The WCU Student Media Board selected five students to lead media organizations for the 2001-2001 school year. Chosen at the board’s February 26 meeting were: Susan Montalban, Patrick Moore, Britt Billings, Lori Turnipseed Smith and Seth Sams.
Montalban was named editor of Nomad, a literary magazine run by students.
As an English major with a concentration in professional writing, and a minor in literature, Montalban is a member of the Creative Writing Club, Foreign Language League and Honors College.
She is also the vice-president of Sigma Tau Delta and the English Club, service chair of the Asian Students Association, and the English Department representative for the LCE (lectures, concerts, and exhibitions series) Committee.
Montalban has been on the Nomad staff since the spring semester of 1999 and plans to graduate this December.
WCU is a member of the Associated Writing Programs (AWP), according to Montalban.
“The AWP recognizes the best undergraduate literary magazines published during an academic year,” said Montalban. “My goal is to submit the Nomad to this competition so it will be in the running for national recognition.”
Moore is a communications electronic media major with a minor in multi-media.
He will be the general manager of WWCU, the campus radio station, this summer and fall, and plans to graduate in December.
“I would like for WWCU to have a consistent music format,” said Moore. “I want to find a mix of music to play that the students and community can listen to and enjoy.”
Billings is a senior and is majoring in communications with a concentration in public relations. Her minor is professional writing.
She has been involved in the Public Relations Student Society of America for two years, serves as a public relations director this school year, and has been a member of Catamount Communications for a year.
“My career goals are to work for a large corporation and serve on their PR firm,” said Billings.
Turnipseed Smith is the new editor for the Catamount Yearbook. Her major is English with a concentration in professional writing, and she has a minor in art.
She has been on the yearbook committee this year and is excited about being editor next year.
“I’d like to keep the yearbook visually interesting and continue the idea of a CD-ROM,” said Turnipseed Smith. “I hope to get more students involved and will probably have a time frame where students can submit their own photos for possible publication.”
Sams is a senior and working toward a BS in communications and a BA in German.
His extracurricular activities involve being in charge of alumni relations and public relations for the Delta Chi Fraternity. As a member of Brother Peace, he represents them on the WCU Sexual Assault Task Force.
For four and a half years he has been involved with the Western Carolinian. He has been editor-in-chief for one year and will continue in this position for next year.
Sams would like to increase the readership of the newspaper and realizes that he cannot please everybody all the time.
He feels that the Western Carolinian staff is on the right track in that it presents the news as objectively as possible.
“We need to continue with that goal in mind and make it bigger and better,” said Sams. “I want to try to focus on the fact that there’s a constant task for my staff to be students while at the same time being the most professional and responsible journalists they can be.”
The Student Media Board is composed of the leaders of student media, their advisors, representatives of the university administration, and the SGA president. It selects leaders, approves budgets, and determines policies for student media.
