A hobby that really takes flight

To see an article I wrote about a college student who makes rockets,click here.

How to vote in the primaries

Appeared in the May 24, 2008, Standard Journal as part of the Our View section. Note that the upper valley (from Rexburg to Island Park in Idaho) is virtually a one-party region in favor of the Republicans, so primary elections are a bigger deal there than in other parts of the U.S.

Imagine yourself walking into a party. Some people you know, some you've heard of and others are strangers. You are told that as the guest of honor, you will decide which of the party-goers will lead the festivities. All attention is on you.
The other guests are eager to tell you their credentials and what they want to do with the party. You receive many a firm handshake and arm around the shoulder. When opponents disagree, the arguments are cordial.
But things quickly get ugly.
Opponents question opponents' personality, motives, career and education. They get followers who fling rumor after rumor like children in a mud pie fight. The room rattles with voices, some attacking, others defending.
When the time's up, everyone stops. Have you made your decision?
Welcome to upper valley politics.
We commend those who have chosen to risk sanity, reputation and maybe friendships to step into the public eye and promote their views. It takes guts.
But it's easy to get carried away, and we fear this is what some campaigns have done.
For the past weeks, our corner of Idaho has been whirlwind of voices thundering about So-and-So's deficiencies or foolish policies. (Oddly, no one can seem to get the facts in a political ad right.)
Few candidates don't have mud on their face or hands.
In this race, a common train of thought goes like this:
A) My opponent's wrong.
B) Thus, I am right.
We'd like to believe upper valley voters are smarter than to swallow such placebo logic.
While this type of fodder in some degree is typical to campaigns in general and is at least partially encouraged by the national scene's example, we are disappointed many local candidates and supporters haven't taken the higher road. It is possible to run on your own merits and not someone else's faults. Address the issues, address where you and your opponent differ, but be positive.
Of course, such recommendations come a little late for most campaigns.
Here are our recommendations to the voters:

• Don't believe everything you hear.
• We hate to say this, but don't believe everything you read, either.
• Some candidates have Web sites. Visit those. Compare what you've heard with what you read. Also, some candidates have stressed they're available to answer your questions. Take them up on the offer. Call them. Don't be antagonizing – you're calling for information, not to preach.
• Remember that just because you happen to know a candidate well doesn't always mean that person's right for the job. Keep an open mind.
• Spend more time on your decision than you would writing a shopping list.
• It almost goes without saying, but once you've made up your mind, vote in Tuesday's primaries. The future of the upper valley – not to mention a party – is in your hands.

Our View represents the majority opinion of the Standard Journal editorial board.

A 10-year-old mother and the media circus

Editorial appeared in the May 10, 2008 Standard Journal as part of the Our View section.

Unless you've been hiding out in a closet or scuba diving in the Arctic for the past week, you've likely heard of the 10-year-old St. Anthony mother.

It's a disturbing story, one that fills upper valley residents with pity for the girl and anger toward the father, who police say is a 37-year-old man.

Unfortunately, the story has gotten worse.

On Thursday, we ran an article with the headline, “Child giving birth officially unverified.” It wasn't that we didn't believe the story – at the time, we just didn't have a solid source for the details. And neither did the TV media.

Officials who should have at least said true or false to the story were tight-lipped on the matter, giving concern for the mother as their reason for silence.

So local stations instead got their information for the following individuals: “several sources,” a “credible source” and “sources close to the Fremont County Sheriff's Office.”

In other words, the media were so eager to thrust this incredible story into the public eye that they forgot to be credible. And that, combined with authorities' overzealous privacy concerns, created the perfect tabloid storm.

Students know the feeling. A big paper is due, and information is scarce on the topic. You scrape. You include irrelevant details. Words are elastic, and sentences are rubber bands. Voilà! You've passed.

Stretching a story isn't too different. For instance, some stations have talked to the neighbors of the suspect, Guadalupe Gutierrez-Juarez, which on the surface isn't objectionable. But this isn't the first time upper valley law enforcement and courts have dealt with adults accused of having sexual relations with children. In such cases, have reporters swarmed the streets for the nitty-gritty on alleged pedophiles? Have they spread rumors about what cellmates think of the accused? Have they hinted at the victim's weight? If not then, why now?

The only thing that should make this situation different is its biological twist.

Gutierrez-Juarez is being tried for the same actions countless others have taken. As with any other case, no matter how despicable the charges, he is innocent until proven guilty.

A 10-year-old giving birth – which has since been confirmed by Fremont Sheriff Ralph Davis – is indeed disturbing, and it is a story our community needs to hear. But it should be handled with kid gloves, out of concern for the mother, the baby and justice.

We don't want to wag fingers. We don't want to stand on a holier-than-thou soapbox. But we run a newspaper, not a rumorpaper.

Credible sources have names.

Our View represents the majority opinion of the Standard Journal editorial board.

Yes, Santa, there are Virginias

Appeared in the Dec. 24, 2008, Standard Journal.

Editor,

Many years ago, a little girl named Virginia asked if I was real. Now it’s my turn.

I’m not as jolly as I was — walk into any mall or department store, and you’ll know why. My grinning face is everywhere, usually accompanied by the words “discount” or “sale.”

If it were a matter of using my likeness without my permission, I’d sigh and let it go. But now I’m the patron saint of commercialism. Children throw tantrums for the latest gizmo. Parents wear their credit cards thin. The only true sounds of merriment come from the cash register. And all this is done to “Ho ho ho!”

Last week, I got curious and eavesdropped on a line of children waiting to see a Santa impersonator. I’ll never do that again — their pent-up year of “I want” exploded on the poor man playing me. I didn’t know children could recite catalogs.

My question is this: Is there a Virginia anymore? If not, I’m ready to hang up my cap.

SANTA CLAUS

Somewhat south of the North Pole

Mr. Claus,

It was with a great deal of sadness that we read your letter. While we understand your frustrations, we assure you Virginia still exists.

You won’t normally find her in line to see a Santa impersonator. You won’t find her breathing little clouds on store windows or throwing a tantrum inside. You have to turn your steps to home.

Mr. Claus, Virginia is the girl who goes wild at the first rosy light of Christmas Day. She drags her little brother out of bed — and watches him open presents.

She’s the girl who shows up at many doors — she so bundled, you can’t recognize her but for the singing and the thrust-out plate of sugar cookies.

She’s the one who barges into her parents’ room with burned toast, runny eggs and a “Merry Christmas!”

She’s the girl who always waves at you on the street, even though you’ve forgotten her name. She’s the boy next door who begs to fix your toilet, even though he doesn’t know the difference between a wrench and a hatchet. In fact, she’s every person who’s grown up without rotting into an adult, the type who sleeps in the living room on Christmas Eve just to watch the lights on the tree.

Virginia is the kind of person who lives stuff you’ve only heard from the pulpit but hardly noticed, like “love,” “gratitude” and “happy.” And yet, when you see Virginia, you don’t think you’re being preached to. You just think, “That’s Virginia.” Then hours later, as you walk down a silent, snow-veiled street, you wonder why you aren’t like her.

Yes, Mr. Claus, there is a Virginia — plenty of them. The Virginias of the world deserve the best Christmas we can give them, even though they’ve never asked for it.

For their sakes, please don’t hang up your cap.

Resume

ROBERT R. PATTEN
355 W. Second South #302, Rexburg, ID 83440
(208) 569-8683
pattenrobert@gmail.com

Education

• Bachelor of Arts, English
• Brigham Young University–Idaho
• Spanish Minor
• 3.72 GPA

Experience

• Standard Journal (newspaper in Rexburg, Idaho) July 2006 – present
• Hired as reporter
• Covered city and county government, schools and emergency services
• Part-time office manager at bureau
• Became copy editor five months from hire
• Found and wrote copy for feature pages
• Paginated feature page, inside pages
• Supervised columnists for teen page
• Juggled editing and paginating responsibilities with part-time reporting
• In charge of updating newspaper's Web site
• Promoted to news editor 11 months from hire
• Supervised newsroom half the day or whenever the managing editor was absent
• Helped reporters gather information for and write articles
• Trained new editors
• Taught staff how to edit news videos
• Designed front page

Full-time missionary
March 2001 – March 2003

• Taught English to Spanish-speakers in New Jersey
• Coordinated the efforts of other missionaries as district leader

Skills

• Advanced knowledge in Adobe InDesign, Photoshop and Flash
• Digital video editing
• Fluent in Associated Press style
• Type 80 wpm

Awards and interests

• First place in Features Writing category from the Utah-Idaho-Spokane Associated Press Association in 2007
• Co-wrote play Skipping Christmas Eve in 2006; was performed by youth at Roxy Theater in St. Anthony, Idaho
• Second place in poetry from Outlet, a student-produced literary magazine at BYU-Idaho, in 2006
• Presented research and analysis of Shakespeare's Hamlet at the 2005 National Undergraduate Literature Conference.
• Eagle Scout award at age 12