Keep Your Brad Pitt- Just Give Me Tom

You know you're a true journalism student when the thought of seeing Tom Brokaw in person gives you butterflies. That's exactly what happened yesterday when I found out the award-winning news anchor and journalist would be on our campus delivering a stand-up for his upcoming show about baby boomers. Some people get excited thinking about seeing a favorite singer or good-looking actor. But just mention the possibility of seeing Tom Brokaw in person, and it's enough to make me act like a ridiculous five-year-old little girl who can't stop giggling.


Our encounter with Tom began when we stalked him in the food court and took note of his food choices. Orange juice and a fruit parfait. I wanted to stand and watch him eat, but decided I needed to be a bit more professional.

So instead Caroline and I took cheesy pictures of ourselves with him in the background.

Oh, and we also helped out with the purpose of his visit by providing him with an attractive background for his stand-up. That was the point of this visit, right? To find some eager and giddy girls to stand behind him? No problem, Tom. We got you covered.




Finally, we met the man himself. We talked about the Olympics and being mass comm graduates and he asked us to come work for him in New York. Okay, that last part didn't exactly happen, but a girl can dream.


Apparently we weren't the only females excited about meeting him.



It was definitely a day to remember. I'm already setting my DVR to catch my national television debut on CNBC, oh, and to learn about Tom Brokaw's thoughts on the successors to the baby boomers. Check me out at 8 p.m. Thursday, March 4th on CNBC. I'm in the red coat.

Trojan Baseball Opener

The UALR Baseball team opened their season today at home against UAPB. If you've never spent an afternoon or evening at Gary Hogan Field watching baseball and eating hot dogs and nachos. Well, you should.

Scenes from Jack Stephens

Local photographer ML Baxley took time away from posting images of his kids in the snow to attend a Trojan basketball game. His images are really great.

A small sampling:

UALR Digs Out

While students didn't return to class until Thursday, UALR Physical Plant employees were out and about on Wednesday, preparing the campus for their safe return.



I am always impressed by the dedication and workmanship of our facilities staff. As I sit here in my warm office, the low rumble of snow-scraping machinery can be heard, and I remember the people who keep this campus running.

Snowmageddon!

A rare winter storm covered us in a beautiful white blanket this morning. Giant snow flakes continued to fall well into the afternoon, accumulating somewhere between 4-6 inches. It was the perfect snowfall that beckoned you to come out to play, the perfect density to shape and mold. As we took some shots of the campus, we came across evidence of a snowball fight or two, as well as some random happy snowmen ready for their close-ups. See more photos on our Facebook page, and share your own by sending campus pics to me.

Theatre Student Makes the National Stage

Last Friday, NBC Nightly News aired an inspirational story profiling Spirit Trickey which also featured UALR Theatre student, Crystal Mercer. Crystal plays the role of Spirit's mother, Minnijean Brown, one of the Little Rock Nine, in a one woman show Spirit wrote called One Ninth.



Both Crystal and Spirit are park rangers at the Little Rock Central High School National Historic Site. Such talent is exhibited by these amazing women as "keepers of the story," a phrase Minnijean is fond of saying about their commitment to the Little Rock Nine legacy. Read more about One Ninth here.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

He shoots, he scores!

If you happened to miss one of the most exciting basketball games in Trojan history last night, well, we put together a video compilation of highlights featuring Alex Garcia-Mendoza's amazing half-court game-winning shot-- so amazing it came in at #4 on ESPN's "Top Plays of the Day." But you'll have to excuse our friends at SportsCenter for confusing us with that other Arkansas team.



Read the full play by play from UALR Athletics. Or you can read ASU's heart-breaking version.

Alex Biris Creates Little Rock

As a founding member of the Little Rock Regional Chamber of Commerce's Create Little Rock working on a committee to attract and keep talented people in our great city, I was very excited to see Alex Biris’ “I Create Little Rock” video among just a few shown at the Create Little Rock launch with a packed room of 450 Thursday at the Mosaic Templars.

Not just a stock photo

Four graduate students or alum shared their smiles January 27, allowing us to photograph them for our graduate student microsite. In the near future, you may see their finished photos floating around ualr.edu, but here's a glimpse at what passers-by might have seen:

Students trekking through the DSC that afternoon had to detour around our photo shoot - or risk becoming a background blur. 

Thanks to our photographer Dero Sanford and our gracious (and photogenic!) graduate students for a fun day and some great shots.