In the smile-filled basement of Trinity Brewhouse in downtown Providence Friday evening, The Herald's 117th editorial board bid farewell to its staff and introduced the new leadership team that will take the helm of the paper starting in January.
Outgoing Editors-in-Chief Eric Beck '08 and Mary-Catherine Lader '08; Executive Editors Stephen Colelli '08, Allison Kwong '08 and Ben Leubsdorf '08; and Senior Editors Jonathan Sidhu '08.5 and Anne Wootton '08.5 enthusiastically presented the 118th editorial board: Simmi Aujla '09, Ross Frazier '09, Taylor Barnes '09, Chris Gang '09.5 and Stu Woo '08.5.
Aujla, a native of Timonium, Md., will move up from her current post as metro editor to become editor-in-chief of The Herald and president of The Brown Daily Herald Inc. A devoted journalist, Aujla expanded The Herald's coverage of town-gown relations and local politics, and as a reporter delved into Brown history to provide perspective on the University's legacy of student activism.
Frazier, a resident of Tampa, Fla., and currently news editor, will step up to the post of editor-in-chief and vice president of The Brown Daily Herald Inc. Frazier has seamlessly guided The Herald's coverage of changes in University Hall and research policy. As a reporter, he journeyed into the depths of the Ratty for a memorable feature on its inner workings and comprehensively covered Corporation actions and higher education trends.
Barnes, a native of Fayetteville, Ga., will return from Brazil, where she has spent the fall semester perfecting her Portuguese, to become a senior editor in January. A perennially sunny and dependable reporter, Barnes adeptly reported features including Iranian authors in exile and students who served in Iraq.
Gang, who hails from outside of Boston, was The Herald's copy desk chief last spring, serving as the last check on The Herald's accuracy and reporting on campus events on occasion before taking a semester off to travel across Europe.
Woo, a proud San Franciscan, is a hardened Herald veteran, having working his way up from staff writer to lead three separate sections over the years: Campus Watch, Features and, this past semester, Sports. A good-natured reporter, he captured former Duke lacrosse suspect Reade Seligmann's '09 thoughts about transferring to Brown in a piece for The Herald's summer issue.
General Manager Mandeep Gill '09 and Executive Manager Darren Ball '09 will continue their transformative leadership of The Herald's business staff and operations, both as general managers in 2008.
Also Friday, the 118th board announced the full slate of section and department heads who will help lead The Herald through 2008.
Robin Steele '08, of Nashville, Tenn., will ensure strong coverage of arts on campus as arts & culture editor for another semester, joined by staff writer Andrea Savdie '10, of Miami, as assistant editor.
Chaz Firestone '10, ever-quick to extol the virtues of his native Toronto, will oversee some of The Herald's most creative, in-depth stories as features editor. As a senior staff writer, he brought his boundless energy to the implementation of Banner and the effects of guaranteed graduate student funding. Experienced features and campus news reporter Olivia Hoffman '10 will bring her enthusiasm and skill to the features desk as assistant editor.
Debbie Lehmann '10, a former crime and campus life reporter, will use her vast knowledge of college life next semester as higher ed editor, covering issues related to higher education across the country. The section will replace the current Campus Watch page. Lehmann, who hails from Palo Alto, Calif., also directed a series this semester about religion on campus.
Rachel Arndt '10 and Scott Lowenstein '10 will take on Providence news next semester as metro editors.
As a senior staff writer, Arndt, raised in Chicago, launched a series on health on campus, which placed exhaustive stories - including ones about anorexia on campus and health insurance for recent Brown graduates - in The Herald's pages. Her comprehensive coverage of a planned Chipotle on Thayer Street has whetted the appetites of Brunonian burrito-buffs.
Lowenstein, a favorite son of Vestal, N.Y., used his tall stature and joyful smile this year to convince Thayer Street's biker gangs to go on the record about a new parking law. He's also had an insider's look at changing leadership at Brown Emergency Medical Services and co-directed the religion series with Lehmann.
As news editors and New Englanders, Michael Bechek '10, Isabel Gottlieb '10, Franklin Kanin '10 and Michael Skocpol '10 will use their expansive knowledge of University policy and student life to direct incisive and informative campus news content.
Bechek, a Needham, Mass., native with a keen news sense, thoroughly covered University Hall goings-on this semester, including a reorganization in the Office of the Dean of the College, concern about the number of students concentrating in math and physics and the public life of President Ruth Simmons.
Gottlieb, a Lakeville, Conn., resident, not only reported on the University's capital campaign and growing number of facilities projects, but also on a different kind of campaign - Shape Up R.I., a fitness and dieting program designed to keep Rhode Islanders' weights in check.
Kanin, from Boston, has his finger on the pulse of the student body, spending countless hours in Undergraduate Council of Students meetings to uncover tales of student government intrigue.
Gottlieb and Kanin also conducted this semester's Herald poll. They spent hours earlier this month tallying up the numbers of Brown students having sex, volunteering for presidential campaigns and doing cocaine - though not all at once.
Skocpol, who survived an upbringing in Cambridge, Mass., has honed his reporting skills covering internationalization, slavery and justice, the Plan for Academic Enrichment, interdisciplinary studies and the University's growing debt. Name a complicated, hard-to-explain University initiative, and chances are Skocpol has reported on it.
New York state native Karla Bertrand '09 will continue editing the opinions page next semester. She will be joined by Silver Spring, Md., native James Shapiro '10, who has written both perspicacious columns and hard-hitting news stories.
Fans of New England sports have been eagerly awaiting the debut of the Big Three for the past few months. The Herald is proud to announce its own dynamic triumvirate of sports editors for next year: Whitney Clark '08, Amy Ehrhart '09 and Jason Harris '10.
Clark, a Eugene, Ore., native, will help head the sports desk after covering men's water polo this fall. A former varsity soccer player, Clark enjoys studying comparative literature when she is not bending it like Beckham or editing sports stories.
Ehrhart, a varsity basketball player and Golden, Colo., native, will step up from assistant sports editor to her new position - at least when she's not mercilessly dunking on, rejecting and otherwise posterizing her hapless, helpless opponents on the court.
Harris, also an assistant sports editor this semester, covered men's soccer this year. The men's soccer team went undefeated in the Ivy League and is ranked No. 4 in the nation. Coincidence? We'll find out next semester as Harris, a Needham, Mass., native who is ranked No. 4 in the nation in The Herald's unofficial poll, continues his work next semester.
The Big Three will have help from a supporting cast of assistant sports editors: Benjy Asher '10, Andrew Braca '10 and Megan McCahill '09.
Asher, a Westchester, N.Y., native, will return for his second stint as assistant sports editor. In addition to covering the football team, Asher enjoys playing trombone for the Brown Orchestra and wearing gaudy Halloween outfits.
Braca, a proud native of Providence, has been attending Brown sports events since he was a child. Now, he does it as part of his job. After covering field hockey this fall, he will write about the women's hockey team this winter.
McCahill, a former varsity basketball player, returns to Brown after spending a semester in Australia. The Highlands Ranch, Colo., native will bring her love of three-point shooting and sports writing to round out the Herald sports staff.
Ashley Hess '08 will return to The Herald for one last hurrah as sports photo editor. The Seattle/Dallas/Connecticut resident will bring back her hard-hitting, club-rugby playing style of photography and photography editing back to the sports photo desk.
Rahul Keerthi '09 has traveled half-way around the world from his native Singapore to work at The Herald. He will continue to bring his energy and creativity to the paper every day as photo editor next semester, joined by enthusiastic staff photographers Meara Sharma '10 and Min Wu '09.
Manchester, N.H., native Steve DeLucia '10 will continue to make The Herald's pages eye-catching and well-organized as production and design editor. As he chases the record for most consecutive nights at Herald headquarters, DeLucia will be sharing with his assistant design editors - Chaz Kelsh '11 of Philadelphia and Alex Unger '11 of Providence - his favorite piece of wisdom from software maker Adobe Systems: "Design always wins."
Catherine Cullen '10 of Grosse Pointe, Mich., will continue to serve as copy desk chief next year. With her cheery smile and disdain for copy errors, Cullen and her fellow copy editors will ensure perfect punctuation and flawless facts in The Herald's pages.
Rajiv Jayadevan '09 and Matt Hill '09 will use their creativity and classiness to lead post- magazine as managing editors next semester. Jayadevan, from Long Island, got his start at post- reviewing restaurants and moved gracefully into the role of features editor. Hill survived the wilderness of Hanover, N.H., for two years before coming home to College Hill. As associate editor for post- this semester, Hill, who likes to print in color, worked tirelessly with the current managing editors - Hillary Dixler '08, Melanie Duch '09 and Taryn Martinez '08.
A bumper crop of first-time writers has joined the staff of The Herald this semester as staff writers. They are Stefanie Angstadt '08, Sam Byker '10, Marisa Calleja '11, Noura Choudhury '11, Erika Jung '11, Chaz Kelsh '11, Sophia Lambertsen '11, Sophia Li '11, Emmy Liss '11, Max Mankin '11, Brian Mastroianni '11, George Miller '11, Evan Pelz '11, Gaurie Tilak '11, Simon van Zuylen-Wood '11, Allison Wentz '11 and Joanna Wohlmuth '11.
