Weblog

02/27/04 09:09 AM: Dave’s Personal Update

It’s been a while since I did any sort of update about my personal life, so here goes:

It’s now Friday, and that means it’s getting even closer to Spring Break! But, before I get to Spring Break, I still have a take-home midterm for English, and midterms in Constitutional Law and Econ. But then I’m out of here, and it will be great. Ah, I am SO EXCITED, I tell you what. Only 5 more days, that’s hardly anything in the grand scheme of things!

Tomorrow I need to buy tickets to Diplomatic Ball, so I’ll have to get up early to get in line. However, I have big plans to go back to bed after I get the tickets, so I’m not going to bed that early tonight. I’ll probably work on my English midterm and then watch a movie.

Wednesday afternoon, I walked up to National Cathedral from campus. It was a bit cold, and the walk took about 25 minutes. It wasn’t so bad though, I could still feel my face when I got there, lol. I arrived just in time for the 5:00 Ash Wednesday service. There weren’t that many people there, so I didn’t have to sit uber-far away. The lessons/readings were good, but it was the sermon that was so good. It pretty much dealt with everything that I’ve been going through the past couple weeks, and offered good advice. I felt as if he was speaking directly to me, it was rather amazing how dead-on it was. By the end I was almost in tears, that’s how powerful it was.

I had never gone to an Ash Wednesday service before. I think J.P. (my roommate from last year) tried to get me to go to a Catholic one last year, but obviously I didn’t (as I’m not Catholic!). Afterwards, some people on campus asked me if I was Catholic, because they didn’t know that some Protestants do the whole Ash Wednesday thing.

Anyway, the moral of the story is I was really glad I went to the service and I think it really helped me feel better about everything.

Now I should get back to work, as I am supposed to be working, but expect another update this weekend!

Dave Stroup  Personal 

Comments made.

  1. Sean Powers

    For Super Tuesday, Close Up is doing an hour-long special on the primaries, John Kerry, John Edwards, and the faults of the current administration. On Friday, I interviewed State Rep. George Scully for 55 mins, and later that day I got a 16 min. interview with Senator Dick Durbin! Remind me to give you a copy of this broadcast when you visit the station.

    Feb 28, 12:50 AM

  2. dave

    Excellent! Scully was always very helpful, he came to the studio a few times back when I was doing Politics Now!

    Do you happen to know if Melissa Merz still works for Durbin as his press secretary?

    Feb 28, 01:06 AM

  3. Sean Powers

    No, it’s Christina Angarola. I contacted his office on Tues., and got the interview Fri.

    She said WHFH was never on their media list before.

    Feb 28, 11:38 AM

  4. Sean Powers

    Also, a week from Tuesday, the primaries will be held in IL., and WHFH is broadcasting the primaries live from Kerry Headquarters!

    Feb 28, 11:39 AM

  5. Chris

    All the faults? I think you have a duty as a news service to point out good things that the Bush Administration has done as well. You might not like him, but to have a whole show slamming Bush seems a bit irresponsible, and would also take away from your credibility.

    Feb 28, 02:08 PM

  6. dave

    Well, on one hand, it is a show covering the Primary, not the general election, so a big part of that will be discussing the problems the candidates have with the current administration.

    As long as you cover it from the point of view “This is what John Edwards says about Bush …” then you can play it safe…

    Feb 28, 03:02 PM

  7. Sean Powers

    The faults of Bush and his administration further help the listeners understand what exactly Kerry and/or Edwards will do to help the country. The faults that are explained in the program are explained from the point of views of Durbin & Scully, and the views of Kerry and Edwards are explained by two of their supporters. The program also revolves around “Super Tuesday” which revolves around the Dems, not Republicans.

    Also, in the program major issues like gay marriage, soc. security, war, etc are described and analyzed from the point of view of the Dems. which in many cases differs between Durbin, Scully, Edwards, and Kerry. One of the strongest points of the program is that not everyone has the same beliefs.

    Feb 29, 09:54 AM

  8. Tom Wilmowski

    How about the faults of John Kerry and John Edwards? As a journalism major, I would be kicked out of school if I did what you’re doing. You can’t bash Bush all show long. Be fair.

    Feb 29, 01:29 PM

  9. dave

    I would have to say that the best way to approach this is to cover the Super Tuesday results, and scatter in commentary from prominent Democrats about the candidates rather than Bush.

    Sean is completely correct that Super Tuesday is about Democrats, so I think you really need to leave Bush out of this.

    Doing bios or some such on the candidates would be fine, saying so and so wants to roll back the tax cuts—but also be sure to include facts about their voting records and how they stood or didn’t stand with Bush on those issues during the past years.

    Tom is right that you need to be balanced here, and not just have a show dedicated to bashing Bush. If this was a political commentary show than that would be fine, but if it’s a report on Super Tuesday you should focus more on the election results and analysis thereof, and you can save the Bush bashing for when there will be plenty of it during the general election.

    Feb 29, 02:17 PM

  10. Sean Powers

    actually, I am naming many of the faults of Kerry and Edwards, and what issues could break their campaigns. Another aspect of the program is how they will represent the country based on how they represent their states. There is a lot of ‘bush bashing’ but all of it ties directly into the primaries. The purpose of this program is to educate the listeners on the cands, their policies, the primaries, and improvements that need to be made in the current government.

    Feb 29, 04:40 PM

< Dork Quiz
> Open Thread