Much like a Valentine's Day stroll around Passion Puddle or a Super Bowl party at your choice of residence hall, the changing of The Daily Targum editorial board has become a February tradition. This year's incarnation, like any other, is a diverse group of students, from different towns, colleges and school years.
THE MATRIARCH
For almost a decade, the name Wesley has personified the Targum copy desk. From oldest sister Anna to middle sister Christa to youngest sister Claire, a member of the family sat on the desk every semester since 2000. That is, until now.
With just a few months left before graduation, Claire Eddinger Wesley is making the leap to editor-in-chief. Having read as a copy editor for news, sports, opinions, inside beat and The Newark Targum, the Rutgers College senior has experience with nearly every section of the paper.
"I was comfortable with the copy desk. I was there for a really long time," she said. "It was a big step to leave that. But I felt like I had hit a ceiling at that position and wanted to push myself further."
THE COMEBACK KID
When managing editor Steven Williamson left high school in 2006, he was done with journalism forever.
So in just his second semester of school, he was on a bus and picked up the Targum classified section.
"I said, 'Man, I need a job because I'm not making any money, and I have a lot of free time.' I started looking … and I saw an ad for bartending. I never wanted to do journalism again and working for Targum was out of the question."
But luckily for the paper, Williamson had a change of heart.
"I stewed on it for a couple days and looked at the ad again, and [next to it] there was an ad for Targum. I decided I wanted to be an editor and maybe a writer."
With the fall elections around the corner, the then-freshman put together a massive 2,500-word story that ended up as a full-page color spread. Williamson was hooked and has hardly spent a day away from the office ever since.
"I want to stay at Targum until I'm a senior," the Rutgers College sophomore said. "I want to continue to strive, even though we have bad days, to get the paper as great as it can be."
THE PEOPLE PERSON
Cassie Bobotas was almost a photographer.
"I came to an open house event, and I walked in and there was a whole bunch of people there. I almost walked right back out," she said. "I was nervous and thought about photography."
But Bobotas, a Douglass College sophomore, did write a story. Then another. Then another, and another and another. Now, almost two years later, she has risen from correspondent to associate news editor to head news editor.
"I realized I had to pick up the phone and talk to someone who might be important," she said. "Now I like dealing with people. I'm a people person, and news is people-based. You can't have news without people, and that's why I love it."
THE BROADCAST TEAM
One grew up idolizing a Philadelphia Eagles radio man, one works in radio now and another is the son of CBS Sports' head writer.
If nothing else, the Targum sports desk has a unique view on print journalism.
"I went to radio first because all my experience with the media stemmed from play-by-play by Merrill Reese, and I wanted to be another Merrill Reese," said sports editor Dane Truxell, who worked at WRSU-FM as a first-year student. "When I realized it wasn't for me, I came to the Targum and liked the pace. It's not as fast paced as calling a game, but it's still very high paced. It's got its ebbs and flows."
Not long after Truxell left the station for the Targum, Rutgers College junior Mike Vorkunov followed.
"The radio station was the first avenue I considered. I felt it was a good way to be able to watch sports games and be able to somehow express my opinion about what's going on," Vorkunov said. "[But] I wanted to cover the track team. I felt there was a better opportunity to climb the ladder here."
Rounding out the trio is Rutgers College sophomore Josh Spielman. With a father already in the business with CBS Sports, it seemed like a natural place to work.
"I didn't understand it as a kid. I thought everyone's dad did something cool like that," he said. "As I got older, I understood my dad had a dream job in a sense. I've got to experience a lot of cool things that a lot of kids don't get to experience. I've been to an AFC championship, the Olympics and the World Series."
Together, the trio is looking to make the most of some of the most successful years Rutgers athletics has ever seen.
"We understand each other extraordinarily well for how long we've been working together," Truxell said. "The one thing that brings us all together is that we know that we can put together a good product, and we just have to work together to job."
THE TRICKSTERS
Someday, Rutgers College sophomore Dan Bracaglia wants to win a Pulitzer for his photography. For now, the two-time photography editor has to settle for the honor of funniest guy in the office.
"The office is a crazy place," Bracaglia said. "You get sick of it after a while, but it's always a good scene. It's a home away from home."
With his second term, the quick-witted photographer will again look to keep the photos sharp and the office mood light.
"I liked it so much, I decided to do it again," he said. "The thing is, I guess I got lucky that I got the position I wanted right off the bat. There's nothing else I really want to do."
Bracaglia is joined by sophomore Brendan McInerney, who tried to write but said he was not too impressive. Instead, he turned to photography.
"I started being a desk assistant when he became editor," he said. "Dan is much more creative, and I'm more organized. I'm the yin to his yang."
THE ARTISTS
Seniors at the University have seen as many different designs on the Targum's front page as years on the Banks.
But after working together for a semester, sophomores Angelina Rha and Maggie Darias decided another redesign was in order.
Rha, the design editor, and Darias, now the associate design editor, switched spots this semester and revamped the Targum's look. They removed the knight's head and boxy flags at the tops of pages, while adding front-page weather and an index.
"It was something that I didn't really think we were doing," said Rha, who was the editor of her high school yearbook. "I knew it'd be cool, but I didn't know what direction we'd go in. Maggie had lots of ideas about what she wanted, but I put in my two cents about keeping it clean and consistent and chic."
Rha now has a full year ahead of her to do what she can with the layout.
"I just want to make the paper pleasing so that people can anticipate picking it up," Rha said, "and not just have the same old boring paper each day."
After a term as the head design editor, Darias is taking a step back in daily responsibilities to work more with inside beat. But she still is in the newsroom five nights a week.
"I think page design is the most fun you can have in a newsroom," Darias said. "It brings together everything. You get to interact with all the departments, and you get to make the paper really attractive."
THE HEIR
With Wesley finally leaving the copy desk in the rearview mirror, copy editor Jessica Gatdula is stepping up to take the throne. A transfer from Rider University, the Douglass College junior left Lawrenceville with experience in both entertainment writing and layout.
But after getting the RU 101 issue over the summer, she knew what she wanted to do.
"I realize I'm not cut to be a reporter," she said. "If I ever wrote again, it'd probably be entertainment. I wanted to get off on the right foot because Rutgers was a new start for me."
And with that new start - which included a term as associate copy editor - came the helm of keeping the paper's copy crisp and clean.
"I like that I am able to channel all my energy into things like correcting grammar," she said. "At the end of the night, seeing everyone happy with the end product and still getting along makes me want to keep going."
THE NEWSIES
While most desks at the Targum have a good deal of returning staff members, the four-person news desk is comprised of four rookie editors. But as a quartet of former correspondents, all four are looking to bring a fresh look to the news pages.
Ashley L. Morris, the university editor and a Douglass College junior, said her time covering Cook campus helped shape her mindset as an editor.
"I learned the ins and outs of being a correspondent, so when I became editor, I could help my correspondents get into their roles. I miss writing on a regular basis," she said. "Now being an editor has helped me become a better writer who writes tighter articles. It's really a good atmosphere here at the Targum."
Like Morris, Douglass College junior Cait Callahan was driven to her position of assignments editor from her experiences as a writer.
"That's why I wanted to be assignments editor, because I got sick and tired of having my stories rewritten and not knowing why," she said. "Now I get to edit people's stories, and bring people in and explain things and help them get better. Hopefully, people will improve faster than I did."
Michelle Cerone, the metro editor and a Rutgers College senior, lived off campus for three years, which drew her to the Targum's equivalent of a city page. After writing a story about tainted water in the Tov Manor neighborhood for a class, Cerone began to do more and more for the Targum.
"I went to a city council meeting and I was talking to this lawyer, and he told me about a case he was working on," he said. "They found lead in the water, and I just followed up on the story. It was fun."
Features editor Cait Mahon, a Rutgers College junior, wrote two articles as a first-year student but didn't like it at first. When she returned, she shied away from the hard news.
"I enjoy reading it, but I don't enjoy writing it, especially on deadline," she said. "I like stories that are more in depth. That just interested me."
THE beatNIKS
Siblings have been relatively common in Targum history, but twins are something a bit different. Then again, so is inside beat.
Danielle Asher, a Rutgers College senior, is stepping up to the role of head editor for the weekly entertainment magazine, replacing her twin sister Nicole. After working as associate for a year, Danielle Asher said she feels primed for the position.
"It eased me into the position, because I got to learn things from someone I'm obviously close with," she said. "It was really easy for me to ask questions and learn things and provided me with a safe environment to move up."
Together, they created an environment that appealed to their new associate editor, Matt Manavizadeh. The Rutgers College senior served as assistant editor and was in the office as much as the sisters had been.
"It is ironic to work for an entertainment magazine and be so entertained by the people that you're working with," Manavizadeh said. "I think that they both just sort of bring their sibling tension to inside beat, in a good way and in a fun way. It helps to make the work easier, to have something to laugh at."
Together, Asher and Manavizadeh hope to keep improving.
"I just want it to be something that ever Rutgers student will pick up and read, even if they've never thought about it before," Asher said. "I want to make it universal and appealing."
THE TRANSPLANTS
While most Targum editors get to focus on bringing it writers and content, associate news editors Dmitry Sheynin and Marissa Graziadio are essentially their own correspondents.
Sheynin started at Montclair State University and decided on journalism as a career path shortly after arriving at Rutgers. His breakthrough story followed a local homeless woman in New Brunswick.
"I'd been wanting to do something about the homeless issue in New Brunswick, because it seemed very prevalent," he said. "I decided to sit down and ask her about her story. I didn't expect it be especially interesting. But it really typified the things I went into journalism to write about in the first place."
Like Sheynin, Graziadio didn't start her college career at Rutgers. A transfer from the University of Pittsburgh, she said she never planned to work in the Targum offices.
"I didn't think I would have an editor position. I was just planning to write whenever I had the time. I kind of fell into it, but I love doing it," she said. "It's really gratifying when people give me good feedback on my stories that they're happy about something I've written."
