In Fall 2006, I came across the year’s first issue (below) and decided to join the student newspaper as Layout Editor. By Spring, I had taken over as Editor-in-Chief. In the next year, I recruited some great students and we transformed the Clayton State University newspaper, The Bent Tree, into Bent Tree News (right).
In this issue we interviewed promising seniors, tackled domestic violence, highlighted the diversity on campus through awesome visuals, and covered Clayton State students’ involvement in the AIDS Walk, sports, costume contest, theater and a beauty pageant. December 12, 2007 (pdf).
Here are some of the other issues we created along the way. First we created a new logo and updated the look of the original paper (below). Then we tried a bolder design with a new logo and name (right). The new name, Bent Tree News, was chosen to work better with our new website.
In this issue we profiled a theatre student’s rise to local fame, reported on the addition of sexuality as a protected status for university employment, exposed a financial aid process that, when corrected, increased awards for several students, and covered a campus dialog about the Jena 6. October 10, 2007 (pdf)
In this issue we focused on the upcoming SGA elections with debate coverage and in depth interviews. April 2, 2007 (pdf)
In this issue we uncovered a controversial tactic used in our student body elections, profiled Barack Obama’s primary rally in Atlanta, and introduced the campus to the plans for campus housing. May 1, 2007 (pdf)