Summer Times 2007

BY JACKIE KIM

Fresh off the plane from London after interviewing the cast of the new Harry Potter movie, Kristin Harmel, a book author and writer for People magazine, returns to her Alma mater, the University of Florida. She imitates Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe) in her own British accent: “As you can see, I’ve taken off my shoes, cause I’m much more comfortable that way, would you like to take off your shoes?”

As a celebrity journalist, Kristin Harmel, 28, has had her fair share of encounters with famous celebrities: Radcliffe, Matthew McConaughey, OutKast, Patrick Dempsey (Dr. McDreamy on Grey’s Anatomy,) Lance Bass (they share the same birthday), Sarah Jessica Parker, P. Diddy/Puff Daddy/Diddy and Justin Timberlake are among the many.

And her favorite? “I really liked Andre Benjamin from OutKast. He was very very very nice. He’s very intellectual. I just really liked the way that his mind worked. He was just a very very very friendly person. To the point where he even called me couple times after the interview to ask me about things, or to mention things, or whatever, which was really nice.”

With her vibrant personality and five feet-miniature stature, she shares the story of her rise to fame to 87 aspiring journalists hoping to one day be in her shoes–or her backless gold stiletto shoes for that matter.

Harmel, a Boston native, moved to Ohio when she was only 2 and to St. Petersburg when she was 10. Stoked by her passion to be a journalist, she worked at the St. Petersburg Times at only 16. She wrote a cover article about the St. Louis Cardinals’ instructional league, and went on to interview people like Bo Jackson and Sister Hazel. Harmel then went to Gator-town and by the time she was a senior, she was interning at People. She then graduated top of her class (summa cum laude) at the College of Journalism and Communications with only one B all four years. “I love to write. I tried to make a newspaper for my school when I was 10. I love writing, talking to people.”

To this day, Kristin credits her success to UF. “I had a ton of wonderful experiences here. It was just wonderful. 100 times out of a 100 I would choose to do it again. The professors are very proactive.” In her speech, she said she believes that if it wasn’t for UF, she wouldn’t have had any of the opportunities she did in her life, such as the People internship.

Now she is a regular freelance writer for the magazine and loves every minute of her job. “I like that it gives me the opportunity to get inside the heads of all different kinds of people. I enjoy doing the celebrity interviews, but I think I prefer doing interviews about real people doing amazing things. It’s always very interesting for me to find out what motivates them and what drives them. I think it’s people like that who are making the world a better place…In a way it helps me become a little bit of a better person because it’s an inspiration.”

She says her favorite interview for People was with Henri Landwirth, a Holocaust survivor who came to America with only $20 in his pocket. He soon became involved in the hotel industry and with the profit, created a non-profit organization best known as Give Kids the World.

Aside from magazine writing, Harmel is also the author of two books, How to Sleep with a Movie Star and The Blonde Theory. She doesn’t fail to add that her first book is 100% fiction, and it is definitely not a how-to book. Both were published by Warner Books.

In 2008, she has two more books coming out called When You Wish and The Art of French Kissing. When You Wish is Harmel’s first teen book. When asked for the reason she switched audiences, she said, “I really wanted to work with this particular editor, who edited the Traveling Pants series. I also think that there’s something about writing for teens. I feel like you have more influence. Books meant more to me and moved me more when I was a teenager than they do now. At like 13/14/15 you’re still trying to sort of figure out the world around you and where you fit in it. And I think books play a big role in helping people figure those things out and I think it’s a neat ability to have to influence people that way. To sort of play a little bit of a role. Or even inspiring them to read.”

As far as journalism as a whole, Harmel says, “I think that it’s broader then ever before because of the advent of the internet. I think there are a lot of changes in store for the future of journalism. It’ll be really interesting to see where it’ll go in the future.”

And for Harmel’s future in five years? “Hopefully still writing novels; still working for magazines. I’m where I want to be right now, so hopefully doing at least two novels a year. Having more people who have read my books and liked them and are looking forward to my next book. Other than that, I’m really happy at where I am right now, so if I’m doing this in five years that’d be great!”

Whether she will stay in journalism or continue writing books, she says, “People ask me now since I have two books out, if I’m going to stop doing the journalism. I don’t think so. I’ll never be able to leave journalism. I love it. It’s a different thing every day and you get to learn so many interesting things about people and you get to meet so many new people from different locks of life.”

Now for the age-old question, in harmony with her latest book, The Blonde Theory, who has more fun? Blondes, brunettes, or redheads? “I think fun is what you make it. Blonde, brunette, or redhead, I think it’s always best to be true to yourself and I think that’s when you have the most fun when you’re true to who you are,” said Harmel, a blonde.

BY JESSICA STALLONE

Dr. John W. Wright II, the interim dean of the College of Journalism and Communications at the University of Florida, has had an unfaltering love of journalism ever since he was young.

“The quest for information, the enjoyment of information and just telling the story, is really what I love, ” he said.

As he talks about the good old days working in the field, he immediately becomes eager when asked about his most outrageous experience. Wright dives into a tumultuous story about covering a the release of the verdict of a murder trial and how when the information was ready to be released, there was a mad rush of reporters and different people were knocked down during the chaos.

“Luckily I got out of the way in time,” he chuckled.

After graduating Cum Laude from the University of Central Florida in 1971, he went on to receive his masters degree and finally his doctorate in 1977. During this time, Wright worked at various television stations, including WEDU, and as everything from a staff announcer to a production manager on five different radio stations.

Though he worked in both fields, radio, he said, was his preference.

“I liked every single part of it; working alone on things, being able to go out, find the story and produce the story. Plus I have much more experience in radio journalism,” he said as grin spread across his face.

BY SARAH TAYLOR

Summer Journalism Institute power duo Terry Sollazzo and Kerri McLean have been aiding young journalists for over 20 years. With a clear excitement for teaching, one would only hope they continue on for at least 20 more.

Born in Bradenton, Florida, Sollazzo later went on to attend the University of South Florida, where she majored in English mass communications and wrote for her school paper. Though she desired to be a professional photographer, she knew that her heart lied in teaching.

“My passion has always been teaching,” said Sollazzo, who was hired as one even before out of college. She now lives in Tampa where she has three sons ages 11 to 20, of whom she is extremely proud. She is also the journalism teacher of Wharton High School. After having recently stepped down as president of the Florida Scholastic Press Association after four years, Sollazzo now has more time to dedicate to her staff.

“When I was the FSPA president, my staff was running on auto-pilot, and it took a toll on me,” Sollazzo said.

Her partner in crime, McLean, was steered all over the country while growing up, before later settling down and attending the University of Florida, where her husband also attended. There she majored in journalism, and tried her hand at both TV and Advertisments before deciding to become a teacher.

“I loved trying every aspect of it, but my personality is suited for teaching,” McLean said. She now teaches at Key West High school, where she is the newspaper advisor as well. Her seventeen-year-old daughter Dillon will attend UF in the fall.

For the past five years, both Sollazzo and McLean have found themselves at UF helping aspiring journalist sharpen their skills. They met each other their first year participating with SJI, a six-day intensive high-school journalism camp run by UF, and have been a team ever since. Seeing each others name on the SJI mailing list each year is a comfort to each about returning. Though they have always taught editing, previous years the group has been big enough to split. However as years have passed the classes have gotten smaller, allowing them to join forces. This way, students get much more one-on-one time, allowing them to really soak in all that Sollazzo and McLean have to offer. Neither come into the week with plans; they just tailor the program around the students needs after have meeting them. This year, editorial writing is a main focus in their editing class.

An inspirational experience for both ladies was receiving an encouraging email from a previous SJI student six months after camp saying how much of an intense effect their class had had on her and that their influence changed her paper and school.

“We don’t know what their needs are at camp, but the email had a profound effect on our teaching there,” said McLean.

While at camp, both women share ideas with each other about the next year. “We are able to bounce ideas off each other,” said McLean, “We have experience to pull from each other.” She continues to say sometimes its just desperation, as Sollazzo agrees that fresh ideas are hard to come by after teaching for so many years.

During the school year, both Sollazzo and McLean don’t keep in touch as often, with full schedules and journalism competitions keeping them busy. Yet, they plan on changing that, now finally getting each other’s contact information after so long. Still, having a full year until reuniting gives them so much more to talk about when they finally get to camp. While in Gainesville, they take the time to catch up with friends in the town as well, visiting them as campers have their free time at night.

Hopefully for all the future SJI campers, they’ll both be there next year to not only catch up with each other, but continue on leading the minds of young journalists too. Both agree to coming back if asked, and would even like to take on a design track. Until then, let them continue on influencing with their passionate teaching to students everywhere.

BY CASEY GOLDSTEIN

Any way you look at it, Dave Stanton is a journalist for the new age of journalism, combining his love of numbers, computers and communication to help bring a new generation of writers into a new generation of writing.

When Stanton, 27, first arrived at the University of Florida he was engineering major but found himself writing in his spare time. Stanton then switched majors and went on to receive a bachelor’s degree in magazine journalism and is now in graduate school with a major in online journalism and minor in statistics.

“Young writers shouldn’t be afraid of numbers. They appear everywhere in journalism.” Stanton says as a tip for up-and-coming journalists.

Even though he has already begun his professional career as an online journalism teacher at UF, it is not his final step. Once he receives his doctoral degree he hopes to specialize in online journalism and other alternative forms of storytelling as a professor or researcher at the university level.

A recent experience of Stanton’s that he hopes to pursue more is studying newspaper reading behaviors with the Poynter Institute. Stanton says that it is important to understand the way people view and read online in order to better market news.

“The news is our product and we have to find the best way to sell it,” Stanton said.

As his final and strongest tip to up-and-coming journalists, Stanton stresses the importance of learning the most information possible about online journalism as it has become mainstream.

“You don’t have to know everything about [online journalism], but just know something.” Stanton says.

BY DEIRDRE BARR

From the time Rick Christie began the tenth grade, he was determined to become a journalist. He certainly succeeded.

“I’m a 1982 J-School grad,” said Christie with pride. Surprisingly, Christie never interned for a newspaper when he was a college student at the University of Florida. He entered the world of journalism as a clerk at a city desk. Now, Christie has written on everything from weather to the Savings and Lone Crisis. As his reputation grew, he went on to work at the Miami Herald, Lakeland Ledger, Wall Street Journal, and Cox’s newspaper the Washington Bear. He has had quite an active career involving a lot of change.

“I have diverse interests, everything interests me,” Christie said. Traveling, reading, and collecting comic books are his favorite hobbies. Christie has been a comic book collector for the majority of his life. He even sparked the esteemed Black Enterprise magazine’s interest with his comic book collection exceeding 10,000. He has three daughters, one of whom will be attending the University of Florida this year. She hopes to become either a journalist or a teacher.

Among all of the jobs Christie has had, his favorite was as a foreign editor. The job offered Christie, originally from Stuart, Florida, the opportunity to grow as a journalist and see new, exciting places. He considers his greatest accomplishment to be his coverage of the Kosovo War.

“Reporting on probably the biggest story in the world, for that long a period of time, on a daily basis, was incredible for me. I was very proud of the way we covered that,” Christie said. None of Christie’s correspondents were seriously harmed. However, a few found themselves in perilous situations. Some were snatched by a mob in Monte Negro.

“One correspondent was picked up by Serbian police just across the border and well… almost disappeared,” said Christie who spent approximately 77 days on Kosovo War coverage.

Currently, Christie is the assistant managing editor of business for the Palm Beach Post. He said that he is a strong believer in accuracy, fairness and great passion for writing. His motto is “good reporting equals good writing.” He also said that the power of curiosity is what drives journalists to report well. Rick Christie has a thirst for knowledge, and values education highly.

“I will never tell someone that their story is not interesting, it’s just not true. In my heart, it’s not true,” Christie said.

by. Meaghan McGowan

Ted Spiker might catch some by surprise as he lounges comfortably in khaki shorts, an SJI t-shirt and his feet hiked up on the desk in his office. Yet, as associate professor of the College of Journalism and Communications, Spiker is relaxed and prepared based on his experience in the art of interviewing. Having spoken two hours previously to 87 hopeful journalists on the tactics for getting great information out of people, Spiker speaks easily on the current topic: himself.

“I always knew I wanted to teach,” said Spiker, “I just needed more experience.”

So, while attending the University of Delaware between the years of 1989-1990, Spiker began work at Delaware Today, a local magazine. His work on this small, regional magazine created the stepping stone toward larger magazines including Men’s Health Magazine.

“I covered everything from exercise tips to sports profiles,” said Spiker. His rise to stardom continued as opportunities to co-author books such as YOU: The Owner’s Manual and Men, Love and Sex arose. Both books became best sellers and have been included in segments of “The Oprah Winfrey Show”.

In 2001, Spiker joined the College of Journalism and Communication’s staff at the University of Florida. For the past six years, he has taught classes focused on magazine writing and managment. One class entitled Applied Magazines consists of Spiker aiding students in producing the campus newspaper, Orange and Blue. “Teaching is great 99% of the time,” said Spiker, “And you can’t beat the schedule.”

Between teaching and freelancing for Men’s Health Magazine, Spiker spends time with his seven-year-old twin sons, Alex and Thad. Coaching his son’s youth basketball team and playing basketball with Ted Geltner, a doctoral student at UF, gives Spiker a balance of work and play.

Geltner, who was a student in Spiker’s Literary Journalism class, said “His classes are very interactive and conversational.”

Within the Literary Journalism class, Spiker emphasizes the importance of writing with different styles. “Style makes the writer,” said Geltner.

As a professor, Spiker can tell which students and journalists strive to go beyond what is expected of them.

“Hustle,” said Spiker, “Do things on your own and work hard.”

Regarding the future, Spiker said “I love teaching here. My job lets me teach and write on the side.” Eventually, Spiker would like to write his own book, but in the meantime simply enjoys trying out different teaching strategies and interacting with students.

“It’s all about the people, ” said Spiker.

BY ANA DIAZSandra Chance does not have a typical 9-to-5 job. Chance specializes in law, which involves having to defend journalists from lawsuits. Every day she is dealt new tasks and dedicates an average of fifty to sixty hours a week to her job. Yet, some how she ties it all up.

When asked about her job she said, “Value first amendment and to watch dog for public news.”

Chance is the executive director of the Brechner Freedom of Information Center at the University of Florida. She specializes in providing information on access to government meetings and public records to media organizations, private citizens and elected officials. Chance also provides information on media law developments in Florida to organizations, institutions nationwide and individuals.

She is also a professor of journalism in UF’s College of Journalism and Communications. She teaches media law to both undergraduates and graduates two to three times a week. Chance has also published numerous articles in academic and professional journals and news papers.

Throughout her career, Chance has received numerous awards. In 1997, she was college’s outstanding teacher of the year, and in 2005 was named the Scripps-Howard National Journalism Teacher of the Year.

Throughout her life, she has always strived for success, as well as passing it on to her students by working hard to make sure her classes are kept interesting and humorous. All her ambition and motivation come from her sisters being achievers and her mother and grandmother engraving success.

“I will always try to relate my students as well,” Chance said. “I am honored and humbled to influence students in a positive way. It is a privilege.”

Before joining the faculty at UF Chance was part of her high school’s yearbook staff. In 1975 she went off to UF and earned her B.S and M.A with high honors in 1985. Afterwards she went for her J.D. and practiced law with the firm of
Holland and Knight focusing on media law cases.

Chance came to Gainesville because she wanted a change from her hometown of Miami, and she still lives here after 17 years because she prefers it. All three of her sons attended UF as well.