Northwestern State University - Potpourri Yearbook (Natchitoches, LA)

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First Hand Experience Journalism has been good to me, be- gan Grits Gresham, longtime Natchi- toches resident and outdoorsman. It ' s opened up a world for me. It ' s a fulfilling career that offers jobs in different direc- tions, but it ' s no rose garden — it ' s a tough world out there. That ' s the message that over 100 high school students from around the state heard at Northwestern while attending Journalism Day in March. Writing is a lonely field, but the re- wards are great, the keynote speaker, who has risen to fame with his Miller LITE commercials, continued. In writing there ' s no such thing as failures, there ' s only successes. We learn from all our un- successful attempts. Tom Whitehead, journalism coordinator at Northwestern, demonstrates different layout styles for newspapers and magazines. .» Journalism Day is an effort to bring working profes- sionals together with high schools students who are interested in jour- nalism careers . . . and it gives our own Northwestern students an oppor- tunity to meet and visit with journal- ism professionals. Tom Whitehead, journalism coor- dinator Ron DeFatta, advertising manager for Southwestern Electric Power Company, lectures a group on public relations. 20 Journalism Dav

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Our students are as good as you ' ll find any- where, he continued. I like the fact that stu- dents are very grateful for the help they re- ceive. The variety of the college is evidenced by the vast areas of study which fall under Dean Gra- ham. I think that students should take a breadth of courses. Some get narrowly specific too soon, he said. One of the main ideas behind the emphasis of personal touch involves the advising of stu- dents. We are setting up to get more active involve- ment in advising, he said. And I would advise students to make full use of office hours. Dr. Graham exhibits the variety that his col- lege offers. His interests range from chemistry and laboratory experiments to music. I ' ve always been interested in science, Dr. Graham said. Chemistry to me has always seemed the central science. The dean can be seen frequently in Fournet Hall conducting experiments and doing his own laboratory work. His interest in the arts is expressed through the music of the euphonium, an instrument which he played many years ago, and has re- cently taken up again. We may never be a large institution, Dr. Graham concluded. But we can certainly be an outstanding small institution. To provide a personal touch; that should be our goal. Mr. Richard Jennings, head of the Music Department, plays the french horn to Dean Graham ' s euphonium. Our students are as good as you ' ll find any- where. Dr. Edward Graham, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences t. Graham consults with Dr. James Bartholomew, head of the Department of Language rts. Dean Kdward Graham 19

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left: Local attorney John G. Williams speaks to students about the role of law in mass communications. In addition to Gresham ' s comments on the jour- nalism world, students attending Journalism Day were lectured on the subject of law and its impor- tance in communications. Natchitoches attorney John G. Williams highlighted for the audience im- portant areas to remember about law and the media. John Jones, yearbook representative from North- east Louisiana University, gave an informative dem- onstration on convenience of using computers for yearbook work. Ron DeFatta, advertising manager for Southwest- ern Electric Power Company, handled a session on public relations and Nolan Bailey, assistant profes- sor of photography, enlightened students on photog- raphy and its place in journalism. Mike Staggs of KSLA-TV and George Cook of KNOC were on hand for students interested in broadcasting. Representatives from the newspaper industry were Nelder Dawson, editor of the Alexandria Daily Town Talk, Betty Bigner, an assistant entertainment edi- tor of the Shreveport Journal, and Don Walker, head of the Natchitoches bureau of the Shreveport Times. Some of the most important things to develop, said Dawson, are a sense of fairness, objectivity and truthfulness. Journalism Day was successful in bringing high school students together with professional journal- ists and allowing them to benefit from their first hand experience. above left: Don Walker, Nelder Dawson, and Betty Bigner share with the group important areas to remember in the newspaper world. ' Jl M above; Grits Gresham, outdoorsman and longtime Natchitoches resident tells the audience of his good experiences in journalism. left: Nolan Bailey explains how photography and journalism are related. •Journalism l)av 21