After receiving the award for “Most Outstanding Chapter” in their region for the 2003-04 school year, the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) continued their hard work this semester by organizing and attending many events, projects and conventions.
Danielle Wagner, a senior from Oelwein, Iowa, was elected chapter president for the 2004-05 school year. She looks forward to the opportunity to maintain the standard of excellence set by previous SPJ leaders.
“I think last year’s award takes some pressure off of me, because I don’t have to worry about telling people how great our chapter is,” Wagner said. “The award really speaks for itself.”
The main goal for Wagner and the rest of SPJ is to complete four major projects over the course of this school year, each relating to a different area in journalism. SPJ chapters must conduct a service project, a diversity project, a freedom of information project and in its series of meetings, schedule professional journalists to speak as part of a professional development program.
In October, SPJ hosted the “You Be the Editor” panel discussion during the 
Legal and Ethical Issues in Mass Communication class. A panel of six members, three of who were professional journalists and three who were non-journalists, talked about issues involving ethical practices and decision-making regarding news scenarios to be reported.
“When you talk to professionals in the real world you realize that journalism ethics is more than just a set of rules,” said Ann Franken, a junior journalism major from Des Moines, Iowa, who attended the event. “It gave me more of an inside look at the situations journalists deal with.”
A major highlight of the semester came in September when four members went to New York City for the National Convention. Jamie Burks, a junior from Charles City, Iowa, Grant Schulte, a senior from Iowa City, Iowa, Matt Talbert, a sophomore from Northbrook, Ill., Shelbi Thomas, a senior from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and Wagner were the representatives who attended the convention.
“It brought becoming a professional journalist closer to reality,” Burks said. “You get to meet the people you’ll potentially become, and gain an insider’s perspective on how to get there.”
In addition to meeting successful journalists, the group also visited the Statue of Liberty, Times Square and Ground Zero on the night of the third-year anniversary of the World Trade Center attacks.
“I had never traveled to New York before, so seeing the big city with the skyscrapers, the crowds and the rapid-fire lifestyle was a tremendous experience,” Schulte said.
During the spring semester, SPJ hopes to implement a “J-Buddy” program. This program will match
underclassmen with upperclassmen and graduate students. he older students will act as mentors, giving advice on what underclassmen should do before graduation.
Chapter members also plan to attend the Region VII Convention, which will be held in Springfield, Mo., in March.
