Monday, June 12, 2006

SLA Graduation, Telegram style

One of the nice things about the Telegram and Gazette is that they go out of their way to cover virtually every high school and college graduation in their area. They certainly don't need to do that, and if they didn't show up at SLA one year, most of their readers certainly wouldn't notice.

However, if they are going to cover this or any other event, they might as well make sure they get it right. A couple of items I noticed from today's article:
The Rev. Luis Gracia urged the graduates to "face their fears firmly ... and do what you know to be right, even if it means standing alone. Forget your failures, learn from your mistakes and look to the future with a positive attitude."

"You know, the only ones who don't do anything wrong, don't do anything," continued Rev. Gracia. "Never allow your failures to make you quit. And focus ... if you don't have a reference point, a true north, you will not know where you are going."
Pastor Gracia apparently was looking to cement a place in the record book in the "Most Cliches, Speech" category, but it's a graduation address and that's "par for the course." (ta-da-boom)

That's not what bothered me. It's the "Reverend" thing. Referring to an Adventist pastor in print as "Reverend" has always been a peeve of mine. "Pastor Luis Gracia" or "Elder Luis Gracia" would be correct, but not "Reverend." The Telegram (and many other newspapers) always refers to Adventist pastors as reverends. It irks me.

Continuing:
Senior Kathryn Kalmansson said to the audience, "It has been my mom's dream to have our family play 'Presto from Octet in E flat Major by Mendelssohn' ever since she first heard it. Since we only have four kids and you need seven, and only a couple of us have musical talent, we did the next best thing and got our friends to join us."
That's lovely, but if the copy editor had cross-referenced this paragraph with the list of graduates printed at the bottom of the article, he or she would have realized that it is "Elizabeth M. Kalmansson," not Kathryn. Not sure how they mixed it up, there isn't a Kathryn on the list (there is a Katherine).

I dunno, it's not like a "Dewey Defeats Truman" mistake, but I think they should get it right.

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5 comments:

  1. R. Aastrup6/13/2006 06:29:00 PM

    I don't know if you went to the graduation, but if did, you would also know that that string of cliches does not do the talk justice. I heard the same talk Sabbath morning at the GBA Baccalaureate (he actually gave three talks in four days) and it was excellent. Not at all horrifyingly trite way that article made it sound. Grrrrrrr!

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  2. R. Aastrup6/13/2006 06:31:00 PM

    Kathryn Kalmunsson is Beth's mother. She directed the group playing the piece listed.

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  3. Lance6/13/2006 07:56:00 PM

    I didn't attend the ceremony itself, but did come by as it was ending, so I could give Beth a card and show off Jackson. I'm glad to hear the address was "worth it's wait in gold."

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  4. Lance6/13/2006 07:59:00 PM

    At least there is an explanation for getting Beth's name wrong, although now I'm more confused than I was before. The article said Beth's father "conducted." I give up.

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  5. R. Aastrup6/14/2006 10:56:00 PM

    Well...I may be mixed up. Pal may have conducted and Kathy played??? I'm not sure, as I wasn't there. I just heard from my sister Martha. Since Kathy is the string player (Pal plays piano and trombone), it may well be that he conducted and she played. In any event, it is a difficult piece, and quite beautiful if played well...

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