The first one went to Phil Ritzenberg, 77. He began his service to SND in 1979 but has been working in newsrooms for 53 years.

He introduced design into mainstream journalism, said SND Vice President Matt Mansfield during the award presentation.

Ritzenberg added “my thanks to SND’s leadership and especially to Gayle Grin and Bill Gaspard.”

And then there’s Bill … Past president, host of SND San Diego and, of course, the fabulous conference in dazzling Vegas conference. Too everyone who had ever met Bill knows what a truly accomplished, talented and generous person Bill is!

Congratulations to you both!

His site has video games, animation and even a video on how to dance! He taped himself dancing to a Madonna tune which got over a million hits! In order to keep up hits he responded to e-mails and did what people asked. His creations included a singing frog, dancing puppet, contests (toilet paper fashion & when office supplies attack) and the collaborative fiction project!

Check out Ze Frank’s website at:www.zefrank.com

-Shraddha

SND President Gayle Grin talked about achieving her goal of expanding the international market. There are now regions in China, Russia, Germany, France with more coming from Asia and the Pacific!

SND Vice President Matt Mansfield announced the recipient of SND’s first student scholarship to Ohio University student Lisa Merkin. She won $1,500. Syracuse University will be announcing another scholarship later conference.

Mansfield also announced Steve Dorsey of the Detroit Free Press won the election to become the next secretary-treasurer. Dorsey was unable to attend due to breaking news in Detroit!

-Shraddha

Take the tram to the main terminal where baggage claim and ground transportation are. Take the elevator or escalator to the Zero level. Go straight out the double doors to where the hotel shuttles are parked next to the numbered blue signs. The Red Rock shuttle will park in the spot marked #16. Take a seat on the bench and wait.

When I arrived on Friday they were running every other hour at 11, 1, 3, 5 and 7. But our host Bill Gaspard persuaded the hotel to run the shuttle hourly over the weekend and the big departure day of Wednesday. On Saturday, it will run hourly from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. On Sunday, it will run hourly from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Once you are on the air-conditioned shuttle the driver will give you some bottled water to quench your thirst as you enjoy the ride to the hotel!

      Uncertain.  Anxious.  Terrified.

      I’ve heard horror stories from friends who’ve been to staff meetings where dozens of layoffs were announced.  Luckily, I’ve never sat in on anything that drastic at my internship – but then again, I don’t need to go out into the “real world” to see the effect a depression can have on a newsroom.

      The Daily Collegian, the independent college paper at Penn State University, has not been immune to the financial downturn the rest of the industry has been experiencing.  We rely on advertising revenue for our budget, and lately that revenue has been shrinking.

      Where do we make cuts?  We trim from the same places as “real” newspapers.  Newsprint’s down: Last spring we survived on 14 or 16 pages daily, compared with about 18 or 20 the year before.  We’ve tried to limit our already limited travel budget.  And, of course, we’ve had the cuts that are causing a lot of grief nationwide: people.

      Each semester, the “upper-level” students at the Collegian get a “grant check,” or a small stipend to reward us for our hard work.  Some of us spend up to 40 hours a week or more in the newsroom, making it impossible to get the part-time or work-study job that most other college students rely on to pay tuition and rent.  Naturally, these grant checks, however small they may be, are a necessity to most editors and a few reporters. How else will we afford those Ramen noodles?

      I wouldn’t equate grant-check cuts with layoffs, though; most staffers at the Collegian are shuffled to different positions every semester, so no one’s been “fired.”  But when the big guy upstairs orders $10,000 in this semester’s grant checks be cut, eight or 12 positions are going to get the ax.

      We’ve lost the special sections editor and the sports projects editor. Fewer reporters are going to get one of the coveted checks, and only a select few senior reporters got one before anyway.

      Design’s also been taking cuts. A year ago we lost the graphics editor, this semester we’re losing the presentation editor, and the remaining page designers are taking a 50 percent cut in their grant checks.

      What do these cuts mean?  More responsibility for everyone else, students who feel like their plates are already packed with a full-time course load and a position that eats up the rest of their time.  Some students have had to leave their positions at the Collegian to make ends meet; in fact, one of my designers told me so last week.

      On one hand, these problems are disheartening at best.  But on the other hand, I don’t think I’ll be as shell-shocked if I ever sit in on one of those dreaded meetings in the corporate news world.

– Kristen Huth

When: 2:30 p.m. Sunday

Where: Cabo Mexican Restaurant (in the hotel), www.redrocklasvegas.com/dining/cabo.php

Let me know if this time will work for the majority of you. If not, I am flexible on that! Hope to see most of you there.