Did done gradjiyated

The lack of blogging activity over the past three weeks hasn't been because of lack of activity.

The same week as my Daily Herald finale, BYU had its graduation ceremonies. Even though Erin and I both graduated in December, we wanted to participate in the ceremonies. We were in town anyway, staying in Provo while I worked and while we decided where we would be heading after leaving Provo. And, even though we already had our diplomas framed and everything, it was still nice to have some more formal recognition.

Both of our families came to Utah to see us and celebrate with us. On Thursday we had commencement, which was a gathering in the Marriott Center for all of the graduates. Elder Dallin H. Oaks spoke. Then on Friday we divided by colleges for our individual convocations. Even though Erin graduated with a major in family studies, she joined me at my communications convocation. I loved having her with me (and I'm sure our families appreciated not having to go to two convocations!).

The convocation was nice too. I thought the speeches by Ray Beckham, Briana Carr and Christine Clark were great and inspirational.

I just had two complaints about convocation:

1) When Erin's name was called, it was mispronounced. Even with phonetic instructions on the name card, it was messed up.

And, 2) there was no recognition of the existence of The Daily Universe. I'm not saying The Daily Universe is the end all be all of the BYU Department of Communications. But I never understood why the newspaper is treated like an afterthought when it should be treated like a flagship. I'm sure most of the parents and alumni there remember The Daily Universe from their BYU days, more than the Ad Lab or BYU Eleven News. (Maybe I'm just jealous that I didn't get to speak at convocation, haha.) Anyway, it brought up some of the emotions I had when I wrote this post back in January.

But, all in all, it was fun to be a part of graduation.

Thanks to Beth Mathews for taking pictures!

This one is a meme waiting to happen.

So that was just one big event in our family that week. We also moved out of our apartment, which was a bigger task than I imagined. We did it in stages, which was nice. We moved some big stuff a month earlier, most of our stuff when Erin's dad and brothers and their big muscles were in town, and the rest of it when it was time for the landlord to prepare the place for new tenants.

But at the same time, it seemed like it would never end. I was working, and so I didn't actually do a whole lot of packing or cleaning. Which makes Erin the hero for getting all of it done.

What we came up with for our plan to transition from Provo to Iowa City was to store most of our things at Erin's grandparents' place in West Valley. And then we stayed there for about a week and a half, while I worked at my other job making money right up until the bitter end of living in Utah, and while Erin waited for Jamie's homecoming from her mission in Peru.

Then, we drove from West Valley to Erin's family's house in Tomball, Texas. This will be "base camp" for a couple of months. We still haven't been to Iowa to look for a place to live, and it will be easier to do that from here, where we don't pay rent and where I don't have to ask for time off work. Plus, between Erin and I we have three siblings graduating from either high school or college, and it will be nice to not have to ask for three weekends off in June. I don't highly recommend unemployment, but it does make your schedule more flexible!

Like we did last summer, we accomplished yet another successful Despain Family Road Trip. (We will have photos on our family blog soon, but I'll post a few here.)

After going to church with our ward in Provo one last time, we spent Sunday night at a hotel in Page, AZ. We first tried getting there via Highway 14 from Cedar City, but it was closed for some reason. So we instead got there with Highways 59 and 389 through Tocquerville and Hurricane, and still got there before midnight (thanks to Arizona's opting out of Daylight Savings Time). We're pros.

From there we went to the Grand Canyon and spent the morning and early afternoon there.

We wanted to get to Four Corners Monument before it closed, but we weren't sure if we would make it. From the park we had more than 200 miles to go, not on a freeway, and only about 3 1/2 hours to do it. But due to my expert driving, we made it just in time. The lady at the gate even let us in for free since they were almost closed. It meant we didn't get any Navajo tacos or fry bread, but we did get some pictures of us standing in Utah, Arizona, Colorado and New Mexico at the same time. And we got to our motel in Cortez, CO, nice and early.

The next morning we went to Mesa Verde National Park. I was excited about this one, because finally I was taking the well-traveled Erin to somewhere she hadn't been before. For those of you who haven't been there or haven't heard of it, the national park preserves cliff dwellings built by the Anasazi Indians about 800 years ago. You can hike to some of them, but all the stairs and ladders would have been too much for Allisyn. So we went on a driving tour that had some good views.

We spent that night at a motel in Tucumcari, NM. Then, yesterday was spent just driving. We went through Amarillo, Fort Worth and Dallas on our way to Tomball.

In about a week, Erin and I will fly to Iowa and spend a few days there getting to know Iowa City, and we hope to find our new home while we're there. We plan on moving to Iowa with another road trip sometime in July.

And that's our summer so far.

BTW

The Daily Herald has a column every Wednesday they call "The Skinny," not because it has to do with diet or exercise but because it actually is skinny. About 17 tiny letters wide.

Reporters take turns writing about pretty much anything they want. And even though I'm just an intern, they assigned this week to me!

I wasn't sure what to write about for a long time. But I felt like writing something political and reliving my days at the opinion editor for The Daily Universe. Immigration is a fairly easy topic for me to write about. But then the challenge came from limiting it to less than 320 words.

Here it is:

The Skinny: Yearning to breathe free

There was one phrase that was taken out, probably for space, that I thought was clever. Instead of just saying "But when the Mississippi state legislature actually proposes renaming the Gulf of Mexico to the 'Gulf of America,' the current crop of politicians don't appear to have any answers," I originally wrote, "But when the Mississippi state legislature actually proposes giving the 'freedom fries' treatment to the Gulf of Mexico by renaming it the 'Gulf of America,' the current crop of politicians don't appear to have any answers."

And look tomorrow for my stuff in The Ticket!

The Mosque Next Door

On most of the issues I write about, I don't claim to be absolutely right about everything I say. I readily acknowledge that there are other viable opinions besides mine, and that there are strengths and weaknesses to every interpretation of an issue.

But with this one, it's really hard for me to see any strengths of the opposing view.

A Muslim organization has plans to build a mosque and Islamic center two blocks from ground zero in New York City, and many people see that as a threat and a danger or at the very least as the cruelest of ironies.

Which is ridiculous. This reaction is a prime example of the kind of generalizing and stereotyping that will set back society. So, because the 9/11 attackers falsely claimed to have killed in the name of Islam, we should be afraid of all things Islamic?

Islam itself is peaceful and benign, and most of its followers behave the same way. Some of their strict orthodox views are in conflict with Christian values, but no true Islamic teaching promotes violent jihad against anybody. The 9/11 attackers were not living by actual Muslim doctrine when they killed thousands of Americans. And so righteous Muslims should not be punished or feared because of the sins of others.

One person I talked to was not totally up in arms against the "ground zero mosque." But he thought he should point out to me that "Even though not every Muslim is a terrorist, every terrorist is a Muslim." And he even let me know that Timothy McVeigh had converted to Islam before striking Oklahoma City in 1995.

First of all: the idea that every terrorist is a Muslim depends on your definition of terrorism. If you use "terrorism" to label any violent attack by al-Qaida, then, yes, I suppose every terrorist can be considered Muslim because as far as I know every member of the al-Qaida network calls himself a Muslim. But when Joe Stack flew a plane into the IRS building in Austin, Texas, wouldn't you say that was an act of terrorism? And yet Stack wasn't a Muslim.

Second of all: So what? So what if every terrorist is a Muslim? Every Nazi was German. Every soldier who bombed Pearl Harbor was Japanese. So does that mean we should be careful with all Germans and all Japanese?

Now, I did find one small aspect of this issue that could possibly raise suspicion. Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, founder of the American Society for Muslim Advancement and the Cordoba Initiative, is in charge of the "ground zero mosque" project. He is known as a leader in improving relations between Islam and the West, which is a noble cause. But he has said a couple things that Americans might be offended by, and might make them anxious about letting him build a $100 million mosque. However, the opposition against the "ground zero mosque" I have seen doesn't bring up the imam's comments at all. It's just plain old anti-Islam rhetoric.

I thought of a situation in LDS Church history that would be possibly parallel to Islam and 9/11: the Mountain Meadows Massacre. The 1857 tragedy was caused by a few misguided members of the LDS Church, but not by the Church itself. No blame or criticism should be directed at the LDS Church whatsoever.

The same goes for the 9/11 attacks. The attacks were caused by a few misguided men who call themselves Muslims, but not by Islam itself.

So I did some research and looked for the closest LDS chapel to the massacre site to see if there were any similarities to the "ground zero mosque."

Interestingly enough, the closest chapel is the Pine Valley Chapel, which happens to be the oldest LDS building still in use. I remember visiting the chapel one of our family vacations, it's one of the Mormon history sites to see in southern Utah.

Of course, I didn't expect to find any similarities between resistance against the Pine Valley Chapel and the "ground zero mosque," and I didn't. But it proved my point. If Mormons are allowed to build a meetinghouse near the massacre site and expand their church, shouldn't Muslims be allowed to do the same? So I used the Pine Valley Chapel as a theme in my column.

To be honest, I am proud to live in a country where a Muslim mosque can be built two blocks from ground zero. It is that religious freedom that lets the LDS Church build meetinghouses and temples, and we shouldn't keep that freedom all to ourselves.

I also think by letting a mosque be built somewhere, we are living what is being taught in Article of Faith 11, and taught by Joseph Smith in this quote:

"If it has been demonstrated that I have been willing to die for a ‘Mormon,’ I am bold to declare before heaven that I am just as ready to die in defending the rights of a Presbyterian, a Baptist or a good man of any other denomination. ... It is a love of liberty which inspires my soul — civil and religious liberty to the whole of the human race."

Anyway, before I keep going I'll let you read the actual column:

The mosque next door - Let's learn a lesson from Pine Valley

Here are a few articles I used in learning about the "ground zero mosque":

Planned construction of Islamic center and mosque

Muslim Prayers and Renewal Near Ground Zero

Plan For Mosque Next To Ground Zero In NYC Moves Forward

Plan for mosque near World Trade Center site moves ahead

Mosque to go up near New York's ground zero

Near Ground Zero, a Mosque Moves In and Meets the Neighbors

Here are a few commentaries fueling the fire against the "ground zero mosque":

Mosque madness at Ground Zero

Glenn Beck: 9/11 mosque (He doesn't actually talk about the mosque until you scroll down to the end of the page)

And, a couple interesting articles about instances of cooperation between Mormons and Muslims (they both report that the LDS Church has even given financial support to Muslim programs):

U.S. Muslims share friendship, similar values with Mormons

Utah's Spanish fork has Krishna temple (not a Muslim group, but a Hindu group)

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The other main feature of today's Issues & Ideas page is a response to last week's house editorial about the U.S. lawsuit against Arizona.

The rule of law, not will

Sugarcoating Oil

Hello, blog fans.

I really liked today's page. My column turned out better than I expected, and might be one of my favorites so far. I love it when I come up with a sentence or phrase that surprises me. I'm especially proud of this one:

"If all we do with news is sugarcoat it and look at it with rose-colored glasses, we will end up diabetic and color blind."

That's ready for the next edition of Bartlett's, my friends.

Sugarcoating oil - BP confuses news with P.R.

Today's column was a chance for another diatribe of mine about the high ideals of journalism. (And it was a perfect way to follow up what happened earlier this week.) There's another slight hint of "stickittothemaneosis" on my page today, similar to the way I utilized my column on the David Pearl Freedom of the Press Act.

More specifically, I talk about BP's "reporters" who are searching for the sunny side of this whole oil spill disaster. (Correction: the sunny side of BP's whole oil spill disaster.) It's perfectly fine to look for pro-BP stories in the gulf states, and it's fine to do P.R., but the squeaky voice piping up in favor of BP is overwhelmingly drowned out by what actual news services are reporting. I'm sure the stories from the BP "reporters" are true and legitimate. But they don't accurately represent the whole community.

Here are a few of BP's dispatches from the gulf (the ones I quoted in my article):

"Over about four hours we … enjoyed the spectacular ballet at sea. … Watching the captains weave the long black boom as seamlessly as a professional ballet troupe performs an intricate dance, I found it difficult to believe that the rehearsals only started some weeks ago.”

“Much of the region’s … businesses — particularly the hotels — have been prospering because so many people have come here from BP and other oil emergency response teams.”

“There is no reason to hate BP,” “business has fallen off sharply, suddenly,” “This is an oilfield community," "People understand.”

“Chaisson hasn’t yet made up her mind about what to say in the first editorial on the subject.”

Here's where you will find all of their blog posts:

Blogs from the Gulf

Now, some of the "reporters" bring up some points that are important. Even though oil is ruining the ways of life for many gulf coast residents, a lot of them are still against President Barack Obama's six-month moratorium on oil drilling because it causes six months of no work for many people. And a lot of tourism-type businesses are hoping visitors won't be scared to come down to the gulf. There is still plenty to do for tourists and they can still enjoy their vacation.

That being said, I hope you enjoy the many examples of mushiness in these BP gulf "reports."

And if you're interested in reading all of Vicki Chaisson's editorial (the editor from The Lafourche Gazette who one of the BP "reporters" talked to), here's that:

Where will it all end?

Here's a hilarious sketch on the BP "reporters" from Stephen Colbert:

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Lube Job
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes 2010 Election Fox News

Other features in today's Issues & Ideas page:

There is a house editorial written by the Daily Universe's editor-in-chief and COMMS 321 instructor, Ed Carter. When he said he had a house editorial about the U.S. Department of Justice's lawsuit against Arizona for its new immigration law, I expected that if he got into the controversy and the different sides of the issue, the editorial would be in favor of the opposite side I would support. But, instead of saying anything about racial profiling, Professor Carter stuck to the legality and constitutionality of the issue. And I happen to agree with the viewpoint he took.

Immigration and the Supremacy Clause

And, I totally drew a cartoon for the page and then forgot to include it on the page! I didn't have any room for it anyway, so it's not too tragic. And thanks to blogging technology, I can still share it to you.

Update on Arizona Senate Bill 1070

Well, I suppose I was asking for trouble when I chose immigration reform as the topic for my first column.

I joked about receiving hate mail, thinking it would be fun to push some buttons. But after a brief calm before the storm, I got responses from some Arizonans who I've never even met (one of them decided to keep his/her anonymity intact and commented on this very blog).

I don't want to make any rebuttal or argument, because I could either stay with what I already said, or argue forever about immigration. So even though I was frustrated by a random acquaintance who called my essay "retarted" on Facebook, I decided not to retaliate.

But, one letter to The Daily Universe brought to my attention that I inadvertently misquoted Senate Bill 1070. I took a quote from a news website instead of looking up the bill itself. Being mature enough to own up to my rookie mistake, I included the letter in today's page and did write a few more words concerning the issue.

Here's my note:

Editor’s Note: The exact quote from Arizona Senate Bill 1070 is: “For any lawful contact made by a law enforcement official … where reasonable suspicion exists that the person is an alien who is unlawfully present in the United States, a reasonable attempt shall be made, when practicable, to determine the immigration status of the person. … A law enforcement official or agency … may not solely consider race, color or national origin in implementing the requirements of this subsection…”

On Thursday, in response to protests against the controversial wording of SB 1070, the Arizona House of Representatives proposed revisions to the bill. The change in House Bill 2162, approved by both the House and the Senate, now modifies the Senate bill to say “stop, detention or arrest” instead of “lawful contact” and takes out the word “solely.”

So, I was able to make corrections without discrediting my own argument. It worked out nicely.

I apologize to anyone who thought I was attacking Arizona and its residents. I never meant to insult Arizonans in general. I just disagree with this law. That's all.

My First Rant

My first column of the semester was meant to be an introduction of sorts. Today, the political commentary begins.

Another aspect of this Arizona immigration law is the question of whether or not Arizona is taking too much control over what is under the jurisdiction of the federal government. I couldn't get it to fit in today's column for the paper, but I'll put a couple thoughts here:

"Tea partiers claim the government has trampled over their civil liberties one too many times and demand the federal government to take a step back. Are they hoping the vacancy left by the national government will then be consumed beyond capacity by the states? Do they want Arizona and other states to legally define the appearance of an American citizen or legal resident?"

Now, a paragraph with the opposite point of view (which I also agree with):

"Former Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis once said the states are the 'laboratories of democracy.' Innovative solutions to national problems can be tested and experimented with at the local level. Maybe the federal government should step aside and let Arizona try a few things and see what happens."

Oh, and I also drew a cartoon about this. I didn't put it in the paper because, well, even though it's a better-known issue than the Nevada Senate race, my cartoon with Sue Lowden and Senator Harry Reid at the doctor's office is funnier. But here's a little something for all you Arizona State fans:

My Very First Opinion Page

I've seen my name in print before, but today is a little different. I put together an entire page! I laid out and wrote part of page 3 of today's Daily Universe.

I haven't yet checked for any responses in the du.letters@gmail.com inbox...that might be interesting.

Anyway, here's what you can find on page 3:

- To those who are leaving us, a viewpoint from BYU's Pulitzer Prize-winning professor John Hughes
- The first edition of J Squared, a new column I created for myself
- A few letters: Open letter to Arizona, Spring break is vital, More women in business and Tenure and apathy
- And three cartoons. Here's the one I did:

This cartoon might already be outdated. But I just thought it was interesting to compare and contrast Tiger Woods' and Ben Roethlisberger's situations. It seemed to me like all anyone was talking about was the question of Tiger's return, and a little later everyone was talking about how long to keep Roethlisberger out of the NFL. Now, I know there are some major differences between them (Woods cheated on his wife, but Roethlisberger was accused of sexual assault...Woods never broke the law, Roethlisberger was charged...Woods voluntarily took a break from golf, Roethlisberger was facing punitive measures from NFL commissioner Roger Goodell...). But, at the very least, they're both fun to caricature.

If you want to look at the whole page, go here and look at page 3.

On the Clock

Whew!

I just finished my first day on the job. I got to the newsroom at 12:15 p.m. and didn't leave the Brimhall Building until 8:00. It went by really quickly though. Once I learned the password to the Gmail account, cleaned out the email inbox and became rapidly acquainted with Adobe InDesign, there was nothing to it.

I wrote my first column, too! Just a little bit about the new spring semester and also a little bit about myself. I got to brag about my growing family. I even mentioned my soon-to-be-born daughter! She'll be famous before she's even born!

I'm already thinking of ideas for Thursday's page. Rich told me about the BYU women's rugby team (a whole semester on the sports desk and I didn't know there was a women's rugby team), who voluntarily dropped out of the championships because they didn't want to play on Sunday. That sounds like a rare opportunity for positive news. It would certainly be more uplifting than me ranting about Arizona.

Be sure to check out tomorrow's edition of The Daily Universe!