Sarah Hutchins | Oct. 19, 2007
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| Photo by Sarah Hutchins |
| Chapter president, senior Alberto Morales, talks to prospective members about the benefits of SPJ. |
Officers renamed the organization the IU/David L. Adams Memorial Chapter and plan on creating a tribute to Adams on the newly redesigned Web site, said Alberto Morales, IU SPJ chapter president. Adams died suddenly in June.
“David Adams wanted us to be really strong with lots of members,” Morales said. “He wanted to help students get jobs. That’s really what his whole goal was.”
IU SPJ held an informational meeting on Wednesday night to recruit new members. As of Wednesday, the group had 42 members, a significant increase from seven members in January. However, Morales said the goal is to have 70 members by the end of the spring.
In early October, Morales, along with IU SPJ officers Erin Riley, James Brosher and Ben Weller and faculty adviser David Boeyink, attended the SPJ national conference in Washington, D.C.
“Before D.C., we didn’t know what to do,” Morales said. “I didn’t know how to be president. It was really scary and when Dean [Brad] Hamm funded us to go. It was like a breath of fresh air.”
At the conference, SPJ officers were able to network with professional journalists and learn how to expand the IU program.
“We learned how to increase our membership,” said Erin Riley, vice president for member services. “We just learned so much from being there.”
At the call-out meeting, Morales and Riley explained the advantages of being an SPJ member and announced plans for the upcoming year.
“They say that the journalism job market is really hard right now,” Morales said. “But it’s not going to be for IU students because we have so many programs like career services and SPJ to teach you how to be aggressive.”
The chapter plans to host seminars about preparing a resume and interviewing for a job or internship. Morales also hopes to hold a lecture on investigative reporting and a panel on the Jena 6 case. In addition to these professional opportunities, Morales says IU SPJ will host movie and pizza nights.
According to Morales, IU SPJ is currently working on a free press bill in Indiana. If passed, the bill will help protect high schools, colleges and advisers from censorship. The IU chapter also plans on networking more closely with the Indianapolis professional SPJ chapter.
The student membership fee is $36. Members meet the first and third Friday of the month at 3:15 p.m. Students interested in becoming members should contact Erin Riley.
“The biggest thing that SPJ offers you is eventually a job or an internship and that’s what we’re here for,” Riley said. “We’re here to work for each other and network with each other and try to get jobs. That’s the big problem right now, trying to get jobs.”
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