Hansen hands over Easterner

Hansen Retires

Brandon Hansen is like Ronald McDonald. Not in the sense that they both have red hair and can be funny at times; no, they have something else in common. Americans were once shown a picture of then-president Bill Clinton, and a picture of Ronald McDonald. More people could correctly identify Ronald McDonald than they could the president of the United States. I believe it is true that Brandon Hansen is more recognizable than Eastern's President Arévalo. That may be an exaggeration, but it raises the point that I am trying to make. After attending EWU for the past five years, Hansen has interviewed, photographed, worked with, attended class with, shared a home with or just crossed paths with a lot of people. And, for the record, he's been here longer than President Arévalo.

This June The Easterner says goodbye to Hansen. Having worked almost every position the paper has to offer, he takes nothing for granted, knows what it means to watch the sun come up every Wednesday morning for an entire school year, and calls his time at Eastern, "life changing."

"It's been an awesome experience being able to do everything," says Hansen. After graduating he will be working as editor-in-chief of a new weekly paper in Spokane, Hometeam Sports. And his years at The Easterner are exactly what helped him land the job.

"Eastern has opened so many doors for me," Hansen said. In the past he has worked for the Spokane Indians, the Spokane Shock, and was the official photographer for EWU athletics, so his knowledge of local sports runs deep. Coupled with his time at The Easterner, Hansen was a perfect fit for a young newspaper about to break the scene. "It's a community newspaper," said Hansen, "and that's what I love about it." Making the transition from a college paper to a professional paper is going to pose new challenges for him, but the part about community is what Hansen finds comforting, and what he relates to the most.

Hailing from a small town, Hansen is all too familiar with what "community" means. And Hansen can trail off on tangents about communities of all kinds. One of the most interesting tangents is what it means to his hometown and his family to graduate. He told me that he comes from a small town where people graduate high school and go to work in the woods or work for the county.

Attending EWU was a humbling experience, and it helped Hansen discover who he was, it taught him to be social and successful. Most importantly it taught him not to piss-off Montana fans.

Sports stories are where the majority of Hansen's favorite memories originate. He recalls that the first photo he ever took for The Easterner was when the old press box at Woodard Field was being demolished. "It looked like an ice cream stand, not the Battleship Galatica you see today," joked Hansen. Even his favorite interview was with someone who was sports oriented. Kerry Pease, director of sports and recreation, was Hansen's most memorable interview. According to Hansen, "I can't think of a more humble or pleasant guy on campus." Then he added, "Mike Campetelli is a pretty cool guy too."

From photo assignments, to interviews, to flights, Hansen has the experience of a 30 year journalism vet, and he's a mere 22-years-old. One last memory before he sums up his time at Eastern includes his trip with the football team in 2004 when they played Southern Illinois in the NCAA Division I playoffs. He was there reporting and taking photos for The Easterner, and he says all the players thought he was one of the coaches' kids. He didn't bother to correct them.

He started at the school paper as a staff writer, and he is leaving as a senior writer. Hansen knows what he likes and writing, especially about sports, has always suited him best.

Take it from a guy who came from a small town and has worked his way up the ladder, Hansen says, "if you want to accomplish anything you have to work your butt off."

Schilter Inherits

Carefully organized stacks of papers and envelopes sit atop Chelsea Schilter's desk, but inside those desk drawers is another story. Tylenol, Nivea body cream and "Sesame Street" Band-Aids shuffle around when she opens one of the drawers to grab a pen. And Schilter is much like her desk, appearing one way to those on the outside, but inside is another story. Allow me to explain the interesting background that sets Schilter apart from the typical editor-in-chief of The Easterner.

Schilter, 20, transferred from Lower Columbia College in Longview, Wash., in 2006. She has a youthful look to her, which in no way is reminiscent of the stern, hard-faced journalists appearing on national and local airways. The most shocking thing of all is that she is an English Literature major.

What is a young woman from western Washington, who studies English Lit, going to bring to the table of Eastern Washington University's student newspaper? According to the Board of Publications, advisor William Stimson and journalism professor Jamie Neely, Schilter brings a lot. She is passionate, intelligent, hard working and most importantly, she learned early on the importance of informing the public of the truth.

When she started working for the paper, Schilter said she didn't feel a connection with journalism. "It was all about the facts," she says, and she enjoyed putting feeling into her work. But soon she learned the power of telling the truth, and raising public awareness, and her love for journalism began to grow.

Schilter's path to the editor-in-chief position began with an innocent suggestion from her older sister, and former Easterner reporter, Tessa. "She told me that working at the paper as a copy editor would benefit my writing," recalls Schilter, who harbored dreams of graduating and working at a publishing company editing New York Times best-sellers. In the fall of 2006 Schilter took a job as copy editor and says it was a nice way of acclimating herself into the newsroom.

In the fall of 2008 when she begins her journalism major Schilter will once again be breaking the mold of a typical editor-in-chief. In the past, Easterner editors have completed most of their journalism classes before they have advanced to editor-in-chief, Schilter says the situation she is in is actually good. She will be learning and working side-by-side with her new reporters and writers. Knowing first hand how beneficial mentors are, she remembers the help she received when she started at the paper.

Co-workers in the newsroom were friendly and willing to help Schilter says. Brandon Hansen and Anna Koening stick out in her mind as being significant mentors. "They made it less painful and helped me to develop journalistic skills, and really helped develop my mindset to work better in the office."

With an entire quarter under her belt as editor-in-chief Schilter isn't concerned about next year, she has hired her staff, she has a mix of old and new people, and has high expectations for The Easterner. She tells me she would like the build on the existing online daily edition by integrating video, blogs and weekly podcasts. Additionally Schilter says she feels it's important that the paper represents news that is relevant to the student body, and she has been looking at new ways to better serve the students. To carry out her plans, she said The Easterner is teaming up with the tech department to bring content of the student newspaper to different outlets around campus. Reflecting on the past year, Schilter says, "I feel so blessed to have worked with such amazing people this year," then adds, "they're so passionate about journalism, it'll be tough to replace them." Those feelings she was talking about earlier, seem to surface. But Schilter quickly rambles on to recite the mission statement; something about high quality journalism, timely news and passion. Inside of her however, I imagine there is something shuffling around like the contents in her desk drawer.