Newspaper staff continues winning tradition, legacy

Skillful news writing, photography and page design helped continue The Advocate’s legacy as the staff won a total of 35 awards at the Journalism Association of Community Colleges (JACC) Nor Cal Conference.

The conference, which was held at Cal State-Sacramento on Sept. 22, gives student journalists an opportunity to attend workshops and compete with other students in on-the-spot competitions.

This year, the Advocate staff competed in on-the-spot News Story, News Photo, Opinion Story, Editorial Cartoon and Copy Editing contests.

Schools also brought in content from the previous year to compete in mail-in competitions.

Advocate members earned honorable mentions and placed 1st through 4th in three of the five on-the-spot competitions, as well as dominating the mail-in categories.

JACC conferences challenge staff members and provide bonding opportunities.

“I go to have fun, win a bunch of awards, act like a fool and get to know my staff,” editor-in-chief Rodney Woodson said. “It brings a lightness to the newsroom when we get back.”

Woodson won two awards from the mail-in competitions, first place in the sports writing category and third place for the online photo essay category.

This NorCal Conference was the first for news editor Cheyenne Gallon.  
Gallon, who joined the newspaper staff in Spring 2012, competed in the on-the-spot copy editing contest and won fourth place in that category.

“I like the idea of going on a trip together and experiencing the camaraderie,” she said.

“The highlight of my trip was hanging in the game room playing pool. We all just ventured in and everything fell into place.”

Alongside the bonding each staff member experienced, the competition highlighted the hard work the publication aims for.

Journalism department Chairperson Paul DeBolt has been overlooking the school newspaper for more than 30 years.

He said the newspaper has consistently won awards over the last 25 years.

“I know students here are dedicated and work extremely hard to put out a great publication,” DeBolt said.

Staff illustrator Joel Ode, who placed second and third in the conferences he attended before, won first place in the on-the-spot editorial cartoon category this time around.

His task was to draw a cartoon based on information given at a presentation on Proposition 30, and clearly portray  his opinion through the drawing.

Ode said he was excited to compete, due to his consistency and the small amount of competitors this year.

Scene editor Faythe Del Rosario said, “It was a hard concept to do and I’m proud Joel won first place.”

Del Rosario also won some awards, placing second and fourth in the mail-in illustration category and fourth in the on-the-spot opinion writing competition, respectively.

Other winners who contributed to the stack of awards were — George Morin, Marci Suela, Jared Amdahl and last semester’s editors Sam Attal, Adam Oliver, Brett Abel and Alexandra Waite.