Featured Alum
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Next semester will be Dave Plati's ('82) ninth spring teaching athletic media relations to SJMC students. The class features field trips, guest speakers and real-life assignments. Although Plati is now CU's director of sports information and associate athletic director, his 30 years in the Athletics Department started humbly. His first assignment on the job was to re-type the football roster. Now, Plati is the author of University of Colorado Football Vault about the history of CU football.
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This fall, 10 students taking Assistant Professor Liz Skewes' political reporting class are getting some first-hand experience in the field. In addition to time in class, the students are working with the Daily Camera, writing candidate profiles and ballot issue summaries for the newspaper's voter's guide.
"These experiences are definitely helping me develop my journalistic skills. I'm learning what questions to ask, especially when interviewing people running for office," said Stephanie May, a junior broadcast major who wrote her first print article for the class.
"The hybrid class gives students a chance to do deadline writing on the presidential debates and to do some election night coverage," Professor Skewes said. "And like the election, which is changing day to day, the class also is a moving target, so students are learning the flexibility they'll need to be successful in the field."
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October 2008
Bylines Briefly
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Talk about pennies from heaven. But this was a bit more than pennies.
The School received a check this month for $778,778.39 from the estate of William S. Hemingway, a former copy editor at The Denver Post. The bequest is earmarked for scholarships for juniors and seniors, and the current plan is to award Hemingway scholarships to about seven deserving students each year. At this rate, we can make the gift last for at least 18 years (depending on how the markets treat our investment of the principal!).
A dollar figure like that may create the impression that the School is "all set" in terms of our need for student support, but let's put that in perspective. The seven Hemingway recipients will join the 40 or so students who are currently awarded scholarships provided by other friends of the School. That still leaves about 550 students who do not receive scholarships, in a period of ever-increasing costs. And to maximize the recruitment advantages of what we have, we'd also like to provide support to the most promising of the freshmen and sophomores who are waiting until they're eligible to join us.
In other words, we'll continue to encourage folks to think about making a gift to help a student or two each year, in this incredibly practical way. If you'd like to find out more about creating a scholarship, don't hesitate to be in touch with John Pepperdine.
In the meantime, we'll be thrilled next year to honor our first Hemingway Scholars!
Paul Voakes
Dean
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Radio 1190 Turns 10
Radio 1190 (KVCU) will celebrate its 10th Anniversary on Nov. 4. The station went on the air in 1998 and can currently be heard on the AM dial from Castle Rock to Ft. Collins. It was recently nominated by the College Music Journal as one of the top student-run non-FM stations in the country.
As part of it's 10th Anniversary celebrations Radio 1190 will host an upcoming concert and on-air events. It will also release "10 Years in the Ground," a compilation CD of performances recorded live in Radio 1190's studio by bands such as Calexico, Devotchka and Gogol Bordello. Be sure to tune in for the celebration.
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New Opportunities Abound
Surprise Gift
William S. Hemingway's gift to the School was not only a complete surprise, but the reason for the gift is still somewhat a mystery. Hemingway was a graduate of New York University and his connection to the School hasn't been determined.
He worked at The Denver Post from 1960 until his retirement in 1991. He was assistant editor of Empire Magazine, zone editor, photo editor, assistant make-up editor and an assistant city editor, according to a funeral notice that ran in the Post in April.
McCormick Grant
The School received a $110,000 grant from the McCormick Foundation of Chicago to explore interactive, multimedia "citizen journalism."
Beginning in the spring semester, students and faculty will develop the Web-based "Resolving Door" project, which will invite reader-participants to describe local problems and encourage other reader-participants to research and help solve those problems.
"We hope to develop a learning environment that trains a new kind of journalist/editor, one who works primarily with 'untrained' journalists," Voakes said. "The platform will serve as a laboratory for the editing skills that will be essential in community journalism of the future."
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Alumni Update
Brady McCombs ('01) was named Arizona Journalist of the Year for the second year in a row. McCombs covers immigration and the U.S.-Mexico border for the Arizona Daily Star. McCombs' wife also gave birth to their son, Kenji Ricardo McCombs-Gaudamuz, on Sept. 28. "We are loving being parents!!" he writes.
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Readership Survey: What You Said
Thank you to everyone who responded to our readership survey. It seems that the majority of readers are happy to receive Bylines Briefly once a month, and while a few people think we're too wordy, 93 percent of readers who responded to the survey think the length is just right. Our readers say they're most interested in reading about SJMC alumni and what we're teaching students. We appreciate the suggestions and will continue to do our best to serve you.
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News & Events
Shailagh Murray to Deliver Holden Lecture
This fall's John E. Holden Lecture will be delivered by Shailagh Murray, national political correspondent for The Washington Post (and currently lead reporter on the Obama campaign for the Post). The
public lecture will be a retrospective on the presidential campaign one
month after the vote. It begins at 5 p.m., Thursday, Dec. 4, in Humanities 1B50.
Photo by The Washington Post
Homecoming
SJMC Homecoming 2008 on Oct. 4 featured Scholar-in-Residence Jim Sheeler (MA'07) talking about his Pulitzer-Prize-winning series, "Final Salute: A Story of Unfinished Lives."
Special guests included Lt. Col. Steve Beck (pictured sitting), a central figure in Sheeler's series, and Katherine Cathey, widow of Marine 2nd Lt. Jim Cathey, a 2004 graduate of CU. Beck introduced Sheeler and praised his compassion and skill in presenting the story of Colorado families who lost Marine sons in Iraq. Beck was in charge of the Marines who notified families that their loved ones had died in the war.
Media Mixer
More than 100 students chatted with professionals at the annual Media Mixer on Oct. 7 at the UMC. The evening of informal career networking organized by the Journalism Board attracted more than two dozen Denver-area professionals.
Chris Vanderveen ('96), a reporter for KUSA-TV, Channel 9, was one of several local alumni who took the time to talk with SJMC students. Other alumni who attended include Andy Vuong ('00), energy reporter for The Denver Post, Steve Barry ('98) from Sukle Advertising & Design, and Brynn Friedlander ('07) of Barnhart USA.
Fund-raising Surprise
With the dire reports from Wall Street this month, we weren't sure what to expect from the first weeks of the Annual Fund (students telephoning alums for donations to the School). But in the first four weeks the students have topped the $10,000 mark in donations raised. The Annual Fund raised $22,461 over the entire year two years ago, and $30,911 over all of last year. Even if you haven't heard from a student, you can give securely online.
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Pay it Forward
Connect with other alumni by joining the Career Network.
- Join the Career Network.You'll become a contact for other SJMC graduates looking for jobs in your area of the country or
field of work. Our Career Network has hundreds of alumni contacts.
Adding your name is an easy way to give back to the School by sharing
your expertise with other SJMC alums.
- Tell us what's new!
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Enjoy those fall colors and cooler temperatures. When you get a chance, let us know what you're up to!
Regards,
Beth Gaeddert
Director of Career Services and External Affairs
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Felicia Russell
Newsletter Editor
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