Campus and community briefs
Doctor to speak on war, conflict
Omar Kader, a Palestinian-American, will speak on the war in Iraq and its repercussions for the Israel-Palestine conflict Tuesday at 6 p.m.
The lecture will take place in Old Main, Room 115 and will be followed by a question-answer session. Pi Sigma Alpha (the honor society for political science) representatives, who are hosting the event, said everyone is invited to attend.
Republicans to host another war rally
The Utah State University College Republicans are hosting another rally for freedom.
The event will take place Wednesday at 12:30 p.m. on the Taggart Student Center patio. The keynote speaker will be George Landrith, president of the nonprofit organization Frontiers of Freedom.
Performers gather to support CAPSA
In honor of Sexual Assault Awareness Month, Brazilian classical guitarist Georgia Barretto will perform Tuesday in the Sunburst Lounge from 6 to 9:30 p.m.
Other performers will be Long Night’s Journey, Orjazm, Antonio Arce and Tragic Something.
Admission is free with the donation of a paper product or canned food item. Donations will benefit the Community Abuse Prevention Services Agency shelter. For more information, call 753-2500.
NBC’s Bloom is 2nd U.S. journalist to die in Iraq
AP – The front-lines death of star correspondent David Bloom stunned and saddened his NBC and MSNBC colleagues Sunday, while evoking fond on-air remembrances from rival anchors and reporters.
Bloom, embedded with the U.S. Army’s 3rd Infantry Division, died of an apparent pulmonary embolism Sunday after collapsing while packing his gear, NBC said. The 39-year-old reporter was “airlifted to a nearby field medical unit, where he was pronounced dead,” the network said in a statement. His death was not combat-related.
“In times like these, a journalist’s contribution to his country is measured in terms of illustrious commitment and sacrifice,” Bob Wright, NBC chairman and CEO, said Sunday. “There was no one more devoted to his calling than David Bloom, and for that we are both grateful and humbled.”
Bloom, who joined NBC News in 1993, was the first U.S. television correspondent and second U.S. journalist to die during the ongoing war in Iraq. Michael Kelly, editor-at-large for The Atlantic Monthly and a columnist for The Washington Post, died last week after the Humvee in which he was traveling crashed into a canal. Kelly also was with the Army’s 3rd Division, as is “Nightline’s” Ted Koppel.
Bloom’s live, around-the-clock reports for NBC and MSNBC quickly stood out amid the war’s crowded field of embedded reporters in military garb. Traveling in what his bosses dubbed the Bloom-mobile, he took full advantage of the networks’ “two new exclusive pieces of technology” – a lightweight digital TV satellite transmission system and a broadcast-quality videophone that sent clear, crisp pictures back home. The correspondent often could be seen bouncing through the desert during the 3rd Division’s grueling journey to Baghdad. His unit was 25 miles south of the Iraqi capital city when Bloom died.
A shaken Tim Russert eulogized Bloom on Sunday at the close of his “Meet the Press” program.
“Spontaneous, unrehearsed, candid, sometimes breathless, always on target – he wasn’t just good on his feet. He was dazzling and unfailingly human,” Russert said.
Bloom was driven to succeed in a demanding, stressful, dog-eat-dog business. A news producer affectionately dubbed him robo-correspondent, Russert said. As evidence of Bloom’s early tenacity, NBC showed a clip of the young correspondent chasing down a looter after Hurricane Andrew in 1992.
“You trying to hide your face? Are you embarrassed you’re doing this?” he asked while earning his spurs at NBC-owned WTVJ-TV in Miami.
Bloom’s first major assignment at NBC was the Tonya Harding-Nancy Kerrigan Olympic figure skating scandal in 1994. During his tenure as NBC’s White House correspondent, he also covered the O.J. Simpson trial, the war in Bosnia, the impeachment of President Clinton and the Washington, D.C., sniper attacks.
Clinton issued a statement Sunday in which he praised Bloom as “a smart, energetic professional whose enthusiasm for the job was evident in every question he asked and every story he covered.”
In March 2000, Bloom became co-anchor of the weekend editions of NBC’s “Today.” But he remained eager to hit the road when a big story beckoned.
“Colleagues run ragged by his inexhaustible energy – after a 10-minute power nap he could go for hours – were won over by his enthusiasm and his boyish charm,” Russert said.
Bloom is survived by his wife, Melanie, and their three daughters. MSNBC aired a one-hour tribute to him Sunday night.