I want to help people see that there is more to news than headlines.  These are real people, with real families.  They are the heart of news as Art Rascon says in his book of the same title.  I learned on CNN this morning that most of Bhutto's family had already been killed prior to her assassination.  I was sick inside.

Prime Minister Bhutto was a real person, with a real family, and real friends.  She knew that by speaking out against the current leadership of Pakistan, she risked death--yet she returned from exile anyway.  For months now, we have watched as she toured around Pakistan, hosting rallies and protests all over the country.  For months we have watched, and we have waited...sensing somehow that it was too good to last.

So, while it was a shock that she was assassinated, it was hardly a surprise.  I had already spent months hoping, rather than believing, that she could do what she wanted to do.  And maybe I'm wrong.  Maybe she knew all along that she would probably be killed.  And maybe she didn't care.  Because maybe, just maybe, it was the hearts of the international community that she was trying to win--and not the presidency.

If we say "oh, that's too bad," and go back to our lives, then she indeed died in vain.  Only the coming days and weeks and months and years will show how deep of an impact she had on her country and the world, but one thing is certain--she did not die in vain.  Those who wished to silence her have only helped her voice grow louder.  That is why her story must be told.

I pray for Pakistan and its people--the people behind the story.

A VERY Merry Christmas for me...

This last semester was among the worst I have ever endured. It was what they call your "dead semester" in the Communications Department at BYU. What that means is that I had to apply to the Broadcast Journalism major, but I couldn't take any classes for it, because I hadn't been accepted yet. That left me with one option--Generals.

So I thought I'd make the most of it and take classes that interested me, and would help broaden my perspective (hopefully helping me in my Journalism career.) So, I took World Civilizations from 1500, Intro. to Comparative Government and Politics and Ethnographic Writing. Big mistake.

I figured I would kill two birds with one stone...I had already taken AP World History and AP European History and Modern World History in High School, so I thought History 202 - World Civilizations from 1500 would be a breeze.

Not so.

Also, I had taken AP U.S. Government and Politics, AP Comparative Government and Politics and AP Human Geography, so I thought Political Science 150 - Intro. to Comparative Government and Politics would be a cinch.

Also not so.

And Honors 300R - Ethnographic Writing? I thought THAT would be easy because I had taken AP English Language and Composition AND an Honors English class last year in which I got an A.

Also ALSO not so.

The amount of work required for these GE classes was off the hook...these should have been a relative walk in the park, but they had me working so hard I was often at my wit's end...I was stressed beyond belief and terribly sleep deprived.

But it's over. Finally. And I can breathe again.

THAT is why I am so excited for this break. Because I'll have a chance to spend more time with my wife and be able to sleep in and be able to "waste time" guilt-free. Oh, and celebrate Christmas, of course.

All of this was a VERY round-about way of saying that I am SO excited for next semester, because the next time I set foot on BYU's campus, I will be a Broadcast Journalism major--now my real life can begin.