Autumn 2003 Student News

11.14.03

Washington Community College Journalism Conference, November 1, 2003

In the summer of 2003, the student chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) decided to put on a journalism conference. The result: the Washington Community College Journalism Conference sponsored by The Daily and featuring an impressive list of professional journalists talking about interviewing, editorial writing, feature writing, newspaper design, photography, stories on campus, and covering President Bush.

The guest speakers, including two Communication alumni, were:

Eric Nalder: ('68), investigative reporter, The San Jose Mercury News
Mark Trahant, editorial page editor, The Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Celeste Bernard, designer, The Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Inara Verzemnieks: ('96), features writer, The Oregonian
Craig Sailor, photo editor, The News Tribune
Randy Trick and Dylan Lee Lehrke, current and former editor-in-chiefs of The Daily
David Sanger, White House correspondent, The New York Times

Jimmy So

Jimmy So took a leave of absence from his UW Department of Communication studies to work for Asia TV, one of two television networks in Hong Kong. Each network has a Chinese station and an English one and Jimmy says his loyalty "will go to the Britons." He will train as an on-air reporter and late-night anchor, and promises "if I don't get terminated within the first three months I can then call myself gainfully employed."

Although technically Jimmy is a student on temporary leave, it looks as if his exciting new assignment may keep him away from campus for a while. He has this to say about his time at the UW:

In High School I thought journalism was about writing diaries. I think I declared myself a Communications major in 1999, and began The Long March at The Daily in spring. I just needed money and thought that talking to different people would be fun, and I could "diversify." That, although not a class, made on me not only a great impression but a great oppression. I found myself taking assignments for them days before I left. David Domke's CMU 200 was my first Communications course, and before then I had never read the New York Times or heard of the Prairie Home Companion. I was fascinated with deconstructing TV ads after that class. I admire Don Pember and Philip Thurtle, who are no longer in the department, and Roger Simpson and T.Y. Lau, who are still; Kevin Kawamoto and Meg Spratt are also wonderful and very encouraging. I miss Thurtle the most - he is more than a great professor, but a confidante and great friend, and I think he will prove to be the greatest intellectual I'll know in my life. Roger paid me until I went to Hong Kong, but besides being the bread- and butter-man, he's also the ... jam. And T.Y. single-handedly got me the job. I said to him: "Can you get me a job in Hong Kong?" and he said: "I'll take care of it." He always does. So when his friend Michael Chugani at ATV said he needed somebody to replace a reporter who left, T.Y. said a bunch of great things about me; he didn't lie per se, but I think he has an optimistic view of me. We are comrades-in-arms, after all, fellow citizens of our common birthplace. That's Hong Kong. In China. It's in Asia.