saclegacy

Al Jazeera's take on American media

2012-02-11T08:00:00.001-08:00

Is this what journalism people trained for?

Riz Khan - The Role of Media in the USA - These bloopers are hilarious

New look of videos on The Ranger Online

2012-02-06T07:44:00.001-08:00

Re-designed Ranger hits the racks

2012-02-06T07:28:00.001-08:00

Former sports guy at SAC makes it bigger at WOAI

2011-12-17T17:01:00.000-08:00

Project Spurs, founded by former student Michael De Leon, has officially formed a partnership with WOAI.

Part of that partnership means seeing Project Spurs content on the News4WOAI.com website.

The partnership got to kick into action Dec. 17 an even more exciting part of the partnership and it is now a joint project of Project Spurs and News4WOAI.

Michael will be hosting the bi-monthly shows. Paul Garcia and Jeff Garcia will join him, and occasionally they will have other members of the staff join in on the fun and even bring in some special guests.

Michael De Leon's newest venture

Two exes appear on TAJE program in San Antonio

2011-10-25T07:36:00.001-07:00

Getting hands-on experience and learning leadership, copy editing and design skills at The Ranger were good preparation for an internship at Corpus Christi Caller-Times, former editor Laura Garcia told an audience of journalism students attending the Texas Community College Journalism Association state convention Oct. 14 at Texas State University-San Marcos.

She shared that experience and others during her time at San Antonio College with students attending the Texas Association of Journalism Educators Fall Convention Oct. 24 at the Gunter Hotel. She is now an editorial assistant at SA Scene Magazine and a student at Texas State University in San Marcos.

Also, former Ranger photographer Darren Abate appeared on the TAJE program.

"I had a great time acting as the photojournalism and sports photography 'pro' at the Texas Association of Journalism Educators Breakfast with a pro event," Abate said on Facebook. He is a free-lance photographer based in San Antonio.

Both former students represented the Journalism and Photography programs well.

Ex-students work on The Mesquite at Texas A&M-SA

2011-10-13T13:36:00.001-07:00

Melody Mendoza serves as editor of The Mesquite, the brand-new publication at the growing South Side university.

Other AM-SA students have taken journalism or photography classes at San Antonio College.

Aloha and vaya con Dios, Miz Alicia

2011-09-12T08:21:00.000-07:00

A nice crowd of current students, former students, faculty, staff and administrators wished Academic Unit Assistant Alicia Morse well on her early retirement Aug. 31.

Responsible for overseeing operation of journalism and photography programs and six budgets, bookkeeping for student publications, recording advertising insertion orders and overseeing circulation manager and work study students, she maintained stability in an otherwise hectic environment.

Known to everyone in the journalism and photography programs as Miz Alicia, she will have more time now to spend with her grandchildren and her recently retired husband.

No more worries about Banner and bureaucratic BS, Mis Alicia. Have a blast.

Photo by Tricia Buchhorn

The Ranger up and running for the fall semester

2011-09-06T16:50:00.001-07:00

Organization showcase from Journalism Program on Vimeo.

Retirement plan decimates college faculty old-timers

2011-09-02T09:16:00.001-07:00

Check to see if any of your favorite faculty or staff have thrown in the towel. Click to enlarge.

The Ranger staff produces helpful campus information

2011-09-01T12:52:00.001-07:00

Open publication - Free publishing - More journalism

UJW contributor will instruct at Nashville workshop

2011-08-20T12:55:00.000-07:00

Bobby Malish of Canon USA shows workshop participants at a Freedom Forum Diversity Institute the latest about digital camera equipment. (Right)

Bobby Malish will be at the Advanced Multimedia Boot Camp is for professional journalists, journalism educators, students and others with some multimedia experience.

Training focuses on improving storytelling, Final Cut editing, shooting video with Canon HDSLR cameras and basic WordPress websites.

The training will take place Oct. 12-16, 2011 at the John Seigenthaler Center in Nashville, Tenn.

Malish, who has been loaning Canon cameras and demonstrating their use at the Urban Journalism Workshop since 1996, should be considered an honorary former student.

Former Ranger editor excels at Public Relations

2011-08-09T16:08:00.001-07:00

Rudy Arispe has 23 years experience as a journalist and 13 years as a public relations strategist. He began his journalism career in 1986 as a staff writer for the now-defunct San Antonio Light, where he wrote news and feature stories as a general assignments reporter for Metro and Living Today sections.

Arispe studied journalism at San Antonio College, where he was editor of The Ranger, named Best College Weekly in Texas and Oklahoma by the Society of Professional Journalists during his tenure. He is a 1997 graduate of the University of the Incarnate Word with a bachelor’s degree in English.

From 1997-2007, he was a features writer for the S.A. Life section of the San Antonio Express-News. During his last two years at the daily, Arispe was a reporter for Conexíon, a weekly Hispanic market publication of the Express-News, where he covered arts and entertainment.

For five years, Arispe was manager of media relations for United Way, the largest health and human services organization in San Antonio and Bexar County. He spearheaded publicity for all campaign and other events. He also served as senior writer and in-house photographer.

Former student hosts "Conversation" on KLRN

2011-08-02T17:02:00.001-07:00

News Director/Reporter at Texas Public Radio David Martin Davies

J-School students grab scholarships

2011-07-28T18:51:00.000-07:00

Five San Antonio College students won six scholarships at the recent San Antonio Association of Hispanic Journalists gala at the Grand Hyatt San Antonio.

Winners of the SAAHJ scholarships are Laura Garcia, Jolene Almendarez, Melody Mendoza, Ximena Alvarez and Zahra Farah. Farah, a Somali refugee, was awarded the Time Warner Cable Scholarship.

Garcia and Farah will transfer to Texas State University, Alvarez to the University of Texas at Austin, Mendoza to Texas A&M University-San Antonio and Almendarez will be editor of The Ranger in the fall.

SAAHJ this year awarded more than $20,000 in scholarships to a new generation of journalists and media professionals. Since its inception, SAAHJ has awarded more than $150,000 in scholarships, with $23,000 awarded last year alone.

Former student earns award

2011-06-19T07:25:00.000-07:00

Jason Minnix (right above) co-host of the afternoon drive show with Chris Duel (the "chokee" above) on ESPN 1250, The Zone, is half of the "Local Radio Personality/Team" Critics Choice Award from the San Antonio Express-News.

The regular contributor to nationally syndicated Sporting News Radio, play-by-play voice of the UTSA Roadrunner basketball and Smithson Valley High School football studied journalism at San Antonio College and worked on The Ranger after a stint in the United States Navy.

Minnix has a spot reserved online for a blog. Watch for it.

Former students in the spotlight

2011-06-18T06:58:00.001-07:00

This excellent multimedia package shows the extraordinary talents of two former San Antonio College journalism and photography students.

Freedom Riders Legacy

The two -- Vincent T. Davis and Kin Man Hui -- combine to tell the story of the Freedom Riders in the South during 1961 with interviews of four of the participants and slide shows.

Davis began work on The Ranger as an illustrator before he branched out with superb feature writing skills. He earned a degree at Texas State University. He believes interest in journalism starts early and visits Gardendale Elementary School four times a semester to encourage youngsters that they're learning in school the things he uses every day.

Hui was a photographer for The Ranger after studying at the University of Texas San Antonio.

In 2010, he won second place in Sports Photography in class AAAA of the Texas Associated Press Managing Editors.

Both work with journalism and photography students in the two programs on a regular basis, and Davis works each summer as a group adviser at the Urban Journalism Workshop.

Remember when?

2011-05-28T18:05:00.001-07:00

Cary Clack, columnist for the San Antonio Express-News, was recognized as the Outstanding Former Student for 2010-2011 at San Antonio College’s 83rd annual Commencement Ceremony Saturday at Freeman Coliseum.

Clack was a SAC student between 1978 and 1983. His road to higher education was not a straight line – but rather one that had many twists and turns along the way. He told the graduates that he wasn’t a student leader nor an ‘A’ student while at the college.

“I’m honored to be a part of this ceremony of this great institution, San Antonio College, which is part of one of the great community college systems in the country, the Alamo Community College District. I appreciate these colleges and all the places that help people find and refine their talents,” he said.

Photo by Ingrid Wilgin/The Ranger

The Ranger honors 'most helpful' sources again

2011-05-05T09:31:00.000-07:00

Ranger editors present a Lifetime Achievement Award during the Source Awards today to Librarian John Deosdade, who will be retiring this year. Sections editor Megan Mares hugs Deosdade while Web editor Laura Garcia and managing editor Melody Mendoza watch. Courtesy Photo (Right)

Here is a link to the annual Source Awards. See if you remember any of the winners. Many have retired, and they will be missed by The Ranger staff.

Friend of Photography at SAC gains honor

2011-04-23T08:57:00.000-07:00

Lisa Krantz, a staff photojournalist for the San Antonio Express-News, has been appointed to chair NPPA's Diversity Committee by NPPA president Sean D. Elliot.

"Krantz brings a longtime passion for the issue to the position," Elliot said, "and she will assemble a committee charged with keeping issues of diversity throughout the NPPA in the forefront of all considerations."

Krantz has spoken to many classes in the journalism and photography programs over the years.

Staffers speak with Dan Rather on campus

2011-04-22T19:02:00.000-07:00

Newsman Dan Rather shakes hands Feb. 3 with James Anthony Salame and Alma Linda Manzanares in Koehler Cultural Center.

The Ranger asked to be invited to the VIP event which allowed district employees and friends of San Antonio College to meet Rather after his lecture in the auditorium of McAllister Fine Arts Center.

KSYM is still cookin' as Numero Uno in SA

2011-04-20T08:38:00.000-07:00

In case you've forgotten about the cool sounds of KSYM, now a part of the Media Communications Department with Journalism and Photography, here's a reminder.

The station was recently voted Best Radio Music in San Antonio by Current Magazine for the gazillionth time.

Michael De Leon knows Spurs stuff

2011-03-21T15:13:00.001-07:00

Former student Michael A. De Leon (right) is a graphic designer by day, but wears many hats in his off time, according to his blog on My SA.

In 2004, after several years of covering the Spurs, he started Project Spurs, a Spurs team fan site as an outlet to provide content to Spurs fans, while continuing to write for himself and learning the ins and outs of online publishing and web design. He has since built a writing team and started a popular weekly Spurs podcast called the Spurscast.

Always on the cusp of importing the latest technology to the site to positively deliver San Antonio Spurs news to its fans, he started the first Spurs podcast on the internet, incorporated live chats when the concept was still in its infancy and developed the first live Spurscast shows where the fans can interact directly with other fans of the Spurs.

Michael has been interviewed on ESPN Florida, has spoken at several new media conferences and has been a panelist on News 4 WOAI's Sports Round Table. He is also a contributor to MySA.com, a San Antonio Express News website, and La Prensa, a San Antonio bilingual newspaper.

De Leon has started another blog, Crossover Chronicles.

Here's what De Leon said about his latest endeavor: "Ben Koo, Bloguin's CEO, had thrown out an idea not too long ago about starting a new central NBA blog on Bloguin. The NBA and blogging are two of the things I am most passionate about, so I ended up firing him back a novel of an email with my ideas and what I would do with it.

"To my surprise, Ben offered me the managing editor position at this new blog, which you are now reading. We've got some great content lined up for you all week, from today through Sunday, and it's coming from some of the best NBA writers I know."

Read the blog here

SAC PR overlooks journalism-photography

2011-03-21T12:03:00.000-07:00

Have you looked at the 85th Anniversary "Our Impact" information on the SAC website?

Don't look for anything involved with journalism or photography, because it "ain't" there.

Here are a few points of pride for the college's 85th celebration somehow overlooked by the college public relations department.

The SPJ student chapter was the first community college chapter in the nation, the Urban Journalism Workshop was the first community college-sponsored workshop in the nation and the Edith Fox King Lecture has featured 24 Pulitzer Prize winners as speakers, including two former students, Ron Cortez and Rodolfo Gonzalez.

The Ranger and The Ranger Online have won 13 Pacemaker Awards from Associated Collegiate Press, considered the highest honor for college publications. No other college publications in San Antonio can claim that.

Oh well. You know you were good.

Oh heck. I overlooked the one photo included.

Here it is.

Groovy.

In case you missed the UJW anniversary

2011-02-17T12:40:00.000-08:00

You may have helped over the years.

New look as old departments prepare for future

2011-02-12T08:07:00.000-08:00

Media Communications now includes the Journalism, Photography, Radio-Television-Film, Digital Design and Music Business programs. Check out the slide show.

This setup will provide San Antonio College media students a broader approach and prepare them for a changing media scene.

Martial arts expert learned to use media at SAC

2011-01-29T13:15:00.000-08:00

Texas Martial Arts founder and chief instructor Cathy Chapaty is an Austin-based martial arts instructor, writer and spiritual seeker. She is an 18-year martial arts veteran with 10 years experience teaching youth and adults.

Claiming to be "an admitted Pollyanna," Chapaty specializes in mentoring young students with ADD, ADHD and other challenges.

"I'm the unlikely Big Kahuna of Tao of Texas Martial Arts. I believe that oftentimes helping others trumps making a dollar. I teach my students the mantra of 'Don't Quit,' never give up on their dreams and goals and work hardest to be part of life's solutions instead of contributing to its problems."

Chapaty's personal blog celebrates triumphs of the human spirit and shares true stories of kids building character through martial arts, and her commercial blog tells of the training facility at East Communities YMCA located at Ed Bluestein Blvd and East 51st Street.

Chapaty worked on The Ranger in various capacities while in the department, and her experience in writing, editing, advertising and public relations has been important in her professional life. She recently communicated to us via Linkedin.

Educational information on Facebook is wrong

2011-01-23T07:54:00.000-08:00

Have you noticed? If you listed San Antonio College as a place for education on Facebook it automatically comes up "The Alamo Colleges."

Is that what you want it to say?

If not, how do we get it changed? I recall one year the ACCD (then it was called) used Rodolfo Gonzalez in an ad appearing in the San Antonio Express-News and listed his background educational experience as just "Alamo Community College District." It didn't matter that he developed his skills and built a professional-quality portfolio in the Journalism-Photography Department at San Antonio College.

This was just the beginning of this cunning scheme to de-emphasize and homogenize the colleges.

Fait accompli.

Former student gives SAC some credit

2011-01-11T11:34:00.000-08:00

David Lauricella, Online Magazine Editor at General Dynamics Information Technology, updated his Education Information on Facebook to include his time in the Journalism-Photography Department at San Antonio College. Lauricella lives in Rockville, Maryland. He served in several capacities while in the department — circulation manager, sports editor, associate/Fourth Write editor and managing editor — and he also worked at the San Antonio Express-News.

Student recognized with TPR scholarship

2010-12-14T02:04:00.000-08:00

Charlie Castleman (left) is the recipient of the Texas Public Radio scholarship for 2010-2011. He is shown with Dan Skinner, general manager of TPR station KSTX 89.1, outside the Longwith RTF building. Castleman, an honor student and member of Phi Theta Kappa, serves as underwriting director for KSYM-90.1 Radio. Photo by Leonard Ziegler/SAC

Two exes discovered on social media

2010-12-10T07:49:00.000-08:00

Herb Booth (right) is at UT-Arlington as a media relations officer after spending 20-plus years at The Dallas Morning News and subsidiaries, the Herald-News, the San Antonio Light and The Daily Texan.

Herb served as editor, managing editor, sports editor and reporter at The Ranger in the late 1970s. I bumped into Herb on Facebook.

Another former student headed for the Big Apple.

Altug Icilensu (left) has opened a photography business in New York City.

Moving to New York in 2009, other than his photography work Altug is now writing a screenplay for a film/performance project which he will perform the leading role. Altug worked on The Ranger as a photographer and videographer and also worked at the San Antonio Express-News and the Houston Chronicle. Found Altug on LinkedIn.

Former student checks in

2010-12-06T10:51:00.000-08:00

Bryan Butler is now an adjunct instructor at the University of Houston, teaching two class sections and two lab sections of Introduction to News Writing for the journalism department.

"I tell my students about the quality education I received at San Antonio College. Y'all made a real impression on me," he wrote.

Checking his Linkedin account, I did not see a reference to his time at San Antonio College, and I scolded Bryan for not listing us. He responded that he had indeed listed us.

My mistake for not clicking on "see all."

Butler was sports editor for The Ranger during his time at the college before transferring to Texas A&M University in College Station.

He is a senior copy editor at the Houston Chronicle and was also a page designer at Houston Community Newspapers, news editor at The Bryan-College Station Eagle and a news copy editor at San Antonio Express-News.

Source awards for fall 2010

2010-12-05T09:02:00.001-08:00

Source Awards Spring 2010 from Journalism Program on Vimeo.

Students cover murder trial

2010-10-15T14:05:00.000-07:00

It's not something one wants to happen — a shooting in the library of a sister college. But since it did, The Ranger student reporters and photographers covered it every step from the day it happened — Oct. 13, 2008 — to the day it was resolved two years later — Oct. 13, 2010.

Read their work here.

Photo at left of the murdered man's wife at the sentencing by Tyler K. Cleveland and photo at right of the defendant looking at a photo of the murdered man by Julysa Sosa.

The reporting of each day's proceedings kept students and advisers Irene Abrego, Marianne Odom and Dr. Edmund Lo busy, and the daily reports online had significantly higher hits than normal.

The experience will be invaluable for the students involved: reporters Laura Garcia, Zarah Farah and Melody Mendoza and photographers Sosa and Cleveland.

Former student Hal Wells works wonders

2010-10-09T13:53:00.000-07:00

Hal Wells has been at the Los Angeles Times since 1997. While at San Antonio College, he served as an editor, photographer and photo editor and he advised student photographers.

At the University of Missouri, he also worked with students.

Currently, he is a photojournalism instructor at the UCLA Daily Bruin. He has served as director of photography at Press-Telegram and part-time instructor at California State University-Long Beach.

He lists his education as University of Missouri-Columbia and San Antonio College.

Occasionally, I Google former students to see what they've been doing, and this was the result of one of those trolling sessions. Wells shot this image for a feature in the Times: Oddities, musings and news from the health world. It is typical of his artistic eye.

Photo: Too much high fructose corn syrup is bad for you, but so is too much sugar. Photo credit: Hal Wells/Los Angeles Times

Photojournalism students doing videos

2010-09-25T17:01:00.000-07:00

Dr. Edmond Lo has his News Photo 2 students planning, shooting and editing videos for publication on The Ranger Online.

This is the first, an up close and personal look at a Hispanic Heritage Month feature, "Cooking With Mama, the Art of Making Tortillas" by veteran Ranger photographer Tyler K. Cleveland.

Cooking with Mama from Journalism Program on Vimeo.

Here's the second by Julysa Sosa and Alison Wadley.

The Autumn Moon Festival from Journalism Program on Vimeo.

Stay tuned to The Ranger Online to see more as these young men and women perfect their skills, many to become professional photojournalists. Look for coming videos on Multimedia in the navigation column at the top of the front page.

Digital Design student creates animated cartoon

2010-09-17T17:37:00.000-07:00

Something new Sept. 17 in The Ranger.

Alexandra Nelipa, a first-semester cartoonist for The Ranger, has brought a new dimension to The Ranger Online with an animated editorial cartoon. She joins Juan Carlos Campos and Fred V.M. Nockroes III to make up a dynamite team of illustrators.

Oct. 8 Opinion section shows another side of Nelipa, a dry sense of humor. She captures Gov. Rick Perry's winking demeanor (below).

It is hoped that this is only the first in a long line of digital innovations in the Associated Collegiate Press Pacemaker finalist.

Welcome to the 21st Century.

Fotoseptiembre features SAC photography

2010-09-16T14:25:00.000-07:00

Three students, one former student and an adjunct faculty member in the Photography Program have photos in an exhibit at SAVA Gallery at Rivercenter Mall.

On display will be photos by students Kitsie Warren, Samantha Davis and Ken Kopacki; former student Kelly Walls; and adjunct faculty Scott Vallance (right).

Former student Stephen Thayer is the curator. The show, which runs through Oct. 2, is sponsored by the San Antonio Visual Artists group.

Photojournalism student Tyler Cleveland also has a photo exhibit of San Antonio and Chicago city streets in “A Tale of Two Cities” - part of Fotoseptiembre USA 2010. The exhibit runs through Sept. 30 at Centro Cultural Azatlan, 1800 Fredericksburg Road, No. 103.

Cleveland is a photographer for The Ranger.

JSchool Travels group covers the Gulf Coast

2010-09-12T06:54:00.000-07:00

The Sept. 10 issue of The Ranger contained the first stories and photos in a series of articles titled "Lives and Livelihoods."

After the flooding and destruction that accompanied Hurricane Katrina in 2005, life on the Gulf Coast was beginning to feel normal again. Then on April 20, the explosion of a BP rig called Deepwater Horizon caused a gusher of more than 200 million gallons of crude barely 50 miles off the Mississippi Delta.

The spill and cleanup efforts threatened local economies dependent on the waters of the Gulf from Louisiana to the Florida Panhandle. As residents attempt to adjust to new challenges, lives and livelihoods are on hold.

Six staffers of The Ranger traveled across the South Aug. 14-21 as the JSchool Travels and collected these stories. They are the first in a continuing series detailing life after the spill.

Read the stories and see the images here

La Prensa names Abrego 'leading lady educator'

2010-09-12T06:44:00.000-07:00

Journalism Instructor Irene Abrego has been named “leading lady educator” in the Sept. 1 edition of La Prensa Creativo – a special section of the newspaper that salutes women in San Antonio.

In the story, written by former Ranger reporter Angelo Covo, Abrego praises her father, a local pharmacist, for the passion she brings to teaching.

Abrego is also director of the annual Urban Journalism Workshop at San Antonio College and adviser to the Ranger.

Abrego lives her passion: education and journalism

The Ranger in running for Pacemaker — again

2010-09-05T15:06:00.000-07:00

The Ranger print version has joined The Ranger Online as a Pacemaker Finalist in the ACP's annual competition. Judges were journalists in the Washington D.C. area. Entries were judged based on the following criteria:

Coverage and content
Were all aspects of student life covered (academics/sports/clubs/local news, etc.)? Was the use of wire/syndicated copy limited (especially on pg. 1)? Was there evidence of sound news judgment?

Quality of writing and reporting
Was the writing concise and the reporting thorough? Was writing free of opinion (with the exception of editorials or columns)? Was the copy edited for consistent style?

Leadership on the opinion page
Did staff editorials, cartoons and letters supplement personal columns? Did the staff demonstrate sensitivity to controversial topics? Was the content of the editorial page consequential?

Evidence of in-depth reporting
Did major stories show evidence of multiple sources?
Are series or depth pieces prominent in entered issues?

Layout and design
Was the look of the paper clean and contemporary? Was a consistent modular page makeup used throughout the publication? Did designers establish a clear visual hierarchy for readers?

Photography, art and graphics
Did visuals enhance the verbal content and draw the reader in? Did visuals improve the reader’s understanding of the accompanying story? Were photos properly credited? Was the quality of photos and art technically excellent?

Here's the story in The Ranger Online.

Here are the Finalists from ACP.

This is the first year since 2005 that both publications have been recognized in the same year by the Associated Collegiate Press. That year, The Ranger Online was a Pacemaker.

Ranger staff cover Fletcher incident online

2010-05-07T16:03:00.000-07:00

The front page of The Ranger Online shows the work of student reporters, photographers and editors.

"You did a great job for The Ranger Online in covering the suspicious
package, quarantine and evacuation Thursday in Fletcher Administration
Center," Media Communications Chair Marianne Odom wrote to the staff on May 7.

This was one day after a mysterious envelope in the Fletcher Administration Center's mailroom caused a mail worker to experience hives after handling an envelope from Qatar.

"Through teamwork and with a quick turnaround, you were able to do much more comprehensive coverage than other media. Of course, it was hyper-local for us, so that's what's expected of an on-the-ball news medium," Odom continued.

"Through your efforts — during Final Exam week no less — The Ranger Online was able to post a first-day news story, a reaction story and a first-person account of the ordeal all accompanied by good news photos PLUS a slideshow."

Odom praised the students' expert use of technology — cell phone photos, texting, notetaking on a borrowed laptop and frequent cell phone calls.

"This is what it's all about," Odom said.

The Ranger Online ranked finalist by SPJ

2010-05-05T15:21:00.000-07:00

The Ranger Online is one of two runners-up for the Mark of Excellence in the Best Affiliated Website two-year competition.

The winner is The Communicator at Spoken Falls Community College.

Take a look at the winners in two-year and four-year online competition.

Ace photographer brings insights to students

Students in the journalism and photography program at this college were warned Wednesday about the long hours and lack of stability involved in being a professional photographer.

“The hours shift and change, and when something happens, you’ve got to go,” said Lisa Krantz, San Antonio Express-News photographer, to a group of about 15 students from COMM 2311, News Gathering and Writing 1, and COMM 1316, News Photography 1.

Mark Fiore is fun — no, he isn't a former student

2010-04-30T07:29:00.000-07:00

If you haven't seen this guy's work, you've missed a treat.

Mark Fiore.

Here's his own description of himself. Funny guy.

Mark Fiore, who the Wall Street Journal recently called “the undisputed guru of the form,” creates animated political cartoons from an undisclosed location somewhere in San Francisco. His work appears regularly in a wide variety of online news web sites and is seen by millions, probably even scrillions.

After a short stint at the San Jose Mercury News as their staff cartoonist creating traditional political cartoons in a terribly stifling fluorescent windowless office, Fiore happily fled the print world in 2001 to devote all of his energies to creating animated work.

Mark Fiore was awarded a Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award and has also received an Online Journalism Award from the Online News Association and the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism. With two awards from the National Cartoonists Society for his work in new media under his belt, Fiore also seems to excel at writing in the third person.

Former workshop student delivers King Lecture

2010-04-28T15:20:00.000-07:00

Joe Ruiz, associate producer for news at the Seattle Times website, winner of the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News, will deliver the 33rd Edith Fox King journalism Lecture AT 9:30 A.M. Thursday in Room 101 of Longwith Radio, Television and Film Building.

The lecture, sponsored by the journalism program and the campus chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists, honors an award winner and enriches journalism students’ education. The even is free and open to the public.

Story by Zahra Farah in The Ranger

A football injury directed him toward journalism and ultimately led to his participating in the Urban Journalism Workshop at San Antonio College in 1997 and free-lance sports writing for the San Antonio Express-News.

He also spent two years as website news editor for KSAT-TV before joining the Seattle Times.

And the winners are . . .

Story by Laura Garcia

The semiannual Sources Award recognize the people who make it possible for The Ranger and The Ranger Online to operate.

The Ranger Online recognized as finalist

2010-04-06T15:30:00.000-07:00

Fifty finalists have been selected in the 2010 Associated Collegiate Press Online Pacemaker contest out of a total of 242 entries.

The contest has grown dramatically in recent years, with 2010 yielding a record total of entries and representing an increase of eight percent from 2009.

One of those finalists — the only two-year college in the "Large College" category — is The Ranger Online.

See the amazing competition here.

In past years, entries for three of the categories were divided based on Web sites’ corresponding print publication frequency. In 2010, sites were divided into over 10,000 student enrollment, under 10,000 enrollment, online-only and other (magazine, yearbook or broadcast).

The Ranger Online won Pacemakers in 2005 and 2007 in the two-year college category.

The contest this year was judged by a panel of professionals with "extensive online media experience." Judges noted that the most successful sites displayed excellence in multimedia story telling, writing and editing, site design, in-depth and complete coverage, interactivity, and graphics and photography.

Online Pacemaker winners will be announced for the first time at the ACP/CMA National College Media Convention in Louisville on Oct. 30, 2010.

Comments from the judging team will be posted shortly after the convention.

Photography program on its own

2010-04-04T12:23:00.000-07:00

Journalism, Photography, Digital Design and Radio-Television-Film merged into the Department of Media Communications this year with Chair Marianne Odom at the helm of the new department.

So, Mark Magavern, long-time lab assistant, developed a classy Web site for the photography program.

See it here. The work displayed in this site explains why San Antonio College's reputation as a journalism and photography factory endures.

Magavern came through the Journalism-Photography Department as a student photographer and then stayed on the assist photography faculty in the lab. He has helped faculty with the transition into digital photography in some of the classes.

Former student launches idea

2010-03-31T09:47:00.000-07:00

Paul Zoeller, a former journalism and photography student at this college, is a freelance photographer based in Charleston, SC, shooting editorial, commercial and architectural photographs.

The Z Project is Zoeller's new endeavor. In between commercial and editorial shoots, Zoeller looks for ways to give back to the community, educate others on non-profit groups and encourage others to give in their own ways.

Specializing in location photography and telling the story through pictures, he loves connecting with his subjects and bringing out their personality in his images, capturing the peak action moment in sports or finding the perfect light.

Zoeller returns to San Antonio College each summer to work with high school journalism and photography students attending the Urban Journalism Workshop.

SAC ex-sports reporter on radio

2010-03-29T15:23:00.000-07:00

Jason Minnix co-hosts the afternoon drive show with Chris Duel on ESPN 1250, The Zone, which premiered in San Antonio in 2008.

He is a regular contributor to nationally syndicated Sporting News Radio, is the television play-by-play voice of the UTSA Roadrunner basketball and Smithson Valley High School football.

Minnix studied journalism at San Antonio College and worked on The Ranger.

Texas APME winners with SAC connection

2010-03-29T05:36:00.000-07:00

The Texas Associated Press Managing Editors presented its 2010 journalism awards at its annual convention over the weekend and winners were announced in the Headliners Excellence in Journalism competition.

TAPME winners

Cynthia Esparza - Class AA First Photojournalism and Second Best Photo Gallery

Kin Man Hui - Class AAAA Second Sports Photography

Tom Orsborn- AAAA Third Spot Sports

Rodolfo Gonzalez AAAA Third Spot News Photography

Media Communications students win awards

2010-03-11T06:59:00.000-08:00

The Ranger Online was judged Best Affiliated Website for Two-year Colleges and Tyler K. Cleveland placed second in Sports Photography at the recent Region 8 SPJ convention. The Web site will go on to compete against other regional winners at the national SPJ convention in Las Vegas.

Digital Design student Sergio Avila won the McNay Art Museum T-shirt design contest (right) Feb. 20 at the Doubletree Hotel. It will be available in the Museum gift shop.

Other Digital Design students recognized during the Feb. 20 San Antonio Advertising Federation Awards Banquet were:
JUDGES AWARD: Pedro Villegas-Interactive Website (Modernity Spirit of Experimentation)
GOLD: Luis Armando Torres-Ad Campaign (Mi Tierra Restaurant); Judy Campa-Interactive Website (Sagmeister); and Pedro Villegas-Interactive Website ( Modernity Spirit of Experimentation). SILVER: Rachel Wiygul-Stationery Package (San Antonio Underground Film Festival); Cheryl Sclafani-Poster/Illustration (National Parks Centennial Anniversary); and Gilbert Hernandez-Interactive Website (Freedom of Speech). BRONZE: Gilbert Hernandez-Interactive Website (What Is Beauty); Rachel Wiygul-Magazine Campaign (Via Metropolitan Transit); Rachel Wiygul-Magazine Campaign (Mi Tierra Restaurant); and Brittany Murphy-Mixed Media Campaign (County Line Music Festival).

KSYM, Digital Design join Media Communications

2010-02-22T12:27:00.001-08:00

The venerable San Antonio College radio station, KSYM90.1 Your Only Alternative, has been voted favorite radio station in Current polls for years.

Here is a story from last year about the 16th annual Pledge Drive.

Pledge to keep KSYM rocking 'n' rolling. It's part of the family.

Digital Design students bring new excitement.

Look at some of the students' work.

Sources still make the difference

2010-02-19T17:32:00.000-08:00

You may recall, or maybe not, that sources at the college make all the difference in getting a good story or photograph. The Ranger honors those sources each semester with a social in the newsroom.

Bring back any memories?

Meanwhile, click here to take a look at a good piece of work by photographer Tyler K. Cleveland.

Ranger photographers are cooking this semester with slide shows and a lot of good wild art.

Check the current issue for examples.

Journalism faculty in forefront

2010-01-13T17:35:00.000-08:00

Journalism Professor Edmund Lo and Instructor Irene Abrego were invited by Deputy Police Chief Joe Curiel Jr. to speak Dec. 4 on police and press cooperation.

Eighteen supervisors of the Alamo Colleges Department of Public Safety participated in the presentation and subsequent discussion that focused on the rights and responsibilities of journalists in covering public incidents and the duty of law enforcement to ensure First Amendment protection for everyone.

Both Lo and Abrego speak from experience. Lo was a 20-year front-line photojournalist who worked for major newspapers and magazines in the U.S. and Southeast Asia. Abrego is a former San Antonio Light police reporter and has been advising Ranger reporters for over 15 years.

Credit SAC Public Relations Director Deborah M. Martin

Former student reporting from Afghanistan

2009-12-13T08:50:00.000-08:00

Edward A. Ornelas is reporting from Bagram Air Field in Afghanistan along with San Antonio Express-News military reporter Sig Christenson.

Ornelas, who served as a photographer for The Ranger and The Fourth Write, shows sides of the war zone that are often overlooked.

In "Letting her hair down," Fawzia Koofi, the first female deputy speaker of Afghanistan's lower house of parliament, is the subject of the story.

Fawzia Koofi, (right) at her home in Kabul, is one of 91 women in the Afghan parliament.

Here is the most recent story: "Doctor from S.A. knows the true trauma of war"

Dr. John Kennedy Bini of San Antonio (center) checks on an Afghan man who'd been injured by gunfire and had his abdomen wall reconstructed at the Staff Sgt. Heathe N. Craig Joint Theater Hospital at Bagram Air Field, Afghanistan.

Faculty, staff keep on truckin' for journalism

2009-12-01T12:10:00.000-08:00

Many of you will recognize faculty and staff continuing to turn out award-winning publications and moving young journalists in the right direction despite the gloom and doom of the newspaper industry. The word today is convergence.

Chair Marianne Odom has moved out of the classroom to head up the new Media Communications Department. Odom, a whiz at writing and editing and an Associated Press Stylebook guru, still works with students on The Ranger, The Ranger Online and The Fourth Write. But her time has been spent recently in bringing together three programs to form a dynamic department, attending chairs' and academic council meetings and other stuff chairs do.

Instructor Irene Abrego — second from left in the photo of a recent staff's visit to San Antonio Press on the night the last Ranger is put to bed — herself a former editor of The Ranger and The Fourth Write, brings her professional and academic expertise to the table to work with students in Reporting 1, Reporting 2, Editing of Copy and an online Introduction to Mass Communications course. She also directs the Urban Journalism Workshop at San Antonio College, in its 25th year. The workshop annually attracts students from throughout the region to spend two weeks in an intensive "Boot Camp." It is sponsored by the San Antonio Express-News, The Newspaper Fund of The Wall Street Journal and a number of other newspapers and groups.

Mac technician and lecturer in the Journalism program Tricia Buchhorn, who recently earned a master's degree, continues to work with photographers and entertain and excite middle school and high school students who visit the department. She also teaches a Photoshop class at the college and an evening class at Texas State-San Marcos.

Professor Jerry Townsend(right) continues to work with students in four Introduction to Mass Communications classes even though he retired from full-time faculty. Faculty and staff present sessions at a high school workshop for Northside ISD publications students each year, and the program holds a one-day workshop at San Antonio College for high school journalists as well as the Urban Journalism Workshop at San Antonio College, in its 25th year.

Busy folks.

The doctor is in the house

2009-11-30T10:04:00.000-08:00

Assistant Professor Dr. Yuk-kwong Edmund Lo teaches photojournalism, digital photography, web publishing and Photoshop classes and he advises the award-winning photography staff of The Ranger.

Here is Lo's reflection on earning the Ph.D. degree.

I never thought of curing people in my childhood daydreaming. So I have never thought of being called “Doctor Lo.” This is one of the awkward things I first felt after getting my Ph.D. from Ohio University this summer.

To me, getting a Ph.D. is definitely not making me feel more intelligent. On the contrary, I feel modest, almost to a point of timidity because I notice that there are so many things out there that I need to learn, discover and develop; and I know deep in my heart that I was stretching my mental and intellectual ability almost to the limit to get to this point.

As a photojournalist for more than two decades, I considered myself a visual person. I was never fond of digging into mountains of literal books and statistical data. But getting a Ph.D. is just a means to a bigger end — to learn to develop visual knowledge and, pragmatically, to be able to get a permanent teaching job at the college level in the United States.

Life is full of loss and gain. To be honest, my childhood dreams were becoming a professional soccer star, an inventor, an artist and a scientist (just a little more ambitious than Leonardo da Vinci).

As I grow, I discovered that I was not born for that. But my admiration for great athletes, inventors, artists and scientists has never been less. The effort many of them put into their works are far more than I struggled with in getting my Ph.D.

Friends and relatives always ask me how I feel after getting my Ph.D. I tell them that I don’t see any complacency in myself, but I do see the big hat I have to fill whenever people address me.

Nevertheless, I do see a door opening ahead of me. Now that I have got the heavy load off my back, I am pleased to have the freedom in my leisure time to play a little bit of an athletic star, an inventor, an artist and a scientist. And to make it more fun, I am working on incorporating all that into my teaching. After all, knowledge has no boundaries; everything is connected.

Lo plays dodge ball with students to demonstrate a point during his COMM 1316, News Photography 1, class east of Candler. Photo by Mary Cruz Rojas

Lo brings years of professional experience in Taiwan and the United States plus an affable personality.

This series will continue to introduce former students to faculty and staff of the Journalism and Photography programs. They're a busy bunch. Drop in for a cup and look around the programs in Loftin Student Center. If you are lucky, Academic Unit Assistant Miz Alicia will have some goodies to share.

SAC exes in the spotlight around nation

2009-11-29T11:07:00.000-08:00

This could be the newsletter for former students, whether it's Friends of San Antonio College Journalism or whatever. If you get the urge to offer career advice, this would be a good spot to do it. We can fill this sucker up with good stuff if you send it in.

Mike Fannin (right), a former sports editor and editor of The Ranger, is editor/vice president of The Kansas City Star. Unfortunately, Mike doesn't include his time at San Antonio College in his education bio.

Justin Bachman is deputy news director for BusinessWeek.com. Previously, he was a supervisory editor for the Associated Press in the Business News Dept. in New York for four years, and was a financial reporter in the AP's Atlanta bureau from 1998 through 2002. Bachman holds a bachelor's degree in English from the University of Texas at Arlington. He also attended San Antonio College, but this isn't mentioned.

Hal Wells (left), photo editor at the Los Angeles Times, was circulation manager, photographer, photo editor and editor of The Ranger. He earned degrees from the University of Missouri and does include San Antonio College in his education bio.

A photographer on The Ranger, Jack Dempsey (right) has been a professional photographer since 1991. He worked out of San Antonio, Las Vegas and Denver with the Associated Press.

David Martin Davies is the news director for Texas Public Radio, a group of three radio stations that covers San Antonio and the Texas Hill Country area. His responsibilities include the production of “Texas Matters,” a weekly radio news program that airs on 14 radio stations in Texas. Davies also regularly produces feature and spot news reports for TPR. Davies has worked in television news, newspapers and radio. He has covered extensively the Texas-Mexico border with focus on the Border Fence and the drug war.

Evan Davies, (left) ad agency exec specializing in ag marketing, graduated from the University of Missouri at Columbia, and he was editor of The Ranger while at San Antonio College.

Rodolfo Gonzales, a photojournalist at the Austin American-Statesman, won a Pulitzer Prize for coverage of the massacre at Columbine High School while at The Rocky Mountain News in Denver. He was a photographer on The Ranger and The Fourth Write while at San Antonio College.

Elaine Aradillas (right) is a writer/reporter at PEOPLE magazine in Los Angeles where she is a celebrity journalist. Before joining the magazine in 2007, she spent most of her 10-year career covering crime, courts and social services, as well as brief stints in features covering teens and popular culture. She was arts and entertainment editor of The Ranger and graduated from The University of Texas and Columbia University.

Jack Evans (left) is director of Public Relations at Microsoft Corp. He does include San Antonio College on his education bio. As editor of The Ranger, Evans wrote a weekly column which often appeared on faculty bulletin boards. Funny guy.

Vaughn Hagerty (right), the Web development manager at the StarNews in Wilmington, North Carolina, and the creator of MyReporter.com, which won the 2009 Knight-Batten Citizen Media Award, was a student on a team that won honorable mention in the Robert F. Kennedy awards in 1986 for a special issue on "Borderlands." Team members were Jack Evans, Bobby Sanchez, Jon Hawley, Bill Reinert, Tom Keene, Hagerty, Dennis Prado and Barbara Clark.

Johnny Ludden (right) is the NBA editor for Yahoo! Sports. He was sports editor and editor of The Ranger; he covered the Spurs for the San Antonio Express-News before his move to Yahoo!