Today was a very good day. We began our morning at UDC with Steve Bell discussing the importance of getting information from a variety of creditable sources. There are so many sources of news today, that people often only go where they get their own opinions reinforced. Dana Perino, the White House Press Secretary was one of the speakers on C-SPAN today. There was a particular question she received from one of the students regarding September 11, 2001 that I thought she could have handled a lot better. In her response she stated, “well maybe you don’t remember what it was like after 9/11,” shocking the student audience. Her remark was very offensive to many members of the student audience and I feel that she underestimated the impact the event had on the nation as a whole.
Ted Koppel, former host of ABC News Nightline, was another guest speaker. He stressed that journalism is about accuracy, objectiviity, and quality. He discussed how journalists often help point out humanitarian disasters which can result in action, often saving lives.
Later on we went to the Embassy of Algeria. It was quite impressive getting to sit in a large conference room and have the opportunity to ask Abdallah Balli, the Ambassador of Algeria questions. I have to say that I never thought I would be able to sit next to the Ambassador of Algeria. He was very intelligent and discussed relations with Algeria and the United States. He also discussed how he feels the rest of the world is excited to see Obama come into office. Although, the main reason is see President Bush out of the White House. After he answered all our questions he was happy to take pictures with everyone.
Afterwards, we took the metro back to the hotel, only to change into more comfortable clothes. It was time to attend the Syracuse vs. Georgetown game. We somehow managed to get excellent seats by the student section. John McCain also had excellent seats. It was a disappointing game seeing Syracuse lose, however a great experience. We met recent Bona Alumni at the game, who were now living in the D.C. area. It is always a great day running into Bonaventure people, especially in a place miles away from home.
