Haiti

My first reaction when I heard the news about Haiti was that it is such a tragedy. It seemed every media source as well as social networks were spending all their time covering Haiti.

And I started to think. Exactly how many journalists are at the site of destruction? And, how many are actually necessary?

There are over 300 journalists covering Haiti for their broadcast news, newspaper, and every other sort of media. And it was somewhat disappointing.

The people of Haiti need all the help they can get. There are too many dead, too many orphaned and too many wounded. I guess I just feel like 300 extra people to feed and house is unnecessary.

And I thought, “ wow, how shameful to have journalists only think about their job, and not care about the devastation.” I was embarrassed in a way to think that these journalists were fitting into the mold that they will do whatever they can to get their story.

But I understand that we need to know what is going on. As citizens we need a constant update on what is happening and if there is any progress in Haiti. But 300? I thought that it would have been a good idea to possibly share stories to have fewer journalists over there.

And then a media outlet ( I forgot which one) said that every one of the journalists that was covering something in Haiti took their own food so that they would not interfere with the aid that was being provided for the people of Haiti. I thought , “ oh, well I guess this makes things a little better if they are being considerate.” But what about housing? Where is everyone staying? And even if they are paying for their own housing, they are still occupying space that could be used to house the Haitians during their time of need.

As an aspiring journalist, I know that this would be huge to cover, and I don’t think that many journalists could give this up. But I think that every network, and every media outlet is telling us the same thing. So why not have at least half of the journalists return to their places and only leave the journalists that are needed.

And I guess we should all be grateful that so many people are coming together and helping out in any way that they can, because I feel like there is a huge amount of people helping, and its good to

I don't think I'll ever come back down

Last semester we were told to find our niche. Of course I chose music. A niche is something you feel you know a lot about. But just like a new semester, my life in college is just as new. No, I’m not new to college, I’m new to the college life. So, if a niche is something you’re good at; this is it.


My life, along with the life of Bre Armstrong has shifted. For the better? We’re still figuring it out.

So this is the statement we are living by : Anything that could possibly go wrong for us, does.

Someday when we’re out of college, we will laugh. In the mean time, we’re just two young girls trying to survive ridiculously bad luck.

So here are a few things a college girl should avoid :

The James Building.
Let’s face it, as much as we all want to overlook the fact that our school has catacombs in the basement, it does not overlook us. On a random night, Bre and I experienced something no one should ever have to. Footprints, noises, flickering lights, and chains is not something you want to experience when there is no one else around.

Downtown Riverside.
Just because there is no one around, is not an excuse to park in a tow zone. The mean( and shady) tow people will try to take your money, and your car! A 10 minute boba run, could turn into a 3 hour license revoked dilemma that involves middle men, cops, and rap music.

Night runs through a drive-thru.
As much as we probably don’t need the calories; we most definitely do not need the car accident either. We don’t need the guy in front us to decide to go reverse and back into your beautiful car that is like a child to you. But, I could not be mad, accidents happen.

But there have not been two girls with worse luck. The only thing we seem to be good at, is laughing once the trouble has subsided.

So last night as Bre and I slept on the floor of my apartment( well more like I on the floor, and Bre the obvious former girl scout built herself a cot out of cushions and pillows) we tried to come up with solutions to our problems.

This is what our conversation ( at 3:30 am) consisted of:

“ Lisa, we have the worst luck any two girls could have”

“ why does this always have to involve our cars?”

“ I got an idea! Let’s write a book! This stuff is straight out of a movie!”

“ or we could just invest in some bikes”

“ I gotta learn how to ride on first”

“ wait what?!”

“ my friend fell off a hill in her bike”

“ uhhh”

“ man, I love when people fall…and hurt themselves”

In reality, this probably isn’t the best idea for us. We PROBABLY would fall and get hurt. Bushes, scabs, rubbing alcohol, and band-aids would be involved.

So until our good karma starts kicking in, we’ll continue …..whatever it is that we’re doin’.

Prof Romo. Blog 1

I don’t have one particular moment that was significant that happened over Christmas Break. But I still had a good time. When finals came around for the end of Fall, I was ready to go home and relax.

Since all my friends were home from college, I definitely took advantage of it and saw them all while they were home. My days consisted of going Christmas shopping, standing in long lines, fighting for parking, and going to the mall several times a day.

My nights consisted of reminiscing with friends over coffee, laying on the couch watching re-runs of the Vampire Diaries.. and watching movies.

I spent several days in San Diego hanging out with friends and of course, going shopping. But, after a while, I wanted to go back home and just do NOTHING!

Christmas was full of the three F’s : Family, fun, and food! Three of my favorite things. But once it was over, I was a little relieved. As much as I love Christmas, I hate hectic situations and I was ready for the holidays to be gone.

I was really excited for new years. I had no idea what I was going to do, but I was going to do something. So, spur of the moment we decided to go to Las Vegas. When we arrived, it was dark already. So, we had some fun and waited. The strip was completely shut off so it allowed people to be walking through the streets without having to worry about traffic.

Las Vegas was packed. As a child and throughout my whole life, Las Vegas was always my second home. But I had never been there during New Years. So when 12 midnight hit, the people gathered around, and the sky was lit up with fireworks from every direction. It was quite entertaining. Next came the journey to the car. After what seemed like 12 hours to reach it, we finally made it. And I was beat!

Since we were located on the roof, and there were six floors ahead of us, it took over an hour to get out of the parking structure. But I didn’t care, I just wanted to sleep.

It was freezing, the drive home consisted of me trying to sleep and trying to defeat the 27 degree weather on the way home. It was not a happy time. Luckily I ended up falling asleep and by the time I woke up, I was already home. A 5 hour drive does not do anyone any good.

My next several days consisted of getting ready to go back to school, saying bye to my friends, and leaving my family. I love home.