november 2000 stet

Vol. 28 No. 1St e tMichigan Interscholastic Press Association

November/December 2000

The eyes just say it all :A boy watches as

dancers perform for aclass at the MichiganState University Field-

house. This photo wastaken by Penni Davis ofJackson HS at the Sum-

mer Advisers’ Work-shop. Davis enrolled in

Dave Stedwell’s Beginning Photography

class.

WHAT’SINSIDE

Yearbook contestentry formpage 5

Time to rejoinMIPA

page 8

Literary Magazine contest

entry formpage 10

About the

CoverPHOTO

2 ■ November/December 2000

Stet

Kirk Weber, Lake Orion HS (810) 693-5420Julie Price, Haslett HS (517) 339-8249 Jeff Nardone, Grosse Pointe South HS (313) 343-2133Kim Kozian, L’Anse Creuse HS North (810) 949-4450 ex 45Brian Town, Haslett HS (517) 339-8249 Mary Lou Nagy, Plymouth-Salem H.S. (734) 416-7731Marisa Wagner, Bronson Jr/Sr HS (517) 369-3230Kathy Nichols, East Grand Rapids HS (616) 235-7555Gloria Olman, Utica H.S. (810) 254-8300 ex 61Betsy Pollard Rau, H.H. Dow (517) 839-2482Dori Leyko, Haslett Middle School (517) 339-8233Diane Herder, Laingsburg H.S. (517) 651-5091Lynn Strause, East Lansing H.S. (517) 332-2545Cheryl Pell, Michigan State University (517) 353-6761Steve Eder, MSU School of JournalismJeremy Whiting, MSU School of JournalismE-mail: [email protected]://mipa.jrn.msu.edu

President1st Vice President

2nd Vice PresidentSecretary

TrusteeTrusteeTrustee

Newspaper ChairLegislative ChairWorkshop Chair

Middle School ChairTV Production Chair

Past President/Yearbook Chair Executive Director

Editorial Assistants

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

Stet MIPA Officers 2000-2001

New members top priority of MIPAThe President’s Column

Always striving for perfection. That’s thenature of the business. As an adviseryou’re attending conferences, work-

shops, getting critiqued, taking classes andseeking advice so you (and your staff) can getbetter. In the same vain, we as an organizationare striving for perfection. As we embark on the21st century, our organization faces some inter-esting challenges that will determine our futureeffectiveness. Scholastic journalism isn’t justabout newspapers and yearbooks anymore.Now the scope of MIPA comprises areas invideo, broadcast, web, and multimedia. Weneed to keep up with the needs of our member-ship.

With that in mind, if you asked the MIPAboard our number one goal I’d bet you’d hearmembership. Yet the face of our membership ischanging. Advisers are coming and going allthe time. It’s true. There have always been a lotof personnel changes in scholastic journalismover the years. (Unfortunately, most schoolsdon’t have the benefit of long-term leadership.)However, when more than 35 new adviserscame front and center during our latest fall con-ference luncheon, a message was sent. We havea lot of young advisers in Michigan. We need tomake sure we’re there for them, helping them

(along with the vets) reach perfection. Why is this important to you? Well, we need

your help. We feel it is our obligation to pro-vide our services to as many schools as we can.So, we divided the state into regions and eachboard member took one. It’s going to be a grass-roots membership campaign. So please talk usup. Let those neighboring non-members knowwhat MIPA’s about and encourage them to joinus. We’d love to have them. MIPA is a greatorganization. What makes it great are the peo-ple associated with it.

I’m proud to be a part of MIPA. I’m alsoproud to be a publications adviser from Michi-gan. Around the state in Detroit, Lansing,Grand Rapids, Traverse City, Midland, Sagi-naw, or the UP we have some great publica-tions. Many of them will be honored this springwhen MIPA enshrines its first members into theMIPA Publications Hall of Fame. How do youget inducted? Publications who’ve earned aSpartan Award nine times in a ten-year periodwill gain induction. Not only will this hall offame be a wonderful way of rewarding long-term excellence, but also provide a resource forthose people who want to know who the best inthe state are. Hey, they may not be perfect, butthey’re always trying. Just like us.

Kirk Weber

November/December 2000 ■ 3

Stet

The first time I saw Erik wasSeptember, 1999. I was on myway to class when I passedhim—standing with two otherboys. All three had on longcoats, the trenchcoat style thatwill never go unnoticed afterColumbine. Erik had blond hair spiked to form littleteepees all over his head. Hehad on a black and silver dogcollar with little studs stickingout of it, and from what I couldsee, his fingernails were paint-ed either navy blue or black.He frightened me, and I madean immediate judgement ofhim. Low grades, drug user,renegade, no normal friendsand destined for jail.

The second time I saw himwas mid-January, alone, in myclassroom. I was getting readyfor first hour when he burstthrough the door. I didn’t evenhave time to panic because hestarted talking as he was walk-ing toward me with an out-stretched hand.

“Good morning! Are youMrs. Rau? I’m Erik, and I want-ed to introduce myself. I’madding journalism at semesterand I can’t wait.” As he shookmy hand, I remember thinkingwhat a firm, professional hand-shake he had, and feeling relieved he hadn’t done any-thing violent.

Those were the last negativethoughts I ever had about Erik.He turned out to be the com-plete opposite of what I hadimagined, and is now one ofmy top editors. He went toMIPA journalism camp thissummer and won third place inopinion writing. His writing is

insightful, intelligent andenjoyable. So is he!

It’s kids like Erik whoremind me how important it isthat schools provide a good journalism curriculum. Our subject is one place where diversity is a required element, divergent thinking isthe norm and different drummers are pounding out new beats by the minute. I’m glad my school has a strongjournalism program, as do many in Michigan. If you’renew to advising, or trying toadd a little life to your pro-gram, here are some quick tipsfor building a program savingsome great kids!

■ Take anyone who wantsto sign up. Don’t make gradepoint a requirement to get in. Ifyou’re afraid of who you’ll get,ask for a writing sample, abook of clips (art, photos, writ-ing) or have them sign a con-tract promising to work. Mymost successful journalistshave often had an “E” some-where in their high schoolc a r e e r —quite often English!

■ Provide a variety of choic-es within your program—andget kids to try a little of every-thing. Scanning, working up a photo, shooting a picture,designing a page, writing alltypes of stories, conducting asurvey, reviewing, columnwriting, managing people, sell-ing ads—and the list goes on and on and on. A kid whokicks his heels because he’s outof school in the middle of theday selling ads, just may dis-cover he’s really good at it. Ok,he also may get brought back

by the police!H a .

■ Enter asmany con-tests as youcan. If youwin ANY-T H I N G ,make a huge deal of it. Sendthe winner’s parents a congrat-ulation note, put it in thepaper, have it read on theannouncements, and hang it onthe wall in your room. Twenty-four years ago, my yearbookwon an honorable mention onits sports section. (My year-book and 50 others fromaround the state,) I willnever forget the joy in myclassroom when we hung theaward, had cake and pop, andbegan to discuss how we weregoing to win again the nexty e a r .

■ Make your students feellike they’re part of a family.Get t-shirts, celebrate birth-days, have wacky Fridays afterdeadline, do white elephantexchanges at Christmas, honorstaffer of the month and breakdance down the halls late atn i g h t .

■ Expect the best. Requireexcellence. When you don’t getit—sit down and figure outhow you can help the journalistimprove. When you do getit—high five the kid, tell him/her how proud you are,and CALL parents.

■ Encourage your staff toattend workshops. Of course Iam going to promote our work-shop at MSU in early August. I

Pi d Graf

Betsy Pollard Rauteaches at H.H. DowH.S. and advises theUpdatenewspaperthere. She’s also theMIPA Summer Journalism Workshopdirector.

Cont. on page 12


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R e a d e r -Vi e w e r -F r i e n d l y D e s i g n

1. Content vs. Design. Remember that you must have good reader- and viewer-friendly

content to make a design. The design should be invisible so that the content stands out. Never decorate. The design adds to the content and does not distract.

2. Focal point. Do you have a focal point, center of visual impact or dominant element?

Something on the page should immediately catch the reader’s attention. To really stand out on the page, this element should be 2 1/2 times larger than anything else.

3. Eye flow. Where does the reader/viewer start on the page? What is the second element

the reader/viewer sees? Are you designing a single page or two facing pages? When designing a single page, you should be concerned about what is happening on the facing page. You do not need a centerspread or doubletruck to take advantage of two pages.

4. Unity and Harmony. This can easily be achieved through the use of white space, type

faces, rules, and images. Are you consistent?

5. Proportion . Learn how to work with different sizes and shapes. If two elements need

to be the same size, work with texture, cropping and content.

6. Contrast . Remember that you need to work with big/small and dark/light. This holds

true for type, art and white space.

7. Consistency. Is the distance between elements consistent? Do you keep to the same

typefaces? Use the same color palette?

8. Content. Remember, no matter how good the design, you need to have the right

content to sell the page.

9. Use. Is your design easy to consume?

10. Friendliness. Is the page reader/viewer friendly? Do you need pullouts? Factoids?

Decks? Read-ins? Subheads? Good cutlines/captions? Visuals that are eye-catching?

11. Kiss me! Remember the KISS principle. “Keep It Simple Stupid.”

12. Stanoism . You do this by making white space your friend, having a dominant element

and remembering that less is more.

Randy Stano is theKnight Chair Profes-sor at the University

of Miami. He is a pastpresident of the Soci-ety for News Design.He’s had design posi-

tions at award-win-ning newspapers all

over the country.Recently he has been

working on aredesign at the

Prague Post. Manyyears ago, Stano

taught high schooljournalism.

Randy Stano

iHigh.com, the High School Internet Net-work, is seeking students to write for sto-ries. iHigh.com is a start-up internetcompany based in Lexington, KY and isaffiliated with the National Federation of

High Schools and several of their stateassociations. iHigh.com is building Websites for high schools across the countrythat would link to all of their state sitesand their national site.

Advisers, here’s an opportunity for your students:


T he Michigan Press Association Foundation isoffering a college scholarship program thatrewards promising young journalists and

encourages them to consider the field of communityjournalism.

The MPA Foundation’s new high school Match-ing Scholarship Program is aimed at high school stu-dents and local MPA member newspapers. Here’show it works:

The newspaper and Foundation award the stu-dent at least $2,000 (or more) to help pay tuition forthe first year of college. Also included is an intern-ship at the newspaper.

Application forms for the 2000-2001 school yearare available at the Michigan Press Associationoffice in Lansing. Deadline for applications is June 1.

Three students are enrolled in college withnewspaper-foundation grants for the 2000-2001school year.

For more information, contact Mindy or Colleenby calling (517) 372-2424.

MPA contributes to MIPAThe Michigan Press Association recently con-

tributed $1,500 to the Michigan Interscholastic PressAssociation to help publish the Sparty Press at theworkshop this summer.

The MPA Foundation said that it is interested indeveloping closer ties with talented young journal-ists, urging them to consider the newspaper field asa career. “Maybe helping them learn more about usthrough your MIPA workshops will help,” saidRichard L. Milliman, president of the MPA Founda-t i o n .

Michigan publications win bigThe U p d a t e from Dow HS in Midland has won

the Pacemaker Award from the National ScholasticPress Association. Betsy Rau is the adviser. This isthe second year in a row they’ve received the Pace-m a k e r .

The award, known as the Pulitzer Prize ofscholastic journalism, is given to the top 1% of thenewspapers and yearbooks in the nation.

The1999 C e n i a d from East Lansing HS also wonan NSPA Pacemaker Award. Lynn Strause is thea d v i s e r .

In addition, the T o w e r from Grosse Pointe Southwas a Pacemaker finalist. Jeff Nardone advises thenewspaper there.

In Best of Show onsite contest, which categorizespapers by number of pages, the October 2000 issueof the U p d a t e won first place in its category ( 9-12 pages).

The T o w e r won second place in the 1-8 pages cat-egory, and F o c u s from Midland HS won eighth placein 17 or more pages. The adviser of F o c u s is JimW o e h r l e .

Yearbook Best of Show winners include the M y s-t i q u e, Bronson HS, in the 1-224 pages category. Theiryearbook was eighth. Marisa Wagner advises theM y s t i q u e.

The C e n i a d won first place in Best of Show in the225-324 pages category.

All publications received their awards at theJEA/NSPA convention last month in Kansas City.

Utica wins GallupThe Utica A r r o w is excited about winning its first

Gallup award. The A r r o w, advised by Gloria Olman,has been a CSPA Gold Medalist and NSPA Five StarA l l - A m e r i c a n .

2001 workshop receives scholarship fundsThe family of Virginia Baird, longtime Lansing

resident and journalist, presented MIPA with schol-arship money for the workshop in her memory.

Four students will be able to attend the 2001MIPA Summer Journalism Workshop, which will beheld July 29–Aug. 2.

J E A logo contest needs contestants JEA's Scholastic Press Rights Commission is

sponsoring a design contest for students. The goal isto develop a logo for the national First AmendmentSchools award. The winning student will receive$ 1 0 0 .

The art can be designed in color or black andwhite, in file format or hard copy. Art should be atleast 5 X 7 in size. The logo has to have asection with the date (2001,2000, etc.). That sectionshould be designed so the date can be easily inter-changeable from year to year. Artwork should besent to JEA headquarters before Jan. 1, 2001.

The logo will be used on First AmendmentSchools literature and by schools that receive theaward. The logo should reflect how the awardencompasses the total concept of the amendment,including speech, press, assembly, petition and reli-g i o n .

Stet

NOTES

NEWSIf you have news, letus know. We’ll men-tion it in the nextissue of Stet. [email protected].

&MPA provides matching scholarships

other writers and


Stet

You are an editor, and youadvertise for a reporter,entry-level is OK. A dozen

letters come in, more if you’relucky. And at least 20 percent ofthe applicants misspell yourname.

The fact is, newsrooms acrossthe country are having a terribletime finding people who are evenmarginally qualified to report andwrite the stories of our communi-ties.

Either you hire one of the mar-ginally qualified, or you hire noone at all. Go ahead, hire, buthave a plan to educate swiftlythose whose clips didn’t thrillyou. Here is a lesson plan, a list ofsolutions for the reporting andwriting problems I see most often.

1.Before you go out, reporter,have a plan. Some genius once

told every reporter, “When yougo out on a story, you must nothave a thought in your head.” Thefear was that if we started with anidea, we were biased, and wewould force a story the factsdidn’t support.

That fear is much more hypethan reality. If you don’t have aplan for the story you want to get,you’ll come back with 387 pagesof notes, and no idea what towrite.

Start with a plan, be flexibleenough to change, but as soon asyou can, zero in.

2. As you’re taking notes,think. Most bad stories I see arelists of notes.

We take notes and think thatwhen we’re ready to write, thosenotes will make sense. But mostnotebooks are wild, haphazardmixtures of truth, lies, trash and,occasionally, items of value. If thestory is to make sense, it will

COACHINGYOURSELF

Althoughwritten for aprofessional

audience, Stasiowski's

articleapplies in

many ways to scholasticjournalists.

By Jim Stasiowski


Stet

make sense not in the note-book, but in the reporter’sbrain.

As you take notes, think,“Is this stuff helping mystory? How am I going to usethis? What more do I need formy story?” As you take notes,see the story taking shape.

3. Turn off the radio. Yougo to a game, a meeting, aspeech, an interview. Youhop in your car to drive backto the newsroom. You try tothink of a lead. You get one!Yessssssssssss!

You turn on the radio.Do you know how much

space a lead takes up? Thismuch. (Hold thumb and fore-finger 3/4 of an inch apart.Good. Now resume normalactivities with thumb andforefinger.)

You have a whole story towrite. Turn off that radio andmentally review your notes.By the time you park at thenewspaper, you should havethe whole story organized.

4. Before you type, talk.Walk over to a newsroom col-league you’re comfortablewith. Don’t take your note-book, don’t rehearse whatyou’re going to say, don’t askfor advice.

Just tell the story to yourcolleague. As you’re telling it,do two things. First, watchyour colleague’s body lan-guage. Is he smiling? Nod-ding? Widening his eyes?Frowning? Nodding off?Checking his watch? Tyinghis shoes? And he’s wearingloafers?

If the story is working, hewill pay attention. Otherwise,go make more phone calls.You’re not ready to write.

Second, listen to yourself.If you stutter and stammer,go make more phone calls.

5. Don’t fool around withthe news. Resist the urge touse every lead to enhanceyour reputation as creativegenius.

An anecdotal lead can bethe right approach, but so cana direct lead. Flippancy hasits place, but not in everystory. News doesn’t happenjust so you can show off howbrilliant or witty or sensitiveor profound you are.

Creativity is fine, I’m infavor of it. But writing direct-ly is never wrong. Showingoff your creativity is not agood reason to bury thenews, or to state it softly.

6. Leave out anything mar-ginal. The great quotationisn’t great if it doesn’t fit pre-cisely the story you’re work-ing on. I don’t care if themayor told you a very mean-ingful anecdote about Philip-pine monkeys, it will not fitthe story about repairs to thesewage-treatment plant.

7. The first step in self-edit-ing is to go word-by-word.When an editor wants a storycut, most writers start byhacking away full para-graphs. When they havehacked out paragraphs, ifwriters still need to cut, theygo through the story word-by-word.

That’s putting things in thewrong order.

Start by going word-by-word. You will get rid of 20percent of what you’ve writ-ten, and you will do some-thing really important: Youwill have made each sentenceas lean as possible.

8. Read stories aloudbefore you turn them in. Youwill hear problems you won’tsee. If a colleague asks you tostop mumbling, tell him youforgot to take your medica-tion.

9. Read your stories in thenewspaper. Look for thingsyou did well and things youdid poorly. Never really fin-ish with a story. Like a savvyrecycler, find a new use for it,as a lesson.

10. If these ideas work,write me a letter. My name isJ-I-M. Don’t even try Sta-siowski.

THE FINAL WORD:You’ll see this usage in anygovernment story: “The statewill fund the bridge repairs.”

Why “fund?” Why notsimply “pay for?”

The answer is simple:Some government bureaucrator politician, unhappy withthe same language the rest ofus speak, decided that whengovernment pays for some-thing, government must haveits own special verb.

Look up “to fund” in thedictionary. It has some legiti-mate uses, but they are allspecialized uses. None meanssimply “to pay for.” Stopwriting the way bureaucratstalk. Start writing the wayreal people talk.

Jim Stasiowski, writingcoach, welcomes yourquestions or comments.Write to him at 5812Heron Drive, Baltimore,MD 21227, or call (401)247-4600.

Important: Please write the name of each pub-lication and/or production you are enteringinto membership. Only publications whosenames appear here will be eligible for competi-tion.

Newspaper name

Yearbook name

Literary Magazine name

TV Production name

Membership Fees

$37.50 for one publication or production

$10 for each publication or production after that

Payment enclosed:

1 publication or production

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

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

Total enclosed

2000-2001 MIPA Membership Application Form

School

Phone ( ) Fax Number ( )

Address

City State ZIP County

Newspaper Adviser’s Name

Home Address

Home Phone ( ) E-mail

Yearbook Adviser’s Name

Home Address


Lit. Magazine Adviser’s Name

Home Address


TV Production Adviser’s Name

Home Address


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

For office use only please: ck # amt

po invoice date

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

PLEASE fill out form completely.

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

Today’s date

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

$

$

$

$

Reserve your copy ofAdviser’s name

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

Deadline: Schools must joinMIPA by Jan. 31, 2001, to participate in contests for thatcalendar year.

Literary Magazine Contest Information

Postmark Deadline: December 31, 2000

Deadline: Please note the earlier deadline date this year. Several of you have said you want your feedback earli-er. We will send the literary magazines out to judges soon after we get them from you. Entries postmarked after Dec. 31,2000, will not be accepted into the Spartan competition, but can still be evaluated.

Directions: This form is your Literary Magazine entry only. Attach your check or money order for $10 (payableto MIPA) to this form. Magazines must have been published after the spring conference last year, which was April 10,2000.

Criteria: One entry per school. A literary magazine emphasizes fiction, poetry, essays, drama, art and photogra-phy for its content. Feature articles and reviews may be included occasionally. The subject matter should be originalmaterial created by students and within their world of experience. First-hand experiences, situations occurring to friendsand family and observations within the writer’s environment are potential topics for fiction. Quality of all forms of mater-ial should be the first consideration. A mixture of serious and light writing may serve the magazine’s purpose better thanconcentration on one topic. The standards for evaluating this entry will be graphic design, layout, photography, writing,headlines, consistency of content, artwork and typography.

Awards: Magazines will earn Spartan awards or certificates based on their scores. Awards will be presented atthe 2001 spring conference in April. The judges will fill out evaluation forms, which will be returned to the editor andadviser.

Name of literary magazine

School & city Date of publication

Editor(s) name

Adviser name

I understand that all material submitted by our school represents students’ work. If non-studentwork or alteration has affected the printed product, notations have been made to indicate thosechanges.

Adviser signature

Literary Magazine Contest Entry Blank

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

2. Be sure to include the $10 entry fee.

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

M IPA is about to get a lot closer to you. For several years, the board has been working on a plan that would make MIPAaccessible to its advisers on a more personal level. Well, we finally completed it.

Here’s what it means for you. The state has been divided into eight different regions (this will sound familiar to you veter-ans). Each region has at least one board member who will be your personal liaison. These will be the people that you can call ifyou have questions, concerns or even some good news to share. They will be contacting you shortly to introduce themselvesand give you information about how to reach them and maybe some of their plans. They'll probably be asking for some infor-mation on how to best contact you, too.

In general, here’s who you can expect to hear from soon. In lower Michigan, if you’re in the southwest corner of the state, it’s Marisa Wagner from Bronson HS. The southeastern corner will hear from either Gloria Olman from Utica HS, Kim Kozian from L’Anse Creuse North or Jeff

Nardone from Grosse Point South HS.The central-western part of the state can expect information from Brian Town from Haslett HS.Diane Herder from Laingsburg HS will serve the central part of the state and Kirk Weber from Lake Orion HS has the

t h u m b .Lynn Strause from East Lansing HS has the northwestern counties. The northeastern counties will hear from either Lynn or

Julie Price from Haslett HS.You lucky people in the Upper Peninsula will be hearing from Kathy Nichols, East Grand Rapids HS.So watch your mail! You'll be hearing from us soon!


Stet

MIPA board members to canvas state


Stet

Kathy Nichols

Lynn StrauseJulie Price

Gloria OlmanKim KozianJeff Nardone

Marisa Wagner

Diane Herder

Lynn Strause

Kirk Weber

Brian Town


Stet

had 30 kids there this summer,and they loved it. Parents areoften dying to find an inexpen-sive but educational experiencefor their kids. Don’t assumethey won't be able to afford it.Plan early. Videos of pastMIPA workshops are one wayto let kids see what the week islike. Call the MIPA office at517-353-6761 if you want tocheck one out to view.

■ Attend workshops your-self. MIPA offers a one weekadviser course in late July.Newspaper advising, Yearbookadvising, Photography, Law,Writing—are just a few of theexcellent offerings. There isnothing like a week of intensejournalism with people just likeyou to get you fired up toimprove your program.

■ Set three modest goalseach year and revisit themmonthly. You will be surprisedhow quickly you move ahead ifyou keep your expectationsrealistic—but have expecta-

t i o n s .■ Love what you do. If you

don’t love it; they’re not goingto. If stress is because you arein over your head, need some-one to help you and feel likeyou just don’t know where tobegin—see 6, 7 and 8 above. Ifyou’re doing it because youwanted the job, they said theyneeded an adviser, and youhate every minute of it—doyourself and your kids a favorand coach the water polo team.Ya gotta love it! Sometimes thehardest thing an adviser has todo is realize he/she no longerloves it, and give it up. That’snot failure; that’s wisdom.

■ Look for the good inevery kid in your program. It’sbeen said that “All children canlearn.” Lots of kids are easy toteach, eager to learn and will-ing to do what we tell them.They’re not the ones I’m wor-ried about. I’m worried aboutthe tough kids. Those whohave never found success at

anything they do. I believe thegreatest success WE can haveas teachers is helping the toughkids find their niche. I’m nottelling you to help all ofthem—Why not help just onekid. Just one kid at a time.

Erik was my “one kid” lastyear. His mother told the assis-tant principal at parent teacherconferences this fall that jour-nalism has changed his - l i f e .Because he now wants to go tocollege and major in journal-ism, he is pulling As in everyclass. I may have opened adoor, but you can be sure I hadNOTHING to do with himpassing trigonometry! Besidesthe fact that I know zilch aboutmath—that is a math class,isn’t it?—I am busy now work-ing with Jason. Did I mentionJason has blue hair—thismonth—and he wears a littletoo much eye liner. But boycan he do miracles in Photo-s h o p !

Pied Grafs, continued

The Journalism EducationAssociation has some new lead-ership in the state. Lynn Strausefrom East Lansing High Schoolhas become your new statedirector. She and Marisa Wagn-er from Bronson High Schoolwill oversee JEA matters forM i c h i g a n .

Exactly what does thatmean? It means you’ll be hear-ing from one of them if you arenot a current member of JEA.Membership costs $45 annually.You get great services like aninstant hotline for help andadvice, special prices on all theitems in the JEA Bookstore,publications like C:JET and

NewsWire, information aboutadviser and student awards aswell as certification and earlyinformation about national con-ventions.

If you are a current member,we'll be contacting you withinformation about upcomingcontests. One you need to beaware of is the National HighSchool Journalist of the year.The deadline for submitting stu-dent entries is February 15,2001. Another student contest,the 2001 Student JournalistImpact Award has a deadline ofMarch 1, 2001. Both award win-ners will be announced at theJEA/NSPA National Conven-

tion in San Francisco in April. Contact Lynn for more com-

plete information and entryforms. The JEA/NSPA FallNational Convention wasNovember 16-19, 2000. Thoughit is too late to attend that one,you might want to set yoursights for San Francisco and thespring convention. It will beheld April 5-8, 2001. This willbe your next opportunity totake the CJE or MJE certificationtest. The deadline for applica-tions to take the test is March 1,2 0 0 1 .

Anything you want to know?Contact either Lynn or Marisaand we'll give you answers.

Lynn StrauseEast Lansing HS 509 Burcham Drive East Lansing, MI 48823517.333.7563 (school) or517.333.8386 (home)[email protected]

Marisa WagnerBronson Jr./Sr HS 450 E. Grant St.Bronson MI 49028517.369.3230 (school) or616.659.4989 (home)[email protected]

JEA has new state leadership

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

MIPA Calendar

Stet

Nov. 15, 2000Fall delivery yearbook postmarkdeadline for 2000 yearbook

Dec. 31, 2000Deadline for submission of MIPAlogo contest

Jan. 31, 2001Deadline to join MIPA for publications/ productions to bejudged in 2000-2001

Feb. 16, 2001Newspaper (Spartan and IndividualCategory) and Web Site/Video Production postmark deadline for2000-2001 entries

March 3, 2001MIPA Individual Newspaper Category judging at MSU

April 10, 2001MIPA Spring Conference at the Lansing Center, downtown Lansing

July 16–20, 2001Photoshop Workshop through theMSU School of Journalism

July 23–27, 2001Publication Advisers Workshopsthrough the MSU School of Journalism: newspaper advising,yearbook advising, photography,publication design and writing

July 29–Aug. 2, 2001MIPA Summer Journalism Workshopfor Students

Oct. 10, 2001MIPA Fall Conference at the LansingCenter, downtown Lansing

If you have an idea for a

new look, enter our logo

design contest.

You don't have to be an artist.

You just need to follow a few

guidelines:

■ Designs must be all-inclu-

sive of MIPA's programs.

■ Designs can be computer

generated or hand drawn.

■ Finished designs should be

submitted on white 81/2 by

11-inch paper and on 3.5"

floppy disk or Zip disk.

■ Deadline for entries is

December 31, 2000.

■ Winning entry will be

chosen by the MIPA

Executive Board at their

January meeting.

■ Winner will receive $100.

Send entries to: MIPA305 Communication ArtsMichigan State UniversityEast Lansing, MI48824-1212

Are you an aspiring artist or graphicdesigner looking for a project?

We've got one!

a newlook

It’s time for

wants to

its

MIPAupdate

logoold

november 2000 stet

Documents