Disconnect

So, the last issue of The Sentinel was produced this weekend. It was a good weekend and the first issue the new editors produced. It was a bit weird because I did almost nothing. I hung around to assist the new managing editor (Mike McCall) and the other new editors. However, they didn’t need me much.

Because of this disconnect I felt pretty nervous about how the paper would be. Because I wasn’t plugged into the process it seemed like there wasn’t much getting done.

I was wrong. It looks (on quick examination) like a great issue. The new editors really rocked the whole thing. They worked really hard (think staying until 5am) and were organized.

It was really great to see. At this moment I don’t feel sad about my time at The Sentinel being over. It was an amazing year and I’m so glad I did it, however, at this moment I’m just excited that I’m not going to be expected to manage anyone for almost a month. It’s a great feeling.

I will miss it though. It was a pretty amazing and unique experience. So, give me a few months and I’m sure I will be elegantly bemoaning my separation from The Sentinel and formalized journalism.

But for now I’m looking ahead. This week I have off (kind of). On Saturday I leave for the Poynter Fellowship, which I’m getting increasingly excited about. I’ll be there for two weeks (and I’ll be blogging about it). When I get back from that I’ll have a week off and then I’m fully immersed in the world of Camp Reed.

I’m excited for Camp. No doubt about that. This summer I’m leading CITs (Counselors in Training) and cooking. I have one week where I’ll be in charge of a cabin but other than that I get to hang with the older kids (15 years) and cook food for the camp.

It’s going to be a good summer. I love camp, the people and the work. One of my favorite aspects of the job is the pure amount of time I get to spend outside. During the school year I spend, if I’m lucky, 1.5 hours a day outside. I spend so much time in front of a screen. It’s maddening. At camp it’s the opposite. I spend 12 to 13 hours a day outside and maybe an hour in front of a screen a week.

I like the ratio.

Issue 9 PDFs... finally

Not the best issue ever, but not the worst either.

Lots of things

Well, right now is an interesting time. The Sentinel (Issue 8) came out last week. We don’t have another issue for six weeks, so I’m in a quagmire work wise. See, I work really well under pressure. However, remove that pressure and boom... I’m lazy and unmotivated. Take yesterday for instance. I got to The Sentinel office at 7 am and stayed there until 2 pm. The majority of that time I was doing nothing. Sure, I got a bit done, but when you consider how many hours I spent there, it’s pretty lame.

So, that is something I’m continually working on. It’s great to be able to work under pressure, but it’s also important (I think) to have the long term vision to work as you go. Not just last minute.

That being said, some pretty cool stuff happened yesterday and today.

First off, yesterday I found out I had been selected to attend the annual Poynter Fellowship. This is a two-week journalism intensive in St. Petersburg Florida. Basically you apply and then if you are one of the 40 selected you spend the two weeks immersed in all things journalism related. It’s pretty neat to have this opportunity. The only stumbling block is the price ($1,800 not counting air fair, food or lodging). It’s not exactly cheap. So, I applied for a scholarship. Hopefully I get that, but we will see. I have to say thanks to Jake Donahue for telling me about this. He did it last year and said it was amazing. He also recommended me to the lady in charge there, which I'm sure helped a bit.

Now, the next neat thing; as some of you may know I’ve been working on developing a new website for my mother. Well, if you read the top half of this post you might see that I’m not so good with the long-term motivation. Website design = a long-term motivation thing = Eli is not staying up on it.

That all changed yesterday. Darci Sinclair (a student of my mother) has volunteered to work with me. She is a professional graphic designer. We had are first meeting yesterday, which was absolutely awesome. It’s so cool to work with someone who is an expert at what she does. Also, having another person on the “team” forces me to work harder and more regularly, which is great.

And finally, I just found out 20 minutes ago that The Sentinel won Best of Show in the New York CMA convention. Pretty cool! Nils Rosdahl (my adviser) just called to tell me.

Yup, well that it is about it. The Yoga teaching is going well. I’m well on my way to the 20 hours and I love teaching. Still got a ton to learn but that is why I’m taking a teacher training.

Cheer, it's over (I hope)

Well, it has been an interesting week. The whole cheer leading thing really took off. Today I met with the athletic director (Al Williams, great guy) and the cheer leading coach. Yesterday I removed the article from The Sentinel website and posted a formal apology. The more I think about it the more I believe I messed up. Of course there was no way for me to know that the writer and the cheerleaders had past history, but as the editor my job is to figure things like that out. So, I’m happily taking responsibility for it, well happily is probably the wrong adjective, maybe willingly or ploddingly… or stickily… no that doesn’t work either…. Anyways I’m taking responsibility for it. Click here to read the apology letter (Yeah, it's the one with the flashing red thing that says 'Breaking News').

So the meeting today was all about that. I apologized to the cheer coach and we generally just talked about how bad of a mess up that was. Overall it was a good meeting, however, at points I felt that I wasn’t really being listened to… but so is the plight of a 20-year-old.

So, the upshot of all of this? Personally I’ve learned quite a bit. Although we’re students and just learning, what we write and publish has an effect. So be careful. And as the editor it’s all my responsibility. It all comes back to me. That is my job.

So, I think the worst is over. The last couple of days won’t be missed.

And, as an aside I’m so, so, so glad I’m not wrapped up in NIC’s social drama scene. It sounds like a mess.

Issue 8 Pages

Hey, so a great issue. We will probably take this one to the New York competition, pretty exciting. Anyways check them out.

A1



I didn't draw this, or come up with the idea, but wow it's cool isn't it?

Issue 8

Issue 8 of The Sentinel is out. It’s a good one. We all worked really hard and it shows. There are some mistakes, but nothing major. I forgot to bring the PDFs home with me, so I’ll post them tomorrow.

Something interesting did happen though. Today I was sitting in class when one of the editors came up to me (Nils was talking) and told me there were four mad cheerleaders in the newsroom. I immediately though “Oh boy, they are mad about that opinion piece.” Well, I was right. They were mad. Really mad. Two of them were crying. They yelled (well, maybe loudly exclaimed) at me for 10 minutes. I told them there wasn’t much I could do about it, that I was sorry and that I hoped they would write a letter to the editor expressing their anger etc. I don’t think any of it helped. You can read the article here. It doesn’t say anything terrible, at least not outright. What it does is hint at things.

Anyways, it was an interesting morning. It got better as Nils (the adviser) got several phone calls from angry parents and the athletic director.

It looks like we are going to meet with the AD and the cheer leading adviser (or whatever you call that position) tomorrow.

I feel really bad about this. As the managing editor it’s my responsibly to check things that go into the paper. Well, personally I think I goofed. I don’t think we should have run this article. However, it is an opinion piece. So it’s a complicated issue because it's this one guys opinion (I didn’t write the article) and he has a right to express it (I suppose).

I’m not sure how things will work out. I do believe that it will all blow over (eventually, like everything I guess), which isn’t to say I’m taking it lightly. It was hard to watch those girls cry in anger and shame.

So, we will see. I’ll have a better idea about what will happen (or won’t) tomorrow after we meet with the AD. Until then I’ curious, what do you guys think (here I go assuming that people read this, well I guess I’ll find out)? I would love it if you would go read the article and then comment, let me know.

Actually that reminds me of an article I read a few weeks ago in Wired magazine. It’s all about how, after a certain point, social networks stop being social. That once you have 20,000 Twitter followers the conversation stops. Pretty interesting. Check it out here.

OK, great thanks for reading, lets talk.

Back from Phoenix

Hey all, I'm back from Phoenix. It was a fun trip. The Sentinel won Best of Show at the ACP Convention, which is awesome. Pretty happy about that. Anyways, jumping right back into my life and work. Really excited for the coming production week, I think it's going to be a good one!
Again great time in Phoenix. I can't express my gratitude enough to Nils Rosdahl, my adviser, for helping me get there and teaching me everything I know.

Here are some photos from the hike we took on the very last day we were there. Really a great hike.

Phoenix

So, it's been pretty busy here. I've been attending a bunch of seminars and classes, learning really great stuff. On Friday morning I was on a panel regarding the managing of two-year newspapers. It was pretty interesting. There weren't all that many people there, but more than I expected (like 10). It was fun, very laid back and conversational. I really enjoyed it.

And then just the normal convention stuff. Today I went to a two-hour class on using Excel to help you find and report on stories. The teacher was a woman named Holly A. Heyser, she is the adviser to the California State University in Sacramento. She was just awesome, really into her work. I learned so much.

One term that she used a lot, which I had never heard before, was Computer Assisted Reporting (CAR). I guess for the modern journalist everything is CAR, but in this context she was specifically referring to Excel and Access. Anyways, I learned so much. It was really good. I learned about the basics of Excel (which I desperately needed) as well as the endless ways you can use statistics to uncover and report on interesting and important stories.

Another perk to going to this class was that it was held in the Arizona State’s The Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication…

Oh my god, it was awesome. It had 14 computer labs, dedicated to design, photography, videography and radio. They have their own T.V. station (a PBS affiliate) that reaches a million people.

It was incredible. It’s a fairly new facility and it’s beautiful, really beautiful. It made me want to go to ASU.

So, that is it. Today we are going to go for a hike or two and then we leave tomorrow morning. Because of scheduling conflicts we will miss the awards ceremony. If The Sentinel were to win anything they will mail it to us. We will see.


There it is... even the sign is nice...


... that is there T.V. production room... that is live video...


... I'm not sure why he was being interviewed, but he was. The interviewer is a senior at ASU...


... here are a bunch of people I met at a Subway, they were going to a Japanese festival.

Back to Arizona

And I’m off. There must be something about Arizona. I’m sitting in the Spokane Airport waiting for our plane. Nils Rosdahl and I are going to Phoenix for the ACP Journalism convention. It’s 7:52 am.

We’re taking a rather roundabout route. First we fly to Denver, where we spend two hours, and then we go to Phoenix. It’s a long way, but it’s cheaper than the direct flight, so oh well.

The convention should be pretty good. The classes they offer are usually interesting. Something new is that I will be giving a brief little presentation on managing a two-year newspaper. It’s at 9 am tomorrow morning, so I doubt it will be heavily attended. It should be interesting to give the talk. I’m not too worried about it, but we will see how it goes.

So, I’m excited. I love airports. I love traveling. Being here reminds me of leaving for India, which reminds me of leaving for Europe in September. Exciting stuff.

The Sentinel (Issue 7) among other things

Hey, so here is the newest issue of The Sentinel. Kind of a weird issue, nothing seemed to click or really flow together, however when it was all said and done it looked pretty good. A short issue, so pretty grey on the inside.
So far this semester is so much smoother. I'm getting better at my job and the editors are improving weekly. One thing taht has really helped is the addition of John Monnier. He is the new photo editor and he is rocking it. He is really good at coming with with ideas for photo stories and just a fun guy to work with.

On a unrelated note, I learned a new word today. It's 'panache' and it means "flamboyant confidence of style or manner." What a neat word! I'm not sure how to pronounce it, but whatever I'm definitely gonna drop that baby in casual conversation.

Leo, my brother just said he had read the word in Calvin and Hobbes. Nothing like high quality comic strips.



Wow... it actually makes sense now (obviously this isn't my original work)...

Too tired to think in anything but tight, tidy torrents of tepidity

So, I’m tired. Dead tired (an odd turn of phrase). It was a production weekend and wow, it was a long one. The actual paper was pretty short (only 16 pages); however, for whatever reason, everything was a little harder. Things didn’t seem to click. It’s an OK issue, no huge lackings, however nothing of which I’m really proud. I’ll put the pages up in a day or two (we don’t distribute tell Tuesday) then you can judge for yourself.

So, like I said, I’m tired. I slept maybe three and a half hours last night and less than six the night before. When I finally finished up at The Sentinel I was about ready to collapse.

But instead of stumbling home and curling up in m nice big bed I managed to stumble my way over to the Kroc center. It’s becoming habitual for me. I finish working on the paper and I go work out. This might seem crazy, however I’ve grown to love it.

See, by the end of one of these marathon weekends, my brain is dead. It’s ready to shut down and watch T.V. for six days straight. The problem is, my body is in the exact opposite state. It’s been sitting for 16+ hours in front of a computer monitor and damnit it’s ready to go.

My brain is good at tricking my body. It tells it that it’s too tired and that it needs to rest. But my body knows and lately it hasn’t been taking any shit from my brain.

So, tonight when I crawled out of The Sentinel office, I forced myself to buck up ignoring my mind and listening to my body. So I went to the Kroc. At first, in an effort to trick my poor, worn out mind, I told myself I would just go and shoot some hoops. Maybe break a slight sweat, but nothing serious.

I got there and, predictably enough, my body took over. Next thing I know I’ve played four intense full-court games putting in a good two hours of physical aerobic activity.

And you know what? It felt great.

So, now I’m heading off to bed; fully confident that my mind and body are on the same page.

Plain Old Bizarre

Today I had a bizarre encounter. I was picking up some pizza we had ordered for The Sentinel. We have this ad trade with Little Caesar’s Pizza. They make sub par pizza at above par prices, plus they’re semi-local. So between the two it’s a good deal.

I was fresh out of the Kroc Center, where I had just been involved in possibly the longest basketball game of my life. It was supposed to go to 11, however we finally ended (with my team losing) at the modest score of 20 to 18 (due to this little rule called win by two). To top it all off, the team I was playing against was straight out of the ‘80s. Their shorts were short and they were wearing high-top all-star shoes. It was bizarre.

So, you can imagine my mental state. I’m tired (physically) and pretty spaced out from all the endorphins (or whatever). I walk into Little Caesars, not really sure what I want. This isn’t the place to contemplate your order choices. They want you to get in, order and get out. Strictly business. Well, I wasn’t prepared for that. I begin to hem and haw over the various combination's of cheap food with fake cheese. The lady isn’t giving me lee-way. She wants me to hurry up.

So, I begin to order. I ask for pepperoni with olives, mushrooms, green peppers and onions.

Simple, right?

The girl didn’t think so.

“Wow!” she said, “Slow down.”

Seriously? Slow down? There were like five toppings. Not exactly a six-course meal, right?

But I understand. We all have bad days. We all space out.

Then, her manager leans in and says,

“Ah, sorry about her she has downs syndrome.”

Now I’m confused. He seems serious. I mean people don’t joke about downs syndrome right? It’s not like something you joke about. It’s pretty serious, right?

So, I back-pedal,

“Oh, I’m sorry…”

Meanwhile the girl is saying to the guy,

“Oh, shut up, I’m not retarded…”

“Yes, you are,” he said. Then he looked at me and said,

“She is seriously retarded.”

She continued to protest.

I got my pizza and left.

Starting off

It’s been a while since I’ve posted. I’ve been semi-busy. The Sentinel only had a two-week break between Issue 6 and Issue 7. It’s going to be a small issue, but good. So, that has been taking up my time pretty well.

However, probably the newest thing that’s going for me is I’m getting into the yoga-teaching world. About three weeks ago I committed to attending my mother’s teaching training. It’s a three week, 102 hour course. Once I finish that I will be certified with Yoga Alliance. But, before I do that I have to have 20 hours of teaching experience. I have exactly zero. So I’ve taken on some private lessons (twice a week) and I’m going to start teaching an hour long beginning level yoga class. I’ve mapped it out so that I’ll be all done and ready to go by mid May!

Plus, I love teaching (I’ve taught two privates so far). It’s hard, for sure, but I just really enjoy it. I love Yoga already and to be able to teach other people (and hopefully get them loving yoga also) is just so much fun. I’ve got a lot to learn. Right now I just feel lucky that people will let me practice teach on them… I guess that is why they aren’t paying anything.

Also, in two weeks I’m going to be heading to Phoenix, Arizona with my adviser Nils Rosdahl for the Associate Collegiate Press (ACP) convention. I’m really looking forward to it, as these conventions are not only informative but also quite fun.

So, things are going well. But and I’m not even done yet. My travel plans (with Leo) are beginning to take form. As of right now (keep in mind things change) it looks like we might take a train from Holland to Moscow, Russia and then to Beijing, China and finally then to India… It’s a long trip but actually cheaper then flying. So, we will see how that works out.

Well, this post has just been a mix of things… nothing really that interesting, but I like to keep pumping ‘em out. Quality over quantity… right?

Here is a photo of a guy I interviewed. His name is Garth Profitt. He is a neat guy. 67 years old and is studying to get his personal trainer certificate. Really cool.



Here is the hoped for route!


And here is my flier advertising my free class.

The Sentinel (Issue 6)

Hey, so no posts in a while. The semester started. Here is the newest Sentinel. I think that it's our best to date.

Issue 5

Issue Five









12 page special section.

The Sentine (Issue 4)

So here is Issue 4, finally.

Approaching Arizona

Well, I've been very busy with The Sentinel and other commitments. I don't really have much to say in this post, except a new issue of The Sentinel is out (more on that later) and I'm going to Arizona for a week.

I'm going to visit some friends that live there and just generally have a nice time. It won't be significantly warmer there, however, I'm sure it will be milder than it has been around here lately (try 30 degrees, in the day).

So, I'm excited for that. I love traveling and seeing new places and people. I'm looking forward to it.

I will bring my camera, so hopefully I have some photos to share when I return. We will see.

ACP Best of Show

Well, I just found out today that the most recent edition of The Sentinel won Best of Show at the national Associated Collegiate Press convention in Austin, Texas (ACP).

It was pretty awesome to learn that we won that award. We've won it the last couple of years in a row, so I was glad to continue that tradition.

As happy as I am with that, I'm even happier knowing that we have so much to improve on. This last issue was by far the best issue we've produced this year, however, there is plenty to get better at. Jake Donahue (basically a media genius) critiqued our paper, right before it went to the convention, and I'm confident that our next issue will be even better than the last, due in large part to his merciless and brutally accurate observations (to put it nicely).

So, yahoo. We won. But we can do a lot better and I'm confident we will. We have the staff, the adviser and, most importantly, the desire.

Speaking of desire, as much as I love winning awards myself, the real reason that I feel driven to succeed at this job of journalism at NIC is because of the tradition of success. Recently The Sentinel featured an article entitled "Decades of Dominance" (it was about the wrestling team). Well, the same could be said for the newspaper. The Sentinel has been known to be one of the best college newspapers in the country for years. This is because of the incredible knowledge and dedication of Nils Rosdahl (the adviser).

As the managing editor I feel responsible for keeping this tradition alive. Like I said, personally I love winning shit (who doesn't?) but the main motivator is continuing the tradition.
And the truth is, I couldn't do it without the tradition. I'm good at what I do, but I'm not a maverick genius... I rely on the knowledge of those that have come before me... quite heavily in fact.

So, here is to continued success.

The Sentinel (every week)

Yeah, I know it sounds too good to be true. The Sentinel traditionally only comes out every three weeks. That means you, the anxious reader, has to wait approximately 21 days. That means 21 days without news from the college by the lake. That means 21 days without finding out what is going on with ASNIC, the drama department so on and so forth.

Well, no more.

From now on the Sentinel website will be updated, weekly. Giving you, the anxious reader, your much needed fix.

So, stop whining and click here...

or...

Here.

The NIC Sentinel (Issue 2)

This is the second issue of the Sentinel. It looks good. Photos printed well etc. It was a short one (only 16 pages) but overall I'm happy with it.

The next one, which comes out on Oct. 26, is going to be much longer (24 pages, and possibly a tab section). So we really don't have that much turn around time. I'm excited though.

I love my job right now. It feels so good to be part of a paper. I love seeing it go from rough (or no) ideas to a reality that you can hold in your hand. Really a unique and wonderful experience.

Anyways, comments are always welcome.

Again, these are just the pages I designed.


The front page...

... just an inside opinion page, nothing special, although the art work is good...

.. again inside page...

... the volleyball page. As you can see they are currently ranked No. 1 in the nation...

... this is quite possibly my favorite page ever. It all worked out, and despite my fears it printed great.