The Eureka Reporter newspaper became a launch pad for gradu-ating journalists, until it ceased reporting Humboldt County’s news in early November last year. Without the exis-tence of the paper, there are now fewer career opportunities in rural Humboldt County.

In 2003, the Reporter

launched as an online news source and quickly put out a daily-printed paper.

“The emergence of The Eureka Reporter was very interesting to many of us at a profes-sional level,” said Prof. Mark Larson, chairman of the JMC Department. “The Reporter ’s new printing press and cre-

ative, award-winning page design made the paper a visual treat. The design work and photographs by HSU graduates Kevin Bell and Tyson Ritter were out-standing and innovative.”

Larson said it was fun to see the paper hire so many of HSU’s gradu-ates, including Glenn Franco Simmons as its

first editor. “Every time I was in [the R e p o r t e r ' s ] n e w s -room it seemed like an HSU journalism-grad reunion when I saw Diane Batley, Luis Molina, John Magers, K a r e n W i l ke n s o n , Dominic Efferson, Ashley Mackin, [and others].”

In the case of Ashley Mackin, the Reporter was an ideal first job. The paper hired her two months after she graduated HSU. She had 50 sto-

ries published in her first two weeks.

“For me it was a Godsend,” she said. “I am not glad that the Reporter went under, because I think it is good to have competition. I’m very grateful to have had the opportunity [to work there]”

The paper's com-

2009

The closing of a local launch padby Jennifer MacKaben and Deidra Boyer

Continued on 3

The Eureka Reporter Sfaff, including current alumni, during its last days of work/ Daniel Soloman

The evolving medium of the message: technology changing

the advertising model p. 15

Newly Formed Journalism Club brings national attention to

HSU’s journalism program p. 17

JournAlum

pg. 2

Please address all correspondence toJournAlum Editor, Bret Harte House #52,

HSU, Arcata, CA 95521

AdviserRobert Gluckson

Editor-in-ChiefMathew Hawk

LayoutNels Ferre

Jennifer MacKaben

PhotographyDwight Johnson

Copy EditingAnthony BarstowOctavio Rayzoga

WritersRuby JohnsonEliza DouglasDeidra BayerKevin Bunch

Jennifer MacKabenAshleigh Nieman

JournAlum Staff

From the desk of the Department Chair by Mark Larson

This year has indeed been

one of challenges and “change.” It includes our local media land-scape with the closing of The Eureka Reporter n e w s p a p e r , o u r nation’s new political scene and economic crises at all levels.

In the midst of this, our hearts are focused o n P r o f . G e o r g e Estrada, who is on medical leave for the spring semester. He hopes to return to the JMC faculty in the future on a limited basis.

In addition, Joan Loitz chose to step away from teaching part-time this year. Prof. Craig Klein has also been gone this year – and potentially next – on a leave of absence to explore professional opportunities.

We are blessed, however, with having talented and capable lecturers available to teach their classes, including: Zoe Walrond, Sid Dominitz, Cliff Berkowitz, Annie Reid, Jessie (Misha) Cretser-Hartenstein and Robert Gluckson (one of our alumni!). Maclyn McClary also continues to help out by capably teaching our public relations class in the fall. Kim Moon and Linda McMaster continue their excellent staff work to keep the department functioning.

We hope to search nationally for a new tenure-track position next year, as well as replace Sarah Page in the Lumberjack newspaper ad/business manager position. We wish Sarah the best in her new teaching career.

In the midst of all of the above, our journalism department continues to thrive with an increasingly diverse group of majors and minors who are busy working in the student media and a variety of intern-ships (see related story inside). I’m also pleased to have such capable journalism faculty colleagues in Prof. Marcy Burstiner (who will soon have her text-

book on investigative reporting published) and Prof. Vicky Sama (see story inside about the successful trip to Washington, D.C. she organized for the student Journalism Club this past fall).

The impact of your continued support as journal-ism alumni and friends of the department has been significant, as we were again able to offer about 20 scholarships to our students this year. We also brought in Tim Grey, a national Photoshop guru, to lead a week-end workshop in optimizing workflow and advanced techniques. It’s exciting to see the growing interest in photojournalism among our students.

I’m pleased to also have HSU recognize another of our journalism alumni, John Diaz, as one of this year’s three “alumni of the year” (see related story inside). I read the San Francisco Chronicle on a daily basis and feel lucky to have benefited from John’s outstanding career as its editorial page editor.

Fund-raising remains one of my top priorities as fiscal realities are affecting our students’ abilities to afford school. We also continue to upgrade our digital audio and video instructional equipment.

I’ve enjoyed seeing so many of you this past year at events, or when you drop in for a campus visit! I appreciate your offers of help and support. Our depart-ment’s network of alumni and friends represent one of our greatest advantages compared to other academic

Mark Larson on the back steps of the Bret Harte House/ Dwight Johnson

Continued on next page

2009

pg. 3

Pioneering new media

Paper closes continued from page 1

Dept. Chair continued from page 1

majors on campus. We will face the present and coming challenges more effectively together.

Please stay in touch with updates about your lives and news about internship opportunities and job openings – (707) 826-5925 or email at mal2@humboldt.edu. †

p e t i t i o n w i t h t h e Times-Standard made local journalism livelier as few cities and report-ers have experience with competing dailies any-more, said Larson.

But in the end the competition may have done the Reporter in. The day after the presiden-tial election, the paper’s staff was informed that they were no longer in business. The final edition circulated only two days later. Former staff writer and HSU journalism alum Dominic Efferson was taken by surprise. “We were kept completely in the dark,” said Efferson. “[Possible layoffs] were never brought up in meet-ings. Not even the editors knew about it.”

The sudden closing of the paper left many jour-

nalists, including HSU journalism alumnus John Osborn, searching for new opportunities. The Reporter hired Osbourn immediately after he graduated from HSU.

A f t e r t h e p a p e r ’s closing, Osborn started the Eureka Ruin, a blog with former co-work-ers and HSU grads Karen Wilkinson, Mackin and current student Ashley Bailey. The Ruin is their way to report what they find interesting without the financial pressures of an actual newsroom.

Osborn notes on the site, “Expect the unex-pected from me and the many other wasteland wanderers d isplaced by the newspaper war storm.”

Although opportuni-ties for work in Humboldt County are shrinking, there are many other places to work. Although journal ism Professor Marcy Burstiner said the Reporter was a good “in-between job for the in-between students,” she advised soon-to-be graduates not to stick around.

“If you want to end up in New York, start in New York,” she said. “Have confidence in your future [career] and be willing to struggle for a while.” †

John Osborn began working at the Eureka Reporter in 2008. He never had to go through that “What do I do with my life?” period that most people experience directly out of college. He was immediately employed as a reporter covering the city of Eureka.

After the closing of the paper, Osborn felt almost as though he had just graduated. He, along with three of his fellow co-workers at the paper, started the blog The Eureka Ruin (http://eurekaruin.wordpress.com) as a place for them to continue reporting the news to the online community.

Osborn started the flash fiction site Indigo as way to keep one of his passions going: fiction writ-ing. He has only heard of one other flash fiction Website. Flash fiiction stories are short stories of 250 words or less. Osbourn thought this was a great way to share his stories with the online commu-nity, and let anyone else with a story to tell to do the same.

Osborn’s biggest goal right now is to publish a book. In January of this year his mom lost her battle with cancer. She left behind journals and recordings that document her struggle.

He would like to put these memoirs together in a book that will describe from a firsthand point of view what it is like to battle cancer. His mom asked him to donate half of the proceeds to a cancer foun-dation, which Osborn will gladly do.

Osbourn ponders his future in journalism/ Dwight Johnson

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pg. 4

Students at The Lumberjack pride themselves on finding the important news when it hap-

pens and reporting it as it happens. The following stories exemplify this dedication to informing the stu-dent body, as well as the community at large, of those events, which affect everyone’s lives.

“CHAMPS!” May 7, 2008

by Matt Drange

For the second year in a row, the HSU women’s softball team won its c o n f e r e n c e , a n d T h e Lumberjack was there to bring the action to readers. Matt Drange gave the audience a full sensory experience and took them inside the games. With writing that was both illustrative and informative, Drange helped readers connect with their National Championship Softball Team.

“Not so invisible”

September 17, 2008 by Deunn Willis

A t a p r e d o m i -nantly white school, in a predominantly white community, the issue of race and racism is too often forgotten or ignored. In the week’s cover story, Deunn Willis, an African American staff writer, tackled the topic with sensitivity and under-standing by talking to those affected most: the students.

“Suspicious object disrupts campus” September 24, 2008 by Matt Drange

A suspicious object, originally thought to be a pipe bomb, was found on campus on a Tuesday afternoon. And, despite going to press just hours later, Matt Drange was able to track down the story and ensure that it was reported to the student body just a day later. In addi-tion to the solid reporting of the story, Drange had the forethought to take photographs of the incident that depicted the confusion and chaos of the situation.

“The Metro in Arcata closes its doors after 20 years”October 1, 2008

by Matt Drange

Foreshadowing the impending economic crisis, The Metro, an Arcata record store owned and operated by an HSU alumna, went out of business, meaning that students would have less choice for local music purchases. In the article, Matt Drange highlighted the bigger pic-ture of failing local businesses, and by focusing on just one shop, he gave readers a chance to visualize the crisis on a human level.

“Editorial: Hope for our generation” October 22, 2008

by the Editorial Board In the midst of a contentious election and heated

political climate, the Editorial Board, led by Stephanie Haller, voted for a presidential candidate. Given the

A year in review through the “The Lumberjack" (May 2008 to February 2009)

By Anthony Barstow

Emergency services responds to a bomb threat/ Matt Drange

Representatives from various minority-based groups on campus/ Stephanie Haller

The Metro waves the white flag/Stephanie Haller

This photo showed the determination of HSU’s

softball team/ Torrey Hartman

2009

pg. 5

gravity and historical implications of the election, the Board took a chance and endorsed Barack Obama.

“Student takes own life” October 29, 2008

by Karina Gonzalez

W o r k i n g o n a tight deadline, Karina Gonzalez cut through the rumors and mis-information, found the hard news, and reported the facts. Yet, in her reporting, Gonzalez brought out the sadness and loss that is intrinsic when anyone commits sui-cide, let alone a student on campus.

“America’s Choice: Obama wins

in a landslide” November 11, 2008

by Stephanie Haller

E x e m p l i f i e d b y t h e reporting of then Editor-in-Chief Stephanie Haller on the presidential election, the Lumberjack staff dedicated itself to full, wide-ranging coverage on election night. Holding the presses until early Wednesday morning, The Lumberjack reported on local stories that both the Times-Standard and Eureka Reporter missed.

It was the mission on The Lumberjack to put a new president on the cover of the issue, which came out just hours after the election results were finalized. Through its dedication to the paper and willing-ness to get the story, the staff ensured that the next morning’s news racks were stacked with covers of President Barack Obama.

“The Endeavor’s special November”

December 3, 2008 by Matt Hawk

Matt Hawk’s story about Thanksgiving at the Endeavor, a local shelter for less fortunate community members, showed the changing face of Arcata. There is always talk about shutting the Endeavor down, about its effect on local businesses, and about its overall place in the community.

In his reporting of the Thanksgiving event, Hawk put a spotlight on the growing public support for the shelter, and showed a community that was finally getting the message: the shelter can not exist with-out the community, and the community would not be better off without it.

“State budget leaves CSU

little room to breathe” February 25, 2009

by Elizabeth Sorrell

Few issues affect students more than funding and budget cuts, and Elizabeth Sorrell got to the heart of the problem with her story by focusing on the students.

In the midst of an economic crisis, it is easy to ignore the difficult-to-fix problems, like higher educa-tion, but Sorrell’s story reminds readers that providing California students with an affordable college educa-tion is not an issue that can be ignored. †

Top “Lumberjack" stories continued from page 4

A memorial for the student was held a week later/

Torrey Hartman

Deun Willis reads the Lumberjack’s “Election Issue”/ Stephanie Haller

John Shelter, executive director of the Endeavor, tends to companion

animals as clients dine on a pre-Thanksgiving dinner/

Courtesy of Shelter

Go to the new Website!The Lumberjack

www.thejackonline.org

JournAlum

pg. 6

John Diaz, Alumni of the Year by Matt Hawk

After 30 years, John Diaz (1979) still

stays in touch with many of his peers when he was the managing editor and reporter for The Lumberjack.

“It was so wonder-ful when I was there,” said Diaz. “There was a contingent of smart jour-nalists. A lot of talent, and a lot of energy.”

Diaz also remem-bers his teachers. “When I came out of HSU I emerged thinking like a journalist,” said Diaz. “The professors really are professionals.”

Diaz will receive the HSU Alumni of the Year Award on April 17. Mark Larson, journalism department chair, said Diaz is writing to make a difference in peoples’ lives. “[Diaz] has a really good voice that stands out in a sea of bland and homogeneous opinions,” said Larson.

“It’s really humbling to know that so many people from [HSU] do so many things in the world,” Diaz said. “It’s nice to know that the award is not just for me, but for the school as well.”

Growing up in the Bay Area, Diaz always wanted to work for the San

Francisco Chronicle. He spent many youthful days devouring its words and studying its strengths and weaknesses.

A f t e r g r a d u a t -ing from HSU in 1977, he got his professional start in journalism at the Red  Bluff  Daily  News in Red Bluff, Calif. He then moved to the Associated Press offices in Philadelphia and Washington D.C.

But Diaz did not like that the community he was a part of never read his work. When he got the chance to move to Denver in 1985 and work on the Denver Post, he

took it. Diaz worked at the

Post in the height of what he calls a “newspaper war” between the Rocky Mountain  News and the Denver Post. “It was

hyper-competitive,” said Diaz. “It made you very aware of getting the story and getting it before the other paper.”

Diaz loved working for the Post, covering events that mattered to the

community he was a part of. He also met his future wife, Katherine Corcoran.

In 1996, his home paper, the San Francisco Chronicle came calling. Diaz could not ignore

it, so he packed up and moved back home to San Francisco. And that is where he has been for the past 13 years.

"I think Humboldt really set a good foundation for my

career." 1977 graduate John Diaz

John Diaz will receive the Alumni of the Year Award at the HSU Annual Alumni Awards ceremony on April 17th/ Courtesy of Diaz

Continued on 18

2009

pg. 7

paring for the real world. Johnson-Stromberg said she uses her journalism skills everyday. She helps bridge the gap between

graduation from HSU and the experience necessary for them to achieve suc-cess. She believes that in order to be a success in the field, work experience is everything.

Johnson-Stromberg has high respect for her former newsroom col-leagues and said she couldn’t be as successful in the work she does for HSU and the economic development community

clothing store in Eureka, Calif., called the Looking Glass, and a restaurant for a while, but the same faith waited across the corner. It was her second business affected by the local economy of the early ‘90s.

To d a y , J o h n s o n -S t r o m b e r g w o r k s full-time for HSU as a coordinator of internships and job development in the career center. She assists students in pre-

An n J o h n s o n -Stromberg (1997)

and Marylyn Paik-Nicely (1993) came to Humboldt State University for edu-cation, and decided to call Humboldt County. Their current jobs at HSU have essentially the same concept; to prepare stu-dents for the real world.

Before Ann Johnson-Stromberg received her diploma for journalism, with a focus in news edi-torial, she contributed to The Lumberjack and also participated in the Osprey as a staff editor. During her final semester at HSU, Johnson-Stromberg worked at the Times-Standard as an intern.

A f t e r g r a d u a t i o n she worked with local newspapers the Times-Standard for two years until the birth of her son. After working for a local steel fabricator as a manager for a year, Johnson-Stromberg decided to open a business of her own the Scrapbook Getaway, inspired by her hobby of scrap booking. After its closure, she had to a close and returned to the Times-Standard as the business editor in 2005.

P a i k - N i c e l y a l s o opened her own busi-nesses after graduation, including a women’s

without her newsroom experience.

Originally from Hilo, H a w a i i , P a i k- N i c e l y moved to Humboldt County when her hus-band got a job in the area. She graduated from HSU in 1993 with an empha-sis in public relations. Moving to this small area was bittersweet for Paik-Nicely, because although it is a small area, with a tight community, she missed Hawaii.

This homesickness for her island life opened the door to another close-knit community of the local Native-American t r i b e s o f H u m b o l d t County, where she felt a

feeling of acceptance and interest.

As a native Hawaiian, she had been extensively involved in the culture, mainly through the dance form of the Hula, which she studied since she was four years old.

W h e n a p o s i -tion for director of the Mult iCultural Center (MCC) opened up at HSU

Marilyn Paik-Nicely takes time for a picture at HSU’s 2009 Social Justice Summit/ Dwight Johnson

Ann Johnson-Stromberg/ courtesy of Johnson-stromberg

"I love working with college students and find it very rewarding."

1993 graduate Marilyn Paik-Nicely

Continued on 18

Alumnas stay local helping future grads suceed by Eliza Douglas and Octivio Rayzoga

JournAlum

pg. 8

people and strange circumstances.” In 1966 he took a job for the Honolulu Advertiser and settled down. “I came for two years, and stayed for life,” Clark said. Since his recent retirement from the journalism profession, Clark has broadened his global horizons.

“I think travel is second to a college education,” Clark said as we ran through the laundry list of places that Clark, and some-times his family, have traveled through northern Europe and south east Asia. “I couldn’t afford to travel when I was a stu-dent,” Clark said. “I wanted to go to Italy.” Instead he remained engaged in school during his time at Humboldt, despite the

insistence of his peers to join them on their days of vag-

Humboldt State University’s jour-

nalism program was the starting point for many successful careers. Its alumni are employed in reporting, public rela-tions, broadcast…and the U.S. Forest Service? Hank Kashdan took an uncon-ventional road to the U.S.F.S. after graduating in 1973.

“After meeting with Professors Mac McClary and Howard Seemann I was really impressed,” Kashdan said about his first encounter with the journalism program.

“ I found [ journal-ism] to be a fascinating field. Despite my love of natural resources I was more interested in the liberal arts.”

Today Kashdan is the a s s o c i a t e c h i e f f o r the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest S e r v i c e b a s e d i n Washington, D.C. After graduat ing 34 years ago, he attended a trade school for heavy equip-

ment and surveying. K a s h d a n s t a r t e d

out in surveying crews for the U.S.D.A. Forest S e r v i c e a n d q u i c k l y m o v e d t o m a n a g e -ment. His career kept him on the move, jump-ing from state to state including Washington, I d a h o , M o n t a n a , O r e g o n , C a l i f o r n i a , and for the past 14 years, Washington D.C.

I n 2 0 0 5 D a l e Bosworth, USDA Forest Service chief, announced H a n k K a s h d a n a s deputy chief for busi-ness operations. “Hank is a public servant of the highest cal iber with more than 32 years of service," he wrote in a U S D A F o r e s t Service news release.

He is a great fit for this position because of his in-depth experience in administering our budget for the past several years as well as from the many different positions he has held in the field through-out his career.”

“The attribute that has served me most is the ability to write succinctly and with compassion for the audience and the public speaking skills from studying a commu-nications field,” Kashdan said.

“I work with a lot of engineers and scientists who write very dense stuff and often very lin-early,” Kashdan said, “so communications skills have definitely helped me.” †

From journalist to USDA Forrest Service Associate Chief by Ruby Johnstone

A life of travels

by Ruby Johnstone

Hugh Clark (right), his daughter and wife at Park Quell in Barcelona, Spain/ Courtesy of Clark

From the moment Hugh Clark grad-

uated from Humboldt State University in the fall of 1964, he was on the move. Clark took jobs in various states, from Idaho Falls, which he recalled as “full of Mormons and potatoes,” to the Copper Country of Nevada, with its undeniable presence of “strange

Hank Kashdan/ courtesy of the USDA Forest Service

Continued on 18

2009

pg. 9

China or bust by Octavio Raygoza

Wh e n J e s s i c a W a n g g r a d u -

ated with a journalism major from Humboldt State University in May 2007, she decided to move immediately across the Pacific Ocean to China. She had no job offers and no plan of action. She barely had the time to pack, but she knew there were going to be many opportunities with the coming Olympics in 2008.

It was, without a doubt, an exciting but scary move that not many would consider. Being fluent in the local lan-guage helped ease the transition for Wang. It took her only a month before landing a job in the leading English language-life-style magazine, That’s Beijing, which is now called The

Beijinger. She was hired as the dining editor for the magazine, in charge of reviewing restaurants, inter-viewing chefs, and writing gastronomic articles.

“I got to know the city through food,” Wang said. “I developed an extensive contact list, better writ-ing style, knowledge of Chinese media and how they operate, deeper knowledge of the food culture, and of course a more refined palate,” Wang said.

With her newly acquired skills, Wang decided

Wang outside of the Bird’s Nest Olympic building in China / Courtesy of Wang

“I gained valuable relationships with professors and administrators who have helped me every step

of the way.” 2007 graduate Jessica Wang

that it was time to pursue her own goals after a year and a half of magazine writing. Once she quit her job, she moved on to work for an international public relations firm as a senior account executive.

As a side project, she started her own public relations consulting firm in Beijing, helping clients market their businesses to gain better market vis-ibility. In addition to time dedicated to her firm, she joined a TV production company in charge of producing Chinese news segments to be aired in

the U.S. Wang recently applied to graduate school where she would like to

study new or global media. Wang thinks it was a great decision to move

to China, and she thanks HSU in part for that valu-able experience.

“I gained valuable relationships with professors and administrators who have helped me every step of the way,” she said. “I had a lot of hands-on oppor-tunities, and internships, all of which have helped me land jobs today. I especially have to thank my profes-sors who encouraged me to step out of my comfort zone and move abroad.” †

Visit us online!

www.humboldt.edu/~brethart

JournAlum

pg. 10

Austin completed her journalism degree HSU with an emphasis in public relations. After 12 years of working in P.R. for high-tech companies in cen-tral California, she shifted toward the non-profit of Eastfield Ming Quong (EMQ). EMQ is a children’s crisis service helping families of all types of need ranging from mental health care to foster care with specializa-tions in addiction, poverty, abuse and trauma.

EMQ merged with FamilyFirst Inc. in the begin-ning of this year, creating EMQ FamilyFirst with headquarters in Campbell, Calif. Austin is director of communications for EMQ FamilyFirst and has an office in San Jose, Calif. The newly merged organiza-tion is the largest children’s service in the western United States, servicing families in crisis, and number-ing about 18,000 people in 30 counties.

“It’s a passion for a mission,” said Austin, “and my passion has always been kids.”

When Kristine Austin (1984) completed her undergraduate degree in the early 80s, the type-writer was still used to turn out a document for class. Austin never had the opportunity to use the backspace key when she was correcting her writing assignments in Prof. Pete Wilson’s editing class.

New technology may have eased making cor-rections, but the editing basics she learned are still used frequently in Austin's everyday. “Every day I refer back to that edit-ing class,” said Austin. “I still have that AP Style book on my book shelf.”

Emeritus updatesWanda Rigby:

A s m a n y j o u r n a l -ism professors do at Humboldt State, Wanda Rigby taught a little bit of everything. From begin-ning reporting to public affairs, she prepared stu-dents with the tools to succeed in journalism before retiring in 1994.

A f t e r r e c e i v i n g her masters from the University of Texas Rigby came to HSU because she felt it had a better jour-nalism program.

Rigby still lives in Humboldt County and

volunteers her time in a literacy program for kin-dergarten students in Fortuna, Calif.

“I think there is a lot to do in Humboldt,” said Rigby. “I love being retired.”

Maclyn McClary: Mac McClary still

teaches part-time at HSU. He takes spring semester off to travel. He recently spent two weeks in Hawaii and went to the Bay Area to see his sons and grandsons.

Yes, Mac is still run-

ning. “Not as far or as fast as I use to,” he said. He runs in the Redwood Bowl with a faculty group every week. “It’s my social life.”

Jerry Reynolds: Still taking care of his

prized rhododendrons, Jerry Reynolds currently travels the world. This past November, he com-pleted a cruise from San Diego to Ft. Lauderdale, Fl., passing through the Panama Canal. “I spent Thanksgiving in Costa Rica.” His next trip – a river cruise from Budapest to Amsterdam.

Sherilyn Bennion: Following her hus-

band, Sherilyn Bennion moved to Humboldt County in 1970 and began teaching in ’71. Bennion retired in 1998 and now lives in Salt Lake City, Utah. She recently vis-ited the old “haunts” in Humboldt County last May. “It hasn’t changed much,” she said.

B e n n i o n p a r t i c i -pates in the Annual SPJ Sunshine Week, and also sits on the execu-tive committee board for the Journal of Mormon History.

A passion for a mission by Dwight Johnson

Austin with her adopted son/ courtesy of Austin

Continued on 18

2009

pg. 11

Faculty updatescompiled by Matt Hawk / photos by Dwight Johnson

Cliff Berkowitz I do the morning show (6 to 10 a.m.) on KHUM 104.3 and 104.7 FM and teach

Radio Production. I am a 30-plus-year veteran of radio with experience all over California. I also spent several years as a national radio consultant working with stations all over the nation.

In late 1993, I came to the conclusion that big corporate major market radio was just not fun anymore and decided to give it all up. In January of 1994, my wife Amy, 2-year-old son Alexander, and I moved up to Humboldt County to start over. Two years later, after a series of miracles and lots of good luck, KHUM was born. I live in Eureka with my wife Amy, now 17- year-old son Alexander and 8-year-old son Michael.

Marcy Burstiner This spring I am directing a group of eight students as part of a national FOIA

audit being conducted by the Student Press Law Center, a non-profit organiza-tion that works to protect the rights of student journalists. Humboldt State is one of three universities participating in the project. Our group sent public records requests to 32 universities in the Western United States to compare levels of access granted. We will compare them with the results gathered by the other universities to see how much access schools grant to information about student disciplinary matters.

I also have a textbook coming out in June called “Investigative Reporting: From Premise to Publication” (Holcomb Hathaway Publishers). It is based on the meth-odology I developed in my investigative reporting class here at HSU.

Last year my investigative reporting class did a story for the North Coast Journal that examined a suicide in the county jail. The story was cited by Investigative Reporters & Editors, Inc. and SPJ’s Quill Magazine. And it was the feature of a podcast by the Student Press Law Center.

Victoria Sama I am teaching Introduction to Video Production, Public Affairs Video Production,

Introduction to Mass Communication, Beginning Reporting, Responsibility in Mass Communication, and Law of Mass Communication courses. This spring, my Public Affairs Video Production class is producing a program about the mysteries of Humboldt County. If any alumni have stories about unsolved or strange occur-rences they’d like to share on the program, please email me at Victoria.sama@humboldt.edu.

Creatively, I produced a video package on the Aleutian Geese Fly Off, which is an annual event at the Humboldt Bay National Wildlife Refuge. Look at the story here http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/living/2009/03/10/geese.fly.off.cnn?iref=videosearch

Outside of the classroom, I am trying to rehabilitate my knees that were injured moving my office last summer. At least I’m off the crutches and hope to be able to ride my bike again soon.

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pg. 12

Linda McMasterRecently I met with Emeritus Professor Val Phillips of the Music Department.

He’s working on starting a newsletter and was gathering information. He told me that JournAlum is “the” campus newsletter that others model theirs after, and he acknowledged Mark Larson’s expertise in staying in contact with our grads.

Our on-line alumni survey is close to being updated so that it will work properly again. Please don’t give up on it as a way of keeping in touch. It’s always good to hear from you.

Sara Page I am still The Lumberjack’s business and advertising manager, 5 years running.

This year has been difficult for ad sales because of our slow economy, but we’re making it through every week due the hard work and dedication of the student staff. While many newspapers are crumbling around us, I’m confident that The Lumberjack will be a relevant and engaging newspaper in Humboldt County for years to come.

Personally, I graduate this May with my master’s degree in our English Department’s graduate program in teaching writing. This past year I got engaged to my long time partner Mark. We’ll be married in our home state of New Jersey this October.

Robert GlucksonI am enjoying teaching media literacy in two states, commuting between

HSU and my home in Ashland, Oreg., where, as a consultant for Good Cause Marketing, I offer “Learn Newswriting to Get Free Publicity” workshops. It is nice to teach where I once took classes (B.A. JN/PR ‘85). I recently completed the final draft for my forthcoming book, “Teach Cartooning for Fun and Profit.”

HSU report for those who haven’t been here for awhile: the Bret Harte house looks the same, and the campus looks the same except that students appear to walk around in a media fog listening to their ear buds and cell phones.

Zoe WalrondThis year has been a challenging one. I’m teaching more classes than ever:

two sections of beginning reporting, the radio news workshop, and advising the student-managed radio station (KRFH.net). Watching students develop their talents and interests excites me most. The journalism department is attract-ing an exceptional group of majors, and it’s rewarding to teach young people who I believe someday soon will be contributing in a serious way to an improved planet.

I’ve made two visits to the Anza-Borrego Desert in Southern California this past year and I’m going back soon. It turns out hiking through washes and palm groves with cacti and sweeping vistas is the perfect antidote to Humboldt’s damp, green woods. I’ve also been painting – abstract canvasses that only a mother could love. De kooning be damned.

Updates continued

2009

pg. 13

Updates continued

Kim MoonI am in my second year of the new transition being the ASC II/Department

Coordinator for both Journalism and Communication Departments. I feel privi-leged to know the faculty and students of the JMC department. They are like a family to me.

Humboldt is a great place to work and live and start a family. I am currently enjoying the love of my life, my son, Michael Sy who teaches me new things everyday and keeps me young and healthy by chasing him around everywhere we go. He is a year and four months going on 3!

I hope to continue my education pursuing my Native American Studies degree with a minor in Psychology, while still working full time in the COMM/JMC departments. In my spare time I like to continue learning my native Yurok language, traveling, watching movies, spending time with friends and family especially my three nephews. I would like to find out more about my heritage so that one day I can gather all that knowledge/info and start a book to remember it all by.

Craig Klein Craig Klein is away on a one-year leave of absence. He is the Dean of Academic

Affairs for Missouri State University-West Plains, not far from where he grew up in east-central Kansas. He reports that the job is both challenging and very reward-ing, and says he enjoys the administrative life.

If you wish to write to Dr. Klein, his e-mail address is CraigKlein@MissouriState.edu. You can also view him a little online under the heading of Academic Programs at the Missouri State University-West Plains website www.wp.missouristate.edu. He thinks of HSU often, and misses hiking in the redwoods, as well as the students, faculty and staff in the Journalism Department.

Sid Dominitz I work as an editorial consultant for the Northcoast Environmental Center’s

monthly newsletter EcoNews, which I edited for more than 30 Years. I also edit three other local non-profits: Californians for Alternatives to Toxics (CATs), Humboldt Baykeeper, and the Mainstream Media Project. I am teaching editing for Prof. Estrada this Spring 2009.

Annie ReidI am sharing my enthusiasm for all things Adobe (InDesign, Photoshop and

Illustrator) with students of Intro to Desktop Publishing. A graphic designer with international print experience, I have taught the Adobe Certificate Courses for the Journalism Department through the HSU Office of Extended Education for over 15 years. In addition to teaching and maintaining my freelance design business, I am working in my studio on an oil painting series funded through a grant from the Ingrid Nickelsen Trust.

JournAlum

pg. 14

Finding a niche

by Ashleigh Neiman

Taillon, 2006, is a natural at pho-

tography. She found a niche there before gradu-ating with her degree.

O r i g i n a l l y f r o m W i s c o n s i n , Ta i l l o n decided to look for a small-town atmosphere with a university, Arcata seemed the perfect choice.

Taillon already practiced free-lance photojournalism and portrait photography outside of school before graduation. Double majoring in Journalism and Studio Art, Taillon graduated in May of 2006.

Taillon displays her artwork at the 2008 North Country Fair/ Mark Larson

Mark LarsonThis year was filled with joy and sadness, beginning with a drive up to Seattle in

March for the memorial for my brother who died of cancer. My wife, Sydney, and I joined his daughter in South Dakota in June as she returned his ashes back to the family cemetery.

Sydney and I also had other memorable trips this year, including an end-of-the-school-year trip to Yosemite and a long road trip to visit friends in New Mexico, stopping for hikes and photography in many national parks along the way. As usual, photography has been a big part of my life, including a photo workshop in the panhandle of Florida in late January.

Our daughter turned 30 this fall and remains busy with her tattoo artist busi-ness. Our son turned 20 this September and we celebrated by “helping” him move out of the house into an apartment of his own here in Arcata.

Updates continued

George EstradaProf. George Estrada is on medical leave for the spring semester. He hopes to

return to the JMC faculty on a limited basis. He enjoys spending time with his wife Noreen, son George III, and one-year-old daughter Alessandra.

Humboldt County’s North  Coast  Journal recently ran a photo essay on New Year’s Day 2009 by Taillon entitled, “New Year’s Eve: A 420 Photo Essay.” The article is based on Humboldt’s marijuana sub-culture, and fea-tured portraits representing the nuances of that lifestyle.

In 2008, Taillon received the Times-Standard’s annual “Best of the North Coast” award. She found out about the award during the birth of her second son. “I do my best to include the community at large into my proj-ects, so it meant a lot to me to be recognized for it,” she said.

With a small family to support, Taillon found money in her photography and expanded her horizons in that direction.

After graduating, Taillon created a small business based on her photography including weddings, portraits, and various commercial

and magazine spreads. Taillon’s studio is located in Arcata. Portraits

can be scheduled anytime through Taillon’s web-site (www.kyanataillon.com), or the business phone at (707) 822-1567. She lives with her husband and two sons and continues to create photographic art. †

2009

pg. 15

date a show will air. His shift ends at 1 a.m., but Ettinger said he is often at work much later.

Although Ett inger works full time, he is not an actual employee of ABC Studios or its parent company Disney Inc. He calls his hiring arrange-m e n t “ p e r m a l a n c e , ” short for “permanent freelancer.”

“In terms of editing and post production,” said Ettinger, “the days (of finding a staff job) are pretty much over. It’s rare to find to a staff job and even more rare to find a union job.”

This is because of the cost and contractual obligations, explained Ettinger. It is hard for stu-

With the advent of mobile video, it

is now possible for people to record live T.V. with a Digital Video Recorder (DVR) and then trans-fer it through the air to their phones using what is called a Slingbox. Many shows are even viewable on the Internet entirely, skipping the need for cable and the standard modes for advertising.

This rapid change in technology is threatening to leave the entertain-ment industry, among other types of communi-cation, without a way to finance itself. And with-out funding the medium could become obsolete.

J e s s e E t t i n g e r

(1993) knows this sit-uation all too well. He currently works fulltime as a film editor for ABC Entertainment in the West Coast operations and engineering branch.

“All of these changes,” said Ettinger, “and the ability for viewers to fast-forward through commercials, have forced the industry to take a look at how it reaches its audience.”

Ettinger is currently responsible for put-ting the final touches on promos for T.V. shows, such as “Lost” and “Desperate Housewives.” He spends most days at work adding rating codes, logos, and the time and

The changing medium of the message by Matt Hawk

Ettinger poses for a picture in front of his editing bay at ABC Studios in 2008 / Courtesy of Ettinger

Ettinger working the boards at KRFH in the early 90s/ Courtsey

of Ettinger continued on 18

dios to pay for the medical benefits and vacation pay the unions require, so they hire freelancers who can negotiate their own wages and benefits.

Ettinger knew noth-ing of the world of editing and production, let alone the finances that allow creative outlets to remain sustainable, when he transferred to HSU as an English major in 1990. Former profes-sor Gary Melton and KRFH changed all of that. “[Melton] was my mentor,” Ettinger said. “He was the guy who saw in me that I was going to do good.”

Ettinger said he loved journalism because it allowed him to trans-mit the message instead of writing it. As a senior, he took an internship with Channel 6 (KVIQ) in Humboldt that later evolved into a full-time job.

I n 1 9 9 5 , E t t i n g e r moved back to his home-town of Los Angeles and joined the Editor’s Guild. Until that time he only worked in linear editing. Linear editing uses only fast forward, rewind and an analog signal to send the cut to a master record

JournAlum

pg. 16

In the summer of 2008, Chris Tuite,

was given the oppor-tunity to serve as a photography intern for Rolling Stone magazine in New York City. Tuite mingled with Hollywood r e g u l a r s , i n c l u d i n g Kurt Cobain's daughter, Frances Bean Cobain, and Mary Kate Olsen.

“I’m on the radar,” Tuite said with a grin, a smile that clearly e x p r e s s e d p r i d e i n his accomplishments a t H u m b o l d t S t a t e University. Approaching his final semester as a journalism major at HSU, Tuite has had the incred-ible opportunity to get

a taste of the real world before his educational journey comes to a close.

Tu i t e f o c u s e d h i s passions in music and concert photography early on. He spent time in the beginning simply contacting local bands through MySpace or by phone if possible, offering the band free photographs in exchange for proper accreditation, just to get his foot in the door. He also worked part-time for the Times-S t a n d a r d i n E u r e k a where he photographed many live concerts.

His perseverance paid off when he earned the proper accreditations to

photograph the annual Coachella music festival during the spring of 2007 for the Times-Standard. But when he applied for the proper press passes

necessary to photograph Coachella he was denied entry, on the basis that the Times-Standard was an unheard of and irrel-evant news outlet, as far as Coachella was concerned.

Taking an alternate approach, Tuite con-tacted the managers of various bands playing at Coachella, eventually building enough sup-port that he was granted a pass as a free-lance p h o t o g r a p h e r. T h e p h o t o s Tuiteduring the Coachella festi-val helped him land the intern-ship at Rolling Stone.

“ I a l m o s t f e l t l i k e a n employee,” Tuite said, as he reminisced

about the 40-hour work-weeks spent in the Rolling St o n e o f f i c e s . Tu i t e was given four assign-ments by Rolling Stone, including smaller venues, mostly in the surround-ing New York area. His last assignment, shoot-ing the Outside Lands Festival in Golden Gate Park overlapped with the first week of fall semester 2008.

C o m i n g b a c k t o rural Arcata after being immersed in a thriving outlet of contemporary pop culture was a chal-lenge for Tuite. “It made me feel a lot more alive,” Tuite revealed.

He spoke realistically of the challenges that occur when you leave a place of eternal oppor-tunity only to return to a region where there is

Current student earns HSU’s first “Rolling Stone” internship

by Ruby Johnstone

“I almost felt like an

employee.” Tuite

Tuite snaps a glimpse of the cover wall inside the Rolling Stone offices/ Tuite

Continued on 23

Tuite shooting the All Pointes West Festival in New Jersey for Rolling Stone/ Chris La Putt

2009

pg. 17

New journalism club represents HSU in D.C.by Eliza Douglas

Th i s p a s t f a l l , s t u -

dents from Prof. Victoria Sama’s class wanted to take a trip to our nation’s capi-tol. The goal: attend a weekend-long con-ference for college journal ists cal led the Institute for Political Journalism Conference sched-u l e d f o r t h e w e e k e n d a f t e r President Obama’s election.

Several students organized to form a journalism club and take a trip to the conference and asked Prof. Sama to be the faculty advisor for the club. The goal of the club was to take news-e d i t o r i a l , b r o a d c a s t , media studies and public relations students to see our Nation’s Capitol. “Only a few students had ever been to Washington D.C. before, so the trip was educational as well as an interesting adventure” Said Sama.

She then led 16 HSU students to see profes-sional journalists inform future political journalism professionals about their covering the Obama and McCain campaigns.

“HSU students stood out because they asked

a lot of comprehensive questions and traveled the farthest” Said Sama. The director of the con-ference was so impressed by one student, Lauren Perez, that he asked her to come back for an

internship in the summer. In addition to the

conference, Prof. Sama arranged for the students to tour the White House, Library of Congress, Capitol Building and the Newseum—a museum

d e d i c a t e d t o the news. Sama also organized a tour of NBC’s h e a d q u a r -ters personally guided by Kevin Corke, a Political W h i t e H o u s e Correspondent.

Rory Smith, o n e o f t h e

s t u d e n t s o n the trip, said t h e f e e l i n g o f o p t i m i s m radiated from e v e r y o n e a t NBC after the Obama election. “There was a positive attitude e v i d e n t i n e v e r y o n e a t NBC--you could see it in their eyes that change was c o m i n g ” s a i d Smith.

S m i t h s a i d he also thought it was fascinat-ing to tour the set

of Hardball, and to see the office of the late Tim Russet from “Meet the Press.” The huge white boards erected at the Lincoln Center also made an impression on Smith.

The boards were in honor of the new presi-dent, and were there to be signed by visitors. “In felt like I was contributing to something great” said Smith.

“I enjoyed observ-ing [the students] as they discovered all of the exciting things that the nation’s capitol has to offer” Sama said.

The Journalism Club is working on trips for next year but has yet to final-ize any plans. †

The Journalism Club on the steps of the Russell Caucus Building in Washington D.C./ Courtesy of Vicky Sama

Members from the Journalism Club leave messages on a wall commemorating the

election of Barack Obama/ Stephanie Haller

“I felt like I was contributing to something great.” Rory Smith

JournAlum

pg. 18

their needs. Although these two women are different, they are

admirable, and truly love this area and community. This is illustrated in their occupations at HSU, helping students and helping their community. †

Clark from page 8

Austin from page 10

Diaz from page 6

Austin’s role in the organization includes dealing with the media to website management. Other roles include crisis communication and involvement in public policy, such as the campaigning for a bill to pass through the California legislature.

Austin lives with her husband of 14 years and her 3-year-old son in San Jose. She can be found on Facebook.com or at linkedin.com under the name Kris Austin. †

Diaz has received many awards in his 30-year career. His most cherished awards are from his cur-rent job as the opinion editor for the San Francisco Chronicle, for a series of editorials on foster care.

The series helped push through legislation in the state of California to increase funding and oversight for the foster care system. They also aided in adjusting the rules of the foster system to make it easier for chil-dren to navigate it.

Diaz said the most gratifying part of the awards was the team aspect. The opinion team won first place in 2007 for editorial writing from the Society of Professional Journalists and the Scripps Howard Foundation. The editorials also received a Casey Medal for Meritorious Journalism from the University of Maryland’s Journalism Center. Diaz says the Alumni of the Year Award will be just as special.

“I really have a strong attachment to the journal-ism program,” said Diaz. “I think Humboldt really set a good foundation for my career. I can’t think of any other school where you can leave with a B.A. and a 100,000-mile warranty on your career, includ-ing counseling from your professors.” †

Listen to HSU's student-run radio station

@

www.KRFH.net

abonding across Europe. Clark opted instead to take the wisdom and advice of his mother to heart and fin-ished his degree at Humboldt State some six years after arriving. “They almost had to throw me out to get rid of me,” he said with a laugh.

Clark and his wife recently visited Estonia, one of six countries they saw on a recent cruise through the Baltic in northern Europe. Their latest voyage around the Baltic passed through one of the world’s longest channels; taking them nearly 27 hours to pass.

With a 17-year-old daughter on the verge of col-lege, Clark shared his obvious pride in her interests in cancer research and aspirations of studying medicine at the University of California, Berkeley.

Clark still has desires of his own to make a trip to the Middle East, hopefully under more peaceful times. He summed up his travel philosophy with: “you don’t have to go far to see something amazing.” †

11 years ago, Paik-Nicely got the job and has been working for the MCC ever since. The MCC is a stu-dent-initiated program that promotes understanding of diversity, celebrates differences and welcomes a multi-ethnic perspective. It provides a safe haven for unrepresented students, where they can explore, be empowered and find their voice, said Paik-Nicely. The MCC offer fun events for students and everyone else in the community such as: Humboldt Pride Festival and Parade, annual Soul Food Dinners and a Lunar New Year Celebration, to name a few.

"I love working with college students and I find it very rewarding," said Paik-Nicely. As director of MCC, she helps students feel accepted and attain real-life skills to live Humboldt County and beyond.

Paik-Nicely said that is the premise of the Multi-Cultural Center; they listen to the students, and try to create culturally diverse activities and festivals to suit

Local alumns from Page 7

2009

pg. 19

With a recent publication in

The Mailer Review, and an upcoming collection of short stories under the provisional title, ”Mostly True Stories (of People You Probably Don’t Know),” Kenneth Norris is still active in the free-lance journalism world.

F i n d i n g a m a r ke t for “Exhuming Mailer’s America” was simply part of the process for Norris. “Writers have to be able to market themselves,” said Norris. Over the years as a writer he has learned that, “you have to ask yourself, ‘How can I make myself more marketable?’”

N o r r i s c u r r e n t l y works part time at a local history museum-His recent publication in The Mailer Review enti-tled, “Exhuming Mailer’s America,” is an essay of comparison. Inspired by Norman Mailer’s “Armies of the Night” a book that was given to Norris by a journalism professor during his years spent at Oxnard College, along with an insightful dec-laration of, “Any good journalist needs to read this.”

It wasn’t until years later that Norris revisited the book and examined Mailer’s observations of our nation’s revolt during

the Vietnam War, and wrote a contemporary analysis of our current disposition amidst the Iraq war under an unpop-ular presidency.

His essay was pub-lished in 2008 in the second edition of The Mailer Review, along with

other acclaimed writers such as Philip Roth, E.L. Doctorow, and William Kennedy. Co-sponsored by the University of Southern Florida and The Norman Mailer Society, The Mailer Review, which is a yearly publication, “is a hodge podge of things

of and about Mailer,” said Norris.

Norris shared how throughout his years in the journalism profession he has become aware that it is not uncommon to wait, sometimes 18 months, until any finan-cial gain surfaces from

the work one has pro-duced‒a cycle Norris likes to refer to as “feeding the beast. But you have to have confidence in what-ever you do,” Norris said.

N o r r i s ’ c o m p l e -t i o n o f a N o n p r o f i t Management Program, at Berkshire Community

College, allowed him the opportunity to hold his current position at the local history museum in Bennington, Vt., a place he found to be a valid outlet for his current proj-ect, “Mostly True Stories (of People You Probably Don’t Know).” Using the library museum as a resource, Norris spends his lunch hours grazing over books, sometimes finding inspiration for his latest work.

With a projected total of eight to nine stories, “Mostly True Stories (of People You Probably Don’t Know)” will be a collection of cre-ative works that takes a more intimate approach into the lives of obscure people in our history.

The works are par-tially fictitious, “filling in a blank” for most read-ers. Some of the stories will focus on Charlie Christian, the Burghers of Calais, and Saint Maurice; all esoteric figures that Norris approaches with a unique inquisitive nar-rative. The stories will be followed by a researched background, giving a brief history of the roles these people played in our culture—“A glorified Wikipedia” if you will, said Norris.

A freelancer's life: history, criticism, and fiction by Ruby Johnstone

Norris’s wife T.J. with Norris and dog Rastus / Courtesy of Norris

Continued on 23

“You have to ask yourself, ‘How can I make myself more

marketable?’” Ken Norris

JournAlum

pg. 20

The ‘60s and ‘70s

The semi-retired W i l l i a m H u f f m a n

(’67) spends his days with his wife, Sheila Roberts,

traveling the North Coast in their recreational vehicle. When he is not enjoying the California and Oregon coasts, Huffman is the director of governmental affairs for Farmers’ Rice Cooperative. The Huffmans reside in Plumas County, Calif., at Lake Almanor.

Named by San Francisco Magazine in 2008 as one of Northern California’s Top 5% “Super Lawyers,” Paul Brisso graduated in 1973 and resides in Eureka, Calif. He started out in the California 5th District Court of Appeals right after graduation. After working as the judicial staff attorney for the Times-Standard in Eureka, Brisso now works as an attorney for a partner firm. Brisso is married to Spanish teacher Melissa McCulloch, class of ‘79.

Gayle Hall (’73) is still married to Tom Hall, class of ‘74, and lives in Torrance, Calif. After working as a magazine writer and editor, Hall is now an ESL teacher at Torrance Adult School. Gayle and Tom have three children together. Tim is 21, Jeff is 31, and Bobby is 28.

Rick Larson is a managing editor at the Tri-City Herald. The 1971 graduate lives in Richland, Wash., with his wife, Katie, who graduated from the HSU journalism program in 1977. They have two children together, Kyle, 27, and Jenna, 25.

Mary Dickerson (’79) now goes by Mary Bullwinkel and lives in Fortuna, Calif. She is a part-time freelance reporter for the Humboldt Beacon and works as part of a core group working to establish the Humboldt-Del Norte Broadcaster’s Society. Bullwinkel now works as Continued on next page

the director of marketing for Bear River Casino.

Samuel Brewer (’74) now resides in Fernley, Nev., where he worked as a law enforcement officer beginning in 1978, only four years after graduating from Humboldt State University. He is now retired from the position of lead deputy commissioner for Public Works and is working on two books. Brewer is married to a retired California Deputy Labor Commissioner and is the father of 38-year-old Stephanie and 34-year-old Sam.

After 19 years as a middle school librarian, Kathleen Alban (’70) has retired and now sells books at Gallery Bookshop in Comptche, Calif. A 33-year marriage to David Tahja has brought her the new name of Katy Tahja as well as a son of 30, Matti, and a daughter of 27, Fern; the latter graduated with a degree in Natural Resources from HSU in 2007. Alban has successfully published two books in one year: “Rails Across the Noyo” and “Early Mendocino Coast.”

A Jill of all trades, Martha Webster (’79) is not only perusing her career in journalism but carries two other jobs on top of it all. The Middletown, Calif.resident is an editor for Middletown Times-Standard, an x-ray technician at Kaiser Permanente, and an instructor at Yuba Community College. To add a bit more on to her resume, Webster sits on boards of three separate community service organizations. She is married and recently went on a cruise to Nova Scotia.

Chris Broderick has been getting alumni together for reunions. The 1977 graduate had a mini reunion last year and hopes that more people from ‘76/’77 will join next time. Broderick works as the politics,

government and education editor for The Oregonian. He lives in Portland,

Ore., with his wife Mary and his three children, Mackenzie, 14, Delaney, 12, and Tally, eight.

The ‘80s

Heather Shelton graduated in 1982 and became the editor of the

Humboldt Historian. She later took on the

Alumni updates Compiled by Kevin Bunch

2009

pg. 21

job of lifestyle editor at Times-Standard in Eureka. Shelton also works as a certified personal trainer at the Adorni Center in Eureka.

Shelly Butcher (’83) is married to HSU business grad Steve Finley and now goes by Michelle Finley. She lives in Aptos, Calif., and worked her way up in the Special Day Class in the Oak Grove School District from aide to teacher for students on the autism spectrum. Butcher won the Oak Grove School District Vision Award for Innovative Spirit in 2008.

Starting out with her eye on the housing market, Lori Schopp (’88) worked for real estate magazines as a production manager. She is now Lori Hennessey and is vice president of Hennessey Construction, Inc. Mother of 12-year-old Selena and 10-year-old Shannon, Lori enjoys playing and coaching soccer.

Stephen Crome graduated in 1984 and lives in Laguna Beach, Calif., where he owns Laguna Tattoo Studio. He carries on his hobbies of hiking and caving among other activities.

Leslie Lollich (’81) started her career as a radio-news director at stations such as KVIQ, KAEF and KINS. She lives in Eureka and now works as a county public education and outreach officer. Lollich also helped start the Humboldt-Del Norte Broadcasters’ Society.

Producer, writer and reporter Henry Mulak graduated in 1984. Residing in San Francisco, he has worked for NBC (KRON) and CBS-5 (KPIX TV). Mulak now works for ABC-7 (KGO Television/ KCBS Radio News). His newscast was the recipient of the Radio Television News Directors Association: Best Radio News Cast 2007.

After 28 years of U.S. residency, Tony Forder (’86) became a U.S. citizen in 2008. He works as an editor and publisher for Ale Street News and has done so for 17 years. Forder is husband to Sue Babin, and father to Samantha, 18, and Caroline, 15.

After graduating in 1981, Thomas Rooth went on to get his masters in psychology in 1987 and took it one more step to get his teaching credentials in 1990. Rooth teaches AP English at San Benito High School where he helped start the Rock Guitar Club. His other job is working for the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology as a mentor in the Global Program. Rooth lives in Hollister, Calif., with his wife.

The ‘90s

Kevin Savetz publishes websites and eBooks through his own employment. The 1993 graduate lives in Blue Lake, Calif., and started a volunteer powered reading service for the blind: www.readthistome.org. Savetz is married and has two children.

Entertainment connoisseur and 1996 graduate, Carrie Bell works regularly for People magazine, Entertainment Weekly, Blender magazine and T.V. Guide. She also does freelance work on the entertainment,

lifestyle, and fashion beats. In the past, Bell worked for US Weekly and published a book in collaboration with

Amy Helmes in August 2008 through Cider Mill Press called "The Bathtub

Reader." She lives in Encino, Calif. with her husband.

Making the exciting move to the East, Anne Rocha (’90) now goes by Anne Ellison. She has two daughters, Alexandra, six, and Phoebe, four. Ellison lives with her family in Hickory, N.C., and spends her days checking off her list of places to travel.

Since graduating in 1995, Liz Neely has found work in journalism. She was a news editor and web editor at Electronic News and staff writer at the Ventura County Star. Neely is now a staff writer at the San Diego Union-Tribune.

Christine Sackey graduated in 1992 and lives in Fortuna, Calif. She does the page layout for the Times-Standard. A previous editor of the Humboldt Beacon, Sackey is mother to John, 29, and Joel, 27, and grandmother to Corbin, four.

Continued on next page

Alumni updates Continued from previous page

JournAlum

pg. 22

Leslie Weiss (’91) teaches high school English in the Stockton Unified School District. She is married to a public defender, and the family includes Gabriel, six, and Nicolas three.

Kim Schettig (’95) owns her own photography business, Binfield photography. She is mar-ried to Pete Binfield and goes by Kim Bin-field. The two are parents to one-year-old Kate. Before diving into world of the self-employed, Kim worked at a publishing company in Holland for four years.

A public relations worker through and through, Heather Sorensen (’99) used her degree in journalism to start her own PR company. She first worked for Eastwick Communica-tions before moving on to a publicist position at Sony Playstation. Sorensen now owns and runs Plugged In PR, a public relations agency in Portland, Ore. Starting in 2009, Sorensen will be doing work for Macworld.

Shari Hambleton (’94) has used her acquired jour-nalism skills along with her Lumberjack roots to start her own company. The president and CEO of North-west Timber Fallers lives in Grants Pass, Ore. and has a husband and four children.

Jen Kinavey graduated in 1995 and works for Sy-mantec Corporation as a staffing consultant. In the past, she worked for Lucasfilm Ltd. and Pixar Anima-tion Studios. Kinavey lives in Sonoma, Calif., with her husband and three children.

2000 and beyond...

Recipient of the 2005 Burstiner Award, Rory Williams now resides in San Francisco. Over the years, Williams has worked for the Times-Standard, Tracy Press, and Daily News Group of Palo Alto. He is now employed by String Letter Publishing, and works as an associate editor for Strings magazine.

Taking the forestry rout, Eric Murphy (’02) is em-ployed by the US Forest Service-Plumas National For-est. He lives in Chico, Calif., and spent five seasons working in Alaska doing forestry research.

Laura Koskinen graduated in 2003 and now resides in Pearland, Texas. She works as a fine art faculty ad-junct at the University of Houston and has won awards for her photography through the university where she works. Koskinen is known as Laura Bennett now and

her 18-year-old daughter, Mana, attended HSU this academic year. She has eight more children making her a mother of nine, whose ages are 26, 24, 22, 20, 18, 17, 17, 16, and 15.

Graduating at the turn of the century, Benjamin Hoffman (’00) is a staff editor at The New York Times. He lives in Brooklyn, N.Y., and finds time for fun in the busy day

to day of New York living. Hoffman recently braved a 4,100-mile road trip through the beautiful south-east.

Some alumni are in that just-graduated stage and working toward kicking off their careers. Tiffany Rose Newton (’08) is now Tiffany Rose Mather-Bush and working on a move to Sacramento. After graduation she went to New York and Canada in September to work on her photography. The presidential scholar is currently working at Humboldt State University as a budgetary clerk for the 08-09 school year.

2005 graduate Melissa Tharp works for Clear Chan-nel Radio in Los Angeles. The Burbaru resident has also worked as a promotions manager since a year af-ter graduation.

Jarad Petroske (’06) stayed in Arcata and took it one step further by landing a job in marketing and public relations right here at HSU. He was previously the entertainment editor at the Times-Standard. Pet-roske is married to Angela Renzo, who also graduated from HSU and works as an administrative assistant.

Alumni updates Continued from previous page

Continued on next page

2009

pg. 23

Erin Parks graduated in 2003 and now works as an English teacher for freshmen and sophomores at Franklin High School, where she also coaches cheer-leading. She lives in Lodi, Calif., and belongs to East-ern Star, a worldwide fraternity for both men and women.

After graduating last summer, John Mayers (’08) had a modest start, as many Humboldt students do, in the dishwasher section of the Jolly Giant Commons cafeteria. He quickly grabbed a position as sports-writer at The Eureka Reporter.

Although some choose to stay at HSU, Tara Apper-son (’08) ended up in West Warwick, R.I. She works as a reporter for an independent newspaper and a behav-ior specialist for autistic children for the Perspectives Corporation. Since graduating, Apperson has been nominated for the Associated Press of New England Award and traveled to Holland.

Sarah Lewers (’05) graduated from HSU in 2005 and is now attending Empire College School of Law; she is a third-year law student. Lewers has worked as a reporter for Guymon Daily Herald in Guymon, Okla., and Sonoma West Times and News in Sebas-topol, Calif. †

Alumni updates Continued from previous page

Norris from Page 19

Tuite continued from page 16

JournAlum (left to right) Jennifer MacKaben, Deidra Boyer, Kevin Bunch, Ruby Johnston, Dwight Johnston, Octavio Rayzoga, Matt Hawk,

Eliza Douglas, Anthony Barstow, Nels Ferré staff/ Photo by Jordan Twiggs

essentially no industry for his photos. Tuite has found several outlets and means of

progressing as a photographer while he remains in Humboldt County. You can view his photos at his account on Flickr.com (www.flickr.com/photos/chris-tuite) and he is win the process of creating a website dedicated to his photography (www.christuitephoto.com).

After graduation, Tuite intends to follow his pas-sions of concert photography, working on freelance and making ends meet by doing what he loves. †

“I want to keep learning—I want to keep growing,” Norris admitted, as he spoke of his future aspirations of pursuing a Masters of Fine Arts in Creative Writing.

With an upcoming event speaking at Williams College on his recent Norman Mailer publication, Norris is successfully finding a place in the competitive world of freelance journalism. “As a creative writer you have to be willing to put your work out there and have people like it or not,” said Norris. †

Ettinger from page 15

device. In the Editor’s Guild, he received his first introduction to AVID, the forerunner for non-lin ear, or digital editing. This difference between linear and non-linear, Ettinger explained, is the dif-ference between tape and CD. Digital info can be accessed at any point, instead of having to fast for-ward or rewind to find it.

Ettinger now sees the entertainment industry changing much like it did when he was first intro-duced to the digital age in the mid-90s. Yet, he doesn’t know how or what will make the industry sustainable and advance it to the next level.

“Advertisers are going to have to figure out how to reach their audience,” he said. †

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