Jeff Dunn

Posted on November 24, 2008 by comm5775

MY STORIES:

MY BLOG:

This class has been a real eye-opening experience for me, in two ways. First, it has given me opportunities to meet interesting people in Salt Lake City whom I never would have met or learned about had I not taken this class. Second, it has helped me to realize that working exclusively in print journalism might not be for me, even though for a long time I was convinced that it was.

During the spring 2008 semester, we had two intriguing guest speakers whom we interviewed as a class. The first speaker was Patricia Dark, one of the founders of the Dual Immersion Academy, Utah’s first bilingual school. The second speaker, Sandra Plazas, started Mundo Hispano, the state’s first Spanish-language newspaper, with her mother. Both Dark and Plazas opened my eyes to the vibrancy of Salt Lake’s Hispanic community and alerted me to many of the silent challenges the city’s Latinos face.

I also had the pleasure of interviewing Armando Solorzano, a professor of family and consumer science at the University of Utah. Professor Solorzano is one of the most interesting people I have ever met. He holds seven degrees and is working on his eighth, all while teaching and working full time. Solorzano put together a photo documentary titled, “Invisible No More,” featuring a compilation of about 700 photos from a 2006 immigration rally, the largest demonstration in the history of Utah. People like this make me want to learn more about the world around me and interact more with those in my community.

Finally, I interviewed Erik Storheim, a Salt Lake City dentist who is fluent in Spanish. Speaking with Storheim was an extremely interesting experience. He told me that even though he speaks Spanish, he learned the language in Chile and can barely communicate with Latinos who speak other dialects. He helped me to see the linguistic challenges of educating patients and explaining procedures.

 Learning and writing about these interesting people has also helped me find my own career path. I think sometimes you have to find what you don’t want before you can discover what you do. As I’ve learned more about the newspaper industry, I’ve found things that I don’t like and don’t fit my personality. I don’t think I would like being a hard-hitting journalist reporting on gloomy or morbid subjects. I like to write, but I think I’m more inclined to include my own thoughts and opinions. Reporting only factual detail and not taking sides isn’t for me.

However, I think my writing and analytical skills have improved a lot, and I’m grateful for my experience in this class and in college. Even though this class has been challenging, it has definitely pushed me out of my comfort zone, and I think that’s a good thing.

Thank you, Professor Mangun, for all your help!

ABOUT ME:

My name is Jeff Dunn and I am a senior at the University of Utah. I have always enjoyed writing, and I am currently wrapping up a degree in mass communication with a news-editorial emphasis. Though I’m not sure I want to end up working in print journalism, I’ve enjoyed improving my writing skills in college. I have a few classes remaining this summer, and then I’m off to the real world to make millions and become a celebrity. Just kidding, but I don’t want to just drift off into professional oblivion.

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Cal Nez: artist, graphic designer, leader

Posted on November 23, 2008 by comm5775

by BRANDON FAUSETT

The children stood silently in a line, their eyes focused forward, arms firmly placed to their sides, their backs straight. The hour has passed and the children are let go so they can make their way to school.

“I feel like I was at prison when I went to boarding school,” Cal Nez said. “It has been one of the demons of my past.”

Nez, a member of the Navajo Nation, was taken from his grandparents at the age of 6 and was forced into the Bureau of Indian Affairs Boarding School in Sanostee, N.M.

“Why could we not just go there and enjoy life,” Nez said. “Unnecessary things that took away the beauty of being a child.”

Boarding school was a terrible experience for Nez, but he now uses his talents as an artist, graphic designer and community leader to bring beauty to his life and the lives around him.

Nez, 50, was born in Shiprock, N.M., where he was raised from infancy by his grandparents Bitonie and Mary B. Nez.

He lived with his grandparents until he became part of the Mormon Church’s Indian Student Placement program that brought him to Utah his sophomore year of high school. Nez graduated from South High School with honors, something he strived for from the first day of class.

He went on to become the founder of Cal Nez Design, a graphic arts firm that he started in 1986 after leaving Ted Nagata Graphic Design. His firm has become one of the few Native American-owned businesses in Utah that have been in operation for more than 10 years. Nez was also featured on the cover of the October 2005 issue of the Utah Business Magazine, something he is very proud of.

One of his first jobs being a self-employed graphic artist was when he approached Peter MacDonald, who was then the president of the Navajo Nation. He gave Nez a variety of jobs that helped to jumpstart Cal Nez Design.

His firm has completed a variety of projects including the Navajo Nation Fair 2005 Official Poster, Navajo Nation Shopping Center logo and Miss Navajo Nation logo to name just a few.

“Every client is different, every design is different,” Nez said.

His firm bridges the cross-cultural communication gap by incorporating aspects of the different cultures into its logos, something he tries to keep in all of his projects.

Nez said that the artistic expression in graphic design is being lost and that artists need to go back to the human element of it. He said that programs on computers are ruining graphic art by letting people just jump in and do it, which makes everyone think they can be graphic artists.

He advises aspiring designers to remember the artistic aspect of their craft, something he is very passionate about.

“I am an artist and am very proud of it,” Nez said.

His business is not the only way he is giving voice to the Native American community. He is also the president of the Utah Native American Chamber of Commerce, which he founded in April 2008.

Abel Saiz, vice president of the Chamber, said Nez is a natural leader and not a follower.

“We have members of the Native American community call and ask how to start a business and how to get involved in the chamber,” Saiz said.

Giving voice to Utah Native Americans in the business world was one of the main reasons for founding of the chamber.

“We are referred to as the invisible people,” Saiz said. “Nez lets the general public know that we are here and we have needs.”

Nez encourages Native American youth to see the importance of business because of how beneficial it is to their future.

“The time has come to educate our youth about becoming employers instead of employees,” Nez said.

Nez not only spends time with his firm and the Chamber, but he is also married to Yolanda Nez. They have three children: Courtney, Chelsey and Colby. He is active in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and said he also believes in the Navajo way the way.

Native Americans are usually viewed as a culture of the past and that is something Nez is trying to change.

“We are not a history,” Nez said, “we are a people.”

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Erin Flinders

Posted on November 23, 2008 by comm5775

MY STORIES:

 

ABOUT ME:

Voices of Utah features some of the stories I wrote for an intermediate reporting class. It was the epitome of what I think a successful college class should be. As a student I was given the opportunity to discover new people and problems I was unaware of before. The collaboration with the Web design class made it possible for my work to be displayed professionally.

My first college class was at Salt Lake Community College in fall 2001. This fall [2007], at 26, I graduated from the U with a bachelor’s degree in news editorial mass communication. Kinda cool. 

Now, I am going to begin my professional career. I will be using the same writing and editing skills that I acquired from my college life to become an editor of textbooks, and, I hope, of many other mediums in the future.

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LGBT Resource Center rich reserve of support

Posted on November 23, 2008 by comm5775

by ERIN FLINDERS

Located on the skeletal fourth floor at the University of Utah’s Union Building, the Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Resource Center is a room squeezed tight with computers, couches and funky lights. A library fills one wall. Information pamphlets, invitations and offers cover every bit of table space.

Bonnie Owens, a senior majoring in gender studies, has been an intern at the Resource Center for three years. She said the space used to be a fraction of what it is now, “literally, a closet.” The Center was formally dedicated in April 2002, but has just recently been moved to the upper, still unfinished, fourth floor of the Union.

Now, one formal office sits in the midst of many makeshift ones. Cathy Martinez is director of the Center and resident of that office. A U alumna, she earned her undergraduate and graduate degrees in social work.

After obtaining her master’s degree, Martinez went into private practice and began working with the LGBTQ population as a licensed clinical social worker in Salt Lake City. Her education and 10 years of experience in the field of social work made Martinez a top candidate when the director position at the Resource Center opened in May 2007.

She said she feels “honored to be part of the center,” and part of the community working for equality. David Daniels and Jeremy Yamashiro, both interns who agreed to the interview, nod their heads in agreement. Everyone here is involved with other LGBTQ educational, activist and support groups as well, and takes these associations earnestly.

Yamashiro, for example, is a member of the Queer Student Union (QSU) and Queer Students of Color (QSoC), both university student groups. QSoC was founded two years ago to educate people of color about queer issues and queer people about the “colored experience.”

In addition, Yamashiro said QSoC functions as a support group, “address[ing] some of the issues that queer people who come from ethnic minorities are having to deal with that might be different from mainstream gay issues.”

Bonnie Owens is former co-president of the Lesbian and Gay Student Union. She has also spent a lot of her time at the U promoting and addressing LGBTQ issues.

Her latest effort was October’s (2007) Pride Week celebration titled “Culture with a Q.” Owens contacted Andrew Jolivette, assistant professor of American Indian studies and a teacher in the Ethnic Studies Program at San Francisco State University. He agreed to speak on LGBTQ issues at two larger events, the “Gay-la” fund-raising dinner and silent auction, and was the week’s keynote speaker.

The week was full of smaller events coordinated by Owens and hosted by the Resource Center. A panel of politicians and representatives gathered at the Hinckley Institute of Politics to discuss the passage of Amendment 3. The Pooch Pride Dog Parade and Queerprov, an improvisational show, also were added to this year’s calendar of events.

Some events were very popular, while others had to be cancelled due to low attendance. “This [was] different from any other Pride Week we’ve ever done,” Owens said. In the past we’ve focused on only big events. This year we saturated the week with events, and [overall] it is the most successful year we’ve had.”

The Resource Center’s Web site is another way people can obtain information about LGBTQ issues. Close to 160 community, education, political and need-based links are “the result of a five-year collaboration,” Owens said.

The Queer Peers program is available electronically through the Resource Center’s Web site as well. Queer Peers allow students to send an e-mail to staff at the Center or make confidential comments. This anonymity encourages communication from students who would have been silent otherwise. Martinez said the discussions range from “where can I find LGBTQ resources in Utah?” to “I’ve been kicked out of my home, where can I go?”

Discrimination at home and the workplace is an all-too-common reality. To combat this, the Resource Center employs a trained facilitator who travels to businesses to educate employees about LGBTQ issues and provides Safe Zone trainings.

A group of seven or more people, or any staff member of a company with an interested group of seven or more can call the Resource Center and request one of the three-hour training sessions. 

By talking “about queer history, terminology, questions about who can say what,” and doing “some interactive activities about discovering your own personal biases, community biases and things like that,” Owens and Martinez hope to foster more understanding, awareness and mobilize more straight allies.

The U has a healthy track record as an LGBTQ ally. According to an August 2006 press release, The Advocate College Guide for LGBT Students rated the school as one the 100 best campuses for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students. The rating reflects the availability of resources and the campus’ ability to create a positive living and learning environment for LGBT students.

David Daniels, one of the Center’s three interns, moved to Utah after living in New Jersey and New York. He said he doesn’t remember LGBT issues being covered by the media a lot in those cities. He said there are fewer media outlets in Utah, but he has seen more coverage since moving to Salt Lake.

Daniels points to publications like The Pillar and QSaltLake, alternative media that, he said, “are specifically for the queer community.” He said he reads City Weekly because they “are inclusive of everyone.” Daniels said it is good when these publications “sometimes reach out of your home base” and “start a conversation.”

Media that reach a larger audience are important to the LGBT community. Good media coverage of issues affecting the population is rare and stories are not always balanced. The Salt Lake Tribune is a mainstream newspaper that recently covered Pride Week events.

In a story headlined “RSVP: Your guide to Utah’s social scene and the people who make a difference,” the paper featured a photograph of the keynote speaker Jolivette standing with Martinez at the “Gay-la dinner.” Any publicity is good, but Jolivette was misidentified in the photo caption.

Despite these occasional mistakes, LGBTQ Utahns have had some good coverage. But, Martinez said, “there’s the other side where [the media] will tend to depict certain people or certain organizations in a bad light.”

In light of these and other challenges, the Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Resource Center will continue to communicate with people and educate. They will continue to provide a safe and inclusive environment for students on the University of Utah campus.

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Vanderhooft pursues passion for writing through QSaltLake

Posted on November 23, 2008 by comm5775

by YEVGENIYA KOPELEVA

While writing her honors thesis in the English department at the University of Utah, JoSelle Vanderhooft discovered the Salt Lake Metro and her passion for journalism.

Her love for writing began with being the newspaper editor for the Hillcrest High School newspaper in Salt Lake City and a staff writer for Salt Lake Community College’s Horizon. After dedicating long hours to both newspapers, she decided to take a year off journalism and pursue her other passion: theater and playwriting.

It was seeing the Salt Lake Metro flier in the English department during her senior year in college that made her realize she wanted to “get back into journalism.” Vanderhooft graduated from the U with a bachelor of arts in English and theater studies in May 2004.

She then began as a freelance writer for Salt Lake Metro because it was the only paying job she could get after graduating. “After awhile, I just got into the routine of it, realized I not only liked it, but really, really liked it, and stayed,” said Vanderhooft, 27.

Salt Lake Metro, a newspaper for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender population that began in May 2004, changed its name to QSaltLake in March 2006 in order to incorporate “queer” into the title as part of the new staff’s vision of being inclusive. QSaltLake distributes 9,000 copies a month along the Wasatch Front as well as in selected cities in Nevada, Wyoming and Idaho. The biweekly newspaper has grown from 20 pages to 40 pages since the beginning of 2007. Vanderhooft became the assistant editor of QSaltLake in 2007.

The June 2007 Pride issue featured 64 pages filled with articles, advertisements, features, a schedule of the three-day event, a map of the festival grounds and the parade route, a variety of Pride-related news and arts and entertainment stories. “Lots of people want to advertise in the Pride issue because it’s the issue that everyone picks up and advertising in it gives them a lot of attention,” Vanderhooft said.

QSaltLake features news of interest to the LGBT community and keeps the population informed of upcoming events. “It’s intentional that the newspaper is more news than arts,” Vanderhooft said. “Since we try to cover as much as we do in a two-week cycle, most of the time the hard news stories just seem to outnumber the arts stories,” she said about striving to keep a balance between news, arts and opinion.

When choosing content for news and features, Vanderhooft looks for people doing things and relevant news about issues that may affect the community. “It’s about going to bars and finding those face-to-face conversations or knowing that people talk and stories get back to you,” Vanderhooft said. “Columnists are sometimes well-known or are interesting people who have cool ideas. And word of mouth is how we find people to write for the newspaper.”

Out of all the sections in QSaltLake, Vanderhooft enjoys writing the Gay Geek column the most because it blends two sides of her personality. “We are geeks, we like our toys, gadgets and ‘Star Wars,'” said Vanderhooft about the unique column she created in January 2007. She uses the column to publish fantasy stories and poems.

QSaltLake’s success is a result of societal values and the changing views of what being gay means in the 21st century. Vanderhooft believes the importance of LGBT issues in today’s world is the reason people are more respectful and accepting of the LGBT community.

Her goal is for QSaltLake to keep growing, being more diverse and inclusive, reaching out and “not closing themselves within the community.” Vanderhooft hopes to add more content relevant to transgender and bisexuals because she feels “there needs to be more coverage of these individuals who are ignored a lot of the time.”

She strives to seek columnists who are willing to cover topics pertaining to the LGBT community. “Don’t assume a writer is gay,” Vanderhooft said about reading LGBT newspapers. She believes anyone can write for a gay newspaper as long as they are educated and do their homework.

When interviewing members of the LGBT population, she advises future reporters to let people know you are comfortable with their sexual orientation, to be compassionate, read reactions and body language, to try to do the best you can and don’t look at it as us versus them. “It’s about tone,” Vanderhooft said.

Filed under: Arts, Entertainment, Culture, LGBTQ, Media, Profiles | Tagged: , | Leave a comment »

Eric Watson

Posted on November 23, 2008 by comm5775

MY STORIES:


ABOUT ME:

As a journalist seeking a degree in public relations at the University of Utah, I’m occasionally criticized by fellow news writers for “joining the dark side.”  But honestly, journalism was the springboard for my entire college career.

I started writing news for my high school newspaper, which later helped me earn a partial scholarship at Dixie State College. I began as a staff writer for the Dixie Sun campus newspaper, assigned to the business/technology beat, but I often wrote for news, sports, editorial and arts and entertainment. I was later made news editor.

I broke into public relations as an intern in the public relations office at DSC.

Since moving back to Salt Lake, I have began pursuing a public relations degree while working for a major city newspaper as a database coordinator.

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Amanda Chamberlain

Posted on November 23, 2008 by comm5775

MY STORIES:

 

MY BLOG:amanda-chamberlain

It never occurs to me to celebrate my heterosexuality, but for members of the University of Utah’s lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community, the LGBT Resource Center’s Pride Week at the University of Utah is something to prize.

My experience at this celebratory Pride Week involved few stereotypes. Yes, Pride Week gathered drag queen performers, Drag Dash contestants, and a sassy male fashion designer who wants to “offend people” with his lifestyle. But the week wasn’t about that. Everyone in attendance seemed to radiate a sense of belonging, which I doubt they feel very often in a world where being LGBT is still considered controversial to many. For the most part, they didn’t want to rub their orientation in anyone’s faces, but instead wanted a place where it was OK to be who they are, to the fullest.

I really enjoyed feeling that sense of community that, during Pride Week, gets a little bigger as more people learn to be tolerant and embrace their LGBT peers.  


ABOUT ME:

Journalism became my passion during a stint as cartoonist at Alta High School’s newspaper, The Hawkeye, in Sandy, Utah. Between sketching out zany caricatures and planning my next punchline, my advisor threw a few articles my way — and it wasn’t long until I was hooked. After graduation, I attended Salt Lake Community College and worked my way up from contributing writer to senior editor at the school newspaper, The Globe. I graduated from SLCC with an associate degree in communication and went on to the University of Utah, where I am now a senior. I’m getting ready to graduate [December 2007] with a bachelor’s in mass communication with an emphasis in electronic journalism, which I hope will help me excel in print, radio, television and Web journalism.

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Clayton Norlen

Posted on November 23, 2008 by comm5775

MY STORIES:

 

ABOUT ME:

“I write for the same reason I breathe — because if I didn’t, I would die.”                 

– Isaac Asimov

 

My name is Clayton Norlen, I am 20 years old and I want to be a journalist. I love to write, tell stories, talk to people and learn. Journalism just seems like the one lifestyle that fits me, stereotypes and all.

 

I have always wanted a job where every day could be new, where no day would ever be the same. I’ve always wanted a job that would allow me to delve into any topic and meet new people every day. For me journalism was love at first sight.

 

I am majoring in mass communication at the U with a minor in documentary studies. I’ve worked at the Daily Utah Chronicle since January 2006, were I started as an opinion columnist. Since June 2007, I’ve worked as full-time writer in the news section where my beat is the College of Humanities and the College of Social and Behavioral Science. Since October, I’ve also begun to moonlight as an occasional writer for the arts and entertainment section.

 

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Jennifer Morgan

Posted on November 23, 2008 by comm5775

MY STORIES:

 

MY BLOG:

When I first signed up for the class and received an e-mail from the professor about the semester-long focus, I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to objectively report because of my strong conservative views. After talking with Dr. Mangun I decided that I could do it and it would be a good experience because there might be future events that I might be assigned to cover that I might not agree with personally.

This class has sparked my interest in areas I hadn’t given much consideration to before and has been the catalyst for my gaining an internship at QSaltLake as a copy editor. It has also helped me appreciate the importance of covering minorities.

Except for being female, I’m privileged because I’m white, American, middle class and educated. I appreciate hearing different points of view that remind me of my “status.”

It was hard to pick which PRIDE Week events to go to at first, but in the end I wanted to hear the forum and the keynote speaker because I thought they would create the most dialogue during or afterwards.

I did many things to prepare and improve my skills during the semester. I attended a meeting of QSU and got to meet many members of the LGBT community who are my peers. I practiced note taking in the airport when CNN aired the press conference of Marion Jones announcing that she took drugs. I stood with my notepad and imagined that I was there. I’d like to get an old textbook in the near future that teaches shorthand so I can improve that skill.

I bought a digital voice recorder for Pride Week. I got the cheapest one I could find which was about $40. It turned out that I could play back the files but couldn’t download them to a computer. It turns out the communication department has cameras and recorders you can check out. Had I known that ahead of time I never would have made the purchase. The voice recorders are slated for radio student use so even though there was one available when a radio student expressed a need later I was asked to return it. With the help of my teacher Dr. Mangun and technical assistant Lee Zurligen I was able to transfer the files from my digital recorder to the school’s digital recorder.

Since we were writing for a Web site I did a lot of work to make it interactive. I copied my files (recordings, pictures) to a computer so they could be embedded online.

I feel like I’m a better person for having taken this class because it’s expanded my way of thinking. I’m reminded that one can’t make assumptions based on the way one looks and that people are more similar than they are different.

Being informed is the first line of defense against ignorance, hate and fear.

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Stephanie Ferrer-Carter

Posted on November 23, 2008 by comm5775

MY STORIES:

 

ABOUT ME:

As a student majoring in journalism, some make the mistake of assuming that all I know about reporting and stories has been taught to me in the classroom. My work on this site is yet another example of my efforts to prove that stereotype wrong. As I prepare to graduate from the University of Utah with a degree in journalism and a minor in Middle Eastern studies, I’m proud of the wide spectrum of stories I’ve had the opportunity to cover. From election riots on the streets of Cairo to discovering the LGBT community of Salt Lake City, each article exemplifies the aspects of journalistic excellence taught to me in the classroom, but more importantly, gained through experience.

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