Anyone in the HUB Auditorium after 7 p.m. yesterday was treated not only to a clip of an Academy Award-winning movie, but also a lecture by a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist.

Sydney Schanberg, whose Pulitzer prize-winning coverage of the Vietnam War in Cambodia was the subject of the 1984 movie The Killing Fields, talked to students about his experiences in the country, his thoughts about journalism and his opinions about the current war.

The former New York Times reporter lectured as part of the 16th Foster Conference of Distinguished Writers, a biannual lecture series made possible by a gift from Penn State alumni Lawrence and Ellen Foster. During his lecture, Schanberg recalled the feeling he had whenever he had a good story to tell.

"I felt like a child," he said "thrashing on the floor, saying 'pay attention, pay attention!' "

Schanberg spoke about what he had gleaned from his experience in Cambodia.

"You're in the middle of war so you're in the middle of pathology. War is insane. Men are trained to kill each other and you're trained to describe it," he said.

Besides relating his experiences in Cambodia, he also spoke about the current war in Iraq.

He said Iraq reminded him of Cambodia, because it was another example of the United States going into a country on a military mission without knowing much about it.

"I don't think you can stop somebody from killing his neighbor if they've been killing each other for centuries," he said. "This war is no more or less insane than any other war and we have to find a way out of it."

Schanberg also talked about the world of journalism today.

Even though the news cycle is now much faster, 24 hours a day, he said, "the ingredients of a good news story haven't changed."

He also mentioned that having a bias isn't the mortal sin most journalists think it is.

If you have a bias, he said, "I think it's important to tell people you have a bias. It's important for people to know where you're coming from."

Brooke Huber (sophomore-public relations) enjoyed the lecture for its candidness and real-life background.

"In class, we did research on it. It's interesting to hear it straight from him," she said.

Hearing firsthand about Schanberg's experiences was "kind of a reality check for what's going on in the war and for what these reporters can bring back," she said.

Dave Anderson (sophomore-journalism) is an Army ROTC student and said he has thought about one day becoming an embedded journalist. Listening to Schanberg's story shed light on the role of journalists during wartime, he said.

"I can see where there is conflict. A journalist's objective is to get the story. A soldier's objective is to complete the mission," he said. "He [the reporter] should understand that he needs to maintain the security of the operation. It's great if you can get a story that's real juicy, but if you don't come out alive, what's the point?"