Love146 works to end sex trafficking

Lindsey Treffry | rawr

Love146 sounds like a relationship class — how to thrive in a marriage — or a club on hugs and kisses. But Love146 is a University of Idaho club that combats the spread of child sex trafficking.

 
Led by president Lauren Layton, the club attempts to raise awareness of the annual $32 billion that sex trafficking generates. According to the Love146 international organization, this makes trafficking in persons the second most lucrative crime in the world — behind drugs.

 
“Love146 is an internationally based organization that promotes human rights, more specifically,” said Love146 officer Andy Read, an international studies and political science major. “They’re advocating against child sex slavery.”

 
According to Love146.org, two children are sold every minute for sex.

 
While Read said the international organization’s on-ground work has most recently been in southeast Asia, Layton said Seattle is the biggest importer for sex trafficking in the U.S. due to the sea port location.

 
100,000 people are imported into the U.S. for sex trafficking purposes, according to Love146.org.
“People pay attention to other humanitarian causes, because people in the U.S. assume it’s not happening in the U.S.,” Layton said. “It’s not only pertinent to our nation, but our region.”

 
As a Love146 Task Force, the UI club educates themselves on human trafficking statistics while raising awareness and annual funds for the international organization.

 
In October, Love146, in partnership with the International Textiles & Apparel Association club, held a “flash” fashion show, where models wore human trafficking statistics on their clothing. Secretary Isla Brazil said every third model was styled in red, while the rest were styled in black. She said the red represented the one-third of girls who are sold for sex trafficking within the first 48 hours they are homeless.

 
Love146 has also set up tables around campus, handing out fliers and free hot chocolate. They accepted donations at the tables through their “Loose change, loosen chains” campaign and sold handmade rings for $10. Brazil said revenue from the rings has only reached about $50 and other fundraising opportunities have not been so successful.

 
“We want to gain the revenue,” Brazil said. “Things haven’t gone our way so far, but we’ve gained a ton of awareness on campus.”

 
Love146 also holds bi-weekly movie showings on Sundays and members have had Skype sessions with international Love146 presidents. 

 
Read said the most successful film showing was “Call and Response,” a documentary on human trafficking.

 
“Human trafficking is such a hot topic,” Layton said. “It’s something that is so hard for people to wrap their heads around.” 

 
Love146 meetings are held every other Tuesday.

 
“Since I’ve joined, it’s great to be around people who just have good energy to them,” Brazil said. “Even if you can’t come every week or every meeting, it’s great to be a part of and sex trafficking is brought to your attention.” 

 
Brazil said members include a mix of athletes, international studies students, marine biologists and various other majors. Prospective members can visit the club Facebook page or UI’s club page for contact information.

 
“The fact that I’m born with a chance and am able to come to this school and educate others on this, is a blessing,” Brazil said. “I feel for these girls and these boys who have gone through this and … are still out there and haven’t been helped.”

 
Why the name Love146?
Love 146.org said the international president and co-founder of Love146, Rob Morris, traveled to Southeast Asia in 2002 to see how he could fight child sex trafficking. Morris went undercover with a few of the co-founders and investigators to a brothel where they witnessed children being sold for sex. Morris stood with predators in a small room, looking at girls through glass panes who all wore red dresses with an identification number. He knew all these children were raped every night, “seven, 10, 15 times.” He said they all looked vacant, with no life left in their eyes, except for one girl, with the number 146.

 
“She was looking beyond the glass,” Morris said. “She was staring out at us with a piercing gaze. There was still fight left in her eyes. There was still life left in this girl.”

 
Because he was part of an undercover investigation of teh brothel, the members were unable to immediately help. When the brothel was raided, some time later, children were rescued, but the girl numbered 146 was no longer there.

 
“We do not know what happened to her,” Morris said. “She changed the course of our lives.”

As seen in Jan. 13 issue of rawr.

No regulation required (Part 2)

Lindsey Treffry | The Argonaut

Despite one of the highest motorcycle fatality rates in the nation, Idaho does not have a law requiring motorcyclists to wear helmets.
Throughout the U.S. there are 20 states, including Washington D.C., that require motorcycle helmet use for all riders. Idaho is one of 30 states that does not.
Shirley Ringo, the District 6 representative for the Idaho House of Representatives and member of the Transportation and Defense committee, said it is due to the “extreme conservatism” apparent in the state.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reported in Washington, a state that requires motorcycle helmet use, a per capita rate of 1.1 motorcycle fatalities per 100,000 people in 2009. In comparison, Idaho reported a per capita rate of 2.4 — higher than the national average of 1.5.
“The legislatures in Washington tend to be much more progressive,” Ringo said. “Idaho is quite unique in the extreme conservatism in the people who serve in the legislature and those that elect them.”
Idaho requires people under 18 to wear a helmet while operating motorcycles and ATVs, but does not have a universal bicycle helmet law. In 1990, Washington passed a statewide motorcycle helmet law. As for bicycle helmets, requirements are up to individual cities or counties.
Spokane passed a citywide bicycle helmet law six years ago. Lynn Drake, the program manager of bicycle and pedestrian safety for the Washington Traffic Safety Commission, said the Spokane health district originally proposed the bicycle law to city council.
“The first turn around, they were told not to bring it to council,” Drake said.
She said the district then did “homework” on crash prevention, medical costs and special education costs of moving a child with a debilitating head injury through the public school district.
“They had to reassure the council that they made the correct decision,” Drake said.
Drake said the Washington Highway Safety office gave $5,000 to the district so they could provide properly fitting helmets for children who needed them. Local companies like McDonald’s gave incentives for children wearing helmets, such as free coupons for ice cream. Drake said the district assured the court would waive helmet citations if the citizen brought a helmet to court.
When the health district returned to the council with the new plan, the helmet law was created. As of today, Drake said approximately 85 percent of Washington is covered by a bicycle helmet law.
However, such incentives may not convince the Idaho legislature so easily.
Ringo co-sponsored a law requiring people under 18 to wear helmets with the help of David Langhorst, a previous senator, who works for the Idaho Tax Commission. Ringo said the bill passed the State Senate fairly easily, but it was not a sure thing in the House. She said testimony helped highlight the need for a law.
“It just happened that, just prior to bringing that to the legislature, there had been a little 2-year-old boy who lost his life, who was on an ATV with his father and they crashed and he didn’t have a helmet,” Ringo said.
Langhorst said during a camping trip the father, who was involved in the legislative testimony, had taken the little boy with him to get firewood. They were driving up a grade and while the father looked to the side of the ATV, one of the tires went off the roadway, lodged in a rock and the little boy landed headfirst on a rock that killed him.
Langhorst said although the vote wasn’t unanimous, it was easier for legislators to pass a regulation that affected minors.
“(Legislature) is responsible for (minors) in the eye of the law,” Langhorst said.
Drake said while attempting to pass the bicycle law in Spokane, a spokesman for a family whose child was struck by a car, came to testify on behalf of the helmet law. She said it is more effective anytime you have a victim that comes forward.
Drake also said in order to enact a law, citizens have to align political powers with them. She said legislation moves much faster through government if a citizen activist or a victim advocates on behalf of a proposed law.
“...Or to have a fire chief or police chief have a real strong passion and have them take a lead on it,” Drake said. “You have to cover all your bases.”
Despite arguments in favor of a helmet law, there are reasons the legislature has not voted to have an Idaho helmet law in the past.
Langhorst once owned a Harley Davidson and said he is sympathetic to the riding community that does not want an adult riding bill mandated.
“You can see better without a helmet and you can hear better without a helmet,” Langhorst said. “... I didn’t hear an emergency vehicle intersecting right ahead of me until it was late ... It makes it easy for a libertarian legislature to make an argument that finds sympathy with (motorcyclists) to not want anymore regulation.”
However, Ringo attributes the lack of a helmet law to the desire for personal rights.
“People that oppose (the helmet law) give the argument that if the person wants to take that risk, it’s his or her right to do that,” Ringo said. “That’s pretty much how they justify opposing it. Personally I think that’s a very narrow interpretation of the real situation.”
Henry Houst, a Boise personal injury attorney, said the absence of a helmet law is due to the notion of laissez-faire, a French term that is used generally in economics.
“It’s a notion about a pre-market economy and how you don’t necessarily have to regulate economics,” Houst said. “Things will take care of themselves. Let (the helmet law) alone, and it will regulate itself.”
Houst said the problem with this notion is that if a fully reasoning adult decides to go bungee jumping off Perrine Bridge in Twin Falls, smashing onto the rocks below, legislature is probably not going to stop that person.
“We’re kind of a conservative lot that likes less government than more,” Houst said.
Langhorst said the only way the law would pass is if the federal government mandated it, much the way the seat belt law works. Idaho would have the right to ignore a helmet law, but the federal government would have the power to take away millions of dollars from funds, like highway or transportation programs, if such a law is not passed, Langhorst said.
“As long as the users’ communities (motorcyclists) don’t support it, it’s going to be a real tough sell in the Idaho legislature,” Langhorst said.
Even if a law were to pass, it may not be beneficial to the community, Drake said.
“The death toll (in Washington) is going up in motorcycles,” Drake said. “We can’t seem to get that one down, but so is the number of bikes being purchased and the number of ridership being increased. The helmet laws don’t match.”
Langhorst said even though the 18-and-under law passed, there has not been much change to helmet use.
“I’ve seen people totally flouting and ignoring that law with two, three or four people on an ATV at the same time, none of them wearing helmets,” Langhorst said.
Ringo also said Idaho citizens will continue to argue that individuals have the right to take their own risks.
“I don’t have a lot of hope that we’ll be able to get such legislation through, at least not in the near future,” Ringo said. “I think the prevailing attitude is that people have a right to make that decision.”

As seen in Dec. 9 issue of The Argonaut.

No helmets required

Lindsey Treffry | The Argonaut

He was riding his motorcycle too fast. Perhaps it was inexperience. He went in to a corner in the road — a sharp turn — that caused the bike to flip. He landed face-first in a pile of rocks and came-to after he was knocked out, blood dripping from his mouth. He hit his head, broke his jaw and nose and suffered other facial injuries. He wore a helmet that day.
But 40 years later, Lane Triplett said he would never force someone to wear a helmet.
This motorcycle crash was one of three Triplett, the chairman of the Idaho Coalition for Motorcycle Safety, has had. The latter two he was not wearing a helmet, but did break numerous bones.
“The standard for ICMS is that we support the use of helmets, but we do not support the helmet law,” Triplett said. “We support freedom of choice.”
The Idaho motorcycle helmet law only requires persons under 18 to wear helmets. All low-power cycles with an engine displacement greater than 50cc, a brake horsepower greater than five, or a cycle that can attain speeds greater than 30 mph are covered by the motorcycle helmet law. Idaho has no law regulating bicycle helmet use.
“We want people to make good choices — a choice that is right for them,” Triplett said.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reported in 2009 that the number of motorcycle fatalities in Idaho per capita was the highest it’s been during the past decade and was double that of Washington, which requires helmet use.
In 2009, 37 motorcycle fatalities were reported in Idaho — a per capita rate of 2.4 persons per 100,000. Washington, in comparison, reported a per capita rate of 1.1 fatalities per 100,000. Idaho also ranked higher than the national average in motorcycle fatalities in 2009.
In a similar report published by Triplett, he pointed out that 18 of the Idaho fatalities were by out-of-state riders. He also found through his own research only 34 fatalities in 2009, as opposed to 37 in the NHTSA report, and 28 fatalities in 2010.
“I did a biker’s take on fatalities as opposed to a statisticians view,” Triplett said. “Most of what I’ve been looking for is how crashes happen, who’s at fault and why we die.”
He found that of 62 motorcycle fatalities, 23 riders wore helmets, two wore novelty helmets, 36 wore no helmets at all and one report was unknown.
“(The reports) rarely (include) much about helmets,” Triplett said. “What can’t be done is law enforcement can’t say a person died because of a helmet. Only an autopsy can do that.”
Mike Capshaw has seen about four motorcycle collisions in the past 10 years as a volunteer firefighter in Plummer and Worley.
Capshaw said a fellow firefighter responded to a call for a motorcycle versus deer collision. The motorcyclist was not wearing a helmet and did not survive.
“It’s hard to tell if there was head trauma that killed them or if it was other trauma,” Capshaw said.
Brenda Bolton is the Twin Falls representative for ICMS and advocates against the helmet law.
“I think it should be our choice,” Bolton said. “There are statistics that show that some helmets cause just as much injury as not wearing one.”
Bolton said younger people seem to wear helmets more, because they are required to until they turn 18.
“They get used to wearing them, and they keep on wearing them,” Bolton said. “Just like seat belts — kids are raised with seat belts. I was not raised with seat belts. It’s the first thing they do before they turn on the ignition.”
For Triplett, wearing his helmet has become a habit.
“It’s just like when you get in the car and put a seat belt on,” Triplett said. “(I think) ‘Sure it’s hot, I really don’t wanna wear this (helmet)’ but I wind up doing it anyway.”
He said he doesn’t think about the issue of helmet use when he rides, but he made the decision to wear a helmet when he became chairman of ICMS.
“I wanted to show others that even though I supported their right to choose, I still wore a helmet,” he said.
Virginia Galizia, the ombudsman for the Brain Injury Alliance of Idaho, does not keep her opinion on helmet use to herself.
“(Seven) weeks ago I saw a guy on his motorcycle and I rolled down my window,” Galizia said. “I said ‘I suffer from a brain injury. Wear a helmet. It will save your life.’ He ignored me.”
Galizia is a 13-year brain injury survivor of a car accident in New York, in which she also lost her leg.
“People don’t think it’s going to happen to them,” Galizia said. “I was an associate dean. I lost my job and now I’m disabled too.”
She said the risks are twofold when a helmet is not worn.
“You don’t survive if you get in a (motorcycle) accident, or you’ll be a vegetable,” Galizia said.
Galizia has been involved with BIAI since December 2010 and said in the past year she has met eight people who have suffered traumatic brain injuries due to motorcycle or bicycling collisions. She said she met a young motorcyclist from Pocatello who was recently in a motorcycle accident that crushed his skull. She said he has neurological as well as anger issues.
“I’m over 60 so I don’t care (that I have a brain injury), but these young people have their lives to live,” Galizia said.
Capshaw said during his time as a firefighter, his crew jokingly called motorcyclists “organ donors.”
“A lot of the time, motorcyclists say ‘If I get hit I’d rather be killed than have to live and be crippled,’” Capshaw said. “They may not be killed, and not only do they have to live maybe crippled, but they have to live mentally diminished.”
Galizia said she was lucky as a brain injury survivor, because she was able to push herself to get better due to her doctorate degree in psychology. But she said not all brain injury survivors are as lucky, and some do not have the family support or the education to learn how to cope.
Capshaw said the struggle brain injury survivors endure can be just as difficult for the family.
“If you’ve been around anyone that’s had a head injury, they’re pretty hard to recover from,” Capshaw said. “You might survive, but you won’t be the same person that you were prior to it. If you got a brain injury you aren’t going to be the person that your loved ones know.”
Galizia stressed that people can save their lives by simply purchasing a helmet for $20 to $30. However, most good quality motorcycle helmets range above $150.
Justin Crawford, a member of the ICMS Board of Directors, was the previous head of Idaho motorcycle awareness rallies. He said concerns exist for and against wearing helmets.
“Amongst a number of motorcycle enthusiasts, helmets are distracting,” Crawford said. “People complain about their neck hurting. One of the many concerns of helmets is with visual distraction or auditory impairment.”
But Crawford said ICMS does not share that opinion.
“I’m for accident prevention instead of dealing with the accident through safer crashing,” Crawford said. “If we can stop accidents from happening, we’re better off than dealing with safer crashing.”
ICMS prevention rallies, like the annual May Motorcycle Awareness Rally in conjunction with the Idaho Transportation Department, may be doing just that.
Triplett said fatalities in Idaho today are less than 50 percent of last year’s.
“All vehicle fatalities are down statewide, but none are like motorcycles,” Triplett said.
Although they cannot be sure of the cause, Triplett and Crawford said they hoped it was due to the work of ICMS. They both still think it is an individual’s right to decide whether or not to wear a helmet.
“I look at my helmet and think ‘Is this a day I need it or not?’” Triplett said. “And I just keep putting it on.” 

As seen in Dec. 2 issue of The Argonaut. 

Part two of the helmet series can be found here. 

Ted the Fire Breathing Idiot: UI janitor partakes in pepper-eating challenges

Lindsey Treffry | The Argonaut

Ted Barrus calls himself a “custodial engineer,” but the University of Idaho janitor has another name too — Ted the Fire Breathing Idiot.
Barrus is a pepper-eating sensation with nearly 70,000 YouTube viewers.
Barrus challenges friends and UI faculty to eat the hottest peppers sent to him from around the world, including the Naga Viper pepper, the Bhut Jolokia chili pepper — commonly called the ghost pepper — and the Trinidad Scorpion Butch T pepper. Barrus grows and eats them himself too.
“I had my friends eating them, but I was immediately addicted,” Barrus said. “I didn’t like spicy food, but (I found) it was a massive endorphin rush.”
Barrus said people compare eating such peppers to being in combat.
“To fight off the pain … it’s indescribable,” Barrus said.
Barrus’ interest in pepper-eating spurred from watching YouTube videos of Darth Naga, a world famous pepper-eater from England, who works with a company called The Chile Foundry. Barrus said the sole purpose of his pepper-eating videos is to make people laugh.
“And I’m trying to get on Tosh.0,” Barrus said.
His attempt to get on the show included dressing and talking like a hillbilly, with dark-rimmed glasses, a mullet wig and blacked-out teeth as he consumed a chocolate ghost pepper, a yellow 7-pot pepper, ghost pepper cashew brittle, a dried Scotch Bonnet, a red Trinidad Scorpion and a spoonful of Ten Minute Burn hot sauce, all followed by a stick of butter.
While the names of the peppers may not sound threatening, the heat of the peppers can be described in Scoville units. While jalapeno peppers range from 3,500 to 8,000 units and habaneros range from 100 to 350 thousand units, a Trinidad Scorpion Butch T — which holds the world record for hottest pepper — ranges from 1.1 to 1.5 million Scoville units.
When consuming peppers this hot, Barrus said his body reacts in different stages.
“It burns in different places of your mouth,” he said. “The side of your cheeks, your tongue, (your) throat. It’s like a hot piece of charcoal stuck in your throat … You start to forget about life in general because it feels like a blow torch in your throat.”
He said the burn takes a long time to build and some burns build for up to 10 minutes.
He said there is no chest burn, but 15 to 20 minutes after the pepper reaches his stomach it feels like a red, hot poker behind his belly button. From there, he said post-digestion is what he calls the “ring of sting” and often has to throw up to get rid of the pain.
“It’s still gonna hurt the next day,” Barrus said.
Barrus said these reactions in the body occur due to human capsaicin receptors.
“It’s all in your mind,” he said. “It’s just dealing with the physical pain. It’s mind over matter.”
Barrus said he has attempted to challenge UI students, but most of them “chicken out.” His sole pepper-eating companions include friends and coworkers.
Although UI Biological Sciences Research Associate, Karen Miller, has never attempted a pepper challenge, she said she tried one of Barrus’s candied chilies.
“I thought, ‘Okay, this is hot,’ so I didn’t keep it in my mouth,” Miller said. “I can’t imagine myself doing that.”
Among Barrus’s fellow pepper-eaters is another UI janitor, dubbed Naga Bob on Barrus’ YouTube channel, who has participated in numerous pepper challenges.
“We became friends through work,” Bob said. “I’d had some pretty hot food before, but not to that level. I’d had a Scotch bonnet … but I hadn’t heard of a ghost pepper.”
Bob is featured in Barrus’ channel and has consumed a Death pepper and a Trinidad Scorpion 7-Pot Brain Strain among others.
“It feels like fire ants on the tongue,” Bob said. “It’s like you put your tongue on an electric fence.”
Barrus has been consuming hot peppers for two years and said he realized although there are health benefits to eating peppers, his body’s reaction proves that this hobby should not be long-lived.
“I have good life insurance,” Barrus said.
To partake in Barrus’ challenge or to watch his pepper-eating videos, visit youtube.com/user/tedbarrus or email him at theodorebarrus@yahoo.com. 

As seen in Dec. 2 issue of The Argonaut.

Promoting Paintball: Marketing students advertise local course

Lindsey Treffry | The Argonaut

As part of the University of Idaho Business 420 class — Promotional Strategy — four students have created a strategic marketing plan to promote and market Mule Shoe Paintball Park, a 10-acre course near Orofino.
“We’re trying to raise awareness and get the business above ground,” said Hayden Anderl, senior marketing major.
Anderl is one of the students working on the Mule Shoe project under the eye of professor Michael Ahlstrom. Mule Shoe was used as a project for the class in a previous semester and Anderl said Ahlstrom had asked for volunteers to take on the challenge.
“It sounded fun,” said Adriana Serna, marketing major. “It was something that was possible.”
Other Mule Shoe group members include Kari Eggert and Collette Kirby.
As part of the final third of the class, Ahlstrom assigned 10 projects to 10 separate groups. He required them to make a strategic marketing plan, analyze businesses and use promotional tools.
“Fundamentally, what we’re looking at is how the word gets out,” Ahlstrom said. “(The purpose of) promotion is to educate, inform, build awareness and persuade.”
Ahlstrom said he gives his students six promotional tools to use and choose from when approaching the business. These tools are broadcasting, public relations, personal selling, sales promotion, interactive or online and direct marketing.
Anderl and his group chose print advertising and online marketing to market Mule Shoe. The group re-made the business’ Facebook page and built a website, free of charge, through a newly made Gmail account. Anderl and Serna said they learned how to create a strategic marketing plan while featuring Mule Shoe.
“It’s easy in your head to say ‘I’m going to make flyers or a Facebook,’ but this (plan) is what you’d give to a major company.”
Anderl said marketing challenges included the distance of the park — Mule Shoe is an hour and a half away. But he said the location was also an asset because snow rarely settles in the park and the location overlooks a valley.
Ahlstrom said the project gets students “out in front of the firing squad” and pushes them to market by creating and sustaining demand both profitably and honorably.
Other projects include marketing plans for businesses like Columbia paint, Hyperspud Sports and Barber Pole Putters.
“If we do a good job at this, we should get to the point where (Mule Shoe) is always getting new people,” Anderl said. 

As seen in Nov. 29 issue of The Argonaut.

Living a dream

Lindsey Treffry | The Argonaut

Rachel Martin’s friend and NPR coworker was kidnapped in 2007 while covering news on the ground in Iraq. The kidnappers later called with death threats and wanted a ransom for his release.
At that time, Martin, a foreign correspondent for NPR, was assigned to cover John McCain’s visit to Camp Victory in Iraq and told her editor she would be devastated if the kidnappers killed her friend.
“I said ‘If they kill him, I’m not going to meet deadline,’” Martin said. “... My editor said, ‘Yes you will.’”
Her friend was released that day, and Martin said she learned a valuable lesson about maintaining calm amidst chaos from the experience.
Martin spoke to the University of Idaho community Tuesday about her experience broadcasting in the Middle East, including coverage of Afghanistan’s first democratic presidential election and the implementation of schools for Afghan girls.
Martin presented “Between the Lines: Five Lessons from Afghanistan, Iraq and the Home Front” to a full house in the UI College of Law courtroom.
The Idaho Falls High School graduate traveled to Afghanistan in 2003 as part of her graduate studies at Columbia University. By 2005 she was an NPR foreign correspondent in Berlin, covering issues like the London terrorist attacks and elections in Germany. Martin also worked for a short time covering White House Affairs for ABC News.
As a reporter, Martin said she wanted to educate herself about what she wanted to report on.
“I find that what makes me care — what makes listeners care — is how policies affect individuals,” she said.
Martin had the opportunity to do just that while covering policy such as the Pentagon’s ban of women from direct combat units. Martin gave the policy a face by publishing the story of Silver Star recipient Leigh Ann Hester, whose combat efforts earned her the third highest combat medal.
During her NPR coverage of the eradication of the U.S. military’s Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy, Martin featured U.S. Marine Maj. Darrel Choat, who publicly acknowledged that he was gay for the first time on NPR.
“It changed a lot of opinions and it had changed a lot of minds,” Martin said. “It mattered to find the person to tell the policy.”
Martin’s five-part speech included subtopics on her “half-full” view on life, the struggle of adjusting overseas and the truth of spoon-fed information.
“Any time I was down on my job ... she would say ‘Pinch yourself, because you’re living your dream and you don’t even know it,’” Martin said.
Martin emphasized the importance of living life to its fullest, and shared insight on how she furthered her career as she answered audience questions.
“Shaking things up — not doing the safe thing — can catapult your career,” Martin said.
Her speech was organized by Glenn Mosley, UI director of broadcasting in the School of Journalism and Mass Media, who said Martin’s speech was a great way for students to interact with an Idaho native who had national experience.
“If students do what we encourage them to do — take part in getting involved on campus, to write, edit, and critically analyze news — they’ll be as well prepared to go on and be like Rachel Martin,” Mosley said.
Her speech was sponsored by the UI School of Journalism and Mass Media, the James A. Louis McClure Center for Public Policy Research, the Martin Institute and Northwest Public Radio.
Kerry Swanson, station manager for NWPR, said the most interesting thing about Martin was her sense of adventure and how she has followed her dream.
“The sense that ‘I don’t know what I’m doing, but I’m going to try it, even if I’m wrong,’” Swanson said.
While teaching journalism classes overseas, Martin said she told her students to take risks as a reporter, but ultimately decided against living in a conflict zone.
She said she had never been in the line of fire, but was 30 feet from a rocket that killed a neighboring citizen.
“But that’s the job right?” Martin said.

As seen in Nov. 4 issue of The Argonaut.

Something old, something new

Lindsey Treffry | The Argonaut

The music and sounds of Johann Sebastian Bach filled the University of Idaho Haddock Performance Hall as part of the inaugural opening to the first ever Idaho Bach Festival.
Led by UI artistic director Michael Murphy, the festival began Thursday evening and will run until Friday afternoon.
“I think the reason why I decided that I wanted to be the art director of a Bach festival is because it became apparent speaking with colleagues and the public that people are drawn to performing and hearing the music of Bach,” Murphy said. “His music is enjoyed by many, many people — no matter what culture, ideology or religion ... people enjoy his music and are captivated by his music across many, many different cultures.”
The festival on Thursday showcased students, professors and community members with an opening by the Northwest Wind Quartet as well as a closing ceremony by the Idaho Baroque consort, the Vandaleers concert choir (a top UI audition choir), and remarks by Murphy. Murphy said some performers came from as far as the San Francisco area to participate in the festival.
Maggie Rodriguez, a member of Vandaleers concert choir, sang a Bach Cantata with the choir as part of Thursday’s festival, and had a solo in another movement.
“I’d done a couple songs by (Bach) in choir and I’ve heard some of his solo music, but I wouldn’t say I knew a whole lot,” Rodriguez said. “Definitely, in rehearsal and stuff (in preparation for the festival) we’ve been talking about his particular style.”
Rodriguez said she had to be solid on her solo because a flute soloist, as well as an orchestra that played a large range of chord progressions, had accompanied her.
“Bach uses a bunch of runs, it’s a lot quicker,” Rodriguez said. “And it’s a lot lighter because it’s Baroque music.”
Friday events include solo performance as well as a performance of Bach’s “Wedding Cantata,” and three lecturers about Bach compositions.
“All of these performers (and lecturers) are doing this work and preparation free of charge,” Murphy said. “Students have limited resources as far as money, and all the concerts are free. To get the level of talent they’ll be hearing — it’s unheard of.”
Shoko Nelson, UI graduate student in piano pedagogy, will begin the Friday performances in Haddock with her six-part interpretation of Bach’s Partita No. 2, BWV 826. Although Nelson has played classical piano for approximately 23 years, she said trying out for the festival was tough.
“You really need to learn this piece very well,” Nelson said. “It’s not like a (Frederic) Chopin piece — it’s not romantic — it’s Baroque style. It’s a different voice in each movement and you need to organize those things. It’s hard.”
Nelson said she had previously played pieces by Bach, but said the festival will provide performances of pieces she had never heard. Nelson also said she was excited for professor Kay Zavislak’s lecture of “Interpreting Toccata in D Major, BWV 912, on a Harpsichord.”
Other Friday lectures include “Frozen Improvisations: Bach’s Works for Unaccompanied Instruments as Artifacts of Improvisatory Practices” by lecturer John Lutterman and “Parody Techniques in J.S. Bach’s Pfingsttag Cantatas” by lecturer Michael Porter.
Nelson said the festival should expose students to something new, and even if a piece is well-known, the performer may have a different aspect or interpretation.
“It’s good to explore something yourself, even for (those who are) not music students,” Nelson said. “You may not know about Bach or understand classical music, but that doesn’t mean necessarily you can’t listen to it or enjoy it.”
Friday performances will conclude at the First Presbyterian Church with solo performances of the organ works of Bach.
“Obviously if Bach is still around today,” Rodriguez said. “...there is something important about him.”

As seen in Oct. 28 issue of The Argonaut.