Our goal was accomplished this semester; to put the Daily Forty-Niner back on the campus map.
From copy editors and reporters to our photographers the entire staff should feel proud that the DFN shines again.
It all began at the beginning of the semester when editor in chief Jodi Banks and myself pumped each other up for the next three and a half months of what would be the best learning experience of our lives.
Dealing with deadlines, creating fresh story ideas, beating the Union to the story (which was easier than I originally thought), giving new reporters guidance and servicing the entire campus community gave me a once-in-a-lifetime experience I can take with me in my future of photojournalism.
The highlight of the semester definitely was the publication of the Basketball Preview. The work and creativity that everyone put into that issue will be recognized come awards time, (such as the California Intercollegiate Press Association's annual contest).
The issue started out as an eight-page, black and white section that was going to preview the men's and women's basketball teams. It then exploded into a 16-page section with color on the cover and on a few pages inside.
Starting in January, I will be interning in Utah as a staff photographer for a newspaper out there. The photojournalism program here at CSULB has been run by professor Wayne Kelly for over 20 years. Without his influence and guidance I surely would be struggling to find a career.
Professor Kelly will be retiring in one year, ending a respected and successful career. Just call any photo department at any newspaper in the Southern California area, or the nation, and you can be certain to talk to someone who attended or knows about the CSULB photojournalism program. I am sure he will miss the smell of hypo in the morning.
But I foresee that when he leaves, so does our program. No steps have been taken to replace him.
My only regret is that I am unable to come back next semester and continue what we have started, misspelled headlines and all.
John Kennedy is the managing editor of the Daily Forty-Niner