Coming home this time was different than it had been in the past. This time around, while seeing friends is nice, I was really only concerned about seeing family and a few chosen close friends. And I'm for certain past the stage of going out and acting ridiculous -- not sure if I ever hit that stage, at least not past a mild level. A lot of my friends at home aren't past that stage. And it makes it difficult to hang out with them. I certainly don't look down on them for it, but I've definitely reached a point in life where I'm not just going to go somewhere and do something just because my friends are. If I'm not intrigued by the idea, I don't have too much impetus to join in. Certainly there are exceptions to this, but they aren't as often as they used to be. It is with this new found sense of self, what I am actually interested in doing, and places and activities that I want to associate with that I've found it a bit easier to not feel guilty for not seeing EVERYONE in my "little black book." People drift apart, it's OK, it happens. And as I said in a blog over the summer, if we maintained every friendship we had ever had we wouldn't have anyone close enough to really get to know us.
However, as a huge highlight to my time at home, I was fortunate enough to get to spend an entire day with my precious godson, Robbie. He is absolutely adorable and perfect. He's three-months-old tomorrow (Christmas), I cannot believe he's gotten so big. I swear the next time I see him, he'll be graduating from high school or something ridiculous. It's hard to believe that I flew home three months ago for his birth, it seems more like three weeks. The end of this year has just absolutely flown by. Heck, the entire year has flown by. It is with that that I realized I had some goals I set to accomplish by the end of this year....lets see how I did. I'm not too optimistic :/
1. Get into an exercise routine with a minimum of at least 3 times a week for at least 30 minutes each time. OK, so my job might allow me to use 3 hours a week to go work out. Actually having the time to do that? Sometimes it's more of a fantasy, but I'm still working on it.
2. Have at least $1,000 combined in my savings accounts. Hahahahahaha....not even close. Combine my current not-even-close status with the fact that Uncle Sam is taking out a sizably larger amount of money in taxes than he was this year...so I'm not too hopeful that the amount in savings will increase TOO much.
3. Learn CSS & HTML, or at least have a good grasp on both. I've done a little more work on this, and with my new found tighter budget, I'll have more time to study up.
4. Watch at least five movies that are considered pop culture icons that I missed growing up. Exact movies have yet to be determined. COMPLETE! Lets see if I can remember: Footloose, Ghost, Coneheads, Top Gun...there was another, but I forget.
5. Use my yoga set and exercise ball daily for morning and/or nightly stretches. I was until I had to move my yoga ball out of my room to clean for company, and I expect to resume this habit once I return from the holidays.
6. Get more creative and diverse in my cooking. i.e. pasta and soup should not be the core of my diet. COMPLETE! I have gotten much more adventurous in my cooking, turns out I actually enjoy cooking...CRAZY!
7. Fly somewhere for a random weekend just because I can, booking this flight for next year is also acceptable. Not yet, but I'll probably be in Tampa in January and then in February and then in Baltimore for two months starting in March.
8. Finish at least 3 books. One each full month remaining in the year. I'm finishing one right now, and I'm started on a few others. I'm not sure what my issue is. I have this problem with starting books, getting distracted by something else for a few weeks (busy, late hours at work, etc.) and I drop the book and then start another one once my schedule dies down.
9. Find a church. COMPLETE! I have found a church, and while I struggle with it not being a carbon copy of the church I went to in college, I do really feel like that's where I'm supposed to be. I've also gotten involved in a weekly bible study with one of the other lovely young women there.
10. Find somewhere to volunteer. I volunteered out at a Christmas Lights thing in Lebanon, IL and I'm looking for other volunteer activities that are low-commitment with my heavy travel schedule for the first few months of 2009.
I guess all-in-all I haven't totally failed on my goals. I could have done better. But I did at least meet a few of them.
Well I'm off, good night and Merry Christmas to all.
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Water Cooler Talk
Ok, so this conversation didn't actually happen at a water cooler, but it did happen around an office member's desk that has candy bowl on the corner, so it's kind of like the same thing, right? This conversation spun off a conversation that we were having about the Home Use version of Microsoft Office.
Katherine: Do they have the Home Use for Mac?
Bekah: Yep, I just got it last week.
Mark: Who is Mac?
Bekah: Oh, just this guy I’ve been seeing for about 4 ½ years. He’s pretty great, really reliable, never lets me down. We're pretty serious, living together.
Katherine: He's great and all, although, you’ve got to admit, he is a bit pretentious.
Bekah: Yeah, but he’s sooo good looking.
Mark: He's hot!
Kristina: He is a smooth operator.
Mark: Not to mention he’s got a niiiiice OS.
Ooooh, I love my office, too bad we're all doomed to use PCs for the rest of our careers.
Katherine: Do they have the Home Use for Mac?
Bekah: Yep, I just got it last week.
Mark: Who is Mac?
Bekah: Oh, just this guy I’ve been seeing for about 4 ½ years. He’s pretty great, really reliable, never lets me down. We're pretty serious, living together.
Katherine: He's great and all, although, you’ve got to admit, he is a bit pretentious.
Bekah: Yeah, but he’s sooo good looking.
Mark: He's hot!
Kristina: He is a smooth operator.
Mark: Not to mention he’s got a niiiiice OS.
Ooooh, I love my office, too bad we're all doomed to use PCs for the rest of our careers.
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
November 5th
The election of 2008 may be over, but the campaigning does not seem to have found its end just yet. And so, the nasty exchanges between McCain and Obama supporters continue to flare despite the fact that the decision has been made. And for what else, other than to drag out an already excruciatingly long election for absolutely no purpose? No amount of debate, no amount of argument, and no amount of opinion will change the outcome of yesterday's election nor will the election duplicate itself onto another day so that it can occur again.
I have no intentions of sharing, with anyone, who I voted for yesterday. I am confident in my vote, but quite frankly, I don't want to be caught in anymore political rhetoric than I already have been. I don't want to listen to someone tell me how awesome the candidate that we both chose is, because I don't think either of the candidates yesterday were all that awesome. Nor do I want to listen to how much of "an idiot" I am for not voting the way that someone else did. And thus, I am exercising my right to not share who I voted for.
I am greatly lacking in enthusiasm for our new President-Elect. Although, had the votes gone in the other direction, I would have been just as unenthusiastic. What can I say? This election took it all out of me, I have no more stamina, no more steam, nothing else to give, no more energy to care. And while I continue to remain unenthusiastic, I have a lot more optimism and hope than I thought I would. And not because of our President-Elect, but because I think the American people are so tired of what's going on in our country that we've finally reached a point to where we'll pursue change actively, and not just advertise change on bumper stickers.
With that, I'll also say that John McCain was probably the safe bet, his policies were so familiar that he couldn't have really hurt us any more than we're already hurting. The amount of positive impact he could have made, while still existent, is probably a lot more limited than the amount of positive impact that Obama can make. Obama's policies are extraordinarily different than those of Bush or McCain and thus the chance to screw us up even more than we already are is strong, stronger than McCain's, but you can never succeed greatly if you don't accept the risk of failing greatly. But I'm hopeful for great success. Not because of Obama, but because I know people are tired.
But regardless of how I voted yesterday, as a part of the total force of the United States Air Force, I am now, and will be for at least the next four years, an Obama supporter. Welcome to the team Commander-in-Chief. *Yes we can.*
Ultimately, I hope you all went and voted yesterday, even if your candidate didn't win, and even if you voted for Ron Paul. If you didn't vote, I hope you realize that you basically just gave up your right to an opinion for the next 4 years.
With that, I leave you with this letter that I read on one of my feeds yesterday, it pretty accurately reflected my thought process on the election as well as my feelings towards both of the candidates.
Posted on November 4, 2008
Filed Under Deeper Walk, Relationships |
Dear President-elect,
Senators McCain and Obama, by this time tomorrow, one of you should be (barring some repeat nightmare from 2000, God forbid) our new leader. The mass chain emails and numerous recorded phone calls we’ve received tell us this is the most important election in my lifetime. Of course, I think I’ve heard this every
were neighbors (and I’d certainly enjoy grilling out with both of you if we were neighbors - let’s see if we can make that happen after all the hullabaloo dies down). election in my lifetime, but I will not argue that this is indeed an pivotal moment in our national life. Contrary to the shrill cries and the numerous blog posts and the vast amounts of literature filling my mailbox and the many youtube videos currently jamming my feeds on facebook, I think both of you are good, decent men who want to serve your country. You have different visions of America in several important places, but I do not question your motives or your integrity. I don’t question your character. I even have this sneaking suspicion you guys would enjoy grilling out together if you
Senator McCain, I am thankful for your long history of acting on your principles, on doing what you say. I admire your courage and your willingness to give yourself to causes you believe in, even when it costs you dearly. I am thankful that you your history has been to call America to its best ideals. Senator, if you are elected today, please speak out strongly against those who have peddled fear and untruths in their opposition to your opponent, even if you do not believe they spoke for you. There has been a venom in this campaign that scars our ability to live together as a people - please speak and act against hatred and dishonesty wherever it raises its ugly head, even (perhaps especially) when the net result is that it helps your cause. Truly, the ends never justify the means. Also, please think deeply about issues of health care and poverty, recognizing the moral dimension to these difficult problems. Please pull in the best minds, the smartest advisers. Please pull in people from all persuasions and parties to find common ground and truly tackle these blights in our country. And please, please wrestle deeply with the moral implications of war. Consider if perhaps there is a new way to look at these very old issues of how to deal with nations who have evil intent. I pray God will give you wisdom as you lead us.
Senator Obama, I am thankful for how you seem to draw the best out of so many people. I am thankful for the hope I have seen among people who for a very long time have felt alienated from the system. I am thankful for how you wrestle with tough issues and how you resist the quick and easy answer to what we must know are often very complex problems. I love how you love your family - that may be my favorite thing about you. Senator, if you are elected today, please reconsider your stance on abortion. I do understand that people of conscience and faith can have varying views on this, and I do understand that confronting some of the root causes of abortion may perhaps have more long term impact than only legal solutions. However, please took a new look at some of the most extreme issues at play. Surely we can agree that a baby born and breathing ought be protected, no matter the parent’s intent. I know you care for the weak and defenseless. Please understand how many of us see these children as the most weak and defenseless - this is an issue of justice. Also, please hear those who have differing economic and justice philosophies - and know that there is often agreement on the hope for the common good, but simply disagreement on how to achieve that common good. As you work for a way out in Iraq, please make sure that the innocent civilians are protected and do not pay an even higher price for our mistakes - and please work hard so we do not leave behind a breeding ground for terror. And please resist the extremes in your party who like to demonize the opposition, no matter whether you think they speak for you or not. You are the party’s leader, and we need our leaders to lead. You have spoke often of a third way. Now, please forge that path. I pray God will give you wisdom as you lead us.
Senators Obama and McCain, I don’t envy your job, whatever job you end up with tomorrow. I can’t imagine the weariness you feel or the energy you have exerted the past two years. For whichever of you end up a resident of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, I pray that you listen to good advisers and follow your best instincts. I pray you resist the allure of power and the temptations and cynicism that seem to plague the political inner sanctum. I pray that you lead us forward with a fresh vision, with moral clarity and with a strong hope for the common good of our whole nation, all our citizens. And I hope you won’t be offended if I tell you that, even with all the good I hope you do over the next four years, my ultimate hope is another King and another kingdom.
grace and godspeed,
Winn
I have no intentions of sharing, with anyone, who I voted for yesterday. I am confident in my vote, but quite frankly, I don't want to be caught in anymore political rhetoric than I already have been. I don't want to listen to someone tell me how awesome the candidate that we both chose is, because I don't think either of the candidates yesterday were all that awesome. Nor do I want to listen to how much of "an idiot" I am for not voting the way that someone else did. And thus, I am exercising my right to not share who I voted for.
I am greatly lacking in enthusiasm for our new President-Elect. Although, had the votes gone in the other direction, I would have been just as unenthusiastic. What can I say? This election took it all out of me, I have no more stamina, no more steam, nothing else to give, no more energy to care. And while I continue to remain unenthusiastic, I have a lot more optimism and hope than I thought I would. And not because of our President-Elect, but because I think the American people are so tired of what's going on in our country that we've finally reached a point to where we'll pursue change actively, and not just advertise change on bumper stickers.
With that, I'll also say that John McCain was probably the safe bet, his policies were so familiar that he couldn't have really hurt us any more than we're already hurting. The amount of positive impact he could have made, while still existent, is probably a lot more limited than the amount of positive impact that Obama can make. Obama's policies are extraordinarily different than those of Bush or McCain and thus the chance to screw us up even more than we already are is strong, stronger than McCain's, but you can never succeed greatly if you don't accept the risk of failing greatly. But I'm hopeful for great success. Not because of Obama, but because I know people are tired.
But regardless of how I voted yesterday, as a part of the total force of the United States Air Force, I am now, and will be for at least the next four years, an Obama supporter. Welcome to the team Commander-in-Chief. *Yes we can.*
Ultimately, I hope you all went and voted yesterday, even if your candidate didn't win, and even if you voted for Ron Paul. If you didn't vote, I hope you realize that you basically just gave up your right to an opinion for the next 4 years.
With that, I leave you with this letter that I read on one of my feeds yesterday, it pretty accurately reflected my thought process on the election as well as my feelings towards both of the candidates.
A Letter to Our New President
Posted on November 4, 2008
Filed Under Deeper Walk, Relationships |
Dear President-elect,
Senators McCain and Obama, by this time tomorrow, one of you should be (barring some repeat nightmare from 2000, God forbid) our new leader. The mass chain emails and numerous recorded phone calls we’ve received tell us this is the most important election in my lifetime. Of course, I think I’ve heard this every
were neighbors (and I’d certainly enjoy grilling out with both of you if we were neighbors - let’s see if we can make that happen after all the hullabaloo dies down). election in my lifetime, but I will not argue that this is indeed an pivotal moment in our national life. Contrary to the shrill cries and the numerous blog posts and the vast amounts of literature filling my mailbox and the many youtube videos currently jamming my feeds on facebook, I think both of you are good, decent men who want to serve your country. You have different visions of America in several important places, but I do not question your motives or your integrity. I don’t question your character. I even have this sneaking suspicion you guys would enjoy grilling out together if youSenator McCain, I am thankful for your long history of acting on your principles, on doing what you say. I admire your courage and your willingness to give yourself to causes you believe in, even when it costs you dearly. I am thankful that you your history has been to call America to its best ideals. Senator, if you are elected today, please speak out strongly against those who have peddled fear and untruths in their opposition to your opponent, even if you do not believe they spoke for you. There has been a venom in this campaign that scars our ability to live together as a people - please speak and act against hatred and dishonesty wherever it raises its ugly head, even (perhaps especially) when the net result is that it helps your cause. Truly, the ends never justify the means. Also, please think deeply about issues of health care and poverty, recognizing the moral dimension to these difficult problems. Please pull in the best minds, the smartest advisers. Please pull in people from all persuasions and parties to find common ground and truly tackle these blights in our country. And please, please wrestle deeply with the moral implications of war. Consider if perhaps there is a new way to look at these very old issues of how to deal with nations who have evil intent. I pray God will give you wisdom as you lead us.
Senator Obama, I am thankful for how you seem to draw the best out of so many people. I am thankful for the hope I have seen among people who for a very long time have felt alienated from the system. I am thankful for how you wrestle with tough issues and how you resist the quick and easy answer to what we must know are often very complex problems. I love how you love your family - that may be my favorite thing about you. Senator, if you are elected today, please reconsider your stance on abortion. I do understand that people of conscience and faith can have varying views on this, and I do understand that confronting some of the root causes of abortion may perhaps have more long term impact than only legal solutions. However, please took a new look at some of the most extreme issues at play. Surely we can agree that a baby born and breathing ought be protected, no matter the parent’s intent. I know you care for the weak and defenseless. Please understand how many of us see these children as the most weak and defenseless - this is an issue of justice. Also, please hear those who have differing economic and justice philosophies - and know that there is often agreement on the hope for the common good, but simply disagreement on how to achieve that common good. As you work for a way out in Iraq, please make sure that the innocent civilians are protected and do not pay an even higher price for our mistakes - and please work hard so we do not leave behind a breeding ground for terror. And please resist the extremes in your party who like to demonize the opposition, no matter whether you think they speak for you or not. You are the party’s leader, and we need our leaders to lead. You have spoke often of a third way. Now, please forge that path. I pray God will give you wisdom as you lead us.
Senators Obama and McCain, I don’t envy your job, whatever job you end up with tomorrow. I can’t imagine the weariness you feel or the energy you have exerted the past two years. For whichever of you end up a resident of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, I pray that you listen to good advisers and follow your best instincts. I pray you resist the allure of power and the temptations and cynicism that seem to plague the political inner sanctum. I pray that you lead us forward with a fresh vision, with moral clarity and with a strong hope for the common good of our whole nation, all our citizens. And I hope you won’t be offended if I tell you that, even with all the good I hope you do over the next four years, my ultimate hope is another King and another kingdom.
grace and godspeed,
Winn
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Found him!
Good to see that President Gary Ransdell is finally available to make a comment on the suspected shooting at WKU, even if it is 24 hours AFTER it happened.
Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? The Gary Ransdell Edition
The WKU Herald, WKU's independent student-run newspaper, ran this this morning...still no word from President Gary Ransdell. Why?
Something doesn't seem right here, stories aren't meshing well, things just aren't adding up.
One thing I'd still love to know is where in the world is Gary Ransdell? It's not that I have a conspiracy theory behind his absence, but I still find it extraordinarily odd that he hasn't said anything...at least nothing that I've seen in an article or on the school's website.
And the saga continues.
Something doesn't seem right here, stories aren't meshing well, things just aren't adding up.
One thing I'd still love to know is where in the world is Gary Ransdell? It's not that I have a conspiracy theory behind his absence, but I still find it extraordinarily odd that he hasn't said anything...at least nothing that I've seen in an article or on the school's website.
And the saga continues.
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Shooting on WKU's Campus!!! Oh wait, omg, jk guys...
I was walking into Steak 'n Shake today when Jon turned around to me and filled me in on the news that there was a shooting at WKU and that it currently looked like there was a hostage situation in the process. According to his radio station that they were suspecting that it was the next Virginia Tech.
I told him to shut up.
And then he stared at me, and I fought what he was saying for about 3 minutes, until I finally gave in and called my dear friend Elizabeth. She confirmed what he said, and I ate my lunch in a pretty quiet state. I was not a happy camper.
{It is important to note that I've been fairly closely tied to the VT shooting, the Westroads shooting, the shooting in the Colorado church, and now the WKU shooting (well, what we thought was a shooting). To say I'm over this whole mass-shooting trend would be an understatement and thus, I was a little distraught.}
After lunch I headed back to the office, scrolling through radio stations in my car only to find nothing except the premature Christmas music on 101.1 and more talk radio about the never-ending 2008 election and *surprise* the plummeting DOW. So anyway, I made it back to Scott where I turned on my computer's video feed only to find more election and stock market news...not the information that I was looking for...after a few minutes they finally went back to WKU -- and they told me only that there were "no updates at this time."
It was about this time that I started scouring media outlets for written articles knowing that while they probably wouldn't be as up to date as a broadcast piece, they might have something other than "shooting occurred" and "hostage situation." The articles I found had better news: no one hurt, no hostage situation. But they still didn't make sense, they were contradictory, gun shots were confirmed, but there were no guns, armed men dressed in all black stormed the dorm, but the dorm had been evacuated nor had anyone seen the men, the campus was released from lockdown at 3:30, but I read that at 3:00...what?!?!
Fortunately, all is well in WKU land, and in reality it was an altercation carried over from Saturday night that was blown completely out of proportion. The rumor mill started and boy did it keep going, and going, and going all the way to the CNN Newsroom. How did a fist fight turn into national news of a shooting and a hostage situation? How did people get to that tragic conclusion?
Ultimately, what this blog is about is the epic fail of WKU's public affairs process. Yes, WKU did an excellent job of informing students that there was a dangerous situation at hand, and to stay put in a safe location. And I commend them for their efforts to make sure that their students were safe - they excelled at that.
However, their public affairs process and transparency to the public left something to be desired. I realize that in these situations not all details can be revealed for the safety of those involved. But why wasn't there a statement of the information they could release on the front page of WKU's website? Phone lines were tied up, concerned parents, siblings, and friends (not unlike myself) must have desperately wanted information, and there was none to be had. Sure the media outlets had something out, but the quality of those pieces were shoddy at best. Regardless of the media's efforts, WKU should have had something available during the time of the "crisis," period. WKU does have a bulletin posted now assuring students that they are safe - oh, and that classes and other activities will resume tomorrow as scheduled.
Additionally, the articles coming out of media outlets were a mess. Which, yes, is partial fault of the reporters, but mostly the fault of the public affairs office. If it were just one article that was screwed up, I'd probably chalk it up to that outlet having their flunky staff reporter on duty that day, but I didn't find one article that made sense, or that didn't have some sort of huge gap in information or contradiction. This can only be chalked up to someone in WKU's public affairs office not communicating well, or even decently, to the news media. It was a high-stress situation sure, but if a public affairs person can't operate in a high-stress situation then that's a problem. You have to be able to communicate to the media at all times, there is no negotiation for that. Your message has to come off clearly or it will never work, the system will fail.
Additionally, and probably most importantly, where in the world was President Gary Ransdell?!?! Does anyone know? I still have yet to see any sort of statement from him. Not in an article, not on the school's website, not anywhere. I realize that Bob Skipper is WKU's spokesman, and more power to him, but if your university is being shot up, your president needs to be making the statements, not your spokesman. Supposedly, there was a press conference this afternoon, I have yet to read (or see) anything about that press conference and thus, do not know who spoke there. I sincerely hope that President Ransdell was the one speaking, answering questions, and handling the situation.
Kudos to WKU public affairs for notifying media outlets, but really, that's all that seemed to go correctly on their end. Public affairs has never been a strength of WKU, not with today's "shooting," not with the fall of one of our freshmen a couple of years back from the 20th floor of the same dorm where today's events occurred, not with moving to Division I football, not with anything.
WKU has yet to tell me what happened. But thank goodness for CNN, they've got my back.
What happened to the "crisis plan" that we supposedly created after VA Tech? I sure hope today was not an example of it, because if it is, it's back to the drawing boards!
Well, WKU, I guess we got our name out there. Division I football was supposed to get us on the map, instead it's fist-fighting college kids turned wrongly-suspected mass murders.
Go Tops!!!
See ya at homecoming. And please, if you know a Hilltopper, give 'em a hug, it's been a long day.
Oh yeah, and major props to the groundskeeping staff -- campus looked BEAUTIFUL in all of the news shots. Seriously. It did.
I told him to shut up.
And then he stared at me, and I fought what he was saying for about 3 minutes, until I finally gave in and called my dear friend Elizabeth. She confirmed what he said, and I ate my lunch in a pretty quiet state. I was not a happy camper.
{It is important to note that I've been fairly closely tied to the VT shooting, the Westroads shooting, the shooting in the Colorado church, and now the WKU shooting (well, what we thought was a shooting). To say I'm over this whole mass-shooting trend would be an understatement and thus, I was a little distraught.}
After lunch I headed back to the office, scrolling through radio stations in my car only to find nothing except the premature Christmas music on 101.1 and more talk radio about the never-ending 2008 election and *surprise* the plummeting DOW. So anyway, I made it back to Scott where I turned on my computer's video feed only to find more election and stock market news...not the information that I was looking for...after a few minutes they finally went back to WKU -- and they told me only that there were "no updates at this time."
It was about this time that I started scouring media outlets for written articles knowing that while they probably wouldn't be as up to date as a broadcast piece, they might have something other than "shooting occurred" and "hostage situation." The articles I found had better news: no one hurt, no hostage situation. But they still didn't make sense, they were contradictory, gun shots were confirmed, but there were no guns, armed men dressed in all black stormed the dorm, but the dorm had been evacuated nor had anyone seen the men, the campus was released from lockdown at 3:30, but I read that at 3:00...what?!?!
Fortunately, all is well in WKU land, and in reality it was an altercation carried over from Saturday night that was blown completely out of proportion. The rumor mill started and boy did it keep going, and going, and going all the way to the CNN Newsroom. How did a fist fight turn into national news of a shooting and a hostage situation? How did people get to that tragic conclusion?
Ultimately, what this blog is about is the epic fail of WKU's public affairs process. Yes, WKU did an excellent job of informing students that there was a dangerous situation at hand, and to stay put in a safe location. And I commend them for their efforts to make sure that their students were safe - they excelled at that.
However, their public affairs process and transparency to the public left something to be desired. I realize that in these situations not all details can be revealed for the safety of those involved. But why wasn't there a statement of the information they could release on the front page of WKU's website? Phone lines were tied up, concerned parents, siblings, and friends (not unlike myself) must have desperately wanted information, and there was none to be had. Sure the media outlets had something out, but the quality of those pieces were shoddy at best. Regardless of the media's efforts, WKU should have had something available during the time of the "crisis," period. WKU does have a bulletin posted now assuring students that they are safe - oh, and that classes and other activities will resume tomorrow as scheduled.
Additionally, the articles coming out of media outlets were a mess. Which, yes, is partial fault of the reporters, but mostly the fault of the public affairs office. If it were just one article that was screwed up, I'd probably chalk it up to that outlet having their flunky staff reporter on duty that day, but I didn't find one article that made sense, or that didn't have some sort of huge gap in information or contradiction. This can only be chalked up to someone in WKU's public affairs office not communicating well, or even decently, to the news media. It was a high-stress situation sure, but if a public affairs person can't operate in a high-stress situation then that's a problem. You have to be able to communicate to the media at all times, there is no negotiation for that. Your message has to come off clearly or it will never work, the system will fail.
Additionally, and probably most importantly, where in the world was President Gary Ransdell?!?! Does anyone know? I still have yet to see any sort of statement from him. Not in an article, not on the school's website, not anywhere. I realize that Bob Skipper is WKU's spokesman, and more power to him, but if your university is being shot up, your president needs to be making the statements, not your spokesman. Supposedly, there was a press conference this afternoon, I have yet to read (or see) anything about that press conference and thus, do not know who spoke there. I sincerely hope that President Ransdell was the one speaking, answering questions, and handling the situation.
Kudos to WKU public affairs for notifying media outlets, but really, that's all that seemed to go correctly on their end. Public affairs has never been a strength of WKU, not with today's "shooting," not with the fall of one of our freshmen a couple of years back from the 20th floor of the same dorm where today's events occurred, not with moving to Division I football, not with anything.
WKU has yet to tell me what happened. But thank goodness for CNN, they've got my back.
What happened to the "crisis plan" that we supposedly created after VA Tech? I sure hope today was not an example of it, because if it is, it's back to the drawing boards!
Well, WKU, I guess we got our name out there. Division I football was supposed to get us on the map, instead it's fist-fighting college kids turned wrongly-suspected mass murders.
Go Tops!!!
See ya at homecoming. And please, if you know a Hilltopper, give 'em a hug, it's been a long day.
Oh yeah, and major props to the groundskeeping staff -- campus looked BEAUTIFUL in all of the news shots. Seriously. It did.
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