Gustie meets Bush

Amelia Greiner
Weekly Staff Writer

Photo: President George Bush greets students at Eden Prarie High School. KRT Campus.com

First-year communication studies major Josh Mundahl has proven what a little ambition and a lot of persistence can accomplish. This past Monday, Mundahl attended President George W. Bush's speech at Eden Prairie High School as a member of the press.

"We were 70 feet away from the President between NBC and a local news station," Mundahl said. "We got to tell CNN, 'no.' We had a better camera spot; they wanted it, and we told them to move."

Being able to attend this event as a member of the press, however, was not a forgone conclusion. Not until the night before the President's arrival did Mundahl know for certain that he could attend with press credentials and a video camera.

The process to see the President was a long and frustrating one for Mundahl. In some ways, it began while Mundahl attended Eastview High School in Apple Valley, Minn.

He participated in The Flash, a broadcasting news class that afforded him such opportunities as interviewing Governor Jesse Ventura one-on-one for 45 minutes in the State Capitol. The communications director from Mundahl's interview with Ventura was his first connection for finding out if President Bush was actually coming to Minnesota.

At that point, Mundahl had only heard "an unconfirmed report" of the President's visit. If the President were in fact speaking, Mundahl wanted to know how he could get in to see him with a video camera. The director told him he would have to talk to a news stations or a government official for that kind of request.

With that advice, Mundahl's phone call campaign began at 4 p.m. Feb. 28. After talking to the news director of Channel 5, Mundahl learned that if he were not an employee of a news station, he would need to obtain press credentials from the White House.

The next challenge was how to get in contact with Washington. Senator Paul Wellstone's media relations director provided the connection, as she is located in Washington and was willing to help Mundahl see President Bush.

At this point on Thursday evening, Mundahl felt he had about a 30 percent chance of being able to go. Friday morning, his prospects rose with a phone call from Washington. Wellstone's media relations director called him back and gave him the direct number for media relations for the White House.

"I called, and somebody decided to put me through to the director of media relations at the White House. I don't know why," Mundahl reflected.

The director said she would send a fax to Mundahl about how to get press credentials but was still uncertain as to whether it would work because he was not an official member of the press. After a game of phone tag with the Director, Mundahl was able to put in his request for four passes, for himself and three other students in The Flash class, which he knew was a long shot.

Even at this point, he still only felt that his chances hovered near 70 percent. After the principal of Eastview High School sent a letter to Washington providing detailed information about the four who would film President Bush, Mundahl got a call Sunday night from the local press coordinating office: "Everything's in order. You're cleared."

The actual day of the President's visit was a combination of surprise, excitement and boredom for Mundahl. Mundahl and his crew arrived at Eden Prairie High School at 8:30 a.m., underwent numerous security sweeps and waited until 3 p.m. for the President's speech on education and the quality of teaching.

Though the President delivered a speech rather than holding a press conference, a set-up which did not permit Mundahl to ask Bush a question, he and his three companions were able to see off Air Force One.

"This was a surprise. It was the four of us, three reporters and five local news stations. That's it. We were separated from Air Force One by a rope and 100 feet," said Mundahl.

Mundahl had a number of reflections from his experience. "It was all around a cool day" and "The Secret Service guys were hilarious" were among the lighter comments. Mundahl continued to say, however, "Even though parts of the day were boring, I looked back over my tapes later that night with my family and said, 'That was me! That was my camera shot.' The biggest thing I took away was that I could do this."