Point of View

Print Is Dead or Dying

Cuts and More Cuts
Phoenix College Slashes Journalism Program
by Christopher Di Virgilio

PHOENIX – Phoenix College is the latest to join the fraternity of cut-backs when they announced on Wednesday that they would not seek to renew the contract of journalism instructor Don Rodriguez for the fall semester.
“It boils down to numbers,” said Rodriguez. “Although enrollments in journalism classes are trending upward, they are still below administration goals.” Since its reintroduction 3-years ago, the journalism program has struggled to attract and retain willing students and keep classrooms filled.
Campus administrators are telling students that there are no plans to drop the journalism classes offered at Phoenix College, but were forced to make this decision because of the ongoing decline in the economy. “Our discretionary budget was cut by 74% this year across the board, and declining enrollment in nonessential classes has forced their hand,” said Patricia Zaccardo, Phoenix College English department chair.
News of the planned cutbacks spread across the small community college and left students stunned and disappointed. “This is my first year taking a journalism class at Phoenix College,” said journalism student Martha Arvizu. “I would be devastated if there was no journalism class to take here at all. I plan to major in journalism and the class is one of the best things this semester.”



Phoenix College has been the home to many students and has become a staple in the community for which it serves. In 1920 Phoenix College started its journalism and photography program and Bear Tracks was born. The student journalists served to collect information and feed it back into the community and student body.
“Journalism is more than words or old pieces of paper,” said Phoenix College historian June Fink. “It is a historical document of thoughts and passion and awakenings coupled by blocks of time that connect the past to the present. The life of Phoenix College history is the journalism program.”
Current journalism students are not taking this news lying down and have spearheaded a campaign to save the journalism program and bring back a working campus newspaper. With plans to present a group letter and signed petition to the school administration by weeks-end, students hope to show the importance of a journalism program and will seek a two-year extension to the program and their beloved instructor. Some students have taken the fight even further by planning to print a campus paper independent of Phoenix College.
“This is a horrible move on the part of Phoenix College,” said journalism student Dustin Nolte. “Many assume that just traditional journalism students work on the school paper and they write plain news. In reality, there are designers, artists, photographers, advertising managers, and it employs the talents of multiple disciplines, not just people pursuing journalism degrees.” 


Nolte is one of many students hoping to have a working campus paper before the semesters end in May. Using the skills he has currently learned at the college, along with good-old-fashioned determination and the support of fellow students, they hope to launch a fully self supporting publication that will showcase school events, campus social clubs, and tell the many stories of the student body. “Running a paper is also about running a successful business,” said Nolte. “Students learn to develop relationships with clients, usually local businesses, and this not only raises money to print the paper but fosters a tight knit community.”
The students will have a difficult road ahead and will have to overcome obstacles from school administrators, retain writers and photographers and locate a room to use for their newsroom. “Our journalism students on campus are very dedicated to their classes,” said journalism student Amanda Barns. “We come in on Saturday for four-hours and for us to work so damn hard to keep a program going just to see it die is heartbreaking.”
“Journalism is the handmaiden of history and cutting the journalism program at Phoenix College will sever the link to our future,” said Fink. “When that is lost, how will the thoughts and events of the present get conveyed to the students of the future?”