Javelina Journalism

A great November, thus far!

2009-11-22T15:59:00.000-08:00

November 3 Issue
The Nov. 3 issue was short and sweet, a four-pager that had our printer questioning if pages got lost and and students wondering if our budget had been cut. It was neither. Every now and then we need a small issue to catch up, budgetwise.The key is for us to have not only a small issue, but a good one. I feel like we did that with the Nov. 3 issue. The front page had some strong stories and a solid BAP on pi. I also liked the "Out and About" notation and wonder if we can incorporate this into our permanent layout of this page. Perhaps this is better than the teasers at the bottom of the page? I like page 2, but not sure why. Adolf's review was entertaining and the headline on the ROTC story was eye-catching. "ROTC spooks run without uniforms"? Wow. And we have someone that looks like Darth Vader on the same page and wonderful teaser with a half-naked young man and a young woman in bondage of some sort. Yep, it caught my attention.The Ed-Ops page had some good material, but a very weak cartoon and a design that was just too grey made this for a not-too-exciting page. Sports was short and sweet. Just the facts, thanks. Nice action shot by Artie. That's it. Who gets KUDOs? It goes to Amanda for holding down the fort while many of us were at a convention and/or in Abilene, Adolfo for solid review and Jaime for continue great coverage. Well done guys.

November 10 Issue

A very busy week and one which finally had our football team achieve something, thus they deserved front-page coverage for the first time this season. Nice photo, nice teaser, good and solid stories...great front page. Some mistakes on how to display headlines, but minor.Overall, a nice page 1. Now, page 2 will always be solid because of Erika's column, the Green Tip and the UPD stuff. A good second page. Page 3 was a solid campus news page but lousy cutlines. The photo of Christin Rycroft of KTAI should have been properly identified. I don't know how to say this, but any time any other program within our department does something good (like KTAI in this case) we need to play it up big. That also goes for our drama productions. I think page 4 missed the point on the Veterans' Day celebration and the Ricardo Sanchez sidebar was weak. I didn't like this page. Still, good campus news. And, anytime you have a picture of Dr. Goswami on the page, well it's special. The man is worldly and one of the best professors we have. Good job. Nice job on Page 5. We salvaged some very busy photos with some solid cutouts. Stories were okay as well but sort of repetitious. Need more quotes. Page 6 - Ed-Ops - was probably the most read page of the year. The "Attaboy Atterberry!" headline and accompanying editorial was extremely popular. I saw it cut out and pasted in several bulletin boards, including those in McCulley Hall and the Athletics Department. Everything very nice on this page. Sports pages were solid.Sports stories were very good. So, who gets KUDOs? This time it has to go to the Sports staff which includes Katrina Alejandro, Jaime Gonzalez, Mark Molina and Artie Leal. Also, KUDOs goes to the Online Squad with Michael Bolman, Claudia Garcia and Noe....nice job. Can you repeat this effort? We'll see.

November 17 Issue

I can't remember when I have had more fun as an adviser for a student newspaper as I did when I saw our staff produce an excellent newspaper and an even better website with our coverage of the NCAA Division II football game at Javelina Stadium that week. While the layout and design of the paper was disorganized because of illness to key personnel, the online staff coverage was outrageously excellent. Yes! The staff of the print edition kind of got it together - thanks in a large part to the work of Adriana Garza - and we were able to produce a very solid 8-pager. Page 1 - Very nice. Nuf said. Page 2 was as nice as a jump page could be and had solid elements, again. Page 3 was a little too tight. We forgot our margins and we had a few too many unnecessary boxes. Where did they come from? Headlines, too, were too tight. Don't do that. Give them room to breathe. Give them leading and never have the descenders from a top line touch the ascenders from the line below. Page4, Ed-Ops, not great designwise but awesome columns and editorial. That will do. Jaime and Nndy, wow. You're stuff could be syndicated. You two have blossomed during the last two semesters. Your political insight is very mature for a college undergraduate student. You can do this. Page 5 was one of those that we just pulled out of our !@# and it looks great. Good headlines, solid stories nice layouts....it's okay. We just didn't line up ads but it was way past deadline when Jaime said, "Hey, what's on page 5?" Answer: "Whatever you guys and Adriana can find." Well done. Page 6 was well done except for the column that was too wide on the volleyball team. But, nice save, guys. Page 7 excellent except for the box around Coach Atterberry. Mark...great story. Artie, good picture. Katrina, good feature. Page 7 was very well done. We did not have a BAP, but in a game like this, what is the most important element? Sabrina, well done. Jaime, great job with copy. Adriana, great work as always. You are marvelous, hita. Thanks. And, even as I say that, the work by the online staff was even better.

Mr. Fisher and myself are very lucky. We have very talented and wonderful students with passion and a desire to learn and do well. We are so very proud of you. Thank you, from the bottom of our hearts, for your effort and thank you for putting up with a couple of old men like us. Adriana, that goes triple-double for you...thanks.

KUDOs - Well, this week, it's toda la familia. All of you on the staff who contributed to the football game coverage in some way get in and all who helped cover for us when others were busy also get in...we proved, the last two weeks, that we're a team. Well done. Well done. Thanks. Thanks!

On Homecoming activities and online postings - a true formula for a quality newspaper

2009-11-01T13:06:00.001-08:00

It's almost too much for an old guy to take - Homecoming, Halloween and a winning football team. There's too much going on in our ol' campus but we had to rise to the occasion to cover all events and, for the most part, we did an excellent job. First things first, I've said all semester that we have to think online first, print second. This past two weeks, we have done that. Our online postings have been excellent and Mr. Fisher and his group have done an outstanding job. In particular, I would like to single out Noe and Mike. These two young men have taken what they have learned and taken our online production to another level - and they've only just started. Wow. Thanks guys. Now, on the print category and online, too, I guess) it would be hard to top the coverage Adolfo Castillo had on the protest at the A&I alumni luncheon. He was on top of the story from start to finish and updated it as needed. All we missed out on was an update on Teresa Remelius' comments. We need to do that soon. At any rate, some pretty good work by a bunch of young and spirited journalists. Well done. Now for a page-by-page breakdown of the regular ol' print edition.

Page 1: Nicely done. Newsy. Good photos. Great photo of Homecoming Queen and King. Thanks Claudia. Story by Adlof excellent. Claudia and Katrina did a good update on the prisoner. Homecoming story could have been stronger, but it was functional. No interviews with king queen..no bio on them...weak, weak, weak. On the layout, basic modular was good. No real BAP, was bad. Also, we had a label headline on the lead story - Javelina Homecoming 2009. What does that say? It should have said something like Houston, Tello chosen as Homecoming royalty or something like that. We missed a chance to have superb page. Stories okay, layout okay, photos okay...not great. Understand? But, well done. Funny how that works. Ha.

Page 2: Nice jump page. Pretty standard. It's a little too grey.

Page 3: Another very functional inside page.

Page 4: Colorful and functional page. Nice. I wish we would have had a stronger photo for College Night Out. I also wish we would have promoted our melodrama a little bit more and stronger. It could have been pi and the ROTC think in here as a package, but there is nothing wrong with t his page. Just a little weak.

Page 5: Good page. Nice, colorful, informative. One thing here, when we pdf our pages, we have to check to see if everything worker right. Our ad on St. Martin good messed up because of fonts...can we run again? Thanks.

Page 6: A solid sports page with two good stories by Mark and a excellent news feature by Katrina. Mark, I know you don't read this but (can someone tell him) check into the office every day at least by phone or in person. Artie, you too.

Page 7: Ed-Ops page is shaping up. I like the different layouts we have tried. Jaime's column rocks...we will get responses on this one. Editorial a little weak, but it's homecoming. Tejano Award forum needed to be marked off with a photo and explanation of when and why we use forums.

Page 8: We almost pulled this page off. A good effort.

Now for KUDOs. Well, I pretty much explained this at the top of this post. For a newcomer and a cub reporter, Adolfo did very, very well with the protest story. So, he's in the pot for the $100. Well done Adolf and well done all of you in both the print and online editions of our little South Texan experiment.

Breaking News, Crime Report and Homecoming Festivities make Oct. 20 edition solid

2009-10-25T10:22:00.000-07:00

I think I have been remiss. I have stressed from the beginning of the semester when we implemented Plan 21, that we must think "Online First" and "Print Second." I have not done that in my reviews (which really doesn't matter cause no one reads them) and I apologize. This past week, I had a striking reminder of what it is I said and what I have not done. As we had the prisoner escape story unfold right before our faces as we neared deadline for the print edition, it occurred to me that we couldn't possibly cover the story on print. Online was the answer and online we galloped toward a great job by a group of solid young reporters and online web techs. Great and courageous job guys. David, Mike, Claudia, Katrina, Sabrina and others (including the irrepressible Adriana Tapia Garza and the indomitable editor Angela Palacios, and Mr. Don Fisher, among others, too many to name) you are the bomb! Is that good? Ha, don't matter. What I am trying to say (if anyone reads this) is that we did as good a job possible with our training and equipment in covering this story as well as any staff (university or professional) in the nation, really! The coverage was excellent. Imagine if we had waited til today (Sunday, Monday, Tuesday) to report on that story. In today's media world, it's old. Old news is like stale fruit that leaves a bitter taste in your mouth. You all did it right. We (myself, Mr. Fisher, Adriana and Angela) are all so proud of you. You can't imagine. So, right off the bat: KUDOs goes to the online techs who posted our stories and updates and to the courageous reporters who went out, literally, to get the story. Well done. Those people are: David, Mike, Claudia, Katrina and Sabrina, as I recall. If I missed someone, please let me know and I will update this posthaste.

Now, as for our last print edition....not bad, not bad at all. Stories did come in late, as usual, but I couldn't tell if the delay in finishing the pages was due to our being late or our preoccupation with the breaking news story. I saw the look in Angela's face as she made a decision to tease it at the top of pi and just go with the story online. In the past, ol' Fisher and I would have yelled "Stop the Presses." Ha!!!! In today's journalism environment, there is no need to stop the presses, because even little old South Texan has 24-7 news capability now with the web. Wow, things have changed.

There is, however, one glaring mistake on our pi and it is one that has been there since the first issue of the semester. Our folio on pi has our website wrong. It's not www.tamuk.edu/thesouthtexan. It's only southtexan. Let' fix it, okay? Now for a page-by-page critique:

Page 1: This is a solid page with a solid news feature on the crime report, a good update on the SGA by-laws and good reporting on Tejano Heritage Awards and 2009 Homecoming celebrations. Crime story by Angela is particularly good and we seem to have gotten lucky with photo. It's an actual photo of a student actually filing a compliant with UPD. It's too bad she looks like she is being arrested, but that has been cleared up and thank God someone wrote a good, solid cutline. The best thing about this page, however, is the teaser at the top with Homecoming and the prisoner escape notice. Well done. Thanks.

Page 2: This catch-all page is a solid design but art is too heavy down the right side. We needed some art on the other half of the page. Also, disappointed on story on the serpentarium. We need a stronger story and better pics. Perhaps we can fix this next week. On the UPD column, we probably need to consider doing a bigger story on the car burglaries (but no one will read this and it won't be done). Sigh!!!!

Page 3: Well,we finally got the words "Ta Ta" on a headline. Yea! Good stories on campus events here and very appropriate for Campus News page. Only disappointment, no real BAP.

Page 4: Nice, very nice. Who did this page? Nice BAP. Good solid stories. Good color, good ads...well done. Solid Campus News page.

Page 5: Spanish page is a bit crowded but the photos do give us a look of all that happened during the previous month. We have only one Spanish page per month and Edwin did a good job with this one. Also, good story on Sigma Delta Pi. Perhaps, we should consider running this in English? (But no one will read this and it won't get done). Sigh!!!!

Page 6: Sports is again our weakest page. There is no BAP. I know, I know, we didn't have room. The good news is that Mark did a solid advance and Jaime had a good game story. On the charticle on the Javelina Homecoming, we lost the dog....let's make sure the reproduction is there by checking our PDFs. Okay? We can do better here. There was no advance on Javelina Cross Country. Oh, and the teaser, let's spice it up. Think! Think! Think! What would have made this teaser better? Duh, a photo. Let's get to work sports guys and gals. Let's lobby for more pages. Angela is a nice young woman. She will listen to you and if you have a good argument she will move ads around of give you another page. Really, she's a nice young woman.

Page 7: With the exception of the cartoon, everything strong here. Good play on Homecoming events editorial. I don't know if we had an influence on the change back to the old ways, but they did change it...hooray! You know what would have been nice, on the pi story or even here, a photo of the old king and queen and a comment from them about how they felt. We need to plan these things out. Perhaps, next time. Sigh!!!! Oh, and I never like the university to have a column on our space. Kenny did a good job as SGA President, but I don't like this. It gives us an aura of us not reporting things well (which we don't sometimes) and also that we are a mouthpiece for the university and its SGA. I don't like that. Who started this anyway? Oh, I hear it's a tradition. Well, let's just make it work. Don't let the SGA president use this piece to get on a soapbox and try to influence results of an election or an issue. All we need is info....okay? But, we can still have a forum if there is a need for that and that is determined by the editor, managing editor and ed-ops editor talking about it....okay?

Page 8: A good page, not great. This should have been designed earlier and should have been more solid. It has a good ad. Oh well. Still, good info and we got pictures of all the candidates. I remember when that used to be a chore.

Overall, a good issue. However, there is no mistaking, our best reporting and effort this past week went to our online edition. I applaud all of you for thinking "Online First" and "Print Second" and if we continue on that route, we will become better 21st century journalists. Plan 21, seems to be working, no? And, if you have a chance, give a hug and a thank to Adriana Garza and Jaime Gonzalez for planning this over the summer. Their brainchild has grown wings and is working. Thanks Adriana and Jaime.

And, also, a big hug (abrazo) and thanks for all of you who make time to produce and publish the print and online editions of The South Texan. Most of you are volunteers and we know you have to make sacrifices from your regular school work and campus lifestyle to become an integral part of our staff. And, one last note. Newcomer Adolfo is stepping right in there with the rest of the staff. Good job Adolfo and welcome to our silly crew.

Dead Man and Tejanos and another thrilling Hoggie football win make for interesting Oct. 13 issue

2009-10-18T11:01:00.000-07:00

Catastrophe almost struck this issue when one of our staffers, who was overworked with three stories, called and said she could not have those stories ready for us in time for deadline. While the call came late (Monday morning by the time we verified it), we did not panic and thanks to the leadership of our editor, Angela Palacios, and our publications lab director, Adriana Garza, we were able to salvage the issue, make deadline (sort of), and have another informative edition of The South Texan available to our students and readers. Of course, the added pressure and approaching deadline meant some things had to suffer. In this case, we did not read our material very well and we had some typos, including a story I helped with late but was sure someone would read or spell check. No one did. Still, overall, an issue about old men, Tejanos, Dead Man's phones and football came out, OKAY. Thanks for a job well done. Now, here's a page-by-page review.

Page 1: - We salvaged this page. We had a definite strong photo of the play with a very strong headline. Oh, by the way, the story and headline are right, technically. We got complaints about the "cast" not advancing but only three of the cast members advancing to regional. The publicity they got was awesome on this and the story clearly says "three" cast members. The complaints probably stem from our review. Nevertheless, good play on an important story to our university. The folklorico picture also well done. It beats all the other mugs of old men that we have on the page. Only disappointment here was that we used a "canned" PR story of Dr. DeLeon's presentation. I would have like our own story, but at least it got covered. As far as layout is concerned, the "Tejano Heritage Awards" story and the "DeLeon" story should have lined up to make it true modular. Still, it's a nice blockish format a la USA Today and it works. Teasers (both top and bottom) still need help.

Page 2: Cute (I don't really like cute but there are so many young women on the staff that cute seems to be the thing to do this semester), well-designed page that flows well. UPD column text is much too big. Let's not do that. Let's try to stay as close to body text as possible. And, why not use more items? I'm sure we have lots of interesting stuff to use here. Please tell our reporter, Raymond, to send us more items. We can always cut them if we have to for space reasons. Nice page and nice tweet. Green tip of the week turned pink - cute. Ha. Oh, nice "tweet." I, too, tweet blue-and-gold.

Page 3: Nice modular page with good art work (Javelina flag always helps, ha). Wish we would have had a solid story on Arnold Gonzalez. Still, nice play with photo. However, he is not an attorney. His son is the attorney. Can we correct this? A short explanation on p.2 next week would suffice. Everything else here is very nice. Don't really have a BAP but modular layout makes it all work. Also, Arrellano story needs to be broken up at bottom. It's a little too grey.

Page 4: This is a "wow" page. The color is overwhelming. We must have gotten every color in the color wheel for this work. Our previous printer just could not have pulled this off and our layout editors knew that. Wow. Green, blue, pink, dark pink, red, yellow, aqua in the ad...wow. It looks good and the Cortina story makes it newsy. Well done.

Page 5: This was the "Flores Page" - Ha! Still, it was the photo of Ronnie Jordan that made this layout complete and workable. It's the perfect use of a BAP, even though it's a publicity photo. Only thing happened is that when we PDFed the page, the headline changed and we had two ol' big dots for the ellipsis on the deck. We need to double check the PDFs before sending them. Hope this is a lesson-learned. Also, the photo of Marcos Flores should have been to the right of the story to avoid bumping photos. Okay? Lesson-learned. I don't know who that handsome man is on the bottom of the page speaking about vaqueros, but it sure made the page solid. Don't you think? Ha.

Page 6: This is always my favorite page because it shows what our staffers are thinking and feeling. From the editorial cartoon, to the columns and editorial, this page is full of life and vigor. This issue was no exception, but we failed our staffers in some way, which I will explain at the end of this post for this page. First, Katrina's column was heart-warming. It's an all too common story for South Texas, but Katrina found a way to tell it differently and with a passion and sense of purpose few could have. Well done, Katrina. Now, believe it or not, this could have been stronger. We failed Katrina because we (including myself who was too busy trying to salvage pi) did not proof read it thoroughly. The ed-ops page should be the first to be ready and its pieces (since they represent OUR THOUGHTS) should be read throughouly...completely..it must be the cleanest page in the issue. Claudia please have this page ready first thing Monday (at least) so that we can read it thoroughly. Also, Amanda, can you please help read this page. Thanks. Now, the editorial on the Chicano monument was well done and timely, considering it's Hispanic Heritage Month. The Obama Nobel Prize editorial is very well done. Thanks. Solid stuff with a cute (I don't like cute) cartoon. This page could have been stronger, but the material carries it, in my opinion.

Page 7: Our sports pages still need work. However, a nice strong photo and great headline carry this page. The story was okay, but not great. We need great now. We can't stand for mediocrity. Also, it's time, as the games have more meaning, for us to do a complete advance on Monday and not just put it into the game story. We have time on Monday to do a through review of the next opponent. Mark, can we do this? You are the sports editor, right? I've asked you to this for the past month and there seems to be no movement toward doing a complete advance separate from the story. Also, with all the "pinche" sportswriters we have, why do we not have stuff on the cross country team and why do we not have solid features and columns? Oh well.

Page 8: Well, we almost got something right. Page 8 is the sports package on Billy perhaps qualifying for the Harlon Hill Trophy. This was supposed to be a story validating Billy Garza as a Harlon Hill Trophy contender. A story uses stats to verify. There are no stats in the Mark's story. Instead, there are implications of opinions. Therefore, what we had, was a column by Mark Molina on his views as to why Billy "The Kid" Garza should qualify for the Harlon Hill Trophy. Turns out, it's a good column. It's the first one ever this year. Are you kidding me? Jaime's stat story and the whole package with Artie's Johnny Bailey Story makes this a complete and very good package, but it could have been much better. I know, Mark probably let Jaime tell the stats....which he did. But, Mark needed to say just how Billy compared with other notables across the nation. By the way, Artie, good job on your story. One. more thing, the PDF bugaboo got us again on this page. When we did the PDF, the headline on Alfie's story got longer and we wound up with an incomplete headline. Angela, Jaime and Adriana, can we please double-check the PDFs for any changes from the original quark layout? Thanks

Well, that's it - from a Dead Man's phone to old men photos on the front page and a good attempt at sportswriting, this issue had a little bit of everything for the reader and our students. Question is, who gets KUDOs? It's very hard, especially since this issue almost fell apart. Sometimes, however, KUDOs is about consistency. Over the past four weeks, as we celebrated Hispanic Heritage Month, we have had one student consistently, accurately, and in a timely matter cover a myriad of presentations and activities solidly. That person is Angel Flores. His coverage of Hispanic Heritage Month is exemplary. He met deadline every time, asked for guidance when needed and then turned in solid stories that needed little editing. For this effort, he gets KUDOs. Congratulation Angel. You are in the pot for the $100.

Our 'pink' issue was a hit, postgame interviews were better

2009-10-11T08:13:00.000-07:00

Last week, as I made my way through the campus, I could not help but notice how many students had our paper in their hands. I know that having a winning football team makes people hungry for news, but I felt it was more than that. Then it struck me! Most of the students with the paper in their hands were young women. Why? Well, the pink headline and the topic - breast cancer - had caught their attention. The article at the top of pi - the strip, if you will - is a perfect example of the WIIFM (What's In It For Me?)Theory. Later that week, breast cancer activities, including the DIGG IT Volleyball game were filled to capacity. As an old fuddy-duddy professor, I can't always gauge the news value of students. I'm glad we at The South Texan have such insightful leadership from young women like of Adriana Garza (our pub lab director, the best), Editor Angela Palacios, Amanda Marcum, Sabrina Reyna, Katrina Alejandro, Claudia Garcia, Mary Beth Cleavlin, Erika Hernandez, Sabrina Salinas, Tania Garcia, Jacque Hutton and Jennifer Garcia to make sure that we cover issues pertinent to young women and women in general. If it was up to Fisher, myself, Jaime, David, Mike and Adolfo, we would be happy with just football and we wouldn't even care if the football was pink. Hahahahahaha! Again, good job.

As for our paper last week, it was as good as it could be with the exceptions of the sports page and the photos - which were pixelized in some cases. Mr. Fisher has worked with our photographers to remedy the photo situation and sports just has to do a better job. Mark, you are your own man now. Fix it! We need more features, more photos and more pizzaz. More stats,perhaps, would also help. We have one of the best teams in the nation and our coverage is flat. We should be making heroes and role models for our students. The advance should be our main story, not the game story. How many times do Fisher and I need to tell all of the sports staff guys about this? Fisher is mad. I'm just about ready to give up.

In spite of all these, your sports coverage was still a better than average effort. I don't think you all realize this, but for the past three years we have had the best sports staff in Division III of TIPA and have consistently won more writing awards than all the other 68 university schools at TIPA. In the past we have had people like Rolando Flores, Ted Briggs, Jaime Gonzalez and J.C. Reyes as our stalwarts and all knew that when the Javelina sports staff arrived, we were the best. So, you have to live up to the tradition. Do it!

Now, here is a page-by-page review:

Page 1: A very nice modular layout. Good use of Nieto mug. We should use a photo or a mug on every story. Audit headline, too small. BAP weak. Football package had a good idea and worked. And, on the subject of sports on the front page, I don't like it unless we achieve something significant. We haven't won a conference championship and are not even playing for that yet. Sports on pi should be reserved for "real" stories, not game stories. And, if we're going to have a game story on pi, then the advance of the coming game is the lead story on sports. Mary Beth's story on Round Table was excellent, but we had to rewrite the lead to help it make sense. Mary Beth, when all else fails, think summary lead. And, we should have used a mug of Tallant here, don't you think? Teaser was nice and the pink think was awesome, as I said earlier. That is the prettiest pink that we have ever run in our newspaper. Wow, I like pink. Who would have "thunk" it?

Page 2: Good job Erika! Wonderful, informative column! Nice page Strong elements with "Green Tip" and "UPD" columns. "Tweet of the Week" cute.

Page 3: A solid, newsy page with a solid mug of me, yea! No, just kidding. The one thing wrong with many of our inside pages is that we have a problem putting the BAP to the top. The BAP is "family weekend" and it should have been featured higher. The stories are well done. And, the review on Dead Man's Cell is solid, in spite of some misgivings from the Drama Department people. We have been doing reviews of university drama productions since 1926 and have always stated our opinion. We will continue to do this as long as the editor feels that the reporter doing the review is qualified and properly prepared to do the review. ROTC story posting also well done. Disappointed n Dr. Baker's photo...to fuzzy.

Page 4: Again, a very newsy page with plenty of information for our readers, students. Again, no real BAP. I agree, however, it would have been hard to have a BAP with these stories, but we have to try. Perhaps the ROTC story could have gotten bigger play? Good story on Goswami and the photo of him, which we had to scramble to get, and I'm sure pleased many of his fans.

Page 5: Layout here is weak. Material is strong in some places, weak in others. Katrina's "football" column is a tear-jerker for old fuddy-duddies like me. It would have worked better on sports page (which reminds me, where have our sports column been this year?). Editorial cartoon is bit weak. We can do better on this page. Let's work on it.

Page 6: Gosh darn it, guys. Our sports page is weak. Photo weaker, although a nice save with cutout. This is a color page and we have no action pics, no provocative columns and not even a real story. What's up? This is lazy reporting and not with the tradition of The South Texan sports staff. We started the page with a jump. Why? Never is the lead story on our feature page, the last page, a full-color page, a jump. And, we need an advance on the significance of the game with Commerce with interviews from both coaches. Yes, you can do this on Monday morning! Why don't we. Angela, you have to be a leader here. You have to tell them that is what you expect. Mark, you need to think. Remember, WIIFM! Poor effort. Disappointed. Please do better.

As for KUDOs, well the print edition was excellent but, like the Hoggies' win last week, it was a team effort. This leads us to The South Texan On Line where new things are been tried and quality material is been posted. The post-game interviews and video of our players after that exciting win over Tarleton State were excellent. Mr. Fisher, Ms. Adriana and I were very pleased with that posting. We understand that Noe the Nomad and Sabrina Reyna were responsible for this. So, they get KUDOs. Congratulations and keep up the good work.

It's a dog's world after all and, on the road with Hogs helps solidify Sept. 29 effort

2009-10-04T10:06:00.000-07:00

The Sept. 29 issue of The South Texan had some excellent stories and features, but lacked photo and design quality. However, don't get me wrong, this was a solid paper and we are very proud of you. Let's talk about the highlights first and then we will do a page-by-page review. The highlights included: (1) Excellent news coverage and advances, (2) wonderful columns and editorials, (3) great features and a great headline on "All Bark," and (4) good sports coverage and great road trips (yes we had two - Canyon and Corpus Christi). Nice, very nice. Now, let's look at this issue, page-by-page.

Page 1: Great picture on teaser. The determination on Billy's face evident. Wow, I know some of you (young women) would want to blow this up bigger. Perhaps we should have it on the sports page? The lead story about the A&I alumni well done. However, we had a hyphen in the headline. Let's not do this. The package on flu shot very nice, but label head (Being Prepared) does not do justice to the story was well done. Katrina's story on flu well written and Mary Beth story on alumni is just as good. Nice work on Tejano features. A suggestion use more decks (more decks, more decks, more decks) and more charticles (more charticles, more charticles, more charticles). Short brief info with information that is pertinent to the reader is how to describe a charticle. Also, mugs on the speakers would be good. The "Teasers" at the bottom look better every week. Let's "lighten" the pictures to make sure they reproduce. Layoutwise, a very good modular format. Headline font use could have been better.

Page 2: I think our Page 2 is pretty solid now that we anchor Erika's column at the top. I didn't like this at first, but it's the best thing there. I still feel we should use a photo with the jumps, just to break up the grey. Some of our "additions" on the page - like the Arnold Gonzales and Ishmael Soto exhibit and the Family Weekend - need "real" stories. They look like ads. UPD and Green Tip very well done. Finally, the "Focus On Us" photo is again a sideshot. We can't use sideshots or backshots. Okay? Let's work on this.

Page 3: Nice tease at top on the South Texas Archives cinema exhibit. Good story and photo by Edwin on art exhibit. Poor play and photo (no cutline) on Dead Man's Cell. This should have been on pi (page one).

Page 4: A nice color page with a great ad. Wow, have we collected for this? Photo of Ricardo Martinez excellent. The story on "Wall" documentary well done by Angel. Thanks, Angel. Jason Justice had another good story, but missed lead. Don't take for granted it's "ready for print." The editors must read the story and edit it just as any another story submitted by any other staffer. On the story on the "Wall," I think we missed the assignment. We were supposed to get student response and opinion. We missed that.

Page 5: Excellent feature page with some excellent photos. The kitty on the top left is a wow photo. The lead photo of the volunteer (he is a volunteer right?) with the cat nuzzling up to him is also wonderful. Good charticle on the bottom right and a strong story. Overall, very well done. Great headline. Who thought of this? Also, could tease on "Cat Nap." Wow, well done. It's one of the highlights of the year.

Page 6: A well done ed-ops page. Only problem is the gutter going down the middle. We need to work on this. Amanda, Claudia...good commentary. Editorials, especially the "Wall," are well done, too.

Page 7: This page lacked some cohesiveness. First, when we travel to a site to cover a football game, we need a dateline. In this case, it should have said CANYON -. Also, we need to look at style. Are we AMK or TAMUK? Angela and Mark (maybe Jaime, too), please review this and choose a style. Perhaps we need an editors' meeting to decide which style we want. Mark, the story you wrote was good for Saturday morning but was not good for Tuesday. The news in this story is old. We need an advance on the biggest game at TAMUK this year, the undefeated teams of TAMUK and Tarleton State clashing at Jav Stadium on Saturday. The sports staff totally missed this. We are disappointed. Think, THINK, THINK! THINKTHINK!! And, please don't be lazy, get quotes on injuries and coming games on Monday. You have plenty, Plenty, PLENTY of time to do this. I don't like lazy people. Javelina game week for volleyball should not be on top. Not important any more. Photo by Artie excellent. Too much space on the top.

Page 8: A very nice feature on Kristin Chancellor and a very nice story on cross country by Katrina...well done. Page layout was weak. There was no BAP. Cutout was good, but should have been higher and bigger. The photo of cross country kids should have been to the top and dogleg on ad on cross country story should have been avoided. Still, a good effort here. Well done.

So, who gets KUODs. It's tough. Lots of good efforts, including Claudia's pet story and photos, Artie's coverage in Canyon, David Brott's help on Saturday, Katrina's all over the place reporting and Edwin's reporting as well. Angel, too, did a fine job and Amanda had several worthy items as well. By sheer count, Katrina has three stories and went out of town on her own time to cover cross country meet. She also has two photos. Claudia has a column and a story plus five photos. Artie's online work, along with Mark's help, while travelling to Canyon, was also quite a "volunteer" effort. Amanda had a very good front page story, layed out and designed several parts of the paper,and a solid column. We could go on and on. What's an adviser to do? Well, time for multiple awards: Katrina, Claudia and Artie. Good job guys. Thanks. You're in the pot for the $100. Good luck.

From down on the farm, to art and a documentary on "The Wall" - Sept. 22 issue had plenty of good stuff and surprising KUDOs winner

2009-09-25T13:09:00.001-07:00

The Sept. 22 edition had several good campus event stories and showed why it is important for The South Texan to report on campus events. The front page shows it all - teasers of the Hispanic Heritage kickoff on the teasers, an article on the coming documentary "The Wall" to our campus, a report on the Mayan art exhibit at the Ben Bailey Art Gallery to fun by the ag kids ant the farm. this was a very newsy front page. The inside pages had even more campus coverage. From that standpoint, this was a very good issue. Now, let's look at this issue page-by-page:

Page 1: Nice teasers, much better. Thanks. We do need, however, to identify, at least, what these people are doing. You need to say what the girls is chewing on (jalapenos), especially with the expression on her face. And you need to identify the girls all pretty all in a row. And, you need to tell the reader who the girl singing is. The story on "the Wall" was well done and a good effort by Angel Flores. It could have been better if the date and time would have been higher up on the story. Literacy summit story had great info and a was a solid story, but lead is too long. Why? Probably 'cause it was late and the editors did not have an opportunity to ask for a rewrite or even rewrite it themselves. Edwin's Mayan story was a bit better, but he subject matter made it confusing. The Ag Olympics story by Claudia was very functional and made for a good package. I think the photos could have been stronger, however. Also, please, PLEASE get names of people in the photos. I know, no one will read this. Finally, the TAMUK engineering story by mary beth had some great information that could be found no where else. Well done. Teasers at the bottom were better, but not great. We have to be able to see things. For this to happen, we must blow-up the photos. And, if we do that, like we did on Miss Hispanic Heritage, we have to identify who the person is....how about that?

Page 2: This was a very busy page with several elements competing for attention. I'm not sure that Erika's column should have been the lead story. Erika's column is very solid. Is she serious? Only the women known. Hahahahahahahahahaaha! Angela's Cheech Marin story also had some good information. When we have material like this that no one else has, perhaps we should use a deck to inform the public. In fact, we should have used a deck. The UPD Files story is solid and well done. However, when we have a student robbed at knifepoint, it calls for a separate pull-out story. Why didn't we do this? And, who does this? The page editor. The page editor will call the reporter and say "Give me a story on this." Green Tip of the Week again very interesting. Good job Sabrina Salinas.

Page 3: Who is that handsome devil who spoke on Hispanic contributions to the U.S. media? Perhaps we should have run the photo larger? Ha. Just kidding! Page 3 could well be our best page. It's got beauty queens, kids dancing and ROTC cadets taking oaths. It's almost a slice of Americana. Problems? Yes. to begin with, we had another label head on "Celebrating Diez y Seis de Septiembre." Why? Tell me something in the headline. Something like: "More than 400 attend opening Hispanic Heritage event" would have been nice. And, the photo of the kids - poor crop. And, always show the dancers' feet! Claudia did well with this straight news story. Sabrina had an outstanding short story on Miss Hispanic Heritage. Not bad for her first real journalistic effort. Edwin, Katrina and our ROTC guys also had good stories. Nice page.

Page 4: Some very provocative columns and editorial. However, this page still needs to be better organized and planned. Also, Claudia, please try to break up the gutter all the way down the page. Let's try to break this up with a story across the page or at the bottom. On the content, Angela Palacios had a very strong column on Dr. Hector P. Garcia. I certainly hope the powers that be at TAMUK read and heed her message. Carlos' "Customer Service" column also had some provocative moments and just barely escaped the whiney factor. It was nice, Carlos. The editorials should be together, not separate. They should be side-by-side of one on top of the other. Content wise, both editorial were solid. Cartoon was little weak but our resident journalism guru - Adriana Tapia Garza - saved it. Ask her how she did it. Well done!!!!

Page5: Sports guys did well to cover volleyball and cross country. Nice work on photos, Adriana Perez. Best thing here is the cross-eyed cat. Did we adopt it?

Page 6: Page 6 is typical sports page. Okay. Nice photo by Artie.

And, now, KUDOs. Who get's this prestigious student journalism award this week? There were many good candidates but we are going to give it to Claudia Garcia. Claudia's energy and passion to learn, take on challenging stories and just do whatever she can to help are contagious. Claudia, you get it this time and you deserve it. We are very proud of you. Now, it's time to tighten up your stories and editing and swing for the fences. Well done.

From dry to wet in less than one week, Sept. 15 issue led to interesting KUDOs decision: Katrina Alejandro rocks

2009-09-15T15:18:00.000-07:00

In spite of heat, rain and some unexpected lack of passion for journalism by some of our staffers, we were able to complete our fifth issue of the semester this past week. The Sept. 15 issue was full of informative and important stories about our university and community. That means that we accomplished one of the most important goals of a newspaper, covering and reporting issues about the community. Now, let's look at the issue page-by-page.

Page 1: Very well designed. Nice package on 1959 team. The type on the blue should have been at least .5 bigger and could have been 2 pt. bigger if needed. When we run type over screens of any color, we run the reverse type bigger than normal. If I have one complaint about this page is that it needed some decks. Also, the enrollment story at the top should have had a better lead. The "diez y sies" story headline is a "label" head.We need a real headline for every story. Finally, on the Zambrano story, I'm not sure what happened but we forgot to read it, I guess. There were some elements in the Zambrano story, particularly in the jump, where we just didn't read the story before it bot published. This is the job of the editor, managing editor and page editor to read every thing that goes in the page or paper. Every story must be read in its entirety. Let's set up a system that will make that work. Angela, please take care of this. One other note, a word of praise for Rebecca Cepeda for her work on the "Swine Flu" article. Well done for a freshman.

Page 2: This is one of the better Page 2 layouts in recent memory. the only problem, layoutwise how great the bottom half of the page looks. Nice "Focus on Us", nice "Fall fashion" story, wonderful "Tweet," but let's put more tweets and use twitter symbol. I like the UPD stuff and "Green Tip of the Week" also nice .

Page 3: Nice layout. Bumping photos, don't! Edit the ROTC story, just don't run it like it is turned in.

Page 4: Nice sports page with very good photo of Billy scoring on a 70-YARD TD RUN! Great photo, Katrina.

Page 5: good rain photos that kind of lost luster with the ads. Perhaps just running the spread on top and using the last two photos on the right for a story would have been better.

Page 6: A nice editorial page but evidence that no one reads this blog abounds. Keep your editorials, together. In other words, one on top of the other. Nice opinion pieces, but we have done better.

Page 7: Enjoyed this page. The photos were weak, especially the BAP. The stories were solid Camps News material.

Page 8: Strong and well-designed page in Español.

Overall, this was an excellent paper that showed we had some gaps in our organization. Many of the stories showed up late, too late. Also, we forgot about our new mantra - online rules and print follows. When we cover an event, the story must be written the next day, it must be put on the web the next day and then maybe rewritten for the print edition which comes out on Tuesday. Online rules, print follows.

As for KUDOs, there were plenty of worthy candidates. They include staffers like Amanda Marcum, Mary Beth Cleavelin,Edwin Vasquez, Claudia Garcia, Rebecca Cepeda, Mark Molina, Artie Leal and Tania Garcia. However, the work of Katrina Alejandro has been consistent through the year and her work in this issue was exemplary. Katrina had the story on the 1959 national championship team, the healthfest and her great photo of Billy made her the recipient of this week's KUDOs. Well done Katrina, you're on the pot.

The Heat was "ON" and now the rains have come; KUDOS for Sept. 9 issue were "a little wet"

2009-09-15T14:41:00.000-07:00

Well, we now have proof that God does read The South Texan. After more than 90 days of drought and a month of August with 10 dates with 100 degrees temperature or higher, the staff of The South Texan decided to do a package (feature story) on how the heat had impacted the area. Mary Beth Cleavlin did a wonderful story complete with sources and scientific data and Katrina Alejandro and Angela Palacios worked on doing a front page story with a jump to feature page 8 to make it look as enticing as possible. It was nice. The day the paper was delievered, it rained. I mean, it RAINED! More than 3 1/2 inches of rain fell that Sept. 10, most of it right on good ol' AMK. It was gratifying, however, to see student used our "HEAT WAVE" issue to cover themselves from the rain. It's enough to make a grown man cry! But, hey, after God saw our headline about the summer drought, he must have said, "Well let's just let it rain down there fellas. It's all fine. We'll take care of you." The downpours were needed and we thank God for little relief from the heat, not to mention the comic relief from those who reacted to our story while trying to escaped the rain.

Still, it was a good issue with plenty of readable and informative stories. Let's look at this issue, page-by-page.

Page 1: Katrina finally got the layout down with the burnt grass in from of College Hall as a backdrop and the headline worked, sort of. We could have done better, but this package, which jumped to page 8, worked well. Jacque Hutton's story on the Town Hall Round Table meeting was very informative. Good lead and plenty of good information and quotes. Story needed help, but that's what we have editors for....good job Jacque. Carlos' story on the Sabrios and Claudia's story on the new risk management leader were well done. Teasers at bottom look better but I still can't see the VBall photo and the maracas (they are maracas, right?) look like Indian pottery. We could have found something better than this for Hispanic Heritage. Specking of Hispanic Heritage, who is working on the "bug" for the upcoming features?

Page 2: Erika is the bomb! Really. Wow. She knows how to strengthen the bond with man. Yea. It's simple really feed us, love us, leave us along and pretty much we will be like loyal puppy dogs waiting for our next treat. But, excellent, Erika. You are getting better at this and this has syndication potential. Let me work on that on my time off. Theatre story was weak. We needed photo and a real story. We did not need a rewrite from a flier. Blotter was good. Let's develop this with a little better format. "Green Tip of the Week" well done. Nice Focus on Us page.

Page 3: Claudia tracked down the Cheech Marin story, good job. I would have suggested calling Cheech. Why did we not call him? Next time we are doing a story on a celebrity, we should try to make contact that celebrity. The Miss Hispanic Heritage story by Tania had a killer headline: "Hola Chica!" Que cute. Adolfo's story on the Poli Sci Pi Sigma Alpha chapter well done. Godd stories. Good campus news. A well-deisgned campus news page. KUDOs.

Page 4: Color on an inside page. Wow! Nice photo package on "Distant Light." Jumps well placed, but we always need to have some type of art with these many jumpbs. We should have planned this better. Nice page, for one that is inside. However, a suggestion. Let's make the color inside page our Best Campus news page and use the other black and white Campus News page for jumps. What do you think?

Page 5: This was a very newsy Campus News page and also in color. Yea! Excellent ROTC features. Where did you find this guy, Angela? His story on the Victory Cannon and the new commander were excellent. Let's use him some more. Let's talk about potential stories. Only thing bad here was the lead art on the "topping out" lunch. Surely, there was something "topped out." That was the photo we needed. Still, nice page.

Page 6: This ed-ops page was a little dull. Still, it had some poignant commentary by Nndy and Sabrina and Angela had a good column on how an editorial page works. Also, editorial were well done. A suggestion: let's keep our editorial together on this page. Claudia, you are doing a good job designing this page but you need to develop your own style and look. That includes having a solid editorial cartoon and a letter's to the editor section. Let's see if you can generate some letters.

Page 7:Sports page is weak. We need big headlines and big photos.Photo by Artie, good! Volleyball story was very well done. Where are volleyball photos?

Page 8: An interesting features page, to say, the least. Good effort on graphics, but we can do better. Sabrina's photo was excellent.

So, who gets KUDOs? Well, we can't go wroing with the rainmaker. KUDOs goes to Mary Beth Cleavelin. Great story, good sources and well designed. Good job Mary Beth. We missed you last spring semester. So, you're on the pot for $100.

KUDOs Sept. 1 issue

2009-09-04T12:31:00.000-07:00

Our venture into social media via our Plan 21 Project is off to a great
start thanks to the efforts of the Football Online Reporting Team
(FORT, ha) for the Javelinas football opener last Saturday against nationally-ranked Delta (Miss.) State.

Behind the leadership of David Brott,
online editor, and the supervision of new journalism instructor Don
Fisher, the team was able to give us quarterly updates on the progress
of the game. Those updates included photos by ArtieLeal, quarterly narratives by Adrian Trevino, and game and summary reviews by Mark Molina. In addition, David Brott
downloaded quarterly stats. It was a good solid package. As a result,
our hits from last week went up from 50 the previous week to more than
500.
Well done FORT. And, to make it better, theJaveinas won, 28-17. Go Hogs!

As for the Sept. 21 issue, it was another strong effort for this early in the semester. The experience of staffers like Angela Palacios,
Jaime Gonzalez, Tania Garcia, Erika Hernandez, Carlos Alvarado, Edwin
Vasquez and Katrina Alejandro came through and the enthusiasm of new
staffers like AmandaMarcum, Mary Beth Cleavelin, Caludia Garcia and others really showed.

Page 1 - Nice reader at the top. Poor photo with it. SGA
election story well done. Too bad we could not promote it more. Mark's
game story was excellent effort. Lead photo great but not ours. Please
do not run photos that were not taken by our staffers.
We probably needed a mug of Upshaw. Hughes/Gines story well done. Teasers at bottom need to be fixed. Too many, too small. Chose 3 or 4 at most.

Page 2 - Nice teaser at top. Focus On Us weak. Weak photo. Weak play. Serna story solid and also good photo. Well done. Erika's column is "bitching." Ha. Bottom of page too great.

Page
3 - A very nice, very modular page. Lead BAP a little too far down the
page and was too dark. Every B&W photo must be lightened in Quark
or PhotoShop . Okay? the lead headline on the Blackboard story needed to
be bigger at top and smaller at bottom. We also needed info box
explaining whatBlackBoard truly is.....but not bad. Engineering story was well done. Lots of quotes and good info.

Pge 4 - Lead photo needed to be cropped. Girl eating popsicle cute but, not needed. Ice Cream social and music students stories were well done. James Guidry play was good but what was he doing? Not good! Jennifer sold lots of ads and they were pretty. Good job, Jennifer.

Page 5 - Can't read teaser. Needed to lighten backgroun. Flutist story well written and color helps here, but the Stop, listen in . . was hard to se.
This was a good idea. Let's play with it. Life Wellness picture very
good (good job), but tell my what it was? Why did they win. It needed
more info.

Page 6 - The lost page surfaces. Through no fault of
ours, the printer ran the wrong page, one from last week. We got 500
copies of the do-rights and it looks very good. Lots of good stuff on
this page. Amanda, wow! Jaime, double wow, wow! Claudia, excellent.
And, to boot, a good editorial by Jennifer, I believe.Laout is okay. It's modular. We need some letters to the editor. You guys are not controversial enough. Ha.

Page 7 - Sports page is good, not great. Nice story on top. Good use of archved photo of Vball girls. Jump needed to be in two columns and it doesn't look like body text. Is it? The charticle on the Javelina Game Day needs more info like season records, last week, etc. Can we do this?

Page
8 - This needed to be a photo spread. And, the headline at top needed
to be bigger, Bigger, BIGGER. Nice stories by both Edwin and Mary Beth
and good, strong photos by Amanda and Artie.

Overall, guys y gals, good job. A nice issue.

KUDOs....everyone, as usual did well. But this week we must give it to the Football Online Reporting Team. So, KUDOs to David Brott, Mark Molina, Adrian Trevion, Artie Leal, Amanda Marcum and Angela Palacios. Oh, give ol' Don Fisher a big ol' pat on the back. Well done.

Off to a great start in Fall 2009 - KUDOs go to Adriana Garza, Jennifer Garcia, Mary Beth Cleavlin and Claudia Garcia

2009-08-29T10:30:00.000-07:00

We are doing so many new things this semester as we adjust to the changing media landscape that I will keep this critique short and sweet.

First, welcome back to Texas A&M University-Kingsville. I hope you have a wonderful year and an enjoyable communications/journalism experience. We expect great things from you as you learn the nuances of the new world of communications. We expect you to be serious students and journalists/communicators. We want you to know that you represent not only yourselves and your family and parents, but also the legacy of many great South Texan staffers who have come before you. The South Texan has regained its reputation of being an informative, intelligent tool of communicating with our students, faculty and community. We will not tarnish that reputation. Understoods.

As I write this on Saturday prior to the first football game of the season, I can't help to be proud of our first two issues - The Back to School (BTS) edition and the first South Texan of the year. Wonderful job.

Angela Palacios, our new editor, has taken the proverbial bull by the horns and, with the help of key staffers, has overseen the production of two quality issues. A special thanks to all who showed up early to help Angela.

Now, let's look at the two issues.

The BTS issue was solid with good information, especially for incoming students, and some key stories that tell the story of our university from a historical perspective. It was a key component on our WIIFM efforts. What's WIIFM? It stands to "What's In It For Me?" That's the question every reader asks as he or she picks up a print newspaper or visits a website. Definitely, we had information that filled that need in this issue. So, good job. Let's keep WIIFM in mind as we produce each edition of The South Texan. I was, however, not as pleased with the design. It was too "common," for lack of a better description. In particular, I feel like we missed a chance to have outstanding layouts in athletics and traditions. Still, good effort.

We also had some label heads (i.e. "University Traditions"). Every story needs a clear distinct headline. The cover was excellent, but a little confusing. The use of color throughout, well, excellent. Good planning on that part.

One of the highlights of this issue was the advertising. We sold enough ads to pay for almost half the issue. The fact that we started late in the summer to sell this issue and we wound up with a good package is commendable. The ads were sold by our new and very efficient advertising manager - Jennifer Garcia. This was facilitated by the work this summer by our Publications Lab Director Adriana Garza. Adriana sent out letters to prospective advertisers and answered many of the early phone calls before Angela and her staffers arrived. Not only were the ad sales "good" for the BTS issue, this has set the standard for the rest of the semester. So, who gets KUDOs? And, what is KUDOs?

KUDOs is our weekly effort to recognize outstanding performances by our editors and staffers. While there were many good performances in the BTS issue, the work of the advertising team was exemplary. So, KUDOs go to Adriana Garza and Jennifer Garcia. They are in the pot for a $100 scholarship which will be given out at our "15" Party at the end of the first semester. What is a "15" Party? It's a mid-year celebration of our excellence. In journalism, the No. "-30-" has traditionally meant the end. So, therefore, "-15-" is the midpoint and we use it to celebrate the end of our fall semester. Congratulations to Adriana and Jennifer.

Now, for the first issue. Good job. This is as solid a first issue as I have seen in the past three years. Package on front page was excellent. I would have preferred to use the photo with the dad as the lead photo, and bigger. I really didn't like the top photo. It was unflattering and did not really tell a story. All photos must tell a story. The "reader" - that's the story at the top of the page which must never be deeper than 3 inches - was very appropriate. We had a solid picture of Dr. Tallant. I would have like a quote out, but this worked. The story on the Bishop Hall cafeteria had solid photo but it was dated. When we have a file photo we must say so and not fool the reader into thinking it was taken this week. The story on Upshaw was a good touch and definitely deserved front page play. The convocation story, for some reason, was lost. Why? Do you think it could have used some art work to attract attention? Don't know. This is one incident where the editors must look at the layout and say, "Hey, how can we improve this?" But, hey, this works. Nice.

The inside pages are very nice and I think we have a good design with the teasers at the top. Page 2 is a little "grey" at the bottom, but has some excellent stories and art at the top. Erika did a good job with her column. Page 3 had some interesting WIIFM type stories and good, solid layout. Photos are a little weak, in particular the photo of the band. Certainly we can get better photos of "bandies." As for Dr. Gandy, well, we did the best we could. The "Doggone It" headline works. It was almost cute. I don't like cute. Page 4 had useful information, but again our photos were weak. The freshman dinner photo barely worked. Editorial Page solid. It had a good pro and con feature, which I don't like. I want us to have opinions, even we ruffle some feathers on our own staff, including mine. Angela, nice work on column. Mark, your column had some nice point but make sure you write, re-write and make it as good as you can before our editors see the final product. You made a good case of TAKS being "meaningless." Sports page was a little weak but you had little space and not enough action - yet. Action starts this week and I can't wait to see next week's issue. Oh, guys, on sports page, do not use Sport Information material unless it's a last resort. We write our own stories. I don't want this to happen again. OKAY?

Finally, PLAN21 is off and running. Mr. Fisher and his crew have planned some excellent elements for our first football game coverage. We will have quarterly photo and stats updates as well as running reports on progress of the game. In the meantime, we're tweeting, MyFacing and MySpacing (whatever?) and using social media well. A key to this Plan 21 effort is the work of David Brott and Noe Longoria. Good work by both and, I guess, a hearty congratulations to Don Fisher. We welcome his expertise in this area and looked forward to great accomplishments in this area.

KUDOs for the second issue? We had many outstanding efforts, which is what a staff is all about. Mary Beth Cleavlin had three solids stories (including a solid editorial on healthcare). Mark Molina had a front-page story and a column, Carlos Alvarado and Edwin Vasquez both had solid pi (pi in itals is short for page 1 in journalism) stories. Tania's story on the comedian and her layout on page 2 showed her hard work and passion. Sabrina Salinas again had a good "Green Tip." Claudia Garcia had a good story on the "bandies" being "Zepped" and another on the freshmen dinner with the president. Jamie Gonzalez had the greatest story of all on some perro named "Bandit." Wonder who it belongs to? He also had a solid editorial on healthcare. So, it's difficult to pick one district winner. Still, because of the passion that Claudia Garcia showed and the commitment Mary Beth Cleavelin showed upon her return, we are going to honor both these staffers. All of you did well on this first issue, but Claudia and Mary Beth just had a little edge. Congratulations. You are both in the pot for the $100 KUDOs cold cash scholarship during our "-15-" party.

From myself, Mr. Fisher and Adriana, thanks for your effort.

TWIT, TWIT, TWIT Away!

2009-07-16T09:45:00.000-07:00

The South Texan has it's own twitter account. We will start using it in August but all of the staff members are asked to sign up now. Contact Adriana Garza at the office (593-3700) for more information. Also, we are going to have a social media editor this year as well. Check in about this and other exciting news. Stay in touch. I know, no one reads my blog.
Dr. Flores

2009-07-16T09:44:00.000-07:00

New Journalism Instructor Due This Summer

2009-07-16T09:32:00.001-07:00

We are in the process of hiring a new journalism instructor to help with new media and assist with the production of The South Texan. A Communications Theatre Arts Department Search Committee headed by Mr. Eric Ramos narrowed the list down to three finalists. Mr. Ramos and committee members Dr. Patrick Faherty and Mr. Corey Ranson have interviewed the three. The three are: Dr. Stuart Lenig (from Tennessee), Mr. Don Fisher (from Ingleside) and Mr. Mike McIlvain, who currently teaches at Texas A&M International University in Laredo, Texas. We will make our announcement early next week.

Our Interns are out there -JC HAS A JOB!

2009-07-16T09:23:00.000-07:00

Just a note to check in and remind all of you to be sure to call The South Texan in late July and early August. Please check in with Adriana Garza, out publications lab director, and myself. We need you to help us produce the back-to-school (BTS) issue and of course to plan for the fall semester. It is rapidly approaching. In the meantime, I hope all of you are having a great summer. We have several students doing internships and we are very proud of the J majors as well as RTV and theatre arts majors who are out there in the "real world." Of course, if you all have not heard, last year's editor, Juan Carlos Reyes, is now gainfully employed at the Fort Bend Herald Coaster in the Houston area. Good job, JC. It's hard to land a job in print journalism nowadays but you did it and, from the reports we get, are doing well. I know, you should "giggle" about now.

For the record, here is a list of interns that we have:

Carlos Alvarado, SODEXHO Administrative/PR Internship, Washington, D.C. Area
Amanda Marcum, Institute of Political Journalism, Washington, D.C. Area
Angela Palacios, Catholic Diocese of Corpus Christi, Dallas, TX
Devina Arredondo, Coastal Bend Thunder Baseball Team, Robstown, TX
Savannah Martinez, KIII-TV, Corpus Christi, Texas
Katrina Alejandro, TAMUK Sports Information, Kingsville, TX
Noe Longoria, TAMUK Sports Information, Kingsville, TX
Christin Rycroft, KTAI-91.1 FM, Kingsville, TX
Katherine Robinette, Kingsville Bishop Record News, Kingsville, TX
Priscilla Meadows, BTS issue The South Texan, Kingsville, TX
Jacque Hutton, The TAMUK Communicator, Kingsville, TX

We are very proud of all our interns. We wish them well. Good luck.

Angela Palacios selected as new S.Texan editor

2009-05-16T08:23:00.000-07:00

Angela Palacios, Corpus Christi senior, has been chosen as the editor for The South Texan for the 2009-2010 academic year. Ms. Palacios has served in the university's student newspaper in various capacities and has won more than 20 state or local journalism awards. This past spring break she completed a shadowing internship in Washington, D.C., with the National Hispana Leadership Institute and this summer she will be doing an internship with the publications department of the Dallas Catholic Diocese. Ms. Palacios brings a wealth of experience to the position and we are looking forward to another great year for The South Texan print and online editions. Angela officially assumes her duties as editor on Aug. 1. She is currently finalizing her staff for the coming year. Any one interested in serving on the staff of either the print or online editions of Texas A&M University-Kingsville's student newspaper is encouraged to contact her at 361-593-3700 or apply on line at tamuk.edu/southtexan. Those interested must be enrolled at TAMUK during Fall '09. Journalism, communications and radio-TV students are preferred, but all are welcomed to apply. Congratulations, Angela!

KUDOs May 5 Issue

2009-05-08T08:51:00.000-07:00

Well, we made it.

Our last issue arrived on campus May 7, two days late 'cause we missed deadline with our new printer.

It's okay. For the most part, it was a quality issue with good stories, solid reporting and decent art work. We had some busts - headlines on police blotter (again - we never did this right) and index pages were not correct. Still, we managed to produce our 31st "miracle" of the year. In spite of all the problems and the different activities all of you are involved with, we come together Sunday and Monday and produce our little weekly newspaper....it's a miracle, I tell you, but one which is very significant. Are we great or what?

Let me just say that I feel we're good...we're very good and for that Adriana Garza (our South Texan Lab Adviser) and myself are very proud of you. We did many things right this year and the credit goes to the staff and its leadership. Leadership comes in many forms and characters.

There is Juan Carlos Reyes, our editor, a pearl of a young man with a loving heart and incessant giggle that personifies him as a big teddy bear. But JC can be tough when he wants to and without that stern side of him, we would not have been as good as we are or had the "pockets of excellence" that Adriana often refers to when discussing our newspaper. JC was a good leader and he got us to where we are today - one of the most-awarded student newspapers in Texas. Thanks, JC, for a great job.

Leadership, too, comes from the quiet, resolute and passionate mindset of Jaime Gonzalez. He is like a beacon that lights the way when stories falter or assignments or missed. He picks up the load where no one else cares to do the job and when it is essential someone step up. If you ever are in a battle - the real kind where people are being hurt or shot at like some of you who have been to Iraq know about - you would want someone like Jaime O. Gonzalez by your side. He would make sure you would be safe. He did that with class and dignity for us.

Leadership also comes in the quiet "Let's get the job done" attitude of Bob Pena. Without his leadership, many of the things that make The South Texan very, very good, would not have happened. Bob is like the seasoned old veteran who listens intently and then, when he speaks, every one pays attention. Thank you, Bob, for your patience with all of us and for providing quiet and unassuming leadership.

Leadership comes also from unexpected places as young people grow up into becoming young men and women and understand that they have it within themselves to step up and be counted on. Angela Palacios grew up a lot this year. She became a quiet leader, willing to train others and passionate about her role with The South Texan and with our department. Because of that, she will become editor next year and now has two solid internships under her belt. She did well and we are very happy for her. In one way or another, all staff members (those who were here part-time or full-time) showed leadership capabilities.

But, where there is only leadership and no one wants to do "the dirty work," the paper won't get done. These leaders, and others, made sure we worked as a team. The result was a solid university student newspaper with a good online edition that touched not only the students, faculty and staff of TAMUK, but alumni statewide and nationwide. We made a difference.

Those who helped us make a difference included reporters and staffers like Erika Hernandez, Kristie Vela, Edwin Vasquez, Amanda Marcum, Tania Garcia, Adrian Trevino, Claudia Garcia, Katrina Alejandro, Lorraine Rodriguez, Sabrina Reyna, Sabrina Salinas, Mark Molina, Colton Williams, Lorraine Rodriguez and others.. You are too many to mention but be aware that we know who you are. These students were the lifeblood of our reporting.

You see, we had many stories to report and we reported them well this year. This last issue is a testament to that dedication. From the "Size Does Matter" concluding series on retention by Kristie Vela, to the "Swine Flu" story by Edwin to the A&I/AMK controversy on pi, this was about us (The South Texan) staff reporting on the issues that mattered to our readers. Good job, very, very good job. Thanks.

Page 2, too, was a synopsis of our work this year. From Erika Hernandez's controversial column to the steady but significant "Green Tips" report, this was a solid page and told as much about our staff's commitment to our community as it did about us.

Page 3 covered three very important areas to our university: The Student Government Association, The Campus Activities Board and the TAMUK Engineers. These three areas of TAMUK are often in the news and more often than not we are there to report their activities. Good stories, all.

Page 4 was our final opinions page. It had three letters to the editor and two solid columns along with an excellent cartoon. JC and Bob...good job and some solid words of wisdom and reflection.

Page 5 had a review of the year....well, it shows why the heck we've been so busy.

Pages 6-7 point to the future of our university....there is lot of construction going on and it reflects the future. Are we ready for it?

Page 8 was sports and it was fitting conclusion to our sports coverage, which was, for the most part, excellent this year. Good job Jaime. And, hey Jaime, great, great farewell column. Thanks for the kind words and right back at you big guy, okay?

Page 9 had the BSM feature. This was good because it showed a part of the campus we don't often cover. Also, it was good because it showed there is new blood coming to our staff. Amanda Marcum seems ready to step up and take the lead, here. Wow. Katherine Robinette remains solid in her classes and may be ready to step up. Still, it's good to see new names on the byline. Thanks.

Page 10 talks about the coming blockbuster movies for the summer....it's an excellent last page for a very interesting academic year we at The South Texan had. We had a blockbuster year with a whole lot of news and we covered most of it fairly, objectively and with class and dignity. We did a good job, a very, very good job. Thanks and God Bless all of you....
bueno bye
Dr. Flores

KUDOs - April 28 issue

2009-05-03T15:27:00.000-07:00

A very solid issue and good job of chasing down the Senate vote story on the A&I name change. We also witnessed, thanks to the hard work of Adriana and JC, a story progress from a bottom of the page selection on the front page to a top of the strip page on pi. Thanks to modular layout, this was not as difficult as it has been in the past. This was also a good experience for our editors-for-a-week students. We actually were a "real" newspaper there for a while. Well done. In spite of that hard work, we still could have had a stronger story on the Senate. but it got the job done and we managed to scoop everyone else on this. The paper was being scooped up almost as soon as Edwin put it out there. Another provocative story was Kristie's second story on retention. The lead bothered many administrators and faculty members and had them emailing me about lack of vigilance on my part. Oh well....the truth hurts sometime. Kristie is doing an excellent job on this series, but we need to finish it out strong with an editorial and some solid graphics. We also did a good job on the Relay for Life story on pi and inside. On Page 2 we had a solid review...good job Claudia...and Erika's usual strong column. Page 3 had some good campus news. My only dissapointment here was the lead art and story on the Sigma Delta Pi student presentations. The editorial page had some good columns by Tania , JC and Mark and a solid editorial that should have been played next to the cartoon. A cartoon should be linked to the editorial. JC, you have to monitor this. Claudia did a good job on the photo essay. Story was "good" - not great - and photos adequate. Katrina had a solid sports feature on the the shot putter, but sports lacked substance and we had some head busts. Guys, it's too late in the year to be having head busts. Our second campus news page was a catch-all, but it had good info. Finally, good job on sports rewind. Thanks. KUDOs...well, this time it goes to the editors-for-a-week: Claudia and Mark. Congrats.

KUDOs April 21 issue

2009-04-27T13:01:00.000-07:00

This was a solid 8-page issue with a good, crisp lead art on the front page of the new Miss TAMUK. But, hey guys, now that we have a new printer, let's make our lead art big and to the top so that it will on top of the fold. How about it? Let's try it at least once before the semester is over. Special recognition on pi goes to Edwin, who took time to do the first part of the "Wrestling With Retention" series. Edwin worked very hard to get proper quotes and to investigate story. His reporting was excellent and, with some editing, his story was solid. Thank you Edwin. One thing, the graphic was good but I can't read the letters on "Wrestling With Retention." For next week, let's make this white type with blue outline, or something like that. Okay, Angela? JC did a good job with the layout and design and the Miss TAMUK story led people into the inside of the newspaper. Good job. As for disappointments, there was one big one which I am just embarrassed by - the SGA I'ts a Tie story. It wasn't a tie and we had no numbers on votes. Why? We have to be more dogged reporters - dare I say be more like Edwin - when stories like this arise. Page 2 looks very crisp and solid and Page 3 had some good local stories from the cheerleaders by Katherine Robinette to Unity and opera. Wow. Nice mix. Photos, however, are still lacking and we misspelled "tophey." Page 4 is nice and modualr but does not have that newsy loook t o it......we can do better. Page 5 design on Miss TAMUK is nice, but could have been better. A photospread such as this has one "BAP" and a scene setter. The photos are much to the same size to make this layout sparkle. The Ed-Ops page had some good columns and a solid cartoon. "Hoggie, I am your father!" Wow!. Sprts is its usualy solid self with the exception of credit lines on sports, which were also a problem on page 8. Let's try to resolve this prior to the next issue. This issue was very good. There were some things that could have been better, but overall we should be very pleased. KUDOs this week go to Edwin. Thanks.

KUDOs April 14 issue

2009-04-27T12:53:00.000-07:00

Wow...a good-looking print job. Finally. Gold was gold and not puke brown and blue was blue and not passion purple. What a change. And, in spite of this just being a 4-page issue, it looked good. The print job makes a big difference. And, also, the stories were newsy and decent. The "A&I Day" story was very well done and, with our usual exception of not having quality photos, carried the layout. Ericka, too, did a good job with the SGA presidential election story. We probably could have done a better job here but space limitations hurt. Katrina's Miss TAMUK story also looked good and we had sharp, clear, mugs of all of them inside. On page 2, the BSM story by Angela was excellent and probably deserved more play. Good quotes, good story. We probably need a folo on this. Page 2 is a good page except for "TAMUK Week at a Glance." We can do better with this. Not much to say about Page 3 - it's the Miss TAMUK candidates along with JC, Jaime and Edwin in photos...wow! Enough said! Sports is solid and a good page. KUDOs any one? This week we would like to feature the staffers who did stories while the main staff was gone. KUDOs go to Katrina Alejandro, Angela Palacios and Colton Williams. Thanks for your help. Because of it, we had a solid four-pager.

KUDOs April 7 issue

2009-04-19T09:11:00.000-07:00

This 8-page issue had much potential. It had a very nice teaser, some good inside stories, and a couple of good lead items that should have attracted much student readership.

Unfortunately, the reproduction was just terrible. It was so terrible in fact that it was embarrassing. This was especially true for our layout and design on the Legacy Ball. The reproduction was horrible and left many who attend the event wondering what the hell we were doing. Well, it was not our fault. It is the printing company's fault. It's very poor reproduction. We have stayed with the current printing company as long as we could. We were not allowed by Student Development to change printers, unless there was a breach of contract. Poor quality and the inability to heed our cries for a better print job led to my decision to change - immediately. Next week we will print elsewhere and we will see where that ends up.

As for this issue, there were some good and bad things. Good things first.

Good: It was nice to see the staff scramble to come up with clear and well-written articles on the AMK and A&I vote both for the student vote and the South Texan poll. It was also nice to see the summer school schedule on the front page, but I was disappointed we didn't write it...WE WRITE ALL OUR STORIES!

The "Relay for Life" story on page 3 was excellent. The history of the university was a nice touch on page 4. Ed-Ops was super. Sports decent. The Legacy Ball feature on page 8 was a lot of hard work and we had some good photos but, because of the poor print job, we missed the mark. Katrina, good job on this assignment.

Angela's teaser was beautiful. Too bad no one could see it on the print job. Are you kidding me?

We had several good columns and editorials throuhout. Good job Erika, JC and Jaime and others who contributed.

Bad: Our photography was poor, at best, overall. The best pictures were of the Legacy Ball and sports. Other than that, a 3rd grader could have snapped the shots with a auto focus camera. We can do better. Also, the summer school schedule story which was assigned three weeks ago turned out to be staff reports. Why?

Jav-A-Style is one of the fresh new features on our paper. This Jav-A-Style was very weak. It was just a guy with t-shirts and jeans. He has no style. JC has more style. Perhaps we should feature JC or, as several of you have suggested, some professors in town. This feature must single out what is "different" about the subject we are interviewing. It can't be some one's friend or acquaintance. It must be a student with a singular dressing style.

The layout on page 3 was too horizontal modular. We can do better if we plan ahead.

KUDOS: Well, who gets KUDOs. My vote is for Staff Reports, who had three front-page stories. What do you think? Any suggestions? Of course not. Few of you will read this blog. If you do, please post a suggestion on the comments section of this blog or see me personally.

KUDOs March 31 issue

2009-04-02T11:06:00.001-07:00

Well, we came back from Spring Break 2009 with a bang. What a wonderful edition of The South Texan Juan Carlos Reyes' and his staff produced for our March 31 issue. It was EXCELLENT! More importantly, we worked very well as a staff. In my three years at TAMUK, this is truly the first time that the staff work this well and this close, together. Congratulations J.C. We had a very good looking front page...nice graphic...nice refers to the online vote...well-written stories....what can I say? All of the pages were nice. Carlos did a wonderful job with his I love Paris story and Lorraine did a great job with the story on Angela and Tania. The Spanish page by Edwin was solid, well-written and, may I say, provocative. Erika was her usual self, Angela had an excellent story on Chavez, ed-ops page had letters to the editors and more So, who gets KUDOs? When an issue is as solid as this...it's a true team effort. All of the staffers who worked on this get KUDOs, all of them, even JC. Way to go JC...thanks

KUDOs - March 10 issue

2009-03-15T15:26:00.000-07:00

It was nice to see the March 10 issue. It was solid. We had a solid front page and several good layouts and we had some very good stories. It was also good to go on Spring Break with a solid issue. I think we showed much class and dignity by running the SGA story at the top of pi, along with a photo of the SGA president. The fact that there seems to be a rocky relationship between SGA and The South Texan should never preclude us from covering a story properly. SGA did a good job, it was big news and it go proper play. Well done.
And, here we have another sports story on pi. Well, it was even bigger than the other story and the fact we had the word "Madness" on the front page attracted many readers who did not realize that Division II had its own version of "March Madness." Page 2 had its usual standing columns and there is not much to say, except "good job." Adrian's column on gaming was interesting. We should consider making it a regular feature. Pages 3 and 4 had some good stories, but they were not well-written. The TV2 story should have been more powerful. Both pages, however, were very "newsy" and it shows we are trying to cover the campus as well as we can.
The Ed-Ops page had a great cartoon by Robert Pena as the ol' A&I logo is scolding the new A&M logo. Ha. This is not necessarily true, but it gets the point told very well and coincides well with our editorial below. As for Nndy's column, well, I agree with it. It's daily newspaper level quality. Really! The Athletic Fees editorial also very well done and researched. Nice page. Sports has some very solid stories and excellent pictures. Again, my grip, run at least one photo BIG!
Pages 7-8 also have interesting stories.
KUDOs....that's hard this week. Everyone was working to get the stories in on time. KUDOs goes to Tania for her front page story and for working on improving our advertising.

KUDOs - March 3issue

2009-03-15T14:47:00.000-07:00

The March 3 issue had a sports story on the front page. We usually don't do this, except for rare occasions. Is this a rare occasion? Well, we're back in the conference tournament after being absent one year....and we had a good lead photo to go with the story...and, well, it was a slow news week. Most of our news happened outside of our campus - like the death of Mary Kleberg and the action by the Kingsville City Council....so, basketball was our lead "campus" story. The only thing wrong was our headline, which was sort of grammatically incorrect. It should have said, "Basketball Team on Its Way." That being said, it was also a weak headline. We really need to work on our headlines. Oh, well. Kristie's story on the Rhode Hall bat situation was solid and cute (I don't like cute!) and added spice to the issue. The last section on pi was the teaser and therein lies a story all by itself. The teaser points to a "Gonzo-style" story on the Talent Show by Juan Carlos Reyes, our editor. Seems as if JC had a vested interest in this story because he was a participant. He lost, badly, according to the judges, but not according to JC. Now, I feel foolish 'cause I asked JC to do the "Gonzo-style" piece beforehand and felt it would be a good opportunity to continue our practice of using this type of article when the occasion called for it, and it seemed like this one did. Well, at any rate, it became another formidable confrontation between The South Texan and SGA. There is a lesson to be learned from this, and I am the one to blame for the controversy. While there is nothing wrong with Gonzo-style reporting and it is in fact an accepted standard of journalism and has been for a long time, we are not an "alternative newspaper." That being said, when our readers see this type of reporting, they misunderstand our purpose. It's not a column, it's not an editorial and it's not even an analysis. So, why the commentary and personal reporting? Well, the lesson is this: whenever we are covering an event in which we plan to do a Gonzo piece, we must also plan to have a solid news story. If you look at page 3 and read JC's piece, I think you will agree with me. The photo spread accompanying the Gonzo piece makes it look as if it's straight reporting. It's not...thus the confusion. Add to this the fact that JC blasted some of the members involved in his MySpace page, and you further complicate the situation. JC should not have done this and this is his personal mistake. That being said, witnesses at the talent show did say that JC should have placed in the top 3. He didn't, but that still doesn't excuse us not covering the event properly and with class, dignity and respect for all involved. We didn't do this and this truly saddened me and gave me some sleepless nights. Next time, however, we know better and if you are ever in a similar situation you now know what to do. I won't go into it, but SGA also had some blame here....they, too, were lacking class, dignity and respect in this instance and it continued for several days when they confronted us about the story. This, too, saddened me, but I didn't lose sleep over it since we at The South Texan now expect these attacks.
Speaking of classy, Page 2 was full of "good stuff" with Bob's and Serbrina's "Green Tip of the Week" , Katrina's and Savannah's "Jav-A-Style" and Erika's column. Very nice. I think this was our best page this issue.
On Page 3, nice photos and an interesting Gonzo piece by JC make this page very readable. Tania's Black History Month coverage also deserves mention.
The Ed-Ops page was attractive and had some very poignant issues, including a guest column by TAMUK Foundation Board Member Hector Farias. This Forum is a good example of the editors making a decision to run a "letter to the editor" which was too long. Every time we to this, however, we must understand that the other side also deserves to be heard and when the other side sends in their forum, they will be given "equal time." It's only fair. On this occasion, we had tried several time to hear the other side but the other side never responded to our comments. Wow, we had two letters-to-the-editor. This is a solid
editorial page.....nice layout, too.
Sports had some great photos. Sabrina Reyna, good job. Guys, next time we have some good photos let's run one BIG. Okay? Remember...BAPs.
This brings us to the last page.....superb job by Edwin Vasquez with the photos and story. Very well done and very strong. It's worthy of KUDOs. Edwin, congratulations.

KUDOs - Feb. 24 issue

2009-03-15T14:35:00.000-07:00

This was a very "newsy" issue with a solid front page in one the most important moments of the 21st century in TAMUK - Dr. Steven Tallant's inauguration. We covered this story well with a solid story by our editor and a good color photo spread in the back page. On Page 2, "The Green Tip of the Week" was really good. Thank you. Bob. Edwin also had a solid story on Chuy Negrete's visit. And, that Erika, wow! Katrina had two solid stories, one on Javapalooza and another on the Bell Tower, according to the bylines. Opinions was again solid. Nndy's "The reasoning behind Black History Month" is certainly powerful. Sports again solid. A good, small 6-page paper. Solid in several ways. As for KUDOs, we go with Nndy this week. Congratulations.

KUDOs - Feb. 17 issue

2009-03-15T14:11:00.000-07:00

An interesting issue with an interesting BAP on page one and a quality story on Michael Nava make this edition of The South Texan, well, an interesting one. If that wasn't enough, the Foundation story by Jaime on pi was excellent. Quality reporting like that is hard to find, but Jaime found a way. This story is not over....we will be reporting more on this issue and Jaime should be on top of it. . . . . On pi, it was also good to see the brief on Tallant's inauguration. I still think that we missed an opportunity here by not playing this up bigger in the last two issues. Carlos and Angela also had good stories. Page 2 was solid with one of the most interesting Green Tip of the Week. Well done, Robert C. Pena. Erika's column again is interesting. She has great potential. Focus on Us, still lame. Juan Carlos Reyes' take on author Michael Nava's visit to the campus was solid and the photo very interesting. I also enjoyed Adrian Trevino's "Gonzo piece" on "Singled Out." While I don't encourage Gonzo-style journalism, we need to take advantage of opportunities to "practice it" and Adrian did a good job with this piece. Ha, he did better with the journalism work than with his chances on "Singled Out!" Juan Carlos continued his busy and well-done work with his Black History article on Dr. Angela Stallworth. The Ed-Ops Page was solid with a great editorial cartoon and a very provocative column by Nndy Oheri. The editorial on the proposed sports fee, while not solid, makes a good point. It's silly to spend money on sports with the economy in the shape it is in and also with the prospects of increasing student fees with this and other proposals for our university. Jaime's column is also well done. While the ed-ops page was a lot of fun for its column and editorial, the most fun were the two letters. Ha. Sprinklers....really." Sports had good action photos, good writing and solid stats....all essential for a good sports page. The Espanol page was well designed and well-written. Thank you Edwin. Edwin and JC each wrote four stories for this issue. Yes, indeed, a solid little issue. Pi carried it well. As for KUDOs, well I don't know. At this point I would say it goes to Edwin and J.C.

FEb. 10 Kudos

2009-03-13T07:21:00.000-07:00

This was an excellent issue with good photography, good reporting and decent layout. Page 1 set the scene with the coverage of the nearby Kingsville fire by Greg Stelfox. Greg took excellent pictures and we were able to run three of them. The picture of the cross amidst the burned debris is excellent and the photo of the inferno that was a series of houses also shows the ferocity of the fire. I wish we had shown more of the cross and run the photo bigger, but space constraints and breaking news stories kept us from that. Speaking breaking news stories, Jaime Gonzalez's story on the TAMUK scholarships being safe for now was very well done. Jaime tracked down some sources from the TAMUK Foundation and he and J.C. Reyes talked to President Tallant about the consequences of funding these scholarships to be able to come up with a solid story. Well done Jaime. J.C., thanks for the help. Kristie Vela's " batty story" sprung up at the last minute and was covered well. J.C. also did a very good story on the name controversy. In short, a solid and crisp page 1 loaded with news and information and just the right graphics. Angela did a very good job with layout considering the amount of news we had for pi.
Page 2 was a well-designed, again. The standing features - Green Thing and Things Your Mama - are starting to look crisp and permanent. JC's review on "The Boss" was well done. The only thing wrong here was the "Focus on Us" photo. Again, we have people's behinds. Why? Perhaps it's time to abandon this feature. Good campus news on page 4-5. We need to do more of this type of reporting the every day events of our campus. Opinions was a wonderful mix of opinions and columns and, I must say, quite readable. Kristie's column is sure to draw some controversy. Wow Kristie, that took some courage. JC, sprinklers....really? Sports had one great photo by Greg Stelfox and good coverage. Jav-A-Stats help. Mark Molina and Adriana Trevino (albeit with some help from the old pros JC and Jaime) combined for a g ood story on recruits. Nice graphic, also. The features page on the "Hardy Man" as a good touch. Perhaps it was a bit much, but it was the introductory article and I think it's well done. Jav-a-Style should be a keeper, but I'm not sure if every week should be the norm. Try every other week? Katrina and Savannah did a good job with this. As for KUDOs, this week it goes to four staffers who contributed significant articles to our publication. The winners are Adrian Trevino, Mark Molina, Katrina Alejandro and Savannah Martinez. Well done and congratulations.

KUDOs Feb. 3 issue

2009-03-12T15:50:00.000-07:00

This is an excellent issue with a good front page and an excellent spread on Super Bowl. The sports writing class from both TAMUK and the System Center San Antonio did an excellent job. There are many students to thank for this but suffice it to say that some of the work was of daily newspaper quality. Page 1 was well-designed. However, I had a problem with the "tudent Fees Increase" headline. It should have said something about the SUB design. Another weak point on page 1 was the "Celebrating Tallant" story....it should have been a bigger spread and had more play. Bob did a good job with the interactive survey. I wish it would have reproduced better on our paper. Bob, excellent work. Page 2 saw a continuation of the Green Tip. I predict this will be one of the most read features for our paper by the end of the semester. Bob and Serbrina, again, are doing an excellent job. And, speaking of excellent, Ericka Hernandez may be the new Abigail, as in Dear Abby. Well done, page 2. Page 3 is a little weak, but has a functional layout. The "gaming" column has potential....god job Adrian. Pages 4-5 (the Super Bowl spread) is excellent. Good writing, decent layout (the Boss) and good opinion columns. But, I really think the best thing about this layout is the art work by Bob....wow....this is award-winning material. Thanks again, Bob. The sports section was its excellent well-written self on pages 6.. Watch the headline...don't split up the score. The editorial page had two excellent columns - one by Jaime Gonzalez and the other by Serbrina Reyna......These style of quality columns will go a long way to help us win awards. Good job, Serbrina. Page 8 was a continuation of the Super Bowl stories. All in this section were well done. I really enjoyed Katrina's column and Carlos and Sasha's analysis was well done. And now we come to the selection of the KUDOs award. In an issue that had so much good writing, it's ironic that the person who gets the award would be an artist. Bob, because of his work on the green story and also the design for the Super Bowl graphic gets the award. Good job, as always, Bob...keep it up.

KUDOs Jan. 27 issue

2009-02-01T09:19:00.000-08:00

Congratulations on our Jan. 27 issue. It's a strong second issue with plenty of news our students and faculty will enjoy reviewing. Our weakness? It's still photography. We just don't have the photos that jump out and grab the reader into the story. Another weakness is that we are starting to look the same, issue after issue. Some students (I sound like Fox News here) couldn't tell the difference between this issue and the previous one. While there are some good points about that - standard formula layout, for example - we need to diversify our look and try different things. There was one layout, page 4, that did stand out with a surprising graphic element to discuss the TAMUK System study on our university. The use of the clipboard, while not brilliant, is just different enough to attract attention to the page. We need more of this. I would like to suggest that our editor and managing editor review "good" or "eye-catching" layouts in daily newspapers like The Corpus Christi Caller-Times, San Antonio Express-News or go on line and checkout designer.com to get some ideas for future South Texan designs. It's okay to borrow and copy and modify the layouts to fit our needs and news. Try it, you may like it and you may come out with something that our readers will find appealing and would lead them to pick up our paper more.
Still, this issue had some good elements of design and reporting. First, our teaser is eye-catching. Second, our stories are solid. The "Tallant Reacts" story on pi is solid. It is one of the few instances that a lead news story is started with a quote and it works. Erika Hernandez then followed it up with good solid reporting and good quotes. Still, do not make it a practice to start a story with a quote, unless God himself comes down from heaven and says something like "The world will end in 40 days!", in which case it really doesn't matter any more. Ha. The story on the Cue Shack is good but, again, because we were too busy designing a feature page that wasn't ready, we didn't follow our edits and did not say when this happened. Every story must have a time element. What's good here is the "refer" at the bottom of the story. Again, on the edited page I had suggested moving the "refer" to the middle column. Let's try to have these types of design elements used consistently. Also, Edwin did a solid reporting job on the TAMU-CC Engineer story. The story came in late (Friday) and Edwin tracked down the principles of the story and had it in by our late deadline. Bien hecho, Edwin. Page 2 is coming together. We are attempting to use formula layout on this page and adjust to our news. The photo by Greg Stelfox does indeed show a "Focus on Us." It should be bigger. On "By the Day," we can fool around with the column-width when we have a strong photo such as the one Greg took for us. When we have a strong photo, USE IT BIG! On this page, we also find the "Green Tip of the Week." What a great feature and it ties in to the video on our TST Online. When we do this, we need to "tease" or "refer" people to our online site right on the story. Bob and Serbrina, good job. Our editorial page is again strong, although we had some silly typos such as "universities" instead of "university's," for example. Again, this can be caught if we meet deadline earlier and I and/or others are not busy starting a layout from scratch. Speaking of starting a layout from scratch, that is exactly what happened with Page 6. Carlos Alvarado had written a good story that had a strong time element on it and needed to be communicated to our students. It is the job of the editor and his main staff to recognize this and make suitable adjustments for coverage. I also was taken for a spin on this and suggested we put it on line and "refer" to it. On close inspection and after talking to Carlos, we found out it had a pressing time element and we decided to put it in the paper, bumping something else off that did not have as crucial a time element. This is an example of the type of decisions people in media make every day. This time, while we didn't recognize it at first, we made the right decision at the end. And, one other thing, journalism is not about doing the "easiest" thing so that everything works and we meet deadline, it's about doing the "right" thing so that our readers/viewers/listeners get the information they need to make a contribution to society. Let's keep that in mind as we progress through the semester. Thanks for the hard work. Oh, what about KUDOs? While there were many good efforts: Erika's coverage of Tallant's response, Edwin's story on TAMU-CC engineering, Carlos' report on the dorm choices for students, for example, there were three students who stood out. Those students were Jaime Gonzalez with his layout and report on the TAMU System audit of our university, Bob Pena for his "Green Tip," and Serbrina for her report on TST Online. Check it out....it works....Well, these three students are in the pot. Good luck.

KUDOS First Issue - Jan. 20

2009-01-24T12:29:00.000-08:00

Our first issue of the semester has been published. It is disappointing that we only had four pages, but the short week, the early deadline and the Martin Luther King holiday on Monday plus getting adjusted to a new semester dictated this decision. In the short run, we had a good issue. We broke the story on the audit the Texas A&M System did on our university and secured an interview with Dr. Tallant about the consequences that audit would have on faculty, staff, students and the Kingsville community. Edwin Vasquez had an outstanding story. JC Reyes got a nice front page picture of the new renovated Rhode Hall. What is disappointing here is the layout on pi. It's much too horizontal modular and you can't tell what the main story is. It's hard. The Rhode Hall story was not strong enough. It was adequequate at best. Angela's story on the inauguration celebrations on campus was a little better. Page 2 had some new and exciting items - "It's Easy Being Green" by the gregarious and humble Bob Pena and "Things Your Mama Never Taught You" by the effervescent and knowledgable Erika Hernandez. We are looking for big things from this. Let's see what happens. Page 2 looked decent. The editorial page (page 3) was solid with columns, editorials, a good cartoon and a letter to the editor. I like the "Rate Bush" feature. It's an attempt to go interactive. Let's see how this does, as well. We need a folo on the response. The sports page was supposed to be a photo spread. It didn't work. A photo spread is supposed to have one BAP, a scene setter and then a series of smaller photographs. The copy is good and I think the photos are solidbut nothing in the spread says "Cactus Bowl." We will do better. As for KUDOs, it is difficult to choose someone in the first week. However, because of their innovated reporting and for going the extra mile, we must give it to the people who put life back into P2. KUDOs go Erika Hernandez and Bob Pena. Well done. You're in the pot for $100 to be given out at our "-30- Party." Let's make it work this time.

Same Song, Second Verse

2009-01-24T12:20:00.001-08:00

A new semester is on the way and with it comes the excitement of produing a new set of issues for our university newspaper - The South Texan - and its online edition TST Online. I have great expectations for our young journalists as we embark in another journey of covering the issues revolving around Texas A&M Kingsville and the greater South Texas community. We have an experienced and able staff with editor Juan Carlos Reyes leading the way and hard workers like Jaime Gonzalez at managing editor, Angela Palacios as features editor, Bob Pena as graphis and online director, Edwin Vasquez as circulation manager and reporters/photographers/editors like Erika Hernandez, Kristie Vela, Serbrina Reyes, Amanda Marcum, Adrian Trevino, Kiki Ausbie and Mary Beth Cleavelin returning. Several newcomers like Greg Stelfox (photographer) and Tania Garcia (Advertising Manager and reporter) are expected to contribute. I can't wait to see how they do. Welcome, and stayed tuned for another exciting year.

KUDOS, Nov. 25 Issue

2008-11-29T08:53:00.000-08:00

To use an athletics analogy, you don't measure a good team by how well they did in the first quarter or first part of the season. You don't take the score at halftime or at mid-season and say, "Well, that's it." You don't look at the results toward the end of the season or game and simply throw in the towel. No, you don't do that. A good team is measured by the sum of its parts, at the end of the game or the end of a season. A good team learns from its mistakes, adjusts, works together and sets its sights high. And, when the final buzzer sounds and the game is over,that's when you look at the score and measure the worth of the team. As Yogi Berra used to say (all of you know who Yogi is, right?), "It's not over til it's over!" Amen. And so, as we near the end of the first semester - literaly, the end of our first game, things seem to be coming together and our hard work is reaping benefits. The Nov. 25 issue was a good one, overall. We had a "scoop" - a story no one else had before us - and that's worth gold in journalism. We also had a good legal story on pi with the tax free book week and solid city improvement story on pi. Both these stories could have been stronger, but no one else had them and we can always do folo-ups. As for the Billy Garza story, Jaime stuck with it until he could verify it. KUDOs, literally, to him. We got this story before mainstream media got it. The Valley did have it this weekend, but we scooped them. Page 2 was a little better and Melinda Sepulveda did a good job in her first layout assignment. Good reviews and a good Chupi and, most importantly, a correct staff box. Tania's story on the art students on page 3 was very appropriate. Juan Carlos had another solid review and Savannah had a good news story on this page. Page 4, ed-ops, had two solid columns, a cute editorial and a slamming editorial and accompanying editorial cartoon on Catholics. Wow. Lightning is sure to strike us now. Our Lady of Victory, as the Notre Dame football team would say, "Pray for US!" Page 5, solid sports page except for the graphic I added in Jav a Stats. Evidently, I did not put it in the photo box in the server and it did not update. My mistake. But, we should have caught this on the PDF. Always open PDFs to make sure all the stuff is there. Back page is cute and I look wonderful, don't I? Ha! We should have gotten other people for this, but cie la vie (such is life in French, I think. Kristie, is that right, ha.) Well, a little known fact as I look at that turkey on page 6. My nickname in middle school was guajoloton (which means Big Turkey). Don't ask why. Basically, I have been the size I am today since I was 11-12. So....well, never mind. Take care y good job. As for KUDOs, it's hard to not name Jaime for the honor. Also, Kristie had two front page articles and she too is making a rebound of sorts. Well done. So, both of you - Jaime and Kristie - get KUDOs. You in the pot for the $100. Good luck. And, for the record, uno mas (one more). Let's go get it......

KUDOs Nov. 18 Issue

2008-11-22T09:13:00.000-08:00

First, thank you for stepping it up while I was sick, Monday, on press day. You all got 'er done. Thanks. Now, I know we were late, but the dateline says it's Thursday, Nov. 18? Wow. Well, it was almost right. I guess we can take a shot at the date and day...it's like 50-50 we're going to make deadline. Again, when things are late and there is no pi photo ready, every thing becomes a distraction and little details like this...the one's that make a difference between excellent, good and average or just plain lousy....are missed. We can do better. We will try. The layout on pi is unimaginative and boring. We had a great story on Rumbo al Anac'ua and on the Foundation. Why didn't we have photos of that? Rumbo would have been a better lead photo and it involves our department. Why didn't we even run a photo of that. By the way, the story on Rumbo lacked depth. The Economic troubles story needed at least mugs...don't you think? Wow, guys, plan. Please, plan. Design ahead. Find the photos. Wow, guys. Plan, think. Think WIIFM. The photo of construction was a nice grab,but ...oh, never mind. Again, JC and Angela and Kiki (as chief photographer) must take care of having a solid pi photo every week, every week. Same holds true for Focus on Us, every week, every week. Wow. And, how embarrassing...we have a "staff reports" story on pi. Nice that we did, but we write everything for pi....unless the world caves in and we fall into China. Wow. This is planning, organization, etc.

Page 2....same song, same verse....again, lack of planning and organization led us to find a sports photo for Focus on Us. It's also a boring sports photo...no one in the stands....nice touch, but....wow. Patrician and Angela had nice stories here.

Page 3 was a nice page. Modular. I see where we ran a house ad. Cute. Edwin had a nice story on Norma Cantu. Not much else.

Page 4 again was solid. A nice editorial page with a mix of columns and stuff. Where were letters to editor, at least one. Oh, when we run a professor's column it's called "Forum" by tradition started by Paul. But, it was very good, but I liked Amanda's column better. Well done, Amanda.

Page 5 - wow, finally, a real BullFest photo. Wow. Nice work. A bit crowded but much information.

Page 6 was a nice effort but our big photo was too weak and it ruined the layout, which reproduced horribly. Also, we gave Jackie Thomas the plague. Ha.

KUDOs? Jaime Gonzalez and Amanda Marcum stand out in my mind. Jaime's work on the Foundation story took much time and research. Amanda's first-ever column for us was solid. So, they get it.....congratulations.

We're almost over..we're going to make it....I think...

KUDOs Nov. 11 Issue

2008-11-22T09:03:00.000-08:00

First, don't be confused by the date on the front page...it's Tuesday, Nov. 11. Sorry I didn't catch this. However, as you may recall, it was past noon and we had no lead photo for the front page, so who has time to look at the details? How did this happen? It goes to show we are not a true staff. A staff picks each other up and takes care of fellow staff members. A staff doesn't take advantage of its editor or advisers and say, "Oh, JC, Angela and Jaime or Dr. Flores and Adriana will take care of it." That shows gross disrespect for these people, the tradtiion of The South Texan, our student body and the profession of journalism and communications. It also shows that those who do this may not want to be part of something which some of us consider very special. It's depressing. Nonetheless, we perservered and JC, Angela, Jaime, Dr. Flores and Adriana did their best to take care of a very critical situation. It's depressing. Page one is passable with a pixelized photo of BullFest that we scrounged up at literraly at the lat minute, thanks to JC. I tried to make it work. The photo scheduled to run was Greek Week, but there were none. Someone dropped the ball and it wasn't done and no one called in time so that we could take care of finding another one...I know, lalalalalalalalalala...you don't won't to hear. This is total disrespect for the staffers who work had and to our student body, the profession of jouanlism, etc. The highlight of page one was Erika Hernandez's story. Solid. Now, JC and Angela, since you both are in charge of pi, when a story like this is the lead, please think first about photos, next about graphics and finally about infographics. They have to be done in advance. JC or Angela, when you do a dummy, you must place this in the dummy and assign, get it ASSIGN someone to do it before Monday morning or Monday noon. This represents a total lack of organization. The one page that must be planned down to a "T" earlier in the week is Page 1. It's the window to our newspaper. Teaasers, photos, graphics, decks, hammers, cutlines....all must be planned before we even set foot in the office Monday morning. Oh well.

Page 2....we followed formula layout again. Thank God! But, again, there was no Focus on Us photo. Why? So we do what we do best, find a canned sports photo. It worked, but it needs planning. This represents a total lack of respect for the staff. The inability for either the chief photographer, p2 designer or editor to come up with one pinche photo for one pinche page is depressing. It hurts! I know ...lalalalalalalalalalalala. I'm sorry. There were some nice stories by Angela, Amanda and Edwin and Leanna had a strong "Police Blotter" again. Thanks.

Page 3 had Campus News and, lo and behold, a Greek Week photo. It was only the biggest social event of the year for Greeks and we had to go beg, borrow or steal a photo. KUDOs for perseverance to whomever clutched this photo away from someone's desktop. It's a nice page.

Page 4 had one of the best editorial cartoons in recent memories...wow...Ernest Palacios has certainly grown up and will some day be the replacement for Jeremy Martinez, out cartoonist and the best in the state last year. Wow. Also, great columns by Jaime - wow, he was pro Palin - and Tania (with some rewrite, but she's learning). Layout wise, very solid. Who did it?

Page 5 was our first "Letters to the Editor" page of the year. It was nice.

Page 6 was solid a sports page. It still lacks a "big photo." But, hey, Kiki must have a thing for Billy Martin. She got another good action shot of the Javelina running back. Also, here, Jaime did a great job on a column. It's local, well-researched and makes a solid point that has implications at the conference and national level. Well done Jaime. I enjoyed it.

As for KUDOs . . . .I'm singling in on two people. Our cartoonist Ernest Palacios and our managing editor Jaime Gonzalez. Ernest's creativity bloomede with this cartoon. Jaime is simply relentless and shows his depth of knowledge and understanding for journalism by taking on a front page story, a solid ed-ops column, designing the sports page and writing a solid sports column. Jaime, you the vato. So, both Ernest and Jaime are in the pot for the $100. Congrats. Good luck.
c/s

KUDOs Nov. 6 issue

2008-11-09T10:25:00.001-08:00

Well, this could have been a great issue. In many ways, it was solid. The pi layout and the back page layout kind of salvaged this edition. But, even the pi layout was flawed. The story, which was very good by Mary Beth Cleavelin, is not readable. A poor print job by Alice soured this otherwise very solid page design and I messed up by not counting on my experience and telling you that type was too small to pass the Alice Publishing litmus test for a reverse type layout. I knew that, but said nada. Well, let's examine why. It all boils down to the vast majority of the staff not doing its work. We asked for an extension for pi and maybe another page, from the Monday deadline to Wednesday morning. This means we had plenty of time to get the other pages together and read and fix them and make sure they were solid and professional and (whatever). Instead, no one worked Monday. No one worked Tuesday and no one had finished products on Wednesday for us to read, proof, make sure it was correct, etc. I wound up doing most of page 2, editing the columns, and Adriana did the ed-ops page. Are you kidding me? In the meantime, we had no time - I repeat - no time to do a comprehensive and scholarly (yes, this is scholarly) study of design and content because Alice was calling asking "Where's the paper?" Again, I plead with you (no one is listening or reading this I know) to finish the editorial page, P2, the Campus News Page and most of the sports page by Sunday so we can fine tune it on Monday and not be on !@#$%$* rush. I know, no one is reading this. We will just continue to wait til the last minute 'cause we work well under pressure. Maybe, but as of this week, two of us have had chest pains and it's not getting easier. Please do your work. Please finish P2, the ed-ops page, campus news, most of sports and pi by Sunday so we can fine tune on Monday and make adjustments where needed. Page editors must finish their pages or just say "I can't do this no more." Also, JC, let's see if we can "review" preliminary layouts at the very least Friday afternoon. The layouts, look at the Campus News page, are sophomoric and deserving of a D5 paper. We're D3. We can do better. Come on? I would like to do a page-by-page evaluation but it's useless. Nothing is ready until after the noon on deadline day, and by then it's just "let's get this paper out of here!" For example, the ed-ops page had that column by Bob that has too much leading, too much. There were several stories with too much or too little leading. We know better, but we couldn't fix it cause we didn't have time. The ed-ops page also had Nndy's picture darker than the caverns of Carlsbad. We should have fixed this and we all know how to do it but (join with me here) "WE DIDN'T HAVE TIME!" The same can be said about the "blue" picture of groundbreaking and we should have had a more solid picture of this. Get on the ground. Take a picture of the shovel, which by the way had a big picture of HOG!. Wow. The Hog, getting dirty, into the ground...wow...might make a good photo.
There were some good points on pi. We didn't have a teaser 'cause the most important story of the 21st Century was going on, and that was good. We, instead, had a horizontal tease line at the bottom of the page. That was good. It looks nice. And, our "weather" eggs made sense. How did we do this? Wow. And, I would be remiss if I didn't mention what a fine job Mary Beth did with her story. Too bad (say with me here) NO ONE COULD READ IT! Why? Okay, (say with me here) WE DIDN'T HAVE TIME TO EVALUATE THE TYPE SIZE CAUSE ALL OF US WERE LATE, LATE, LATE AND DIDN'T WORK, WORK, WORK ON THE EXTRA DAYS AND ADDED TIME WE HAD. We could have done better and we will.
On P2, well, we didn't have the PacMan photo in the layout until noon Wednesday. Why? We took the photo last Halloween. And, it didn't fit the fortmat. Oh, what does that say? Use another picture, crop it in Photo Shop or use different bastard measures to make it fit. On P2, the blotter was solid, Chupi was cute and JC's review was excellent. On page 3, what a waste of space with that blurry picture of Tallant, our blue president. We needed to fix this in Photo Shop. Why didn't we? Say with me now -WE DIDN'T HAVE TIME CAUSE ALL OF US WERE LATE, LATE, LATE AND DIDN'T WORK, WORK, WORK ON THE EXTRA DAYS AND ADDED TIME WE HAD. Oh, on this page stories were solid but the best things were the ads. The Squirrely's ad is cool. Editorial page had some solid writing and great local cartoon. The edtorial was solid and timely. On sports page, we had one great picture - Billy Martin running. We should have run this bigger. The other two pictures were "stretched." We didn't fix this because, (say it with me now) WE DIDN'T HAVE TIME CAUSE ALL OF US WERE LATE, LATE, LATE AND DIDN'T WORK, WORK, WORK ON THE EXTRA DAYS AND ADDED TIME WE HAD. Oh, congratulations to Jaime on the wonderful prediction record he has. Nice work. And, finally, page 6. it's solid.
KUDOs
Mary Beth's last-minute work (as it was supposed to be) was excellent. Her post-election story was well written, had several quotes and had excellent information. So, she's in the pot again Well done, thanks!

KUDOs Oct. 28 issue

2008-11-09T09:48:00.000-08:00

This was a very solid issue with a unique and powerful double-truck editorial page section on the upcoming presidential election. Except for reproduction issues (we had a blue Dr. Tallant again), this could be our best effort this year.
Page 1
On pi, teaser was solid, main stories (Dia de los Muertos and Jav-a-Ride) were informative and trailer at bottom of page on Round Table (by the way, they are capitalized) was informative. Tania Garcia did an excellent job on these stories and is approaching the time when we can no longer call her a "cub" reporter. This girl's a real bear of a reporter. Ha. Well done, Tania, and thanks for your passion and hard work. On the lead art, Bob Pena must be having visions of the Chupa Cabra, or is that "Porkey's" father? Whatever, it's "Forever (Por Vida)!" dude. Our weather "eggs" look like they're fried this time. I guess that means a change in the weather. Don't know? I still think they should be down in the rail and that news should be a the top of this rail. I also think that we need news briefs here for late-breaking news. What do you think? I know, no one will respond and it will be the great mystery of the year at our news desk. Yes, we have a news desk. Can someone find it?
Page 2
Page 2 continues to improve but it is always late and that cuts into our editing time on Monday a.m. Amanda and Patricia had solid stories. Good job. Chupi made some sense. Nice Jeremy. "Focus on Us" still weak. Again, this should be the Chief Photographer's and P2 editor's job. Has anyone told Kiki about this? I know she doesn't read this,but we're still a team. Or, Kristie, are you coordinating this with someone new? If so, this has to be complete, solid, with cutline info, etc. Also, if you need it wider, you can make "By the Day" thinner with a bastard measure. But, you won't know this until you select the paper. In other words, even the P2 formula layout is flexible. Only you can do this, Kristie. The others are busy with their work. You also need to be in the office Monday to finish your page. Please try to do that.
Page 3
Page 3 had two very solid columns and among the best I have read since my time here at the South Texan. Kristie's "undecided" column is provocative, intelligent and inspiring all at once. It's hard being a young voter and it's hard to figure out the issues. Kristie wrote not only from the heart, but here mind and soul. Think about it. Nndy (Is that how we spell it) has a true flair for writing. He is a welcomed addition to editorial page.
Pages 4-5
Simply a wow! This is as good an ed-ops double-truck as I have ever since in college journalism. We could have used more graphics, but it's fair to say that all of the elements stand alone and are solid. The two "cases" (Jaime and Nndy for Obama and Mary Beth for McCain) are among the best essays any one in our university could have written. Wow. Really, wow! The endorsement editorial is also very good. Juan Carlos, this is the type of leadership and writing you have to show to help lead the way. This is serious stuff and your insight and passion for this certainly added credibility to this 2-page spread. Thanks. Please keep this type of "thinking" up. And, the final design came from Angela Palacios. Angela, you need to be a leader in the design area for all pages. J.C., you need to re-think Angela's role in our paper. Well done, Angela. Also,nice cartoon from Jeremy was a nice finishing touch. Guys, the opinion pieces in this edition of The South Texan were solid. Thank you!
Page 6
Sports is solid. It has two strong stories and one good picture. The Peterson picture is also good, but poor reproduction killed it. I still think we need to "advance" stories rather than just report old news, but this works.
Page 7
A good idea for Spanish Page, but there is nothing new here. We need some enterprise stories to spruce this up. This are just translations. It's obvious we need more planning. Let's make sure our next Spanish page is planned appropriately. On the upside, we had three solid pictures.
Page 8
This is a solid photo spread It had just a little too much copy at the top. Also needed more white space. I think the person who did this page is awesome. Who was it?
KUDOs
AS for KUDOs....who get's it? In an edition like this where there is much quality and hard work, it's hard to single out one person. So, my thoughts are that the ed-ops team should all get KUDOs. They are: Angela Palacios, Mary Beth Cleavelin, Nndy Oheri, Kristie Vela, Jaime Gonzalez, Juan Carlos Reyes, Jeremy Martinez, Ernesto Palacios, Kiki Ausbie. You're in the pot. Congratulations. See you at the "-15-" Party.

KUDOs for Oct. 21 Issue

2008-10-26T09:45:00.000-07:00

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

2008-10-26T09:06:00.000-07:00

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.

KUDOS for Oct. 7 Issue

2008-10-13T09:54:00.000-07:00

This was a pretty solid issue. Good writing, decent photos, provocative opinions and heads-up sports. Well done! Starting with pi, the article on incoming president Steven Tallant by Patricia Reiss was well-written and the layout - although a little blue - had the nice graphic that helped explain the 90-day plan. Erika had a solid story on Hispanic voters and a good report on Dr. Goswami's speech. Tania's SGA coverage is the best we've had in recent years and she continues to improve. Thanks. And, Savannah wrote a solid story. Wow. Layoutwise, the blue screen on Tallant made it look like he was working at night....kind of worked, but? Also, the Aztec Indians should have been bigger. We misse a good chance to display this photo well. Of course, just for good measure, we still have the eggy weather section. Page 2 did better with the "Focus On Us" feature, but we still need a good solid photo here. The blotter is still a hit. The review was decent and the review on the Kingsville Symphony Concert very well done. Our reviews are getting stronger, guys and gals. Well done. As for Chupi, I'm starting to understand, I think. Campus News, Page 3, was excellent with the exception of not having a big photo at the top. It was a very newsy and the "Benchwarmers" story was probably the hit of the campus. Officially, they are now stars. The Ed/Ops page had a very nice analysis by Kristie on the campaign 2008. We need more of this and we can't let up now. We have to have this all the way to the election. The "Work-Study" editorial was solid and, more importantly, local. Local editorials and columns should be our priority on this page. Mary Beth's column on Sarah Palin was a nice change of pace. Layoutwise, nice big cartoon. Okay. But, the bug on Mary Beth's column is very weak. Make her name bigger and also center it. This type of mistake can stop us from winning a design award and is also very distracting. Not much else to say on Page 5 - Sports. Solid stories, good photos and good charitcle. Page 6 was a well-designed Homecoming page. I like the way someone added the week's events at the bottom. The photos also reproduced well, this time. A good effort by all. Thanks! As for KUDOS.....while the work was very good this week on the printed version, there were some interesting things going on with the online version of The South Texans that were just very exciting. Bob Pena and Serbrina Salinas have revamped the site. We have a webcast now and also PDFs of each issue. This took a lot of work. Go visit the site tamuk.edu/southtexan and see what all the fuss is about. For their efforts, Bob and Serbrina are in the pot. Well done. Thanks!

KUDOS for Sept. 30 Issue

2008-10-13T09:01:00.000-07:00

Finally, a newspaper with some politics. The Page 1 story on "A&M-Kingsville ready to vote" was heart-warming to see. The most important election of this generation's future is about to take place and it is our job and responsibility to inform the college student population of their options. Tania's article was perfect at this time and place. Also, we had two solid stories on pi with Kristie's "enrollment increase" story and Kiki's solid story on the "planet hunt." We even had a graphic on enrollment. Wow, who did that? Our weakness on pi continues to be weak photographs. Our writing is improving. Another weakness is our teaser. It seems unplanned. Of course, as long as it's "sunny and hot" we're going to have the fried egg symbols on our excellent 3-day weather forecast. Well, at least they get our attention. Page 2 is still developing. We are still developing our "Focus On Us." This should be the Chief Photographers No. 1 duty, after working with the page 2 designer. Here, we had photos of people's butts and backs. Not good. We can do better. The police blotter is assuming an identity of its own. Leanna Guerra, our cub reporter, is doing an excellent job. Well done Leanna. Thanks. Also, two solid stories by Patricia Reiss and Arty Maldonado. Patricia's story could have been a longer, but I understand we had space issues. Patricia also had a solid story on the India Culture event at Jones, on page 3. She has been a very pleasant addition to our staff and helps out on Monday during deadline. Tania continued to improve with the UPD story and Edwin added a solid story on "Savage in Limbo." Page 3 is full of campus news. That's good. What's lacking? Student features. Maybe Patricia, Edwin or Tania can keep this up. Page 4 is also full of campus news. Good stories by Amanda Marcum, Erika Hernandez (great lead) and Adrian Trevino. Adrian still needs work on news style, but he is getting there. Ed/Ops was pretty good. It still lacks planning and thus seems disorganized. JC had a solid column. Well done And, so did Adrian. Nice feature on Bayfest, We had a nice scene setting picture, but we used too many photos. I think we need to limit our use of photos to no more than 5 in a photo spread. Sports is solid again, but we still need two things from this are: bigger photos and more features. On the features, we have a winning team. Our students need to know the personalities who have helped us be successful. We also had a nice effort on the Spanish page. My one complaint is that it's not "newsy" enough. Also, the Senoirta Herencia Hispana story should have run somewhere in English. Well, it's time for KUDOs. With the work Tania has done recently and the work Adrian continues to do, along with the work of Leanna Guerra on the police blotter...these three cub reporters get the honor. Well done. You're in the pot for the $100. Thanks for your hard work.

KUDOs for Sept. 23 issue

2008-09-24T14:30:00.000-07:00

The Sept. 23 issue had some good points and bad points. Layout and designwise, we salvaged with flutter-bys and zarapes - the front and back page. The scariest part of the Sept. 23 issue was pi - page one. At 10:30 a.m. Monday, all we had on the page were cutouts of butterflies. The story on Strawswer was late, the story on enrollment died, other stories (I forget now what they were) disintegrated and we had nothing, nada, zilch. Carlos Alvarado came through with a butterfly invasion featurette and Jaime and I did a story on the football game to sort of kinda save the page. But, the butterfly effect layout was not totally finished when deadline arrived at noon, and the page was not very pretty. Juan Carlos added the hammer headline and deck to sort of kinda save, but not really. We turned out with a weak layout because there was very little advanced planning. The butterfly layout was a good thought, but it wasn't followed through. And, as for the stories on page one being late, well I don't know what to say. In 20 years of advising college newspapers, this is the closest we have come to not having material for page one. I'm disappointed. I don't know what to say. Now, as always, there were some good efforts. Angela continues to improve as a leader. Jaime is doing a very good job on sports and his editorial/column writing is superb, in most cases.Clavens Charles is always "ready" to take pictures for us. Pub Lab students are starting to get the hand of deadlines and news writing - GOOD! Tania covered SGA, BETTER! Police Blotter is back, AWESOME! However, we still nee to format Police Blotter better and no matter what, if it's in news style and not agate matter, we never start a paragraph with the date. That's how Police Blotter started out. Some high points: Erika's Ag Olympics story (good strong lead, solid quotes, well covered), Amanda's Yoga story (Newsy and well written), Yamira Hispanic Heritage story on Stephanie Griest (Good use of quotes), and the Ed-Ops page (good variety of columns and editorials). Some low points: Savannah's Hispanic Heritage Month story (poor reporting, events that were reported as happening did not, etc.), Hogs battle on page one (written too late and then spellchecker changed word to wrong word), Snout Invasion (turned in too late to fix and had some disappointing qhotes, i.e. "None of us are butterfly specialists") and Katrina's/Lorraine's/Ali's obesity story on page 2 (Zero, nada, nothing, no plannning for layout and design and photos). Why? Well, you get the point. While this was an "okay" or "average" issue it was not our best and we can do much better. The key to it is for us to get on an early cycle and not wait on everything till the last-minutes. Friday's can be our work day, don't you think? To have a story for the main feature piece on pi to come in at 10:30 a.m. on Monday morning is unacceptable, unacceptable. We can do better. J.C., Jaime and others (Angela, Kristie, Kiki, etc), let's organize ourselves as team. Let's set some real-time deadlines and let's get it done. (Music here) KUDOs? Another tough week. Because of their continued willingness to help, KUDOs this week go to two of the least-complaining, most-cooperative staff members - Adrian Trevino and Clavens Charles. Adrian did a volleyball story and a strong column on Hurricane Ike's impact in Houston. Clavens took some of the better volleyball pictures this year. Well done, both you. Thanks for your hard work and thanks for being a part of the team without whining or complaining. Your in the pot for the $100 at the "-15-" Party. Good luck.

KUDOs for Sept. 16 issue

2008-09-21T13:24:00.000-07:00

First, thank God all of us are safe. A scare from a hurricane often puts journalists in harm's way. Last Wednesday, when we met to discuss the publication schedule in case the hurricane hit our area, there was both a sense of urgency and anticipation in the air. I appreciated the journalistic and professional attitude of all who were present - JC, Jaime, Mary Beth, Jaime, Edwin, Kiki, Adriana (I don't remember the others, but there was a lot going on). Assignments were made. We all understood what we were doing. Immediately, we must point out the work of two of our students - Mary Beth Cleavelin and Edwin Vasquez. Mary Beth took it upon herself to head to the hurricane-torn area to get a first-hand look and report on how strong the damage had been to the Houston-Galveston area. The devastation was unreal, and Mary Beth was there. Her photos and stories were poignant and solid. Edwin Vasquez was the first on the staff to recognize the news value of what was happening on our campus Wednesday prior to school being let out. Edwin noticed the scores of National Guard troops and trucks lined up along University Boulevard and Santa Gertrudis Ave. and immediately set out to take pictures and interview the guardsmen. His news instincts were superb and he is to be commended for his efforts.I also want to thank Juan Carlos Reyes for his column and news story on Michelle Leal's husband, one of our students, who tried to save a person who drowned as the hurricane approached. Juan Carlos' story and column were well done and actually we had a news exclusive. Angela did her usual goo job with the layout - she's becoming "Circle Girl," but very effective in this case. The only thing we have to watch for in a photo layout is that we have one solid BAP. One solid lead big photo. The photos compete for attention and that is distracting. Of course, the problem is that we had so many good photos. In another case like this, run three or four at the most and refer to the web for more marvelous photos. Okay? Also, the colors were too dark. Because they are dark, the text is hard to read. No matter how good the layout is, if you can't read the text, the photo layout won't work. This concept was almost true for pi this week. The front page lead photo of the hurricane in the gulf, which still needs a cutline by the way, printed out too dark in some issue and reading the copy was hard. By the way, Edwin's and Jaime's story was very good. The timeline is also a good touch. The only disappointment was that the photo of the bus was too dark here and the photo of Vera was "fuzzy." Homero Vera should not be a fuzzy character. Page 2 was good. The Q&A was a good touch but is unlabelled - in other words it needs a headline. The "Focus on Us" is lame. We need a good strong photo here every week, every week. Kiki, this is you job and Kristie, you find an assignment to cover this. Okay? Film review is bogus. No rating stars, no Hog's heads, now a grade of "D." Pick a symbol and stay with it, and also run a photo of the movie so it won't be so grey. Okay? Our South Texas graphic works, but barely. Bugs must be distinctive and add to the layout, not distract. And, the photo of the bridge is like from the 1970s, what's up with that? Plan, Plan, Plan, Plan...Please Plan. Page 2 is the easiest page to layout and design. Please, let's work on this. Sports is functional. Clavens had a good action photo. Thanks. Well, back to the start. KUDOs? We hav to give it to Mary Beth and Edwin. Both showed wonderful news judgment and Edwin "rode the storm out" here in Kingsville. He was ready for action and his photos were timely and newsy. Well done, both of you. You're in the pot for the KUDOs Award. Congratulations.

KUDOs for Sept. 9

2008-09-21T12:58:00.000-07:00

First, a good effort. The front page has kind of a USA Todayish look to it, with weather, a graphic, a solid lead story and a BAP (big ?&% photo). The stories in pi are also pertinent and newsy. My only problem, besides another poor print job by Alice Publishing, is that it's too "horizontal modular." It looks like the same series of rectangles over and over, except for the "rail" on the left side. True modular is a series of squares and rectangles with one BAP and a photo with every story. Also, true modular uses decks (secondary headlines) to help the reader understand the story better. Other elements missing are quote outs, charticles and graphs. All who are involved wit pi are aware of these layout devices and should plan to use them in the future. Page 2 is better. The "By the Day" calendar is an excelleent feature. The "Focus on Us" feature still needs to be developed, that means "planned." "The Reely Speaking" bug and graphic is a nice touch, but this is still lacking something. I don't know, a photo of the movie, a better bug for th rating? And, what happened to our Hog Heads' rating? Oh well...we'll see. Oh, I think I understand "Chupi" this week. Not sure. Page 3 works, but one of our goals should be to have a photo, graphic or quote out for every story. Ed-OPs page is solid, as usual. Nice columns and editorial. U Wire stuff still bothers me. JC, in 17 years at DMC we never did this unless for an emergency or photo that we could not get. We have yet to have a "real" emergency. Sports, nice touch on "Hog Talk." Let's develop this. Also, please see me about "idea" on picks. We can do it. Angela, you put in a lot of work on the features page. I can tell you didn't get all that you wanted on it, but it was extremely busy. On a photo page like this, you must have one dominant piece of art and one scene-setter. You have many photos the same size and, they're so good and powerful, that they all serve as scene-setters. Still, well done. Thanks for all your hard work. As for KUDOs this week, well our editor outdid himself. His 6 stories are an example of what KUDOs is all about - a hard-workig student journalist who goes beyond the normal duties and helps us produce a quality student newspaper. JC had two stores on page one, wrote an excellent movie review for page 2, reported on the Sodexho menu on page 5,had a column on page 6, and wrote part of the feature on page 8. Excellent. Hard work, for sure. Thanks JC. However, an editor cannot get KUDOs unless he or she is part of a team coverage effort. So, JC doesn't get it. This, however, in no way takes away from his hard work. JC, get others to help you. Others, help JC. KUDOs this week goes, almost by default, to Angela Palacios. Angela help re-write two articles, took care of a very difficult featuare-page assignment and was a real leader in the newsroom. Angela, this is what we need from you. Well done. So, you're in the pot for the $100 at the -15- Party. Good luck and thanks for your hard work.
NOTE: An apology for not posting this sooner. The hurricane and other elements got in the way. I will try to be more prompt with my KUDOs' postings.
Dr. Flores

KUDOs for Sept. 2 Issue

2008-09-13T07:53:00.000-07:00

Our second full issue of the year had many good elements which made it a solid newspaper, coveragewise. Unfortunately, our layout and design remain mediocre, and so does our photography. These are areas we must get better in if we expect to maintain our reputation of being among the state's Top 20 programs, at least. We have been in the Top 5 at times and almost always we are a Top 10, out of the nearly 70 journalism and newspaper programs in Texas. Right now we're struggling to be in the Top 20 and we are stuck in mediocrity. That means "average." Average, where many of you are going is not fantastic. We can do better, as our editor has told us, and we will.
First off, our front page design leaves much to be desired. It looks as if someone went back to the 70s and 80s and plucked a layout out of the Laredo Times. Orale! What's wrong with it? The "reader" at the top of the page is too deep, leaving only that headline above the fold. Next, our main art is below the fold. We saw only the head of our esteemed state representative peering at us from above the fold. It's as if we scalped her. Remember, art to the top, art to the top, art to top, hmmmmm, hmmmmm. If we follow that mantra, at least, we can prevent us falling further and work toward escaping mediocrity, escaping mediocrity, escaping mediocrity, hmmmm, hmmmmm, . . . .Also on pi (that's page one and read "p" "i" and always italicized pi) Also, every page must have a main piece of art - a photo or graphic that stands out and is prominent. Look at pi and what do you see? You see two color photos of the Freshmen Convocation and they're the same size. This is not right. By doing so, having pictures of the same size, we confuse and frustrate the reader. We need one piece of art bigger than the other. Could we have done better? Yes. And, also the photos are too static. I can tell we took these two photos from the same spot. In other words, our photographer did not move. Our photographers cannot be lazy. They must move and look for the best angles, the unusual shot, the photo with a better perspective. Don't get me wrong. They're nice snapshots and good photos but they are average. That's not fantastic. We can do better. There were some good points here. Yamira's story was well done and Adrian had a good story on the convocation. Yamira's story had much potential and had several stories just hitting us between the eyes but because we think about just getting through and just being average. Page 2 is better. Nice job. Now, let's make sure we have space for these features...let's not let them slip up. "Chupi" looks good. This is up to the page editor and also the editor and managing editor. Also, we need names for photos. Carlos, I need you to get serious about working with us. Please. Our editorial page was excellent with some very strong columns by Juan Carlos and Jaime. The sports page was adequate. Lots of potential here. And, our final page was strong. Well done Angela. Well, we have lots of rooms for improvement. KUDOs? Juan Carlos has not talked to me about this and still refuses to the do the Dominique Garcia Hi-Liter Award, so here it goes. KUDOs goes to Yamira González-Mendiola for having the only "real" news story in this issue. Yamira took it upon herself to go to the hotels to talk to these students and also visited several sources before writing her final version. It is this type of attitude that will help us avoid being average. We cannot be satisfied by being average Joes or Marias. We have to do better. We're TAMUK. We're Javelina Journalism. Now, let's live up to that legacy.

KUDOs and Special Awards - Back to School Issue and Aug. 26 issue

2008-08-30T11:59:00.000-07:00

The first issue of the semester was our "Back to School" special edition which was published Aug. 21. This issue is always hard to produce because many of the students have not yet returned to campus or to their Kingsville apartments. As a result, a skeleton staff does most of the work while some assignments are produced from the students' homes and are digitally sent to the staff in charge. While meeting deadline was hard, South Texan Lab Director Adriana Garza rallied our staffers to complete all their tasks and the result was a pretty decent publication.
Back to School KUDOs: Jeremy Martinez, Yamira Gonzalez-Mendiola, Kristie Vela, Jaime Gonzalez
This year's issue was not as "pretty" as last year's, because of a lack of funds. Last year's issue was published in higher-quality paper and, thus, had the slick look to it that made it seem a bit "more special." This year's edition was published on good, ol' newsprint and it looks like a tabloid newspaper. While not as fancy, the product was as good or better.
The cover was especially well done by staff artist and cartoonist Jeremy Martinez. Featuring the traditional "Porky" Javelina logo and the College Hall Tower replica on the cover prominently, ensured that students and other readers knew that we respected the past traditions. But, then, adding "A Renewed Sprit" for a theme and having the new "screaming Javelina" logo coming from out of the word spirit, signified the future and spoke of the changing face of our university as we undergo a major construction project and embark in a new era of leadership under a new president, who is expected to be announced in September. For his magnificent cover, Jeremy Martinez gains a KUDOs to start out the year. He is "in the pot" for the $100 scholarship to be drawn from KUDOs winners at the end of the semester during the Javelina Press Club's annual "-15- Party" or Holiday Party. Good luck to him and thank you Jeremy for an excellent product. Jeremy worked on this cover several days and came up with several versions before approval. Jeremy is already an award-winning cartoonist with The South Texan, having claimed first place for cartoon in Texas Intercollegiate Press Association competition last year. Evidently, more awards await Jeremy this year.
Another person who deserves mention for this issue was our new advertising manager/spanish page editor. When funds were short and our advertising revenues from last year did not have enough money to even pay for this issue, Yamira volunteered to take charge of advertising for "at least" the Back to School issue. Her efforts - along with that of her advertising team of Jaime Gonzalez and Kristie Vela - resulted on at least 50 percent of the edition being paid for from advertising funds. She and her advertising team did an excellent job. So, they too gets KUDOs. Yamira is a transfer student from Del Mar College and she hit the road running. Yamira, you're in the pot and welcome to TAMUK Journalism. Your spirit, hard work and passion are appreciated. And, as a bonus, Jaime and Kristie also make KUDOs for their efforts in advertising as well as in the production and story flow of the Back to School issue. Congratulations to the KUDOs winners for the Back to School issue. Other staffers like Angela Palacios, Carlos Alvarado, Mary Beth Cleavlin and Bob Pena made sure this Back to School issue was a good one. Thanks, again.
First Issue KUDOs: Jaime Gonzalez, Adrian Trevino
While the "Back to School" issue is hard to produce because of many of the staffers have yet to return, the first issue of the semester is even harder to produce. Okay, so now we are all mainly together. But, there are new faces and new assignments, we must cope with a new editor and adjust again to meeting deadlines that at times seem as hard as climbing Mount Everest. Such was the case that first week as the staffers struggled to make deadline and the dreaded phrase Dr. Flores issues each week - "We're not going to make it!" - was about to be fulfilled. Through the hard work of our Lab Director - Adriana Garza - and the dedication of our editor Juan Carlos Reyes and some key staff members, the day was saved. We missed deadline, but only by an hour, according to Cecil at the Alice Publishing Co., and we did not miss our print window. The paper was published and delivered on time and was "good" for a first issue. There were many mistakes and several layout and copy editing errors, but it was a good first effort and a learning experience that will only help to make us stronger in the coming weeks. Before we go on to the KUDOs portion of this blog comment, I would like to go over some items I feel we can improve on for the coming weeks.
First, we need to finalize our style sheets. Let's make sure the same style sheets are being used on every page.
Second, let's think about using decks. For example, on the front page, we did not use Dr. Tallant's name in the headline. It's okay, but the story called for a deck, at least.
Third, the weather feature is nice, but can we maybe promote this on our web? Bob, can we get a better weather web site.
Fourth, on the front page, we have to have a kick ass photo, a good one. Yamira salvaged this by using a PDF she was given. Also, why didn't we use those PDFs elsewhere to talk about the construction? JC, you have to make sure we have a SOLID photo. Kiki, that's your job...to help JC get a solid photo.
Fifth, when we talk about someone as important as Gene Upshaw and don't have a photo, we just at the very least run a mug shot.
Sixth, on page 2...this was a nice first effort. we need to finalize this potpourri design and come up with some standing features. Do we want to run Our South Texas there or do we move it to features? Kristie, your call. Talk to Angela and Katrina about this. You can run it every other week. I prefer the student stuff and I liked JR's stuff on internships. Also, Kristie, we must have a distinctive photo each week. You are to assign this each week and Kiki is to make it happen, somehow. Get solid information for this feature. Also, you said we will be getting the Chupi cartoon every week. Good. Nice feature for this page. And, as far the Q&A that we had last year on this page, we don't need it if you don't want it. Move it to the editorial page. Talk to Kiki about it. That's your job, just make sure that JC knows about what you're doing and that you also talk to Adriana about this.
Seventh, we missed an opportunity for a great photo with the student lenders and financial aid line story. Are you kidding me? We get photos of people's behinds and they're not even in focus. Whoa, that's not what I meant. We have three state-of-art digital cameras and Photoshop, there is no excuse for this. JC and Kiki and any other page editor, do not let photos like this get in our paper!
Eighth, the Campus News Page had a solid story and an okay picture on the Fallen Heroes. Good job JC and Bob, that was good photo once we understood. Nice artistic work. We, however, embarrassed ourselves with the story on the Oaxacan culture and exhibit. This was a major story becasue the work they did is going to be used to decorate Bishop Hall, and we ran a story that had more than 20 mistakes. We have to read every thing that goes in our paper. I know this story was late, but it was one of the most embarrassing stories we have ever run, because of the mistakes. There's no excuse. There are people in Oaxaca, freaking Mexico, laughing at us beause of this. Come on! Please do better!
Ninth, I know we have U Wire,but I can't help but think that using material like this just means we're lazy. Editorial and columns, with the experience we have, should be one of the easier chores around. U Wire is "last resort" stuff, as far as I'm concerned. There were some good points here. Jaime's Upshaw column is very good and J.C. transition column kind of got better as it went along. And, of course, the Upshaw artwork by Jeremy is wonderful. Well done. This page must be planned ahead. We must have editorial board meetings and we must write the material ourselves, if at all possible. JC and Jaime, you work with Kiki to make this page work better. Also, start plannng the election stuff now.
Tenth, the features page was an intersting one. Nice photos and an interesting column(?) by Adrian. Angela, this is your page. You noticed that Adrian, one of our new reporters, used a little bit too much commentary in his article and you decided to run his mug with an editor's note. Good job. However, you are a veteran here. As a veteran you have the responsibility to train the new staffers. Work with Adrian and others and tell them we need to cover stories as objectively as possible. I know you can do this. You have the authority to do this, so help them get better. Adrian, by the way, did an excellent job and your solution, Angela, was a good one. Good job. Also, nice attempt at having strong photos, Jaime.
Eleventh, well done on the picks and on the layouts for pages 7 and 8. I would have liked a more polished and finished layout on Gene Upshaw but both these pages were very functional and a very "sporty" feel to them with stats and other material. Juan Carlos, good job on the Atterberry story. Now, sports guys, you need to think about what makes sports interesting to our students. What we have is excellent. But, the WIIFM factor is even more alluring to the sports aficionado than others who read the paper. What do the sports nuts want to know? Oh, well, let's see, how is the quarterbck battle coming? Who is this Billy the Kid guy? Who are the better players on the volleyball team. Photos, photos, features, features, quotes, quotes about and from our players is what we need. We need to sell our players to our students so that they can be excited about being Javelinas and go cheer for those who represent us on the field of play.
Bueno, enough.
Now, for KUDOs.....Very good work by many of our students. Juan Carlos Reyes, our editor, tried to pull us all together for this first issue. It wasn't easy. Again, through the help of our South Texan Lab Director, Adriana, we salvaged deadline. Thanks. But good stories were written by Yamira, Kristie, Angela, Katrina, Mary Beth and Carlos. We did have a short staff, so several of you all wrote more than one story. Believe me, that dedication is appreciated. Many of you showed much passion in meeting deadline and turning in a story on time for us to read and correct and even rewrite if we had to do that. Some of us turned our material and layout in much too late. Please don't do that. I'll leave it at that...please don't do that. When it comes to KUDOs, it's hard for JC, Adriana and I not to be impressed by the work of our managing editor Jaime Gonzalez. In that position, he must serve as an example to others. Jaime does this by taking on more than he can chew, at times. As a result, his only fault was not having everything ready by deadline, but that was more because of first-issue consequencs then lack of effort and hard work. Jaime had a solid front page story, a solid column, three photos, four sports stories and much more. For that, Jaime gets KUDOs. Another person who was impressive this first week was cub reporter Adrian Trevino. Seldom has a freshman stepped in and just taken off running covering stories and taking pictures. He did. He did well and showed passion. Thanks, Adrian. You have a bit to go but your effort is appreciated. For that reason, you're in the KUDOs pool as well.
Bueno, this was a mouthful. Please take the suggestions to heart. Please work to make OUR newspaper better and please work to be a team. Thank you for an exciting first two weeks and, if we keep improving, I promise to stop saying "We're not going to make it!" again. Nah, just kidding.

KTAI working on reformat

2008-08-30T11:50:00.000-07:00

As the semester started, the university radio station - KTAI-FM 91.1, The One - has been busy working on a reformat that will make its debut sometime in September and October. The reformat will keep the same type of alternative, eclectic and oldies format Monday-Friday, but will add a "Sabado en Espanol" on Saturday and "Sunday is for Country" formats on Sunday. Dr. Carl Saltarelli and Kirk Notorianni will have more on this later. Meanwhile, the station will be broadcasting the Javelina football games as scheduled and has plans to do volleyball and basketball broadcasts as well.
Meanwhile, the radio station staff has announced it will again run its popular sports talk show - "The Bench Warmers" - again this semester. With two of the mainstays of that program either graduating and/or transferring (i.e. Larry Garza and Sean Rosales), the show will now be hosted by Juan Carlos Reyes and Jaime Gonzalez with different guests appearing each week. A third host is expected to be announced next week. Plans are for the show to start this coming Tuesday with a broadcast from the station on campus. In the future, the broadcast will move to businesses to be announced. It set for each Tuesday afternoon. Good luck to the bench warmers who will get some "PT (i.e. play time, ha) at least on the airwaves emitting from the KTAI tower - that's about a five mile area for sure and, with a strong wind from the Gulf of Mexico, you can get them in Ben Bolt, Premont, Driscoll and even Alice. Go Hogs!

Getting Started

2008-08-30T10:52:00.000-07:00

The new school year has started and the staff of Texas A&M University-Kingsville student newspaper - The South Texan - is off and running. The semester started with new editor Juan Carlos Reyes and South Texan Lab Supervisor Adriana Garza leading the staff in a couple of "J-Camps" (i.e. Journalism Camps) to familiarize the staff with deadlines, style, interviewing and writing tips, office policy, key requests, etc. etc. The meetings went well. The highlight came with Dr. Teresa Remilus, VP for Student Affairs at TAMUK, addressed the staff and listed a myriad of activities that were going on in the university. She was a refreshing change to the stifling atmosphere that has dominated that area in the past and ensured us that her office would run every thing with the student in mind and that she would have a policy of transparency to make sure that communication channels would be open among the administration and the student. She said she saw the university newspaper and online editions as a key to that communication and transparency and we agree with that.
Meanwhile, the new staff is off and running. As we start the semester, here are the assignments as detailed by our editor, Mr. Reyes:
Jaime Gonzalez - Managing Editor, will be in charge of story flow, staff morale, planning and training new staffers. He will be laying out and designing the Sports pages and contributing to the opinion pages. Jaime is also in charge when Juan Carlos is otherwise occupied being "Mr. Fantastic" - as he likes to call himself on his MySpace account. Jaime will also help plan, organize and run the weekly South Texan Budget Meetings. He and Juan Carlos will both oversee and direct the weekly Editorial Board meetings, which include every page editor as well the chief reporter and on-line editor. Jaime is in charge of story production during the week and makes sure that every story assigned is turned in on time and runs in the paper. He can assign students to cover stories at any time a story develops, without the authority of the editor. He runs the newsroom. He has the authority to ask staffers to re-write stories.
Kristie Vela - Associate Editor, will be in charge of developing our "potpourri page", Page 2, and covering major stories. She is third in the chain of command. She will serve as Juan Carlos' top assistant and will help him develop and plan each issue. She has the authority to ask staffers to re-write stories or re-take photos.
Keiona "Kiki" E. Ausbie - Chief Photographer and Ed-Ops Page Designer, will be in charge of all photographic assignments, maintaining all camera equipment (i.e. making sure they are charged and properly working, cables are ready to download, etc.), develop and maintain a checkout format for cameras, designing the ed-ops page and assuring that columns and editorials are turned in in a timely manner. AS Chief Photographer, all photo assignments must be approved by her and all photographers must report to her. She must also ensure that at least one the cameras is available in The South Texan office every day. She will also assist Juan Carlos and Jaime with the weekly Editorial Board meetings. In addition, Kiki will be in charge of any special layouts or editions having to do with politics and elections and of developing a weekly question that can run on the editorial or opinions page.
Angela Palacios - Features and Entertainment Page Editor - in charge of all feature layouts, writing features and supervising feature stories turned in for use on the Features and Entertainment pages. It is her duty also to develop enterprise feature stories and to plan for feature stories ahead of time. She is the fourth in chain of command and is in charge of the newsroom whenever Jaime, Juan Carlos and Kristie are not around. Angela is also in charge of developing graphics for "bugs", "logos" or ads that are not ready for publication. Because of her experience, she has also been put in charge of ensuring that style (i.e. the cutlines, headlines, quoteouts and other design elements) are consistent throughout the newspaper. She also has the authority to ask staffers to re-write stories that appear on her assigned pages.
Yamira Gonzalez Mendiola - Advertising Manager and Spanish Page Editor, is in charge of all local and regional advertising (retail or local accounts) and of developing, designing and producing a Spanish Page at least once a month and on special occasions, i.e. Hispanic Heritage Month activities. As Advertising Manager, Yamira is to make sure all retail (local) ads are ready for publication, billing and maintaining a client list. She also works with Ms. Garza on ensuring prompt payment is made by our open accounts. As Spanish Page editor she is in charge of preparing and reviewing all copy and photographs which run on that page.
Robert Pena - Web Designer and Online Editor, will be in charge of all online media content and assuring that the newspaper put on the web on a timely manner, including PDFs of the current issue. He will also work with others in the department to develop online video and Podcasts. He reports directly to the editor and to the Lab Director.
Michele Leal - National and Regional Advertising Representative, will be in charge of all national and regional advertising (i.e. advertising from the Corpus Christi area). Will help coordinate billing of all advertising while working with the Editor, the Lab Director and the Advertising Manager for local (i.e. Kingsville area ads). She will also be in charge of maintaining contacts with Media Mate, the U.S. Army, Texas Army National Guard and other major accounts. She will be in charge of all insertion orders for national accounts and must maintain a contact email and fax number where these insertion orders can be sent to. She will work with the Lab Director - Adriana - to maintain these contacts.
Carlos Alvarado - Front Page Designer, will be in charge of developing a cohesive and attractive layout and design for the front page, every week. He is in charge of developing all layout and design elements on the Front Page, including the teasers and the lead photographs. Carlos will also assist with columns and editorial when needed.
Mary Beth Cleavlin - Chief Reporter, will usually be in charge of the lead story for the week. She also must develop enterprise (or in-depth) stories for the front page and campus news pages. She will get all her assignments from either Juan Carlos or from the Lab Director.
Adrian Trevino - Reporter, will be in charge of developing stories as assigned.
Katrina Alejandro - Features Writer, will be in charge of developing and maintaining stories for the "Our South Texas Feature" and also working with Angela in other assigned features.
Serbrina Salinas - Photographer, will take photos as assigned by the Chief Photographer and Editor and also will assist the Chief Photographer in maintaining photo equipment and equipment sign-out sheet.
Sabrina Reyna - Photographer, will take photos as assigned by the Chief Photographer and Editor and also will assist the Chief Photographer in maintaining photo equipment and equipment sign-out sheet.
Clavens Charles -Photographer, will take photos as assigned by the Chief Photographer and Editor and also will assist the Chief Photographer in maintaining photo equipment and equipment sign-out sheet.
NOTE: All page editors and designers are responsible for: (1) preparing the photos that appear on their pages by using Photoshop, (2)transferring the approved copy that appears on their pages to a new MS Word file that Bob Pena can use to upload into our website, (3) PDFing and archiving their page. Of course, meeting deadlines is essential.
As the semester progresses, other staffers will join our group. Their assignments will be delineated at the appropriate time.
For now, this is the working and volunteer staff. They represent a solid group of student journalist who have both the passion and the expertise to give our students a good product in both our print and online editions of The South Texan.

On Professional Decorum and Obama's Visit with Unity Journalists in Chicago

2008-07-31T09:30:00.000-07:00

CHICAGO - When presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama visited the Unity Journalists of Color convention Sunday, July 27, there was a question about the professional decorum of the more than 2,500 journalists and associates present. Journalists, as a rule, should maintain their decorum and maintain a perception of balance and no favoritism. Alas, the Obama mystique and charisma overwhelmed many of the journalists present. When Obama walked up to the stage, the audience jumped to its feet, cheered and whistled and applauded loudly. There was a definite Obama bias in the air as the cheers and applause grew louder. I have to admit, I was among those who stood and applauded, but it was polite applause. Others cheered loudly, as if at a rock concert. The Obama presentation was televised live by CNN in the Chicago area and also picked up by many news networks. One of the live TV shots showed one of the audience members clearly wearing an Obama T-shirt. For the veteran journalists present that morning, that could have been the low-point of the Obama visit with minority journalists. Ouch! Jouralists don't do that. We don't publicly cheer for politicians or root for our favorite sports team when we are on assignment or at a convention. As the Obama interview continued, his remarks drew repeated applause and cheers. Again, this is wrong. Now, polite applause is warranted at the start and at the end of the speech or interview, but to openly display more than a cordial greeting in a situation like this is just wrong. Journalists don't do that. Period. Speaking of Obama and journalists, this display in Chicago only fuels the sentiment that's already out there about liberal bias in news media. The
perception is that these journalists will tilt their coverage in favor of Democrats or minorities. What do you think?

TAMUK at Unity Conference, NAHJ national convention

2008-07-31T08:53:00.000-07:00

I had the privilege of traveling to the 2008 Unity Conference and the National Association of Hispanic Journalists Convention in Chicago, Ill., July 23-27, with two Texas A&M University-Kingsville graduate students. The conference is the largest of its kind in the nation for journalists "of color." NAHJ held the conference in conjunction with professional associations for black, Asian and Native American journalists. Approximately 5,600 journalists were present.
The highlight of the TAMUK delegation's visit to the conference came during the NAHJ Hall of Fame Banquet, Friday July 25. During the banquet, two video/powerpoint presentations produced by the TAMUK Communications and Theatre Arts Department made their debut. The presentations were: "Los Periodiqueros: 200 Years of Spanish-Language Journalism in the United States" and "Francisco Ramirez: 19th Century Spanish-Language Pioneer." Both were met with much acclaim from the more than 2,500 present at the banquet. "Los Peridiqueros" is based on the research done for my book "Hispanis in the Media," but the work of putting together the presentation was all done by students and staff. Those who worked on the 17-minute "Los Peridiqueros" presentation and the 6-minute "Ramirez" presentation showed that our students and department were up to the task of preparing something for a prestigious national convention. Our students and I were seated right along other great journalism school like those at Northwestern, Columbia, USC, Notre Dame and others. It was fun to hear the names of the professors associated with these prestigious universities and than introduce us from Texas A&M-Kingsville. There were a couple of "uh?" moments in the audience but by the time our two students who attended the conference - Adriana Garza (left photo) and J.R. Quintanilla (right photo) - were introduced for having worked on the productions, they knew TAMUK was an integral part of the ceremonies that night at the Sheraton Chicago. Our students received a loud, long and appreciative ovation. It was very gratifying to see that. Adriana and J.R. were the two chief researchers for the project and also helped in compiling info for the book. Others who helped were Kirk Notarianni, radio-TV operations manager for TAMUK, Sam Eulenfeld, KTAI radio station director; Marco Iniquez, Spanish instructor; and Dr. Carl Saltarelli, assistant professor of communications. I served as producer and writer. Kirk was the director and production manager. Sam was in charge of sound. Marco and Adriana were the talent. The conference was well-worth attending, just for the information and networking possibilities. That we as TAMUK played an integral role in one of the key moments at the conference made our visit to the windy city that much more gratifying. TAMUK can now be counted on as a "player" in the field of journalism nationwide, especially in the eyes of hundreds of professional Hispanic journalists.

Plans for new South Texan staff underway

2008-07-13T08:44:00.000-07:00

As Fall semester approaches, it's time for the staff of The South Texan, Texas A&M University-Kingsville's award-winning student newspaper, to again get active. New editor Juan Carlos Reyes and managing editor Jaime Gonzalez met with me and South Texan Lab Assistant last week to go over plans for the 2008-2009 school year. Already in the works is a Back-to-School issue planned for the week of August 21. It will be an insert in the first issue of the South Texan for the fall semester. Because of budget constraints, the Back-to-School issue will not be as permanent as it was last year, but it will still have all the information new and returning students need to succeed at TAMUK. Also, J.C. and Jaime discussed hiring an advertising manager and of naming advertising teams to start contacting potential sponsors and advertisers. Meanwhile, Adriana Garza will do an initial mailing with a rate sheet and publication date information to Kingsville and South Texas area businesses. Also in the works are a series of "J Camps" - Journalism workshops - for the new staff. These should be early to mid August. It's very exiting. The new year is upon us and a new staff is ready to start printing the news that impacts our university's students, faculty and staff. Can't wait.

Dr. Flores named new Communications, Theatre Arts Department Chair at TAMUK

2008-06-29T15:05:00.000-07:00

KINGSVILLE - The phone rings in the office of the Texas A&M University-Kingsville student newspaper—The South Texan—on a Monday morning.
Bustling between reading proofs of the week’s newspaper and helping student journalists with the layout and design of the newspaper just hours before deadline, Dr. Manuel Flores, associate professor of journalism, finds himself in familiar territory.
Producing newspapers and meeting deadline have been part of his life for nearly 50 years.
Dr. Flores - a 1966 graduate of Hebbronville High School and grandson Pedro G. Chapa, former editor and publisher of the Jim Hogg County Enterprise - takes a break from the pressure of deadline to take the call.
On the other line is retired TAMUK journalism professor and former sports information director Fred Nuesch.
“We’re making sure The South Texan gets published,” Dr. Flores tells Nuesch.
“Your doing the same thing you were doing 42 years ago,” Nuesch said jokingly to Dr. Flores.
Forty years have passed since Dr. Flores served as a student editor of The South Texan and Nuesch was adviser, but his dedication to TAMUK journalism remains steadfast as he has inherited the role of his old adviser and appointed as Department Chair.
Dr. Flores, who was named Chair of the TAMUK Department of Communication and Theatre Arts June 1, graduated from Texas A&I University with bachelor’s degrees in journalism and political science in 1970. He went on to earn two master’s degrees in the same areas from the university. He earned his doctorate degree in education from Texas A&M Corpus Christi and also did extensive graduate work at the University of North Texas.
His professional career has included more than 13 years of daily newspaper experience (most of it with the Corpus Christi Caller-Times), 11 years in public relations (with Central Power and Light Co.) and more than 18 years teaching journalism in the college and university classroom and advising award-winning collegiate student newspapers at Del Mar College and Texas A&M University-Kingsville.
Flores has presented at several national conventions including several sponsored by the College Media Advisers and Association for Educators in Journalism and Mass Communications. A scholar of Hispanics in the Media, Dr. Flores has also authored a book documenting the history and role of Hispanics in the U.S. media, to be published this summer. Dr. Flores is also a Tejano historian and has toured the state making presentations on the contributions of Tejanos to our state and nation.
Throughout it all, he has remained grateful to the education he received in Hebbronville.
“Hebbronville is just special. There is a strong sense of community that is hard to find elsewhere. The teachers truly cared and the advice you received came from the heart, and not just a paper evaluation. That’s the difference, teaching with heart and passion instead of nagging kids to tell them ‘You should do this and that’,” Flores said.
Flores credits his grandfather, as well as his English and journalism teachers in high school, for helping choose the profession of journalism.
“Mrs. (Pedro) Perez, Mrs. (Maude) Rogers, Mrs. (Josephine) Morris in one way or another had a tremendous impact in my life, either through writing English papers or helping produce or edit the monthly student newspaper (The Longhorn) or yearbook (Corral). It was a great educational experience,” he said. “As for my grandfather, I started working at the Enterprise when I was 10. He gave me my first job as a printer’s devil and later reporter. I own much to him. I have printer’s ink in my blood and once you have that you’re going to be involved with journalism in one way or another.”
Dr. Flores joined the TAMUK faculty in Fall 2006.
Since then, Dr. Flores has been instrumental in a variety of new initiatives for the department which include a sense of cooperation and innovation.
As adviser to The South Texan, Dr. Flores has encouraged cooperative efforts between university’s newspaper and the university’s radio station - KTAI. Both mediums join forces every weekday during the regular semester to bring 91 seconds of campus news to the TAMUK community every half-hour on KTAI. Plans are also to begin student-produced podcasts that will be simulcast on the university’s television station, he said.
Dr. Flores also was key in the joint effort between the Art Department and the Communications-Theatre Arts Department to send students to the regional American Advertising Federation competition.
As chair of the department, Dr. Flores hopes to continue the trend toward growth and development of departmental programs by increasing the use of multi-media technology, continuing to promote cooperation with national organizations, including the AAF and National Association of Hispanic Journalists to increase internship, scholarship and career opportunities for students.
“I want this department to gain state and national recognition so that our students will be able to compete for and accept jobs in today’s media-based society,” Dr. Flores said.
While much has changed both in media and at TAMUK in 40 years, Dr. Flores remains committed to ensuring the department he chairs at TAMUK continues to be a leader in South Texas for producing tomorrow’s media leaders.
“It’s an honor to think I’ve come to a point in my life that I can give back to the institution that prepared me to do well in my profession,” he said. “I also want to extend an invitation to any South Texas area student wanting a career in journalism to contact me or our department at the university.”

San Quilmas comes to Kingsville with new movie

2008-06-06T08:05:00.000-07:00

The mood at Jones Auditorium May 30 on the campus of Texas A&M University-Kingsville was relaxed. Alumnus Domingo Chavez was busy greeting people who were flocking to the Kingsville debut of his latest movie - Barrio Tales/Historias del Barrio: Tops, Kites and Marbles - produced and directed by legendary Chicano filmmaker
and TAMUK-San Antonio alumnus Efrain Gutierrez. Chavez (l) and Gutierrez are featured in the photo above while working on the film. The posters of two of Gutierrrez's films are featured above that photo.

Most did not realize the magnitude of the event at aged Jones Auditorium. Gutierrez is recognized by scholars as the first Chicano filmmaker. His latest film was to be a touching tale of barrio life in San Antonio (affectionally known as San Quilmas by SA dudes, better known as vatos back in the day). The film premiered at CineFestival in San Antonio April 12. Following its Kingsville showing, it will run in the Cine Cuauhtemoc Pan American Film Festival at the University of Houston-Downtown June 16.

Chavez is an alumnus of then-Texas A&I University, graduating in 1988 with a bachelor’s degree in communications and theatre arts. His photo is still depicted in the halls of the Speech Building on the TAMUK campus as one of the almuni who has gone on to greater things - a.k.a he made it to Hollywood - along with the likes of Eva Longoria and others in the display. He is the "star" of Barrio Tales and winds up portraying a super hero as an Aztec Warrior.

Barrio Tales is the fifth film Gutierrez has produced and directed during his illustrious and trailblazing career, which started back in 1976 with the revolutionary Please Don’t Bury Me Alive! or ¡Por Favor No Me Entierren Vivo! That film was the first feature directed by a Chicano, and its successful independent production and distribution served as a model for future Chicano filmmakers working outside of traditional Hollywood.

Barrio Tales is different and not as controversial. It tells the story of a grandfather suffering from Alzheimer’s disease, who is able to remember the days of his youth while teaching his granddaughter the classic childhood games of tops, kites and marbles. Comic relief comes from the characters Baby Marin, played by Chavez, and Primo. Both characters were featured in Gutierrez’s last movie Lowrider Spring Break en San Qilmas, released in 2001.

Gutierrez,who made an appearance after the Jones Auditorium showing and spoke to the audience of about 200 people, said Barrio Tales is the first in a series of films that wil feature other barrio activities such as the Skateboarding Barrio Olympics and games such as jacks. Chavez will continue to play his Baby Marin role and appear as an Aztec Warrior urging the children and all to read.

Gutierrez is simply a legend. That he took time to visit in Kingsville was quite an honor. Gutierrez founded the Chicano Arts Theatre in 1971, followed by his own film company in 1974, which he used to produce his first film. Please Don’t Bury Me Alive! and Gutierrez’s next two films have since been restored and preserved by the UCLA television and film archives, as part of their Chicano Cinema Recovery Project. In addition, Stanford University collected production papers from Gutierrez for their Green Library Archives.

Chavez moved to Kingsville two years ago to care for a sick relative, and has become known by young people around town through his work as a substitute teacher with the school district. Chavez wants that audience in particular to see the other side of him, which has been acting extensively in film, television and the voiceover arena for some 20 years. Acting credits for Chavez include parts in the films Robocop II and Selena, local and regional television roles, and voice work for Japanese anime.

But, now, Chavez is home and his Barrio Tales' role will more than likely endear him to thousands of new fans. Chavez's career has been revived and not a moment too soon. Gutierrez is a legend and a genius and his film - which will probably be released in DVD form by the end of the year - will certainly make its way into thousands of homes.

We wish Javelina alumni Domingo Chavez luck and hope for the best for Gutierrez. It would be wonderful if the two could return to the university during Hispanic Heritage Month and perhaps help us do a film festival on Chicano films - films that truly matter to South Texans and talk about our history and not films that depict the history of other Latin or Hispanic areas of the United States. These - Gutierrez's films - are the films which our students should be made aware of and be familiar with. It makes no sense to know about films from throughout the world and not know what is going on in our own backyards. We should all make an effort to make these films available.

Heading out into the real world

2008-05-23T11:46:00.000-07:00

The semester is finally over, and students are scurrying to find summer work, enroll for summer classes or to just relax. That's the routine for most college and university students. Unless, of course, you are a senior and graduating. That's when the stark reality that your youth may be over hits you in the face like the chill from a Texas Blue Norther coming in early in September. It's time to head out into the real world, make decisions that will impact you for a lifetime and this time truly be out on your own.
For some Texas A&M University-Kingsville seniors in the Journalism Program of the Communications Theatre Arts Department that day came sometime this May. It was time to head out into the real world. Here are some of the results:
Rubi Reyes - accepted a job as education reporter with the Victoria Advocate.
Roberta Flores - accepted an internshihp with the Seguin Gazette
Dominique Garcia - accepted a job as copy editor/designer with the Victoria Advocate
Jami Rash - accepted a job as a reporter with the Childress Index.
For others, mainly juniors, it was a time to seek out internships to gain the experience they need when it comes time to apply after graduation. Here are some of the results:
Alitrinette Scott - has accepted an internship at KPIX-TV CBS5 in San Francisco, California.
Carlos Alvarado - has accepted a public relations internship with the International Broadcasting Corp. in Washington, D.C.
Pamela Hinojosa - has accepted an internship in public administration and public relations with the Centers for Diseases Control in Atlanta, Ga.
Michelle Leal - has accepted an internship and full-time position as an account executive with Planet 102.3, Classic Rock 104.5 and JAKE 107.3 radio stations in Corpus Christi.
Katrina Alejandro - is conintuing her internship with the Nueces County Record*Star in Robstown, Texas.
Juan Carlos Reyes - is continuing his internship with the Nueces County Record*Star in Robstown, Texas.
Jaime Gonzalez -has accepted an internship in sports information with the Corpus Christi Beach Dawgs of the Continental Baseball League.
We wish these students and others who are still searching the best of luck. And, please know, you will always have a home at Texas A&M University-Kingsville.

The irony of graduation

2008-05-18T07:02:00.000-07:00

Graduation ceremonies at Texas A&M University-Kingsville were held at the Steinke Physical Education Center Friday, May 16. More than 400 TAMUK students walked the stage. Among them were 14 Communications/Theatre Arts Department graduates who had completed their coursework in journalism, radio-television, speech, theatre arts or communications.
Graduation is an event full of irony and metaphor. It is an end, and yet a beginning. It is a sign of maturity, and yet many of the graduates still have much to learn and some still must continue their march into adulthood. It is a time of celebration, and yet there are tears. Fear, hope and pride are feelings which transfix each graduate as they wait for their name to be called and to be congratulated by TAMUK President Dr. Rumaldo Z. Juarez.
As the moment gets closer, the heart beats faster, the eyes search for loved ones and friends among the thousands seated in the cavernous gymnasium and the stomach feels a little queasy.
Then, the moment is at hand. The name is called. Some rush toward President Juarez as if galloping toward their last meal. Others prance through the stage as if tiptoeing through broken glass. Still others puff out their chest, mainly the young men, and walk proudly toward their destination, knowing that a firm handshake is expected of them at this moment. Some, a few, walk quickly through the ceremony, as if the thought "it's time to get on with my life" is their primary motivation. Some, after receiving their diploma, raise their arms triumphantly over their heads, trophy (diploma) in hand, as the distant cheers of loved ones echo off the SPEC walls. Others give a sigh of relief and walk slowly toward President Juarez, as if trying to stall the impending end of their university education as long as possible.
Some cry. So do some professors.
Seeing young men and young women accomplish their goals is, perhaps, the most satisfying moment for the lecturers and professors in a university. It's bittersweet. As a professor, you hope and pray they are ready. You hope and pray you did as much as possible to teach them well and prepare them for the real world, realizing that each student is different and that there is no magic pill or one style of education to reach all of them. You wish them well. If you can, you look for them a give them a "abrazo" (hug) and shake the hands of their parents, who are swelling with pride and often wiping tears from their eyes. They realize, as many professors do, it's time to let go. . . .
For the Communications Theatre Arts Department, it was time to let go of several talented students. They were:

*Vanessa L. Arellano, San Benito, Texas, Bachelor of Arts (speech/journalism), cum laude
*Patrick William Desmond,San Antonio, Texas, Bachelor of Arts (minor journalism)
*Jacob F. Flores,Bishop, Texas, Bachelor of Arts (communications/journalism)
*Roberta Flores, Dilley, Texas, Bachelor of Arts (journalism), summa cum laude
*Griselda Gonzalez, Kingsville, Texas, Bachelor of Arts (theatre arts)
*Kathryn A. LaGesse, Alice, Texas, Bachelor of Science (educaiton/journalism), cum laude
*Analicia Valdez Martinez, San Antonio, Texas, Bachelor of Arts (radio-television)
*Catherine Skye Myers, Eagle Pass, Texas, Bachelor of Fine Arts (minor journalism)
*Sunnie Ann Odom, Corpus Christi, Texas, Bachelor of Arts (journalism)
*Javier Rene Quintanilla, Premont, Texas, Bachelor of Arts (minor journalism), cum laude
*Rubi A. Reyes, Weslaco, Texas, Bachelor of Arts (journalism)
*Jami Quinn Rash, Childress, Texas, Bachelor of Arts (journalism)
*Christi Rodriguez Lopez, Kingsville, Texas, Bachelor of Arts, (theatre arts)
*Jinelle Veronique Aguilar, Sandia, Texas, Bachelor of Arts, cum laude (theatre arts)

Many of these students were integral parts of our department. Many worked on the student newspaper or broadcast media and others were part of the drama productions. They left their marks on our university and programs. Congratulations. We will miss you.
Graduation is a strange time. It's a time to say goodbye to those who nurtured you during one of the most important periods of your life, as well as a time to say hello to a new and exciting time in your life.
Adios, y que dios los bendiga.

-30- Party set for Monday

2008-05-08T06:40:00.000-07:00

The annual "-30- Party" will be sponsored by the Javelina Press Club Monday, May 12, at the Pizza Parlour in Kingsville. This is a time when staff members of The South Texan and the Press Club come together to reflect on a year of achievements and hard work. Awards for serving on the staff and club will be presented while the outgoing editor will bid farewell and the incoming editor will announce principal members of his/her new staff for the coming school year. The Press Club president will also say farewell and give an end-of-year review. Now, why is it a "-30- Party?" The designatin "-30-" has long been a tradition of saying it's "the end" of a story in journalism. Legend hold that its origins date back to the 19th century when reporters filing stories via telegraph from the expanding westward movement of our country had to find some way to denote the story had ended. The mark "-30-" emerged. Thus, "-30-" means "the end" in journalism. The Javelina Press Club has taken its meaning to a new level, however. Unofficial "-15-" (mid-year or end of Fall semester) parties have been known to occur. Of course, someone must have had a "-1-" party somewhere down the line. At any rate, the end-of-year function is designed to recognize the hard work of students, reflect on a job well done and investigate how each of us can improve and to make plans for the new year. It's a special time. The Javelina Press Club has added a juried contest (judged by professional journalists) to the list of events to make the meeting special. It should be fun. All J Majors are invited.

Juan Carlos Reyes new editor of South Texan

2008-05-08T06:34:00.000-07:00

Juan Carlos Reyes, senior communications/journalism major from Corpus Christi has been appointed editor-in-chief of The South Texan student newspaper for Texas A&M University-Kingsville.
Reyes joined the student newspaper Spring 2007 but has been involved in other student publications and media prior to arriving at TAMUK. He has served as Associate Editor ad Sports Editor for The South Texan and has covered several university events including sporting events, entertainment, features and news. He was alson on the staff of The Foghorn at Del Mar College and has worked as a reporter and columnist for the Nueces County Record*Star in Robstown.
“I’ve gained enough experience and diversified myself as more than just a sports writer,” Reyes said. “I want the student body to understand that.”
Reyes received associate degrees in radio/TV and journalism from Del Mar College.
His interest in journalism began when he was asked to write a column for an advertising course while at Del Mar College. Soon after that he was asked to join the staff of The Foghorn, the award-winning student newspaper at DMC.
“I realized this is my future and this is what I want to do,” Reyes said.
Reyes said he intends on making the student newspaper at TAMUK even more student-oriented by adding more music and band reviews, features on student and faculty members and web blogs to the student newspaper’s web site.
“I think that everybody including students and faculty have something special about them,” Reyes said.
Reyes also said he intends on working well with Campus Activities, Student Activities, Dean of Students office, Student Government Association president and the TAMUK community.
“I think I have the personality to do something like that,” Reyes said, giggling.

Special News, special editions

2008-05-08T06:10:00.000-07:00

In this era of instant communication and technology, the "extra" or "special edition" in print journalism has become a thing of the past. It takes very special circumstances for a newspaper staff to come together and produce a special issue. The news event must be of major consequence to the readers of that newspaper and it can't be just another story that will be on the evening news or can be announced on the internet. Texas A&M University-Kingsville had two such stories this past week. The first was the tuberculois (TB) scare. When it was announced that a TAMUK student had the disease and that others may have been infected, no amount of press coverage from Corpus Christi TV stations and newspapers 50 miles away would suffice. Also, in spite of the university's excellent effort communicate with students, some students continued to have questions and natural concerns. It was natural for the university's student newspaper to step forward. When the students at The South Texan saw a line of more than 50 students at the Life Wellness Center for the TB test, the staff decided it was time for a "speical edition" just to get some clarity to the situation. It wasn't enough, but seeing a university or local newspaper cover an event openly adds calm to a crisis. It's been that way since the 19th century when responsible journalists saw that adding interpretation and meaning to an event was the ethical and correct way of reporting a news event. So, the first page of a special tabloid edition of the South Texan was in the works. The second significant event happened miles away in Abilene, Texas, where the TAMUK baseball team was making some big news of its own. The Javelinas, ranked 6th going into the Lone Star Conference baseball tournament, surprised every one in the nation and won the LSC title! Problem is, it was so far away from home and the coverage was so minimal that few realized this historic athletic event had happened. The sports guys on the staff took over and thanks to the work of Sports Information Director Sean Johnson and others, page 2 of the "special edition" was planned out. The special edition was printed in the office printer at The South Texan, to save money. The students distributed the paper to the different areas. Only 1,000 copies were printed (the normal run for our paper is 4,000) and distribution was limited. The first place the paper was distributed was at Mesquite Groove, the annual end-of-year bash, and it was met with enthusiasm from students and some negative remarks from administrators and teachers. Still, it was picked up and read and a sense of calm and pride (because of the different issues covered) ensued from holding the newspaper. The South Texan staff is there for the students, and saw producing this issue as a right and a privilege. The fact that most of this students volunteered for this while we are in finals week is inspiring. No, they didn't miss out on their work. So, as a result, the "Speical Edition" is out. It came about because of special circumstances. It is significant because it is as rare as mosquitoes on a frigid night in the South Texas Brush Country. Congratulations to The South Texan staff, its new editor Juan Carlos Reyes, reporters Rubi Reyes, Kristie Vela and Jaime Gonzalez and Publications Lab Assistant Adriana Garza. KUDOs to Carlos Alvarado, Sabrina Salinas, Kiki Ausbie, Ellie Tamez, Bob Pena and Edwin Vasquez for helping with various areas of production, printing and distribution. Thanks. It's a good way to "finish" the year. We made it, finally.

Journalism graduate courses to be offered

2008-05-05T15:36:00.000-07:00

For the first time since the 1980s, the Communications Theatre Arts Department will offer graduate courses in journalism. Offered this Summer I is COMJ 5303 - Mass Communications Research. Students will be expected to complete research projects on a variety of media topics. Among the possible research projects are viewership, listenership or readership surveys of area media. Offered this Fall 2008 will be COMJ 5303 - Hispanics in the Media. The course will revolve around doing research on the impact of Hispanics on U.S. media. Students interested in these courses can register on line, after completing admissison requirements. They are also encouraged to visit Dr. Manuel Flores, associate professor of journalism/communications, at TAMUK. Please contact Dr. Flores at ext. 3401 or cell phone 361-813-7808.

KUDOs April 29 issue

2008-05-05T14:44:00.000-07:00

The last issue of the 2007-208 school year is out and distributed. There will be no more South Texans until the 2008 Fall Semester in September. Summer is a time for training and keeping up with the news via The South Texan Online at tamuk.edu/southtexan. We encourage all journalism students and Javelina Journalism fans to keep up with the TAMUK news via the website and to continue to contact us if there are news to report.

It's been quite a year, but for right now let us review the issue at hand - April 29. First, The South Texan made a bit of history this week. For the first time in the history of the journalism program at TAMUK, A&I, South Texas State Teachers College or whatever this university has been called, the university's student newspaper published in two sections. There was an 8-page Section A and a 4-page Section B, completing a 12-pager full of information and data pertinent to the university's student body, faculty and staff. To Dominique Garcia, editor-in-chief, and her staff, congratulations.

There were many good stories in this issue. Last start with pi, page one. A newsy front page is a must for college journalism and this one did not disappoint. The death of a university official is always sad to report, but this story on the top strip was done with class and dignity. Our thoughts and prayers are with Dr. Trudy Anderson. She will be missed. The article on the students at the students at the University Family Housing Unit being asked to vacate the buildings was touching and well done as well. It was accompanied by a solid photo of a father picking up his child's tricycle. I would have liked to have seen more quotes here, but I know the story was done on deadline. The story on the TAMUK/A&I conflict brought to conclusion a 3-part series by Rubi Reyes. Good job, Rubi. But we missed something. We needed an accompanying editorial reaching our own conclusion on the debate. It was written and it didn't run. This was a mistake from the editorial page editors. At the very least, a column was needed.

A2 is solid. The final exam schedule is always a "must run" on the last issue of the semester. Page A3 had some solid campus news with a review of the visit by the Chancelor, a story on a retiring associate vice president and news stories on The South Texan's website and on Earth Day at TAUMK. Well done. A4 was a pleasant surprise. Sunnie Odom's story on drinking and driving and the accompanying layout provided a solid page. The opinions page had two solid columns and a solid editorial on the presidential search. This is where the TAMUK editorial should have run. It was ready, but I guess news judgment, or lack thereof, got in the way. Page A6 included a review of several editorial and a farewell column by Dominique. It was solid. Page 7 featured sports and had good stories. We still need to use bigger photos and more attractive layout on sports. Maybe this will come next year. Page 7 was the last Spanish page for the year and it included some solid photographs and stories from Edwin Vasquez, The story on Dolores Huerta is very well done. Now, for the B Section. While B1 stands along as a section front, it is not as strong as I would want it to be. I was glad to see the article on the new SGA president and the story on Mesquite Groove. The story on the University Police adding two new cars was also well done but I was disappointed with the photo. We need our UPD patrol officers in the photos boasting and showing pride about about the new cars. B2 as the entertainment page featured a review of Big Love, the final drama production of the season, and a story on the senior art exhibit. But, we save the best for last, Page B4, the lifestyles page and final page of Section B and th newspaper were excellent. Kristie Vela's "My Iraq" was very sell done and the photographs brought the story to the forefront. Kristie's last page was a great way to end the first two-sectioned newspaper in Javelina Journalism history. It was a great way to end a long and trying semester and a good way to allow me to say "well done" to the staff. Thanks, staff, for a great job this year. You've helped maintain the standard and we will work to make it even better. Kristie, (pictured at top) by the way, gets the last KUDOs of the year. She's in the pot for the $100. Well done, Kristie. Thanks.

KUDOS for April 22 issue

2008-04-30T09:09:00.000-07:00

The "Lock-down" issue proved to be a good one, but with few exceptions. The articles by the lock-down staff were done very well under very trying circumstances. I was impressed with the "command center" attitude to the students when they discovered we had a big story on campus. Most reacted like professional journalists and through cell phone or internet were busy compiling data for their stories even while the lock-down was being enforced. We even got a photo of the empty campus (don't ask how). My disappointment, however, does revolve around quality photos or lack of news photos. The front page had excellent news articles, from part 2 of "A&I/A&MK name change" controversy, to the lock-down story, Miss TAMUK saga and the death of a graduate student. These were all solid stories. Page 2 focused on student issues with the "question of the week" and had a good review on a current move. Page 3 had a good variety of campus news issues. Page 4 was a solid editorial page, with the exception of no letter to the editor. We had several sent to us but we didn't use them. Page 5 and good lead art and a solid "Christians Profess" story. Page 7 had a solid "enterprise" story on the high price of gas. Good graphics, solid story make this a winner. Design was a little weak because the graphics get lost but there was lots of effort here. Good job. Page 8 had another "enterprise" story (by the way, these are stories outside of the regular beat system for a newspaper or reporter) Page 8 had a good art head and solid big photo....I would have like to have seen the story in bold face of bigger. Sports page was newsy and had solid local stories...always a good sign. Again, here I would have liked for our photos to have been stronger. The one photo-op that I wish we could have done better with was the Javelina football team visit to Driscoll Children's Hospital in Corpus Christi. I wish the picture would have shown the boy who was in for a tonsillectomy. Still, well done. Now, there were several very good individual efforts for this issue. Rubi Reyes did part two of her series and teamed with Juan Carlos Reyes for a report on the lock-down. She also had a photo of students stranded in the cafeteria during the lock-down. Well done. She also designed one of the campus news pages. Kristie Vela had a good folo-up on the Miss TAMUK controversy as well as an article on how the alert system worked during the campus emergency. Kristie's Miss TAMUK story, unfortunately, was responsible for our newspapers disappearing from our news stands. Someone, didn't like the fact we wrote the truth, I guess. Still, there were plenty of papers to go around so, it didn't matter. Dominique Garcia, Kiki Ausbie and Patrick Desmond all had excellent column on the campus emergency and the staff had a good editorial on how the alerty stystem worked. In addition, Krystal Burgess had a solid column on hunger and Robert Pena continued his excellent series on TAMUK's computer system operations. So, there is plenty of praise to go around. The lock-down staff led by lab assistant Adriana Garza while most of us were away to the AAF meeting did well. But, as always, when the pressure is on, at least one person rises to the top. While this is very difficult, KUDOs this week goes to Rubi Reyes (pictured here). She is in the pot for the $100. Good luck to her and thanks to all for another good issue. It's another good 10-page extravaganza.

KUDOS for April 15 issue

2008-04-21T15:01:00.000-07:00

As former editor of The South Texan Paul Martinez would say - "We are printing a 10-page extravaganza!" Paul is now with the Beaumont Enterprise, but he would have been very proud of the 10-page issue The South Texan staff produced for the week of April 15. The paper had solid news on pi and lifestyles with the controversial Miss TAMUK story, A good page2 layout and question, features on a variety of people and subjects (including STDs), an informative entertainment page, good sports and opinion pages and a solid page en Espanol. Well done. The only weakness was art - or the lack of powerful photos. All students did an excellent job this week, from the Spanish story on the zarzuela by Edwin Vasquez to features by Pam Hinojosa, Angela Palacios, Patrick Desmond and Jami Rash and Jaime Gonzalea, the ready was easy and entertaining. However, there were several standout performance. No. 1 this week was the performance by Jaime Gonzalez, who had five stories in this issue. Rubi Reyes and Roberta Flores (they are pictured at the top) each covered controversial stories with integrity and news savvy. Rubi tackled the controversial A&I/A&M name change issue. Her research led to the development of a series - the first for this year. Roberta covered the breaking story on the Miss TAMUK mix up which had the university crowning the wrong young women as the winner. She received several phone calls asking her not to publish the story, but she persisted and came up with a solid news story with quotes. Well done. Both Rubi's and Roberta's stories got at least regional attention. More importantly, The South Texan, thanks to them. . . got the scoop. They're in the pot for the $100. Good luck.

TAMUK Students Compete in AAF National Student Advertising Competition

2008-04-20T09:16:00.000-07:00

DALLAS - Members of the COMM 4306 Advanced Advertising class, the Graphic Arts Club and the Javelina Press Club participated in the American Advertising Federation's National Student Advertising Competition, April 16-19.
The Texas A&M University-Kingsville students had been preparing for this competition all semester and competed against some of the most established university advertising programs in the 10th district of the American Advertising Federation. Among the competitors was Texas State University, a former national champion. Other top universities in the competition were Louisiana State University, Oklahoma State University, University of Oklahoma, Texas Tech, Houston, Texas Christian University, Southern Methodist University, UT-Pan American, Angelo State, West Texas-A&M and others. All schools had the same project - to complete a advertising/marketing plan and strategy to help American On Line (AOL)improve their share of the online market by 15 percent. AOL representatives and judges from other sections of the country helped judge the competition.
The TAMUK team placed 13th out of 16 universities competing and created a buzz as a returning school that had not competed since 2001. "Most long-time observers felt we wound finish last or not even complete our 20-minute presentation," Todd Lucas, TAMUK art professor and sponsor of the Graphic Arts Club, said. "It is not unusual for the non-traditional participants to just not complete their program and finish last. We completed our performance, did well and learned what we need to do to improve our performance in the coming years."
TAMUK finished ahead of the University of Texas at Arlington, Hardin Simmons University and West Texas A&M. Texas State won the competition, marking the 8th time in 11 years it advanced to nationals. Last year's champ, TCU, finished second. Other top performers were SMU and OSU.
Lucas said that the presentation by the TAMUK students also generated some interest from advisers who sought him and the students out to offer graduate school opportunities.
"This was great. Our students got noticed as individuals, even though we performed as a team," Lucas said.
Lucas added that extra pressure was put on the team when senior political science and journalism major J.R. Quintanilla was chosen to represent the TAMUK Ad Team in choosing the order of the 16 presentations. Each team sent a representative to the front of the auditorium and each would ask to turn on a light bulb, representing the conference's theme - The Big Idea. As the light turned on, it would display a number that was inside the bulb. The TAMUK light bulb showed "No. 1."
"Well, that meant we were the first of 16 teams to go. We had to be ready to present at 7 a.m. We worked all night - many of us got only an hour or a little more of sleep that night - and were at the presentation room by 6 a.m. for one final rehearsal. Going first is always extra pressure, but our students were ready. They did a great job."
The class and club raised most of the money for the trip and also had help from the Student Engagement Funds and Students Services Fees.
"We thank everyone for their support, but most of all thank the students for their hard work," Lucas said.
Dr. Manuel Flores, associate professor of communications/journalism, is the lead professor in the class with Lucas assisting as a co-teacher.
"There are many improvements we can do to the class," Flores said. "It was our first time in a long while and I personally was hoping for a Top 10 finish. We didn't quite make that, but the competition is ferocious. The students who compete in this are dead serious about their opportunity and their future career. In the long run, it was a good experience for our students. It's as real-world as it gets and they met some of the people they will be competing with for jobs as they head out into the job market."
The TAMUK presenters included (pictured l to r) J.R. Quintanilla, Catherine Myers, Nereida Anaya, Vanessa Arellano and Roberta Flores. Students who helped with the props, research and technical aspects of the presentation who accompanied the team to Dallas were Carlos Alvarado, Veronica Arellano, Jeremy Martinez, Ashley Sanders, Ellie Tamez, Katherine Robinette, Ozzy Vela, Bob Pena and Diane Torres. Students who were in the class and helped with the preparations but were unable to attend were: Emily Lane Morin, Jacqueline Hutton, Carolyn Heatley, Angela Palacios, Rebecca Gutierrez, Michelle Leal, Alitrinette Scott, Mario Ramirez, Lorraine Rodriguez, Patrick Desmond, Valeri Earwood, Katrina Alejandro and Adrian Gamboa

TAMUK students win 22 awards at TIPA

2008-04-11T11:40:00.000-07:00

TAMUK journalism, RTV and graphic art students won 22 awards - including a school record nine first place awards - in Texas Intercollegiate Press Association competition. The awards were presented at the TIPA annual convention and workshop in College Station April 3-5. The awards included a HM (5th place) recognition among Division 3 schools that includes A&M-Commerce, Midwestern State, Angelo State and A&M-Corpus Christi, among others. The South Texan Staff also earned an honorable mention (4th place) for "Best of Show" in the weekly newspaper division that included 30 universities for its Feb. 26 issue that featured coverage of the Barack Obama visit to South Texas. The South Texan Online was also rated the third best student produced website among Texas universities and colleges. Attached is a list of awards received by the staff. Thank you for your support. Below is the complete list of winners:

Catherine Myers
3rd Newpaper Ad Design
3rd Infographic
HM Online Breaking News
Angela Palacios
1st Feature Photo
South Texan Staff
1st Special Edition
(Javelina Crossing)
2nd In-Depth Reporting
(Tejano History)
1st Single-Subject (Rangel)
HM Overall Excellence
HM Best of Show

Jaime Gonzalez
3rd General Column
1st Sports Column
Dominique Garcia
HM News Story
1st Page One Design
Edwin Vasquez
1st Spanish Newswriting
HM Feature Page Design
HM On-Site Spanish News
Ellie Tamez
3rd On-Site Advertising
Jeremy Martinez
1st On-Site Cartoon
Juan Carlos Reyes
1st On-Site TV Sports News
2nd On-Site Radio Sports
Bob Peña, ST Staff
3rd Student Online Site
Kirk Notarianni
1st Radio PSA

KUDOs April 8

2008-04-10T10:45:00.000-07:00

The April 8 issue had much good work and some good reporting, considering that the majority of our staffers were busy with the annual Texas Intercollegiate Press Association convention in College Station, April 3-6. That being said, the issue is very good. Good work on the Legacy Ball feature on the back page. The story is solid. The photos could have been stronger, but they work. Page 7 had an excellent feature story by Jami Rash on Dr. Sonny Davis. Well done Jami. Thanks. I would have liked to have seen a current photo of Dr. Davis. We assigned this. Why didn't we run it? Nice sports page. Much better from the previous week. Jav-a-stats strong again. The editorial page had two strong opinion pieces and two good columns. Good job, Kristie Vela and Michelle Leal. Page 4 had two good stories and nice modular layout. Mary Beth Cleavin and Emily Lane wrote the stories. The Chicken Wire art layout is "cute." I don't like "cute." Who did this? Page 3 is solid campus news. I'm sorry that they were all staff reports, but it works. Page 2 has a quaint layout on Miss TAMUK. I would have liked something bigger. The Who's Your Daddy layout could have been better and the question should focus more on campus news. Still, it's functional. Good job on the layout. Page 1 was a nice try. The Atterberry/Blue Angels story "clear for take off" is well thought out and the article is well done. Emily Morin and Patrick Desmond had good hard-breaking news stories on this page. That being said, Patrick Desmond gets KUDOs for this week. Patrick had a front page lead story, wrote a column for the Sports Page and designed Page 2. Great job, Patrick. You're in the pot for the $100 KUDOs scholalrship to be awarded at the "-30- Banquet."

KUDOs for April 1

2008-04-10T08:34:00.000-07:00

It's been a hectic month, but the staff of The South Texan continues to work hard and the last two issues continue to show the progress we have made during the year. The April 1st issue, our April Fool's sorta edition, was solid with but for one mistake. We did not have a folio on pi. Was it intentional to "fool" our readers. Only our editor, Dominique Garcia, knows for sure. Nevertheless, the newspaper was solid with good strong news on the front page and a decent modular layout. Page 2 continue to be entertaining and Page 3 had solid campus news articles, all done by staffers or publications lab students. Well done. Page 4 had a solid lead photo but the University Concert stand alone photo was lost without a story. It was buried among ads. We should avoid this. Page 5 had a solid editorial, one "cute" column on Sports Illustrated's swimsuit edition and a serious column on the cost of gasoline. Also, it was nice to see a letter-to-the-editor. The sports pages this week were our weakest elements, designwise. It's great info but we can do much better. There were solid stories on spring football and also the feature on Ruben Cantu (pictured here top right). Well done Claves Charles. Jaime also had a good column. Sports pages should be exciting. These two are not. These two are as functional as my old 1999 Dodge Ram pickup. Finally, Page 8 is a solid photospread on Spring Break 2008. The only thing missing here is a BAP and, perhaps, a scene setter. All the photos compete for attention and the "student element" is missing. This layout could have been better. But, hey, it's functional. In other words, like my old 1999 Dodge Ram pickup, it still works. Having said this, KUDOs this week goes to Clavens Charles (pictured here top left), our chief photographer, who wrote a solid feature for the sports page. Clavens had to do three rewrites before his feature was accepted, but he kept working at it and got it done. Well done, Clavens, your in the pot for the $100 KUDOs award. Good luck.

Spring Break Fever - or is it just another day in the classroom?

2008-03-22T06:39:00.001-07:00

Spring Break 2008 is almost over. Again, it was too short. For professors Spring Break usually means an opportunity to catch up on grading, keep up to date with readings and work on any special projects the university assigns. For university administrators, it's a time to concentrate on all those projects without the constant interruption of students and faculty. For students, it's an opportunity to head to the beach, 6th St. in Austin, the Riverwalk in San Antonio, the Hill Country or even Mexico. Right? Not so fast, Sherlock. Increasingly, students are finding that some, in some cases most, of their Spring Break must be relegated to study. Students use this time to also catch up on their reading or assignments and to put that little something extra into the research paper or assignment that is due at the end of the semester. This is the case for many journalism and RTV students at TAMUK. For example, students in the Advanced Reporting case spent much of Spring Break working on their South Texas feature. Those in Editorial writing are working on specialized columns due in April. The Editing and Design students are starting work on their final projects as they hone their newfound desktop publishing skils. With the time off, many of the Advanced Reporting students have time to travel to destinations they could not fit into their schedules during a regular school day and actually complete their South Texas feature story assignment. Others spent time doing research, writing scripts, planning graphics, doing storyboards for TV commercials and running primary research data through a computer as they prepared for the National Advertising Student Competition sponsored by the American Advertising Federation. One student lamented, "I don't have a Spring Break!" But, then, the realization that students at other universities are doing the same thing. Why? Ironically, most of the work these students do during Spring Break has more to do with the future than the present. The extra hours they spend on their education will mean they will be prepared to compete with others for the limited amount of "good" jobs, in their areas of interest, with others from throughout the state and nation. Why, that dedication is enough to inspire an ol' prof to make it through the end of the year. Oh, I know. I know. Somehow most students found time to squeeze in a couple days at the beach and a night out with some friends. That's "The Way of the Student." Heck, they'd find that time during a school week, any way. Ha. But, this Spring Break I know that many of our TAMUK students actually spent time working on school projects. Congratulations to them. The job market is fierce. This will prepare you for the future more than you will ever realize. Oh, and for more "excellent" reading on this issue please visit http://www.caller.com/news/2008/mar/21/no-break-just-time-to-cram-for-exams/ on the Corpus Christi Caller-Times website caller/com. There you will find TAMUK journalism graduate Adriana Garza's very timely column on Spring Break 2008. Well, enjoy the rest of the "break." See you Monday.

The role of the critic

2008-03-11T11:50:00.000-07:00

One of the jobs that a newspaper has is to serve as the eyes and ears of people when it comes to things such as drama productions, musical performances, movies and eateries (restaurants). It is not uncommon for staffers of The South Texan to attend one of the university's drama productions and write a "review." Also, from time-to-time, the reporters will review a university concert or a new album a group has released. It is at this time that many ask, "What qualifies these students as experts?" Well, they are not "experts." They represent the common citizen or student who is being subjected to the performances and they often review the action from a layman's point of view. This is especially true at the collegiate level where student reviewers (critics) are just honing their skills. As they progress into the professional ranks, they become more familiar with what makes a good drama production, good music or even good custom-making and scenery. Reviewing drama or musical productions is just part of the work we do at The South Texan and our students regularly look forward to these assignments. Having said that, it is important to note that the students who are chosen usually have a background in the area they have been picked to review or have been doing this for some time. The Advanced Reporting class offers a section of "critical reviews" for students and prepares them for this chore. In addition, the Structure of the Arts class gives students a background in many areas. Once on staff, students are coached as to what to look for when assigned to do a review. The reviews, while critical, are not intended to be personal assaults on any one and never should reflect that character. From time-to-time student reviewers will assert things such as a certain actor should speak louder or the scenery was not appropriate. Other times the review will ask why sound systems were not improved. All are done in a positive manner, supposedly. The reviews are not supposed to offend, and we hope none have. Also, we have learned that the reviews often help the student actors get better and improve their skills. Whether this happened because of the review or because the student just improved, we can't tell. Also, the reviews serve as a learning experience for the drama students who must get used to "critical reviews." Pictured with this blog is a scene from the Drama Program's last play, "Somewhere in the Middle."
Having said, the last drama production of the season - "Steel Magnolias" - was awesome. It was one of the best that I (Dr. Manuel Flores) have ever since at this university, dating back to the 1950s when I saw a King Lear production. Congratulations to all the cast members.

Let us know what you think of the reviews by our South Texan reporters. And, are you interested in joining our staff to do this type of story? Call. That's all.

KUDOS for March 11 issue

2008-03-11T11:18:00.000-07:00

Some of you may not have noticed it, but the March 11 issue (which was missing a folio on the front page) was published at a new site. The South Texan staff, under the direction of editor Dominique Garcia, decided to try Kingsville Publishing Co. this week after a four-year stay with Alice Publishing Co. The results are not visible to the untrained eye but, overall, the quality seems better. It is up to Dominique and her staff to decide whether to publish there at the rest of the semester. Poor production from the previous publisher was only one of the issues on the switch last week. Other factors involved delivery time due to the trip to and from Alice and failure to get our FTP process to work properly. The cost of gas was also getting prohibitive. So, for having the courage to make a switch and try something new, KUDOs this week goes to our editor - Dominique Garcia. I'm sure she will share this with her staff. Congratulations Dom, you are in the pot for the $100. Featured on this post is a photo of Mariachi Javelina by staffer J.R. Quintanilla.
Also, this week, KUDOs is being awarded to Bob Pena, our website editor. If you haven't seen our website at tamuk.edu/southtexan, you are truly missing a treat. Over the past year, Bob has been working on improving our site and finally, this semester, he has it at a point where it has to be one of the best student newspaper websites in the state and nation. The site features not only archived PDFs of past issues, but also photo galleries, a radio newscast in conjunction with KTAI and video. It's excellent. For that, Bob is in the pot for the $100 scholarship to be awarded during the Javelina Press Club's and The South Texan's "-30- Party."

Congratulations to Dom and Bob for their efforts and thanks for the hard work of all the staff.

Journalism, RTV students attend NAHJ Regional Conference; Dr. Flores speaks on history of Spanish-language newspapers in the U.S.

2008-03-04T11:11:00.000-08:00

On the left of this posting is the logo of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists. The organization has become increasingly important to communicators and journalists in our nation as the Hispanic population increases. For that reason, Texas A&M-Kingsville journalism, radio-television and design students have become actively involved with the organization. Through the Javelina Press Club and help from student engagement funds from the university, nine Texas A&M University-Kingsville students attended the Region V National Association of Hispanic Journalists convention in San Marcos, Texas, Feb. 29-March 1. At the convention the students listened to presentations and panel discussions on a variety of news issues impacting Hispanics and the nation, as well as received updates on a variety of new software for everything from blogging to podcasting. The students who attend were Ellie Tamez, Rubi Reyes, Roberta Flores, Catherine Myers, Adriana Garza, Carlos Alvarado, Edwin Vasquez, Bob Pena and Jaime Gonzalez. They were accompanied by Dr. Manuel Flores, associate professor of journalism/communications, at TAMUK. Dr. Flores opened the conference with a presentation on the celebration of 200 years of Spanish language journalism in the United States. Dr. Flores explained that in 1808, the first bi-lingual Spanish language newspaper was published in Louisiana. It was called "El Misisipi," which is featured at the top of this posting. Dr. Flores said that the tradition of Hispanic journalism in the United States is one that has been constant since those dates and that in the 19th century more than 1,000 Spanish language newspapers were published in what is now the United States. Today, there are Spanish radio stations, television stations, newspapers and magazines - many of which use a bi-lingual format - that flourish and continue to serve the nation's Hispanic population. Dr. Flores said is important for all journalism students in college today, in particular Hispanic students, to realize the contribution of Hispanics to the journalism traditions of the United States. "Many people think that Hispanics are Julios come lately to the journalism scene in our country. That's the furthest thing from the truth. The Spanish influence of newspapering in the new world has been with us since the 16th century and, in what is now the United States, dates back to the early 19th century. Hispanic journalism is evolving as our language becomes more acceptable. But, make no mistake about it, Spanish-language journalism in the United States has a long and honorable history."

KUDOS for Obama issue

2008-03-04T10:51:00.000-08:00

Usually, KUDOS is reserved for one or two top quality performances by student journalists on The South Texan staff. However, after reviewing the Feb. 26 (Obama) issue, that trend will change. The issue was one of the best produced by TAMUK student during the past two years and congratulations are due to all. Add the stories of the search for the new student president, plus the excellent columns and endorsements of the editorial page, as well as solid sports coverage and you have a solid newspaper that had local, state and even national impact with its writing, layout and design and photography. Good job by all. There were some disappointments, however. In spite of the solid editorial double truck design and the excellent columns and comments on this page, I would have preferred for the endorsement editorial to be a little longer. Perhaps, however, that's all the room we had. In that case, Juan Carlos Reyes, ed-ops page editor, did a wonderful job. So, after much consternation, here are the KUDOS winners for this issue: Juan Carlos Reyes, Javier Quintanilla, Michelle Leal, Dominique Garcia, Roberta Flores, Mary Beth Cleavelin, Edwin Vasquez and Sabrina Salinas. However, if we had to single out some people, it would be the photographers. The baseball photo by Sabrina Salinas was excellent. Better yet, however, was Roberta Flores' striking photo of the Obama supporters by Corpus Christi Bay, which is featured with this posting. Roberta caught the moment and got all their names (not always an easy task). The photo carried the back page spread and, surprisingly, reproduced well. Congratulations to all of these students. Hard work pays off and I know

Endorsing candidates

2008-02-25T07:12:00.000-08:00

In this week's issue of The South Texan, the editorial board of the newspaper will endorse candidates for the Democratic and Republican Texas primaries March 4. The editorial board of The South Texan will announce that it will endorse Barack Obama (pictured with this posting) for the Democratic Primary presidential bid, John McCain for the Republican presidential bid, and longtime state representative Juan Escobar for the District 43 seat. Some of the students in our journalism and RTV program questioned the ethics of this move. They feel as if the media's role is to inform and not to tell people how they should exercise their right to vote. They are correct, of course. Information is presented in news pages. Opinions are presented in editorial or op-ed pages. It is in the op-ed pages where newspaper staffs are allowed to take positions on a variety of issues, including elections. Endorsing candidates for office is a long-held American newspaper tradition. In most cases, the decision is arrived at after long discussion and consideration of the candidates' merits by an editorial board. Often, the editorial boards personally interview each candidate (this is a must rule for local races) before reaching a consensus and endorsing a candidate. In rare instances, the publisher or editor of the newspaper make the decision for the editorial staff. For The South Texan, the process of selecting whom was to be endorsed by the staff was handed by Juan Carlos Reyes, Editorial Page Editor and Associate Editor for the newspaper. He polled each member of the editorial staff - composed of editor Dominique Garcia, all the pages editors plus the advertising manger - and then informed them what the decision was. This is not an easy chore. Often, like in an election, the vote is close. The key here is that the newspaper endorses the candidate who received the most votes in the endorsement process. Consensus is reached and a candidate is chosen. Never do we say, flip a coin. They're both so wonderful, etc. An editorial is then written supporting this candidate. The opinion will appear in the newspaper without a byline. In other words, no one person will take credit for that article. The opinion, instead, is that of the entire newspaper staff or newspaper editorial board - a consensus that the candidate is the best person for the job. Editorials are never "signed." Editorials are never the opinion of one person. Editorials also should never use the pronoun "I." We joke about it in class that sometimes writers for an ed-op piece sound like a Mexican mariachi "I, I, I, I . . ." While this is allowed in columns, it is never allowed in editorials. One of the jobs of the newspaper in the editorial page is to add to the element of debate. Endorsing candidates adds to this. And, just for the record, every major daily newspaper in Texas has endorsed Barack Obama for the March 4 Democratic primary. I wonder how that will impact the election? Check and see whom the staff of The South Texan supports. The paper will be out Tuesday, Feb. 26, and online at tamuk.edu/southtexan that same day. Who are you supporting and, will you vote?

TAMUK student journalists on the road again

2008-02-22T15:36:00.000-08:00

As Sen. Ted Kennedy, Sen. Barack Obama and former president Bill Clinton brought their campaign rhetoric to South Texas this week, student journalists from the journalism and radio-television programs from Texas A&M University-Kingsville were there to take photos, shoot video, do interviews, take notes and report news that impacts our university, South Texas and, of course, our state, nation and the world. It has been a pleasure to see the excitement in our students' eyes as they get the next "BIG" assignment and to get a taste of "real world" journalism. During these events, they get to "mingle" with the national press corps and touch shoulders, literally, with many of the area's professional journalists. They are there and I know it's a privilege they do not abuse.

It's great to cover TAMUK events and activities and our student journalists relish that experience, too. However, to be present for a speech delivered by a former or future president in a dynamic manner is inspiring and helps our students understand that - as journalists - that is their mission. It's their job to report what great minds think and to analyze how those great minds can impact us - the citizens.

During the past week, The South Texan sent reporter and Spanish Page Editor Edwin Vasquez to report on Sen. Ted Kennedy's visit to Corpus Christi. On Friday, a team of reporters was sent to cover Barack Obama's speech at the cavernous American Bank Center in Corpus Christi. That team included Juan Carlos Reyes, Kristie Ann Vela, Keiona Ausbie, Roberta Flores and Michelle Leal. All were under the direction of journalism lab instructor Adriana Garza, a staffer and columnist for the Corpus Christi Caller-Times, as well. On Saturday, J.R. Quintanilla and Edwin Vasquez will report on former president Bill Clinton's visit to South Texas Vasquez's photo of Clinton is featured on this post. Read their reports on the Feb. 26 issue of The South Texan, catch it all on the web and maybe even listen to it on KTAI 91.1 FM.

If there is a story in our area that impacts US, the RTV and Journalism programs of TAMUK are dedicated to go and get the facts. And, in case you miss our print edition, radio or TV news, check out our news on the web at www.tamuk.edu/southtexan. Stay tuned......

KUDOs for Hillary Issue

2008-02-22T14:28:00.000-08:00

During the past two years, we have had several good to great issues of The South Texan. The last issue (Feb. 19, 2008), however, stands out as one of the most outstanding. Staff members of The South Texan - under the leadership of editor Dominique Garcia - sent teams to McAllen and Robstown to cover the presidential campaign visit of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton. The reporting was excellent and the photographs of top quality. For that reason, KUDOs this week goes to all of the TAMUK student journalists who made this coverage of Clinton's visit possible. KUDOs goes to Dominique Garcia, Rubi Reyes, Catherine Myers, Edwin Vasquez and Ellie Tamez (whose video was used on our website). Cat Myers' excellent photo of Hillary at the Nueces County Showbarn in Robstown is featured on this post. But, the quality of the newspaper did not stop there. Mary Beth Cleavlin had an excellent on TAMUK President Rumaldo Juarez stepping down. Edwin had a solid story on the battle for the State Representative battle between Juan Escobar and Tara Rios Ybarra. Our Page 2, designed by Roberta Flores, had some excellent items on the NAACP Image Awards. Kristie Ann Vela gets special recognition, too. While covering a story on the flu epidemic on campus, guess what? Kristie got the flu. Now, that's getting into the story. Angela Palacios, Lorraine Rodriguez, Jaime Gonzalez and Juan Carlos Reyes also had excellent stories. Jaime, our sports editor, continues to improve and is doing a solid job. Another special mention goes to our ed-ops writers. Carlos Alvarado had a timely and poignant piece on the shootings at Northern Illinois. Any other week - without the Hillary campaign coverage - Carlos would have won KUDOs all by himself and being in the pot for the $100 scholarship drawing at the end of the year. Still, Carlos, well done. All of these items and photos, of course, can be enjoyed in print and on our Internet site. Our Internet Editor Bob Pena has done a superb job. Visit us at www.tamuk.edu/southtexan. We'll see you there. Until then, congratulations to the KUDOs winners. You're in the pot for the $100.

TAMUK students to attend ADDY Awards

2008-02-21T15:01:00.000-08:00

Journalism, design and RTV students from Texas A&M University-Kingsville will be attending the ADDYS 2007 Awards Banquet in Corpus Christi American Bank Center, Feb. 21. The students attending are part of TAMUK's American Advertising Federation National Student Advertising Competition team. The team is trying to raise money to attend the District 10 collegiate competition in Dallas, Texas, in April. There they will be competiting against some of the strongest universities in the nation with advertising, marketing and public relations programs. The group needs to raise $8,000 to $10,000 to make the trip possible. Any one wishing to donate to the group's fund-raising effort please contact Dr. Manuel Flores at 361-593-3913 or on the cell at 361-813-7808.

Hero Worship not a journalistic thing to do

2008-02-18T13:14:00.000-08:00

In this celebrity-crazed world, it is difficult to not do a little "hero worshipping" when a celebrity appears. This may have been the case for some young journalists who covered the visit of Hillary Clinton to South Texas and the Rio Grande Valley as she drummed up support for her Democratic bid for president. Even professionals have a problem with this and, reportedly, with visits from Barack Obama (whose photo is fetured with this post), Bill Clinton, Ted Kennedy and other politicos in the horizon, the possibilities of someone getting a case of the "heroes" is more prevalent than ever. Young reporters must focus when covering important stories like a visit of a top presidential candidate to the area. They must remember that they are there on an assignment and not on a leisurely stroll down ga-ga land. To be able to accomplish this, a young reporter must prepare throughly for the assignment. Because there is a chance he or she may get "tongue-tied (a case or the heroes will do this)," questions must be prepared in advance. It is advisable, also, to carry a digital recorder just in case the "heroes" turn into jitters. Being prepared, for a journalist, is nothing new. Getting a case of the "heroes," however, can foil even a veteran reporter's attempt to get the story. So, stay calm, stay focused and get that story. Enjoy the moment. And, remember, nothing can replace the feeling of seeing your byline on an important story. Now, if you remember that, you can do your own hero worshipping. So, be a hero and get that story, no matter who or what is staring you in the face.

KUDOS for 1st 3 weeks

2008-02-13T12:16:00.000-08:00

One of the traditions at The South Texan is to name a "Staffer or Staffers of the Week." This honor is called "KUDOS." Each KUDOS recipient becomes eligible for the drawing of $100 scholarship at the end of the semester during The South Texan and Javelina Press Club annual "-30- Party" or end-of-the-year gathering. The KUDOS winner will have displayed dedication to their fellow staffers and the newspaper and should have gone above and beyond their required duties.

Managing Editor Roberta Flores exemplified the KUDOS spirit for this year's first issue of The South Texan. She covered one page one story, one campus news story and designed a page. her leadership is a critical part of The South Texan newsroom. KUDOS to you, Bobbie!

Graphic designer Cat Myers is the recipient of the KUDOS award for week two of The South Texan. Cat took on the story of alumna Carmen Lomas Garza's visit to the campus. The art work with this blog is one of Lomas Garza's most recognizable cultural works. A mother is trying to cure her child's earache with an old-fashioned home remedy. Cat also took the initiative of helping to add some "flair" to the page one package. Cat has also been a reliable leader in the newsroom this semester. Her efforts in all areas have not gone unnoticed. KUDOS to you, Cat!

The third week of The South Texan saw the ushering in of a new look to our Sports page. As the new sports editor, Jaime's vision for the sports page included a very professional look, including Jav-a-Stats. Jaime has taken possession of the sports page and made it his own. KUDOS to you, Jaime.

The staff has started off well this semester. This week the paper was mostly finished by Monday morning. This was a great effort by all. Keep up the good work, all and remember-- work hard enough and you could be $100 bucks richer at the end of the year!

Student Journalists Cover Hillary Clinton's visit to S. Texas

2008-02-13T10:53:00.000-08:00

The South Texan staff was busy covering the visit of Sen. Hillary Clinton to South Texas as she tried to drum support for the Texas primary. South Texan staffers Ellie Tamez and Rubi Reyes left early in the morning Feb. 13 to cover Clinton's speech and press conference in McAllen, where she was courting Rio Grande Valley voters. Meanwhile, South Texan editor Dominique Garcia and reporters Catherine Myers and Edwin Vasquez travelled to Robstown later that day to cover Clinton's visit to Nueces County. The reports will be published in the Feb. 19 issue of The South Texan but may be on-line sooner. Reporting on events like this from a student interest viewpoint is part of The South Texan's mission. Let us know what you think of this effort.

Spring Semester Issues

2008-02-13T10:37:00.000-08:00

The first three issues of The South Texan have been produced and are now history. Editor Dominique Garcia and her staff have done an admirable job with limited resources and with much volunteer effort. The last two issues, in particular, have been outstanding. The new page 2 design has brought a new level of interaction with the student body with a new feature that includes questions and answers on a variety of topics. The Jav-a-Bit section includes news TAMUK students would not usually read in a student newspaper - like the premier of alumna Eva Longoria Parker's new movie. Eva's picture is featured with this posting. It's hard to imagine that not too long ago she was taking a Structure of the Arts class here at TAMUK, was elected Miss TAMUK and was a cheerleader for the Javelinas. The "briefly" section and "police blotter" are also designed very well and have interesting information for out students. The staff continues to do a good job with its news coverage, features, layouts and design. Our new associate editor - Juan Carlos Reyes - is revamping the ed-ops page so that it includes more poignant controversial issues. Our new sports editor - Jaime Gonzalez - is revamping the sports section to include Jav-A-Stats so that the student body has a vehicle to see Lone Star Conference standings and other reports which normally do not appear in media in South Texas. Overall, it's a good start for the semester and more is in store.

Conflict of Interest Lesson

2008-02-13T10:34:00.001-08:00

In a recent edition of The South Texan, we ran a review on the university's drama production of "Sleeping Beauty." While the critical review was well presented and written well, it did not completely meet ethical standards for journalism. The review was done by a student who had tried out for the production and was not chosen as one of the cast members. That presents an automatic bias and the staff (and adviser) should have prevented that student from doing the review. While this was not a serious breach of ethics, it could have been. The review was critical and to the point, but it should have been written by another student journalist.

South Texan now on KTAI radio

2008-02-13T10:30:00.000-08:00

The South Texan staff has joined forces with KTAI 91.1 FM, the university's radio station, to provide news updates on a daily basis. South Texan reporters record daily updates every afternoon for a session called "91 Seconds of News with the South Texan." The reports run every 91 minutes from 8 a.m. until 9 p.m. and contain news and information about university and community activities. The reports can also be heard daily on The South Texan's website - tamuk.edu/southtexan. Keep up with news of Texas A&M University-Kingsville through our weekly print edition, our daily radio broadcasts or popular website.

Javelina Journalism

2008-02-02T08:20:00.000-08:00

UIL Journalism Workshop a Big Success
Thanks to the 12 high school that attended the second annual Javelina Press Club UIL High School Journalism Workshop on the campus of Texas A&M University-Kingsville. More than 125 high school students attended the day-long workshop which had all the attending students attend every session on UIL events such as headline writing, feature writing, newswriting and editorial writing. We hope that those students learned some of the basics and that they will do well in their contests later this Spring. The 12 high schools attending were: Corpus Christi Moody, Corpus Christi Carroll, Corpus Christi Tuloso-Midway, Corpus Christi Calallen, Hebbronville, Hidalgo, Orange Grove, Edinburg North, San Isidro, Banquete, Falfurrias and Freer. Also, a big thanks to TAMUK Students Services Staff led by Nino and Crispin. Thanks for helping us make this a success.

First issue TAMUK Communicator is out
The first issue of the TAMUK Communicator, the magazine produced by the Communications/Theatre Arts Department of Texas A&M University-Kingsville has been published and has been distributed to alumni, high school journalism programs in South Texas and selected media outlets. The magazine features the latest news from TAMUK's Comm-TA Department, focuses on the activities of the different programs and highlights what some of the students are doing, including internships and research. Also, it features five Comm-TA Alumni and where they are now in their careers and also announces the creation of the Friends of Javelina Journalism account to raise funds for scholarships and other activities of the department. If you would like to receive a copy of this first issue, please contact the Comm-TA Department at 361-593-3401 and talk to our Office Administrator Ilda. Also, you can email a request either to kair000@tamuk.edu or kfmcf00@tamuk.edu. Thos 000 are zeroes. Okay? Bueno, good luck!
Dr. Manuel Flores
Associate Professor of Journalism/Communications
Texas A&M University-Kingsville