CCS Men's Cross Country continue dominance

Update Nov. 14, 2009

The CCS Men's Cross Country team has won their ninth straight NWAACC Championship.

The team, who finished the day with a total of 24 points ran away from the rest of the field, beating second place Everett Community College by 28 points.

The Sasquatch saw all five of their scored runners finish in the top 7 placing 2, 4, 5, 6 and 7. Cesar Perez from Lane Community College upset the Sasquatch's top two runners, Anthony Brown and Rigoberto Jimenez by finishing the course in 25:25, four seconds ahead of Brown.

The CCS Women took second place in the first race of the day, as they were upset in their attempt to win a fourth straight championship by Everett Community College.

Check out our website this week for a more in-depth look at all the NWAACC Championships

National College Media Convention in Austin pt. 3

National College Media Convention in Austin pt. 2

First day in Texas

It's the morning of the second day here in Austin, and we are getting ready to start our sessions at the 2009 National College Media Convention.

The flights down were good for the most part. That is with the exception of the landing in Austin (sketchy) but we knew we were in for a great trip when it started to snow after we left Spokane and stopped raining before we got to Austin.

The normal convention positives surround us including a 5 star hotel, walking distance to all major attractions and food that actually tastes good, but the most special part of being down here is knowing that the 3,000 students that surround us are just as obsessed with the future of media.

Make sure to keep an eye on the blog through Sunday. You can also follow The Communicator on Twitter @ twitter.com/_communicator

National College Media Convention in Austin pt. 1

Something new to check out

At 10:30 last night, to our surprise, a new blog popped up that more than peaks our interest.

We know you already love reading our blog, the wire harp blog and the applied visual arts blog... so adding the new sfcc journalism blog to that list is easy.

You can access their blog by clicking on the link over in our sidebar, or by clicking click here.

Welcome to the world of vloging

So...

We finally convinced our adviser that purchasing a Flip Ultra HD camcorder was a great idea. Our theory is to use this tool to bring in the one element of new journalism we are missing... vlogging.

Whether we do it good is still up for debate. So make sure to check back often for new blogs and vlogs.

The Communicator Vlog | 10/21/09

The creation of The Communicator.

p.s. this is NOT panic time... Thats for next time

Welcome message from the Editor-in-Chief

As we all head back to school, I can't help being extremely excited, as fall quarter marks my first term as Editor-in-Chief of The Communicator and The Communicator Online. This is definitely new territory for me, but I'm excited to follow the previous Editor-in-Chiefs who have worked countless hours to make The Communicator the amazing publication it is today. I am incredibly grateful for their tireless efforts and I am hopeful that we will continue to improve our publication in the coming year.

Each quarter, I come back to our newsroom more excited than the one before because I see our staff members pushing themselves even further out of their comfort zones to produce a product that was better than the one before it. Our staff has accomplished amazing feats, such as delving into multimedia projects and Podcasts and learning to cope with the changing industry of journalism to a more web-oriented media.

In the last year, our web publication, The Communicator Online went from being nearly non-existent, to a finalist for the 2009 Associated Collegiate Press Online Pacemaker, placing it among the top web publications in the nation. This dramatic change, which was in part due to the leadership of former Editor-in-Chief Madison McCord, signified a shift in attitude and increased effort among staff members as well as giving The Communicator a more reputable name among the SFCC community.

As Editor-in-Chief, I hope to increase interaction and communication between The Communicator and the student body, while still continuing to improve our print and web publication.

Hilary Vandenbark is the Editor-in-Chief of The Communicator and The Communicator Online. She can be contacted at sfcc.hilary.vandenbark@gmail.com

Change is in the air

As we draw closer to the end of summer, I think it is important to highlight some of the changes the readers of The Communicator can expect to see when the newsroom doors open on September 21. Firstly and most importantly, Hilary Vandenbark will be taking over the reigns as the new Editor-in-Chief of The Communicator. Hilary, who has spent the last two quarters as the papers Managing Editor is more than qualified to be an amazing EIC. Going down the list, Hilary and Communicator adviser, Jason Nix have chosen Sarah Radmer as the Managing Editor. Former Editor-in-Chief, Madison McCord is now filling the roll of Editor of The Communicator Online. Section editor decisions have not been finalized, but will be listed when the are.

We are all very excited for this new year to start, it will start off with a bang right out of the gate, as Vandenbark, Radmer, McCord, Nix and Journalism Club President, Brianne Davis fly off to Austin Texas at the end of October for the ACP/CMA National Media Convention, where the staff will find out if The Communicator Online, which is currently nominated for an Online Pacemaker award, will bring home the hardware.

Make sure to keep checking out this blog as updates will be made whenever something new arises.

The Communicator Staff
http://faculty.spokanefalls.edu/Communicator/

New podcasts launched

It only took one year, but we are finally starting to use all of our expensive and nice audio equipment. The result, two new podcasts hosted on our website and iTunes.
The first, Campus in brief is a bi-weekly 4 minute rundown of all the news on and around campus. Hosted by Kirk Bayman and Wendy Gaskill, Campus in brief has become a hit with students and faculty around campus.
The second, first released on June 1, is Editors Roundtable. A free flowing discussion that brings the listener into the newsroom, talking about how a story, section, ect. comes together.
To listen to either of these podcasts, visit our website, www.spokanefalls.edu/communicator and click the multimedia button

SFCC Applied Visual Arts Blog

Even though the departments are currently separate, the Applied Visual Arts Department at SFCC has set up their own blog, and it is a can't miss. Photography instructor and blog developer, Ira Gardner has graciousally included blogs about The Communicator and even added a link to our website from the blog. To visit the blog and check out all the wonderful things Ira and his Department are doing, click on the link below, or visit the our links section of the blog.

http://sfccappliedvisualarts.blogspot.com/

Madison McCord, Editor-in-Chief, The Communicator

ACP National Media Conference Update

It was really hard for us all to pull ourselves out of bed the other day at 4 a.m. to board an airplane for 4 hours, then when we all realized that after that flight, I would be here sitting in the 75 degree, sunny and warm San Diego. We just finished our first set of sessions. Everything from a panel on how to manage a four year newspaper, to tips for creating an eye-popping website and more importantly our presentation in about an hour on how to implement Google Docs into the newsroom.

We are all having a great time and learning a bunch.

First issue a success!

Looking deeper into it, I think that it is safe to say that the first issue of The Communicator this quarter was a complete success. Just after picking it up, I realized that there was going to be something different about this issue than any other. The combination of great writing, solid story concepts, unique angles that bring the story home to students and more noticeable the completly new look. Section fronts with huge photos drawing the eyes into the story, creative cutouts with the well written words wraped around them. With this being the first issue to release with my name as Editor-in-Chief on it, I can say that this paper's future looks very bright.

Congratulations to every member of The Communicator staff who played a huge hand in making this issue spectactular.

Post by: Madison McCord, Editor-in-Chief

New issue releases tomorrow

I figured that it is only suitable for the first Communicator Online blog post to be about the release of the latest issue of the Communicator tomorrow afternoon. All of the editors and writers have worked very hard on this, the first issue of the winter quarter and in turn, the first issue of 2009.

When you pick up the latest issue of the Communicator, you will instantly notice a complete design overhaul (in a good way). With a new teaser bar, section names and section front designs, the Communicator continues to expand on its already excellent design.

Main stories in this issue include...

2009-2011 Biennium released CCS plans for 5% tuition increase
Welcome Week chaos ensues
Woman's basketball in mid-season form
and much much more...

Also make sure to check out our new website, www.spokanefalls.edu/communicator