AAJA
August 4-9, 2002
Dallas, Texas
Participants

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We started the week with a fortune cookie snack, and we looked to our fortunes for a harbinger of what the week would bring. We've recorded each student's fortune for posterity (and to give you insight into the true nature of the recipient.)

Ben Calhoun
Ben graduated from Oberlin College, where he managed the school's station, WOBC, and taught radio journalism. Ben interned with WBEZ-FM in Chicago. That internship led to a full time position as News Production Assistant. Six months later, he was promoted to Newsroom Coordinator. For The Beat, Ben, who has filed spots with NPR, produced a piece on rodeo cowboys of color.
Cowboys of Color: Listen or Read

Jyotsna Natarajan
Jyotsna is a year into a Master’s in Journalism at the University of Texas at Austin. She has worked as a reporter for CNBC India and a dotcom show on CNN India. She lived in Bombay, India before coming to the United States. A foreign student herself, Jyostna is working on a story on how foreign students are surviving in these tough economic times.
Foreign Students and the Economy: Listen or Read

Hae-Ok Miller
Hae-Ok is a student at San Francisco State University, majoring in Psychology and Journalism. Her primary interests lie in broadcast and photojournalism. A reporter at Youth Radio, she has filed a story on her struggles with obsessive-compulsive disorder for NPR. She also participated in last year's student radio project in San Francisco. For The Beat, she is producing a personal essay with sound about being a Korean adoptee of Jewish Argentines.
Adoption: Listen or Read

Heather Oplinger
Heather is 22 years old, and attends Queensborough Community College in Bayside, New York. She spends her free time at NPR member station WNYC, where she produced a story on Family and Religion for the Radio Rookies. She likes roller blading, bowling, soccer, walking, hiking, skiing or simply reading a book at the park. For The Beat, Heather is working on a story on the effects of the 9/11 tragedy on New York's Chinatown businesses.
Chinatown NY: Listen or Read

Edeluisa Panggat
Edeluisa will be a senior at the University of Central Florida majoring in Radio-Television: News Broadcast. While this is her first time attending an AAJA convention and working with the Next Generation Radio project, Edeluisa is not new to journalism. She worked for The Orlando Sentinel during high school, and is currently interning at WFTV Channel 9, Orlando's ABC affiliate station. Edeluisa is the host of The Beat, and her story looks at how Dallas' Chinatown changed after 9/11.
Host Script: Read
Chinatown Soundbites: Listen or Read