Monday, February 28, 2011
Article: Newsgiant Dan Rather Visits San Antonio
In all, nearly 1,000 attendees filled the auditorium to hear Dan Rather’s speech, with overflow sent to the mezzanine level. The ratio of aspiring young journalists and students to older members of the San Antonio community was 1 to 4. Many guests in attendance said they feel as though he is a trusted friend and were eager to hear from him in person and pay their respects.
For students of journalism, he offered several key pieces of advice:
- “First, give yourself a head check.” Determine if it is something you feel you have to do, because it demands commitment. List ahead of time, what you will and won’t do.
- “Second,” he stressed, “learn to write. If we had spell check in 1954, I might still be a newspaper man.”
- For those who prefer to simply consume the products of journalism, he recommends exploring many sources of news. “Be conversive on the Internet…Ask yourself, ‘Who stands to gain from this point of view? Who do I believe is an honest broker of information?’
- “Demand integrity the media. Challenge yourself to take the news seriously. Get worked up about the news, and let the [station] owner know.” It is the public’s responsibility to demand accuracy and truth.
- And lastly, “Don’t let them scare you. Ask tough questions until they’ve been answered. Questioning authority may be the purest form of patriotism.”
During the lecture, listeners learned that like many men in the Depression era, Dan Rather’s father did not have formal schooling after 8th grade. But he said he recognized, at the early age of 5 or 6, the importance of the news. His father subscribed to many newspapers and they would surround his armchair “like ammo in a foxhole.” Sometimes his father would be reading an article and jump out of his chair yelling about something printed there, or someone’s butchery of truth. The newspaper would become a missile. His father’s passion impressed on him the importance of the news.
Another formative development in Rather’s love for journalism was his childhood bout with rheumatic fever, which left him bedridden. “The radio became my best friend,” he said. Through radio journalists like Edward R. Murrow, and his “This is London” broadcast, a young Rather became enamored with the “listener’s magic carpet.”
Rather obtained his first job in media as a young college student before the era of financial aid. Hired by KSAM radio in Huntsville, Texas, for 40 cents an hour, his passion for investigative journalism was ignited by a simple assignment for a house fire call. With a little sleuthing, he was able to uncover not only a crime of arson, but the fact it was set to disguise a murder committed by a prominent citizen. When he took the story to his boss, he was cautioned that by breaking the story, “Not everyone will love you or respect you…You’re gonna catch hell all the way around.” Rather reminisced how his boss then “conveniently left town for a couple of weeks.” Rather prefers to identify with “the press” over “the media,” a difference he describes as follows:
“Media is any news with a constructed mission at its core. Press is the raw material of democracy.”
Rather reminded the audience that the first amendment of the United States Constitution protects the freedom of the press, right in front with freedom of religion and freedom of speech. “Media is content,” Rather said. “It looks and sounds like news, but it entertains for a profit. The Press,” he declared, “ is the red beating heart of the people.”
In today’s world where “the idea of distance is an illusion,” Dan Rather reminds us that world events have repercussions that traverse the globe. Our ‘Great Recession’ is causing economic waves of unrest in China. Our troops are still in Afghanistan. Egypt is in turmoil.
Because of our principles of freedom and democracy, our nation’s journalists are, according to Rather, “on the razor’s edge of danger. We want to be true to ideals, but also to survive. And those two ideas may be irreconcilable.”
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Article: Touched by Mission Reach
The Mesquite 2/22/11
Touched by Mission Reach
The Espada aqueduct was built in 1740 and used by missionaries and natives for irrigating crops.
By Tammy Busby
The San Antonio River, known to the Coahuiltecan Indians as Yanaguana, stretches out into a lazy flow of lifegiving water to egrets, ducks, turtles and other wildlife to the south including small mammals, deer and javelina. I have spent many wonderful hours with my family enjoying this stretch of the river, on foot and on bicycles. The missions are San Antonio’s hidden jewels.
***
After weeks of cranky winter weather, it’s a clear blue-skied, cloudless day in San Antonio. At last, a weekend to get outside. Experiences are what my family and I are looking for — opportunities to work or play that give us a chance to stretch ourselves individually, but also as a team. As a single mom in today’s economic climate, I look for things that bring my family together and are inexpensive or cost nothing at all. Sometimes we look for pure entertainment, but more often, we find ways to become involved with the community and to connect with the history of San Antonio.
There is nothing that can beat the sense of adventure that carries us down the Mission Trail, as though the river itself flows through our imagination; we become cowboys on a trail ride with our bicycles as our steeds, or merchants of hope with baby strollers as handcarts and wagons, pioneers on a spiritual mecca for health and peace.
I have spent many wonderful hours with my family enjoying this stretch of the river, on foot and on bicycles. The missions are San Antonio’s hidden jewels.
New Priorities Take Over Neglect
Until the late 1990s, the role of the missions in our area’s historic beginnings have been largely ignored, not just by residents, but by developers and city leaders. But now the City of San Antonio, Bexar County, and the San Antonio River Authority, along with the National Park Service and the Army Corp of Engineers have joined forces and reserved $353 million ($275 million earmarked for the Mission Reach portion) for a multi-phase river improvement project. This project was designed to restore historical connections, create recreational opportunities and address the ecosystem of the San Antonio River.
The recently completed Museum Reach phase of the project is proving to be an economic boon for businesses along the stretch of river from downtown to the Witte Museum. Tourists can now enjoy an extended boat ride from downtown to the Pearl Brewery to enjoy art galleries and an outdoor farmer’s market.
But, what about Mission Reach?
South Side Explorations
I obtained a bike map from Centro San Antonio, a partner organization of the Downtown Alliance, a non-profit organization dedicated to making downtown San Antonio a better place to live, work, eat and play. I set out on my motor scooter to have a look at the 13-mile Mission Reach phase, and made some interesting discoveries. It is not exactly easy to get to, even by roadway. A thriving city has grown up around the trail system.
Because the South Side is an area plagued by crime, with lower household incomes and lower home values than the other areas of the city, it is important to reconnect residents with the historical roots of the city. Revitalization of areas around the project through rezoning and an infusion of interest and investment from nonprofits and the City of San Antonio represent an important social acknowledgement of the working-class people who live and work there. It promotes a sense of pride and belonging and has fostered longterm care for the missions.
From Cement Ditch to Revitalized Natural Area
At the ancient aqueduct, I met Frances and Chris Chavez, a young San Antonio couple enjoying a bike ride from downtown to the south end of the mission trail with two friends enrolled at UTSA.
Closure signs dot the trail, showing that though work has begun, it won't be complete until all the parts are joined.
Frances, a nurse at Christus Santa Rosa Hospital, said that in its current stage of development, the Mission Reach trail seems a bit dangerous because the bike lanes start and stop in so many places. She doesn’t like to bike with traffic. Her husband and friends agreed that the south reach is special because it feels like a different place. The trail, she said, is a taste of history and a wonderful place to take a break from the hectic life of work and school.
In the Mission Reach, the manicured landscape seen on the Riverwalk is replaced by natural areas of rolling hills of switchgrass and groves of oak and mesquite. The chatter of tourists is replaced by the chirping killdeer, wrens and swallows, and if you’re lucky, the call of the great blue heron or a red-shouldered hawk.
The river, known to the Coahuiltecan Indians as Yanaguana, stretches out into a lazy flow of lifegiving water to egrets, ducks, turtles and other wildlife to the south including small mammals, deer and javelina. The trail along the bank may be paved now, but it follows a path that has been trod by man and beast for hundreds of years. The importance of the river to civilization and salvation is evident by the locations of five of the oldest mission settlements in the United States.
Matthew Driffill, an education specialist for the San Antonio River Authority, is helping train a staff of 12-14 volunteers from Alamo Area Master Naturalists to give tours of phase one of the Mission Reach project. Driffell says he and his co-workers call it the Pride of the South Side. He has seen the transformation of the river move from a cement ditch and path to nowhere, to a beautiful public area that uses modern resources and technology to restore this important flood-control area closer to its natural state, a process called fluvial geomorphology.
The Mission Reach project began phase one, easily accessible to the public at Roosevelt Park, by removing 3 million cubic yards of concrete, engineered and poured decades ago by the Army Corp of Engineers in a flood management program that straightened out the river in an effort to keep flash floods from destroying downtown. Driffill points out that it was roughly the amount of material used to build Hoover Dam.
Next the banks were sloped, and to control erosion, biodegradable coir logs made of coconut fiber were incorporated for a terraced effect. Mixtures of 60 species of grasses were strategically planted to hold the soil in place. After the current plantings have had a chance to establish their growth, over 39 species of trees will be introduced. The 24,000 seedlings are already being grown off-site.
Other features were introduced in the river itself, the flow of the water now slowed by weirs (small dams), and incorporation of wetland areas where standing water attracts wildlife. Even drain tunnels are now nearly invisible in the clever landscaping. The old CPS power plant looms on the east bank, its fate under consideration. Perhaps it will become another tourist and community hub like the Pearl Brewery up north. The metal towers that once hummed with electricity are silent. Or, are they? Driffill points to a huge nest, perhaps 5 feet in diameter, in the transom of two towers, where apparently a big green parrot, perhaps an escaped pet, has decided to take up residence with a penthouse view of the project.
Placed high on the west bank sits a strategically placed bench. From it I see the river with its fresh new face, meandering as it should, on its way south under a railroad bridge and a traffic bridge with the dome of the Mission San Jose sitting proudly on the distant horizon. A pedestrian footbridge has been completed. Its large square colorful stones gently glow at night like confetti from a cascarone, a traditional symbol of good luck.
Mission Espada, the first mission in Texas, was built in 1690.
At Mission San Francisco de la Espada, the southernmost and closest mission to Texas A&M-San Antonio, the smell of barbecue filled the air at the south gate. A bride posed for pictures outside the chapel built in 1756. The community building is filled with the sound of rejoicing and outside it I meet James Villanueva, Youth Director at Mission Espada.
Villanueva says he likes that more people are beginning to enjoy the mission for recreational purposes. There have been some minor problems with vandalism; the rest stop bathrooms had to be closed because of problems. But, for the most part, people are respectful of the landmark.
The trails have become a popular destination for cyclists, Villanueva says, and every Saturday morning up to 30 dogs and owners show up to train and enjoy the grounds. Villanueva remains excited about the growth and the future of the mission.
A Vision Realized, Phase by Phase
Phase one of the Mission Reach development is complete, and construction work is visible in the area along Mission Road at the Riverside Golf Course. The far reaches of the mission trail remain in waiting for the river’s facelift that is sure to bring more visitors. The remaining two phases total $120 million of the overall $353 million investment, and are expected to be completed in 2013.
Phase two and three of the project broke ground one year ago this Saturday and stretch from San Pedro Creek to Mission Espada south of Loop 410, where the dirt has begun to move.
Piles of bed and surface materials wait at intervals along the way. Small improvements such as benches, water fountains and waste bins can be seen, but many ‘trail closed’ signs dot the route, reminders of the work in progress and the promise that if you build it, they will come.
If you go, plan ahead. Here is a list of helpful sites and resources:
San Antonio River Improvements Project:http://www.sanantonioriver.org/mission_reach/project_facts.php
San Antonio River Bike Trail System map:
http://www.sara-tx.org/parks_and_trails/images/bike-trail_8-4-2010.pdf
San Antonio Missions National Historical Park:
http://www.nps.gov/saan/index.htm
San Antonio River Bike Trail System map:
http://www.sara-tx.org/parks_and_trails/images/bike-trail_8-4-2010.pdf
San Antonio Missions National Historical Park:
http://www.nps.gov/saan/index.htm
Monday, February 14, 2011
Sunday, February 6, 2011
Article: Newsgiant Dan Rather Visits San Antonio
The Mesquite
2/6/2011
On an uncomfortably cold winter night, with the mercury registering just 23 degrees, 100 people lined the hallways of the McAllister Fine Arts Center on the campus of San Antonio College for a public lecture by renowned CBS newsman Dan Rather.
2/6/2011
On an uncomfortably cold winter night, with the mercury registering just 23 degrees, 100 people lined the hallways of the McAllister Fine Arts Center on the campus of San Antonio College for a public lecture by renowned CBS newsman Dan Rather.
In all, nearly 1,000 attendees filled the auditorium to hear Dan Rather’s speech, with overflow sent to the mezzanine level. The ratio of aspiring young journalists and students to older members of the San Antonio community was 1 to 4. Many guests in attendance said they feel as though he is a trusted friend and were eager to hear from him in person and pay their respects.
For students of journalism, he offered several key pieces of advice:
- “First, give yourself a head check.” Determine if it is something you feel you have to do, because it demands commitment. List ahead of time, what you will and won’t do.
- “Second,” he stressed, “learn to write. If we had spell check in 1954, I might still be a newspaper man.”
- For those who prefer to simply consume the products of journalism, he recommends exploring many sources of news. “Be conversive on the Internet…Ask yourself, ‘Who stands to gain from this point of view? Who do I believe is an honest broker of information?’
- “Demand integrity the media. Challenge yourself to take the news seriously. Get worked up about the news, and let the [station] owner know.” It is the public’s responsibility to demand accuracy and truth.
- And lastly, “Don’t let them scare you. Ask tough questions until they’ve been answered. Questioning authority may be the purest form of patriotism.”
During the lecture, listeners learned that like many men in the Depression era, Dan Rather’s father did not have formal schooling after 8th grade. But he said he recognized, at the early age of 5 or 6, the importance of the news. His father subscribed to many newspapers and they would surround his armchair “like ammo in a foxhole.” Sometimes his father would be reading an article and jump out of his chair yelling about something printed there, or someone’s butchery of truth. The newspaper would become a missile. His father’s passion impressed on him the importance of the news.
Another formative development in Rather’s love for journalism was his childhood bout with rheumatic fever, which left him bedridden. “The radio became my best friend,” he said. Through radio journalists like Edward R. Murrow, and his “This is London” broadcast, a young Rather became enamored with the “listener’s magic carpet.”
Rather obtained his first job in media as a young college student before the era of financial aid. Hired by KSAM radio in Huntsville, Texas, for 40 cents an hour, his passion for investigative journalism was ignited by a simple assignment for a house fire call. With a little sleuthing, he was able to uncover not only a crime of arson, but the fact it was set to disguise a murder committed by a prominent citizen. When he took the story to his boss, he was cautioned that by breaking the story, “Not everyone will love you or respect you…You’re gonna catch hell all the way around.” Rather reminisced how his boss then “conveniently left town for a couple of weeks.” Rather prefers to identify with “the press” over “the media,” a difference he describes as follows:
“Media is any news with a constructed mission at its core. Press is the raw material of democracy.”
Rather reminded the audience that the first amendment of the United States Constitution protects the freedom of the press, right in front with freedom of religion and freedom of speech. “Media is content,” Rather said. “It looks and sounds like news, but it entertains for a profit. The Press,” he declared, “ is the red beating heart of the people.”
In today’s world where “the idea of distance is an illusion,” Dan Rather reminds us that world events have repercussions that traverse the globe. Our ‘Great Recession’ is causing economic waves of unrest in China. Our troops are still in Afghanistan. Egypt is in turmoil.
Because of our principles of freedom and democracy, our nation’s journalists are, according to Rather, “on the razor’s edge of danger. We want to be true to ideals, but also to survive. And those two ideas may be irreconcilable.”
Friday, February 4, 2011
Blog Entry: Today I Met the Legendary Dan Rather
I didn’t get to ask my question. I don’t know if I could have thought of something original, I was planning to ask, “What do you suggest to a new journalist who is contemplating whether or not to kick a hornets’ nest? Instead, he answered my friend Joey-from-KTSA’s question which was “…what is your advice for someone who just got their first job in journalism?” To which Mr. Rather replied, “Well the very first thing you should do is get down on your knees and thank God.” Joey may have had the question, but I had the golden ticket (thanks to Lisa Pena). The gold ticket got me into the reception that followed.
I stashed my motorcycle helmet under row of chairs in the front room of the Koehler House. I stood up, turned to my right and found myself face to face with Dan. (I’m going to call him Dan because I’m old, and because Connie always called him Dan.) I already had my questions answered, so I thanked him for coming. Someone else remarked about the weather, and I said “Aw, well, what’s a little cold, compared to what you’ve been through to bring us the news. “ He looked me in the eye and smiled and stuck out his hand.
I shook his hand warmly, and said, “Mr. Rather, I just want to tell you I was very touched by your moment of silence for the troops, before your speech. My son is 23 and in Afghanistan, and I thank you for thinking of him. You know it’s subzero there and he is standing out on a turret with a big ugly gun.” Dan asked me if I would give a message to my son. He said “my wife and I sincerely thank you, we are thinking of you and your comrades, and we are praying for you.”
I shook his hand warmly, and said, “Mr. Rather, I just want to tell you I was very touched by your moment of silence for the troops, before your speech. My son is 23 and in Afghanistan, and I thank you for thinking of him. You know it’s subzero there and he is standing out on a turret with a big ugly gun.” Dan asked me if I would give a message to my son. He said “my wife and I sincerely thank you, we are thinking of you and your comrades, and we are praying for you.”
As he autographed the front page of my reporter’s notebook, he asked my son’s name and what branch of service. “Be sure to tell him,” he reminded me. Then he put both arms around me and gave me a big Texas hug.
Now, read my official news story at http://mesquite-news.com/2011/02/news-giant-dan-rather-visits-san-antonio/
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Blog Entry: The Tyra Banks Show
Normally, I'd go for something more recent but this was too much fun to forget and the two-year anniversary of our visit is coming up, so I'd like to share.
This is a recap of a trip I took to the Martha Stuart Studios to accompany my daughter on her guest-appearance on a talk show:
RECAP OF
AUDIENCE GUEST APPEARANCE
“FREE STUFF” Episode
The Tyra Banks Show
The Tyra Banks Show is taped live at Chelsea Studios which is located in the 6th Avenue island of Manhattan
Upon arrival, our cameras, phones, and other electronics were taken by security at the front door. They patted people down, checked coats, luggage and made us go through the metal detector. Although security was very professional, the receptionist was not so. She was yelling at her boyfriend on the cell phone and cursing like a Brooklyn truck driver… but she was pretty. Even my twenty-year old daughter, who works at Beer-N-All in San Antonio
From the guest entrance we were escorted up the elevator by an assistant producer. A man with a backpack in the elevator turned around and accidentally pushed buttons for random floors. As a result, we made a couple extra stops on the way up. It was interesting that some floors opened up into hallways and others opened up to uniformed security. Martha Stewart
We stepped off the elevator into madness. Or it just seemed like it. The Tyra show tapes two shows a day, three days a week. The morning segment was still in progress and though our greenroom had our name on it, it was stilled occupied by a group of ladies doing the beauty segment for Show One. We found an empty corner and stashed our luggage and purses, grabbed a piece of fruit from the fruit basket, and sat down to watch the end of Show One on the monitor. There was a bathtub on stage and it was filled with ramen noodles. A lady got into the tub for a beauty soak that she swears will leave your skin soft and moisturized.
Next on the show was Miss World , Aishwarya Rai
The only problem was that our room smelled HORRIBLE! In fact, the noodle lady left a dripping trail of the worst possible odor of ramen and garlic all down the hallway and stairwell down to the main studio. The next ten minutes were spent freshening the room and getting the smell out. It was a tough one and they came back every ten minutes or so for three or four times, with the Febreeze and many complaints and apologies. We thought it was pretty hilarious.
The cameras for this show included 3 large studio cameras, 3 portable studio cameras on lighter-weight rolling tripods, and a boom camera. The stage was crescent shaped with a runway on one side and a conversation area on the other. (As part of the ‘Free Stuff’ theme, the wicker set furniture, carpet, table and centerpiece had all been obtained for free at the end of a yard sale.) I have to admit that I did not get a good inventory of the lighting that was used. Mostly because I did not want to get caught staring up at the ceiling like a dope, I had plenty else to see.
The man working the crowd was late twentyish. Everyone had been placed in their seat and instructed to stow their bags and coats under their chairs. His job was to warm up the audience, so they sang to the theme show, passed around the microphone, told jokes, prissed down the runway, etc. During one of the breaks he brought me a bottle of water. He told me his job description is ‘Audience Director’ and when I complimented him on a job well-done, he told me that his major was psychology. He seemed like the life of the party and very at-home with his job.
Security came out ahead of Tyra, in dark suits with curly cords in their ears, they stood on either side of the stage scrutinizing the audience. Then the floor director started barking commands and the show was on. The music came up and Tyra appeared behind the curtain at the entrance of the runway. The crowd cheered and applauded as she strutted to the end of the runway, blew kisses and smiled and took a seat in her chair.
Her three spotlight guests were women who had a multitude of tips to offer for getting free stuff. They had specialties like family travel, internet specials and one was the author of a book. As Tyra and these guests talked about their specialties, the audience guests were introduced. There was the couch surfing guy, who started a website where people who are traveling can sleep on a sofa in return for allowing someone else to sleep on theirs. There was a couple who sold their house by raffle, and the woman who won the $1.7 million home for $100. There was a young woman who sold her hair and got $1300, another young man who wants to sell his kidney, or trade it for a college education for his children. Jessica was the ‘plasma girl’ who donates the gift of life in exchange for extra cash. And perhaps the craziest was the woman who sells her breast milk on the internet. Hey, don’t laugh, it sells for $2.00 an ounce, 30% cheaper than the milk-bank. She’s made many a car payment and mortgage payment with her industrious money-making efforts.
The taping wrapped and Tyra left the stage, the audience director took control of the crowd in their seats and the audience guests were escorted out. I left my seat and followed them out, not wanting to miss a thing. We went back up to the green rooms where they came promptly to collect anything that had been borrowed for the show. Within a few minutes, our cars were announced and we were taken straight to the airport. As we left, we were handed an envelope with a $40 per diem payment. We didn’t get any show memorabilia, no t-shirt, not even a coffee cup. Jessica told them she was very disappointed that she didn’t get to meet Tyra and they promised to get a personalized autographed picture. They also said they would call and let us know when the show will air. (In the next two to four weeks.)
Overall this was an amazing experience. The trip to New York Jessica ’s first time to fly. We found the myth that New Yorkers are unfriendly to definitely be untrue. While we did not receive ‘Rock Star’ treatment, we were very well-received by everyone from cab drivers to hotel and restaurant workers. Even the construction workers and people that we chatted with randomly on the street were really nice. It wasn’t as though they were being tolerant either, they knew we were tourists and they were genuinely friendly and helpful.
The night before we left, I sent a letter to CBS mailbag requesting tickets so my Radio/TV/Film professor would excuse me from class. I told them my daughter was coming to be a guest on Tyra, and that it was our first trip to NY, etc. When our plane arrived in NY, I checked my voicemail and had a message from them that they were giving us tickets. Unfortunately it was a few hours too late. I made sure that I called them and thanked them anyway, they sounded surprised, maybe next time.
I would love another opportunity to visit New York
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