Spring 2008 - Humboldt State University

JournAlum
Not All Alumni Leave The Nest
Matt Hawk
Pristine nature, beaches,
fresh air, and the opportunities of
a small university are some of the
many elements that bring people to
Humboldt for an education. Many
Humboldt State University journalism graduates have left Humboldt
after experiencing what it has to offer. Yet, others have chosen to follow a different path and stay and
work at the school. Some who grew
up here never left.
“It was always sort of destiny,” said Jarad Petroske. Born in
Eureka, Calif., Petroske dreamed of
writing for one of the elite magazines, such as Harper’s, before landing a job at The Times-Standard.
After doing a semester abroad he
decided that Humboldt County was
the only place he wanted to be.
“HSU is a wonderful place
to work,” said Petroske, a web editor for the school. “I get to go to
Arcata and work in the trees.”
Another alumna who grew
up in Humboldt and settled into
adult life is Adrienne ColegroveRaymond, 43. Growing up on the
Hoopa Indian Reservation, she never wanted to leave her family. After
graduating in 1992, she got married
and had a family of her own. Before
working at HSU, she tutored math,
Spring 2008
Page 1
Photo taken by Kate Olsen
(left to right) Stacie Lyans, Adrienne Colegrove-Raymond,
Phillip Rouse, Heather Parker, Tom Trepiak
took a public relations job with the
Humboldt County Health Clinic and
did freelance writing.
Colegrove-Raymond is the
interim director of the Student Academic Services Outreach Program
and Educational Talent Search.
She is in charge of helping disadvantaged kids and first-generation
youth (children whose parents have
not graduated from college) find a
way to afford college.
“I almost thought about quitting,” she said, remembering the
days of beginning reporting where
she would receive an automatic F if
a name were spelled wrong.
Looking back, ColegroveRaymond said she loves her experience at HSU and values the skills
she learned as a journalism major.
“Every skill in journalism I have
learned, I utilized in every job I had,”
she said.
Kim Vincent-Layton is also
an alumna who had children and
decided to put down roots in Humboldt. Originally from San Diego,
Vincent-Layton made the pilgrimage
north to Humboldt in search of better opportunities available in a small
community.
Writing stories since she was
Continued on Page 19
JournAlum
From the Desk
of the
Department
Chair
Photo taken by Kate Olsen
Mark A. Larson
Greetings to everyone!
We’ve enjoyed seeing continued excellence in our students. Prof. Vicky
Sama’s video students were honored
with a third-place award for television news at the annual fall CSU
Media Arts festival. Students from
the Introduction to Video Production class have produced six public
service announcements that are now
running on local television stations
owned by the Eureka Television
Group: Fox, CBS, TBS and Mytv
(formerly UPN).
Our spring semester got off
to a great start with our publication
& web design workshop led by design guru Tim Harrower! We had
several alumni join us, including a
few from way out of the area. Now
we wait to see if the workshop will
lead to design changes in the LJ and
Osprey. In other good news, Prof.
Marcy Burstiner tells me as I write
this column that The Lumberjack
newspaper is up for multiple awards
this year at the coming California
College Media Association event in
early March.
Spring 2008
Page 2
We have also enjoyed
the births of two babies in recent
months. Prof. George Estrada and
his wife, Noreen, have a new baby
girl (born in January). Kim Moon,
our departmental administrative coordinator, had a new baby boy (born
in October).
We are also developing new
curricular changes to help our students gain skills in multi-media
reporting with audio and video –
check out The LJ website for examples <thejackonline.org>. We
continue our strong emphasis on
law, ethics, research, writing and
editing. We were lucky to still have
Prof. Mac McClary willing and
available to teach two classes in the
fall semester!
I also want to express my
gratitude for your continued generosity this past year to the JMC Department. Your scholarship gifts are
incredibly supportive to our majors
as undergrad “fees” are now nearing $3k per year. Your Trust gifts
helped support our expenses for
Harrower’s visit, buy a new Internet server for KRFH-AM and replace video cameras, for example.
We all enjoy your return visits to the department very much! Let
me know in advance and we’ll have
you provide a guest lecture! We can
give you a tour of the LJ newspaper facilities now located one floor
above KRFH-AM in Gist Hall.
Please share what’s new in your
lives with your calls, letters and email, including job openings and
internships, at our website’s feedback form or call 707.826.4775.
My e-mail: mal2@humboldt.edu
Check Us Out!
The Lumberjack
www.thejackonline.org
KRFH Student Radio Station
610 A. M.
KRFH.net
Journalism Department Home
www.humboldt.edu/~jmc
www.humboldt.edu/~osprey
www.humboldt.edu/~travel
JournAlum
Journalism Alum Becomes
New Library Director
Chad Harris
Victor Zazueta (1977) has
made his way back to Humboldt
County and currently serves as the
Humboldt County library director.
Zazueta received his bachelor’s degree in journalism from Humboldt
State University.
While he was attending
Humboldt State in the mid 1970s,
Zazueta worked construction jobs
throughout the summer to pay for
his education. He is proud that he
was able to keep going and earn his
B.A. and pursue his career.
Zazueta worked a couple
of newspaper jobs after graduating from Humboldt State, but said
he didn’t have an interest or just
wasn’t very good at working for
newspapers.
“I have distinct and positive
memories of Victor in my classroom in TA 17,” said Prof. Mark
Larson. “He thought carefully in
advance about what he was going
to say and always made cogent and
timely contributions in discussions.
Victor’s path after graduation reflects what I love most about our
grads – they work hard at finding a
connection to careers that they love
and are good at.”
In 1984, Zazueta completed
a second bachelor’s degree from
the University of California, Santa
Cruz, in community studies.
He continued his education
Spring 2008
Page 3
Photo courtesy of Zazueta
at the University of California, Santa Barbara, to study history at the
graduate level.
“While I was at UCSB I figured out that I wanted to be a librarian and applied for library school,”
he said.
Zazueta received a master’s
degree in library and information
studies in 1989 from the University
of California, Berkeley.
Shortly after earning his
master’s, he got a job as an audiovisual and reference librarian at
Weaver Library in Los Angeles
County. While there, he learned
the tricks of the trade, getting experience in all areas of a large library
branch.
After seven years at Weaver
Supervisor Bonnie Neely and
Victor Zazueta at the White House
Library, Zazueta moved on to Florence Library, where he became the
community library manager from
August 1997 to June 2000.
El Centro Public Library
hired Zazueta in July of 2000 to be
its library director.
“During my time at El Centro, I successfully sought a matching grant of $70,000 for renovation
of the children’s area and became
increasingly involved in children
and adult programming. I extended
library hours for the public and avidly sought after and received technology grants for the library,” he
said.
At his next job at Imperial
Valley College, Zazueta worked as a
Continued on Page 13
JournAlum
Emmy Winner
Talks About Career
Jennifer McElroy
Emmy Award-winning television news producer Ann (Tapie)
Prater (1978) describes herself as a
successful professional with a strong
family life – and she says she’s happy to be back on a university campus
again working with college students.
Prater is the director of
advancement for the College of
Humanities and Fine Arts doing outreach and fundraising for
the arts at Chico State University.
“It’s fun. It really is fun,”
she said. “Every day is different
and creative.” Currently she is getting ready to implement a plan to
fund a permanent home for a collection of 3,000 pieces of fine art.
After graduating from HSU,
Prater began her career in television
news starting as a news director and
reporter for KVIQ-TV in Eureka.
“The education at Humboldt
State University was excellent because it was so interactive,” she said.
“It gave me the confidence I needed.”
By 1982, Prater was a producer for KXTV in Sacramento. She
later moved on to San Diego, where
she became the Emmy Awardwinning producer of the 6:30 and
11 p.m. newscasts for KFMB-TV.
An interest in the medical
field led her to the marketing and
public relations side of journalism.
In 1989, Prater became the marketing and communications manager
Spring 2008
Page 4
at the Clinic and Research Foundation in La Jolla. While there she
produced a national award-winning
video and print campaign displaying the skills of the medical team.
In the early 1990s, Prater
and family moved to the Redding
area, where she became the director of public relations and marketing for Enloe Medical Center,
Catholic Healthcare West North
State and Redding Medical Center.
“We wanted to move back
to Northern California to raise
our kids in a more rural, slowerpaced environment, similar to
that of Humboldt State,” she said.
Today, she and her husband, Troy, are proud parents of
Trevor, 22, David, 19, and Wes,
17. Prater said her family enjoys camping, hiking, skiing and
snowboarding together. Prater
loves the rivers that flow through
Northern California, which appeal
to her deep affinity with nature.
Prater said she remembers
how much she appreciated the faculty who gave her the opportunity to
do her best. “Howard Seemann was
a touchstone for me. Mark Larson
was a young up-and-coming teacher, and Mac (McClary) was great.”
Seemann was The Lumberjack faculty adviser for Prater. She described
him as “an extremely demanding yet compassionate mentor.”
“Both he and Pete Wilson
(adviser for the radio news work-
shop) took a personal interest in
my success and gave me the confidence I needed to transition successfully from school to work.”
“I remember Ann’s intelligence, wonderful laugh and sense
of humor very clearly,” said Larson. “Her ability to light up a room
and to get a group to focus on a task
was exceptional as an undergraduate. We knew she would be successful at whatever she chose for
a career path, given her abilities.”
“I still use my journalism
skills -- in fact I’m currently writing a news release for a reception,”
she said. “The Journalism Department offers students the incredible
opportunity to work hands-on in
developing the trade. Every moment spent working on The Lumberjack will pay off ten-fold.”
Visit Us Online!
www.humboldt.edu/~brethart
JournAlum
Bakersfield Editor
Puts Paper Online
Sheldon Sabbatini
After a short stint for the
newly formed Eureka Re
For Leann Whitporter, she decided to move
ten (2002), an early intera little closer to her family
est in majoring in English
and home in Southern Caliat HSU became a love of
fornia.
journalism and opened up
Since March of
a whole new realm of ca2005, Whitten has been polreer possibilities.
ishing stories and checking
Her life interests
the facts as copy editor for
changed simply by takThe Bakersfield Californian.
ing a beginning reporting
Last July, she made the tranclass and working on a colsition over to web copy edilege newspaper called The
tor.
Lumberjack.
“The web site is be
“I fell in love with
coming the priority, with a
journalism,” said Whitten.
smaller staff dedicated to
“I loved the Journalism
daily print,” Whitten said.
Department and Humboldt
With all the changes
State.”
happening in the newspaper
“Leann was a very
industry, Whitten hasn’t had
good all-around student
any trouble keeping her inand very open to learning
terest level up. She offers
new things,” said retired
this advice:
professor and former Lum
“Don’t be focused
berjack newspaper adviser Photo courtesy of Whitten
Leann Whitten on any one specialty,” she
Jerry Reynolds.
said. One new direction that
“It was especially
when she began and by the time
is exciting to Whitten is ongood to see her people skills devel- she graduated she had real leader- line video content.
op at The Lumberjack over time. ship skills and a deep commitment “It’s a different way
She started out very quiet but re- to journalism.”
of looking at the same things,” she
ally found herself as a member of Whitten’s career has un- said. Reporters at The Bakersfield
The Lumberjack staff and became dergone rapid changes since she Californian now carry small video
managing editor one semester.”
graduated from the Journalism De- cameras to record their interviews
“The best part of teaching is partment. Whitten first spent a year instead of using notepads and pawatching young people like Leann working for the Humboldt Beacon per.
gain confidence,” said Prof. Mark in Fortuna. She next became photo Whitten said this technique
Larson. “She was a tall, talented editor and page designer for The allows a wide variety of media opand extremely quiet young person Times-Standard.
Continued on Page 18
Spring 2008
Page 5
JournAlum
Faculty Updates
Jonathan Douglas
Marcy Burstiner is teaching Introduction to Mass Communication, Public
Affairs Reporting and Empirical Research. She continues to act as the faculty
adviser for The Lumberjack, which has won two awards this past year from
the California College Media Association. She is writing an investigative reporting textbook, “The Big Story,” for Holcomb Hathaway.
Lumberjack Update: The Lumberjack moved from its Nelson Hall East office into Gist Hall. The new room is more like a newsroom, with better visibility and access for computers. The ad sales are doing well, and the paper is
in the best financial shape in years. The paper also brought home four awards
(Third place general excellence, third place best editorial, first place best back
to school issue, first place feature photography) from the California College
Media Association this year.
George Estrada and his wife, Noreen, have a new addition to their household,
a daughter named Alessandra. She was born at St. Joseph Hospital in Eureka
on Jan. 19. Ally’s older brother, George III, started kindergarten last fall. On
the creative front, Prof. Estrada continues to write his weekly column for the
Philippine Times of Las Vegas, and it was recently picked up by the California
Examiner. Estrada hopes to add more newspapers to his mini-syndicate soon.
Estrada is also developing a TV series for one of the networks. “It’s about a
journalism professor and his students,” Estrada said. “I’ve got plenty of good
material from real life to draw from. Don’t be surprised to find some familiar
characters in it.”
Elizabeth Hans-McCrone has worked as the general manager of KHSU for
the past five years, and she is again currently teaching advanced public relations with the Journalism Department. She has been working in different
departments at HSU since 1999. KHSU has recently hired a new director of
development, who is helping the station develop a strong connection to local non-profit groups such as the Humboldt Fish Action Council, Humboldt
Planned Parenthood, Food for People, and Humboldt Breast Health. KHSU
is planning a fundraising drive from April 5-12, which will feature a different
local non-profit organization on the station every day.
Spring 2008
Page 6
JournAlum
Craig Klein serves on several committees, including the University Faculty
Personnel Committee, which reviews all retention, tenure, and
promotion candidates at HSU. He continues to teach a broad spectrum of
classes in the Journalism Department.
Mark Larson’s last family tie to South Dakota- his 93-year-old father- passed
on in November, and the funeral proved to be an emotionally moving and important family reunion. “It’s amazing to me to see the common transitions we
Baby Boomers are going through together- including me imagining actually
retiring from HSU some day soon,” he said. But not while research, Photoshop
and p.r. are still so much fun to teach. The rest of his academic life this year has
been over-full with volunteering to serve as chair of the Academic Senate. He
has also been invited to lead another two-week CSU Summer Arts photography
workshop this coming summer. “You’re invited to join,” Larson said. No river
trips for him this last year, but he enjoyed travel and photography in Kauai,
Washington D.C. and Santa Fe with his wife.
Mac McClary taught two classes in the fall and has completed 40 years of
teaching at HSU. He and his wife, Ann, who was a med tech at HSU for about
30 years, recently celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary. They plan to
travel to Europe in the spring, and Mac hopes to teach part time again in the
fall.
Joan Loitz
Spring 2008
Page 7
JournAlum
Linda McMaster now shares staffing resources with the Department of Communication. That means their administrative support coordinator, Kim Moon,
has moved their department office over to Bret Harte House. McMaster says
her perspective has been broadened by the changes. “Mark Larson has taught
me so much about keeping in touch with our journalism grads. As each year
passes, I realize the number of you I know personally is growing. It makes the
alumni surveys much more interesting to me now. As a result of the budget
cuts that have changed my daily work routine, I’ve met faculty from three other
departments, and I’m meeting students who are not journalism majors. There
is such a variety of talent that comes through the Bret Harte House doors, and
I feel lucky to be a part of it.”
Kim Moon works as administrative support coordinator of the Communication Department and The Journalism and Mass Communication Department.
She has worked at HSU for the past six years, and is pursuing a B.A. in native
american studies with a minor in Psychology. The newest edition to her family
is a son, Michael Sy Moon-Manzi, who was born on Oct. 10, 2007. Her partner, Grant, and she are very proud of their creation. Grant is a full-time student
and is also a major in the JMC department with an emphasis on Broadcast
News.
Sarah Page, The Lumberjack’s business and advertising manager, reports that
the advertising department had record ad sales, contributing to ever-increasing
ad revenues. With the help of this year’s excellent student staff, the paper is
looking better than ever. It also moved to a new office in Gist Hall 227. This
spring, she will finish classes for the English Department’s graduate program,
Teaching Writing. She only has her thesis left to complete. She lives with her
partner, Mark, in Blue Lake, where she spends her days “watching films, playing board games, collecting jazz vinyls, talking philosophy and waiting for the
warmth and sun that signifies outdoor barbecues, digging in our garden and
swimming in the Mad River.”
Victoria Sama is teaching Beginning Reporting, Introduction to Video Production, TV News Workshop, and advising student internships. Her Public Affairs
video production class last spring won a CSU Media Arts Festival award in the
fall for its television magazine news program “Insight.”
Video Update: The Public Affairs Video Production class won a CSU Media
Arts Festival award for their 30-minute news magazine show “Insight.” The
department purchased a new high-definition video camera to replace one that
was stolen last year. “We are slowly building up the equipment and technology
that students need to compete in the marketplace,” Sama Said.
Spring 2008
Page 8
JournAlum
Zoe Walrond continues to teach at HSU as faculty adviser to both the KRFH
student-run radio station and the news workshop, KRFH news. She has written a children’s book called “Limburger Schwimburger” and also is part owner
of the minor league baseball team in Yakima, Wash., the Yakima Bears.
KRFH Update: In the Spring of 2007 the students of KRFH formed a task
force to examine the current and future goals of the student-run radio station.
Starting with the first day of summer that year, KRFH has been rebuilt from
the ground up.
Sid Dominitz works as an editorial consultant for the Northcoast Environmental Center’s monthly newsletter EcoNews, which he edited for more than 30
years, as well as three other local non-profits: Californians for Alternatives to
Toxics (CATs), Humboldt Baykeeper and the Mainstream Media Project. He
provided teaching coverage for Prof. Estrada in his spring 2008 family leave.
Robert Gluckson operates a public relations company known as Good Cause
Marketing, which uses newspaper design concepts to create visually pleasing
web sites. He offers free web-site analysis to Humboldt State alums at his
website, goodcausemarketing.com. He provided teaching coverage for Prof.
Estrada in his spring 2008 family leave. He graduated from HSU with a degree in journalism-PR in 1985.
Our Staff
Editor In Chief:
Chris Hoff
Photo Editor:
Kate Olsen
Layout Editor:
Adrian Emery
Spring 2008
Page 9
Writers:
Zack Cinek
Marianne Donovan
Adrian Emery
Chad Harris
Matt Hawk
Jennifer McElroy
Sheldon Sabbatini
Nathan Schofield
Brett Shiells
Faculty Updates:
Jonathan Douglas
Alumni Files:
Chris Hoff
Advisers:
Mark Larson
George Estrada
JournAlum
Community Journalist
Shares Experiences
Zack Cinek
In February 2008, John
Hatcher (1992) received a letter
about a Martin Luther King Jr. column he’d written 10 years earlier.
Hatcher’s column talked about celebrating Martin Luther King Jr. Day
in his local area.
The letters author said
Hatcher’s column had inspired him
to take action.
“Living in a small community and having what you do make a
difference,” Hatcher said, is why he
likes community journalism.
“Some people think that
community journalism is the thing
that could save newspapers,” said
journalism professor Marcy Burstiner. In places where there is no town
square and malls are on the outskirts
of town, the newspaper becomes the
town square, she said.
“It’s the glue that holds communities together,” Burstiner said,
“the only glue.”
Hatcher came to Humboldt
State University after being in the
Navy. He planned to study oceanography at Humboldt State. Hatcher
eventually made journalism his major and graduated in 1992.
Today, Hatcher dispenses
job advice from the late Prof. Howard Seemann in his current job as
a professor at the University of
Minnesota, Duluth. Hatcher said
he finds himself quoting Seemann
Spring 2008
Page 10
Photo courtesy of
Hatcher
John Hatcher
and His Dog
when lecturing, but without the terrible jokes.
As a student at Humboldt
State, Hatcher went to see Seemann
in his office. Feeling doubtful about
journalism, Hatcher was told by
the “tough as nails” Seemann that
he was doing all right, and that he
should join The Lumberjack staff.
Hatcher held positions as the
community pages editor and opinion pages editor at The Lumberjack.
Hatcher said that he was more interested in the community than the
campus when he was a student.
After graduation from Humboldt State, Hatcher had an internship at the Modesto Bee. Hatcher’s
first job in journalism came from
The Daily Messenger, a familyowned newspaper in upstate New
York. Hatcher eventually became
editor of the paper after starting as
a reporter.
“When you mess up you are
going to hear about it in the grocery store,” Hatcher said. “They
(the community) hold you accountable.”
Hatcher also worked for the
not-for-profit Center for Community
Journalism based at State University of New York at Oswego. At the
Center for Community Journalism,
Hatcher visited newsrooms at ethnic newspapers, newspapers in the
Bronx and rural newspapers across
New York. “It was a blast,” Hatcher
said.
What Hatcher saw when
working for the Center for Community Journalism inspires him.
“People believed in the places they
were working in,” Hatcher said.
In 2006, Hatcher earned a
Ph.D. in mass communication from
the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse
University. Hatcher’s master’s of
media studies is also from Syracuse
University.
“I enjoyed mentoring John
via e-mail through his interests in
pursuing graduate degrees,” said
Prof. Mark Larson. “It was great
fun to see his interests develop in
becoming a journalism professor
because I knew he would be very
effective in the college classroom.
We’ve also shared some time together in San Antonio at the national journalism-education conference
a few years ago.”
A current project for Hatcher is the Duluth Community News
website made by Hatcher’s students. “Getting out and talking to
people,” Hatcher said, is one of the
challenges facing the students of
Duluth Community News.
JournAlum
Mac Guru Becomes
Published Author
Adrian Emery
Jim Elferdink (1988) is
now a familiar face again around
The Lumberjack office. He’s been
the newspaper’s computer technician and software guru since Jerry
Reynolds retired.
Elferdink’s day job is running a Macintosh consulting and repair business out of McKinleyville
called “Macs for the Masses.”
Elferdink purchased his
first Mac at the Humboldt Bookstore. “It was a huge step up from
the typewriter I’d been using,” he
said. “I just got interested in how
they worked, and just learned more
and more about it.”
“There were certain problems with the early Macs, power
supply problems that were easy to
fix if you know what to do with a
soldering iron,” said Elferdink. “I
got really good at that, and just decided I could make money at it.”
“Jim has been a remarkably effective tech- and softwaresupport person for us,” said Prof.
Mark Larson. “After Jerry retired,
we really needed someone with insights on how to keep the newspaper’s Mac technology functioning.
Jim also helped us make the transfer to FTPing the page layouts to
the printer. It was quite a transition
away from the waxer!”
Elferdink has also been
hired by Larson as a guest artist
Spring 2008
Page 11
in his recent CSU Summer Arts Mac.
photography workshops in Fresno. The first of Elferdink’s
“Jim is a very talented photogra- “Missing Manuals,” co-written
pher as well as a big help in making with David Reynolds, focused on
our computer lab and inkjet printer the program Appleworks 6, and is
function at the workshops. Even still in print today. For a software
better, he shares my interests in af- guide, this is quite unusual.
ter-hour margaritas.”
“There are so many Apple
In his spare time, Elferdink works fans out there,” said Elferhas also become a prolific author. dink. “It was really popular in eduHe may have a remedy for anyone cation [in 2000] and still is.”
who finds Microsoft Office: Mac to His latest book, focusing
be an enigma. His latest book, an- on Microsoft Office: Mac, will be
other part of the “Missing Manual” published through O’Reilly Pubseries, for Microsoft Office: Mac, is lishing.
due out in March.
Elferdink has been
writing for David Pogues’
“Missing Manual” series
since 2000. The series is
a comprehensive look at
how to use some extremely popular computer programs. These programs
are released with little or
no instruction on how to
use them.
“Software publishers have been trying to get
their products out quicker
and quicker,” Elferdink
said. “One of the things
that holds it up is publishing a manual to go with
it.”
Elferdink has written three such manuals for
Appleworks 6, iWork ʼ05,
Jim Elferdink at
and Microsoft Office: Photo courtesy of Elferdink
Glacier Point in Yosemite
JournAlum
One of the First Grads Talks
About Department History
Nathan Schofield
Rich Varenchik (1968)
planned to be a history major at
Humboldt State College in the late
1960s, but as he neared graduation
he realized that he did not want to
teach high school or junior high
school. He said he feared these
would be his only options with a
history degree.
Advised by one of his English teachers that his writing skills
would work well with journalism,
he looked into taking classes with
professors Larry Miles and Maclyn
McClary, who were the founding
fathers of the Journalism Department in the fall of 1967.
Varenchik eventually graduated with a degree in history but
continued taking journalism classes, gaining experience in news
writing, photojournalism and public relations. This gave him a better
idea of where he wanted to take his
career and skills.
During his stay at Humboldt State College (as the university was then called), Varenchik
also worked as a writer for The
Lumberjack, which he described as
a much smaller paper than it is today.
“When I left Humboldt, my
experience with journalism helped
me get a job at the Merced SunTimes,” Varenchik said. “Most of
the jobs I’ve landed were primarily
Spring 2008
Page 12
Photo courtesy of Varenchik
due to my writing skills, which the
classes at Humboldt helped cultivate.”
Varenchik was involved in
campus politics and was well-liked
by students and teachers, said Prof.
McClary. “He was a talented writer
and had a critical eye for the media, which would benefit him in his
work, both as a reporter and in public relations throughout his career.”
Varenchik learned vital skills
at Humboldt State and his career afterwards. He said, “The ability to be
fast and also accurate is very helpful,” and has served him well.
Throughout the 1970s into
the 1980s, Varenchik worked for
17 years as a reporter specializing
in law enforcement and courts at
Rich Varenchik
various California newspapers.
He then worked for the California
Legislature as field representative
to State Sen. Alan Robbins for two
years. This was followed by a job
at the California Department of
Toxic Substances Control as a public information officer and public
participation specialist.
“For the last 11 years I
have worked at the California Air
Resources Board,” said Varenchik.
“I started off as a public information officer, and worked my way to
deputy communications director.”
In the process he became
an air-pollution specialist, focusing on diesel emissions given off
by waste-collection vehicles. In
Continued on Page 19
JournAlum
PR Representative
Uses New Media
Marianne Donovan
Emil Rodriguez (2006), a
public relations representative of
Porter Novelli, is introducing the
world of podcasting to his clients.
A degree in public relations and an
emphasis in graphic design has led
him to his current employer. Porter
Novelli, a global public relations
company, has become famous for
creating the Food Pyramid program,
the 5-A-Day campaign and the Truth
Youth Anti-Tobacco Campaign.
During Rodriguez’s last semester at Humboldt State, Prof.
Mark Larson spoke about how Seattle was a developing city for public relations and Rodriguez felt like
he wanted to become part of the action. During finals week in 2006,
Rodriguez began a series of phone
interviews with Porter Novelli. After completing numerous interviews
and a timed writing exam, he was
hired on as an intern and nearly two
months later he became an official
Zazueta (From Page 3)
reference librarian. When he heard
about the job opening in Eureka, he
quickly applied for the opportunity
to come back to Humboldt County.
“I enjoy the green in Humboldt County, moving from a desert area like the Imperial Valley,”
he said. “Family is another reason
why I came back to the area.”
Zazueta’s wife, Cathy, is
Spring 2008
Page 13
employee. Rodriguez is currently
assistant account executive at Porter Novelli and is currently working
with Hasbro toys and has worked
with Hewlett-Packard, Safeco Insurance, and Harman/Kardon.
Rodriguez is almost at his
one-year mark with Porter Novelli
and has been climbing the corporate
ladder within the company. He has
many accomplishments in one year
such as pitching and winning two
new clients with the help of his public relations and graphic skills.
On a daily basis he researches current trends regarding the specific account he is working on at
the time and keeps up with current
news in the industry to try and predict opportunities for the accounts.
Rodriguez works on pitching client’s events to the media through
press releases, marketing, and blogging. Rodriguez said that currently
he is “getting clients into the world
of podcasting.”
That is all based on a foun-
dation of knowledge he gained at
HSU. Rodriguez said, “I really got
a lot out of the Journalism Department. I really liked the teachers in
journalism. There was enough variety to have entertaining classes
and they had real experience in the
field.” He felt that Beginning Reporting was a beneficial class for
improving his writing skills, and
getting to the point without being
long-winded. Advanced Public Relations “showed what you are getting yourself into” for a future career.
He offered these words of
advice for future graduates: “Research the firm you are going for,
especially agencies. Know what
you’re going into and show a passion for the firm.”
He stressed the importance
of first impressions through the interview process and advised, “Make
sure you have two or three people
look over your resume and cover
letters.”
also a librarian. She grew up in
nearby Miranda. She has worked
on several library-related projects,
even building and remodeling libraries outside of the United States.
In his short time since becoming the Humboldt County library director this past May, Zazueta
has been busy with a variety of projects. He helped to start a $16,000
fundraiser to establish a Wi-Fi con-
nection in the main library in Eureka. He has also been able to hire
two new library-management team
members.
He is quickly developing
strong ties with the community and
frequently gives presentations at
community service organizations.
When Zazueta’s not at work,
he enjoys reading. “I also like art,
both making it and looking at it.”
JournAlum
Alumni Files
56
Owner of San Leandro Times and Castro
Valley Forum, Fred Zehnder graduated
in 1956. Having worked for 23 years at
KTVU-TV in Oakland. He is a member of
a number of press organizations, including
the Bay Area Press Photographer’s Association. The four-time Emmy Award winner
collects antique printing equipment such as
Linotype machines.
Where They Are Now...
Like many, Alan Sanborn has had too
many menial jobs to count. Currently he
works for the hardest boss in the world,
himself. The 1973 graduate works as an
artist and art instructor. Married to Lisa
Petterson, he is a father of two, Liam, 14,
and Aidan, 12. He says his career is also
his hobby.
74
Karen (Rockwell) Vertin graduated in
1974, lives in Novato, Calif., and works as
a health insurance agent at Brody, Walsh
and Brody. Vertin is the mother of two: Tyler and Ben, both 21.
70
Married 37 years to the “same guy,” Katy
Tahja sent her daughter to Humboldt State
to study natural resources in the fall 2007
semester. Living in Comptche, Calif., she
works as a librarian at Mendocino Middle
School and is also the mother of a second 76
daughter, Matti, 29.
Robin (Piard) Holabird works at the State
of Nevada Film Office. The 1976 graduate
71
is married and lives in Reno. Holabird enBonnie Newman Julien (1971), works for joys travel and wine.
Eureka City schools. She is married to an
HSU business alumnus who graduated in At least someone still believes in newspa1971, and is the mother of one child, Lau- pers. Emily Kratzer says newspapers are
ren Julien Nipert.
not dead, “they just need to be re-invented,
then delivered by a responsive circulation
72
team.” Staff writer, or “content provider,”
Retired First Sgt. Larry Wolf of the Cali- for online news source www.lohud.com,
fornia Army National Guard has seen the and The Journal News, Kratzer enjoys readworld since he graduated from Humboldt ing, crocheting and visiting California. The
State in 1972. If not the whole world, a New Jersey state resident who graduated in
large slice of it. He has been to Mexico, 1976, is married and has two children, W.
Canada, Panama, Costa Rica, Honduras, Russell Voss and Alex Voss.
Brazil, Argentina, Morocco, Spain, Italy,
Ukraine, Taiwan and Vietnam. The married 77
father of five sons and grandfather of 10 Enjoying what he calls a good life while
grandchildren currently lives in Vancou- starting up a consulting organization is
ver, Wash.
what Rick Lytle has been doing lately. The
1977 graduate now lives in Cameron Park,
73
Calif., with his spouse and children Alex,
Recently named by San Francisco Maga- 13, Natalie, 15, and Nate, 16. In 2007 he
zine to its “Super Lawyers” list for the third went on trips with his family to Colorado
year in a row, this 1973 graduate enjoys and New York.
hunting. Paul Brisso went on a trip to British Columbia in October of 2006, where he 80
hunted mountain goat, moose and caribou. Brian Akre graduated in 1980, and curMarried and living in Eureka, Brisso works rently lives in Finland, where he works for
for Mitchell, Brisso, Delaney and Vriez as Nokia Corp. He is married and has three
an attorney.
children: Hailey, 8, Karina, 3, and Caelan,
Spring 2008
Page 14
1. He plans on exploring Finland, Sweden
and Norway by car.
Where do you go when you need an ocean
and redwood fix? Linda (Pullen) Brewer
returns to Humboldt. The married mother
of three, Kai, 26, Alina, 22, and Mike, 17,
is the owner of Body Kneads Massage
Therapy. The 1980 graduate now lives in
Arizona and sits on the boards of various
community organizations when she is not
taking cross-country motorcycle trips.
Dennis Weber graduated in 1980, and
works for California State Parks as a maintenance program director. Weber is married
and lives in Roseville, Calif. He has two
children, Caitlin, 22, and Brian, 18.
Married “happily” to wife Pamela, Eric
Wiegers likes golf, music and reading
in his free time. The 1980 graduate now
works as deputy director of the California
Apartment Association. Wiegers, a father
of three, Brandon, 23, Cory, 22, and Carlie, 21, is also a member of the board of
the American Cancer Society, American
Musical Theater and Silicon Valley Charity Ball.
Deborah (Apuli) Willoughby is back in
the Northwest after four years in Alabama.
The married 1980 graduate lives in Vancouver, Wash., and has two children, Jay,
15, and Clara, 12.
81
Joy Dellas is active in the Humboldt art
community, where she has started the Arcata Artisans Coop. She has been an artist
coordinator for North Coast Open Studio/
Redwood Arts Guide. The 1981 graduate lives in Arcata, where she is self-employed.
Elaina (Cox) Jackson enjoys reading, hiking, skiing and traveling. The 1981 graduate works for The Pacific Wood Preserving
Companies as an operating officer, and
lives in Incline Village, Nev.
82
Robin (Walsh) Grimm graduated in 1982,
works at State Compensation Insurance
JournAlum
Beverly J. (Freeman) Weber has finally
found her happy place in Arizona, with
her tiny redwood tree, her hot tub and her
swimming pool. The 1985 graduate lives
there with her husband and two children,
Rachel, 15, and Robert, 9. Weber works at
Carla Payne graduated in 1982. Working the University of Arizona as an academic
toward a doctorate in clinical psychology, counselor, and lives in Youngtown.
Payne plans to work in a hospital setting.
Payne is the parent of three children, Lu- 86
cas, 15, Natalie, 13, and Graham, 10.
Laura (Rhoades) Thomas is touched by
the plight of stray cats and works to rescue
83
them. The Seattle resident is working toChris Crescibene graduated in 1983, and ward a career as a psychologist, graduated
works for the San Francisco Chronicle as a in 1986. Thomas is married and has two
news editor. Crescibene is married, lives in children, Cole, 11, and Luke, 7.
Novato, Calif., and has two children, Sophia, 8, and Annabel, 4.
Natalie Wojinski graduated in 1986 and
lives in Hercules, Calif. Wojinski, who has
Richard Nelson has traveled throughout finally made it to Europe this year - twice,
the United States, Mexico, Europe, Japan works at West Contra Costa Unified School
and other countries. The 1983 graduate District.
currently works for the Los Angeles Times
as a copy editor. Nelson is married and 87
lives in Pasadena, Calif.
Meg Godlewski still plays the drums. Currently living in Seattle, this 1987 graduate
85
works for Flyer Media Inc. and is self-emWhen you read a title like senior waste ployed.
minimization representative, you don’t expect that person to be working for one of the Founder of Organized Chaos production
largest media conglomerates in the world. company, Tony Potts (1987) is married
Marialyce Pedersen, however, holds that with two girls, 13 and 3, lives in Santa
title at the Walt Disney Company. She is Clarita,Calif., and works for Access Holin charge of enviromental policy, corporate lywood/NBC Network/Universal Group.
social responsibility and green business
practices. The 1985 graduate loves work- 88
ing for the environment, but misses saving Vincent Hernandez graduated in 1988 and
the world through journalistic muckraking. lives in Las Vegas with his wife, Melissa,
Single mother of Soren Christian Muniz, and two step-children, Eldon, 17, and Chelshe has won a number of awards including sea, 15. Hernandez works for Recharger
the California Integrated Waste Manage- Magazine/1105 Media as a news editor. He
ment Board WRAP Award.
is also the publisher of a trade show expo
website, www.trade-show-expo.com. His
Kevin Rex graduated in 1985, works wife is the managing editor.
at Nampa Christian School and lives in
Cadwell, Idaho. Rex is married and has
two children, Nathan, 12, and Nikolas, 6.
Lynn (Enemark) Pretzel graduated in
1988 and works at St. Bernard’s Catholic
Glenn Franco Simmons is editor at the School as a director of special events. The
Eureka Reporter. Simmons, who graduated married mother of two children, Adam,
in 1985, is married and has four children, 6, and Amanda, 3, enjoys camping, cross
Chelsey, 22, Kristin, 22, Chad, 23, and stitch, photography and playing with her
Sarah, 28.
kids.
Fund as a training coordinator and lives in
McKinleyville. Grimm is married and the
stepmother of two sons, Jeffery, 21, and
Gary, 18. The family also includes four canines and a feathered friend.
Spring 2008
Page 15
91
On Aug. 6, 2006, McKinleyville Press celebrated its 10-year anniversary, and that is
something that owner-editor-reporter Jack
Durham is proud of. The 1991 graduate
lives in McKinleyville, with the goal of using his bicycle more than his car.
Beth Mersky, a 1991 graduate, enjoyed
Humboldt State so much that the Mill Valley resident’s step-daughter and a family
friend have applied to become students.
93
Shari (Hambleton) Downhill loves being
debt-free. She graduated in 1993 and works
for the best boss in the world, herself. She
is married with four children, Anna, 25,
Bobby, 23, Lacey, 21, and Emily, 13. She
lives in Grants Pass, Ore.
Jesse Ettinger, who graduated in 1993,
works for Disney/ABC Entertainment
Marketing as a picture and sound editor.
94
Devanie (Anderson) Angel was named a
“big celebrity” for her fund-raising efforts
by the Big Brothers and Big Sisters Club
of Butte County in California . The 1994
graduate works for Upstate Business Journal/InSideOut Magazine as managing editor, and lives in Chico. Married to a fellow
alumnus of Humboldt State, Tom Angel.
Angel’s family also consists of Alec, 2, and
Jody the calico cat, 14.
Christopher Gast graduated in 1994, lives
in San Diego with his wife and works as a
group marketing manager at Intuit.
Anna (Moore) Villeneuve, graduated
1994, lives with her partner, Louisa. (Note:
It was incorrectly reported in 2007 JournAlum that Villeneuve lived with her husband.) Villeneuve works at Citrus College
and lives in Glendora, Calif.
95
Brandye Alexander was selected for the
2006 Knight Foundation Summer Institute
for midcareer copy editors at the University of North Carolina. Alexander graduated in 1995 and currently works for The
JournAlum
Reporter in Stockton, Calif. She lives in 98
Adam Eric Conley has no plans to ever
Sacramento, Calif.
marry. Conley graduated in 1998 and works
The only word you can use to talk about a for Franchise Services in Irvine, Calif., as
person like Teddie R. Herman is diverse. a prepress tech and on-demand specialist.
She has had a career that involves being an Proud of earning his hunting license with a
assistant to the Screen Actors Guild direc- 100 percent score, he lives in North Tustin,
tor at the Sundance Film Festival and ca- Calif.
sino gaming inspector. The parent of three,
Ariana, 7, Rachel, 16, and Katherine, 19, Homemaker Michelle (Teets) Teasley
Herman graduated in 1995. currently living graduated in 1998. Married to a fellow
in South Dakota. She works for South Da- graduate of Humboldt State. She spends
her free time running and has completed
kota State University.
two races in the last year. The mother of
Lisa (Wannamaker) Forester, graduated two, Kara, 3, and Matthew, 1, lives in Forin 1995, lives in Athens, Ohio, where she tuna, Calif.
works as a graduate assistant at Ohio University. Forester is the mother of two chil- 99
dren, Ethan, 6, and Ava, 3. She took two Dorothy Campbell graduated in 1999 and
months traveling the southern route from is currently working for The Community
Health Alliance. Living in Blue Lake, CaCalifornia to Ohio.
lif., Campbell is the parent of one child,
Rita Swanson, who graduated in 1995, is Brian.
self-employed as a freelance reporter and
lives in Willow Creek, Calif. Swanson is Amy (Baugh-Meyer) Mayfield and her
family recently went to Taiwan to adopt
married and has one child, Nicole, 23.
the newest addition to their family, Lauren. Mayfield, a graduate from 1999, lives
96
Andrew Jones graduated in 1996, and in Corvallis, Ore., and works as editor of
Herbs for Health magazine. Married to
lives in McKinleyville.
an engineer, she is the mother of a second
Jennifer Moline, graduated in 1996, works child, Aidan, 4.
at www.law.com as senior editor and lives
Heather (Crosby) Sorenson graduated in
in Oakland, Calif.
1999 and is self-employed as the owner
of a public relations firm, Plugged in PR.
97
When you win first place in the Susan G. Sorenson is married and lives in Portland,
Komen race for the cure, it is a victory Ore.
that helps others. First-place winner Pete
Chenard lives in San Diego and works for 00
the San Diego Unified School District. The Dana Flint is taking a trip to Greece this
new addition to the family for Chenard is a spring. The graduate from 2000 is working
at Premier West bank, and living in Mount
yellow lab named Linus.
Shasta, Calif.
Josh Parks is going for a masters in theology. The 1997 graduate lives in Eureka Jennifer (Hayes) Godsey, graduated in
with his partner, Shayne, and two children, 2000, is married and works as production
Elizabeth, 6, and Conner, 4. Self-employed coordinator at the Seattle Times.
as a graphic design specialist, his hobbies
are photography and hiking.
Benjamin Hoffman is exactly where he
Fernando Rodriguez-Gonzalez, a 1997 wants to be in his life, and doing exactly
graduate travels a lot because of his job as what he wants to be doing. The 2000 graduthe general manager of a textile company, ate is a staff editor at The New York Times,
and lives in New York City.
Rosatex.
Spring 2008
Page 16
01
Jon Shawn Broenen graduated in 2001,
lives in Santa Cruz, Calif., and works at
Evans Data Corp. as a spokesperson.
Rachel (Sathrum) Meagher graduated
in 2001, and currently works as regional
manager for Jitter Bean Coffee Company
in Eureka, Calif.
02
This June Megan (Skillings-Garrison)
Chilles will be welcoming a new addition to the family. The 2002 graduate met
her husband while attending school at
Humboldt State. Working as a first grade
teacher in Modesto, Calif., she has been
honored as “teacher of the year,” an award
that resulted in a grant for her school. This
proud alumna has visited Turkey, Croatia,
Greece, Italy and Spain.
Jennifer Troike graduated in 2002, and
lives in Bend, Ore., working at KTVZ-TV
as a promotions producer.
Currently enrolled at the Pacific College of
Oriental Medicine, Jennifer Watkins lives
in Brooklyn, New York. The 2002 graduate
also works there as a clinic assistant.
03
Joseph Coppolino, a 2003 graduate, is currently taking classes at Life Chiropractic
College and living in Hayward, Calif. That
is when he isn’t biking, running, cooking
or crafting leather.
Sam Fakih graduated in 2003 and lives in
Temecula, Calif, and works as a real estate
agent at Century 21.
Laura Tankersley graduated in 2003 and
works as an account executive with 104
West Partners.
04
Diane M. Batley graduated in 2004, and
has won a CNPA award in 2006 for illustration and graphic design for coverage she
did in the Eureka Reporter. She is married
and lives in Eureka, Calif.
JournAlum
Ahnie Litecky graduated in 2004 and
works as a mental health professional at
Behavioral Demensions. Litecky is married and lives in Grantsburg, Wis. She recently went to South Africa with the Peace
Corps.
06
Shari (Billy) Damron-Billy graduated in
2006 and is currently working for the Humboldt Beacon in Fortuna, Calif.
05
Jennifer (Johnson) Bailey graduated in
2005 and works for College of The Redwoods. Living in Fortuna, she is working
on a master’s in education.
Hip-hop artist Roe Pressley has put out one
album and is working on a second. This
2006 graduate makes music with guitars,
turntables and software, and lives in Stillwater, Minn. He is putting together a music
festival to honor a dead friend.
Santa Cruz resident Everson Corrigan
graduated in 2006 and works for KSCO and
KOMY. Corrigan, who works as a business
Working as a freelance writer, grant writ- manager and board operator, is working toer and editorial assistant for San Diego ward starting a new media production busiUnified School District would keep most ness.
people plenty busy. Frank Pruett (2004)
is also thinking about getting involved in Shannon Kissinger who graduated in
the Alumni Ambassadors Program, as well, 2006, credits his PR classes with the sucthis year. Pruett, married and living in San cess he has had in his career. He is working
Diego, enjoys surfing and is working on a as an outreach coordinator for an Iraq war
book about experiences while “wandering veteran project at Swords to Plowshares in
the road.” In 2006, Pruett won the San Di- San Francisco.
ego Society of Professional Journalists first
place award for Investigative Reporting Kevin Farley works as a TV news proand Breaking News.
ducer for KSBW-TV. The Seaside resident
graduated in 2006.
Alexander Westbrook misses everyone,
and wants to be tracked down. The 2004 Jarad Petroske is web editor and content
graduate is an industry specialist work- manager at University Graphics Services
ing at jobing.com and living in Scottsdale, at HSU. The 2006 graduate lives in Arcata
Ariz.
and likes salsa dance.
Obituary:
Jeff Irons, class of
1985/1986, died in February, 2008
of kidney failure, according to his
wife, Sheila.
Irons grew up in Fullerton,
Calif., where he graduated from
Sunny Hills High School in 1969
and participated in water polo. He
continued his education at Fullerton College and Humboldt State
University, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism.
Jeff fell in love with the
Eastern Sierra at a young age, and
met his future wife, Sheila, there
while on a college field trip in 1979.
Together they fulfilled a lifelong
dream of making the Eastern Sierra
their home when they moved to the
area in 1987.
A true renaissance man, Jeff
was a gourmet cook who enjoyed
entertaining his friends and family
with his gastronomic creations. He
was also a poet, a film aficionado
who loved classic movies and westerns, and an all-around bon vivant
whose dry sense of humor kept everyone laughing.
Diagnosed with kidney disease in 2004, Jeff continued contributing to make his community
and the Eastern Sierra even better
places. He will be missed by all
who knew and loved him.
Jeff leaves behind the wife
he adored, Sheila Irons of Sunny
Slopes, mother Margaret Irons of
Fullerton, and brother Steve Irons,
his wife Cheryl and children Thomas and Rachel.
Sean Canton graduated in 2005, and is living in Portland, where he works for www. Concerned about being “missing”, Kyana
resetamerica.com .
Taillon wants everyone to know she is right
here. The 2006 graduate and parent of one
child, Turner, 4, Taillon lives in McKinJoseph Freeman graduated in 2005 and is leyville and is self-employed as a photogragraduating again His masters thesis paper pher. Check her out on MySpace.
involves work that he did at the Oakland
Museum of California.
07
David Chaid graduted in 2007 and is now
Mellisa Hannum graduated in 2005, working as a full-time sales assistant for
works as a cashier at Briar Patch Co-Op, ABC radio in New York City.
and lives in Grass Valley, Calif. Hannum
takes a yearly trip to the Utah desert, this Robert Deane graduated in 2007 and lives
year staying mostly in Capital Reef, where in Eureka, Calif. He works for Humboldt
she took lots of pictures.
Investigations as a workers compensation
researcher/investigator.
Melissa Tharp graduated in 2005, works
as a promotions manager for Clear Channel Stephanie Olivera, graduated in 2007,
KBIG 104.3, and lives in Burbank, Calif. still lives in Arcata and works putting out For more details, please contact Chris
Roeckl at <croeckl@mac.com>.
a newsletter.
Spring 2008
Page 17
JournAlum
Lumberjack Grad Still Laughs
Brett Shiells
“I majored in Lumberjack,”
Humboldt State alumnus Luis Molina (2005) said. “ I was there every
hour of every day I was at HSU.”
Molina spent four years
filling nearly every position the
Lumberjack offered, settling into a
weekly column before his graduation.
“It gave me a chance to let
my character come out,” Molina
said. “I had a lot of fun doing it.”
Molina said he wrote from
his heart with little self-censoring,
producing columns laced with foul
language, pointed opinions, and a
minority perspective owing to his
Guatemalan heritage.
“He could work on his grammar, though,” said Molina’s former
roommate, Times-Standard reporter
Sean Quincey, with a laugh. “I still
Whitten (From Page 5)
tions for the story’s delivery to the
paper’s target audience. The video can be edited into a sleekly cut
video or a detailed print story with
accurate quotes or an audio sample
or any combination when viewed on
online. She said the variety of niche
products the paper can offer helps
it to reach the widest possible audience.
Whitten also encourages
journalists to use a traditional reporting tool – the telephone. Most
of a reporter’s time is spent on the
Spring 2008
Page 18
give him trouble about that.”
“We owe a lot to Luis for
his many roles at The Lumberjack,”
said Prof. Mark Larson, who served
as adviser when Molina was editor.
“The paper was at a low ebb
in morale and student interest but as
editor, Luis somehow got the paper
out each week – despite the technological and workload challenges. He
was remarkably resilient and positive in his leadership.”
Molina first looked for work
in Los Angeles after receiving his
B.A., but then took a job at a paper
in Oklahoma.
“I stayed there three days,
and hated it,” Molina said.
Then Quincey told him about
an opening as a page designer and
copy editor at the Eureka Reporter.
“We had fun together at The
Lumberjack,” Quincey said, “and I
knew Luis could do the job.”
His hours are weird, Molina
said, and he misses the opportunity
to write for a publication as much as
he used to, but he enjoys his job.
“We try to appeal to more
conservative, 9-to-5 people,” Molina said. “The way I write wouldn’t
work for my company.”
For Molina the biggest difference between a student publication and the workplace is a shift
from cooperation to competition.
“Everyone’s trying to scoop
you,” Molina said. “Competitiveness is one aspect missing from the
HSU curriculum.”
Molina said he hopes to pursue a job at a larger publication in
the future, and freelances when he
has the time.
“I know a lot of people down
in Hollywood, and I got some crazy
ideas,” Molina said. “You never
know.”
phone making contacts, Whitten
said.
“Nobody likes to make
phone calls – it’s one reason I got
into editing – but you just have to
keep working through it,” she said.
As a web copy editor, Whitten expressed some concerns about
the possible effects of priorities
shifting rather quickly to breaking
news and blogging.
She said the newspaper
business’s strict adherence to style
is somewhat at risk because of this,
but she is sure style will come back
to be a cornerstone over time.
She also suggests that human error in blogging, maybe even
staff blogs, may become more accepted. “Even by me,” she said.
Her excitement about these
new technologies is met equally
with her employer’s needs to explore new revenue streams. Niche
products are a focus of The Bakersfield Californian to get the widest
audience of readers.
“I’m lucky to be at a familyowned paper that is experimenting
and investing in what could be the
waves of the future,” Whitten said.
JournAlum
Local Alumni (From Page 1)
a little girl, Vincent-Layton aspired
to become a foreign correspondent
writing about conflicts. Marriage
to her college sweetheart changed
her plans, and she stayed in Humboldt. After working several different jobs, she now works at HSU as
an Internet technician consultant for
the school.
“My journalism degree was
important in developing who I was,”
said Vincent-Layton, citing education as her new passion. Today she
teaches an Internet technology class
for teachers at HSU and a business
class at College of the Redwoods.
Other alumni have more basic reasons for staying at HSU.
“I have no idea what I want
to do with my life,” said Clubs and
Activities Coordinator Alex Fonseca, 25, who settled at HSU after
graduating in 2006. Fonseca was a
Humboldt orientation program director and axe major of the Marching Lumberjacks in the season when
the school’s basketball team went to
the Division II final four. He decided that he had more opportunities
on campus due to his reputation.
Phillip Rouse is the 11th out
of 12 children, and enlisted in the
U.S. Army at the age of 18. While
there, Rouse had a friend who was
from Humboldt. When he visited
Varenchik (From Page 12)
January 2007, he took a position
as a staff air-pollution specialist at
the recently formed California Office of Climate Change. Currently
he is based out of Valencia as the
only Southern California staff airpollution specialist in the Office
of Climate Change. In his job he
travels throughout California and
Spring 2008
Page 19
the area he was hooked, and relocated, but didn’t focus on school right
away.
Rouse worked at United
Parcel Service for 15 years before
finally graduating in 2006. He says
that learning the journalistic style of
writing made him a valuable member of the team. Rouse now works
as a quality improvement analyst,
which he says is a lot like his former
job at UPS.
Stacie Lyans moved here
from Los Angeles to get out of the
“rat race” and live life at a slower
pace. After graduating in 2002, she
became an intern at Foxsportsnet.
com, but it was not a good fit. When
it came time to leave, Lyans said she
realized she had fallen in love with
Humboldt and the university.
As an admissions counselor,
Lyans said, “I use my journalism
experience all the time.” She applies
her skills in public relations, design
and communications to travel to
college fairs at community colleges,
high schools and sometimes junior
high schools to talk about the university.
“Being on campus is an environment that is alive and growing,
and it inspires me to be alive and
growing,” said Heather Parker, a
scholarship counselor at HSU.
After graduating, Parker
took many positions at local media
outlets, eventually making her way
back to HSU due to the lack of economic opportunities. “I wanted to
be back in an environment that had
a level of integrity that I appreciated and was proud to be a part of,”
she said.
“Humboldt County is not a
place to make a career in journalism,” said Tom Trepiak, echoing
some of the same sentiments as
Parker. Because of the beauty of
the county, and his ability to keep
writing his quarterly publication,
Humboldt Sporting News, Trepiak
has decided to stay here and make a
living as the HSU associate director
of athletics.
“As faculty, we’re proud
of the career paths of all of our
journalism-major grads,” said Prof.
Mark Larson. The degree is based
in a solid liberal-arts education but
our grads also know how to write,
edit and produce in a variety of media. This alumni group illustrates
how those skills can be applied successfully to so many careers.
“I enjoy being on campus
every day knowing I’m going to
meet one or more of our former
students doing important work on
campus.”
Watch for more alumni
working at HSU in future issues.
talks about the implementation of
climate regulation in California, in
particular the reduction of greenhouse gasses.
He advises students who
plan on being journalists to maintain broad interests in their education. “Prepare to do something
other than just be a journalist,” he
said.
“Rick has contacted us with
an offer to return to Humboldt State
and talk about climate change,” said
Prof. Mark Larson. “It’s amazing
to see the diverse paths that open to
journalism majors throughout their
careers and it’s exciting to see Rick
connected with one of the important topics in our lives.”
JournAlum
The Journalism Department
Annual
Awards
Reception
Wednesday,
April, 30, 2008
4:00 - 6:30pm
The Green &
Gold Room
(Founders Hall)
Humboldt State
University
Contact: Kjm7002@humboldt.edu
or call Linda McMaster at (707)826-4775
NON-PROFIT ORG.
U.S. POSTAGE
PAID
PERMIT NO. 78
Arcata, CA 95521
Bret Harte House 52
Humboldt State University
Arcata, CA 95521
Spring 2008
Page 20