A recent article from the Associated Press got me to thinking. Perhaps we, meaning mainstream media, misunderstood the "DADT" laws.
This is something that has marred military society since the 1990s, a Clinton-era policy. Perhaps it's not meant to keep gays out of the military, what if it is designed as a safeguard to keep them from unnecessary harm IN the military. There is, no doubt, hazing aboard ships. No sailor will admit to it, but does anyone think that hazing is truly a thing of the past? We don't believe fraternities have abolished hazing, why would we believe otherwise for the military? What if this law is in place to keep someone--who is being hazed--safe? Maybe the law was intended to give them an escape route. But, if that's the case, what about straight service members? They would get hazed too, right?
So, this story from the AP said that this particular Airman wished to be discharged "expeditiously." Let me repeat that: "The airman in the case asked to be separated expeditiously," USAF Spokesman Lt. Col. (Lieutenant Colonel, for those non-military savvy folk) Todd Vician said.
The airman requested separation from the military, but it's not clear (from this story) why he wished to be separated. Perhaps he knew this was his last chance to be legally discharged without going UA or without being considered a deserter.
We currently have over 1.4 million boys and girls who wear our nation's uniforms. A report says that over 40,000 troops have deserted their post (left without intent to return) since the year 2000. Why would this particular airman not just desert his post like these others? Why choose to go out with a dying piece of legislation? Was he being hazed? Did he just disagree with current military engagements enough to wish to be separated, and if so, why enlist in the first place?
Some say that this shows the flaws in the legislation. Alexander Nicholson says this airman could be using the 'law is still on the books' excuse to get out of current obligations. "It shows why the DADT law is flawed and harms the military--it can also be abused to allow someone to receive expensive training and then skip out on their commitment to serve, or it can simply be used to quit the military early by forcing an early separation."
Is this what happened here? Was he overwhelmed with his commitment? Was he hazed? Was he seeking the military training then ditching on his service obligation?
This story leaves too many questions unanswered.
04 June 2011
24 May 2011
So fast, so fast
Looking back now it makes me laugh: we were growing our hair; we were cutting class.
Great words by singer Kenny Chesney, they describe the feelings I've been having as I grow toward my last year of college. It's hard to believe that it was three years ago that I was first heading to Florida State University. Fresh out of high school, I thought I was all that. Oh how wrong I was. At a fresh 17-years-old I was heading to college, not knowing what to expect, what changes I would go through, what experiences were about to be had.
Looking back, I can easily say that my time (so far; remember I'm only three fourths done) at Florida State has been the best time of my life. I've grown in so many ways. I've learned about myself, learned about life, learned about love, learned about truth, lies, friendship, and so many other things. It's hard to adequately explain all that I've learned in the last three years at FSU.
I started in June of 2008. It's not June of 2011 and I am looking forward to going back as an RA (Resident Assistant/babysitter) for the CARE program. I'll be in Landis Hall--one building and three floors away from where I began my collegiate career three years earlier. Gilchrist 101. Those six weeks held memories that have partially shaped my times at FSU. I met people I would lose touch with, I met some of my best friends. I grew as a person. I learned what it meant to truly have freedom: the ability to go out and come back home as you please without answering to anyone.
I thought I knew freedom back in high school; my parents were very relaxed and open, while being very strict and parental at the same time. It's hard to explain my relationship with my parents, save to say it's the best relationship I think parents and their son can have. I learned at college that it's my life, compiled of my decisions (good, bad and ugly), my thoughts, my emotions. MY life. That's the crucial part that far too few people understand. It's your life. The only person you have the ability to make happy is you. I know too many people who live their lives to please those around them.
Forget that. A poet, who happens to be my grandfather -- the man I get all of my writing ability from -- once said that this life "is about all said and done. I realize it won't be my only one." This life isn't our only one, but I'll be damned if I'm going to spend this one working for someone else.
Back to the point. I've come so far in the last three years. June 2008--I had no idea what I was going to study in college. If even then you had told me I'd be an English major I'd have told you that you're nuts. That being said, here I am writing my thoughts. I even got an "A" in my advanced writing course. There are so many things that can be learned in college.
As many before me have said, "you learn more in college outside of the classroom than you do in the classroom." This is absolutely true. While colleges focus you on taking this class or that class, or what your major is and your GPA, they all realize that you're going to learn more about yourself than you could ever learn about biology or chemistry or psychology or any other -ology.
Selfology. That's what any college really sells. The learning of your self. You can learn how you think politically, socially, emotionally, psychologically and methodically. People think in different ways. Some like it blunt; some like it to be sugar-coated. Your parents can only do so much molding of your character. It's up to you, who you become. You can follow the rules, dot all of your i's, cross all of your t's. Or you can rebel and be that which all parents fear: the free-spirited thinker. Know this though, society never progresses without rebels at the head. Do you think Martin Luther King, Jr. crossed his t's? Do you think Maya Angelou dotted all of her i's (metaphorically of course. She's a writer so she dotted her i's literally)? Do you think John Fitzgerald Kennedy just followed the status quo?
I'm not telling you to be the change you see in the world, but be the change you see in your world, that's all you can do.
Great words by singer Kenny Chesney, they describe the feelings I've been having as I grow toward my last year of college. It's hard to believe that it was three years ago that I was first heading to Florida State University. Fresh out of high school, I thought I was all that. Oh how wrong I was. At a fresh 17-years-old I was heading to college, not knowing what to expect, what changes I would go through, what experiences were about to be had.
Looking back, I can easily say that my time (so far; remember I'm only three fourths done) at Florida State has been the best time of my life. I've grown in so many ways. I've learned about myself, learned about life, learned about love, learned about truth, lies, friendship, and so many other things. It's hard to adequately explain all that I've learned in the last three years at FSU.
I started in June of 2008. It's not June of 2011 and I am looking forward to going back as an RA (Resident Assistant/babysitter) for the CARE program. I'll be in Landis Hall--one building and three floors away from where I began my collegiate career three years earlier. Gilchrist 101. Those six weeks held memories that have partially shaped my times at FSU. I met people I would lose touch with, I met some of my best friends. I grew as a person. I learned what it meant to truly have freedom: the ability to go out and come back home as you please without answering to anyone.
I thought I knew freedom back in high school; my parents were very relaxed and open, while being very strict and parental at the same time. It's hard to explain my relationship with my parents, save to say it's the best relationship I think parents and their son can have. I learned at college that it's my life, compiled of my decisions (good, bad and ugly), my thoughts, my emotions. MY life. That's the crucial part that far too few people understand. It's your life. The only person you have the ability to make happy is you. I know too many people who live their lives to please those around them.
Forget that. A poet, who happens to be my grandfather -- the man I get all of my writing ability from -- once said that this life "is about all said and done. I realize it won't be my only one." This life isn't our only one, but I'll be damned if I'm going to spend this one working for someone else.
Back to the point. I've come so far in the last three years. June 2008--I had no idea what I was going to study in college. If even then you had told me I'd be an English major I'd have told you that you're nuts. That being said, here I am writing my thoughts. I even got an "A" in my advanced writing course. There are so many things that can be learned in college.
As many before me have said, "you learn more in college outside of the classroom than you do in the classroom." This is absolutely true. While colleges focus you on taking this class or that class, or what your major is and your GPA, they all realize that you're going to learn more about yourself than you could ever learn about biology or chemistry or psychology or any other -ology.
Selfology. That's what any college really sells. The learning of your self. You can learn how you think politically, socially, emotionally, psychologically and methodically. People think in different ways. Some like it blunt; some like it to be sugar-coated. Your parents can only do so much molding of your character. It's up to you, who you become. You can follow the rules, dot all of your i's, cross all of your t's. Or you can rebel and be that which all parents fear: the free-spirited thinker. Know this though, society never progresses without rebels at the head. Do you think Martin Luther King, Jr. crossed his t's? Do you think Maya Angelou dotted all of her i's (metaphorically of course. She's a writer so she dotted her i's literally)? Do you think John Fitzgerald Kennedy just followed the status quo?
I'm not telling you to be the change you see in the world, but be the change you see in your world, that's all you can do.
29 April 2011
A bit of Pingüi
So, as a reporter I very rarely take part in any publication of a "cause," but in light of the recent twister devastation that hit much of the American South, it's hard for me to let it just pass me by. The best way I know to help is to tell the story; what can I say, I'm a story teller at heart.
This disaster hit FAR too close to home. Tuscaloosa, Alabama is the town where my little sister goes to school. There is video on the web of a tornado hitting Bryant-Denny Stadium at the University of Alabama. After seeing that video, I realized that she lives in Ridgecrest South, a mere 3/4 mile away from the stadium.
This supercell thunderstorm spawned over 173 tornadoes in one night. Over 300 people in five states are dead, and at least three 'Bama students are dead. 87 people are dead in Tuscaloosa alone.
This is one of the deadliest storms in Southern history. This supercell is compared to a storm that hit back in the 1930s that killed 332 people. There are bodies still missing, which could make this storm even more deadly than the 1932 storm.
Finals at 'Bama were canceled and students were told to head home if they can. My parents and I are heading up there this weekend to pack my little sister's things up to bring her home. We'll stay for a few days to help wherever we can, knowing that we truly dodged a bullet.
Prayers are being ferociously sent to this part of the country and to all of those affected by this horrifying tragedy.
This disaster hit FAR too close to home. Tuscaloosa, Alabama is the town where my little sister goes to school. There is video on the web of a tornado hitting Bryant-Denny Stadium at the University of Alabama. After seeing that video, I realized that she lives in Ridgecrest South, a mere 3/4 mile away from the stadium.
This supercell thunderstorm spawned over 173 tornadoes in one night. Over 300 people in five states are dead, and at least three 'Bama students are dead. 87 people are dead in Tuscaloosa alone.
This is one of the deadliest storms in Southern history. This supercell is compared to a storm that hit back in the 1930s that killed 332 people. There are bodies still missing, which could make this storm even more deadly than the 1932 storm.
Finals at 'Bama were canceled and students were told to head home if they can. My parents and I are heading up there this weekend to pack my little sister's things up to bring her home. We'll stay for a few days to help wherever we can, knowing that we truly dodged a bullet.
Prayers are being ferociously sent to this part of the country and to all of those affected by this horrifying tragedy.
27 April 2011
Life
The other day I got a text message from my mom:
This got me to thinking. Life has ups, downs, lefts and rights. Life has loops, twists, curves, tunnels and bridges. There's no denying that life is hard. As my little sister says "Life is a bitch because if it was a whore it'd be too easy." Ain't that the truth? I'll be the first to admit that life has its challenges, but I'll be damned if it's not worth every single struggle. Life has its way of teaching you exactly what it wanted to. Something my mom told me on a different occasion is that you need the downs to truly appreciate the ups. Without the sad we wouldn't know the happy.
Learning this wasn't easy to do. It took some failures; it took some pain; most of all it took some triumph. That sweet, sweet taste of self-pride. Knowing that someone saying "I'm proud of you" can't even hold a candle to the pride you feel in yourself is one of the greatest feelings you can ever feel.
Pride may be a sin, but it's a necessary one. We must take pride in the work we do. If my dad didn't take pride in his (what he calls) "grease-job landings," all the passengers would readily know it. Having the pride in his work shows in the work he does. The same holds true for a writer. If a writer doesn't take pride in their work then the reader can tell. You get writing that's unpleasant or hard to read. When a writer takes pride in their writing they will put their heart and soul into the work, and (as with the prideless writer) the reader can tell.
If life gets you in a funk, don't worry. It happens to the best of us. It happens to presidents; it happens to CEOs; it happens to poets; it happens to parents. There is no one who can avoid a funk once in a while. As bizarre as it sounds, enjoy your funk.
You'll come out on top in the end, but learn the lessons that you're meant to while you are at rock bottom.
"Life is great, ain't it?"
"Every second of it," I replied.
"Every damn one," she said.
This got me to thinking. Life has ups, downs, lefts and rights. Life has loops, twists, curves, tunnels and bridges. There's no denying that life is hard. As my little sister says "Life is a bitch because if it was a whore it'd be too easy." Ain't that the truth? I'll be the first to admit that life has its challenges, but I'll be damned if it's not worth every single struggle. Life has its way of teaching you exactly what it wanted to. Something my mom told me on a different occasion is that you need the downs to truly appreciate the ups. Without the sad we wouldn't know the happy.
Learning this wasn't easy to do. It took some failures; it took some pain; most of all it took some triumph. That sweet, sweet taste of self-pride. Knowing that someone saying "I'm proud of you" can't even hold a candle to the pride you feel in yourself is one of the greatest feelings you can ever feel.
Pride may be a sin, but it's a necessary one. We must take pride in the work we do. If my dad didn't take pride in his (what he calls) "grease-job landings," all the passengers would readily know it. Having the pride in his work shows in the work he does. The same holds true for a writer. If a writer doesn't take pride in their work then the reader can tell. You get writing that's unpleasant or hard to read. When a writer takes pride in their writing they will put their heart and soul into the work, and (as with the prideless writer) the reader can tell.
If life gets you in a funk, don't worry. It happens to the best of us. It happens to presidents; it happens to CEOs; it happens to poets; it happens to parents. There is no one who can avoid a funk once in a while. As bizarre as it sounds, enjoy your funk.
You'll come out on top in the end, but learn the lessons that you're meant to while you are at rock bottom.
02 April 2011
Award
Yesterday I received my first of (hopefully) many awards for my work. I was invited to the Society of Professional Journalists' Mark of Excellence award luncheon in Birmingham. This luncheon started the SPJ Region 3 conference. Of course, I went. I drove from Tallahassee to Tuscaloosa -- where my little sister goes to school. My mom, dad and grandmother were there visiting her. The four of us (everyone minus my sister) drove the next day to Birmingham for the luncheon. On our way there, I was thinking about this award and what it might mean... I knew I had received an award, but wasn't sure what place I got.
I found out that I got first place in the radio in-depth award reporting category. This means that I will continue onto the national competition. I have a hard time believing that my story received first place. I'm amazed and awestruck. I was proud of that work when I submitted, but I had no idea that it might actually win.
The piece was about the transfer of authority between two college presidents: one past, one present. Dr. Thomas Kent (TK) Wetherell retired and allowed Dr. Eric Barron to assume responsibility of FSU President. I interviewed both men and compiled bits and pieces of the interviews into one long (15 minutes long) piece for the radio.
This Mark of Excellence award has only deepened my passion for journalism. This is just affirmation that I'm actually GOOD at what I do. That's a good feeling. It only pushes me to do better work, find deeper meaning in stories and work harder.
I found out that I got first place in the radio in-depth award reporting category. This means that I will continue onto the national competition. I have a hard time believing that my story received first place. I'm amazed and awestruck. I was proud of that work when I submitted, but I had no idea that it might actually win.
The piece was about the transfer of authority between two college presidents: one past, one present. Dr. Thomas Kent (TK) Wetherell retired and allowed Dr. Eric Barron to assume responsibility of FSU President. I interviewed both men and compiled bits and pieces of the interviews into one long (15 minutes long) piece for the radio.
This Mark of Excellence award has only deepened my passion for journalism. This is just affirmation that I'm actually GOOD at what I do. That's a good feeling. It only pushes me to do better work, find deeper meaning in stories and work harder.
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