Missouri Student Wins NY Times Travel

New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof has chosen University of Missouri journalism student Casey Parks to travel with him on a much ballyhooed African writing adventure beginning in September. Parks won an essay contest that Pulitzer Prize winner Kristof opened in March with the invitation for a "masochist" student traveler to join him for a trip involving "...a bedbug-infested mattress in a malarial jungle as hungry jackals yelp outside."* Kristof, a student travel cheerleader who won the Pulitzer for his commentary on strife in Darfur, Sudan, advocated college credit for travel in a subsequent column.

In his announcement, Kristof said, "But the point of this contest wasn't to give one lucky student the chance to get malaria and hookworms. It's to try to stir up a broader interest in the developing world among young people." Capitol idea. You'll have to pay $25-50 to have your interest stirred, though.

Parks, who's studying for a master's at U of M's j-school, will blog the journey, which will probably cover Equatorial Guinea, Cameroon and the Central African Republic, for the NY Times Select. Unfortunately, the Times Select is a premium online service of NYTimes.com at $49.95 ($25) for enrolled students) per year, a sum which the perennially semi-broke young demographic Kristof may hope to reach probably won't spend to read about the travel he advocates so well if they hope to save money for such travel themselves, but MTV's 24-hour college network, mtvU, will air video. Would you pay to read a blog, even if it is done from camel back?

Parks' winning essay and those of 13 finalists (out of 3800 entries) can be read online (for free).

^{Related: "Free Student Travel Writing Trip - NY Times" | "Writer Suggests Credit for Student Travel" | Africa Blogs: Volunteer, Visitor, Local (Free) Blogs}