Vol. 28, No. 2St e tMichigan Interscholastic Press Association

May 2001

A fresh outlook :This portrait was taken by

Elysia Smith last yearwhen she was a student at

Plymouth Canton/SalemHS for an article on home-lessness. It took first place

honors for Division 1—Portrait in the 2000 indi-

vidual newspaper contest.Smith is now a student at

Michigan State University.

WHAT’SINSIDE

Time to join MIPAfor 2001-2002

3

On-site contestwinners

8

Yearbook contest form

11

Literary Magazinecontest form

13

About the

CoverPHOTO

2

Stet

Kirk Weber, Lake Orion HS (810) 693-5420Julie Price, Haslett HS (517) 339-8249 Jeff Nardone, Grosse Pointe South HS (313) 343-2133Kim Kozian, L’Anse Creuse HS North (810) 949-4450 ex 45Brian Town, Haslett HS (517) 339-8249 Rod Satterthwaite, Dexter HS (734) 426 3991Brian Wilson, Waterford Kettering HS (248) 673-6287Kevin Moore, Lake Orion HSGloria Olman, Utica HS (810) 254-8300 ex 61Betsy Pollard Rau, H.H. Dow HS (517) 839-2482Dori Leyko, Haslett Middle School (517) 339-8233Diane Herder, Laingsburg HS (517) 651-5091Lynn Strause, East Lansing HS (517) 332-2545Cheryl Pell, Michigan State University (517) 353-6761Jeremy Whiting, MSU School of JournalismE-mail: mipa@msu.eduhttp://mipa.jrn.msu.edu

President1st Vice President

2nd Vice PresidentSecretary

TrusteeTrusteeTrustee

Newspaper ChairLegislative ChairWorkshop Chair

Middle School ChairTV Production Chair

Past President/Yearbook Chair Executive DirectorEditorial Assistant

Stet is the officialnewsletter of theMichiganInterscholastic PressAssociation, an agencyof the School ofJournalism, MichiganState University, EastLansing, MI 48824-1212. Stet is publishedin September, Novem-ber, February and Mayby the MIPA executivedirector and MSUstudents.

Stet MIPA Officers 2000-2001

Taking a step back from the rushThe President’s Column

Building a journalism program. I’vebeen giving it a lot of thought latelybecause-like many—scheduling has

started at my school. Maybe it’s because Ihaven’t been teaching long enough to feelgood about where we are as a program.There’s always something going on—gettingquality students, developing introductorylevel classes, improving your technology,raising money, sending kids to summer jour-nalism camps, going to conferences, keepingup with the latest trends, and occasionallymeeting a deadline. Sometimes it almostmakes me want to quit . . . but that’s not anoption. (At least that’s what I always tell myeditors who threaten to throw in the towel.)

This is the time of year when the pres-sures begin to mount. At the beginning thegoals are fresh and visible. But by the timeJanuary and February roll around I’m waistdeep in deadlines and the last thing I want tothink about is the wide-ranging future of myprogram. Yet I have to—just like manyadvisers around the country. So I’ve decidedto give thanks to what I love about scholasticjournalism and to those who’ve influencedme so much. (I’m hoping this will give me anextra kick of energy for the stretch run.)

• Ellie Sharrow, Flushing High School

journalism teacher. My high school newspa-per adviser. You taught me how to take risksand have fun. Plus, you introduced me toPageMaker and MIPA.

• Chad Sanders, Lansing Everett HighSchool journalism teacher. You’re one of thesmartest people I know. Your creativity andwit are contagious.

• Lynn Strause, East Lansing High Schoolyearbook adviser. A true mentor. You’veinfluenced me in ways I don’t even knowyet. I’m so glad we have a talent of your cal-iber in our state.

• Dave Loney, Herff Jones Yearbooks rep-resentative. I couldn’t ask for a better year-book rep. Things just wouldn’t be the samewithout you.

• Betsy Pollard Rau, Midland H. H. DowHigh School newspaper adviser. Awesome.A model journalism adviser—one of the bestever. It seems like everything you touchturns to gold. The Update newspaper. TheMIPA Summer Workshop.

• Cheryl Pell, Michigan InterscholasticPress Association director. You’re so humbleand kind. Quietly you’ve established your-self as one of the best state press organiza-tion directors in the country. It will be a sad,

Kirk Weber

Continued on page 14

Payment enclosed

1 publication or production

other publications or productions($10 for each beyond the first one)

Add $5 if this is being mailed after Oct. 11, 2001

Add $5 if you would like a copy of A Cut AboveSend to

Total enclosed

May 2001 3

2001-2002 MIPA Membership Application Form

School

Phone ( ) Fax Number ( )

Address

City State ZIP County

Newspaper Adviser’s Name

Home Address

Home Phone ( ) E-mail

Yearbook Adviser’s Name

Home Address

Home Phone ( ) E-mail

Lit. Magazine Adviser’s Name

Home Address

Home Phone ( ) E-mail

TV Production Adviser’s Name

Home Address

Home Phone ( ) E-mail

Deadline: Schools must join MIPA by Jan. 31, 2002, to participate in contestsfor that calendar year.

Send this form and payment to: MIPA, School of Journalism305 Communication Arts BldgMichigan State UniversityEast Lansing, MI 48824-1212

For office use only please: ck # amt

po invoice date

Please list school as you want it to be used on membership certificate andother MIPA documentation. Please type or print. Check made payable toMIPA must accompany the form.

PLEASE fill out form completely.

School Classification: A B C D (Check with your principal or athletic director if you are not sure.)

Today’s date

Renewal New (School has not been a member in 5 years)

$

$

$

$

$Reserve your copy of

Adviser’s name

Join MIPA on or before Oct.11, 2001. After Oct. 11, add $5to your membership fee.

Important: Please write the name of each publi-cation and/or production you are entering intomembership. Only publications whose namesappear here will be eligible for competition(except for Web).

Newspaper name

Yearbook name

Literary Magazine name

Video Production name

Membership Fees

$37.50 for one publication or production

$10 for each publication or production after that

A Cut Above is a booklet full of winning entries from the 2000Newspaper Individual Categorycontest. It will be available in early2001 just in time to help youchoose entries for the 2001 contest.Cost: $5 (includes postage)

A Cut Above

Write very clearly, please!

Write very clearly, please!

Write very clearly, please!

Write very clearly, please!

4

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•Long, boring leads.

•Paragraphs that are too long.

•Beginning with the time or date.

•Having more than one quote from differentsources in the same paragraph.

•Using the first name of students on the sec-ond reference instead of the last name.

•No quotes of any kind in yearbook copy.

•Lack of objectivity. Writers constantly throwin fact when they should let the facts speak forthemselves.

•Using the pronouns “we,” “our,” and “you.”

•Using a comma between two independentclauses instead of a semi-colon or a period.

•Yearbooks that don’t have a copy block onevery DPS.

•Meaningless, vague phrases and words likethe following: many, a lot, some, few, and etc.

•Using the year, name of the school, or thewords “this year.”

•Editorial comments in news, feature andsports copy.

•Confusing the words ‘there,’ ‘their,’ and‘they’re.’

•Using words other than ‘said’ for attribution,and that includes words like ‘stated,’ ‘com-

mented,’ and ‘remarked.’ Just use ‘said’ andput it at the end.

•Weak transitions between sentences andparagraphs.

•Relying on one source only.

•Putting periods or commas outside quotationmarks. Periods and commas always go insidethe quotation marks , single or double, noexceptions. Also, colons and semicolonsalways go outside the quotation marks.

•Proper singular and plural agreement. ‘Band’or ‘team’ followed by ‘they.’

•Apostrophes

•The only time to use “it’s” is when it replaces“it is.”

•AP style for state abbreviations is preferredover postal abbreviations. Be consistent,though, if you use one over the other.

•Writing in passive voice instead of active.

•Lack of agreement between noun & pronoun.

•Failure to play on the readers’ emotions.

•Improper use of commas.

•Poor spelling habits.

•Failure to dig deep for meaningful, unusualquotes. If anyone can say it, it is not a goodquote. Reporters need to ask “why” and“how” more often.

“What isthe most common

writing mistake, style or

otherwise, that

beginning journalists

make?”

After advising highschool publicationsfor several years,

most advisers begin to pickup on the little (or sometimesbig) mistakes that are consis-tently a problem for highschool journalists.

The following list of mis-takes comes from the Jour-nalism Education

Association listserv (an e-mail based chat) that isspecifically designed for highschool journalism adviserswho are members of JEA.

This listserv tackles a mul-titude of topics, includingsoftware challenges, year-book distribution, budgets,press law and censorship.Advisers throw up a ques-

tion or concern and usuallyone or more responsesappear on the listserv by theend of the day. The opinionsexpressed come from teach-ers all over the nation—

including some of the mostrespected names in scholasticjournalism.

If you would like tobecome a member of JEA andtake advantage of the listservand other benefits, please gothe JEA Web site atwww.jea.org. You maydownload a membershipform at their site.

JEA listserv provides solutions, camaraderie

With thanksto all of the

advisersaround the

country whotake time to

keep the list-serv vital.

May 2001 5

D o you have something to share withstudents or advisers that would helpmake publications go easier? Plan

now to share your idea during a presentationat the MIPA Fall Conference on Oct. 11. Manyof you have been at this business of scholasticjournalism for some time now, and we needsome new speakers! Please help us out. Weneed specific sessions like quoting andattributing, transitional devices, good leads,how to do cutouts in Photoshop, PageMakertips, design for newsmagazines, producingvideos on a budget, etc. A topic like featurewriting can sometimes be too large to coverwell in 50 minutes.

Just e-mail MIPA at mipa@msu.edu, andwe’ll get back to you.

JEA/NSPA High School Journalism ConventionThe National Scholastic Press Association and

the Journalism Education Association are hold-ing their 2001 Fall High School Journalism Con-vention November 8-11 in Boston.

Guests will stay at the Sheraton Hotel, andare encouraged to experience the theme of “free-dom first” by visiting some of Boston’s historicsites. Most are close to the hotel, including Har-vard University, the Boston Common, and theBoston Public Library.

Registration for the convention is $60 for JEAor NSPA members and $70 for nonmembers. Thecomplete registration booklet will be available inSeptember. For more information, visit the JEAwebsite at http://www.jea.org.

Michigan’s public information laws explainedDo you know that you are entitled to receive

copies of most government documents? TheFreedom of Information Act and the Open Meet-ings Act provide citizens with ways of checkingwhat their government is doing.

To obtain documents through FOIA, just sub-mit a request in writing to any governmentagency that you would like to see records from.The Open Meetings Act requires all meetings of apublic body to be open.

More information on these acts can beobtained by visiting the Michigan Attorney Gen-eral’s website at http://www.ag.state.mi.us.

Adviser earns JEA Distinguished Adviser awardThe Journalism Education Association award-

ed their Distinguished Adviser award to East

Lansing HS yearbook adviser Lynn Strause. Theaward, presented to three advisers in the coun-try, is based on the adviser’s resume, statementof philosophy, specific questions and letters ofrecommendation.

The selection for the award is made by jour-nalists and advisers from across the country.

Michigan’s JEA National HS Journalists electedAshley Crenshaw of Grosse Pointe South HS

was selected as Michigan’s representative forJEA National High School Journalist of the Year.Crenshaw served on The Tower staff for threeyears and in that time served as managing editorof the lifestyle section, associate editor and aneditorial board member.

CSPA announces Crown and Circle awardsThe Columbia Scholastic Press Association

presented Gold Crown and Gold Circle awardsMarch 17 at its annual spring convention toschools demonstrating excellence in high schooljournalism. Some Michigan schools received Sil-ver Crown awards, including Pierce MiddleSchool of Grosse Pointe Park for their newspa-per, The Trojan Times; Cranbrook-KingswoodSchool of Bloomfield Hills for their magazine,Gallimaufry; and East Lansing High School ofEast Lansing for their yearbook, Ceniad.

Several students from Michigan publicationsalso received Gold Circle Awards, including stu-dents from H.H. Dow HS, Utica HS, GrandHaven HS, Grosse Pointe South HS and BrightonHS.

Utica wins Edmund J. Sullivan award at CSPAThe Columbia Scholastic Press Association

Honors Committee awarded the Edmund J. Sul-livan award to the Utica HS Arrow staff this Feb-ruary. The award, established in 1997 in honor ofthe CSPA director since 1981, is given to “stu-dent journalists who have fought for the right tospeak their minds on behalf of their audiences.”

Arrow staff members received the award foran article they published about the senior classpresident who had been removed from studentcouncil for attendance reasons. When theyobtained a copy of the council’s constitution,they found that the document had been alteredand exposed the evidence. The president wassubsequently reinstated.

Adviser Gloria Olman and intern Nikki Faircyaccepted the award in New York in March.

Stet

NOTES

NEWSIf you have news toshare about your pro-gram or your students,please let us know.We’ll mention it in thenext issue of Stet. E-mail mipa@msu.edu.

&We need your help at the Fall Conference

6

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hroughout my growing up years, I often won-dered at what point would I know I wasgrowing old; when was that one day wheneverything worked well and then suddenlyfelt different? I’m here to tell you that my sci-entific self study has paid off. I know whenyou grow old, and for long-time publicationsadvisers it’s age 46.

As I tighten my armband to help relieve mytennis elbow —not unlike a much older oneJohn Tinker might have used to protest theU.S. involvement in Viet Nam in 1966 —I typethis warning in the hopes that younger teach-ers remember to take their vitamins, sleep welland eat a regular warm meal each night

instead of cold cheesepizza peeled off

cardboard

boxes or stale potato chips at deadlines. WhenI deliver my end of the year remembrancespeech for our annual publications award ban-quet in May, I’ll have to place on the end ofmy nose, a newly-acquired pair of cheap,drugstore bifocals, earned after reading 9 pt.type run out at 71 percent for over twodecades.

“Your eyes are just beginning to change,”chuckled a knowing, much-younger optician,who looked forward to seeing me frequentlyto accommodate the rapidly changing pre-scriptions I would need for glasses.

The eye doctor sighed as she rocked back inher padded chair and imagined the moneyearned from my nuevo, deteriorating disability.

Jamaica. Virgin Islands. Hawaii . . .My imagination wandered back to images

of Grandma on the Waltons rerun episodes; toJane Hathaway, pursing her lips together andpeering over her glasses as Jethro; to my ownItalian great aunt using the magnifying glassto read the obituaries in the newspaper.

Gasp.I ignored the warning of experts,and continued squinting andfaking the reading of copy untilone night I got to the pointwhere I couldn’t focus on thedosage on the side of the Advilbottle. So I donned a disguise

and traveled incognito to a drug-store on the far, south end of

town. I scurried up and down theaisles, looking for the dreaded eye

glass display tower.Prescriptions...prescriptions...I

remember seeing those glasses some-where near that counter in other stores.Looking like a thief casing the store, I

The Changing

EYES

By Terry NelsonMuncie Central HS

B E H O L D E Rof the

T

May 2001 7

Stet

decided that I probably needed to askfor help. Unwrapping thescarf from around my neck,tipping my hat back andremoving my dark glasses,I whispered across thecounter to the 16-yearold employee, “Whereare your glasses?”

“Glasses?” sheshrieked. “I don’t think wesell glasses —Hey Joe, do we sellglasses?”

“No, no, no,” I frantically hushed her. “Notglasses, I mean...bifocals.”

There, I had said it. It was out in the open,like a gaping sore for all to see. I was old and Ineeded bifocals.

“For my grandmother,” I added quickly. “Ineed to find a pair of bifocals for my sweet,bedridden grandmother.”

“Bifocals are in the back by the Depends,”Manager Joe told me in a strong voice.

So I took my time, slithering back to thebifocals display, pausing along the way andacting like I was interested in the $7.99 curlingiron and sale on cotton balls in Aisle 3.

I found new pleasure in studying the drug-store merchandise until I glanced at my watchand saw that the store would close in 10 min-utes. It was now time.

I rotated and rotated that darn display,looking for something cute in bifocal-ware;something colorful, so I looked like I mightwear them for a fashion statement; somethinga little kicky that would say to the world andto my students —“I’m not old; I don’t needthese; I’m just a wild and crazy girl.”

I found brown.Brown and wire.I chose brown and walked dejectedly back

to the front counter.“The store is closing in 5 minutes, please

make your purchases now.”The onslaught of customers swarmed all

around me. But I cared little anymore. I wasold and I needed brown bifocals—and thischocolate candy bar, because on the day youturn old, you need a little treat.

I carried those bifocals with me for about aweek before I had the courage to put them on.My motor skills actually increased and the

pain in my tennis elbow lessened fromthe exercise of whipping off

those bifocals anytimeanyone walked intomy classroom.

The next problem:where to put themafter I whipped them

off on the days I don’twear an outfit with pock-

ets. On my head like a head-band, hanging off the neck of my

shirt, or on a dreaded chain or strap like LilyTomlin in her old “one, ringy-dingy” skits?

I met up with the basketball coach at thecopier one day and finally asked him how hehandled this dilemma.

“I buy two or three pairs,” he claimed.“Then I can place them around the house, onmy desk, by the phone; and I don’t worryabout losing them.”

Not a bad idea. After all, we had finally got-ten a 3 percent raise after 5 years of teachingwithout a contract. Where vanity wasinvolved, what was money.

After three months of wear, I actually gotused to being able to see comfortably, andhardly even minded when my students pickedup the bifocals from the table and placed themon the end of their noses, or—better yet—thought they looked “cool” in them.

Now as a veteran bifocal wearer, I realizethat age and elbow pains and eyesight failureare just relative concerns. It could be worse; Icould be a candidate for those Depends in thatsouthside drugstore.

Never in my wildest dreams when Iwatched late night TV with movies starringHumphrey Bogart and Clark Gable and Lau-rence Olivier throughout the years did I real-ize that the man of my dreams with whom Iwould “grow old together” would be my pub-lications students.

And as I continue to disintegrate and crum-ble over the years, I’ll remember that age issimply in the mind of the beholder.

My only hope is that the beholders needbifocals and that my future cosmetic aging willbe one gentle blur.

Reprinted with permission of the author.

Eyes of the Beholder, continued

Terry Nelson has taught jour-nalism and advised newspaperand yearbook publications for25 years. Currently she is atMuncie Central High Schoolin Indiana. Last fall she wasnamed to USA Today's All USATeacher, First Team and theNational Journalism Hall ofFame. She is the recipient ofCSPA's Gold Key and NSPA'sPioneer Award; both nationalorganizations' highest individ-ual honor. Terry also teachesat the MIPA Summer Journal-ism Workshop. Michigan lovesTerry Nelson.

8

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By Sara EberWest Bloomfield HS

Celebrating an 80 year tradi-tion, 250 schools from acrossMichigan gathered at the Lans-ing Center, April 10, to attendthe Michigan InterscholasticPress Association spring con-ference, featuring an openingceremony by the MIPA board.

Several journalism awardswere distributed in the morn-ing session, including recipi-ents of the 2001 All-MIPAaward. Jennifer Buske, editor-in-chief of the H.H. Dow“Update” newspaper, acceptedthe scholarship. Prior to theawards presentation, Buskesaid, “I’m very nervous, butexcited at the same time. I willbe very anxious until our cate-gory is announced.”

Sandra Russo from Utica HSwon the All-MIPA Yearbooka w a r d .

MIPA vice president JeffNardone introduced a pr viewof the conference’s keynotespeaker, Journalism EducationAssociation president, H.L.Hall. Hall, a recently retiredjournalism teacher from Mis-souri and author, spoke to stu-dents about his upcomingpresentation. “Expect to laugha lot this morning,” Hall said.“In this business, with all thetension that can build up, youhave to be able to laugh.” In

addition to speaking about theimportance of detail, Hallpromised an in-depth discus-sion on the Hazelwood case,which set a precedent inscholastic journalism.

Publication adviser Chris-tine Kurtz of Traverse Cityreceived the Golden Penaward, the highest honor possi-ble for an adviser. One of tennominees, Kurtz accepted heraward with a standing ovation.“I would like to thank all of mystudents, past and present,”said Kurtz. “But especially theadvisers. There is no better wayto impact a student’s life.”

For the first time, Spartanawards were distributed in theopening session. Out of 74schools, 23 school newspapersreceived the honor. 28 SpartanYearbook awards were alsopresented. Web site, broadcast-ing and literary magazineawards were also announced.

A presentation on the MIPAsummer workshop was pre-sented by Betsy Pollard Rau.“This is the number one work-shop in the universe,” said Rau.With the theme of “One”, thissummer’s program, in its 18thyear, will be held July 29 toAug. 2.

This article won first place in the On-site

news writing contest at the Spring Confer-

ence. The story has been edited.

Spring Conference:

Awards presented, contests won,board members elected and some fun

Christine Kurtz of TraverseCity Central HS received theGolden Pen award, which isgiven to an outstanding jour-nalism adviser each year.Kurtz was nominated by herstudents. The timing waswonderful as Kurtz retiresfrom teaching this spring.

Jennifer Buske , a senior atH.H. Dow HS, was named theAll-MIPA Newspaper Studentof the Year.

From Utica HS, Sandra Russowas named the All-MIPA Year-book Student of the Year.

Brian Wilson , yearbook advis-er from Waterford KetteringHS, won a spot as trustee onthe MIPA Board as well. Theelections were held at theSpring Conference luncheon.

From Dexter HS, Rod Sat-terthwaite was elected to atrustee position on the MIPABoard. Satterthwaite advisesthe yearbook, newspaper andthe broadcast program. Healso teaches desktop publish-ing at the MIPA workshop.

Kim Kozian from L’AnseCreuse North HS won re-elec-tion as secretary on the MIPABoard. Lynn Strause fromEast Lansing HS is the new yearbook chair. Kevin Moore,newspaper adviser at LakeOrion HS, is the new newspa-per chair. This is not an elect-ed position.

May 2001 9

Stet

A Chad Reunion: Chad Sanders (second from left) is surrounded by three former interns fromthe MSU School of Journalism. They caught up with each other at lunch. Far left, Brian Wilson ,Waterford Kettering HS, Second from right, Kevin Moore , Lake Orion HS, and Kirk Weber ,Lake Orion HS.

The Lisa Show: Lunch is theperfect time to talk about lifeas an adviser with people whoknow just what you’re talkingabout. Here Lisa Gutierrez-Carroll , Jackson HS (left) andLisa Walker , Grand Blanc HSdiscuss the joys and challengesof working with students andtheir publications.

Yearbook Student Life LayoutFirst Place: Alexis Mead, Kati Gonzalez, Charlotte Second Place: Kelsey McDonald, Crystal Franta, Goodrich Third Place: Dennis Masere, Anne Lutey, Fenton H M : Leah Omilion, Courtney Campbell, Rochester

Yearbook Copy/CaptionFirst Place: Jacquelyn Dekker, Rochester Second Place: Maegan Hill, Goodrich Third Place: Jenna Morris, Fenton HM: Meghan Sifuentes, Charlotte

Feature WritingFirst Place : Stephanie Adas, West Bloomfield Second Place: Heather D’Aquila, Traverse City East JHThird Place: Colleen Water, Valley SchoolHM: Niamb Slevin, Pinckney

Editorial WritingFirst Place : Ryan Bonner, Melissa LeMorie, Niamb Slevin, Pinckney Second Place : Alec Gibbs, Tessa Picerno, Fenton Third Place: Lindsay Willett, Joan Chapman, Kearsley HM: Brad Jackson, Grand Blanc

News WritingFirst Place : Sara Eber, West Bloomfield Second Place: Princess Poole, Jackson Third Place : Jason Roberts, Pinckney HM: Andrew McKinny, Grand Haven

Special ProjectsFirst Place : Kari Gonzalez, Charlotte Second Place: Aaron Olson, Fenton Third Place: Julie Wojciechowski, Amber Ogden, Utica H M : Lisa Schwarz, Wayland

Carry In PhotoFirst Place: Tracy Schmidt, Northwest Second Place: Michael Parr, Grand Ledge Third Place : Dave Goulet, Waterford Kettering

Broadcast FeatureFirst Place : Kearsley Second Place: Haslett Third Place: Dexter

Broadcast NewsFirst Place: Haslett Second Place: Kearsley Third Place: Dexter

He’s a Winner: H.L. Hall and Gloria Olman , Utica HS, enjoyed the luncheon at the Spring Conference. Hall, retired adviser from Kirkwood (Mo.), was MIPA’s special guest for the day. Aspeaker at press associations all over the country, Hall is currently the Journalism Education Association president. He has won every adviser award there is, so MIPA bestowed an award fornon-advisers to Hall—the John V. Field award—for his outstanding contributions to the field ofscholastic journalism.

Congratsto on-sitewinners

10

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By Jeremy WhitingMIPA Office Staff

It’s not too often that yousee journalism advisers whotake on the tasks of bothnewspaper and yearbooksimultaneously. Why? It’shard. It takes up all yourtime. There are a milliondeadlines and it’s impossibleto keep straight which one iscoming up next.

Yet Fraser HS adviser MikeComos is one of the few whohas stayed at the helm of hisschool’s yearbook and news-paper classes. More impor-tantly, he’s keeping his sanity.

Originally in the field ofpublic relations, Comos grad-uated from Central MichiganUniversity with a bachelor’sdegree in journalism. Foreight years, he worked inChicago and Metro Detroit atvarious public relations firms.

Comos thought he mightlike to teach, so he returned tocollege to get a master’sdegree in teaching, with theintent of advising journalism.In his eight years working inthe PR field, or “the dark sideof journalism” as he referredto it, Comos had realized thathe could put the skills helearned to teach others how toreport on subjects that mat-t e r e d .

With his new degree,Comos landed a job at Bene-dictine HS in Detroit, wherehe stayed four years advisingthe newspaper and yearbook.He then moved to Fraser HS.When he arrived there, thenewspaper was used primari-

ly as a PR tool for the schooland didn’t have much actualreporting in it. He wanted totake it from the newsletterformat into a respectablen e w s p a p e r .

Under Comos’ direction,the yearbook is also comingto the point where he ishappy with it. Theme devel-opment was the main thingthat needed improvement,and it has been getting bettereach year. Yearbook wasComos’ greatest challenge,since it’s an area he had littleknowledge in.

From its primitive newslet-ter beginnings, the newspaperhas developed into a tabloid-sized paper with real journal-istic reporting. Comosbelieves he has brought pro-fessionalism to the paper,which students will take outinto the real world after leav-ing his class. His staff gainsexperience not only in report-ing, but in producing a paperdigitally and sending it to a

printer in Alabama.Each day Comos has to

switch gears for a differentchallenge. Under his school’sblock scheduling, newspaperclass meets one day and thetwo yearbook classes meet thenext. Each day is differentfrom the next, and that iswhat keeps it interesting.

Students apply to be in theyearbook class. Newspaperstudents have to go throughthe Journalism I class beforebeing accepted to the newspa-per class. So with both publi-cations starting to take shape,Comos is looking to thefuture. He hopes to increasehis yearbook knowledge andpush both publications thatextra bit to get them where hewants them.

Someday he hopes to jointhe ranks of administrators.

“I think it (school) is whereI can do the most good now,”said Comos. “Maybe in thenext five years I’ll make them o v e . ”

Mike Comos brings years of experience to his students

WATCHADVISER

Each day Comoshas to switch

gears for a different

challenge.Under his

school’s block scheduling,

newspaper classmeets one day

and the two yearbook classes

meet the next.

Mike Comos

Mike Comos (l) enjoys helping students. Comos advises both newspaper and yearbook.

Stet

1 Please check one.Spring–delivery yearbook. Mail to MIPA office postmarked on or before July 15, 2001 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $40.00

*Late Spring–delivery yearbook. Mail to MIPA office postmarked on or before Aug. 15, 2001 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $80.00

Fall-delivery yearbook. Mail to MIPA office postmarked on or before Nov. 15, 2001. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $40.00

*Late Fall–delivery yearbook. Mail to MIPA office postmarked on or before Dec. 15, 2001. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $80.00

3 Advisers, please estimate the percent of work done.

Writing

Editing

Design

Photography

Pasteup/Pagination

Graphic Effects*

Total Production

4 Important stuff! Please read!1. Since only student photographs are considered for awards, include in thefront of the book or on a separate sheet the system for which student photosare marked. For example,“Student photos are highlighted with *.”

2. Write a memo to the judge. In it list any special school situations, concernsor problems with this yearbook’s production on a separate sheet. Judgesneed this information.

3. Keep a copy of this form for your files. You might include a self-addressedstamped postcard that we will return to you when we get your book so thatyou know it arrived safely in the MIPA office.

4. Do you want your yearbook returned? Then send a postage-paid, self-addressed mailer with your yearbook. Your yearbook will be returned by thejudge. If you do not want your yearbook back, the judge will have the optionto keep it or discard it.

5. Please mail your yearbook along with your check for $40 (or $80) payableto MIPA. Send to:

MIPA, School of Journalism, 305 Communication Arts Bldg., Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824-1212.

=100%

=100%

=100%

=100%

=100%

=100%

=100%

For office use only: judge

official postmark deadline: ck. # amt pd

secondary postmark deadline: ck. # amt pd

5 Final Check. Please mark. Yes No

1. Did you mark student photos?

2. Did you include a check for $40?

3. Did you include a self-addressed, stamped mailer if you want book

returned?

4. Are you meeting the official postmark deadline?

5 Are you meeting the late postmark deadline?

2001 MIPA Spartan Yearbook Contest Form

Please read: The MIPA Board of Directors has been studying the contests that MIPA sponsors in order to improve them. Several

changes will be taking place over the next two years that we believe will strengthen the contests and benefit your students. Changes will be

made in increments. The first measure voted on by the Board at its March meeting was to allow a yearbook to still be judged if it misses the o f f i-

cial postmark deadline. The late postmark deadlinewill always be one month from the official postmark deadline. When you use the l a t e

postmark deadline, your publication may not be back in time for the Spring Conference awards. There will also be an added fee for this ser-

vice. All Spartan contests will have the same opportunity to use this procedure.

2 Please fill out this part completely.

School

Address

City State ZIP

School phone ( )

Adviser’s name

Editor’s name

Name of yearbook

Theme

Printing company

Number of yearbooks sold Price

*late postmark deadline

6 Please read & sign the following: I have read this form. I understand only student work is to be judged for awards by MIPA. All materials submittedrepresent student work or is designated as not being student work.

Adviser’s signature:

Advisers, please sign.

12

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T rends. It’s on the mind of journalismadvisers and students each year at con-ventions. They dictate how a newspa-

per or yearbook will look from year to year.Trends are a general direction that student

publications tend to move in. Often, they arethe “buzz words” at conventions. They arerecycled from past concepts, borrowed fromprofessional magazines or adaptations to achanged audience.

Professional newspapers struggle to holdtheir readers interest in today’s fast paced soci-ety. High school newspapers and yearbooksfind themselves adapting to the trend.

“I’m seeing less copy,” Gloria Olman said,publications adviser at Utica HS. “Readershave a lower attention span.”

A visual and costly trend for those who canafford “extras” in their yearbook is purchasingmore color spreads, especially in the opening,senior and advertising sections.

“My school has been using more color pho-tos in their yearbook,” senior MSU studentYalile Ramirez said, former staff member atNazareth Academy, Indiana. “When I was aphotographer on staff, we rarely had color asan option.”

Jostens representative Bob Berschback hasalso noticed the trends in running color andalso more senior ads in yearbooks.

“Personal ads from parents have skyrocket-ed, including full color ads,” Berschback said.

Parents’ dollars often help pay for the cost ofthe yearbook when senior ads are purchased.Repeat buyers are common among familieswho have more than one, who often purchasean ad for each child upon graduation. Anothertrend is the rising number of “friend” ads,where a group of students purchase a spot inthe book together.

“At one point, the ads were discouraged,”Olman said. “But now, it’s tougher to get ads.”

Increasing technology in schools has created

trends incomparable to any other in the historyof student publications.

“The dot com lingo and internet terminologyis used more,” Ramirez said. “Back when Iwent to school, teachers just taught us how tosave and word process. Now, students canresearch on the web.”

Berschback agreed that the technologyexplosion has had a great affect on studentp u b l i c a t i o n s .

“Perhaps the biggest change is not in contentor design, but in the area of how the pages arecoming to life,” Berschback said. “Computers,digital photography, image manipulation inPhotoshop, internet page submission, proofing,record keeping, etc. And I am more amazed athow quickly these changes occur . . . muchfaster than changes in trends.”

Some schools were fortunate to have workedwith new technology earlier than others.

“My newspaper and yearbook were com-pletely digital before I even joined the staff mysophomore year of high school,” said MichiganState University student Beth McCoy , a formerstaff member of both publications at Laings-burg HS. “I noticed when I would read andlook at some of our exchange papers that theywere gradually becoming more advanced asw e l l . ”

Although technology has made high schoolpublications more advanced and efficient, someargue the trend is going in the wrong direction.

“Sadly, I am seeing a decline in good photo-journalism, with more snap shot type picturesshowing up,” Berschback said. “Most highschool students don’t even know what an f-stop is, or why it could be important.”

Since the recent University of Wisconsin con-troversy over a digitally altered photograph onthe cover of an admissions booklet, ethicalquestions have been raised in regards to newtechnology. The photo showed a digitallyadded face of a black male in a crowd of whitefans at a football game. The admissions officecould not find a diverse photo to appeal to

By Jennifer BarrettMichigan State University

Shaping the futureKeeping up with what’s hot is a full-time job

“Back when I

went to (high)

school, teachers

just taught us

how to save and

word process.

Now, students

can research on

the web.”

Yalile Ramirez MSU student

Jennifer Barrett just graduated from Michigan

State University. She was ajournalism education major

and will begin her internshipyear this fall. Continued on page 14

Name of literary magazine

School, city, ZIP Date of publication

Editor’s name

Adviser name

I understand that all material submitted by our school represents students’ work. If non-student work oralteration has affected the printed product, notations have been made to indicate those changes.

Adviser signature E-mail this summer

May 2001 13

Stet2001 MIPA Spartan Literary Magazine Contest Form

Please read: The MIPA Board of Directors has been studying the contests that MIPA sponsors in order to improve them. Several

changes will be taking place over the next two years that we believe will strengthen the contests and benefit your students. Changes will be

made in increments. The first measure voted on by the Board at its March meeting was to allow a literary magazine to still be judged if it misses

the official postmark deadline. The late postmark deadlinewill always be one month from the official postmark deadline. When you use the

late postmark deadline, your publication may not be back in time for the Spring Conference awards. There will also be an added fee for this

service. All Spartan contests will have the same opportunity to use this procedure.

D e a d l i n e : From now on, literary magazines must meet the official postmark deadline of July 15, no matter what year.Unfortunately, this deadline has changed several times. Now it will not. We will send the literary magazines out to judges soonafter we get them from you. The late postmark deadline is Aug. 15. No entries should be sent in after that date.

D i r e c t i o n s : This form is your Literary Magazine entry only. If you choose to use the official postmark deadline, the feeis $12 (payable to MIPA). Staple this form to the back of your magazine. Magazines must have been published after the springconference last year, which was April 10, 2000. If you choose to use the late postmark deadline, the fee is $24.

C r i t e r i a : One entry per school. A literary magazine emphasizes fiction, poetry, essays, drama, art and photography for itscontent. Feature articles and reviews may be included occasionally. The subject matter should be original material created by stu-dents and within their world of experience. First-hand experiences, situations occurring to friends and family and observationswithin the writer’s environment are potential topics for fiction. Quality of all forms of material should be the first consideration.A mixture of serious and light writing may serve the magazine’s purpose better than concentration on one topic. The standardsfor evaluating this entry will be graphic design, layout, photography, writing, headlines, consistency of content, artwork andt y p o g r a p h y .

Aw a r d s : Magazines will earn Spartan awards or certificates based on their scores. Awards will be presented at the 2002spring conference in April. The judges will fill out evaluation forms, which will be returned to the editor and adviser.

Literary Magazine Contest Entry Blank

1. Glue or staple this entry form to the back of your literary magazine. Do not use paper clips or tape.

2. Include the $12 entry fee if you are using the official postmark deadline. (July 15)

OR Include the $24 entry fee if you are using the late postmark deadline. (Aug. 15)

3. Mail in an envelope of its own to: Literary Magazine, MIPA office, 305 Communication Arts Building, MichiganState University, East Lansing, MI 48824-1212.

14

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sad day when you decide to leave MIPA. Let’s hopethat’s not for a long time.

• Ruth Peng, former Lake Orion High School year-book adviser. My predecessor. I was so lucky to haveyou in the building my first few years. I never took ourconversations for granted. Your wisdom is extraordi-nary.

• Sunshine Weber, Livonia Franklin High School year-book adviser. My wife. I don’t know what I’d do withoutyour love, support and understanding. I know I cansometimes be difficult—but I don’t mean to be. (Don’t

worry. I’m not planning on suggesting our first-born benamed MIPA.)

As I ponder it now, I realize it all comes back toMIPA. I wouldn’t be the same without MIPA’s influ-ences. I can’t imagine advisers who aren’t part of a jour-nalism organization. That would be like working on anisland—no human contact or resources. Like I tell mystudents during times like these, “It’s all about the expe-rience. Journalism is about the relationships you buildand the growth you make as a person.” None of us isimmune to its influences—young or old.

President’s Column, continued

Shaping the future, continued

Workshops for Publication Advisers • School of Journalism • Michigan State University • July 16–20 & 23–27, 2001

For more information, call (517) 353-6761 or e-mail pell@msu.eduor visit www.mipa.jrn.msu.edu to download the brochure.

WE HAVE JUST WHAT YOU NEED

PublicationDesign July 23–27•JRN 409/892 3 creditsInstructor: Nancy HallLearn the fundamentals ofdesign that apply toany publication. Explore the world ofdesign for the firsttime or fine tuneyour design skillsunder the watchfuleye of a top-notchdesigner.

NewspaperAdvisingJuly 23–27•JRN 409/892 3 creditsInstructor: Betsy Pollard RauLearn the craft ofnewspaper advisingfrom an award-win-ning adviser. Learnthe fundamentals ofpublication manage-ment, layout anddesign, photographiccomposition, print-ing and journalisticwriting.

YearbookAdvisingJuly 23–27•JRN 409/892 3 creditsInstructor: Lynn StrauseNew yearbookadvisers or thosewith little experiencewill find this classinvaluable. You’lllearn the fundamen-tals of yearbookmanagement, layoutand design, workingwith your yearbook representative, pho-tographic manage-ment and journalisticwriting.

Photoshopfor AdvisersJuly 16–20•JRN 490/890 2 creditsInstructor: David StedwellDigital photographyis here to stay, andhere’s your chance tolearn how to make itwork in your publi-cations. You’ll learnhow to use scanners,digital and conven-tional cameras andPhotoshop.

B e g i n n i n gP h o t o g r a p hyJuly 23–27•JRN 490/890 3 creditsInstructor: David StedwellTaking this photog-raphy class will giveyou some leverageover those photogra-phers of yours! Inthis class, you’lllearn how to use a35mm camera, com-pose photographs,develop and printfilm, manage a dark-room and teach pho-tography.

RadicalWritingJuly 23–27•JRN 409/892 3 creditsInstructor: Bobby HawthorneLearn to teach your students how tointerview, report andwrite stories that willbreathe life into theyearbook and newspaper. Theauthor of the verypopular book, TheRadical Write, willteach this course.

prospective minority students.“I gradually see more use of

cutouts and photo manipulation,”McCoy said. “A general trend ofhigh school papers when theyhave this kind of technology is touse it even when they shouldn’t.”

Olman said that the ultimategoal of a student publication is to

record the events that occurredeach year. An advisor and staffmust decide to adopt new trendsas they come and go.

“A yearbook is a record for thekids,” Olman said. “The choice isbetween a trend setter book or amore memorable book for thek i d s . ”

THE MIPA SUMMER JOURNALISM WORKSHOP islooking for a strict but caring teacher (not neces-sarily an adviser) who would like to join theworkshop crew this summer as Assistant StudentDirector for the workshop. This person wouldwork closely with the current Student Director,Stella Kirby, this summer and then take over nextsummer. For more information, e-mail Betsy Pol-lard Rau at rau@mindnet.org.

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Michigan student photographersknow how to shoot

Patrick McAbee won first place in the Portrait category inthe the April Monthly Contest. Patrick is from GoodrichHigh School. His teacher is Kay Goodall.

Second place On-site honors were given to Michael Parrfrom Grand Ledge HS. His adviser is Patrick Schroeder.

Dave Goulet from Waterford–Kettering won third placein the On-site Contest at the Spring Conference. Hisadviser is Brian Wilson.

Tracy Schmidt from Northwest HS in Jackson won first place in the Carry In On-siteContest at the Spring Conference. Her adviser is Ron Woodruff.

16

MIPA/School of Journalism 305 Communication Arts BuildingMichigan State UniversityEast Lansing, MI 48824-1212

MIPA Calendar

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July 15, 2001Official postmark deadline for 2001 springdelivery Yearbook and Literary Magazine

July 16–20, 2001Photoshop Workshop through the MSUSchool of Journalism. Brochure on Website: mipa.jrn.msu.edu

July 23–27, 2001Publication Advisers Workshops throughthe MSU School of Journalism. Brochure onWeb site: mipa.jrn.msu.edu

July 29–Aug. 2, 2001MIPA Summer Journalism Workshop forStudents. Brochure on Web site:mipa.jrn.msu.edu

Aug. 15, 2001Late postmark deadline for 2001 springdelivery Yearbook and Literary Magazine

September 29, 2001Fresh Start: A One-Day Journalism Work-shop for beginning students and advisers

Oct. 11, 2001MIPA Fall Conference at Lansing Center inLansing

Nov. 15, 2001Fall delivery Yearbook official postmarkdeadline for 2001 yearbook

Dec. 15, 2001Fall delivery Yearbook late postmark dead-line for 2001 yearbook

Jan. 31, 2002Deadline to join MIPA for publications/productions to be judged in 2001-2002

Feb. 22, 2002Newspaper (Spartan and Individual Cate-gory) and Web Site/Video Production offi-cial postmark deadline for 2000-2001entries

March 2, 2002MIPA Individual Newspaper Category judging at MSU

March 22, 2002 Spartan Newspaper, Web and Video Pro-duction late postmark deadline for 2000-2001 entries

Michigan Interscholastic Press Association

Summer Journalism Workshopfor High School Students

Michigan State University East Lansing, Michigan

July 29 – August 2, 2001

Visit our Web sitehttp://mipa.jrn.msu.edu/

ONEWORKSHOP

THERE’S ONLY