Journalism and Photography Chair Marianne Odom describes the work of journalists to students from Jefferson High School Dec. 2 in The Ranger newsroom. PHOTO BY EDMUND LO

Tour groups visit Ranger newsroom

San Antonio-area middle and high school students have taken a peek into the world of college journalism this fall during a series of tours led by Doug Caballero, campus tour coordinator, and faculty and staff of the Journalism-Photography Department.

More than 100 local students have visited The Ranger newsroom this fall, asking questions of faculty, staff and students, and learning what it takes to make it in the exciting world of multimedia news. During the 50-minute tours, Ranger staffers discuss their work, and visiting students view several videos and slideshows that highlight the work of journalism and photography students. Visitors leave with copies of recent issues of The Ranger and The Fourth Write, gifts such as pens and highlighters, and answers to their questions about college in general and journalism in particular.

Among the schools represented this fall have been Stinson Middle School and Fox Tech, Highlands, Jefferson and Lanier high schools.

In addition, students from the Travis Early College High School, operated in partnership with this college, also visited the department.

To schedule a tour, call Doug Caballero at 733-2944.

Photography freshman Joseph Gonzalez took this photo of his dog Duke, which won the Outstanding Dog Photo Contest organized by pamperedpuppy.com. PHOTO BY JOSEPH GONZALEZ

Photography freshman's
photo of dog wins contest

Photography freshman Joseph Gonzalez's photo of his dog Duke, a chocolate Labrador-pit bull mix, was the grand prize winner of the Outstanding Dog Photo Contest 2008 sponsored by pamperedpuppy.com.

More than 3,500 photos were submitted in the contest. Gonzalez took the photo for an assignment in COMM 1319, Photography 2.

He chose a wide-angle lens distortion assignment and thought his faithful companion Duke would be the perfect subject. He believed his pictures of 4-month-old Duke gave good examples of the wide-angle lens distortion by making Duke's head and paw appear larger.

"The dog was a beautiful subject. The distortion brings emphasis to the head. It brought out the personality of the dog," said Photography Coordinator James P. McBride, Gonzalez's teacher.

Fire trucks and police on the scene after a fire broke out Sept. 3 on the fifth floor of Moody. Classes were canceled or relocated for two days. PHOTO BY MICHELLE E. GAITAN

Student editors, reporters and photographers working on The Ranger staff during the fall 2008 semester gained experience in deadline reporting with breaking stories on the fatal shooting of a faculty member, two fires in Moody Learning Center and other newsworthy events.

Rather than holding important news stories until The Ranger’s print edition was published on 11 Fridays during the semester, students and advisers handled major events as they occurred and posted stories directly to The Ranger Online, at www.theranger.org.

Newsworthy stories were broken on The Ranger’s Web site, reflecting the current practice followed by most major newspapers, which post the most timely news stories online and follow up in their print editions.

Besides giving journalism and photography students experience in handling news stories the same way the professionals do, the practice also benefits readers of The Ranger Online by providing frequent updates to the Web site and keeping readers as well-informed as possible.

Adding to the realistic atmosphere in the newsroom was a string of exceptionally newsworthy events throughout the semester, beginning with a fire in Moody on Sept. 3, the fatal shooting of Donald Devin Zimmerman Oct. 13 at Northeast Lakeview College
and another fire in Moody on Nov. 21. Each of those stories, and several others, were written, edited, photographed and uploaded to the Web site the same day they occurred.

Registered readers of The Ranger Online receive e-mail notifications when the site is updated.

The Ranger Online won a first-place statewide award for best Web site from the Texas Community College Journalism Association Oct. 3 for work done during the 2007-08 school year.

PHOTO BY EDMUND LO

Ranger staff visit San Antonio Press

Ranger staff and advisers visit San Antonio Press Nov. 20 to put the last issue of the fall 2008 semester to bed. Participating were, from left, advisers Edmund Lo and Irene Abrego, Ranger photographer and reporter Melissa Toscano, editor Regis L. Roberts, managing editor Jason Hogan, news editor Martin Herrera and adviser Tricia Buchhorn.

Journalism faculty and staff participate in 2008 Northside Journalism Forum

Express-News Executive Editor Bob Rivard opened the 2008 Northside Journalism Forum Nov. 3 by telling more than 200 high school students they can succeed at anything they choose.

He illustrated his point with his own background. “Before I was a newspaper man, I was a newspaper boy,” he told them.

The event, sponsored by the Northside Independent School District for journalism students from the district’s 13 high schools at the Northside Activities Center, was a half-day of 50-minute sessions on news writing, feature writing, photography, technology, broadcasting, public relations and yearbook.

Though intellectually curious and an avid reader of books and newspapers, Rivard was tapped for a high school program called S.N.A.P., an acronym for Superior Non-Achieving Pupil.

The program turned his life around because the teachers in the program helped students build the self-esteem they needed to overcome personal obstacles.

Seeing all the foreign news on the front page each day as he delivered papers instilled a desire to see the world and tell its stories. That dream materialized, and he eventually became chief of foreign correspondents for Newsweek.

Rivard invited every student to correspond with him via e-mail, but told them that in his experience, very few would take him up on the offer.

He stressed the need for students to learn to network early to support their dreams.
Journalism Instructor Irene Abrego reinforced the need for networking in her session on “What it Takes to Succeed.”

She brainstormed with students to fill a framework of five categories: natural talents, memorization, practice, skills and tools.

Abrego also participated in a panel discussion on freedom of the press along with four Northside officials: Brian Woods, assistant superintendent for secondary education: Jackie Horras, principal of Health Careers High School and a former newspaper adviser; Pascual Gonzalez, community relations officer; and retired newspaper adviser Yvonne Gadeke.

Abrego told students that she has “a very dangerous job — not like an Army Ranger paratrooper, but still dangerous. We are playing with people’s lives and reputations,” she said. “We have to be very careful.”
While a principal’s first concern is the safety of students and preventing campus disruptions, Abrego said that as a college newspaper adviser, the creation of debate on a controversial topic was an important part of her job.

Though high school students face some restrictions by law, the panelists agreed that the best way to get a story on a hot-button topic into print was to be able to show solid research and reporting.
Mac Technician Tricia Buchhorn presented a session on Basic Photoshop and two sessions on Advanced Photoshop.

In each session, she reviewed ethics and the difference in photographs for newspaper and yearbook.
“Is changing red eye ethical in newspapers?” she asked. Each high school newspaper staff had its own opinion on the topic.

They were shocked to learn the simple Photoshop action was a firing offense at commercial newspapers.
Buchhorn also surprised students and advisers by comparing the high quality of The Ranger with their own newspapers despite being printed by the same printer, San Antonio Press, Inc.
She explained the techniques that created the difference.

Buchhorn and Abrego promoted the Urban Journalism Workshop at San Antonio College, approaching its 25th summer in June 2009.

Former student Vincent T. Davis, a reporter at the San Antonio Express-News, also presented two sessions on Feature Writing.

Students and professionals discuss careers in communications during Meet the Pros Oct. 30 in the visual arts center. PHOTO BY TYLER CLEVELAND

About 40 students interested in careers in communications attended “Meet the Pros” Oct. 30 in the visual arts center.

The annual event is co-sponsored by the San Antonio Chapter of the Association for Women in Communications and the Journalism-Photography Department.

Sixteen professionals in print journalism, broadcasting, multimedia, Web and graphic design, public relations, marketing and advertising gave students advice on entering their professions.

Among the pros were KTSA radio talk show host Jack Riccardi, KABB weekend anchor James Keith, KISS personality Kelley Kendall, San Antonio Business Journal projects coordinator Donna Tuttle and Six Flags Fiesta Texas promotions coordinator Stacy Linna.

Former Ranger staffer Catherine Duncan chaired the event and worked with Journalism-Photography Chair Marianne Odom in producing it. The Association for Women in Communications is a professional organization that champions the advancement of women across all communications disciplines by recognizing excellence and promoting leadership.

A photo illustration of Edmund Lo after he receives his Ph.D. degree. Lo's dissertation is about the use of photo illustrations in news magazines. PHOTO BY EDMUND LO

I never thought of curing people in my childhood daydreaming. So I have never thought of being called “Doctor Lo.” This is one of the awkward things I first felt after getting my Ph.D. from Ohio University this summer.

To me, getting a Ph.D. is definitely not making me feel more intelligent. On the contrary, I feel modest, almost to a point of timidity because I notice that there are so many things out there that I need to learn, discover and develop; and I know deep in my heart that I was stretching my mental and intellectual ability almost to the limit to get to this point.

As a photojournalist for more than two decades, I considered myself a visual person. I was never fond of digging into mountains of literal books and statistical data. But getting a Ph.D. is just a means to a bigger end — to learn to develop visual knowledge and, pragmatically, to be able to get a permanent teaching job at the college level in the United States.

Life is full of loss and gain. To be honest, my childhood dreams were becoming a professional soccer star, an inventor, an artist and a scientist (just a little more ambitious than Leonardo da Vinci).

Journalism Instructor Edmund Lo plays dodge ball with students to demonstrate a point during his COMM 1316, News Photography 1, class east of Candler Nov. 11. PHOTO BY MARY CRUZ ROSAS

As I grow, I discovered that I was not born for that. But my admiration for great athletes, inventors, artists and scientists has never been less. The effort many of them put into their works are far more than I struggled with in getting my Ph.D.

Friends and relatives always ask me how I feel after getting my Ph.D. I tell them that I don’t see any complacency in myself, but I do see the big hat I have to fill whenever people address me.

Nevertheless, I do see a door opening ahead of me. Now that I have got the heavy load off my back, I am pleased to have the freedom in my leisure time to play a little bit of an athletic star, an inventor, an artist and a scientist. And to make it more fun, I am working on incorporating all that into my teaching. After all, knowledge has no boundaries; everything is connected.

Chet Hunt accepts the Trailblazer Award Oct. 26 from the Texas Association of Journalism Educators. PHOTO BY EDMUND LO

Journalism Professor Emeritus Chet Hunt was honored by the Texas Association of Journalism Educators Oct. 26 at the organization’s annual conference in San Antonio.

Former Ranger editor Patricia Gathright, yearbook adviser at St. Mary’s Hall, presented Hunt the Trailblazer Award from the professional organization during a luncheon at the Sheraton Gunter Hotel downtown. Gathright was editor in 1966-67.

Hunt was honored for his years of service to journalism students, including 28 years at San Antonio College before his retirement in August 2006. He also taught high school journalism in Pleasanton and Port Lavaca and at Lee High School in San Antonio.
Hunt was named a Texas Legend of Scholastic Journalism and selected Teacher of the Year in 1976 by the Texas Interscholastic League Press Conference.

When Gathright presented the award at a luncheon, the contingent of journalism advisers from San Antonio high schools stood and cheered.

Hunt continues to volunteer as an adviser to The Ranger Online at www.theranger.org as well as running his own online site http://cfhunt.googlepages.com/chuntonline.

Journalism Chair Marianne Odom was a presenter at TAJE, discussing the department’s annual Urban Journalism Workshop.

Journalism and Photography Instructor Jerry Townsend leads a session of the high school journalism workshop Sept. 27 in the Fiesta Room of Loftin. PHOTO BY TYLER CLEVELAND

A one-day workshop, "Charting Your Course," sponsored Sept. 27 by the journalism program in conjunction with Friends of Journalism at San Antonio College, attracted 73 student journalists and advisers from eight area high schools.

The annual workshop helps high school journalism programs gear up for newspaper and yearbook production with sessions and information for editors, designers, photojournalists, opinion writers, reporters and advisers.  In an effort to increase attendance, this year’s workshop was for the first time scheduled on a Saturday.

With direction from journalism Instructor Irene Abrego, speakers included journalism faculty from this college and Texas State University-San Marcos, as well as San Antonio Express-News staffers and a free-lance photographer. Volunteering to help with event logistics were staff from The Ranger and previous Urban Journalism Workshop participants.

Participants selected from 35 sessions on a wide range of journalism and photography topics, including mastering digital cameras, selling a controversial story, time management and planning, interviewing, the inverted pyramid style of news writing, ethics, blogging, page design, packaging stories, sports writing and photography, photo illustrations, storytelling, music reviews, opinion writing, feature writing, advertising and round-table discussions for editors and advisers.

Journalism Instructor Susan A. Merkner distributes copies of The Fourth Write and The Ranger to Ukrainian educators who visited the department Sept. 25. PHOTO BY EDMUND LO

Five Ukrainian educators visited the Department of Journalism and Photography Sept. 25 to learn more about U.S. higher education in general and media education in particular.

Chair Marianne Odom and Instructors Edmund Lo and Susan A. Merkner met with Viktor Butnyk, Mariia Chaika, Mykola Cherbadsky, Ella Sytnyk and Elena Tretiak, all from Kiev, Sevastopol and the Crimea region of Ukraine. Valery Yegorov with the U.S. Department of State served as translator.  The group’s U.S. sponsor was the Rotary Club, and their campus visit was coordinated by Doug Caballero.

The visitors spoke about life in Ukraine and its new status as a post-Soviet country. Vocational-technical education is a primary focus there as the country becomes increasingly capitalistic, the Ukrainians said. Many educators there now are working with new companies locating in Ukraine to help them train workers for new industries.

Ukrainians students are eager to learn English and are avid readers, the educators noted. The visitors jotted down notes and took photos while the discussion ranged from U.S. college students’ media-use habits to the cost of attending college and typical coursework.

Journalism sophomore Natalie Olivares was named an NAHJ Newhouse Scholar for 2008 and received a $2,000 scholarship from the National Association of Hispanic Journalists.

She submitted to the scholarship committee stories she wrote for COMM 2311, Newsgathering and Writing 1, in Spring 2008. That semester she covered visual arts for The Ranger and compiled an impressive “stringbook” showing samples of her work.

Olivares returned to The Ranger in Fall 2008 as Premiere editor.

PHOTO BY ERICA REYNA

Nubia Garcia, architecture freshman, and Matthew Littleowl, music freshman, contribute their artistic talents to Chalk Day on Oct. 10 in the mall. The annual event, sponsored by the Department of Journalism and Photography in conjunction with National Newspaper Week, encourages free speech and creativity.