CSUS alumnus - and Associated Press writer - to speak at CSUS

SACRAMENTO, Calif., USA - Associated Press writer - and Sac State graduate - Chelsea Carter will be speaking on campus Tuesday, Nov. 10.

Carter is currently on assignment for the AP in Baghdad and is expected to talk about her wartime adventures as well as her other work as a writer for the news agency.

She graduated from CSUS in the mid-1990s and was a State Hornet staff member. After graduation, she went to work as a reporter for the Lodi News-Sentinel and eventually the AP, with postings in West Virgina, Georgia, New York, California and overseas.

Carter was one of the reporters on board the USS Abraham Lincoln in 2003 when former President George W. Bush announced Mission Accomplished in the Iraq War.


Former Pres. George W. Bush

Carter will speak from 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. in the Hinde Auditorium of the CSUS student union. She is expected to make some opening remarks but will reserve much of her time for questions and answers.

Last fall, Carter visited the university, speaking to about 75 Journalism students.


CSUS Professor Sylvia Fox with Carter last fall

AP's Chelsea Carter talks about heading to Baghdad

SACRAMENTO, Calif., USA - Sacramento State alum Chelsea Carter told an audience of about 50 students at CSU, Sacramento Monday that she would be required to wear body armor and a helmet - at least some of the time - when she is working for the Associated Press in Iraq, but that getting an overseas posting has been a dream of hers for years.

Carter, a former State Hornet newspaper reporter outlined her career that took her first to the Lodi News-Sentinel in Lodi, Calif. after graduation with a B.A. in Journalism in the mid 1990s. She then was hired by the Associated Press and worked in Charleston, W. Va. , New York and Southern California and has also worked as a national writer for the AP.

Later this week, she will be flying into Baghdad to be a foreign correspondent for AP.

Most recently she has been working as a military affairs reporter for the AP. She was on board the Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier in 2003 when President George W. Bush made his now-famous "Mission Accomplished" speech about the war in Iraq.

She also told the students about a very tense moment she had during a near-riot and fight in New York City while she was covering the Million Youth March. She watched the riot and fight take place and barely escaped.

She said that she learned that day she could put her fear of personal safety aside when pursuing a story.

"I can do anything for the job," she said.


Journalism Professor Sylvia Fox, left, and AP's Chelsea Carter