All Blog Posts from Couric & Co.
Katie Couric's Notebook: Coffee In The Stacks
Hi, everyone.
Video: Once, the college library was a quiet refuge - the place where you went to cram for finals, surrounded by stacks of books, soaking up the "sounds of silence" when you had to pull an all-nighter.
But in the Internet age, more libraries are social centers, with kids huddled around computers working on projects together. And that's turning university libraries into elaborate internet cafes.
Cal State in Long Beach, California, is the latest to add a coffee house to the library. Many schools have lifted prohibitions on food in the libraries - and one college even used a million dollar grant to create a snack-and-study area.
The good news, I guess, is that college students nowadays have more reasons to go to the library and actually use the resources around them.
The bad news is that they may get the idea that the "classics" aren't Socrates or Homer…but Kenya Dark Roast and Decaf Machiato.
That's a page from my notebook.
Katie: A Barney-Free Thanksgiving
(AP)
Hi,
Happy Thanksgiving!
For the first time in 14 years, I will not be guiding viewers through the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. The thought of not seeing Barney or Garfield up close and personal and conveying how many metric tons of helium were used in the various balloons makes me, well, well up just a bit.
Actually, it will be nice to watch the parade in my pajamas from the comfort of my home. While it's a tradition that was fun to be a part of, all good things must come to an end. But every Thanksgiving during those years, I had a blast because the people at Macy's are always terrific. The crew is wonderful, and Matt and Al and I had a ball off-camera — I'll save that for another post. It's no wonder our various comments about balloons were appropriately censored.
I can't believe tomorrow I'm not going to say, "Look, there's Barney, he's Super-De-Dooper!"
Katie Couric's Notebook: Gratitude
Hi, everyone.
Thanksgiving is tomorrow and, for millions of Americans -- genuinely struggling with all kinds of problems -- it seems hard to be grateful...when it's hard to be happy.
And yet, psychologists have come to some interesting new conclusions about happiness, one of which is that gratitude -- for whatever we have -- actually makes us happier.
Time magazine did a fascinating report on this research, and it turns out a lot of what we think will make us happy really doesn't.
Not money, not education, not even a high IQ.
A sunnier climate does nothing to make us sunnier people.
What CAN make us happier?
Religious faith...forgiveness...exercise...friendship...and, above all, gratitude. One psychologist recommends keeping a gratitude journal, as a place to honor our blessings instead of our complaints.
A lot of us will be giving thanks tomorrow. Maybe we'd be happier if we did it every day of the year.
That's a page from my notebook.
Katie Couric's Notebook: "Cute"
Hi, everyone.
This is one busiest travel weeks of the year. Millions will be going over the river and through the woods - or through the gauntlet of airline security - to grandmother's house. Or to visit the kids or the in-laws.
We'll all be spending more time with family.
And chances are lots of grandparents and great grandparents - will hear themselves described, again and again, with a word usually saved for babies:
"Cute."
It's a word I've used -- and it never bothered me until I started hearing it applied to my own 86-year-old father and 83-year old mother. It's sounds sweet. But isn't it condescending? Other cultures revere older people as wise. When did we start dismissing OUR elders as "cute"?
With more baby boomers staying active longer, how about thinking of aging Americans as dynamic? Or creative? Or inspiring? Anything but cute.
The only thing that might be worse would be to call them..."perky."
That's a page from my notebook
Katie Couric's Notebook: Quacks?
Hi, everyone.
A lot of senators and congressmen lost their jobs two weeks ago and have become lame ducks.
Lame ducks?
According to William Safire, "lame duck" was originally a British term, used to describe bankrupt businessmen…and by the 1830's was used to describe electorally bankrupt politicians.
Even if you--joined by a majority of voters in your state--voted against your senator because you think he's a quack ... he's still your senator until January.
And between now and then Congress convenes in a lame duck session…during which the re-elected, the de-elected, and the retiring will continue to work on appointments, anti-terror legislation, treaties, and spending bills.
Why didn't this stuff get done before the election?
Because a lot of politicians, their eyes on the next election, didn't want to take tough positions.
Like ducks, lame and otherwise...they don't want it put on their "bill."
That's a page from my notebook.
Katie: The Importance of Faith...And Doubt
(CBS)
I hope you had a nice weekend. I went to church on Sunday, and was very taken with my minister's sermon. It was beautifully written and delivered, and I thought some of you might enjoy parts of it. You can read the whole thing online later this week at The Brick Presbyterian Church website.
The minister at Brick Church is Michael Lindvall and the sermon was on the existence of doubt as it relates to faith. Many people explore their faith and end up on different places on the road before we all arrive at the ultimate destination. Doubt and questioning can leave us feeling guilty and inadequate (Great! Like I need more reasons for that!) But his thesis is that doubt is a part of everyone's journey. I thought I would pass along some of the key passages from this sermon, because it really resonated with me and I found it both intellectually stimulating and comforting. I was so happy I was there to hear it.
Here's some of it:
I want to say two things in this sermon about the experience of religious questioning and doubt. The first is this: questioning is not the opposite of faith. Ironically, it's a part of faith. Questions, even those big questions that cross the edge into doubt, are intrinsic to a dialogue that is actually a part of the act of believing. The great 20th century German-American theologian Paul Tillichalways insisted that doubt isn't the opposite of faith, but rather an element of faith. Presbyterian minister and novelist, Fred Buechner,put it more memorably: "Whether your faith is that there is a God or that there is not a God, if you don't have any doubts, you are either kidding yourself or asleep." Then he adds (and I rather like this metaphor) "Doubts are the ants in the pants of faith. They us awake and moving."The minister goes on to quote the great 17th century French mathematician Blaise Pascal and his famous pensees including this one:
The current chief rabbi of Great Britain is a brilliant man named Jonathan Sacks. He recently said much the same thing as Christians Tillich and Buechner. "To be without questions," Sacks wrote, "is not a sign of faith, but of lack of depth." Then he went on to offer a big "however" – actually, three "howevers." Sacks offers three caveats, a trio of conditions that form what you might title "The Guide for Faithfully Living Your Doubts." As a Christian, I think his three conditions for questioning are on the mark as much for Christians as they are for Jews….
First condition: Ask questions. Push and probe, object perhaps to the precipice of doubt – but as you ask, be open to answers. The fact is that answers only come when you entertain the possibility of actually learning something.
Rabbi Sacks second condition for asking big religious questions is this: You must accept the limits of your understanding. By its very nature, faith is another way of knowing. It honors the mind, it's reasonable, yet it's a way of knowing that pushes deeper….
"Reason's last step is the recognition that there are an infinite number of things which are beyond it…And he sums it up at the end:
Rabbi Sacks' third condition for faithful doubting is perhaps the most important and most subtle. It is the realization that you learn by doing. You learn to ride a bicycle by riding a bicycle….there is no such thing as theoretical bicycle riding and there is no such things as theoretical faith.
So ask the hard questions. Doubts are indeed the ants in the pants of faith. But as the good rabbi said, bring three things to your questioning:
Bring an honest readiness to learn.
Bring the awareness that human understanding has its limits, and the deepest kind of knowing may be beyond its long arms.
And finally remember you that learn through the doing. You grow faith by living in faith. You learn to ride a bicycle by riding a bicycle. The road itself is the teacher.
Katie Couric's Notebook: Vietnam and Iraq
Hi, everyone.
Today, President Bush arrives in Vietnam while, here at home, more people than ever connect America's old struggle there to our newest struggle, in Iraq.
According to polls, at least forty percent of the country sees a clear comparison to Vietnam: an expensive, unpopular conflict that seems, to many, unconnected to the larger struggle that the president claims is at stake.
That larger struggle -- terrorism -- seems much harder to contain than communism.
Even if--as the White House says--Iraq is an "entirely different situation" from Vietnam, how did our country repeat so many of the same mistakes?
It was President Bush himself who warned in 2000 that "a generation shaped by Vietnam must learn the lessons of Vietnam."
What happened since then?
9/11.
We have to wonder if that tragic day led our leaders to forget such an important history lesson...that now seems to be repeating itself.
That's a page from my notebook.
Katie Couric's Notebook: O.J. "Disgusting"
Hi, everyone.
Is there anything creepier than what O.J. Simpson is attempting to do?
Just in time for the holidays, Simpson is about to appear on FOX TV in an interview titled: "If I Did It, Here's How It Happened." The press release says OJ will describe for the first time - quote - "how he would have committed the murders (of his ex-wife and Ron Goldman) if he were the one responsible for the crimes."
He's also going to be putting out a book on the subject - called, no kidding, "If I Did It."
He'll reportedly be paid over three million dollars.
It may be the most tasteless case of media exploitation ever. I can't help but wonder about his children, Nicole's family, and Ron Goldman's family. Will any money even go to paying the Goldmans and Browns the 33 million dollars they were awarded in a civil suit? So far, they haven't gotten a dime.
A criminal jury found O.J. "not guilty" … but the people behind this project ARE guilty of being shameless...and just plain disgusting.
That's a page from my notebook.
Is there anything creepier than what O.J. Simpson is attempting to do?
Just in time for the holidays, Simpson is about to appear on FOX TV in an interview titled: "If I Did It, Here's How It Happened." The press release says OJ will describe for the first time - quote - "how he would have committed the murders (of his ex-wife and Ron Goldman) if he were the one responsible for the crimes."
He's also going to be putting out a book on the subject - called, no kidding, "If I Did It."
He'll reportedly be paid over three million dollars.
It may be the most tasteless case of media exploitation ever. I can't help but wonder about his children, Nicole's family, and Ron Goldman's family. Will any money even go to paying the Goldmans and Browns the 33 million dollars they were awarded in a civil suit? So far, they haven't gotten a dime.
A criminal jury found O.J. "not guilty" … but the people behind this project ARE guilty of being shameless...and just plain disgusting.
That's a page from my notebook.
Katie: A Late Afternoon Java Jolt
(CBS)
Long time, no blog!
Just wanted to say a quick hi. The newscast begins in about an hour, so I'm nursing a cup of French vanilla Dunkin' Donuts coffee. And munchkins. Why do I feel eating eight munchkins means you're consuming fewer calories than a donut? Is it also true that when you eat things standing up, it doesn't count?
Micro-targeterswould tell you Dunkin' Donuts means I'm a Republican. If I was having a skinny double latte from Starbucks, I'd be a Democrat. What if you're a bi-caf? java consumer?
But I digress…
Make sure you check out First Looktoday. I loved going over to Radio and checking out their digs. I had a lovely chat with Harley Carnes, who told me he was named after the motorcycle he was conceived on (TMI, Harley!). Also, I learned a tremendous amount of history from Charlie Kaye, who explained how really all broadcasting grew out of CBS Radio in the '30s. He told me some great Edward R. Murrow stories. I also saw the famous map that was Walter Cronkite's backdrop in the early days.
Now I'm hungry to read more about the history of CBS; obviously I know some, but I'm really curious to learn more.
(News Editor Jerry Cipriano – who started his career in radio – recommends "Air Time" by Gary Paul Gates. There were plenty of books about CBS written during the "turbulent Tisch years," but I think I'll save those for later…)
Anyway: that's the way it is. Tuesday November 14, 2006.
Katie Couric's Notebook: Turnout
Hi, everyone.
This election was another reminder of how the will of the people can make history.
It certainly made history last Tuesday, with the Democratic tidal wave transforming the political landscape.
But you couldn't help but notice that something was missing.
That something was US - the American people. Too many of us just don't vote. Since Watergate, turnout for midterm elections has hovered at about 40%, or less.
Compare that with Australia, which has compulsory voting. They've made it a pocketbook issue: if you don't vote, you're fined. No surprise: they've had turnout of over 94% for 50 years.
That may not be the answer for us. But we do need to get more people to vote -- maybe by moving elections to a weekend, or finding ways to engage people in the process.
After all, it's in our hands. And as one voter told us this week:
"If you don't vote, you can't complain," he said. "And I love to complain."
That's a page from my notebook.
