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Meet the Spring 2012 Editorial Board

Genna Ord	Sarah Schneider	Tara Kulash
Editor-in-Chief	Managing Editor	Campus Editor
[email protected]	[email protected]	[email protected]
I’ve been at the Daily Egyptian for eight semesters now — long enough to have witnessed more than a handful of changes. During the shifting of leadership and design, I covered news, features and sports as both a reporter and, more recently, a photographer. The joint experience has taught me more than discipline could alone. Now that I’m facing graduation in May, I don’t think there’s anything that could have given me as much experience or taught me as much about myself and the news industry than working four years at this paper. This semester, I felt like I had no option but to give back. It’s my hope to teach newer reporters and photographers what I’ve had the chance to learn, and as Editor-in-Chief I want to help the paper continue to be successful in a changing industry. It is you, dear readers, who are the most important part of this process. Everything we do here is with the purpose of informing and entertaining you. I hope we meet and exceed your expectations. Whether we do or, as will sometimes happen, don’t, please don’t hesitate to share your thoughts, opinions and letters to the editor with me at [email protected]	After a year as a campus reporter and quite a hectic semester as the campus editor, I decided to take a shot at managing editor. Last semester I covered everything from deer hunting season, a 2,000 student disturbance outside Brush Towers, the state budget crisis’ effect on the university and the university’s first-ever faculty strike. I learned so much from last semester about journalism and I now have a better idea of what I want to do in this field. I also learned it takes about six cups of coffee to keep me awake each day while covering a strike. I am from Arcola, a small town where breaking news is hard to come by and common stories in the papers document the lives of everyday people. My goal for the DE is for the reporters and photographers to tell local individuals’ stories and tell stories that relate to students, since they are the majority of our readership.	I’m a junior from Edwardsville with a double major in journalism and creative writing. I joined the DE only last summer, but my passion for writing and editing were so evident, I was quickly promoted to city editor. I followed the City Council meetings as well as the vote to allow liquor sales in grocery stores before being moved to the campus desk to report on the faculty strike. It was at this time I realized a university can be just as newsworthy, full of politics and fun to write about as a city. As campus editor this semester, I hope to answer questions about the campus community, such as who will replace David Carlson as the dean of Morris Library? And how does the chancellor plan to face this year’s budget issues? We’re all a part of this university, and we deserve to be in the know.

Lauren Leone	Eli Mileur	Leah Stover
Voices Editor	Pulse Editor	Sports Editor
[email protected]	[email protected]	[email protected]
It wasn’t an error-free resume that earned me a position here back in 2010. Looking back on it all, I just happened to be in the same room on the same floor of the same hotel celebrating St. Patrick’s Day in Chicago – a city of nearly 3 million – when I met my future boss. We exchanged numbers and that was that. I’m not saying I wasn’t qualified for the job. I just don’t think I’d be here if I hadn’t called her  the very next day to find out when I should start working. And that’s how we, as journalists, have to approach this job: with the belief that it’s not only timing and luck that make great stories. You have to actively seek out whatever it is you want. And you have to be determined and passionate to work in this field because it’s definitely not about the paycheck. I’ve worked everything from campus editor to design chief to photojournalist. Now, as the voices editor in my seventh semester, I hope to bring readers a unique perspective on local and national issues.	When I came to the DE a year ago as a copy editor, I had no plans of becoming a reporter. A few months and a lot of proofreading marks later, I found myself in the office of a Campus Habitat building, notebook in one hand and the building manager threatening to call the cops on me over a cell phone in the other. This isn’t to make it sound like I’ve been channeling Bob Woodward for the last two semesters (I definitely haven’t), but it’s the occasional scene like that which makes all the poring over City Council agendas and seemingly endless phone calls to “media relations officers” worth it. For my last semester here I’ll be editing the Pulse section of the paper. I hope to shine a bright light on the community’s arts and entertainment community in the pages of the paper and develop a distinct critical voice for online.	If someone would’ve told me a year ago that I would eventually become the sports editor, I would’ve thought they were joking. But after two semesters as editor-in-chief, my interest in athletics grew and my opinions changed. Let’s just say, as a Carbondale native and eager journalist, I’m excited to bring back an excellent sports section. This semester, our desk will work toward providing students with more insight into our university’s athletes while continuing to cover their performance. For anyone who has ideas of what they may like to see in the sports section, don’t hesitate to shoot me an email!

Brendan Smith	Steve Matzker	Lynnette Oostmeyer
News Editor	Photo Editor	Assistant Photo Editor
[email protected]	[email protected]	[email protected]
This is my fourth semester at the Daily Egyptian and my first time working on the design desk. As a transfer student, Carbondale was a very different place for me. The DE allowed me to instantly become a part of the community. During my last three semesters as a reporter, I’ve seen a lot of papers, a lot of designs and it’s given me the chance to think about various layout ideas. Our staff has spent a lot of time on the paper’s redesign and we’re happy with the finished product. The DE should always reflect its readers and we hope to have captured a more modern spirit with our new design.	You guessed it.  My job is to edit photos, which means looking through the photographers images and hopefully picking the strongest one that best relates to the story or can stand alone as a feature.  I hope it’s one the photographer agrees on, because there’s nothing more terrifying than an angry, offended photog.  As for me, I’m still new at this game and have a lot to learn.  But a wise man once told me every photojournalist must spend time in the trenches as an editor to give back to the craft.  I suppose this is my time.  I’m from Barnhart, Mo., did some things, speak Spanish at a second-grade level and I like trees.  That’s pretty neat.	My time here at SIU has been drastically different than what I came in believing it would be. I started as a zoology major, but after a few days in Phil Greer’s basic photojournalism class it all changed. I was thoroughly convinced photojournalism was the lifestyle for me and, shortly after, was hired on as a staff photographer at the Daily Egyptian. Starting a new semester here as assistant photo editor is intense in every way possible. The people I work with have truly become my family. I wouldn’t trade the stresses of this job for anything in the world.