Space Tourism and Iran

Richard Branson. Lots of things come into my mind when I hear his name, but up until a couple weeks ago, "Space Tourism" wasn't one of them. When I pause to think about it though, he would be the guy to pioneer this venture. It just seems a bit odd to me this endeavor is moving forward - fast - right now, during this slightly whacked-out economic time. This whole space tourism thing, which will cost around $200,000 for a group who would like to take a 2 1/2 hour journey into outerspace for approximately 5 minutes of weightlessness, could have a negative impact: people are spending this much on a trip to outerspace while people down here on the planet can't event afford a $2 meal, highlighting the great disparity between the rich and poor. Or, this could be a symbolic endeavor of inspiration: "The U.S. and world may be in one of the worst recessions, but we can still put people - your average (but wealthy) citizen - into orbit."

While this point isn't included in the Newsy.com story, The Dawn of Space Tourism, that I helped produce last week, it could definitely be a discussion in and of itself. As of last week, however, there weren't enough perspectives to to effectively illustrate any discussion surrounding this hidden controversy.

Another story I helped produce for Newsy.com was All Eyes on Iran, which discusses whether or not the U.S. and major world powers should place further sanctions on Iran over the country's pursuit of its nuclear program, despite international opposition.

(Week of 12/7 Post) : Getting it all together...

...that's basically what Melissa and I are doing during our final days as undergraduate students at the Missouri School of Journalism. It seems there are a million little loose ends to tie up: making sure graduation information is complete and accurate; turning in minor and multicultural certificate forms; studying for the GRE; completing take-home tests; preparing for our At the End of Slavery capstone presentation; meeting with professors, mentors and friends before heading home for Christmas; and lots of other random little things.

It's all good though! As my dad continues to remind me: I don't have to do all these things; I get to do all these things. As stressful as they may be, I get to be stressed about the details that come along with the privilege of attending and graduating from university - and specifically, the best school of journalism in the world. As cheesy as that may sound, it's true, and this is something that I don't want to take for granted. I am very, very blessed.

Running the Graduation Gauntlet!

Well, Thanksgiving break is over and I have officially TWO WEEKS until graduation!! Right now, I've got lots and lots and lots of things to get done - from grad school applications, to final project presentations, papers, blogs and plenty of other miscellaneous activities in and outside of school. In the midst of the madness, I'm learning that having a positive mental attitude is key... So, I've decided that I'm grabbing Mizzou "by the horns" and am going to conquer this place until Friday, December 18th! Very exciting. : )

As far as At the End of Slavery goes, Melissa and I are taking a closer look at the Google Analytics results for ateos.com and ijm.org to find correlations and draw conclusions on the work we've done in the promotion of the documentary this semester. It's all pretty interesting and we're coming across some very positive results thus far. Our PowerPoint presentation is coming together as well, so it's a good feeling to be on top of the game!

I've also been having an increasingly positive experience with Eurokulture - the European pop culture blog I've been contributing to for Clyde Bentley and Monika Fischer's journalism class.

One of my posts, France's Workout Plan, has received a pretty significant amount of comments, including one from the woman whose fitness companies and books I featured. I'm learning that it really only takes one post to make a successful and/or popular blog, so I'm considering starting a different kind of blog sometime graduation for some experimentation.

Until then, I'm focusing on getting one thing done at a time, step by step, enjoying each moment. As my Dad always says, "Cinch by the inch, hard by the yard."