Corey Flintoff speaks to media law class

Corey Flintoff, one of NPR's foreign correspondents spoke to my media law class last week. He spoke mostly of the war in Iraq and how he feels about the coverage that we're receiving from there. He said that it is very difficult for American reporters to get good interviews and articles because of the danger involved in being out in the streets. He said that if you choose to go out alone and try to interview someone in the street you wouldn't last five minutes. He also said that if you go out with armed soldiers and a news crew you would draw a lot of attention and that would also be a large risk to take. He said that many journalists leave out of frustration and so we end up getting most of our coverage from Iraqi reporters. What interested me about his presentation was a question someone asked about what story or stories he thought went largely uncovered. He said that he felt the conflicts across Africa were under covered. He talked about a "fatigue factor" involved with Africa. Many reporters feel like nothing is really changing and that they're covering virtually the same stories year after year. I remember I first became involved with the Aggies for Africa club because of a media class I took when and we covered a section on Africa and the reasons why American media sheds a hopeless light on anything having to do with that continent. We talked about the fact that there is actually a lot of good things happening there but for some reason our mainstream media chooses to only report the bad that is happening which makes the average American feel like there is nothing to be done and Africa isn't worth helping. I wish I had a solution to that problem. I feel like it's important to report the good and the bad to be able to reach a fair conclusion but I realize that would only happen in a perfect world. I do feel, however, that reporters in general could do a better job of looking for the positive stories occurring in Africa and urging their publishers to give them more coverage. Until that happens the general public will not feel a need to become involved. Let's make it happen.

African author to speak at USU

Last summer I read a book entitled A Long Way Gone. It was written by a man named Ishmael Beah. He was a boy from Sierra Leone who was kidnapped and forced to become a boy soldier. The book recalls his life as a boy soldier and the rehabilitation process back into society. I was very moved by his story and wished that I could meet him and ask him about his experiences. Part of that wish will soon come true. I'm a member of the A-team on campus which is in charge of facilitating new student orientation. There is a class offered to incoming freshman that begins the week before school and helps them adjust to college life. Part of the class is the "common literary experience." A book is chosen by a panel and read by every incoming freshman who takes the class. This year Ishmael's book was chosen. I was very excited to find out that a few thousand students would become familiar with the story of this boy soldier. I was even more excited when I found out that he would be coming to speak to us this summer. I can't wait to hear from a man who has lived through all the trials that he has. I hope that the students who read his book will be as inspired as I feel I have been by his words.

Rock for Rolls

Aggies for Africa has teamed up with Shine on Sierra Leone, a non-profit organization dedicated to helping people in Sierra Leone come out of poverty. We are trying to raise money to build a bakery for a community in Sierra Leone. On Monday we are having a Rock Band competition with the grand prize being tickets to an exclusive Rock Band party in Los Angeles with guests including Beyonce, John Mayer and Usher. Bread has quickly become one of the biggest staples in Sierra Leone. By building a bakery we will be providing a means of income and a source of food for a whole community. It is exciting to be part of an organization that is proactive in helping make a difference. It seems so easy to look at large issues facing our nation and world and say that they are too big for one person to do anything about. Aggies for Africa has helped me see that any amount of effort is positive and that small actions can lead to big changes. Now I just need to find my costume so I can go rock out for a good cause!

Aggies for Africa night commute

The week after Invisible Children came to USU's campus Aggies for Africa hosted a night commute. In 2006 Invisible Children hosted a global night commute where young people from all across America walked together to a central location and slept overnight symbolizing what the children in Uganda have to do every night to escape the militia. We wanted to do something like that on a smaller scale. About 40 people showed up at the hub with white shirts and red X's on their chests ready to walk. We walked from campus down to a building by mainstreet where we watched a documentary about a boy named Emmy who was orphaned because of the AID's epidemic. Afterward we wrote letters to our congressman urging them to take notice and become involved in the conflicts affecting the African people. We walked back to campus where we slept overnight in the Living and Learning Center. It was a good opportunity to raise awareness and get a little exercise at the same time.

Invisible Children visit USU campus

On the third and fourth of April Invisible Children made a stop here at Utah State. A lot of people have no idea what to think when they hear that name. When you explain that thousands of children have to leave their homes every night and go sleep together in the city to avoid being abducted by local militia, many want to know how they can get involved. That is how Invisible Children got started in the first place. Three young college students wanted to travel to Uganda to find out more about the war that was raging there. What they found were thousands of these children who didn't have a home. They weren't accounted for by anyone. They were invisible. These three men started a non-profit organization to help the children. now there are less than 200 kids having to leave their villages every night. Invisible Children is dedicated to helping solve issues that arise from the ongoing conflicts in many parts of Africa. The organization is mainly comprised of college-age youth who are passionate about being involved. Three of those young people came to Utah State to raise awareness. They showed two films that told the stories of two different children affected by the conflicts in Uganda. Many eyes were opened to what's going on in the world around them. I just hope that those emotions felt during the films and the subsequent conversations translate into action on our part because if we choose not to act, who will?

China's role in Sudan

Some may ask why a country like China would care about Sudan.
An article from the Taipei Times states that major oil discoveries in south and central Sudan in 2000 may be a large factor.
According the the article, 80 percent of Sudan's oil export goes to China. Beijing is also investing millions in Sudan's infrastructure.
Airfields and roads are being built by Chinese workers in some of the oil-producing regions. China is also Sudan's largest supplier of arms.
Knowing this it is hard to see the Olympic Games being held in Beijing. The Olympics are supposed to be a symbol of peace and unity to many nations, but knowing that China's President Hu Jintao is knowingly supplying arms to the janjaweed militia responsible for killing thousands of innocent people, it is difficult to believe that China is a suitable place for such an event to be held.
I have read of Olympic athletes protesting China's involvement with numerous human rights violations and being reprimanded for doing so. I think that if we try to censor an athlete from his opinion about the atrocities taking place in Darfur and Tibet and yet we turn the other way when we see such atrocities on television then we are the ones in the wrong, not the athletes. Maybe it's time that we wake up to what's happening around us and stop living in apathy because there are many around the world who don't have that luxury.