Student Publications Editors Named

BATON ROUGE, La. – The Southern University Student Publications Board and the Office of Student Media Services named Fredrick J. Batiste as the Editor in Chief of The Jaguar Yearbook and Brandi Jade Thomas as the Editor in Chief of The Southern DIGEST student newspaper for the 2001-02 academic year.
Batiste is currently pursuing a Master of Arts degree in Mass Communications specializing in public relations, at the SU graduate school and is a native of Maringouin. Batiste served as the witty sports editor of The Southern DIGEST student newspaper last year and was a sports writer on the staff the previous year.
“This is a new challenge,” said Batiste. “The format that a yearbook provides is an excellent fit for my style of writing and I want to give the Jaguar Nation a publication that best captures the memories of the year.”
Batiste earned a Bachelor of Arts in Print Journalism in May 2000. He also served as a Knight Ridder Intern for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram in Fort Worth, Texas last summer. He also was nominated for the National Dean’s List, a member of the Honda Campus All-Star Challenge team from 1998-2000 and a student senator in the Student Government Association.
Thomas, a senior majoring in Mass Communications specializing in photojournalism is a native of Morgan City. The 1998 Morgan City High School graduate is a winner of a Chips-Quinn Scholarship, sponsored by the Freedom Forum in Arlington, Va., and intern as a photojournalist at the Shreveport Times newspaper this summer.
She served as the photo editor and staff writer last year for The Southern DIGEST student newspaper, which placed second-place in the General Excellence division for Student Newspaper by the Louisiana Press Association in 2000.
“This is an excellent opportunity,” said Thomas. “I want to accurately inform the students, faculty, staff and alumni. I also want to obtain as much knowledge as I can to become a well-rounded successful journalist.”
Thomas was also an editorial and photography intern with the SU Office of Publications and Electronic Media for the summer and fall semesters of 2000.