Spring Semester Class Blog
Here is the class blog for my Journalism New Media Class for Spring 2008. So far 16 students have enrolled, so it looks like we have a class! More information is here:
More Photos from Christmas Posted
I have posted photos fromboth Christmas Eve and Christmas Day to Flickr. Here they are:
Technorati Tags: Kenneth Sloan, Sue Graziano Sloan, Jeff Sloan, Nicole Sloan, Madison Sloan, Jacob Sloan, Sloan Family, ssloansjca
Great family dinner at my sister's
December 27th was our mother's birthday. It was a very appropriate day to celebrate at my sister's new home. In the photo, the man in the foreground is my brother-in-law Stan, to his right is my sister Iris, going around the table is my youngest son Kenneth, then wife Sue, next is Nicole (Jeff's wife), then is middle son Jeff, then is Shane, Sophie's husband and last is niece Sophie, Carol and Stan's daughter. We had a great time and are very happy that Carol and Stan as well as Sophie and Shane have moved back into the bay area. Grandkids Madison and Jacob were at the dinner but are not in this photo.
[Click here to see more photos on Flickr]
Technorati Tags: Kenneth Sloan, Sue Graziano Sloan, Jeff Sloan, Nicole Sloan, Madison Sloan, Jacob Sloan, Sloan Family, ssloansjca
Madison's First Barbie
Madison's first Barbie is not pictured here. The first Barbie was a Princess Barbie. When Madison opened it she gasped, "What is it?" I said, "It is a doll." In sheer pleasure she exclaimed, "It is a wonderful doll!"
Technorati Tags: Kenneth Sloan, Sue Graziano Sloan, Jeff Sloan, Nicole Sloan, Madison Sloan, Jacob Sloan, Sloan Family, ssloansjca
Camera Phone Post: Waiting For The Show
Sue and I are at the Shark tank waiting for the DWTS show to start. She is very excited.
Prepping for graduation
Tonight I attended a Journalism & Mass Comm graduation for the first time as a faculty member. That was a real thrill. In this photo you can see Department Chair Bill Briggs adjusting Bill Tillinghast's robe before the convocation.
Former SJSU PJ Prof Jack Fields: a great teacher, photographer, person
While talking to SJSU Alum Kim Komenich yesterday I learned about the recent passing of former SJSU JMC visiting professor Jack Fields. Jack was at SJSU when Kim and I went through the PJ program. He was our photojournalism teacher. Here is what is on the San Francisco Bay Area Press Photographers Association website about Jack:
Retired freelance magazine photographer Jack Fields, former San Jose State University photojournalism instructor, died of heart failure on December 13 at his Placerville home. He was 87.
Fields served for three years as "Visiting Professor" at SJSU in the late 1970's. While at SJSU he pioneered what he called a "no-nonsense" approach to photography, a subject that was often taught as "pure art" at many universities.
Fields was founding chairman of the Bay Area chapter of the American Society of Magazine Photographers in an era when Wayne Miller, Ansel Adams, Dorothea Lange and Imogen Cunningham were members of the organization.
As a young boy in Kansas, Fields dreamed of "far-away places with strange sounding names". After a formal education and a wartime stint in the South Pacific, Fields embarked upon a 50-year career, traveling on assignment for Collier's, Saturday Evening Post, National Geographic, Smithsonian, Look, and Life.
Before World War II, Fields earned a Bachelor's degree in Science from Kansas State College. He was planning to teach but was sent to New Guinea with the armed forces where he began taking pictures. He was assigned as a photographer for the Air Force?s Yank Magazine when he contracted tuberculosis and was returned to the U.S. to recuperate. While at Cragmor Sanitorium in Colorado Springs, Fields met Dorothy Gindling, also a patient and fellow TB sufferer, whom he married in 1948.
After five years of recuperation, the Fields moved to Los Angeles where Jack attended the Art Center College of Design while Dorothy enrolled in writing classes at the Maren Elwood School. As an art student, he sold his first photos to Look Magazine. After completing their studies, the Fields traveled to Europe, working on assignment for various publications.
The Fields became known for their ability to find interesting, yet untold stories, especially in the South Pacific. In 1971 they approached a Japanese publisher with an Idea for an all-encompassing book on the region which became their 1973 book "South Pacific".
Fields was the first photojournalist to report on Micronesia after it became a U.S. Trust at the end of WWII. His photograph of a laser pioneer at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center was used as a reference image for a commemorative stamp issued by the U.S. Postal Service in August, 1999.
I remember Jack very well. He was a wonderful guy and a great teacher. In 1994 we gave Jack and Dorothy our dog Reno, a black and white Shetland Sheepdog and he had a loving home with them. Jack lived a good life and he still lives on in the hearts, and the eyes, of many of us who knew him.
Grandpa's Buckboard
I remember as a younger man watching Little House On The Prairie on TV. Somebody rode a buckboard across the TV screen and my mom said, "my dad had one just like that." It shocked me. It was not until then I realized just how much change my mom had seen in her life. That memory stuck with me for many years. But, until now, I never had a photo of grandpa's buckboard. Now, thanks to my sister-in-law Doris, I do. here it is!
[Click here to see larger version]
Technorati Tags: Loftus Family, Sloan Family, ssloansjca
Fall 2007 New Media Class
I am really sorry my Fall 2007 new media in journalism class is over. We had a lot of fun. This was a great group and all of them accomplished a lot. Every student graduated with his or her own podcast. We did Photoshop, InDesign (for web delivery), Dreamweaver, audio/video production, RSS, blogging, video blogging (vlogging) and podcasting. They did a great job and I am very proud of them. Here are their stories:
Loosing some great students and friends
The best part of the job is the students. The worst part is when they leave. Really great students become a part of your lives. They become like family. That is the way I feel about some of the students in Journalism and Mass Communications where I teach and about many of the students at the San Jose State Help Desk where I work days. Some of the best students are graduating this winter; wonderful folks like Ross Bytheway, Rohan Saxena, Jimit Raval and especially Pranav Patel and Aditi Sinha. Aditi and Pranav are such great young people. They have been real hard workers and we owe so much to them regarding the success of the Academic Success Center stage area in Clark Hall. They really put their heart into the help desk and have made San Jose State University a better university. So many students, faculty and staff have been more successful in their academic pursuits because of the hard work, passion and dedication of Aditi and Pranav. They have made a real difference in my life. They are great people. I am proud to have worked with them and am lucky to know them. People don't get much better than them.
Grandpa and Grandma Sloan and Family
I never met any of my grandparents and only some of my cousins. My sister Lura was named after my grandma Lura. Last summer I got to spend time with my cousins and my cousin Dolores is the one who has memories of my grandparents. My father was their youngest son and they were both gone before I was born. My sister-in-law Doris has sent these old photos and this is what was written on this photo from (I would guess) the 1930's:
Back Row: Sidney Cavel and Ethel Moody, Lloyd Delmar (my dad), Finis and Wilma, and Finis's wife Elva Stuck. Front Row: Dolores, Sidney Dean, Bill, Lura and Harold Lee. As Doris said, "Note from Joanne Sloan April 24 1999, 'The baby on grandpa's lap is Wilma Lee, Aunt Wilma is holding Daphene, and I am the baby on grandma's lap.'"
Technorati Tags: Sloan Family, ssloansjca
[Click here for larger version]
Getting some great family photos from Doris!
My sister-in-law Doris has been sending me some great old as well as recent family photos. There are photos here of our relatives of years gone by as well as current photos of our Arkansas relatives. I will be posting more soon!
Technorati Tags: Sloan Family, ssloansjca
Help Desk Holiday 2007
On December 8, 2007 we had our big help desk holiday party! It was a great event, organized by the help desk staff themselves. Colin even showed up as did several other former help desk staffers.
I think everybody had a great time.
I wonder what he was like?
He lived so long ago in a world very different than ours. I wonder what it was like being him in his world? And, what is that thing with a crank behind him?
Thanks to my brother Lloyd, I have this photo!
Technorati Tags: Sloan Family, ssloansjca
Happy birthday Nonna Sue!
Last Thursday Jeff, Nicole, Madison and Jacob came over to celebrate Sue's birthday. It was a great celebration. Madison had fun with the cats and her Nonna and Gramps. Gramps got to hold Jacob and give him a bottle. They brought over cookies and we shared a bottle of wine.
[Click here to see more pictures on Flickr]
Technorati Tags: Sue Graziano Sloan, Jeff Sloan, Nicole Sloan, Madison Sloan, Jacob Sloan, Sloan Family, ssloansjca
This morning I took the light rail because Sue's car was in the shop. The train was full of kids on a field trip. Light rail makes a great school bus.
Edupodder Podcast; Justin Beck on Podcasting
Edupodder Podcast #31, 45:30 min
On December 4, 2007 San Francisco Chronicle Podcaster and Media Producer Justin Beck spoke to my San Jose State University journalism students about podcasting and new media. As SJSU School of Journalism and Mass Communications professor Cynthia McCune reported in the JMC Journal Blog, "Beck talked with students about the process of developing and producing a podcast. He said one of the most important steps of the process is creating a tape log -- a rough or complete transcript of each interview -- with time codes noted so you'll be able to go back and find the clips you want to use." The audio from the class is here:
Podcasts Beck played at last night's event were:
Justin Beck's Handouts
Posted here with permission from Justin Beck are these two very informative handouts. The first has great information about the tools and methods of doing rich podcasts. The second focuses on how to tell great stories with podcasting. Both of these are in PDF format:
USB Wine, Il est révolutionnaire!
The French are so smart. This is long overdue technology. I want this for Christmas!
Today is Sue's birthday
Sue celebrated her birthday by going out this afternoon and evening with a bunch of her girl friends. They went to a tea in Campbell (and drinks after.) We celebrated yesterday at home. I made a pot roast and we had some really good wine. Kenneth came over and joined us. Friday night she and I went out. It has been a fun weekend!
Technorati Tags: Kenneth Sloan, Sue Graziano Sloan, Sloan Family, ssloansjca
