UA Hispanic Journalism Students Picked for NY Times Workshop

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UA Hispanic Journalism Students Picked for NY Times Workshop

Some of The New York Times staff join members of the UA's National Association of Hispanic Journalists student chapter after having dinner near the UA April 3. Times staff members were in Tucson planning the January 2008 Times Student Journalism Institute.

The four undergrads will join a national group who will get intensive training during the semester break.

By Kate Harrison, UA Journalism Department
November 26, 2007

Four journalism students at The University of Arizona are among 20 young journalists from around the country who have been selected to participate in an intensive training program for student journalists. The program will be held Jan. 2-13 at the UA department of journalism.

The New York Times and the National Association of Hispanic Journalists co-sponsor the New York Times Student Journalism Institute. The institute is modeled on a program that The Times established for students in conjunction with the Black College Communications Association and the National Association of Black Journalists held at Dillard University in New Orleans.

The UA students selected to take part in the 2008 institute are Fernanda Echavarri, Lauren LePage, Nathan Olivarez-Giles and Roxana Vasquez. Other student participants are: Yolanne Almanzar, Florida International University; Nicolas Barajas, Ithaca College; Julian Cavazos, Brigham Young University; Arcynta Ali Childs, New York University; Astrid Galvan, Arizona State University; Brian Hernandez, University of Nebraska; Mariana Minaya, University of Maryland at College Park; Aaron Montoya, Colorado State University; Tracie Morales, University of Texas at Arlington; Jose Pagliery, Florida International University; Marlene Peralta, City University of New York; Jennifer Perez, University of Central Florida; Elizabeth Perez, University of Texas at Brownsville; Solange Reyner, University of Miami; Rick Rojas, Texas A&M University; and James Wagner, University of Virginia.

At each institute, student writers work closely with reporters and editors from The Times and some of its regional newspapers. At a Dillard University institute, for example, students covered hurricane preparations, a police shooting and the recent mayoral race.

The Institute's editors help students with their stories before they are posted on the Institute's Web site. The best pieces are printed in a newspaper produced at the end of the midwinter session.

The UA journalism department's commitment to diversity and its emphasis on bilingual journalism, including publishing a community newspaper for the city of South Tucson for more than a quarter-century, factored into The Times' selection process, said Jacqueline E. Sharkey, UA journalism department head.

"Initiating an interdisciplinary International Journalism program and the fact that our department is dedicated only to journalism impressed the Institute's leaders," Sharkey said. One in eight students in the UA journalism department is Hispanic. Each year the department sends 10-20 students to the California Chicano News Media Association Journalism Opportunities Conference.

To qualify to participate in The Hispanic Student Journalism Institute, students must be NAHJ members, have completed one semester at a student newspaper or major newspaper, be in good academic standing and write a 500-word essay about being a journalist.

Florida International University was host of the 2007 institute at its Biscayne Bay campus in Miami. FIU and the UA will continue as hosts of the program in alternate years.