Vol. 32, No. 4StetMichigan Interscholastic Press Association
May/June 2005
Inside
2005 Yearbook Contest Form
3Column Writing
6–8Conference Recap
10–11Cover photo by Tayler Roby ofCovert HS
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Stet is the official newsletter of the Michigan Interscholastic Press Association, an agency of the School of Journalism at Michigan State University. Stet is published four times a year by the MIPA executive director and MSU students.
Send letters to the editor and advertising inquiries to [email protected]. The MIPA Web site is maintained by Josh Tacey and Cheryl Pell.
Web site: www.mipa.jrn.msu.edu
StetBrian Wilson, Waterford Kettering HS
Rod Satterthwaite, Dexter HS
David Hebestreit, Livonia Churchill HS
Kim Kozian, L’Anse Creuse HS North
Sandra Strall, Carlson HS
Cheryl Braford, Portage Central HS Jeremy Van Hof, Grand Ledge HS
Julie Price, Haslett HS
Gloria Olman, retired, Utica HS
Betsy Pollard Rau, H.H. Dow HS
Vacant
Diane Herder, Laingsburg HS
Lynn Strause, East Lansing HS Jeff Nardone, Grosse Pointe South HS
Cheryl Pell, Michigan State University
Penney Aiken, MSU Student
Ashley Watkins, MSU Student
President1st Vice President
2nd Vice PresidentSecretary
TrusteeTrusteeTrustee
Newspaper ChairLegislative Chair
Workshop ChairMiddle School Chair
Broadcast ChairYearbook Chair
Hall of Fame ChairExecutive Director
MIPA Office
MIPA Officers 2004-2005
Brian Wilson Waterford Kettering HS
The President’s Column
Please see PRESIDENT’S COLUMN on page 9
Don’t have a ‘Positives’ file? Start one today
MIPA305 Communication Arts BuildingMichigan State UniversityEast Lansing, MI 48824-1212
Phone: 517-353-6761Fax: (517-355-7710
I keep a file in my cabinet at school that has the simple, concise heading of “positives.” Whenever I get a thank you
note, or a congratulatory card, or a letter of gratitude from a departing senior, I put it in the file. Many of you probably have something similar (and if you don’t, you should start one today). Whenever I’m feeling a little depressed about, say, a complaining parent, I go to the file and start reading. There is no better school-related therapy I know of, and it never fails to cheer me up.
OK, the irony in the occasional ninth grader’s “your a great teacher” grammar tends to make me believe exactly the opposite of their happy suggestion. But for the most part, reading through the file for me is like a day at the spa for my wife. I think the file represents the best part of teaching publications: it’s the influence that works both ways. Since we know these students for longer than the average teacher does, they make a huge impact on our lives, and we have an impact on theirs.
The next best part is in seeing
these kids look at their future differently because of something they discovered while in our presence. It’s true that students get more out of publication classes because they are as close to real-life experiences as they can get within the walls of the high school. But it’s also correct to conclude that many of these students will choose real-life experiences based on their time spent in your publication room.
I interviewed several of my students who are in various stages of pursuing journalism careers to find out specifically what they had learned from being on yearbook or newspaper staffs. This process, by the way, I am recommending to you as well, although I wasn’t originally thinking this would turn into an advice column. I won’t tell you to do anything else from here on out, I promise.
Josh was the yearbook editor during his junior and senior years, before graduating in 2002. We e-mail back and forth from time to time, though not nearly as much as we should. This is true of any formerly close relationship,
I suppose. We give each other literature and music suggestions, and he has, more than anyone else, allowed me stay relatively close to on top of what’s cool in the world today. He now works at The Minot Daily News in Minot, North Dakota.
“My proper title is Sports Copy Editor,” he told me, “but we’ve recently been low on staff and I’ve been given a half-promotion to the Region/State section of the newspaper.”
“One of the best things I learned in yearbook was how to deal with stress,” Josh said. Smart man, thought I.
“When deadlines approach,” he continued, “everything gets hectic, and you really find out in situations like that if you can come through in the clutch or not.” This is a lesson I’ve understood before, though I must admit I hadn’t really thought about his next point.
“There’s a truth about yearbook that’s very comforting, that things have to get done, there’s no ways
July 15, 2005 Spring yearbook and lit mag deadline
July 18–29, 2005 Publication Advisers Workshop
July 31–Aug. 5 Summer Journalism Workshop
Aug. 15 Late spring yearbook and lit mag deadline
Oct. 3 Fall Conference
Nov. 3 Junior High/Middle School Conference
Nov. 10–12 JEA convention in Chicago
Nov. 15 Fall yearbook deadline
Dec. 15 Late fall yearbook deadline
MIPA Calendar
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3 Advisers, please estimate the percent of work done.
Writing
Editing
Design
Photography
Pasteup/Pagination
Graphic Effects*
Total Production
Adviser
StudentsOther
4 Important stuff! Please read!1. Since only student photographs are considered for awards, include in the front of the book or on a separate sheet the system for which student photos are marked. For example,“Student photos are highlighted with *.”
2. Write a memo to the judge. In it list any special school situations, concerns or problems with this yearbook’s production on a separate sheet. Judges need this information.
3. Keep a copy of this form for your files. You might include a self-addressed stamped postcard that we will return to you when we get your book so that you 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 the judge. If you do not want your yearbook back, the judge will have the option to keep it or discard it.
5. Please mail your yearbook along with your check for $40 (or $80) payable to MIPA. Send to:
MIPA, School of Journalism, 305 Communication Arts Bldg., Michigan State University,East Lansing, MI 48824-1212.
1 Please check one.Spring–delivery yearbook. Mail to MIPA office postmarked on or before July 15, 2005 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$40.00
*Late Spring–delivery yearbook. Mail to MIPA office postmarked on or before Aug. 15, 2005 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$80.00
Fall-delivery yearbook. Mail to MIPA office postmarked on or before Nov. 15, 2005 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$40.00
*Late Fall–delivery yearbook. Mail to MIPA office postmarked on or before Dec. 15, 2005 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$80.00
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?
2005 MIPA Spartan Yearbook Contest FormThe MIPA Board of Directors has studied the contests that MIPA sponsors in order to improve them. The measure voted on by the Board at its March 2001 meeting was to allow a yearbook to still be judged if it misses the official postmark deadline. The late postmark deadline will 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. Awards will be presented at the MIPA Spring Awards and On-Site Contest Conference on Tuesday, April 25, 2006.
2 Please fill out this part completely.
School
Address
City State ZIP
School phone ( )
Adviser’s name
Adviser’s summer e-mail Name of yearbook
Theme Printing company
Number of yearbooks sold Price
6 Advisers, please sign.
For office use only: judge
official postmark deadline: ck. # amt pd
secondary postmark deadline: ck. # amt pd
*late postmark deadline
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 submitted represent student work or is designated as not being student work.
Adviser’s signature:
Also on the Web
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We’ve all admired them. You know the ones—those yearbooks that excel in every aspect year after year. The ones that have us
thumping our heads and saying, “Why didn’t I think of that?”
How do they pull it off year after year? Is it some-thing in the water?
Some of these publications have strong feeder pro-grams so future journalists can be groomed and ready to produce a quality product by the time they reach high school.
For those of us with-out such benefits, a good recruiting plan helps compensate. Couple that with a solid application process and you, too, can start building the staff of your dreams.
So who do you recruit? Start with who you know. I teach Eng-lish four hours each day. I keep my eyes open for good workers even more than good writers. Often
strong English-class writers have a hard time adapting to journalistic style, plus they are not used to having their writing criticized and being asked to revise. We can teach good workers to write right—we probably can’t, at this point, instill in them a work ethic they’ve never developed.
Next, talk to your fellow teachers. Let them know what qualities you’re seeking in prospective staff members. They have valuable input. Remember you need more than good writers. You need computer nerds and photographers and organizers and leaders.
Then my staff and I brainstorm a list of students we want to recruit. They know some things I do not because they have seen their fellow students outside my classroom. Anyone can apply, but the people on our list get a letter of invitation on our letterhead and an application sealed in an envelope and delivered to them.
The application itself has several parts. The first part asks students such questions as what classes
they’re taking, what extracurriculars they have, whether they drive and where their journalistic inter-ests lie.
The second part of the applications is two essay questions, one about how they feel they could contrib-ute to the staff and one commenting on a group proj-ect scenario. Besides the valuable content these give me about traits and work habits, these essays show me two things. First, I see their writing style. Second, and just as important, I see how much value they place on their work. Are the essays neatly typed or written in pencil on notebook paper? In addition to the essays, photographers must submit a portfolio of at least ten pictures.
The third part of the application is two teacher rec-ommendations. Make this easy—we’re busy. Teachers rate the student on a scale of one to five in different areas such as “completes assignments on time” and
“works well with others.” The recommendations come directly from the teachers to me so they can be honest.
The final part of our process is a personal interview with me and next year’s editors. We use a list of 25 possible questions ranging from “Describe yourself” to
“What one thing would you change about yourself?” to “How much time do you think yearbook takes?” Our favorite this year was “What one question should we ask you to determine whether you should be on staff?”
This process works for us. Do we make mistakes and accept students who don’t work out? Of course. But it sure beats letting the counselors pick your staff.
Are your administrators reluctant to let you pick your own staff? Convince them by making clear all the responsibilities these kids undertake. They sell ads, which means they work with professionals and handle large sums of money. They sell books so they handle more money. Most of all, we have to be able to depend on them to produce a quality publication on time and within budget.
It’s not too late to make next year’s staff the well-oiled machine that will make your job easier. If you would like copies of our application, invitation letter or interview questions, e-mail me and I’ll send them to you ([email protected]).
FINDING THE YEARBOOK STAFF OF YOUR
DREAMS*
*or at least one that won’t cause you nightmares
By Lynn Strause, East Lansing HS
A lovely yearbook staff, circa 1945
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DREAMS*
Name of literary magazine
School, city, ZIP Date of publication
Editor’s name
Adviser name
Adviser’s summer e-mail
I understand that all material submitted by our school represents students’ work. If non-student work or alteration has affected the printed product, notations have been made to indicate those changes.
Adviser signature
2005 MIPA Spartan Literary Magazine Contest The MIPA Board of Directors has studied the contests that MIPA sponsors in order to improve them. The measure voted on by the Board at its March 2001 meeting was to allow a literary magazine to still be judged if it misses the official postmark deadline. The late postmark deadline will 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.
Deadline: 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 soon after we get them from you. The late postmark deadline is Aug. 15. No entries should be sent in after that date.
Directions: This form is your Literary Magazine entry only. If you choose to use the official postmark deadline, the fee is $15 (payable to MIPA). Staple the form below to the back of your magazine. Magazines must have been published after the spring conference this year, which was April 22, 2005. If you choose to use the late postmark deadline, the fee is $30.
Criteria: One entry per school. A literary magazine emphasizes fiction, poetry, essays, drama, art and photography for its content. Feature articles and reviews may be included occasionally. The subject matter should be original material created by students and within their world of experience. First-hand experiences, situations occurring to friends and family and observations within 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 standards for evaluating this entry will be graphic design, layout, photography, writing, headlines, consistency of content, artwork and typography.
Awards: Magazines will earn Spartan awards or certificates based on their scores. Awards will be presented at the 2006 Spring Awards and On-Site Contest Conference on April 25. 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 $15 entry fee if you are using the official postmark deadline. (July 15)
OR Include the $30 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, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824-1212.
Also on the Web
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By Rod Satterthwaite, Dexter H.S.
Friendships are important.The (fill in the blank) policy is unfair.School spirit is down.My parents don’t understand me.
If I were to classify the columns I read from high school student throughout the country, including my own, about 90 percent of them would fit in to
one of these four categories. And while I’m not denying the importance of
friendships, the cruelty of the (fill in the blank) policy, the need for school spirit or even the fact that parents sometimes don’t understand teenagers, let’s challenge our students to do better. After all, teenagers are full of opinions on a wide variety of subjects, some of which they even know something about.
In fact, column writing is a perfect place for the student who is opinionated, self-righteous and holier-than-thou. And let’s face it, with personality traits like these it’s either a career in column writing or school administration.
The following leads are some excellent ones I’ve found in high school and profession publications. Some of them go back a few years, but they share a few things: they are personal, they are specific, they avoid chiches and they read like the opening of a good novel. (I know it’s probably bad form to include one of my own student’s, but I really like it.)
If I were given the choice and could go back to the very beginning of time and squeeze the grass of Eden between my toes, I know just what I’d do—I’d pluck the apple right off that tree and sink my teeth into it.
Abbey Fernbert, Mercy HS
While driving through Arkansas last week, I tuned into a nighttime radio call-in show just in time to hear
ColumnWriting
Let’s challenge our students to write ones that sing, sting, strike a chordA three-page lesson plan
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Tips for teaching column writing
• Require columnists to talk to sources just as you require other report-ers to. A comment I often hear from my columnists is, “I’m only writing a column. Do I need to get quotes?” My response: “Was George W. Bush cloned from Dick Cheney’s umbilical cord blood in an evil plot to take over the world?” (In other words, yes, yes, yes.) Because column writing is a bit more flexible than other forms of journalistic writing, students some times mistakenly assume that they don’t have to be reporters. Before a columnist begins writing, have him turn in to you and your editor/s (for a grade) three possible angles for the column, a list of 3-5 sources that he will talk to and 8-10 questions that he will ask his sources. Yes, the angle might change. Yes, the columnist might not directly use any of the sources in his column. Yes, the numbers are arbi-trary. But by forcing a columnist to report first and write second, you’ll start to send the important message that good column writing requires good reporting skills.
• Keep a running list of column topics that have appeared throughout the year in your paper. If you ran a feature story about the new principal in your first issue, you probably wouldn’t run another one in issue seven. So why let every senior columnist on staff write about what senior year means to them? Have your opinions editor make a list on huge pieces of poster board of every topic columnists have written on throughout the year. Post this in your room, and don’t let students write a column on a topic someone else has previously covered unless unusual circumstances warrant it.
• Keep a clips book of effective columns, both student and professional. One of the best ways to learn about good writing is to study what other good writers do. Have your opinions editor start a clip book. When you come across a good column, either in a student or professional publica-tion, cut it out and put it in the clip book. Better yet, make it an assign-ment to have every student find one good column a month to include in the clip book. Every week make an overhead of one of these columns and spend 10-15 minutes in class discussing what makes this an effective column.
• Allow students to take risks. Good columnists often look at things in unusual ways. Often they write about controversial subjects, take unpop-ular stands and, as one of my principals once put it, “stir the pot.” A writer of ours recently won an award of excellence from The Detroit Free Press for a column he wrote about using a urinal when a teacher was using a urinal next to him. I thought it was borderline inappropriate and a bit disgusting. My editors, however, chose to run it, and our stu-dent body loved it. The teacher the columnist wrote about loved it. I was wrong, and I feel fortunate my editors had greater sense than I did about what a student audience would like. Of course, columnists must avoid libel, obscenity and disruption of the school day, but columnists need the freedom to take chances even if these chances make us uncom-fortable.
• The three D’s: description, dialogue and detail. This is a good way to talk to columnists (or any writer, really) about their writing. Good col-umnists often write like good novelists. They use sensory and emotional description, include dialogue and provide details rather than generalities. Include these items in rubrics for columns and train your editors to use this language when talking to other staff members about their writing.
a rustic ask the host of the show: “How come all them liberals are agin’ God?”
The show’s host blandly said: “I just don’t under-stand that myself. Maybe somebody out there has the answer and will call us.”
Nobody called to explain the evil ways of liberals. But more significantly, nobody called to dispute the wacky statement.
Mike Royko, The Chicago Tribune
I’ve spent my entire life fearing the sun, avoiding drugs and despising the thinness of models. The more I think about it, the more I realize how irrational these fears are. In fact, after a lot of thought I’ve realized that cancer is inevitable, drugs may help some kids succeed and models should look anorexic.
Parisa Maghsoodi, HH Dow HS
One Christmas Day, many years ago, a small boy was given a present, a more illustrious gift than all others he would receive for the rest of his life. Most presents he received, like the toy trains and the stuffed animals, would end up shoved in dingy closets or hid-den away in long-forgotten drawers, unused and unneeded. But not this gift.
Clark Haynes, East Grand Rapids HS
When I was little, I fantasized about moving far, far away for college. When I visited the Santa Barbara campus in California when I was 7, I knew I was going there. When I visited UCLA when I was 12, I knew I was going there; Boston College, I was there. Any-where but Ann Arbor. Somewhere on the coast, in the city. I was going to be out the minute I turned 18. Then a funny thing happened: I grew up.
Bridget Smith, Community HS
Four and a half years ago the life of Chris Lepsch was forever changed. A collision caused by a drunk driver left his eight-year-old sister dead.
Manuel Sanchez, Hudsonville HS
Some kid, somewhere, is going to end up strapping his “Jesus doll” to a bottle rocket and shooting him into the air.
Shelby Collier, Portage Central HS
Many of you high school seniors are in a panic at this time of year, coping with your college acceptance or rejection letters. Since the admissions process has gone totally insane, it’s worth reminding yourself that this is not a particularly important moment in your life.
David Brooks, The New York Times
In front of my eyes stood an unusually small six-year-old boy with big, gazing eyes and chubby cheeks. He was wearing a small, white collared dress shirt, blue dress pants and tiny, weatherworn shoes. His name was Cleevens Casseous, and it was upon meeting this child that I realized how incredibly blessed and fortunate I am.
Andrew Vanderput, Dexter HS continued on page 8
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Column rubricThis is the rubric we use to grade columns. Use it to help spark a discussion with your staff about what makes a good column.
Consider having your staff grade columns from professional publications or columns that appear in exchange papers. Then have students discuss the grade they gave the column and why. Compare this to how others on staff graded the column.
The point is to identify characteristics of effective columns, make students aware of these characteristics and encourage them to use these things in their columns.
Consider having your editors and writers help you develop rubrics such as this for all types of writing. By involving students in the process, you give them ownership of their grade. This makes it easier to hold them accountable and reduces the conflict over grades that sometimes arises when students see their grades as arbitrary. Involving students also forces them to think about what characterizes effective writing.
Lead is interesting _____/3 is short _____/3 avoids using a person’s name, quote, school name, question _____/3
paints picture/describes scenerio related to topic _____/3
Article uses effective quotes/research/observation _____/3 angle is creative _____/3 writer’s voice is clearly developed _____/3 makes reader think, feel or act _____/3
Mechanics/journalistic style
keeps paragraphs short _____/3 uses effective transitions--doesn’t stack quotes on top of quotes _____/3
avoids distracting grammar/mechanical errors including: _____/3 •numerals used for numbers 0-9/spelled out ten and above •misspellings •etc.
Total _____/33
Surefire column ideas From The Radical Writeby Bobby Hawthorne
• Weird things you find in lockers
• Driver’s education war stories
• Cheapest things to do on a date
• The date from Hell
• Creative ways to turn down a date
• Family car trips
• Allowances: how much and for what
• Things teachers/adults hate to hear from students
• Things students hate to hear from teachers/adults
• Useless items people pack for camps/trips
• White lies teens tell their parents
• Stupid graduation gifts and what to do with them
• One really horrible day at work
• Things Dads do to embarrass their daughters
Reprinted with permission
Column Writing, cont. from page 7
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May/June 2005 ■ 9
around them, so no matter how bleak the situation looks, in the end you’ll have some type of product. The downside is that you may be very unpleased with that product, given the amount of crunching you had to do, but, this is also one of the best upsides, because this dissatisfaction drives you to do something greater the next time around. Yearbook was always pushing me to do my best, and to go beyond it, to strive to do something great and original, using the skills it taught me. And one of the greatest skills I learned was desire, which is immeasurable in that kind of work.”
Courtney, a current MSU student and former design editor of our student paper, picked up on many of the same ideas. Where Josh is, at heart, a writer with an eye for design, Courtney is a designer with an ability to write. She is in fact, the best designer I’ve had in class and is, right now, planning to make it a career. She, too, found a direction in publications classes.
“Without yearbook or newspaper in high school, I would have no clue what I would want to do with my life, career-wise.”
She also noted the importance of the real-world aspect of journalism. The old line about students remembering five percent of what they read and 80 percent of what they do certainly holds true.
“The freedom students are given in yearbook and newspaper classes is like no other class,” Courtney said. “The freedom to be creative, the freedom to use your own ideas, the freedom to work with your classmates and create something rather than do what a teacher tells you to do. In most classes the material we learned is pretty irrelevant in my life now, but what I learned in yearbook and newspaper actually made some sort of impact.”
And, like Mogwai who are exposed to water (or fed after midnight? I don’t quite remember the movie. You and I should both rent it this weekend.) and multiply into untold thousands of gremlins, I’m happy to note there are more of these journalists on the way. Although that could very well be the worst metaphor ever put to paper, hopefully you get the idea; lots of these kids want a part of journalism.
Kristy, my sports editor, is a senior who has decided she wants to major in professional writing at Saginaw Valley State, and has talked about someday advising her own yearbook. I know what you’re thinking; is she nuts? But I know that she’d make an awesome adviser and I’m certainly not going to try to talk her out of it. Many of the lessons she’s learned thus far have little to do with picas and leads.
“It’s taught me to not judge a book by its cover, both in journalism and in people,” she said. “Such a variety of people are in a yearbook class that one meets so many different personalities. People I thought I would never be friends with are some of my closest friends. I met so many wonderful, interesting people.”
One of Kristy’s friends is Lauren, whose first experience with journalism came last summer, when she took feature writing at the MIPA workshop. She now hopes to build a career in the magazine world. She’s served on both the yearbook staff and as feature editor of the newspaper this year, but like Kristy, she’ll take more than journalism with her.
“It gives me a sense of importance and belonging,” Lauren said. “I feel like it has had a big impact on my personality and my view of the world. I think of us more like a family
than a class,” she said.Indulge me for a moment, because I’m
gonna keep going:Allison graduated last year and keeps
complaining to me about her InDesign class at the community college. Apparently, she knows more than the instructor.
Troy just finished his first year at Central Michigan and was invited by one of his professors to take a graduate-level photography class next semester as a sophomore. His roommate, John, was also one of my yearbook photographers. He’s majoring in photojournalism.
Tori is planning on broadcast journalism. Andrea is intent on graphic design. Colleen and Allison have both taken two years worth of college photo classes. Dave graduated in 2001, joined the Navy, and is a photographer on the U.S.S. Harry Truman. Last I spoke to him, maybe six months ago, he was headed to the Middle East, camera in tow.
Heather still has another year of high school to go (I love when I can say that!), but she’s already one of the best photographers I’ve ever had. She plans to freelance after graduation.
Will they all end up with journalism careers? Probably not. But I know that no matter what they do, they’re better off for having taken journalism classes.
You don’t really realize how much they’ve learned until you talk to them later. And then you find out that they took pride (and still do) in being a yearbook geek…or that they really did value the freedom you gave them…or that they look at life differently than they did before they met you. You give that to them, and they give you new material for the positives file. It’s a more-than-fair trade.
PRESIDENT’S COLUMN, cont. from page 2
CONFERENCE PHOTOS
Princess Souvenir, Southfield HS; Sadie Leibfritz, Midland HS; and Tricia Bobeda, Haslett HS, were three of the Student Journalist Staff members.
Lots of students came to the Conference dressed up in staff t-shirts. Not Plainwell HS students. They came as, well . . . hippies and other “characters.”
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▲ 3rd Place/News Feature—Maria Aubrey, South Lake HS
ReCapMIPA Spring Awards and On-Site Contest Conference well-attended, lots of award winners honored
▲ 2nd Place/Sports—Sara Stogner, Kearsley HS
▲1st Place/Sports—Jake May, Grand Haven HS
3rd Place/Sports— Erin Walters, Laingsburg HS
▲ 1st Place/News Feature—Tiffany Wetmore, Northwest HS
▲
▲ 2nd Place/News Feature— Tayler Roby, Covert HS
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May/June 2005 ■ 11
Protections derived from the Bill of Rights are extended to all citizens of the United States of America; students are not exempt. These already established precedents—specifically The First Amendment—define freedoms which all Americans cherish as fundamental values. Senate Bill No. 156 should be passed to ensure that certain unalienable rights can never be infringed upon by school administration.
SB 156, introduced February 3, 2005, by Senator Switalski and referred to the Committee on Education, outlines enforcement of press freedoms in schools similar to those decided in Tinker v. Des Moines Community Schools. All schools from 1969 to 1988 worked under the decision that students do not shed their constitutional rights at the schoolhouse door. As of January 13, 1988, the Hazelwood decision marked the allowance of administrative intervention whenever it meets a pedagogical function. Essentially, the school board had been allowed to censor in the interest of the school’s well being. SB 156 respects the need for supervision in the publication disrupts the order f the school: obscenity, defamation, invasion of privacy, libel, violation of school regulations.
Prior decision in this subject was established in 2004 by Katy Dean, a Utica High School graduate of 2003. In Dean v. Utica Community Schools, the Federal District Court of
Michigan declared that an open forum could not be censored unless it interfered with school function.
Dean, Sports Editor of The Arrow produced an article regarding a lawsuit against the district. The story was pulled two hours before press by administration, despite its balanced news coverage. With the help of the Student Press Law Center, Dean and adviser Gloria Olman fought a lawsuit that resulted favorably for all student journalists.
Student journalists should be guaranteed freedom of press. SB 156 guidelines lay all responsibility on the students and editorial staffs. The publications printed would not be a reflection of a school district’s policy but rather students would be forced to take responsibility for their own work and opinions. Administration would, in turn, remain free from all liability.
Schoolhouses are the breeding grounds for coming of age voters, politicians and all future members of American society. Restricting the rights of the next generation will not benefit any community at the state or national level.
Student publications are of the students, by the students and for the students. Therefore, it is only fair that all students are able to exercise free speech. SB 156 is a promise to pupil publications, standing true to quintessential American freedoms. Let this promise be kept to all American citizens.
On-site contest editorial writing winners1st Place—Farmington HSKatie Mitchell & Radhika Upadhyay
Sandra Burkhardt from South Lake H.S. was the All-MIPA Newspaper Student.
Olivia Wolak from Utica H.S. was the All-MIPA Yearbook Student.
Patrice Hornak, yearbook adviser at Ithaca HS, was the 2005 Golden Pen winner.
Mike McCullough, editor of the Battle Creek Enquirer, received the John Field Award after Jason Skiba from Battle Creek Central HS nominated him. McCullough has assisted Skiba and advisers Becky Finegan (far left) from Battle Creek Lakeview and Sue Spalding (far right) from Quincy HS. Congratulating them all is Cheryl Pell (center), MIPA director.
Longtime adviser Lew Horn from Bedford HS announced his retirement at the luncheon.
Grand Rapids West Catholic HS adviser Gerri Wesorick and her students had front row seats—on the floor—at the conference.
More photos on page 9.
To see all lists of awards, go to mipa.jrn.msu.edu and click on conferences.
12 ■ May/June 2005
Stet
MIPA/School of Journalism 305 Communication Arts BuildingMichigan State UniversityEast Lansing, MI 48824-1212
Stet
Summer Journalism Workshop at Michigan State University for High School Students
Download a workshop brochure with application form today at
mipa.jrn.msu.edu.
Planning to attend? Sign up early because space is limited!
● Publication Advisers Workshop
● July 18–22 & 25–29
● Credit courses in Student Press Law, Yearbook Advising,Newspaper Advising, Photoshop, Power Advising, Photography, Narrative Writing, InDesign & Video.
● Download a flier and registration materials at mipa.jrn.msu.edu.
● Or e-mail [email protected] for a registration packet.
You’re invited to
Summer Journalism WorkshopJuly 31–Aug. 4, 2005
Michigan State University
Yearbook & Newspaperadvisers:Come to
MSUthis summer for skills, academic credit & fun! Join us!
