The world’s oldest mass media, newspaper, working with the newest mass media, the internet

By Sam Richardson

CJ 273, Newspaper Practice

We live in The Age of Convergence where newspaper, TV, radio, music, movies, magazines and books can all be found on the internet. However, newspaper, the world’s oldest mass media, continues to be an original source of news, entertainment and information. And surveys show that the greatest percentage of information found on the internet comes from newspapers.

In Communication and Journalism 273, Newspaper Practice, we will put out a campus newspaper. The course is designed for students who are interested in learning the concepts of journalism and how to apply them in writing for print. Students will revisit some of the concepts of grammar and usage they’ve studied in English courses and will continue to work on developing good writing and editing skills which will be demonstrated in portfolio presentation. Students will demonstrate good judgment about what makes a news story and learn how to go about gathering and evaluating information. Students will master the techniques of interviewing. They will demonstrate the results of their interviews in the articles they write that will include quotes from their subjects and attribution of sources their subjects cite.

Students will attend a seminar at the UNM/Taos library on how to use search engines and websites available through the UNM system. Students will gain technical competency in using the tools required to operate in today’s media environment which will involve being able demonstrate the use of a word processing program and an e-mail program. And they will learn to recognize the great diversity of New Mexico’s many cultures and analyze how they affect media perspective.

Students completing the A.A. degree program in Communications and Journalism will be able to transfer into communications and journalism programs at UNM main campus or comparable four-year institutions and complete their B. A. program with a major or minor in the fields of communications and journalism.

For more information call the instructor Sam Richardson at 758-9539 or the Academy Head Bob Arellano at 737-6257.

HOWL Your Creative Voice!

Enter the world of writer, editor, and publisher this fall in HOWL: the Voice of UNM-Taos!

Learn how to meld creative writing to graphic design in pursuit of a publication. Check out last year's Howl magazine to see just how cool it can be. If you are interested in photography, writing, computer arts - sign up for this course:

English 298 (CRN# 35375), Contemporary Literary Production: Howl. Mondays from Noon to 2:30 pm.

If you have any questions please contact Robin Powlesland, bubinski24@yahoo.com.

Discover Chicano/a Lit this fall!

"... one Chicano song... gives me the song of blue corn and Rio Grande water and pinto beans and green chile…

-- New Mexico poet Jimmy Santiago Baca

Announcing the first section of “Chicano/Chicana Literature” ever offered at UNM-Taos! Together we’ll read and discuss stories, poetry, essay, and drama by modern masters from both sides of the Mexican-U.S. border like Rudolfo Anaya, Sandra Cisneros, and Octavio Paz. (Textbook contains English translations of all Spanish readings.) Join us at Klauer campus on Wednesdays at noon beginning August 26. (Sign-up for ENGL 265, CRN#35372 by August 18.) Questions? Contact the instructor direct at UNM-Taos: Bob Arellano, 737-6257.

The Big Squeeze

THE BAD NEWS

The State of New Mexico is low on revenue, and that affects higher education because in trying to balance the budget, the state must look for ways to cut costs. At present it appears that revenues for the 2009-2010 fiscal year are going to be between 150 million and 250 million lower than projected, primarily because the price of oil and gas has dropped. That shortfall is relatively small compared to other states such as Arizona and California, where they have already begun laying off tenured faculty, instituting mandatory unpaid furloughs and setting enrollment caps. But it is still a lot of money to come up with.

According to UNM-Taos Executive Director Dr. Kate O’Neill, the local fallout from this predicament is already taking its toll: “The tuition that students pay does not fully cover our costs, so the state matches those dollars according to a formula based on credit hours and head count each semester. But this past year the state was forced to cut the UNM-Taos budget by eight percent. That translates as $322,000 from the I. and G. (Instructional and General) fund, also called formula dollars.”

THE REALLY BAD NEWS

The irony is that even as resources are dwindling, the need for academic and technical training has never been greater. A recent Time Magazine report named community colleges as “…one of the best tools the U.S. has to dig itself out of the current economic hole,” because they “educate nearly half of U.S. undergraduates….These institutions are our nation’s trade schools…”

“We really are the lifeline for the community, O’Neill maintained. “When people get laid off or their particular business sector is not performing well, they look for opportunities to retool, get new skills. That’s where we step in with workforce training, certificates, degrees and lifelong learning.”

To put pressure on higher education at a time of great need in order to reduce deep deficits is somewhat like the dilemma of a subsistence agricultural community being forced to eat their stores of seed corn to survive. The immediate problem might be solved, but where will the next harvest come from?

Just this past week it was announced that there will be another five percent recession—money deducted from the present operating budget—on top of the eight percent already withdrawn.

FINALLY, SOME GOOD NEWS

“We’re pulling rabbits out of a hat here,” O’Neill explained, “trying to produce extraordinary results with very minimal resources. But we are holding steady at $57 per credit hour, and word is getting out that people are getting more value for their dollar here at home. We might have to be more attentive to minimum numbers of students per class, but we have no cap on enrollment. Students will not be turned away. Construction plans will continue unchanged, but we do have a hold on new hires and salary increases.”

These tough times call for more collaboration on the local level, and stimulus money is already beginning to help, O’Neill maintains. Furthermore, according to a recent article in USA Today, President Obama is rolling out a 12 billion dollar program that will put community colleges at the top of his economic recovery priorities. “Among his goals: to modernize community college facilities, to increase the quality of online courses and to ensure that more students complete their programs.”

“Just so people understand,” O’Neill said, “we place a great deal of emphasis on keeping the faculty and staff we have, despite the fact that we might have to conserve or cut back in other areas. We have a balance of priorities in keeping people first: students, faculty and staff.

“At a time when people are struggling, community colleges are the single premiere institution available in northern New Mexico to reach out a hand and help people get back on their feet. And when we do that, we help the whole economy get back on its feet.”