Of victims and news cycles
“I think when we have incidents like this - we lose the story of the person that’s been victimized. I understand ultimately in a news cycle you can’t tell everyone’s story because sadly there’s so much violence. It’s so important to see people’s humanity and learn about their own lives because I think that will be part of the path to changing our society.” - David Leonard, associate professor in the Department of Critical Culture, Gender and Race Studies at Washington State University speaking of his friend and colleague David Warner.
Warner was found beaten and unconscious in a Pullman parking lot last month and is still in critical condition at a Spokane hospital.
More about this story here and the arrest of a woman suspected of aiding others in the assault of a WSU instructor.
Dream Theme: Photography
The other week I had a dream that I was hired to do Mike Leach photoshoot all Annie Liebovitz style. We were at the school president’s house determining if it was logistical for Leach to leap off the balcony on a white horse into a cheering crowd of students.
A few days later I had a dream I got to have a Q&A with a newspaper photographer. I asked, “How do ask people to do their portrait?”
I don’t remember their answer, but what I know is… It would be great to know how to get people to pose for those edgy portrait shots when you’re balancing photojournalism.
How do you ask them?
Predicting The End of the World With Science | KXLY
Hypothetically speaking, if a nearby star were to go supernova, it could eventually reach our blue planet and rip apart our atmosphere. Complex life would cease to exist. That scenario is unlikely says Dr. Dirk Schulze-Makuch, professor of astrobiology at Washington State University. That’s one of nine of possible ways Earth could meet its doom, and there’s only so much we can do about it.
As my story was sent into the copy-edit process, I asked the editor if they were a hypochondriac. Those who were might feel the slight sense of paranoia this doomsday story brings. The professor did stress, however, that paranoia is not the solution - awareness is.
The professors last name, Schulze-Makuch, is pronounced like “Schuuuulze-Makoof”. I had to call back and ask really quick because we were going to tease this story on broadcast and well - you need to know these kind of things on TV.
From what I gathered from my conversation with Schulze-Makuch, here are some ways you can save yourself from impending doom:
- Stop using antibiotics, especially antibacterial soap.
- Find a remote island and live there.
- Be careful what nanotechnology you choose to put into your body, which lacks the natural defense mechanisms to battle any of it if it goes wrong.
- Explore space, start with Mars. The sooner the human race spreads out, the better.
My Very First AP Wire Hit
Charlie wouldn’t understand the festivities happening around him because he’s a wild animal, a red-tail hawk eying the room in a way one does to understand their surroundings and survive.
He’s the oldest living red-tail hawk in the entire world as defined in the longevity records by falconers. His home is Washington State University with the Raptor Club. Calculations have estimated his age to equal about 234 human years.
If a human being lived 234 years, they’d been born just after the signing of the United State’s Declaration of Independence. They’d live through one civil and two world wars. They’d see a man walk on the moon.
A certain birthday boy, Charlie, did not witness all those things, but this is just an illustration to say how old he is. It was his 31st birthday on Thursday and he was surrounded by friends and acquaintances.
I say friends because the members of the Washington State University Raptor Club love him. His fellow birds really aren’t social so let’s call them acquaintances.
Next thing I know, the story was picked up by the AP. A fellow producer texted me while I was in the grocery store taking pictures of a dead fly on a package of pickled radishes. I may or may not have jumped up and down.
PULLMAN, Wash. - A 31-year-old red tail hawk living in Washington State University’s raptor club may be the oldest of his kind.
KXLY TV reports that Charlie the hawk’s handlers celebrated his birthday Friday. They calculate that at 31, Charlie has lived the equivalent of about 234 human years.
This is a career first for me. Excuse me while I twirl.
Despite testimonies, city council votes no on Jensen-Byrd resolution
Spokane City Council voted down a resolution 4-3 that would make an attempt to dissuade Campus Advantage from demolishing the historical Jensen-Byrd building. WSU sold the building in late December so the Austin, Texas based company could build student housing in time for the 2013 Fall school year.
“At first we were excited for renovating the loft-like building for students. Unfortunately the number was so grossly overstated. We weren’t able to come to project that was economically feasible. What would a new project on the site look like? A local contractor made an estimate. It was feasible,” said Ronnie Macejewski, vice-president of Campus Advantage.
Dress your baby in "purple" Cougar pride
Let’s play the game: what’s wrong with this picture? It’s a baby onesie proudly supporting Washington State University’s mascot, the Cougars. But wait - it’s in purple - the color of University of Washington’s Huskies. The faux-pas is featured at the Pullman Walmart and has been for sale there for quite awhile.
Speaking of school colors, during a chat with WSU’s archivist, Mark O’English, he shared that crimson and gray has been the official school colors for more than one-hundred years.
O’English says a Daily Evergreen issue from the year 1900 featured a story on WSU’s student body holding a special election on November 13th to select new colors for the school. The student body voted between three different color selections - selecting crimson and gray as the winner.
The original colors? Pink and blue.
New Evidence Supports Earlier Presence of North American Hunters
A major drought swept through the Northwest in 1977. It dried up a bog in Emanuel Manis’ Western Washington property near Sequim. Taking the opportunity of dry dirt, Manis started digging for a pond. That’s when he pulled out mastodon tusks.
Carl Gustafson, Washington State University professor, came to the rescue to help dig up what artifacts they could find.
And that's another Cougar -- GameDay disappointment
Reality may have killed the dreams of Cougars everywhere this weekend. Had WSU beaten UCLA during game five, Chris Fowler, host of ESPN’s GameDay hinted they would have broadcast from cougar country — Pullman.
GameDay, chooses one game per weekend to broadcast live from. The Cougs lost 25-28 due to a late game touchdown and two point conversion by the Bruins.
Nicole Hensley is a journo for hire.