2008 Woodie Awards
Students on Rome trip fight rush hour, rain, reporters
Christina Voss
Issue date: 1/26/06 Section: Feature
Planes, ferries and automobiles - these aren't a reference to a movie starring John Candy and Steve Martin they're a description of the transportation needed to get 48 Kirkwood students and faculty from Cedar Rapids to Rome, Italy.
Forty-three students and five faculty members from Kirkwood began a long, grueling trip overseas on Dec. 27. The day began with the first group arriving at the Eastern Iowa Airport, accompanied by a fog that lingering overhead. They were slated to catch a 6 a.m. flight. The second group arrived at the airport at 10 a.m. to discover the morning group still in the airport - their flight had been cancelled.
Jed Peterson, a Kirkwood history instructor and organizer of the trip soon had a big problem on his hands. Thanks to the airport's help it was resolved with some changes in the traveling schedule.
"The morning group got on a bus to Chicago," Peterson said. "Then 18 rented three cars and drove to Chicago, 20 took a bus to Moline, Ill. and then flew to Chicago and five of us took a later bus and made it to Chicago. The miracle is that of the 48, 43 made it to Europe when they were supposed to."
In the midst of all the confusion and running around KCRG Channel 9 News came to the Eastern Iowa Airport to report on the fog that had caused the airport to shut down and ended up making Peterson and the Kirkwood flyers their lead story for the evening.
After making it to O'Hare Airport in Chicago in just under three hours - going 90 miles per hour the whole way there - the students rushed through the airport as if they were in a scene from Home Alone.
Since their flight overbooked the economy class, the 18 students who were crammed in three cars for three hours were all bumped up to business class for their eight-hour flight overseas.
The rest of the group wasn't as lucky. Two members got stranded in a Parisian airport for four hours. A group of five was forced to stay the night in Chicago before catching a flight to Frankfurt. This group included Peterson, who said he was doing his best to make sure everyone got to Europe somehow.
Forty-three students and five faculty members from Kirkwood began a long, grueling trip overseas on Dec. 27. The day began with the first group arriving at the Eastern Iowa Airport, accompanied by a fog that lingering overhead. They were slated to catch a 6 a.m. flight. The second group arrived at the airport at 10 a.m. to discover the morning group still in the airport - their flight had been cancelled.
Jed Peterson, a Kirkwood history instructor and organizer of the trip soon had a big problem on his hands. Thanks to the airport's help it was resolved with some changes in the traveling schedule.
"The morning group got on a bus to Chicago," Peterson said. "Then 18 rented three cars and drove to Chicago, 20 took a bus to Moline, Ill. and then flew to Chicago and five of us took a later bus and made it to Chicago. The miracle is that of the 48, 43 made it to Europe when they were supposed to."
In the midst of all the confusion and running around KCRG Channel 9 News came to the Eastern Iowa Airport to report on the fog that had caused the airport to shut down and ended up making Peterson and the Kirkwood flyers their lead story for the evening.
After making it to O'Hare Airport in Chicago in just under three hours - going 90 miles per hour the whole way there - the students rushed through the airport as if they were in a scene from Home Alone.
Since their flight overbooked the economy class, the 18 students who were crammed in three cars for three hours were all bumped up to business class for their eight-hour flight overseas.
The rest of the group wasn't as lucky. Two members got stranded in a Parisian airport for four hours. A group of five was forced to stay the night in Chicago before catching a flight to Frankfurt. This group included Peterson, who said he was doing his best to make sure everyone got to Europe somehow.