SN Hall of Fame inducts 13
EAST LANSING, Mich. - The State News Alumni Association, representing former staffers of Michigan State University’s college daily, inducted 13 new members into the State News Hall of Fame on Friday, April 27.
This year's class of MSU alumni includes journalists, authors, history makers and leading national communicators. They were inducted as part of The State News' end-of-year student awards ceremony at the East Lansing Marriott at University Place. "You’ll find a dozen dazzling alums," said Marcia Van Ness, herself a surprise inductee and chair of the alumni association’s Hall of Fame Committee. "These are people who regard their State News experience as vital to their success and continue to salute its influence and ideals."
The 2007 inductees are:
Dick Beals. The 1949 graduate and one-time cheerleader spent three years covering sports for The State News. Beals went on to become one of America's most prolific voice actors, most notably as the voice of "Speedy Alka-Seltzer" during commercials throughout the 1950s and 1960s. He also became a sports announcer and provided his voice to shows including "The Jetsons" and "Casper and the Angels."
John Borger. Borger covered student government, the MSU administration and served as campus editor and editor in chief before graduating in 1973. He's spent more than 30 years as a media attorney fighting for a free press. Two of his cases representing the Minneapolis Star-Tribune reached the U.S. Supreme Court. A 2004 victory opened a secret process to select a new president for the University of the Minnesota.
Jeff Dionise. Dionese began his career as an artist for The State News advertising department in the early 1980s and began the comic strip "Eddy," pioneered the use of computer-illustrated graphics that are now standard in newspapers around the world. He took artist jobs at the Lansing State Journal and Detroit News, was art director of the former KnightRidder-Tribune and is now design chief of USA Today.
Karen Brown Dunlap. After serving as a State News reporter, Dunlap went on to work in reporting, writing and editing positions at the Nashville Banner, Macon News and the St. Petersburg Times. She also served as a professor at the University of South Florida and Tennessee State University. Dunlap was named president of the nonprofit Poynter Institute, one of the world’s most respected journalism education organizations, in 2003. She is also the co-author of two books, "The Effective Editor" and "The Editorial Eye."
Ola Gelzer. When Gelzer was selected by the Board of Publications in 1937 to be managing editor of the Michigan State News, the newspaper announced the move as "upsetting all precedent." Gelzer, of Hillsdale, was the first woman to hold the newsroom’s top job. During her term as editor for the 1937-38 academic year, Gelzer oversaw the weekly State News’ move to a three-day-a-week publication. She became president of the family business, H.J. Gelzer & Son Inc., in 1956 and worked there every day until July 1994. She died in February 1995.
Rick Gosselin. After covering sports for The State News, the 1972 MSU graduate worked for UPI, the Kansas City Star and The Dallas Morning News. His expertise on college football is considered so vast that pro football coaches call him for his opinion of players on draft day. In 2004, he was awarded the Dick McCann Memorial Award, which is bestowed annually on a sports writer by the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Larry Gustin. As a student in 1959, Gustin was editor of The State News’ 50th anniversary edition, compiling a half century of history. During his long career in reporting and later, public relations, Gustin won numerous awards. He wrote the first acclaimed history of General Motors founder William Durant and the definitive history of the Buick car brand.
Eric Pianin. Pianin was a sports editor, managing editor and executive editor of The State News in the late 1960s and created a monthly tab called the Collage. He went to serve as politics editor and congressional editor of The Washington Post. He also co-authored a highly acclaimed book on the federal budget, "Balancing Act: Washington's Troubled Path to a Balanced Budget."
Larry Pontius. The State News advertising manager in 1960-61, Pontius was creative director for New York-based Gray Advertising's Australia offices from 1968-1972 before returning to MSU as an associate professor of advertising. In 1974, he became director of marketing for Walt Disney World and two years later, became vice president of marketing for Disney World and Disneyland. In 1979, he formed his own advertising and video production company. He is the author of the speculative thriller "Waking Walt" and the poetry collection, "Lyrics of Life in Four-Part Harmony."
Victor Spaniolo. Spaniolo has a long history in State News and Michigan journalism. He worked on the campus paper in the 1930s first as sports editor then as its first graduate student manager. After graduating, he went on to work at the Michigan Farmer, Big Rapids Pioneer, Port Huron Times Herald, Muskegon Chronicle, Greenville Daily News and Battle Creek Enquirer. He also became the owner of the Charlevoix Courier and, later, several other weeklies. He returned to The State News as a founding member of the first independent board of directors in the 1971 and became president of the board
Marcia Van Ness. Van Ness is a veteran of The State News in every sense of the term. She was editor in chief during the 1961-62 academic year and returned to the service of the newspaper in 1993 as a member of the State News Inc. board of directors and was name its president in 1998-99. She is a member of the State News Alumni Association board of directors and is founding chairwoman of the State News Hall of Fame. Her post-college career includes a stint at the Kalamazoo Gazette before moving to the Lansing State Journal in 1966. She was elected president of the Central Michigan Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists, Sigma Delta Chi in 1978, becoming its first female president in its 28-year history. Van Ness is also a former president of the East Lansing Community Relations Coalition.
George Weeks. A legend in Michigan journalism, Weeks worked for The State News as a reporter and night editor, graduating from MSU in 1954. He did a stint in the Army and spent 15 years with United Press International before joining Gov. William Milliken's administration as a press secretary and top aide. He returned to journalism in 1983 as a political columnist for The Detroit News. He retired in 2006, but still does a syndicated column. He has also authored several books on Michigan and state politics.
Dorothy Yates. Dorothy worked for The State News from 1932 to 1936, serving as features editor. She then moved to Midland, becoming society editor and reporter of the Midland County Republican News and then The Midland Daily News. She would also go on to write several books including cookbooks, a history of her church, histories of museums and the building arts of Midland County. In 2003, she wrote, "Midland, Michigan, The City the Chemistry Built."
This group joins the 15 inaugural inductees of the Hall of Fame, who were honored last year. Inductees are nominated by their peers and selected by a committee of the State News Alumni Association to honor their extraordinary work either at or after leaving The State News. Past winners include a White House press secretary, a university president, the first woman publisher of the Detroit Free Press, a Detroit News executive editor, a nationally syndicated cartoonist, a Pulitzer Prize winner and an MSU economics professor who wound up being the longest serving columnist in the history of The State News.
"The State News doesn't just develop journalists - or business people, or scholars, or attorneys, or political leaders. The State News develops personalities," said Jeremy W. Steele, president of the State News Alumni Association and editor in chief of the campus daily in 2002. "These are people whose talent, commitment and force of will made a mark in the world, and who have inspired and enobled people around them,"
About The State News
Founded March 10, 1909, The State News is the official student newspaper of Michigan State University. The student-run publication has a daily circulation of 28,500 and a readership of more than 48,000 students, faculty, staff and area residents. The paper has won the Associated Collegiate Press' Pacemaker award, college journalism’s top honor, 15 times.
About the State News Alumni Association
The State News Alumni Association, founded by former members of the staff in 1992, works to connect thousands of State News alumni, raise money for scholarship, administers The State News Hall of Fame, administers an online jobs board and news site, sponsors reunions, works to bring in professionals to mentor current students, and strives to encourage the advancement of journalism.
This year's class of MSU alumni includes journalists, authors, history makers and leading national communicators. They were inducted as part of The State News' end-of-year student awards ceremony at the East Lansing Marriott at University Place. "You’ll find a dozen dazzling alums," said Marcia Van Ness, herself a surprise inductee and chair of the alumni association’s Hall of Fame Committee. "These are people who regard their State News experience as vital to their success and continue to salute its influence and ideals."
The 2007 inductees are:
Dick Beals. The 1949 graduate and one-time cheerleader spent three years covering sports for The State News. Beals went on to become one of America's most prolific voice actors, most notably as the voice of "Speedy Alka-Seltzer" during commercials throughout the 1950s and 1960s. He also became a sports announcer and provided his voice to shows including "The Jetsons" and "Casper and the Angels."
John Borger. Borger covered student government, the MSU administration and served as campus editor and editor in chief before graduating in 1973. He's spent more than 30 years as a media attorney fighting for a free press. Two of his cases representing the Minneapolis Star-Tribune reached the U.S. Supreme Court. A 2004 victory opened a secret process to select a new president for the University of the Minnesota.
Jeff Dionise. Dionese began his career as an artist for The State News advertising department in the early 1980s and began the comic strip "Eddy," pioneered the use of computer-illustrated graphics that are now standard in newspapers around the world. He took artist jobs at the Lansing State Journal and Detroit News, was art director of the former KnightRidder-Tribune and is now design chief of USA Today.
Karen Brown Dunlap. After serving as a State News reporter, Dunlap went on to work in reporting, writing and editing positions at the Nashville Banner, Macon News and the St. Petersburg Times. She also served as a professor at the University of South Florida and Tennessee State University. Dunlap was named president of the nonprofit Poynter Institute, one of the world’s most respected journalism education organizations, in 2003. She is also the co-author of two books, "The Effective Editor" and "The Editorial Eye."
Ola Gelzer. When Gelzer was selected by the Board of Publications in 1937 to be managing editor of the Michigan State News, the newspaper announced the move as "upsetting all precedent." Gelzer, of Hillsdale, was the first woman to hold the newsroom’s top job. During her term as editor for the 1937-38 academic year, Gelzer oversaw the weekly State News’ move to a three-day-a-week publication. She became president of the family business, H.J. Gelzer & Son Inc., in 1956 and worked there every day until July 1994. She died in February 1995.
Rick Gosselin. After covering sports for The State News, the 1972 MSU graduate worked for UPI, the Kansas City Star and The Dallas Morning News. His expertise on college football is considered so vast that pro football coaches call him for his opinion of players on draft day. In 2004, he was awarded the Dick McCann Memorial Award, which is bestowed annually on a sports writer by the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Larry Gustin. As a student in 1959, Gustin was editor of The State News’ 50th anniversary edition, compiling a half century of history. During his long career in reporting and later, public relations, Gustin won numerous awards. He wrote the first acclaimed history of General Motors founder William Durant and the definitive history of the Buick car brand.
Eric Pianin. Pianin was a sports editor, managing editor and executive editor of The State News in the late 1960s and created a monthly tab called the Collage. He went to serve as politics editor and congressional editor of The Washington Post. He also co-authored a highly acclaimed book on the federal budget, "Balancing Act: Washington's Troubled Path to a Balanced Budget."
Larry Pontius. The State News advertising manager in 1960-61, Pontius was creative director for New York-based Gray Advertising's Australia offices from 1968-1972 before returning to MSU as an associate professor of advertising. In 1974, he became director of marketing for Walt Disney World and two years later, became vice president of marketing for Disney World and Disneyland. In 1979, he formed his own advertising and video production company. He is the author of the speculative thriller "Waking Walt" and the poetry collection, "Lyrics of Life in Four-Part Harmony."
Victor Spaniolo. Spaniolo has a long history in State News and Michigan journalism. He worked on the campus paper in the 1930s first as sports editor then as its first graduate student manager. After graduating, he went on to work at the Michigan Farmer, Big Rapids Pioneer, Port Huron Times Herald, Muskegon Chronicle, Greenville Daily News and Battle Creek Enquirer. He also became the owner of the Charlevoix Courier and, later, several other weeklies. He returned to The State News as a founding member of the first independent board of directors in the 1971 and became president of the board
Marcia Van Ness. Van Ness is a veteran of The State News in every sense of the term. She was editor in chief during the 1961-62 academic year and returned to the service of the newspaper in 1993 as a member of the State News Inc. board of directors and was name its president in 1998-99. She is a member of the State News Alumni Association board of directors and is founding chairwoman of the State News Hall of Fame. Her post-college career includes a stint at the Kalamazoo Gazette before moving to the Lansing State Journal in 1966. She was elected president of the Central Michigan Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists, Sigma Delta Chi in 1978, becoming its first female president in its 28-year history. Van Ness is also a former president of the East Lansing Community Relations Coalition.
George Weeks. A legend in Michigan journalism, Weeks worked for The State News as a reporter and night editor, graduating from MSU in 1954. He did a stint in the Army and spent 15 years with United Press International before joining Gov. William Milliken's administration as a press secretary and top aide. He returned to journalism in 1983 as a political columnist for The Detroit News. He retired in 2006, but still does a syndicated column. He has also authored several books on Michigan and state politics.
Dorothy Yates. Dorothy worked for The State News from 1932 to 1936, serving as features editor. She then moved to Midland, becoming society editor and reporter of the Midland County Republican News and then The Midland Daily News. She would also go on to write several books including cookbooks, a history of her church, histories of museums and the building arts of Midland County. In 2003, she wrote, "Midland, Michigan, The City the Chemistry Built."
This group joins the 15 inaugural inductees of the Hall of Fame, who were honored last year. Inductees are nominated by their peers and selected by a committee of the State News Alumni Association to honor their extraordinary work either at or after leaving The State News. Past winners include a White House press secretary, a university president, the first woman publisher of the Detroit Free Press, a Detroit News executive editor, a nationally syndicated cartoonist, a Pulitzer Prize winner and an MSU economics professor who wound up being the longest serving columnist in the history of The State News.
"The State News doesn't just develop journalists - or business people, or scholars, or attorneys, or political leaders. The State News develops personalities," said Jeremy W. Steele, president of the State News Alumni Association and editor in chief of the campus daily in 2002. "These are people whose talent, commitment and force of will made a mark in the world, and who have inspired and enobled people around them,"
About The State News
Founded March 10, 1909, The State News is the official student newspaper of Michigan State University. The student-run publication has a daily circulation of 28,500 and a readership of more than 48,000 students, faculty, staff and area residents. The paper has won the Associated Collegiate Press' Pacemaker award, college journalism’s top honor, 15 times.
About the State News Alumni Association
The State News Alumni Association, founded by former members of the staff in 1992, works to connect thousands of State News alumni, raise money for scholarship, administers The State News Hall of Fame, administers an online jobs board and news site, sponsors reunions, works to bring in professionals to mentor current students, and strives to encourage the advancement of journalism.