Daily Forty-Niner, Nov. 10, 2019

weekly print edition

DAILY FORTY-NINER CELEBRATING 70 YEARS

Vol. LXXI, Issue 12 | www.daily49er.com | Sunday, November 10, 2019

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ON THE COVER

A Daily Forty-Niner issue with the first masthead from 1949 and a sample of works honoring 70 years.

Photo Illustration by AUSTIN BRUMBLAY

Daily Forty-Niner 1250 Bellflower Blvd., LA4-203 Long Beach, CA, 90840

Editorial Office Phone (562) 985-8000

EDITOR’S NOTE:

Business Office Phone (562) 985-1740

Austin Brumblay Editor in Chief eic@daily49er.com

As a freshman and newly decided journalism major of Long Beach State eager to contribute to any publication on campus, I sat at my computer and sent emails asking if anyone would want me. The Daily Forty-Niner happened to be the only publication that responded. I never imagined myself as an editor here a couple of semesters later.

However, I am only one of many who share some life experiences with this newspaper, whether these experiences are good or bad. This issue recounts some of these many experiences from former Forty-Niner journalists, designers and advisers.

Reading through these personal essays, it surprised me how many things have not changed. We are still here just about every day until late at night, going crazy after hours of being in our slightly cramped newsroom, sweating over the pressure of deadlines. A lot of the stories we report on are still the same: the Native American community and Puvungna, parking issues, structures on campus and whether or not they are safe, Associated Students Inc. I guess our school never really changes.

And we do it all for the campus community. Because we believe everyone deserves to know about and understand their campus.

As a journalist, I know I’m supposed to keep my bias out of a lot of things. But I will say I do love this newspaper and the family I have here. I’m sure they feel the same way.

Paula Kiley

Multimedia Managing Editor multimedia@daily49er.com News Editor Rachel Barnes news@daily49er.com Sports Editor Arts and Life Editor Opinions Editor

Business Manager Special Projects Editor Copy Editor

Perry Continente opinions@daily49er.com

Melissa Valencia business@daily49er.com Hannah Getahun Rachel Barnes Alejandro Vazquez

Photo Editor

Ryan Guitare

Social Media Editor

Brenna Enos

Video Editor

Aubrey Balster

Online Editor

Nahid Ponciano

Podcast Editor Webmaster Arts and Life Assistant Editor

Shark Bites

Saad Kazi arts@daily49er.com

Advertising Manager Steven Zuniga advertising@daily49er.com

Design Editor

Hannah Getahun, Special Projects Editor

Mark Lindahl sports@daily49er.com

Emma Carlsen Samantha Hangsan Alexandra Apatiga

Arts and Life Assistant

Suzane Jlelati

Assistant Sports Editor

Manuel Valladares

Assistant Sports Editor

Ralston Dacanay

Assistant Social Media Editor Cristal Gomez

By Alejandro Vazquez

Design Adviser

Gary Metzker

Shark Bites is a CSULB inspired crossword puzzle that contains clues from the recent news stories published by the Daily Forty-Niner. Tag us @daily49er with a picture of your completed crossword for a chance to win a prize!

Content Adviser

Barbara Kinglsey-Wilson

Across

1. Special projects editor, Hannah Getahun, talked about her experience writing about this mammal.

3. The Daily Forty-Niner recently turned ______ years old; from 1949 to 2019.

5. Podcast editor, Emma Carlsen, shares that her most memorable project has been the _______ Lab podcast.

7. Three of the former Daily FortyNiner staff members that wrote for this issue currently work at The Los _____ Times.

Down

1. Illustrators submitted ______ to show parallels between the past and present.

2. Mary Hinds reported on the assassination of this president.

4. Barbara Kingsley-Wilson says that former students send her messages when they find this on the website.

6. The former newsroom had _____ walls.

Advertising and Business Adviser

Jennifer Newton

Letters to Editor editor@daily49er.com Corrections correction@daily49er.com Story Ideas tips@daily49er.com Job Inquiries jobs@daily49er.com

Letters Policy: All letters and emails must bear the phone number of the writer and must be no more than 300 words. The Daily Forty-Niner reserves the right to edit letters for publication in regard to space.

Editorials: All opinions expressed in the columns, letters, and cartoons in the issue are those of the writers or artists. The opinons of the Daily FortyNiner are expressed only in unsigned editorials and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the journalism department or the views of all staff members. All such editorials are written by the editorial board of the Daily Forty-Niner.

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DRAWING THE PAST AND PRESENT

Steve Greenberg (BFA Art, 1978) drew editorial cartoons for the Forty-Niner and helped start The Union Weekly and its “Grunion� pages, then went on to be a staff artist and cartoonist at daily newspapers in Los Angeles, Seattle, San Francisco and Ventura County, winning numerous awards.

He currently works for a suburban division of the Los Angeles Times as a layout artist and freelances cartoons to various publications.

Left: This cartoon first ran in the the Daily Forty-Niner Mar. 1, 1963.

Right: Artist Stephanie Holt, class of 2022, mimics the ongoing identity issues of the university through the everchanging mascot.

Left: This cartoon first ran in the Daily Forty-Niner May 15, 1967.

Right: Holt reverses the roles to reflect the new wave of protesters on the abortion issue on campus: pro-lifers.

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ADVISER SAYS STUDENT MEDIA IS LIKE THE MAFIA, IN A GOOD WAY

By Barbara Kingsley-Wilson Content Adviser (‘04- Present)

T

he first Forty-Niner newsroom I knew was a windowless basement expanse with walls that had been freshly painted neon lime green. When it rained hard, water poured down from the ceiling.

A reporter just out of the Orange County Register with a toddler and a preschooler, I was hired as Daily FortyNiner newspaper adviser.

I didn’t know what I was getting into.

In the early days, students kept an eye on my son Drew and daughter Ellie when I was in class. When Drew wet his pants one day, he proudly announced it to the newsroom. His declaration — “I peed!” —made it onto the newsroom quote wall.

The quote wall was an old-school window into the profane bawdiness that marks many a college newsroom.

Quotes and observations about politics, bodily functions, pop culture—you name it— were typed out, printed and tacked to the wall, which became a paper platform for late night frustration and reporterly observation.

“It will be a grand celebration when Miley Cyrus turns 18,” Bob said.

And, from an exhausted editor when a story was

In the newsroom (top): Drew and his mom, looking serious, as usual. The quote wall is in the background. Photo by Michael Chan Yee. The quote wall (above) is where staffers would put memorable quotes that were thrown around in the newsroom. Photo by Matt Grippi.

breaking: “Why does news have to happen, like, all the time?” Those are some of the tamest ones, others were laced with expletives or veiled threats uttered in the heat of deadline or midterm panic.

When groups like the Cub Scouts toured the newsroom, I used to hold my breath, watching their eyes scan those little paper diatribes.

The newspaper was something of an oasis then, even as it was at the center of

dreary, intercine department warfare; trust me, you don’t want to know. Things were rough but over time they got better. My co-adviser Gary Metzker, fresh from the Los Angeles Times, joined our little gang. The paper starting winning awards and moved to upper campus where the space was drier and able to receive natural light.

Student journalists can be clique-y, arrogant smart-asses. Yes. But, also at their best, funny, smart,

irreverent, curious and extremely hard-working.

When I left journalism and moved to education, I noticed a difference in the flow of daily events. When 20-somethings run the show, the highs are higher and the lows, lower.

The highs? Seeing the quiet student get a key interview with a reluctant but important campus official.

Watching a young reporter break a story; that perennial catnip for journalists. The

look on the arts editor’s face before she collects her firstplace headline writing award at a fancy student media banquet. Reading a former student’s Facebook post describing a new job at the L.A.Times, or some other job that thrills them.

The lows, the lessons learned, are part of the joy.

Sort of. Actually no. The front-page headline that read “billion” when it should have read “million.” The underreported story that makes it into print. The angry faculty member who says they were misquoted.

The time a staffer’s behavior disappointed Forty-Niner colleagues and me.

I could go on, but enough PTStea.

I’ve learned, too, when to push — the students, other university forces on behalf of the student media — and when to let things be. I’m still learning.

We mark the passage of time through our kids. Drew is now 17. His sister is in college. The student editors who fed my kids donuts and chips are now having kids of their own.

I still get messages from old students when they see a mistake in the Forty-Niner website.

Student journalists come and do their thing, graduate and move on, like all students. But I’ve often said the Forty-Niner is kind of like the mafia: You never really leave.

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Lee Brown EIC 1959 — 60

My experiences as editor in chief of the 49er probably are best told by selected contents during my editorship. Exceptions to this primarily involved my running battle with fraternities and sororities, my candidacy for editor in chief and my involvement in Associated Student Body as treasurer.

I promised to end a social column the weekly 49er carried if I was named editor. I didn’t want to read about whom was seen kissing who in the backseat of whose convertible. If that happened, I was promised, student government would withhold all funds and there would be no 49er. In those days, the Publications Commission reported to the Student Senate, and the Senate could end funding to the paper. Fraternities and sororities dominated all parts of student government, and the government-funded campus drama productions, concert programs and several other student activities. So, I ran for ASB treasurer and won. I ended the offensive column and was not challenged on funding. How is that for conflict of interest?

KNOW YOUR EIC’S

John Canalis EIC 1992 — 93

I served as editor and city editor of the Daily 49er in the early 1990s. The nearprofessional experience I received covering some of the biggest stories of that era — the Los Angeles civil unrest, which affected Long Beach, the presidential election, which brought candidates to and near campus, the height of the AIDS crisis ravaging Long Beach, the gay rights movement and a decent number of on-campus scandals — prepared me for jobs in journalism right out of the gate. The expectations of us were quite high, and I all but lived in the newsroom. We did a healthy amount of investigative journalism into misspending by the Associated Students government, the potentially improper development of Native American land and the fact that many buildings were not retrofitted to withstand earthquakes. Our photographers captured images I still recall in detail. But we goofed off plenty, going to shows at the Nugget Grill & Pub and Bogart’s, and fostered the kinds of us-against-the-world friendships that can only blossom in a newsroom. I may be one of the last of my group still in the newspaper business, but I would have never lasted this long without the education I received at Long Beach State and at the Daily Forty-Niner. I am so grateful to the journalism program for giving me a career I love.

Austin Brumblay EIC 2019 — Present

It’s hard to believe that just a year ago I was just a contributing photographer for the Daily Forty-Niner. As a student journalist who got burned-out working at my community college newspaper, I decided to take a semester off from being an editor when I transferred to Long Beach State. It was a huge mistake. My days were boring and unfulfilled—I wasn’t used to the free time. I missed the pressure of deadlines. I missed the long nights and most of all, I missed the newsroom community.

A year later, I am the editor in chief of the 49er. While my days now are too long with too many deadlines, it was the best decision I have ever made as a journalist. I call myself a journalist with a human resources job. Luckily my staff makes it easy to yell at them because I love them like family.

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FROM THE FORTY-NINER TO

Photo Courtesy of BETTY CHAVARRIA

A group of former CSULB alumni that now work at the Los Angeles Times. (Left to right) Front row: Betty Chavarria, Julia Barajas, Priscella Vega. Back row: Robert Meeks, John Canalis, Joseph Serna

Bradley Zint was the Daily FortyNiner editor in chief for the 200708 school year.

After graduation, he worked as a reporter and editor in Massachusetts, Alaska and Orange County for a decade before transitioning to the non-newspaper world. He still keeps a foot in the news game, however, as a freelance writer.

By Bradley Zint Editor in Chief Class of 2008

T

he majority of my full-time journalism career was spent covering community news. This job usually isn’t glamorous and doesn’t get glorified in movies, but it’s what many journalists actually do.

Yet, even in those small acts of daily reporting, you can make a difference.

That happened to me in 2013 when I was a Daily Pilot beat reporter covering the Orange County fairgrounds. I overheard how fairgrounds administrators wanted to tear down a World War II-era building so they could expand the Pacific Amphitheatre. Herein was a classic case of out with the old and in with the new.

I have an affinity for old buildings, and

I figured the structure, formally known as the Memorial Gardens Building, had a history that needed to be told before it was gone forever. So I got to work.

With some help from the Costa Mesa Historical Society, community old-timers and old Los Angeles Times newspaper clippings, I dug in. It turned out that the Memorial Gardens Building was named after a veterans memorial garden that had been torn out in the 1980s. Several events had taken place inside the building over the years, including the first-ever veterans reunion of Santa Ana Army Air Base, decades of fairgrounds administrative meetings and, one time, Dr. Entomo’s Palace of Exotic Wonders.

I spent weeks reporting and one furious night alone in the newsroom writing thousands of words to make my deadline. The final product had one main piece and two sidebars alongside historical photographs.

When I started reporting the story, I figured my work would be an ode to

a historic building destined for the bulldozer. I never imagined it changing fate. But that’s what happened.

My newspaper stories influenced enough people, including an Orange County supervisor, to start re-thinking the original bulldozing plan. That’s when the impossible happened. Like magic, there suddenly arose the vision, the plan and the money to save the Memorial Gardens Building.

Nowadays, that structure is known as Heroes Hall, and it serves as Orange County’s premier veterans museum.

Before I started looking into the Memorial Gardens Building, there had been talk to have a veterans museum at the Orange County fairgrounds. But it was an unrealized idea until people started rallying around preserving these old barracks to put the museum in. And that rallying might never have sparked without the solitary interest of a reporter with an affinity for old places and hidden history.

Jason Clark is a page designer at the Los Angeles Times and works on everything from daily news to baseball special sections. He was the sports editor and designer at the Daily Forty-Niner from 2012 to 2014.

By Jason Clark Sports Editor & Designer Class of 2014

I

did not get the first job I applied for with the Daily Forty-Niner.

I wanted to be an assistant sports editor. I hoped to be more involved in the paper, and it seemed like a natural step up from covering the Long Beach State softball team as a staff writer. But as it turned out, nobody had applied to be the sports editor. I destroyed an awesome schedule of only Tuesday and Thursday classes to take that job instead.

While I was at the 49er, I did everything I thought a sports editor might do: manage a staff of reporters, edit their stories, and cover some of the more fun sports myself. But the bigger impact on my life came from the things I didn’t expect.

During my first summer on staff, I went to the CSU Office of the Chancellor to cover a Board of Trustees meeting as a favor to the editor in chief.

Believe it or not, attending a Board of Trustees meeting is nothing like covering a basketball game. I was bored to tears, missed half of what was said and turned in a story that was unremarkable at best.

But that experience made me realize I had a long way to go if I ever wanted to have a career in journalism—as it turns out, the best sports reporters are the ones who can tackle hard news just as effectively. So I volunteered to work with the managing editor on a story about a student who got a little too excited during a protest at the Office of the Chancellor and shattered a big glass door. He got a hefty restitution bill, and I got another byline on a news story, but the most important prize was the quality time I got to spend with the managing editor—a girl I eventually married.

I also never expected to get into

page design, but one of the advisers kept insisting I take the media design course. I eventually gave in and enjoyed it so much that I started designing pages at the Daily Forty-Niner.

Those pages and that adviser’s recommendation helped me land an internship at the Los Angeles Times, which ultimately gave me my current job as a sports and news designer. Apparently it doesn’t hurt to try new things. You never know what you’ll be good at.

I owe much of my life as it is now to the 49er. Without it, I never would have received the training or guidance I needed to work at the LA Times. I also wouldn’t have met my wife.

COM | @DAILY49ER | STAFF@DAILY49ER.COM

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O THE LOS ANGELES TIMES Betty Chavarria is a 2013 graduate of CSULB. She has worked at the Southern California News Group and USA Today’s Gannett Design Studio in Nashville, and is currently an A1 and advanced projects designer at the Los Angeles Times. She still resides in Long Beach with her husband and daughter.

By Betty Chavarria Design Director Class of 2013

I

t seems like almost yesterday that I walked down the old steps to the dungeon. For newer journalism students, they will never know the pleasures of obnoxiously green walls, the fish bowl shaped editor in chief office, and the feeling of being completely closed off to the world in the basement of the Social Science/Public Affairs building. Our old newsroom wasn’t the prettiest, but it was a place full of late nights, friendship and many, many rants.

I was the design director at the time, so I had a lot of fun during the big news moments of the time. The first time I got really excited about a page was in October 2012 when the Space Shuttle Endeavor trekked through the streets of Los Angeles as it made its way to the California Science Center.

Our photographer at the time, Stefan Agregado, got an amazing photograph of the shuttle flown in on the back of another plane. It was an astonishing photograph, and I knew it needed to run big.

That day I broke away from the design template and got out of the photo’s way. It ran six columns, with the flag on the photo and the headline “Endeavour to the end.” Gary Metzker, our design advisor, was excited. The newsroom was excited. The whole city was excited about the shuttle! It was the first time I felt the joy and rush of archiving big moments in history on paper. I was hooked.

The following month was the presidential election. Obama’s second term was on the line and we were prepared to stay up all night for results. It was the first time I was eligible to vote, and I was also covering my first election, so I was giddy with excitement.

As it got late, the results started to pour in, and the photography staff started sending art from the watch party at the Nugget Grill & Pub. The students were captured screaming and roaring in the photographs, but I didn’t have much time to get excited. I had to get them on the page!

I had the page preset up, because although we had an extended deadline, I still had a deadline to make. Photos, captions, copy, headlines, BOOM. It was ready for my editor in chief to look over. Another exciting first for me as a designer. It would be an addictive rush that I would be a part of every four years in my professional life.

My time at the Forty-Niner prepared me for my professional life in my more ways than I could count. It taught me to be dedicated, resilient and to work my hardest for the readers’ benefit. But it also granted me friendships that I can’t imagine my life without. They were at my wedding, they visited me when I moved out of state, and they were there when I had my firstborn.

The 49er granted me many great experiences that I’ll cherish forever. I only wish future students knew the joys of a dingy basement newsroom with green walls and a fishbowl office.

In her article, Betty Chavarria writes about her experience designing the 49er print when Space Shuttle Endeavor made its way through LA to the California Space Center in 2012.

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POSTING UP WITH THE 49ER

Valerie Osier found her love for journalism while at Riverside Community College and graduated from the CSULB journalism program in 2017. She started as a freelancer for the Long Beach Press Telegram and shortly thereafter became a reporter for the Daily Breeze before joining the Long Beach Post. She loves telling people’s stories, getting out of her comfort zone and experimenting with different ways to tell those stories and engage the community.

By Valerie Osier News Editor Class of 2017

T Photo Courtesy of VALERIE OSIER Valerie Osier was news editor at the 49er and graduated in 2017.

he first big story I worked on will always stick with me for many reasons: It was the first time I experienced the nuances of telling multiple sides of a heated debate, it was the first of many times that reporting really informed my own opinions and changed them and it was the first time I saw how journalism can actually make people think, feel and act.

The story, written in the fall of 2015, was called “No paperwork, no pay: Student president goes unpaid without documentation.”

It was about how the Associ-

ated Students Inc. president Jose Salazar couldn’t legally get paid for his job as president because he was undocumented. He had a side job that impeded on his presidential duties. We heard about it from another reporter who was involved in some of the organizations that were supporting him.

The first interview with the student president initially had me feeling bad for the guy, but then I interviewed the vice president, who was also undocumented. She explained to me that she was able to get paid because she had DACA— and she and others in ASI all but took Salazar to the post office to turn his paperwork in.

I won’t get all the way into it, but the story had a lot of nuance and a lot of different sides. I learned how to navigate that as a reporter. I also learned a lot about the immigra-

tion system and how much it costs people who are subject to it.

After the story was published, I started to see how journalism could make an impact. I covered ASI Senate every week, and usually I was one of a handful of people in the audience. At the first meeting the Senate was supposed to vote on a proposal that would change the ASI executives’ pay structure, the Senate chambers overflowed with people— some even holding my article.

I asked one guy, “What brought you here?” and he replied, “I read about this in the paper, and I wanted to see what would happen.”

That’s when I realized the true power of my job, and when I realized I wanted to work in journalism, specifically local journalism.

I can’t believe I’m lucky enough to still get to do that job today.

Stephanie Rivera is the diversity and immigration reporter for the Long Beach Post. A Southern California native, she has been reporting on the region for close to a decade. She graduated from CSULB with a bachelor’s degree in journalism and minor in political science in 2011.

By Stephanie Rivera Video Director Class of 2011

I

found my way to the Daily Forty-Niner newsroom by going down a dark and mysterious stairway I never knew existed in the Social Science/Public Administration building. Barb Kingsley-Wilson, one of my first journalism professors, led me to the dungeon after I expressed interest in broadcast.

It was there that I met a small but mighty crew in the newsroom creating a new video section, Beach News. I learned how to shoot, edit and produce my own news segments and newscasts with green screens, lowtech cameras (We later upgraded!) and Final Cut Pro. My stories then were surprisingly similar to the ones I tell today: about community, politics, diversity. I even told a few stories in Spanish through Beach News en Español! I recently searched through the archives of the Daily Forty-Niner Youtube channel and am simultaneously proud and embarrassed of my work (Oh those cheesy reporter stand-ups!).

While I produced video content I also got to write for the paper, at times converting my video stories into print content. Overtime, my interest in doing journalism grew across all platforms.

One of my favorite print stories was when I was asked to follow a group of Reserve Officers’ Training Corp students on their weekend trip to Camp Pendleton. I took photos and talked to students from various Southern California colleges who were there for the weekend. I slept in bunk beds with them, ate MREs with them and even joined in some of their training.

Regrettably, I did not fully comprehend social media back then, or about building your voice. It was 2010-11 and still a few years before any of us would fully understand and appreciate the madness that is Twitter. And was Instagram even a thing back then? Who knows.

I can honestly say, though, that working for the Daily Forty-Niner was as much a real job for me as any other position in the industry. I learned so much and am thankful for the guidance I received along the way.

It really is how they say: you get out what you put in.

Photos Courtesy of STEPHANIE RIVERA Christine Romeo-Chan, Angela Diaz and Stephanie Rivera (top) on graduation day 2011. The former newsroom (above) team in 2011.

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John F. Kennedy and his wife Jackie Kennedy driving through Dallas, Texas minutes before his assassination. Mary Hinds, a freshman 49er staffer was tasked with covering the breaking news for the paper.

‘I HAD NO BUSINESS WRITING A STORY LIKE THAT’ Mary Hinds, class of 1967, reflects on writing about JFK’s assassination as a college freshman with little writing experience and the tight pressure of a deadline.

By Hannah Getahun Special Projects Editor Class of 2021

A

s the nation reacted with bewilderment and shock as they were faced with the news of President John F. Kennedy’s assassination, Mary Hinds, was called upon to write the story of the campus on that somber November day.

At the time, Hinds had just begun writing for the paper as a freshman, and was called upon to write the story for the Daily Forty-Niner. Hinds, now retired, worked for the Press-Telegram and in radio for years after she left the paper. However, her career as a serious news writer began here. The Daily Forty-Niner spoke with Hinds about her experience writing about such a historic moment, the campus shock of the day and whether or not she still keeps up with the 49er.

What was the Daily Forty-Niner like in 1963?

It pretty much was what it is today. They had the sections and reporters assigned to beats we had editors. It was run like a daily college newspaper. It was a pretty big operation it was sophisticated. I’m sure you’ve heard of Dixon Gayer [who died at 92 in 2010]. He had been a working newspaper writer so he ran it as if he were actually at a newspaper. You came in and out of the newsroom, you met with your editor, you came to meetings and you got credit for the class but the class never met.

What was it like covering such an important story?

I got the story because there wasn’t anybody else to do it. This is the way many people get things in life, you kind of stumble into it. We got the news in the morning because we are on the West Coast and most people are here in the morning— that’s when most classes are held— and I happened to be in the newsroom and there really wasn’t anyone else to write it.

I was 18 years old, I had no business writing a story like that but that was it.

We were all in shock because it was very hard to believe. At that time in the early ‘50s and ‘60s, when

you lived on the West Coast— I think it’s almost impossible for people my age to understand this—communication in the country was not what it is. It was not instantaneous. There was the nightly news, but that was a half-hour and that was it. You know we had the Los Angeles Times, but when you lived on the West Coast you felt divorced from the rest of the country. It felt like that stuff was there we did have seasons and everything is written for snow and falling leaves and all this stuff. You lived on your own little island when you lived on the West Coast. Still, he was our president, but it was still like it was happening to somebody else. And we were all in shock, and it wasn’t coming at us like it does now where you look on the television and you look on the internet.

People were getting bits and pieces about it. The very first time I heard about it I was on my way to the newspaper office because I had to do something else, and some people in front of me were watching me going is he dead did he die and I thought oh that’s kind of weird. I thought they were maybe talking about somebody they knew personally. I went into the office and they told us what had happened and off we went to write the story.

Were you nervous?

Oh yeah! Six months before that I had been in high school. I was really nervous. Also, it was very focused because we had to get a paper out the next day with it. They said this had to be done and I knew that I had to track down people. When you’re under pressure you focus and as I moved on in life and talked to people that were in similar writing situations, I find that’s what you do. All this stuff is happening, but you have to block out the external input and put a story together. And with a story like this, it had to be perfect…I had to cut out all the energy and noise swirling around me.

How did the students on campus react?

Everybody was in shock. We have been the generation that had this golden childhood. Our parents had been through the war. They had been used to these dramatic, traumatic things happening. But we’d grown up in this lovely Southern California 1950s and early-60s world with sunshine and the beach and nothing bad had happened. [The] Vietnam [War] had kind of [started to happen]. Korea

had happened but that was a little bit different. This is like the very first dramatic, traumatic incident in our lives that was universal. People were in shock.

No one could believe it had happened. They shut the school down [that day] and sent everybody home.

Did students respond to your piece?

No, because my piece was a part of the bigger experience that people had…But that taught me as a journalist. I learned from that story to capture.

What you’re writing is more than just information you’re providing a snapshot of history. I didn’t realize it at the time that when you are writing about historical events, your first obligation is to write the facts. Your second obligation is to produce a snapshot of what it was like then so that historians can use this.

I’m really proud of it because I keep thinking back on it and I was a college freshman. I had been in college for four months. I had no business writing this story, but I was the only one who could do it.

Now, I’m really flattered Dixon Gayer and the editors had faith in my writing skills, I had been writing long enough that they knew what I could produce. The paper in those days, it was run like a real newsroom and you hung out in the newsroom if you weren’t in class and people were in there all day long and you worked on your stories in the newsroom. They knew who could write what…so when I look back on it, it was the first serious professional piece I had ever produced. Had never really done something that was a serious grown-up piece. That’s why I save it. I also save it for its historical context.

Do you still keep up with the 49er?

Oh yeah absolutely. I was married to a marine and we spent 30 years cruising the world. We came back and I bought a house one-mile from where I grew up in boring old Bixby Knolls and I dove back into Long Beach. I’ve been on the board for a bunch of nonprofits and I do volunteer work, and…if they find out you’re not only a writer but [work at] newspapers and radio, [they say] you can do the [public relations]. I kept up with the paper that way because I had to as part of my volunteer job. I’ve sent [the Daily Forty-Niner] a bunch of press releases over the years… and you guys run them!

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Tune in every Monday morning to Beach Weekly, a news and sports podcast by the Daily Forty-Niner at Long Beach State.

Get your weekly news update at the Beach with veteran host Hannah Getahun and her new partner Perry Continente. Join them as they discuss the biggest headline of the week.

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Spill the Tea is a weekly section for students to share their opinions and make their voices heard. Long Beach State students answer questions that can range from the silly to the political. We at the Daily Forty-Niner value the diverse opinions of the CSULB student body and look forward to you sharing them with us. This week our staff weighs in on their experiences with the paper.

Staff Report

Q: What is your most memorable story/podcast/video?

Q: One story you wrote that didn’t go as planned?

Name: Paula Kiley Position: Multimedia Manager

Name: Aubrey Balster Position: Video Editor

Name: Hannah Getahun Position: Special Projects Editor

Name: Manuel Valladares Position: Asst. Sports Editor

“Last semester, I did this story about a father and son and their urban farm in the middle of Garden Grove, and the idea behind it was to make it this multimedia package that focused heavily on visuals to support the story. It was a bit of an undertaking, but I didn’t do it alone. I had Hannah and Austin. It got nominated for a Pacemaker award. It was the first time I did a longer form of video, which was something I have always wanted to experiment with. We took our time with the story, so we got to know the subjects of the story really well.”

“My first ever video for the Daily Forty-Niner was on a retiring chemistry professor and he was known for his outlandish experiments. I had a really fun time filming his final experiment here at CSULB and the video did really well. It got pretty good engagement and people were commenting on their experiences with him as their professor. It felt pretty good to be a part of his farewell from CSULB.”

“Last semester, I pitched this coyote story because one of my friends said he had seen a coyote on campus. I, being the idiot that I am, thought that was out of the ordinary. I was super determined to write this story. As time went by, I got less motivated, to the point where I didn’t want to do the story anymore. One night at 1 a.m., I left the newsroom and drove

by Minnie Gant Elementary. Out of nowhere, I saw a coyote and was like ‘Oh my god, I need to get a photo!’

That moment reinspired me, and I finished the story in a week and a half.

The photo was terrible, but so far the story has great reviews.”

“There was a story I was working on where I intended to chronicle women’s sports. It was a big task.

I started off with interviews with former basketball players and a journalist. Once I started doing that I realized how much work I would have to put myself through. I tried to find more interviews, but people were either not available, not as helpful or it was hard to meet with them. I ended up making a decent story where I talked to some of the most successful teams in the women’s program, but it wasn’t what I intended it to be. I am kind of glad.

It saved me a lot of stress and a lot of time.”

Name: Perry Continente Position: Opinions Editor

Name: Emma Carlsen Position: Podcast Editor

Name: Alejandro Vazquez Position: Design Editor

Name: Rachel Barnes Position: News Editor

“My most memorable story is reporting on the campus lockdown , it was eerie being out there all by myself and I helped break news that was extremely important to the CSULB community. One story that didn’t go as planned was any of my ASI articles where nothing happened. Those were pretty lame.”

“Creation Lab with Suzane Jlelati was the most memorable piece I collaborated on because it was a bit of an experimental format for the podcast. This semester we have never done an arts and life podcast, so that was a difficult experience because it was a challenge to put all these pieces together. Essentially, it was about an artist who made metal and jewelry so we had sounds of the blow torch going off and of sandpaper and saws. [Suzane and I] included a few of those sounds in the podcast to try and bring the audience into the story a little more.”

“As the design editor, I really do not write as often as I should. With that said, I have had one article published in the Daily Forty-Niner and that article is the worst thing I have ever written. Literally a mess. I loved my sources and everything, but it was just the execution that I hated. It didn’t go as planned because I didn’t focus enough on one angle and it was all over the place. I tend to have issues with delivery and making my focus clear.”

“I went in to start interviewing facilities for an accessibility piece that I was writing and I was expecting to hear about school being behind on accessibility. What I got from my sources is that they actually worked really hard on the issue of accessibility for all aspects of campus.

They have the whole committee for it, and it was surprising because I kept hearing the bad things about accessibility on campus. But I guess it is not that bad.”

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