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SPC picks top editors

Rodriguez elected for Daily Cougar helm; Grubbs heads for third year 
at 'Houstonian'

Cougar News Staff

In its last and most attended meeting of the year, the Student Publications Committee, which oversees the Student Publications Department, elected the editors in chief for The Daily Cougar and the Houstonian yearbook Thursday.

Jim McCormick/The Daily Cougar

In a 3-2 vote, the committee elected Managing Editor Geronimo Rodriguez to the newspaperis top position. Christian Schmidt, a staff writer who has also served in various section editor positions, also vied for the position.

"This is what I set out to do. From here on Iim just looking to build a staff," Rodriguez said after the meeting. Rodriguez said heis looking at the example set by the editors before him, and he "hopes to continue what theyive done."

After hearing the results of the election, Schmidt later said he looked forward to working with Rodriguez and was considering applying for another editorial position for next fall.

"Thereis not a doubt in my mind that Geronimo will make a good editor," he said.

In their presentations to the committee, both candidates emphasized the experience theyive had working for the paper, though Rodriguez was able to use his experience this semester as second-in-command to further persuade the committee. 

Rodriguez also expressed a commitment to filling the staff with fresh membership while emphasizing the necessity of meeting deadlines.

"My goal is to consistently meet deadlines without compromising the quality of the paper," he said. 

In his presentation afterward, Schmidt said The Daily Cougar "is a great product," that he believed "needed to continue to be pushed in that direction," saying the news section needed to be expanded.

Ashley Grubbs was the only candidate for the Houstonian editor in chief position and was accepted unanimously by the board. This will be Grubbsi third year serving as the yearbookis head.

In her presentation to the committee as a candidate, Grubbs said she was looking into the feasibility of producing a spring book -- that is, a yearbook that is published in time to be distributed at the end of the semester, before graduation.

"A spring book would make our deadlines much earlier, but it would put a book into studentsi hands before they graduate," Grubbs said. She said that in previous years, while some 300 students order a book, more than 100 of those are left behind.

In her department report to the committee, Grubbs said she had accepted the burden to work this yearis academics section of the book. That particular section has suffered several editors stepping down from the job. Rather than try to hire someone this late in the year, Grubbs said, she decided to take the job herself.

In other committee business, the production department report, given by production manager Kelly Truitt, indicated The Daily Cougaris online archive server had been repaired after several weeks of difficulties.
 

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