Sunday, October 26, 2008

KUDOs for Oct. 21 Issue

We had an opportunity for some really good work on this issue. There were stories with potentially great headlines, graphics and photos. We missed them. Examples: crime story graphics; WiFi headlines with AirHog and stuff; WiFi photos of students online like in Mesquite Groove; Focus on Us photos could have been much better. But, we had some good stories with decent leads and we made it, sort of. In addition, the design on pi was solid and the back page feature page was "interesting" with good cutouts (for the most part)and two very good stories by our sports guys - JC and Jaime. Well, let's see. Page 1, good. Page 2, decent. Page 3, average. Page 4, average. Page 5, weak. Page 6, average. Page 7, good. Page 8, better than good but not great. Overall, a good performance. Some notable work on this issue includes,of course, Jaime's and JC's stories on the feature and sports pages. Also of note are the sports photos of Noe Longoria, the column by newcomer Nndy Oheri, the editorial on dorm security by Sabrina and the Ol' Smoky story by Arty. By the way, let's be consistent. Is it Smokey or Smoky? Now, some bad points. On page 2, our photos were horrible. They are too dark. I can't see the Ol' Smoky and the Hogs are too dark on Focus on Us. Chupi and the Blotter carry the page. Campus News pages are laden with campus stories...good job! Nothing spectacular, but all very functional. Even the bees look good. Sports was its usual solid self. However, I don't like the "lineup" photo of our Hall of Famers. we can much, much better and here is an incident when a mug shot would have actually been preferred. Oh well. They look like someone is trying to identify them for a theft or murder. Ha. Now, for KUDOs. In spite of some little discrepancies, this is still a solid edition. When looking at it as a whole, I see pi and feature layout had some thought but into them. Angela took over this duty last week and she did well. For that effort, she gets KUDOs. She's in the pot for the $100 scholarship at our "-15- Party." Congratulations.

KUDOs Oct. 14 Issue

This was a solid Homecoming Issue, complete with the happy photo of the King and Queen on the front page, the color photo spread on page 6, something for the alumni on the bonfire and the old flag with old Porky emblem on pi, the alumni luncheon on page 2, and a solid game story on page 5. Well done. Juan Carlos, you did a good job of coordinating this coverage and it shows. Angela and photo staff, good job of selecting different and varied pictures on photo spread. Angel, while this was excellent, it still needs to follow photo spread format we learned in design class and which you used to tackle easily two years ago. Please try to conform to traditional photo spread layout in the future. Okay? But, nice work. Really. And, photo staff - Kiki et. al. - very nice work on a dark and steamy night. Ha. What else was good about this issue? First, the teaser was excellent with QB Billy Garza running toward the head line on a screen of a gridiron (football field) in the background. Nice cutout and you identified who he was. The Bonfire story by Savannah was very functional. The King and Queen story need more detail but it was all there. The rec center story was solid. Well done, Arty. Page 2 was okay. The "Blotter" is all the rage on campus. Page 3 had a good parking makeover story by Patricia Reiss. The map did not work, however, because of the color that was lacking. We did not plan this page well. Carpooling story was solid. Good job, Erika. Erika, you need to be part of the staff. Come and spend some time with us. The Ed-Ops page may have been one of our best. The cartoon by Jeremy was award-quality at any level. Jaime's column, too, is of award-quality. The Analysis is well done, but with few exceptions. Good job, Kristie and Adriana (I think). Kiki's column finally made it. It was done in manner that would not lead to libel but it was controversial for sure. It is important to note that before we ran this column, our editor, Juan Carlos Reyes, had to verify that the complaints Kiki was writing about were true. He took the names of the students and their phone numbers down before it ran. The students did not want to reveal their names for fear of retribution. The column took courage to write, but it was not whiny and it spoke about inequities that need to be looked into at our dorms. The "bailout" editorial was also solid. Nice sports page. It's full of information and good photos, for a change. So, who gets KUDOs. Well, surprise, surprise. While this issue was a true "team effort" with everyone making sure Homecoming was covered from top to bottom, there were others who were busy helping our department, program and club look well. Amidst all the Homecoming hoopla, four students, make that five, rose to the occasion and helped prepare a Press Club float for the Homecoming Cavalcade. Press Club President Jaime Gonzalez's pickup truck was plastered with South Texans (a good use of our newspaper, ha) by Tania Garcia, LeAnna Fuentes, Adrian Trevino and Edwin Vasquez and it took third place in the Homecoming Cavalcade. This made our program visible. Many people said we should have won first place. Still, you all won first place in our hearts. Congratulations. So, Jaime, Tania, LeAnna, Adrian and Edwin, you get KUDOs for this week. Well done. You're in the pot for the Holiday "-15- Party" $100 scholarship.