Ten Pins Alley Strikes Out Cancer

By: Chris DeSantis

Test Shots

Photos by: Nicole Galonczyk

photos

Shots on shots on shots

Medium

Close up

Long Shot

Medium

By Joanna Sullivan

Test Photo Shoot

Medium Shot: Tabitha Yeakle struts it in the mist.

Profile: Joanna Sullivan grins while taking pictures for class.

Long Shot: Joanna captures long shots of her classmates.

Close-Up: Buds appear on trees signaling spring.

Taken By: Chris DeSantis

Alex's Pictures

A student relaxes on the stairs, tired on the first Monday after spring break.

A student laughs uncomfortably as her amateur photographer classmates snap away.

A lone bike chained up outside the journalism building.

This bike's gears may need a "de-leafing".... (I'm trying here)

A man takes in some tunes and a cigarette on a break from his classes outside the journalism building.

Grady Blunder Disadvantages Students

Journalism students struggle to independently meet industry standards. 

By Chris DeSantis

Like most students, Gina Borg, senior journalism student at Grady College, has a hard road ahead of her when she graduates this May. Unlike other students, however, her college education might be part of the problem, not the solution.

"I'm confident I’ll find a job somewhere, but it might not be the one I really want," Borg said.

In fact, including Borg, about 25 journalism students will be graduating this May less prepared than their peers.

Due to a disproportionate number of faculty to students, Kent Middleton, the head of the journalism department in Grady College, decided to waive the visual course usually required to graduate with a journalism degree.

“Because we had more students than we had seats in the visual required courses, we had to make a decision,” said journalism advisor Maria Cooper Adams. “Some of the seniors could graduate early, and we didn’t want to hold them back.”

According to Adams, the journalism department had been down one faculty member and was forced to hire a few adjunct faculty to pick up the slack, but that wasn’t enough to prevent exceptions from being made to get seniors out the door.

Dana Balch, a junior public relations student, was accepted into one of the visual classes a year in advance, but she recognizes that there were others who did not have that good fortune.

“It is a terrible decision,” said Balch. “I am shocked that this class isn't required for journalism majors, considering things are moving online these days."

To satisfy their visual requirement, Grady students are usually required to complete only one of four classes; options include photo journalism, graphic communications, new media production and digital media production.

These classes offer a wide variety of skill sets, such as experience in important software applications like InDesign, Photoshop, Adobe and competency in HTML and digital photography. Such skills are becoming increasingly more important in the journalism industry every year - a fact Borg is all too aware of as she prepares to venture out into the industry under-qualified.

“I will definitely be at a disadvantage,” Borg said. “One of the first things employers look to a lot of the time are your graphic skills. If another applicant has writing experience that is similar to mine but also has design knowledge, they will probably be chosen for employment over me.”

Like Borg, Mariah Weathersby is also graduating this spring with a degree in journalism, but her experience in graphic software applications is extensive for a student yet to venture full-time into the professional world. Unlike the typical student, however, Weathersby takes a do-it-yourself attitude toward education - an attitude which sets her resumé apart.

“I do think it was unfair to waive the visual requirement on Kent Middleton’s part,” Weathersby said. “It is vital in this day and age, but he doesn't owe anyone anything. People who take initiative will receive the benefits - guaranteed.”

Seniors to have their visual requirement waived the following semester were given the option to stay an extra semester and take the visual course or accept the waive and graduate on time or earlier.

“After we sent out the notification email, only two students seemed concerned vocally,” Adams said. “I don’t think Dr. Middleton would have waived the requirement if he had thought that in doing so he was sending students out unprepared.”

None of the other 25 students voiced their concerns to the department head, however that doesn’t mean they weren’t concerned as well.

“While I'm disappointed about not taking the class, I would've been more disappointed about putting my life on hold for another semester when all of my other requirements are already in order," Borg said. "The changes felt so last minute. I wonder why the school didn't foresee this enough to make a better plan."

Though the decision to make these curriculum changes was Grady’s, Weathersby believes that education should be more of an independent pursuit.

“Maybe instead of blaming the system, some independent responsibility should be placed here. So what if Grady waived the visual requirement. Take a class outside of Grady,” Weatherby suggested.

Future students have nothing to worry about at this point, according to Adams, because the department has hired a new permanent faculty member to begin in the fall as well as more adjunct faculty.

Currently, this situation appears to have been a one-time phenomenon in Grady history. However, students are wondering if taking one required visual class is even enough for journalism students these days.

“I definitely think familiarity with digital media gives me an edge over other Grady students,” Balch said. “It's the little things; I designed my own business card, and my personal website has my resume on it. I think it helps set me apart in the job market...Journalism majors aren't as much competition to me because my experiences sets me ahead of them anyway. But they are definitely at a disadvantage in their own fields.”

Increased Housing Prices

Housing Prices Increasing

By: Nicole Galonczyk

Bethany Humphrey is one of 4,970 freshmen students who will be moving out of her dorm and into a new house or apartment. Over the years, housing in Athens is slowly increasing, a problem that Humphrey is experiencing firsthand.

This year, many apartment complexes in prime locations are raising their rent prices due to a number of factors while other apartment complexes further from campus are keeping rent prices constant or slowly increasing them.

Humphrey, a freshman majoring in pre-journalism from Carrolton, Ga., feels the effects of the market as she searches for her first college apartment.

“My older sister is a junior and lives in Steeplechase and her apartment was $290 before utilities,” Humphrey said. “The one I was looking at downtown was $500 without utilities – that’s so much.”

The pre-journalism major currently resides in Russell Hall which costs $4,904 for the academic school year and around $545 per month. Comparing her rent in the dorms to the downtown apartment she was looking at without utilities, the cost of on-campus housing is about the same price as living in an apartment near downtown.

Russell Hall and the freshmen residence halls nearby on west campus are dorms where the cost of living is comparable to an apartment downtown. However, the residence halls on east campus are the most expensive for the freshmen and upperclassmen that live there. These dorms cost $7,796 for an academic year and summer, roughly around 11.5 months. Rent on this side of campus is $678 per month, exceeding the cost of rent at many apartment complexes and rental houses.

Realtor Melinda McCausland of Benny Payne Realty has been in the real estate business for 20 years and has watched different market trends in the Athens-Clarke county area. She says that housing prices are no longer decreasing, but are slowly increasing.

“There are still a lot of foreclosures on the market since people are more willing to give up investment properties rather than their homes,” McCausland said. “We still see a lot of condos in foreclosure [in Athens], but the market isn’t as down as it used to be.”

McCausland says that for some individuals it’s hard to receive financing in order to put money down on a rental property. She also says that apartment complexes struggle to obtain financing because properties must have 51 percent owner occupancy in order to be eligible.

“Lenders are tight on financing and are more worried about the housing market coming back than the market for condos,” McCausland said.

The realtor says that apartment complexes are simply raising rental prices “because they can” and since students must have housing, the prices aren’t stopping them or their parents from renting.

She attributes the increased rental costs to apartment complexes that are in popular locations such as downtown and locations within walking distance to campus.

McCausland has noted a trend in student housing and says that ever since the financial downturn more students are renting foreclosures because they’re cheaper and easier to rent.

Brandy Duckworth, property manager of Towneclub Condominiums located off of Milledge Avenue, credits increased rental prices to the market value of apartments in the area.

“Not every student can fork out a lot of money to spend on an apartment and we don’t increase prices every year, but when we have to we have reasons and have to keep up with the market value,” Duckworth said.

Duckworth said she receives calls from market researchers and building developers who plan to add more housing nearby.

Because the recently released market survey showed that Towneclub was actually one of the properties that was below market value, Duckworth said that Club properties had to increase its rent.

In a New York Times article from September 2012, Patrick Newport of IHS Global Insight, a private research firm, says that lower-priced homes and rentals are rising slightly faster in market value as opposed to homes in the middle and upper tiers.

Newport’s findings can be recognized in the local housing market, especially in popular locations.

The researcher found that a lower-priced home rose at an annual rate of 1 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis, while the upper tier homes increased only by .01 percent.

Long Range Planner for Athens-Clarke County Gavin Hassemer partly credits the price of gas and transportation for the rise of luxury apartments downtown, like the newly constructed Flats at Carrs Mill.

 “Even though downtown apartments are closer and more expensive than those on the outside of town, when you factor in gas mileage to get from downtown Athens to the perimeter versus being able to walk from downtown, it [housing prices] may actually balance itself out,” Hassemer said.

Apartment complexes further from campus have also increased slowly in their rental prices. The U Apartments, located past the Athens perimeter, has noted the market value of other locations nearby and adjusted its prices to match competitors.

Last year, a 4 bedroom apartment cost $395 and a 2 bedroom suite was $455. Now, the rent is $10 extra per month because of new appliances and amenities in the apartment community.

A leasing consultant with the apartment complex said that they've increased their rent in order to stay competitive with other apartments near the Athens perimeter. They've also increased their rent to make sure they're receiving the same price per square footage as other apartments.

The long range planner also attributes trends to being part of the increased housing prices. Hassemer said that 20 years ago there used to be more apartments downtown, but then “shinier, nicer ones popped up on the east and west side.” He believes that trend is gone, since now students want to be closer to downtown.

Hassemer said students can expect price increases at complexes near streets and locations that have access to transportation.

“Milledge is very popular because it has a bus route and sidewalks for good portions of the road,” he said. “It’s also a main thoroughfare that everyone knows due to its restaurants, office and medical locations.”

For older apartments, it’s going to take remodeling or some type of amenity that isn’t offered downtown. Hassemer said that older complexes should remodel or else they won’t be able to retain their renters and they’ll be forced to shut down.

"Students focus more on housing downtown because it's shinier and new. I don't blame them; I'd want to live downtown too."

Edited by: Taylor Knowles

Brandy Duckworth, leasing manager of Towneclub Condominiums attributes increased rental prices to the market value of other apartment complexes in Athens

Major Fall Success for AFC Leaves Little Time for Spring Showcase Planning

Seyi Amosu is an Athens Fashion Collective intern who
has helped with the past two showcases.

Athens Fashion Collective’s Spring Showcase will not be taking place this April; financial strain is not the reason, but rather a lack of planning time, says AFC’s co-founder and local business owner Sanni Baumgärtner.  

The Athens Fashion Collective was founded as a nonprofit in 2010 by fashion enthusiasts and friends Baumgärtner, Rachel Barnes and Maggie Benoit, with the intention to celebrate the artistic and cultural achievements of Athens’ citizens and students alike.

Each semester, AFC pulls together a runway show that manages to put the previous one to shame.  “The fact that the spring showcase is not happening has nothing to do with the economy,” says Baumgärtner, who also owns the vintage clothing store and sustainable fashion boutique Community in downtown Athens.  

AFC receives its funding for showcases solely from ticket sales.  Each member of AFC, including models, artists and performers are volunteers.  “So far, we have always put on the show without any money, and this time we actually have a very small budget from our successful fall fashion show at the Georgia Theatre,” Baumgärtner said.

The Fall Showcase gained great publicity, including an article in Flagpole and the Georgia Theatre was packed the night of the event. However, it may have been the most exhausting event AFC has faced so far.

“All in all, I think that everyone on the team is still pretty burned out from our last event which turned out to be a huge success,” said Seyi Amosu, a second-year psychology major and AFC intern who has worked on the past two AFC shows. “I think the consensus is just that we will start planning now for the upcoming fall show,” where AFC hopes to educate people on the impact of the clothing industry on the environment, according to Amosu.

“I’m bummed there won’t be a spring AFC Showcase,” said Alley Parsons, whose fall collection was presented at the Fall Showcase.  Parsons will still be doing a spring collection with several other local designers at Community. “I think it will be a good time to focus...and it will be a wonderful creative process.”

Many people are drawn to Athens for its vibrant art and music scenes, and “AFC exists to give fashion a foothold in Athens” alongside other art forms, “not necessarily to gain a profit,” Amosu said.

The AFC exemplifies how important the sense of community is in Athens, according to Gina Yu, a third-year journalism student who has attended several showcases.

“It’s a collaboration between people who are able to convey their passions through the medium of fashion.  I think it’s so cool and beautiful,” Yu said.

Athens Fashion Collective is unique in that it focuses on sustainable fashion, most notably Baumgärtner’s own line Community Service that showcases redesigned vintage apparel.

“It sends the message that people not only care about their fashion, but that they care how their clothing choices are impacting the environment,” Amosu said.

The Athens Fashion Collective is only in its third year, meaning there are still plenty of things the Athens community can do to help out.

“I think that the Athens community is definitely supportive of AFC, but that more support could come from the community choosing to buy local and handmade goods from artists, musicians and business-owners that contribute to making our events great,” Amosu said.  

For more information on Athens Fashion Collective, visit their Facebook page

Media Graphics Tell a New Story: big ideas in bite-sized moments.

Dr. Barry Hollander, a professor at Grady College, expounds on his observations about the future of journalism and the power of storytelling through a multi-media story form. Photo by Joanna Sullivan

By Joanna Sullivan
Athens, Ga.-

Journalists have long used strategic maneuvers to engage their readers. Until recent years, a journalist primarily uses words to convey emotion, engage the senses, and create a sense of pacing that united the power of fiction with real life story telling.

However, modern journalists are putting this slew of tools and techniques in another format. Digital sagas like the New York Times’ five chapter “Snow Fall: The Avalanche at Funnel Creek” show that a story’s power can be enhanced and contextualized with interactive visuals. The question is how will journalists use this transition to better inform and connect with their audiences?

Dr. Barry Hollander, professor of journalism at Grady College, believes that the answer is in using these expanded options wisely.

“We know now how little patience people have for consuming a multi-media story,” Hollander said. “The Avalanche is probably a rare exception. The New York Times poured so many resources into it and it’s a remarkable story, but really the magic number for most multi-media stories is three to four minutes.”

Living in a world that appreciates brevity, Hollander explained that it is imperative for the journalist to think in dense, bite-sized, yet entertaining multimedia news pieces.

“The challenge is to get across as much information as you can in a short time period without driving readers crazy with an information dump,” Hollander said.

To clean up the dump, contemporary media professionals look to data visualization as a speedier, more digetible alternative to traditional storytelling.

Otherwise wordy, number-centric articles suddenly become pop-up books of information with the right graphic. Media professionals like Grady College's Dr. Welch Suggs use data graphics to smooth out the kinks and avoid information overload.

“Data visuals tell a really powerful story that you just can’t tell in words,” Suggs said. “It’s told in seconds while written stories are told in minutes.”

Suggs explained that such visuals give the audience a clearer sense of a larger story at play.

“It’s just so much easier to tell a story when you understand the numbers and to be able to explain the relationship between one variable and another” Suggs said.

Data graphics do not necessarily tell a qualitative story the same way that words can, instead they act as a supplement to traditional stories.

“No matter how much I dress up the data it isn’t really storytelling,” Hollander said. “It is a component to telling a story, but the key is there are now lots of ways to tell stories and a lot of facets to telling those stories.”

How effective this new integration of multi-media technology and data visuals in a world of storytelling dominated by text will be remains unclear.

 “A certain scrambling occurs when a media ecology is first being developed,” said Dr. Richard Menke, Media Theory professor within UGA's Franklin. “We can see that the novel, the radio, and the television tried to establish themselves as their own medium and eventually they settle into particular tropes that solidify the medium.”

Despite the comfort offered in telling stories through new media, there are always skeptics.

“Most of my English students are in the department because they are bound to their relationship with the book,” Menke said, “But the purpose of my classes on media are to step outside of that and see that stories have a way of traveling throughout history from one medium to another, and that is not necessarily bad.”

Similarly, this transition from long-form storytelling to entertaining information bites is a downgrade rather than just a change, according to some journalists.

Dr. Leara Rhodes, a journalism professor in Grady College, proposes that information should not have to be sugar-coated to be consumable.

“Why does every piece have to be a form of entertainment? ” Rhodes said.

Even if it is difficult or long or dense, Rhodes believes there should still be a drive for consuming information.

Others, such as Hollander, have no qualms with the transition of forms and believe that entertainment plays a significant role in information consumption.

“I understand where Dr. Rhodes is coming from,” Hollander said. “We are a country that loves to amuse ourselves to death, but John Stewart and Stephen Colbert have proven that the idea that you can’t have news and entertainment at the same time is foolish. It is a terrific purist approach that will lead you to having no audience.”

He believes that entertainment can attract the more hesitant audience to get excited about the news and the world around them.

“We have to remember that there is an audience that doesn’t want to spend a lot of time reading,” Hollander said. “Multi-media storytelling is in some way the gateway drug."

-edited by Chris DeSantis

Jobs Slowly Increase for Grady Grads

Taylor Knowles 

Lindsey Derrick graduated from University of Georgia’s Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication in 2011 in hopes of becoming a sports reporter. Two years later, she is still trying to find the perfect job to jumpstart her career.

The journalism industry took a massive hit along with most of the job market in 2007, but recent studies show that graduates leaving college are becoming more successful in finding work.

Each year surveys are sent out to graduates who are asked to disclose their employment status. Questions may include whether or not the graduate is employed, if the job is full-time or part-time, how much it pays or if their job correlates to their field of study. Findings from the Annual Survey of Journalism and Mass Communication Graduates, from the James M. Cox Jr. Center for International Mass Communication Training and Research were released on Aug. 9, 2012.

Director of the Cox Center, Dr. Lee B. Becker, associate director, Dr. Tudor Vlad and graduate research assistant, Konrad Kalpen reported that from 2010 to 2011, bachelor’s degree recipient’s full-time employment status was up from 58.2 percent to 62.2 percent. Research also showed that there was a slight increase in the salary compared to the year before. This change doesn’t seem like a large increase, but researchers are confident that this number will continue to rise.

Despite the research, some students are still struggling to find full-time, high-paying jobs. Derrick says the full-time job search has been anything but easy. 

Derrick said that she was fortunate enough to have a job waiting for her after graduation and has had three jobs since graduating. Initially, she was employed as a freelance sports writer and is currently a public relations contract writer for Dalton Public Schools.

“Both of these are part-time, and I'm finding it difficult to find that big job- the one with the big magazine or company. It's just really difficult and discouraging sometimes.”

Job experience is one of the factors Derrick believes is holding her back from getting the paid position she wants.

“I'm seeing the same things with job requirements- they want someone with a master’s or someone with years of experience or both. It's really frustrating sometimes because I just feel like recent college grads aren't getting an opportunity to get job experience.”

Graduates need experience, but some employers don’t pay their interns, making the hunt for that perfect job even harder.

Dr. Leara Rhodes, associate professor of journalism at the University of Georgia, agrees that some businesses are taking advantage of the job market. However, Rhodes says this shouldn’t deter students from getting the experience they need.

Rhodes advises her students to become familiar with working on different types of platforms.

“Find one or two things that you can really be good at, but introduce yourself to everything else to kind of get familiar,” Rhodes said.

Cecil Bentley, director of Grady College External Relations, says unpaid internships for college grads are nothing new. Many students recognize Bentley by his job and internship listserv emails that are sent nearly every week to help students gain the work experience they need to be competitive in the job market.

“A lot of internships are unpaid,” Bentley said, “but the key things you want to make sure in there is that you are getting professional experience- you are working with someone who can be a mentor or supervisor.”

Cecil Bentley, director of Grady College External Relations

Kayla Allen, a senior double majoring in English and publication management graduating in May, says she will begin her job search in March. Like many other students, Allen plans to use the Career Center to begin her job search.

“I definitely am going to check out Dawglink and the Grady Career Fair,” Allen said. “There are a lot of opportunities through UGA as a school that can lead to jobs or interesting ventures after graduation.”

Don’t know where to start in the job search? The Career Center has plenty of resources. Career Consultants can help edit resumes and cover letters, go over job search strategies and conduct mock interviews so the real thing doesn’t seem as scary.

Many students use the University’s resources to find jobs. Keith Roper graduated in December of 2012 and has already signed a contract to begin working as an evaluation analyst. He found the job listing on Dawglink, but says the key to finding the job was networking.

“Take every opportunity while you’re still in school to go to networking events,” Roper said.

With the University resources to help students find jobs and the slight increase in employment, it’s important to stay active in the job search and consider every option that becomes available.

“I think if a student is flexible and determined and focused, they will find a job,” Rhodes said. “I think the landscape is open for those types of people.”

Edited by: Nicole Galonczyk

Importance of Grad School

Students Who View Graduate School as “Last Resort” Advised to “Just Skip It”

“Don’t waste the best years of your life,” undergraduate professor says.

By Alexandra Watt

February 11, 2013

Katherine Gilbert, fast approaching graduation, is on the third version of her resume.

“I’m scared I won’t get a job,” said Gilbert, a media arts senior at the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication. “It’s like a war zone out there.”

Gilbert, whose impending graduation is in May, is looking to intern with publication houses in New York and Los Angeles, but fears that her “thin” resume isn’t enough.

            Though the New York Times reports that enrollment in secondary programs has declined by 1.7 percent in recent years, the interest in graduate school has yet to disappear. When facing the “real world” post-graduation, many people view their options like the Life board game: either hop in your car and cruise down the career path, or go on to higher and higher education – also known in today’s world as graduate school.

            “I’ve always felt it’s something you should do after college,” Gilbert said. “Like something that will help you get a job, or when you can’t find a job, you should just go to school.”

Professor Mark Cooney has burning answers for students' worried questions about whether or not to attend graduate school.

            Cooney has many degrees under his belt, ranging from his undergraduate law studies at the University of Dublin to graduate programs at Harvard and the University of Virginia. Though academic life is great for some people, Cooney cautions against students viewing graduate school as merely a place to “bide time” before the “real world.”

            “Don’t waste your time,” Cooney said.

Michael Fantaci, a Grady graduate from New Orleans agreed.

            “It isn’t worth it if you aren’t invested,” said Fantaci, who enrolled in a master’s program at the University of Georgia but after a year, decided to pursue law at Louisiana State University instead. “You get out what you put in and if you aren’t invested in it, then, frankly, the juice isn’t worth the squeeze.”

            But what about those students who believe they need another line on their resume, some more vitality on their curriculum vitae?

            “I thought ‘Isn’t [another degree]what employers are looking for?’ More experience?’” said Robert Horne, who graduated in the fall with a bachelor’s degree in journalism and is sharing a room with his 15-year-old sister in his parents’ home in eastern North Carolina.  Horne has applied to many graduate schools hoping to study business, upon the realization that “I won’t get anywhere with what I have now.”

            “What people are looking for now is dedication, experience, not necessarily some…degree that you don’t care about,” Fantaci said. 

            So what are the little lost generation of boys and girls spilling out of undergraduate school with no direction to do?

            “Consider a master’s degree, perhaps, if you are interested,” Cooney says, who said his time in graduate school piqued his passion for his current field of work as a sociologist. “It’s only two years, it’s not sacrificing what are to be some of the best years of your life. Plus, less expenses overall[."

Edited by Anne Rutledge

UGA Grad School Website

New York Times on Dropping Enrollment Rates