PR students offer prizes for newspaper knowledge

The Roaming Ranger project raises awareness of news and information in student publications.

By Sasha D. Robinson

sac-ranger@alamo.edu

Journalism sophomore Alejandro Diaz and Ranger managing editor Kyle R. Cotton asked students in the mall area on Oct. 26 questions about stories in The Ranger for a promotion called The Roaming Ranger.

The Roaming Ranger is a project of COMM 2330, Introduction to Public Relations, taught by full-time Adjunct Teresa Talerico, who set up a PR team to promote The Ranger.

Prizes were given to students who answered questions correctly.

Students who answered one question will get a pencil; two questions will get a poncho; and three correct answers will warrant a $5 gift card to Press Coffee, Subway, Main Street Pizza or the cafeteria at this college.

“If students want the gift cards, they have to read The Ranger,” Talerico said.

Diaz asked students questions about the history of Halloween, the tuition hike for spring and the opponent the college basketball team beat in the season opener.

Computer science sophomore Giovanny Villanueva was intrigued with The Ranger, but admitted to guessing on the question Oct. 24 issue.

“I think it is cool that we have a newspaper that we can read and a lot about what is going on around school,” he said.

Forensic science freshman Jose Sille did not know the list of schools that were closing down that was in an article “Alamo Colleges pushes options for training” by Cotton.

The article reported on for-profit schools, such as ITT Tech, Career Point and Regency Beauty Institute, which have been shut down by the Department of Education.

“I live by ITT Tech,” Sille said. “I noticed that it was empty, but I did not know it was going to close.”

Engineering sophomore Brian Agredo-Davila admitted he guessed some of the answers.

“I did not know we had a newspaper, to be honest with you,” Agredo-Davila said.

The PR team put fliers promoting The Roaming Ranger in the student center in Loftin Student Center and in the library in Moody Learning Center.

The team also wrote a public service announcement for college radio station KYSM 90.1.

A video of The Roaming Ranger has been posted on The Ranger’s Facebook page.

Psychology sophomore Edwin Velasquez and criminology sophomore David Vargas answered the tuition hike question correctly because they talked about it.

The students said that after The Roaming Ranger they will start to read the newspaper a lot more.

Talerico said the idea for The Roaming Ranger came from Cotton to increase exposure of The Ranger.

Criminal Justice sophomore Arielle Tenorio and communication design sophomore James Weaver, who are part of the PR team, said they learned a lot by promoting The Ranger.

“Being a part of the Roaming Ranger is exciting,” Tenorio said. “I am reading it now, and when I see that it says more articles are online, I go and read it.”

“I went to school at Palo Alto, and UTSA where they do not push their newspaper,” Weaver said. “Here, there is more emphasis on the newspaper in a positive way that caught my attention.”

The Roaming Ranger may continue in the spring.