THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, February 17, 1995 TAG: 9502170075
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JOE MARINO, HIGH SCHOOL CORRESPONDENT
LENGTH: Long : 129 lines
IF ANY GROUP OF people knows what it's like to be left out, it's teenagers. In a country where one's opinion starts counting at the voting booth, millions of teenagers' concerns go unaddressed.
Yet in most American high schools, students do have an outlet: They are speaking out in the school newspaper, learning the value of the First Amendment.
But there is a diversity - disparity even - between journalism programs. In Hampton Roads, some school papers have to use glue and scissors and resort to selling candy to finance publication. Others have full funding and new computers.
Funding, staffers say, greatly determines the quality of a newspaper. But support from school officials and the staff's creativity also determine whether a paper is a must-read or considered a waste of money.
Pizza for papers
At Lakeland High School in Suffolk, Tidal Waves receives no school funding. Fund-raisers - selling ads, candy, and occasionally, pizza - generate about $2,500 each year. Under sponsor Sue B. Ardelji, a 20-page tabloid-size paper is published quarterly.
``We're constantly looking for money,'' Ardelji said. ``We take whatever we can get and just piece it together.''
Staffers use a combination of technology and glue. Articles are typed on Word Perfect and then cut and pasted into layouts. The equipment cannot print type large enough for headlines, so staffers enlarge them on a copier.
Last year, the staff had its own work space - an 8-by-10-foot former ticket booth - for the first time. This year, though, staffers are homeless again.
This does not discourage students, who take an eight-week lesson in photography in addition to the journalism course. The Virginia Commission of the Arts chipped in $300 to Tidal Waves to help pay for the photo class.
After completing Ardelji's class, some students return to help with the paper on their own time. Staffers also try to raise extra money to buy something new for the next year's classes, like cameras or computer equipment. AN ABSENCE OF MONEY
Newspaper staffers at Booker T. Washington High School in Norfolk say funding is their main problem. They don't get school funds, and they don't have their own computer. They work on the newspaper whenever they can - in class, after school, on weekends or at home.
``The lack of resources really affects the quality of our newspaper,'' said Clarion staffer Derek Henry. ``It's hard to get things done when you don't have the proper equipment to do it with. It really holds us down.''
Clarion sponsor June Klag has taught news production at Booker T. for four years. Her staff sometimes types articles on home computers or typewriters.
Yet her students manage to put out a 16- to 24-page paper, sometimes as often as five times a year.
To raise funds, The Clarion staffers sell balloons, Christmas ornaments, newspaper subscriptions and personal ads. Sometimes they ask students for donations. AIMING HIGH
At Bayside High in Virginia Beach, the journalism program has a new sponsor, new computer equipment and a new design.
Shore Lines is now sponsored by Sheila L. Cooper, sponsor of Bayside's award-winning literary magazine. For Cooper, taking control of Shore Lines comes at an opportune time. Last year, the newspaper staff used old IBM compatible computers that malfunctioned often, leading to missed deadlines. This year, Bayside's journalism department received six new Macintosh computers, a color scanner and a high-resolution printer.
The new equipment, which is shared with the yearbook staff, was supplied by the city and is worth around $10,000, but publication has been delayed while students learn to use the equipment.
The school gave the paper $100 for the year; each issue costs between $450 to $800. This year, due to intense ad sales, Shore Lines will be distributed free to students and faculty.
The changes are ``to raise Shore Lines to a higher level,'' Cooper said. ``I want it to become the award-winning paper that it once was.'' FULLY FUNDED
The idea of selling ads to produce a free school paper is nothing new at Cox High in Virginia Beach.
``We give the paper away to all students and staff,'' said sponsor Susan H. Buchanan. ``We also give it away at the (middle) schools that feed into Cox.''
Cox used to rely entirely on advertisements for funding. But this year, The Falcon Press received funding from the school - about $2,000.
But to produce 12-page editions, staffers still sell advertisements. Otherwise, the paper would only be eight pages.
They share a room with a speech class, a special ed class and peer tutoring sessions. Everything is cool, except the computers and the printer, which malfunction. Last year, for example, the system crashed and erased an entire section on deadline.
``We ask for new equipment, but we don't get any,'' said Falcon Press editor John Craven. ``We're restricted to a conservative layout because of it.'' PRIVATE PRESS
At Norfolk Collegiate School the newspaper is distributed free - it's included in the tuition. The Oak Leaf staff also gets full funding, an amount that varies with each issue.
However, there is no classroom for the paper and no journalism class. The seven-member staff submits articles between classes. Staffers work after school in art rooms or lay out the paper on the floor of other classrooms.
Newspaper sponsor Robert L. Payne, who has taught English at Norfolk Collegiate for 19 years, says the staff is pretty dedicated. Also, he says, the quality of the paper is noticeably better, and stories are getting more controversial.''
While most Hampton Roads schools provide some support for school newspapers, it is not the case nationally.
Alice Bonner, of the Freedom Forum in Arlington, said, ``In the national picture, journalism is not highly valued in high school curriculums. The schools don't give their newspapers many resources.
``But high school journalism is very important,'' she added. ``It helps students to understand the importance of the media in a free society. The teaching of young people to value their First Amendment rights is missing in many high school curriculums. It's tragic.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
Joe Marino
Graphic
K. Newman/Staff
How School Newspapers Rank as an Extracurricular Activity
Source: Gallup, 1989
[For complete graphic, please see microfilm]
by CNB