At the Trumansburg Veterans' Sanctuary

Check out the latest New York Times piece by Lauren DeCicca ’11. 

Fall Awards Wrap-Up

Editor in Chief Kelsey
O'Connor and Webmaster
Honest Charley Bodkin
at the Fall National
College Media Convention

The academic year began well on the external-recognition front. This fall’s award parade started with The Ithacan being presented with the Mark of Excellence Award for Best All-Around Non-Daily Newspaper in the country (announced back in April) at the Society of Professional Journalists’ national convention on Sept. 22 in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
Then at the end of October, The Ithacan was honored with the Online Pacemaker Award for 2012 at the Fall National College Media Convention in Chicago. The Pacemakers are the highest honors awarded by the Associated Collegiate Press and are widely regarded as “the Pulitzer Prize of collegiate journalism.” The Ithacan website has won the Pacemaker Award five times in the past seven years. The paper’s website was also awarded second place in the convention’s on-site Best in Show competition. 

In addition, the print edition of the paper was presented with a Newspaper Pacemaker Finalist Award at the convention and won second place in its category in the Best in Show competition as well. 
Finally, in a combined newspaper/website critique, The Ithacan was named a Gold Medalist for both the Fall 2011 and Spring 2012 semesters in the Columbia Scholastic Press Association’s annual college publication critique.
Among the judge’s comments for the fall semester: “When a reader picks up the newspaper, the stories and design, the complete package are so compelling, that he feels he must read almost every story before putting the paper down.” And for the spring semester he began, “I've run out of superlatives.”
Each year the CSPA evaluates member papers on overall content news, depth reporting, features, opinion/editorial, sports, arts/entertainment, editing/headline writing, and design/graphics based on more than 150 specific criteria. This year the paper’s scores on the critique’s 1,000-point scale were 954 for the fall semester and 961 for the spring. The CSPA consistently ranks The Ithacan as a Gold Medalist, its highest category.

Sami Khan’s ‘Kursk’ Video

The legendary Sami Khan ’02 recently wrote and directed the official music video for “Kursk” by the Brooklyn band KNTRLR. Says Sami, "The movie is inspired by old Soviet movies and even older Soviet submarines.” You need to watch this. Check it out.

Lindsey Hollenbaugh Gets Married

The Ithacan crew: front row, from left, Allie Musante ’10, Andrew Weiser ’11, Lindsey Hollenbaugh ’10, Michelle Barrie ’10; back row, from left, Libby Sile ’11, Jackie Palochko ’11, Michelle Bizon ’11, Casey Musarra ’11.

After a two-year engagement, former Editor in Chief Lindsey Hollenbaugh ’10 and Lenny Griesemer were married Sept. 8 in a Catholic ceremony in Troy, N.Y. A reception followed at Crystal Cove in Averill Park. “We all danced for hours,” writes Jackie Palochko ’11. “Lindsey’s college buddies were recognized with the song, “Party in the U.S.A.” And yes, Casey pulled out her Michael Jackson dance moves.”

Movin’ on Up

Some recent job changes among Ithacan alumni: 
Aaron Edwards ’12 is now a News Producer at Digital First Media in New York.
Charlie Ellsworth ’04 is now a Senior Advisor at Baker & Hostetler, LLP in Washington, D.C.
Lindsey Hollenbaugh Griesemer ’10 is Online News Editor at the Glens Falls (N.Y.) Post-Star.
Erica Hendry ’09 has been promoted to Associate Regional Editor for Patch.com in Virginia.
Andrew Lovell ’08 has been promoted to Associate News Editor at ESPN.
Casey Musarra ’11 is now a Multimedia Sports Reporter at Newsday on Long Island.
Jackie Palochko ’11 is now a Reporter at the Keene (N.H.) Sentinel.

Family Guy

Juliet and Mike Cagnazzi do a shift at the front desk.

Mike Cagnazzi ’97 stopped in at the Ithacan office at the end of September to catch up and show off his beautiful family. He’s currently Vice President of Product Development at AMC Networks in New York. 

Summer Wrap-Up

We always say that getting involved with The Ithacan is more like becoming part of a family than being a member of an organization, and few things provide better evidence of that than the continuing connections among our alumni. This year's summer gathering of Washington, D.C., Ithacan alumni was held at our usual venue, the Old Ebbitt Grill on June 23. There were about 20 of us this year, and the food and company were great, as always. Among the usual crowd were Rob Bluey ’01, Ann Walters Custer ’05, Roger Custer ’04, Caitlin Connelly Ellsworth ’05, Charlie Ellsworth ’04, Brenda Ludwig Geraghty ’03, Joe Geraghty ’04, Erica Hendry ’09, Rachel Berlin Moir ’00 along with her husband Michael, Elizabeth Quill ’06, Max Steinmetz ’08 and Nate Weixel ’08. 
Joining us this year for the first time were recently married Kate Sheppard ’06 and her husband Deen Freelon; recent grad Alexandra Palombo ’11, who was interning at American Bridge PAC; assistant New York Times national editor Jill Agostino ’86, who was in D.C. at the Times' Washington bureau for a couple of weeks; and Kacey Deamer ’13, who was interning with Kate Sheppard at Mother Jones for the summer.

With Benjamin Bluey

Unfortunately, Melissa Bloomrose Bluey ’00 couldn't make it to the dinner — after all, someone has to take care of the kids, and it was apparently her turn. Note wanting to miss her or young Ben, to say nothing of meeting young Luke for the first time, I drove down to Alexandria the next day. Luke was adorable and Ben was full of energy. 

From left, Max Steinmetz, Erica
Hendry, Andy Swift, Erin Geismar and Byard Duncan.

A week later the 2009 Fight Club crew met in New York to reunite with Byard Duncan ’09 on one his visits from the West Coast. Erin Geismar ’09, Erica Hendry ’09, Max Steinmetz ’08 (honorary member) and Andy Swift ’09 made it in for a fun evening of food and libation. Jen Nevins ’09 and Edon Ophir ’09 couldn't make it, and were very much missed.

Vanessa Schneider

Six weeks later I was passing through the city again, on my way home from two weeks in the Baltic, and was able to meet up with Vanessa Schneider ’07, who was in New York from San Francisco on Google Business. She's doing media outreach for Google Maps and Google Earth.

From left, Kelsey O'Connor, Erica Hendry, Lara Bonner and
Erin Geismar.

Finally, summer unofficially ended on Labor Day weekend, when a group of Ithacan alumni and friends, frustrated by the cancellation of the annual Ithaca Brew Fest this year while Ithaca Brewery worked on building its new facility, decided to come to town and stage an Ithacan Brew Fest of their own. Among the former Ithacan personnel were Kara Cusolito ’08, Lydia Dimitriadis ’08, Erin Geismar ’09, Erica Hendry ’09, Andrew Lovell ’08, Aaron Munzer ’08, Max Steinmetz ’08. Current Editor in Chief Kelsey O'Connor ’13 and Managing Editor Lara Bonner ’12 joined the party as well, connecting with past generations of Ithacan leadership. The weather was beautiful. It was a perfect end to the summer.

Alumni and Chicken: What Could Be Better?

In Washington for my annual summer visit with alumni. Last night, I had dinner with Joe and Brenda Geraghty (’04 and ’03, respectively) and Charlie and Caitlin Connelly Ellsworth (’04 and ’05) at Nando’s Peri-Peri near Dupont Circle. Joe and Brenda were off to Chicago today for a Geraghty family reunion, so this was the only chance to see them. They're living in D.C. for now, but in a couple of months they'll be taking off for Joe’s next State Department posting,  a two-year stint in Mexico City. I’ll be seeing Caitlin and Charlie again tonight at our group dinner at the Old Ebbitt Grill.

Tahleen Ties the Knot

A report from our wedding correspondent, Erica Hendry ’09 (sorry it took me so long to post it):
Former Ithacan managing editor Tahleen Ovian ’09 married Steven Shamlian on May 19, 2012, in front of a crowd of about 264 at St. Stephen’s Armenian Apostolic Church in Watertown, Mass. Tahleen looked stunning! The reception was held at the Boston Mariott Quincy, where former Ithacans learned and mastered several Armenian dances and got to start and share one of them with Tahleen at the end of the evening. The couple honeymooned in Hawaii.

From left, Former Ithacan photo editor Max Steinmetz ’08,
former editor in chief Erica R. Hendry ’09, bridesmaid and
 former copy editor Sara Bempkins ’09, former Accent and online
 media editor Andy Swift ’09 and former managing editor
 Tahleen Ovian Shamlian at the end of the evening.

Congratulations Class of 2012!

 The Ithacan said goodbye to four editorial board members and about a dozen staffers as they graduated this morning under sunny skies in Butterfield Stadium. They’ll be a hard act to follow. Congratulations to all our graduates, and may the Carrot of Enlightenment guide you to happiness.

Below, clockwise from top left: Editor in Chief Aaron Edwards, Sales Manager Derek Rogers, Sports Editor Kevin McCall and Year in Review Editor Whitney Faber.

The Best Editorial Board in the Country

Congratulations to this year’s Ithacan editorial board for producing the best weekly college newspaper in the country. And congratulations to graduating seniors Editor in Chief Aaron Edwards, Year in Review Editor Whitney Faber and Sports Editor Kevin McCall. You’ll be missed. 

Ithacan Senior Moments 2012

“Senior Moments,” a video capturing our graduating seniors’ reflections on their experience at The Ithacan, has become an annual tradition since Andy Swift made the first one in 2009. Here is this year’s edition, produced by juniors Kari Beal and Alexandra Evans.

Looking for Some Interesting Reading?

The Ithacan’s two special annual publications, Year in Review (our magazine-style wrap-up of the year’s news and views) and Lit: A Narrative Nonfiction Magazine, are now available online for your reading pleasure. You can click on the images above, or go to www.theithacan.org and scroll down to the bottom of the page for the links. Enjoy!

Living the Good Life

Curious about what 2008 grads Aaron Munzer and Kara Cusolito have been up to lately? Of course you are. Check out “Farm Foundation,” Kacey Deamer’s front page story in the final Ithacan issue of the year.

Ithacan Named Best in the Country

The Society of Professional Journalists has named The Ithacan the Best Non-Daily Newspaper in the Country in its annual Mark of Excellence Awards competition.
The award is for calendar year 2011 (Spring editor in chief Libby Sile ’11; Fall editor in chief Aaron Edwards ’12). Papers submitted issues on or near three dates specified by SPJ. This year’s issues submitted were published on March 3, October 6 and December 1, 2011. The Ithacan won First Place in SPJ’s Northeast Region in March, and then went on to compete against the winners in SPJ’s other 11 regions for the national award.
The award will be presented at SPJ’s national convention in September in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. SPJ is the largest professional organization of journalists in the country.
Congratulations to all the editors and staffers who made this the most successful year in the paper’s history.

Geismar Shows Communities “In Another LIght”

If you haven't been following “In Another Light,” the video interview series on Newsday’s website, you should definitely put it on your regular viewing list. Former Ithacan editor in chief Erin Geismar ’09, now a video journalist at Newsday, reveals the interesting and unusual stories of people in the Long Island communities she covers. A retail executive who is a former NFL player, a high school baseball star who had a brush with celebrity as an American Idol contestant and a Shelter Island bartender who doubles as a magician are among the characters whose stories she has presented. Click here to view Erin’s introduction to the series.

And Speaking of Turning Up in Interesting Places ...

Find the former Ithacan editor in chief in this picture. (Coolest former EIC gig ever!)
Greenville Derby Dames

You Just Never Know Where People Will Turn Up

That’s former assistant photo editor Carly Chamberlin Johann ’05 (third from left), whose field hockey stick is still a key fixture in the Ithacan office.

Ithacan Named Online Pacemaker Finalist

The spring college journalism award cycle has come to an end, but the fall cycle is already beginning. We've just learned that The Ithacan’s website is a finalist for the Online Pacemaker Award for 2012. Widely regarded as “the Pulitzer Prize of collegiate journalism,” the Pacemakers will be presented at the Fall National College Media Convention in Chicago at the end of October.
The website won the Online Pacemaker in 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2010, and was a finalist in 2009.

Stacey Coburn Marries Austin Williams

I love going to Ithacan weddings, so to have two of them just over a month apart has made this a great spring. The latest alum to get married was former Accent and news editor Stacey Coburn ’06, who tied the knot with Austin Williams on March 31 in a ceremony and reception at the Montauk Club in Brooklyn.

The bride walked down the aisle to the music of the Velvet Underground. The ceremony, presided over by Methodist Bishop Alfred Johnson from the Church of the Village, included readings by IC alums Emily Gallagher ’06 and Lara (Marshall) Lisbe ’06.

Stacey was an absolutely beautiful bride, and the reception was great fun. It was also good to catch up with Emily and Lara after a couple of years. Stacey was always one of my favorite students, and it was wonderful to be there and see her so happy. We also danced together, making her the only student I've ever danced with ... except Joe Geraghty 04, at his wedding. But that's another story.

Emily Gallagher reads a poem by
Pablo Neruda.

Lara Marshall Lisbe reads from the
Book of Romans.

Stacey presents the cake.

The Ithacan Has a New Editor in Chief

Kelsey O’Connor, a junior journalism major with minors in Italian, photography and anthropology, has been selected as the paper’s 2012–13 editor in chief. The appointment was made tonight at the annual meeting of the Ithaca College Board of Student Publications.

Currently the paper’s news editor, O’Connor has also served as assistant news editor and assistant photo editor. She has interned at Boston Magazine and worked as a freelancer for the Patch.com website in her hometown of Hamilton, Mass. Her one-year term begins at the conclusion of this academic year in May.

Ithacan Named Best in New York State

From left: Assistant News
Editor Erica Palumbo and
Proofreader Marissa Smith
at the NYPA Convention.

The New York Press Association has named The Ithacan the Best College Newspaper in New York State for 2011. The award was announced yesterday at the NYPA annual convention at the Gideon Putnam Hotel in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.  The award is the top honor in NYPA’s annual Better College Newspaper Competition. 
The paper was also awarded:

• First Place for Design
• Third Place for Editorial Writing

In addition, the following individuals won awards for their work:

• Graham Hebel ’13, First Place, Photography
• Emily Park, Second Place, Photography
• Chris Zivalich ’12, Second Place, Column Writing
• Patrick Feeney ’13, Second Place, News Writing
• Elma Gonzalez ’14, Third Place, Feature Writing

The awards were for papers published during the 2011 calendar year (Libby Sile ’11, spring semester editor in chief; Aaron Edwards ’12, fall semester editor in chief). This is the 10th time The Ithacan has been named best in the state in the past 12 years. 

Ithacan Named Best in Northeast

The Society of Professional Journalists has named The Ithacan the best non-daily student newspaper in the Northeast Region. The paper received the First Place Mark of Excellence Award on Saturday at the SPJ Region 1 Conference in Stony Brook, N.Y. The Ithacan now goes on to compete against the winners in the other 11 SPJ regions for the national Mark of Excellence Award. The winner will be announced at the SPJ national convention this fall. The SPJ is the largest professional organization or reporters and editors in the country.

In addition, the paper's website won third place for Best Affiliated Website. Aaron Edwards ’12 won second place in the Feature Writing category for “No Day But Today,” which appeared in the October 27, 2011, issue of The Ithacan; Taylor Long ’13 won third place in the Feature Writing category for “Rhythmic Roots,” which appeared in the paper‘s November 3, 2011, edition.

Beth Quill Addresses Park Scholar Finalists

Beth Quill ’06 with Park
Scholar Director Matt Fee
outside the Park Scholar office.

Beth Quill ’06 (editor in chief 2005–06) was on campus Sunday to appear as the alumni speaker at the Park Scholar Finalists Weekend dinner. She stopped by the Ithacan office to catch up and meet some current students. She just finished her fourth year at Science News in Washington, D.C., where she is features editor.

Students and Alumni Schmooze in NYC

Clockwise from left: Matt Quintanilla,
Shawn Steiner, Elma Gonzalez, Kaydi
Poirier, Libby Sile, Stacey Coburn, Lisa
Boyars Gehrke, Sean Fennessey,
Bill Earl, Aaron Edwards, Kelli Grant,
Flora Wang and Nic Barajas.

Our trip to New York for the Spring National College Media Convention meant another opportunity to get alumni together with current students for dinner, networking and conversation at our usual watering hole, Heartland Brewery on W. 43rd St.
This year‘s turnout was one of the strongest yet. Nineteen alumni mixed with the eight students attending the conference, sharing stories of their student and professional experiences. At least one job connection and several internship leads came out of it.

Clockwise from left: Cole Louison,
Andy Swift, Erin Geismar, Matthew
Desii, Deepa Shah, Matt Kelly, Andrew
Weiser, Lara Bonner, Allie Healey and
James Sigman.

Among the highlights: a rare appearance by Anthony Iaffaldano ’99, the first chance to catch up with Sean Fennessey ’03 since he took over as online editor at GQ magazine, a visit from Patrick Doyle, who transferred to NYU his junior year and is now an editor at Rolling Stone, a chance to congratulate Libby Sile ’11 for the CSPA Crown Awards won by the paper under her editorship, and celebrating Matt Quintanilla ’07’s birthday.

From left: Nic Barajas, birthday boy
Matt Quintanilla and Deepa Shah.

This year’s alumni attendees: Nic Barajas ’08, Mike Cagnazzi ’98, Paul Colombo ’00, Stacey Coburn ’06, Patrick Doyle, Bill Earl ’09, Sean Fennessey ’03, Lisa Boyars Gehrke ’01, Erin Geismar ’09, Kelli Grant ’04, Anthony Iaffaldano ’99, Cole Louison ’00, Kaydi Poirier ’11, Matt Quintanilla ’07, Deepa Shah ’06, James Sigman ’98, Libby Sile ’11, Andy Swift ’09 and Andrew Weiser ’11.

Current students in attendance: editor in chief Aaron Edwards, managing editor Lara Bonner, assistant news editor Elma Gonzalez, assistant Accent editor Allie Healey, assistant sports editor Matt Kelly, assistant photo editor Shawn Steiner, chief copy editor Matthew Desii, and assistant design editor Flora Wang.

From left: Bill Earl, Patrick Doyle, Kaydi
Poirier and Libby Sile.

Call Me Maybe

Check out this music video the Ithacan editors made while at the National College Media Convention in New York. It’s no wonder I love my job, working with this bunch.

The Ithacan Hits a New High: Two Gold Crowns, a Silver Crown and Best in Show in New York

From left: Ithacan Managing Editor
Lara Bonner ’13, CSPA presenter
C. Bruce Watterson and Ithacan
Editor in Chief Aaron Edwards ’12.
Photo by Rebecca Castillo.

The Ithacan had its best showing ever at the Spring National College Media Convention in New York City last weekend. The Columbia Scholastic Press Association awarded The Ithacan two Gold Crown Awards for the newspaper and a Silver Crown Award for the website. In addition, the paper won the Apple Award for Best in Show in its category.

The details: The Newspaper Gold Crowns were for Fall 2010 and Spring 2011 (academic year 2010–11, Libby Sile ’11, editor in chief). The Digital Silver Crown was for this year (Aaron Edwards ’12, editor; Honest Charley Bodkin ’15, webmaster). The Apple Award for Best in Show, presented by the College Media Association, sponsors of the convention, is based on a single-issue entry from 2011. The paper entered its "Season of Protest" issue from November 10, 2011. 

The Gold Crowns are a tough nut to crack: There have been several years where only big-university dailies made the finalist list. In the past, The Ithacan has won the Newspaper Gold Crown once, the Newspaper Silver Crown seven times, the Digital Gold Crown twice and the Digital Silver Crown once. This is the eighth time the paper has won the Apple Award for Best in Show in the 11 years they have been presented. The only other publication to win two Newspaper Crowns, a Digital Crown and the Apple Award in its category in this year’s competition was the Indiana Daily Student from Indiana University.

Congratulations to the editors, staff and alumni for their outstanding achievement!

With the Apple Award for Best in Show in New York (from left):
Assistant Sports Editor Matt Kelly, Managing Editor Lara Bonner,
Editor in Chief Aaron Edwards, Assistant Photo Editor Shawn Steiner
 and Chief Copy Editor Matthew Dezii

One More

The Ithacan has just been named one of three finalists for the Apple Award for Best in Show at the New York conference next weekend.

Ithacan Named SPJ Region 1 Finalist

The Society of Professional Journalists has named The Ithacan as a finalist for the 2012 Mark of Excellence Awards for Best All-Around Non-Daily College Newspaper in the Northeast Region and Best Affiliated Newspaper Website in the Northeast Region. The paper is consistently ranked among the top three college newspapers in the Northeast by SPJ.

In addition, senior Aaron Edwards’ story, “No Day But Today,” which appeared in the Oct. 27, 2011, issue of The Ithacan, and junior Taylor Long’s story, “Rhythmic Roots,” which ran Nov. 3, 2011, have been named as finalists in the Feature Writing category.

The winners will be announced at the SPJ Region 1 Spring Conference in Stony Brook, New York, on March 24. Regional winners go on to compete against the winners in the other 11 SPJ regions to compete at the national level in their respective categories.

“Profile in Liberty”

Rob Bluey ’01 was recently the subject of a profile by Jacqueline Otto on the America’s Future Foundation website. Rob is heading up the investigative journalism team at the Heritage Foundation. You can follow their reporting on their blog, Scribe.

Finalists for the Online Crown

In addition to being finalists for Newspaper Crown Awards from the Columbia Scholastic Press Association this year, which I announced in December, we’ve learned that The Ithacan is a finalist for the Online Crown Award as well. This is the first time we’ve been finalists for both semesters (Fall 2010 and Spring 2011) in print and for online in the same year. Winners will be announced during the spring National College Media Convention in New York at an awards dinner at Columbia University on March 18.

Lisa Boyars Gets Married

There are few things I enjoy more than an Ithacan alumni wedding, and few have been more fun than that of Lisa Boyars ’01 and David Gehrke, which took place February 18 in the Twenty Four Fifth Ballroom in New York. David is a great guy, and Lisa was a beautiful bride, as anyone who knows here would expect. The ceremony was moving — Rabbi Richard Berman, at the couple’s request, repeated all of the Hebrew prayers in English for the benefit of the linguistic impaired such as myself — and the reception was a terrific party.
It was also a chance to catch up with a number of Ithacan alumni attending, including Abby Bertumen ’01, Carrie Cochran ’00, Paul Colombo ’00, Vanessa Leong ’00 and Cole Louison ’00. Carrie, who flew in from Hawaii, and Abby were bridesmaids.

Another Fight Club Reunion

Clockwise from top left, Andy Swift,
Michael Serino, Stephanie Serino, Erica Hendry,
Erin Geismar, Jen Nevins and Edon Ophir at Bar Basque

Over the winter break we took advantage of the brief return of Edon Ophir to the U.S. from Israel to hold another class of ’09 Fight Club reunion. We managed to get everyone from that year’s Ithacan writing workshop together at Bar Basque (another great restaurant recommendation from Erin Geismar) in New York — with the exception of Byard Duncan, who has migrated to the West Coast. After dinner we migrated ourselves, down to a bar in Murray Hill, where we met up with Emma Strachman and Revi Roza. It was a great time, as always.

Edwards Awarded New York Times Internship

At least one current senior won’t be spending the spring semester worrying about what’s going to happen to him after graduation. Ithacan Editor in Chief Aaron Edwards will be heading to the Metro desk at the New York Times on a James Reston Reporting Fellowship, covering stories for print and the Web. He’ll also have a chance to branch out to other departments at the Times, including some work in social media and video. 
“I feel humbled and blessed to have been chosen for the Times’ reporting fellowship,” Aaron said. “It’s an incredible time to be a journalist, and I’m thrilled for the chance to learn from some of the best in the industry. There’s so much exciting encouragement to end the year on a high note.”
He’ll be in good company, with IC alumni Jill Agostino ’86, Nic Barajas ’08, Nick Corasaniti ’08 and Adam Ellick ’99 already on the Times staff.

Esquire Internship Turns Into Job for Libby Sile

Here's more evidence that if you have talent and work hard, it pays off. After graduating last May, Libby Sile ”11 went to New York to pursue her dream of working in the magazine industry. Here’s the latest news:

“After bouncing from internship to freelance gig since moving to New York in June, someone finally hired me! I began interning for Esquire in September and at the end of my internship, I was hired full time as an editorial assistant. I'll be the assistant to the magazine's executive editor and deputy editor and will help some of my favorite writers with research and interviews. As the presidential election gains momentum over the next year, I’ll be working with our politics blogger as well. I couldn’t be more excited to be starting my first job at my favorite magazine and look forward to seeing where it takes me.”


 Congratulations Libby!