On the Write Track
Breaking into the top ranks of college journalism, the Santa Ana College newspaper and magazine have won enough awards through the years to overflow the trophy case.
This month, the el Don weekly newspaper, West 17th Magazine and the chair of the journalism department took top honors during the Associated Collegiate Press’ national awards ceremony in Chicago.
Competing against college powerhouse publications, including those of four-year universities such as the University of Missouri, West 17th Magazine won the Best of Show award, which focuses on layout and design but includes editorial content.
The color drawing on the cover of the award-winning issue, “Slurpy Head,” shows a grinning, and drooling, young man with a crown on his head outside a 7-Eleven. Inside the magazine, articles range from social commentary about the underprivileged in Tijuana to the danger of diet pills.
This is how magazine Editor Chris Ceballos described the issue in his “editor’s view” column:
“There are stories of courage and addiction, both of which can be emotional and physical. But don’t be intimidated, there are lighter articles about enjoying the outdoors, having a baby in your own home, celebrity obsession and where to go for a good lunch.”
El Don also won Best of Show last weekend, competing against 15 other newspapers from other two-year colleges, said Annie Christman of the Associated Collegiate Press.
West 17th and el Don also took home Pacemaker Awards, which focus on editorial content.
“That is uncommon,” said Christman. Santa Ana College publications “have been winning things for quite a while. Someone knows what they’re doing.”
Charles “Bud” Little, who himself won an award this year as a “distinguished” advisor at a two-year college, has been the journalism department chair for 11 years. Little, 39, said he would hope his award reflects “academic excellence over a long period of time.”
Candidates for the College Media Advisors award are nominated by students, said CMA past president Jan Childress, and those gathered in the Santa Ana College newsroom this week were quick to praise Little for setting high standards.
“The professor expects so much,” said el Don Features Editor Veronica Peterson, 20. “It’s like you personally let him down” if you don’t meet expectations.
El Don and West 17th--Santa Ana College’s street address--regularly take on issues outside the campus, covering President Clinton’s visit to Orange County last year and the controversy of Proposition 209, the California Civil Rights Initiative.
Ellen Hawley, a Minnesota-based magazine editor who judged the Pacemaker magazine competition, said she was struck by how West 17th looked beyond the college campus for story ideas.
The magazine “was going out into the world and exploring it rather than staying within the safe bounds of a college magazine,” she said.
The Santa Ana College newsroom is a single classroom on the second floor of the Fine Arts building. The newspaper and tabloid-style magazine are printed at a local newspaper press.
The combined budget for the newspaper and magazine is about $30,000 a year, Little said. And while $40,000 was invested in new computers last year, the printing budget of $18,000 has remained unchanged since 1971.
Last week, the newsroom hummed to the sounds of rock music, while the cub journalists danced and sang. The writers and editors managed to work intently on the stories on their computer screens.
“The people who are here are passionate,” said Peterson. “The people who are not, leave.”
