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Fifty years of covers Former Editors reminisce about working with The Current AR puts spin on traditional media Meet the creators Editor notes AC and The Current through the years 4 3026201828The Current’s patron saint 6 An ode to decades past 8 Fifty years of The Current 12 Lifestyle magazine highlights local excellence 14 A small history of magazines 16
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1976 Founding of FM90, 89.9 KACV-FM.
AC begins its first classes in a municipal auditori um with approximately 80 students.
1972 The Amarillo Museum of Art (orig inally named the Amarillo Art Center) opens on the Washington Street Campus.
2013 New Hereford Everett and Mabel McDougal Hinkson Memorial Campus opens. 2016 Washington Street Campus mall renovations are completed.
1930 The AC student newspaper, The Ranger begins publication. Editor- Dor othy Beeman. 1932 Enrollment reaches 300 students.
1972 AC begins publishing the student magazine, The AC Current, in place of the yearbook, The Palo Duro.
1999 Amarillo College Fencing Team is initiated into the Amarillo College Fencing Association. 2000 Opening of the Amarillo College Moore County Campus in Dumas.
1947 Opening of the Student Union Building on Polk Street 1951 AC becomes one of the first three publicly integrated undergraduate classes. 1953 AC’s first African-American student graduates.
1995 State legislation transfers Texas State Technical College – Amarillo to AC. Today, it is called the East Campus (formerly Amarillo Technical Center).
1942 Forty percent of male students at AC are drafted.
2016 The Current wins a national Pacemaker Award.
1929 Amarillo College becomes the first Texas Junior College district to be organized indepen dent of a school district.
AC AND THE CURRENT
1937 The college moves its main campus to Washington Street in what is now known as Ordway Hall.
1958 AC is granted its own board of re gents independent of the trusteeship of the Amarillo Independent School District.
1939 School of Fine Arts is created. A flying school was established to train pilots under the authority of the Civil Aeronautics Administration. 1941 A national defense vocational training school is formed at the college to supply personnel to defense indus tries for WWII and to train for wartime. building efforts.
1977 AC begins leasing two gyms on Polk Street. 1984 Amarillo College Natural History Muse um opens on the Washington Street Campus. 1988 Founding of KACV-TV, the public television station licensed to the college.
2017 The Current wins a national Pace maker Award, a gold Amarillo Addy, a silver district Addy and a 3rd place Pin nacle Award for the spring 2017 edition.
2005 Opening of the Hereford Campus. 2007 Passage of a $68 million capital improve ments bond issue, used to remodel Byrd/Parcells and Dutton Halls, the Washington Street Campus College Union Building and the Allied Health Building; Jones Hall and the Science Lab Building and to install new parking and a new chiller plant.
2018 The Current wins a national Pace maker Award for the spring 2018 edition.
2019 The Current wins Best in Print and a Silver Addy Award at the Amer ican Advertising Federation Awards ceremony for the spring 2018 edition.
2011 Moore County Career and Technical Center Opens.
1933 AC is first accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools.
1962 Establishment of the Amarillo College Foundation. 1966 AC establishes the West Cam pus next to the Harrington Regional Medical Center.
THROUGH THE YEARS
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1956 Radio and television courses move into their studios.
Freeman, former general manager of Cenveo Printing (now ColorArt) played a large role in getting the magazine to print and often went above and beyond to help AC stu dents learn and gain valuable industry experience.
“One of the things about Tony was that he really had an interest in our students, and we would sit at a table and he would basically interview them and ask them what their goals were and what high school they went to, and so he was great with our students,” said Mike Haynes, former AC student media adviser and instructor.
Former editor of The Current, Maddisun Fowler had the oppurtunity to work with Freeman as a student and even tually as one of the advisers of the magazine. “Its’ been really special working with Tony over the years,” Fowler said. “When he retired, I reminded him that I was in high school the first time we met and he actually remembered. That’s the thing about Tony, he always took a genuine in terest in the students who came through the doors and especially The Current Staff.
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THE ByPATRONCURRENT’SSAINTNickBandy
Tony Freeman
Amarillo College’s student-produced magazine, The Cur rent, (originally called AC Current) celebrated its 50th an niversary in the fall of 2021. There are few people who have made such an impact on the success of the magazine over the years as Tony Freeman, who has worked with students to print the publication since day one.
Freeman played a large role in get ting the magazine to print, and of ten went above and beyond to help AC students learn and gain valuable industry experience. “I remember working on that project. But back in those days, we literally cut and pasted and that would give you a story,”
“I think the original Current staff wanted something to present to the AC community since they were getting rid of the yearbook,” said Haynes. “They wanted something similar to give students. Those were the two objectives I al ways put forth for our publications was to serve the cam pus community and also to train students in journalism.”
“If we’d had this conversation in 1980, or 1990, or 2000, I could be telling you different but similar stories, because so much has changed. The way you build color changes, type changes, weights of all things change. But some things stay exactly the same. And that is people working with other people to get the job done.
Since Freeman’s retirement, Brady Hochstein, strategic sales manager of ColorArt (formerly Cenveo), has filled the role of working with AC students to print the mag azine. “I worked with Tony for about four years. So I ac tually trained under him. He’s the reason I wear a suit to work every day. Tony is an amazing guy,” Hochstein said. “It’s been a real honor to meet the students each year, give them a tour of the facility and really just see their faces light up,” said Hochstein. “From the first meeting to sharing a couple ideas for stories, to delivering the magazine and seeing it all come together, it is a really great experience.”
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“It was always so interesting, but always so well done,” Freeman said. “Seeing those topics in the eyes of 18, 19, 20-year-old students. To me, that was always fascinating, especially for an older guy, but you know the thing about putting a magazine together, it’s just like a football team or volleyball team or anything else. It’s not a one man show.”
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With the absence of an annual yearbook, The Current has created a way to provide students with valuable experi ence working on feature-oriented, graphics and photo heavy print media and a chance to build portfolios.
Apart from the physical printing and construction of the magazine, Freeman took an interest in collaboration, stress ing that it was a large factor of a successful publication.
Since the magazine’s creation in 1971, it has gone through many transformations as the print and media industry has shifted over time. Freeman said he recalls the first edition. “I remember working on that project. But back in those days, we literally cut and pasted and that would give you a story,” he said. Although the media industry has changed drastically since the early days of The Current, collaboration is still a key factor in publication.
Over the years, The Current has covered events at AC and in the “Tryingcommunity.tothink back 50 years ago,” Freeman said. “I know there was one about the Amarillo Art Museum just being built and just changes in Student life.”
Fifty Years of like tattoos, or graffiti/outdoor art.”
Former General Manager of Cenveo Printing, Tony Freeman, said he remembers looking at his parents’ old AC yearbooks. “Year books are expensive to print because of how they are bound,” he said. “It’s one thing when you’re a senior in high school, you can look back at your yearbooks, but as far as college yearbooks, not a lot of students were buying them. But The Current, now there’s something that you can see little by little what’s going on at the time instead of just cut out pictures and boxes.”
“Looking back at the magazines,” Gibson said, “you can see how much the college has changed, the students have changed and then things that haven’t changed at all. One big difference was around 2015, we started encouraging students to By Garren Bustamante
Students also work independently on the design of the magazine.“They get to pick the paper and the colors,” Jill Gibson, chair of media, arts and communica tion, said. “If they want something fancy like a gold stamp, they have to figure out the cost and how they can afford it within the budget for the publication.”
Students have always had the freedom to choose what to cover in the publication. “They’ve covered some pretty dicey topics that are really appealing to students,” Freeman said. “Covering things “We started encouraging students to focus more on arts and media because that’s what our department does,” Jill Gibson, chair of media, arts and communication, said.
Over the years, both the magazine and the college have evolved.
Amarillo College’s rich history is imprinted, literally and figura tively, in the pages of Amarillo College’s yearbook, The Palo Duro, and its spinoff publication, AC Current.
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Many past editors and other staff members who have worked on The Current throughout the years have gone on to be successfully employed in the media.
The First AC Current Cover 13
The Current has won several national, regional and local awards over the years.
Many past editors and other staff members who have worked on The Current throughout the years have gone on to be successfully employed in the media. “I know that my work on the magazine and with Student Media is one of the key factors of why I have my job at Amarillo Col lege now,” Maddisun Fowler, Student Media coordinator and mass media instructor said. “There have been students before me and students after me who have used their work on the magazine as part of their portfolios and on their resumes to get jobs after grad uation,” Fowler said. Fowler and Gibson said they agree that having the hands-on ex perience at Amarillo College and with The Current is beneficial to students and their overall education. focus more on arts and media because that’s what our department does."
“Although it’s not about winning awards, the awards do vali date that we are teaching the students the right things,” Gib son said. “In national awards we’re competing against col leges across the United States and Canada. Statewide awards we’re competing against two- and four-year colleges, public or private. So knowing AC students can create work that com petes with prestigious universities is pretty impressive, as is knowing they did it by themselves with the freedom we give them,” she said.
of The Current
The process of creating and designing the magazine has changed drastically over the years. “Back in the 70s, all the photography was done on 35 millimeter transparencies,” Freeman said. “Of course, nowadays it’s all done digitally. Everything was done using the paste-up board. You’d set your type, put wax on the back of it and paste it down on a piece of cardboard and that was called paste-up. You would cut and paste and that’s where those terms came from,” he said.
Boyett now credits both experience and years of relationships for Brick & Elm’s successful launch. “We had relationships with designers, writers and photographers. You have to have those rela tionships. We could never put together a 132 page magazine by ourselves. We had to have a team of people behind us. That was the most important thing,” Boyett said.
By Season Craven
Boyett attributes AC for giving him his start in journalism. “What I learned at AC and the rela tionships I built there; those were things that I’ve used for the rest of my career. The ability to learn on the fly, write fast, design, print; all of those things became part of my career.”
Boyett said relationships with local businesses have also been important, and the response from subscribers and advertisers has been strong. New issues are available bimonthly and can be found in many retail locations throughout Amarillo, or a subscription can also be purchased at the Brick and Elm website.
Creating a magazine from scratch is no easy task, but Jason Boyett, co-founder of Amarillo’s new est lifestyle magazine, Brick & Elm, has been preparing for this his entire career. Boyett and co-founder, Michelle McAffrey, have worked to gether since 2010, but in January 2021, they de cided they would launch their own independent lifestyle magazine for Amarillo. Three months later, the first issue was published. “That time period was a blur of activity, punctu ated by moments of thrill and excitement, tem pered with huge amounts of anxiety. I am most proud of the comprehensiveness of Brick & Elm,” McAffrey said. Within a short period of time, we developed a website, full social media, a gorgeous print product and strong subscriber and advertis er support.” Boyett said he and McAffrey had many conver sations about their vision for the magazine. “How can we best tell the story of Amarillo people? How can we celebrate the businesses, the interesting people and the events of this area?” Boyett asked.
While the magazine’s name may not contain the word Amarillo, everything about the magazine is all about the idea of local. “Amarillo still needed a high-quality magazine that celebrated this community and it needed to be one that was written by Amarillo people and entirely local,” Boyett said. “We use local writ ers, local photographers, local advertisers, a local printer and we tell stories about Amarillo.”
It’s been part of our driving intention all the way through to make something that people would open up and be stunned at how beautiful it is,” said Boyett. “Amarillo deserves something beautiful.”
Brick & Elm ties our past to our pres ent as we explore what connects us—from our deep roots to the new energy of a vibrant city.
Boyett, himself, is an Amarillo native. He graduat ed from Tascosa High School in 1992 and attend ed Amarillo College from 1992-1994. He was the news editor for The Ranger and the editor for The Current magazine, both AC publications. Boyett stayed on as editor from 1994-1995 after graduat ing in 1994 with his mass communication degree.
“We wanted this to be a magazine that was ex cellent in every sense of the word, not just in the content, not just the stories, but the design of it, the paper stock we use, the photography we use.
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The name itself was an important conversation. According to the magazine’s website, “Historic brick streets connected Amarillo’s early residents. They remind us today of the pioneering spirit that first brought our city to life. The elm trees planted by those pioneers still stand, shading our streets with life and growth. Brick & Elm ties our past to our present as we explore what connects us—from our deep roots to the new energy of a vibrant city.”
Lifestyle magazine highlights local excellence
Even after going on to get a degree at West Texas A&M University, Boyett said, “I think the most import ant couple years in terms of my career were the ones that I spent at Amarillo College in the newsroom.”
Devin Marshall, a reader of the magazine, said, “It seems as though they put a lot of thought and ef fort into every page.”
In February 1741, the American magazine in dustry began with two publications by two different publishers. The first of these were American Magazine, published by Andrew Bradford, and General Magazine, published by Benjamin Franklin, which catered to the general interests of wealthy and powerful readers. However, these publications were short-lived, as they could only maintain pro duction for three and six months respectively. Despite the two publications failing, they paved the way for the magazine industry to be born. By the end of the 18th century around 100 different magazines had begun production. These magazines started as community-focused publications, but during the 1820s some magazines began to circulate outside of their local areas. One of the best-known magazines in 1820s America was a Christian children's magazine titled, The Youth’s Companion, later referred to just as The Companion. It originated in Boston and published content intended to both enter tain children and lead them on the path of virtue.
Twenty years later, magazines began to use images to draw the reader deeper into the sto 16
In 1983, the internet launched and created a new platform for magazines to expand. Some magazines, like Urbanette, are pub lished exclusively online. As the 20th centu ry became the 21st, users became able to ac cess information instantly. People could now read magazines anywhere and anytime. The magazine industry has grown and adapted and some print publications have decided to move their material online. Whatever the future of magazines is, pub lications are going to need to adapt to new technologies to continue publishing content. Magazines, like all traditional media, have faced a number of challenges in the digital age. However, unlike newspapers, specific topic or niche magazines continue to be successful. ries. The most prominent of these was Leslie’s Weekly and Harper’s Weekly. These maga zines proved successful due to the intriguing imagery paired with the articles in each issue. Despite the advancements made in the mag azine industry, there had yet to be a publi cation that could bridge the gap between content intended for wealthy readers and content intended for the average American. This was due to the cost of magazines. In 1893, McClure’s Magazine cut the cost of the magazine to 15 cents, which was half of the average magazine price at the time. Despite selling its issues for well below the cost of production, McClure’s Magazine, with the aid of advertising revenue, proved a success.
A small history of magazines By Rylee Glazner
Whatever the future of magazines is, publications are going to need to adapt to new technologies to continue publishing content. These magazines started as ofbeganthepublications,community-focusedbutduring1820ssomemagazinestocirculateoutsidetheirlocalareas.
Because of its success, magazines like Cos mopolitan followed. Time magazine began circulation in 1923 and offered images and news from around the world. Life magazine began circulation in 1936 and relied on photojournalism to make its general interest articles easier to read.
Lauren Ebben Editor Fall 2019
I was lucky enough to get to be editor with one of my really good friends as my assistant editor, Rachel. It was fun because our kids are around a year apart, and we both already had them that year. In order to get it mag azine done you’re up there many hours a day, so we ended up turning our office into almost like a daycare. We had a baby gate and all the toys, so while we were there working on the magazine, students are walking by going to class and there were our two toddlers, playing while we worked all hours.
EDITORS REMINISCE ABOUT WORKING WITH THE CURRENT
I learned a lot of coordination and delegation of work. We had to come up with, from the beginning, what our concept was going to be. Then what we wanted from the stories, how we wanted the layouts to be and getting those assigned to the students that we thought would fit best with those topics. You don’t want to give a football story to somebody that has no familiarity with football. You want something that would be connected to them.
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Christa Glasgow Co-Editor Spring 2011 Editor Fall 2011
Being an editor for The Current magazine taught me how important it is to have a fully developed concept at the be ginning of any project I am in charge of and an idea on how to execute that vision every step of the way to ensure that everything turns out the way you want it to. It is both frustrating and heartbreaking to wade through a half-baked idea that has so much potential but is muddled by dozens of questions. It is always better to start with a clear picture. I was an editor for The Current twice and, in terms of concept planning, it was so much smoother for me the second time around.
FORMER
We’re all creatives because we have a little bit of rebellion in us. Let that help mold you and your work. You’ll arrive at some thing beautiful. Be Brave. Be Bold. Become.
I had been the editor of the Amarillo High yearbook and I believe Rusty had been one of the editors of the Tascosa yearbook, so it was a good fit. The Current was more about organization, I don’t recall that I had any written content in that edition. I think one of the things that helped me was to learn organization skills and dealing with new people. It was a new experience and something that helped me grow up a little bit, because there are people that I hadn’t met before when I came in and had to be a leader of a group. From that standpoint, I think it was a valuable experience. I’m convinced my journalism background really benefited me throughout my career because writing is so important. Being able to express yourself. I always thought that I had a leg up on a lot of people I was working and competing with because journalism taught me how to write. It taught me the importance of a deadline. I never missed a deadline.
Austin Ulen Editor Fall 2016
My magazine was the only one over the last several years that didn’t win any awards, and I am so proud of that. Sounds weird, right? I feel like some editors create and curate their project to be “better” instead of staying true to themselves. That’s not how I work. The last story in my edition was about the best places to poop on campus! No one is getting an award for that. (I did however win some type of award for the photo art for that story). It kind of feels like studying for a test and not art at all.
I’ve forgotten some stuff but one thing I do remember is that there were some really good people involved. Anytime you’re involved in a group effort, it’s like a sports team; you don’t remember the games as much as you remember the relationships with your teammates. I just remember having good times and laughs with the people that were involved with The Current.
Just because you don’t know how to do something, doesn’t mean you can’t do it! When I started as editor, I barely knew In Design (and I mean BARELY...like I opened it a few times). That’s what the whole magazine is built in. So I dug in and learned from everyone around me. That being said, I knew what I brought to the table: creativity, original ideas and passion. I wanted my magazine to be a love letter to the decades that built me. It was fun, quirky and unrestricted. It taught me to break barri ers, push limits and expand my creativity whenever I get the chance! There’s no wrong answers when it comes to art, only perspectives. Being editor of The Current allowed me to be more confident going into the professional world. It’s literally the thing that got me a job in advertising...and it had a unicorn on the back cover! I owe so much to The Current. Give it some love, and it will love you back! The editing field can be tough. There are rules, structure and guidelines that you have to adhere to. However, you can’t let any of that stifle your creativity! Communication with your team is paramount to success. Pushing limits will make your content and design more interesting. Have the confidence to push those boundaries and be proud of what you create. Don’t let what you don’t know limit what you can create. Learning while in the fire can create some very cool things, within yourself and your project.
Nathan Heizer Co-Editor Fall 1979/Spring 1980
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Jenna Gibson Editor Spring 2017/Summer 2020 I gained a lot from working on the magazine but the top skills I gained were teamwork and communication. Along with that, the magazine was a great piece of work to add to my design portfolio and helped me immensely when applying for design jobs post-grad.
Jason Boyett Editor Fall 1994/Spring 1995
I learned how to build a magazine ladder and assign stories. I learned how to write magazine features of my own, and also how to edit others’ writing. I learned AP Style. I directed photography and chose photos for features. Most importantly, I learned how to design and lay out a magazine using desktop publishing apps like QuarkXPress, Photoshop and Illustrator—which were brand-new to me at the time. I’m still using all these skills today, from writing for other magazines to editing and publishing my own, Brick & Elm in Amarillo. Those were the days when the internet was really new. For the Ranger, we were still designing in QuarkXPress, then printing out the hard-copy pages on a laser printer and pasting them up to be printed as a newspaper. For the magazine, we would create the files using desktop publishing on Mac Quadra computers and then transfer the digital files to the printer on zip disks, which had 100 MB storage capacity but now are an ancient technology. In the newsroom, we would collect AOL “free Internet hours” CDs—the kinds they used to mail to your home or make available at the mall—so we could get online and try to figure out how to transfer the files to the printer digitally rather than on a floppy disk. I’m not sure we ever accomplished it. Working on The Current (and The Ranger) taught me to work fast and work accurately. During my time at AC, I learned the basics of news writing, how to interview people, how to use digital desktop publishing—which was brand-new at the time—how to lay out a magazine and newsletter, how to edit and how to synthesize complex stories. I still do all those things on a daily basis in my career. It gave me confidence to try new things. When you’re thrown into a new opportunity with raw talent but few actual skills—especially as an 18 year-old—you scramble to ramp up. That process is where you find competence. You start to understand that you can do hard things. I’ve been trying to embrace this in all parts of my life, because there are a lot of things I don’t know. But I do know that I’m capable of learning new things. The first time I learned that and really understood it was in the newsroom at Amarillo College.
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The coolest memory I have from working on The Current was as getting to attend the CMA convention with Jill and Maddisun and accepting the Pacemaker and Pinnacle awards we won for the 2017 Current. It was such an incredible experience to place among big universities.
I learned a lot of great skills while working for the magazine. A lot that I didn’t think about when I accepted the editor po sition. Back when I was the editor there was not really a whole lot of intermingling with other departments. If I needed a graphic or an effect, I needed to do it myself. I spent a lot of late nights in the newsroom teaching myself through trial and error how to get the look that I wanted. It helped me realize that things that I thought were beyond my skills or beyond my knowledge were things I could do if I was willing to put in the work. I learned a lot about working with other people and putting myself in another person’s perspective. Working on The Current was the first time I was put in a position where I was making all the decisions. The great thing about being the editor is that you could completely go away from previous iterations, it was your magazine, you could do whatever you wanted with it. Which I took full advantage of, I didn’t realize it then, but that is rare once you get out of school. I have so many stories about my time at AC, from thinking that the old newsroom in Dutton hall was haunted and going on a ghost hunt at night while Jill Gibson and her kids prank called the newsroom to scare us. To my friend and co-editor Sar ah Clark bringing in a fake owl that we named Archimedes and moved around randomly in the newsroom for “maximum effectiveness A lot of late nights ordering pizza while working and impromptu dance parties because it was so late, and we were so tired. I think in the two semesters that I was editor of The Current I probably scared the campus police a few dozen times, I would be sitting in the old newsroom in Dutton the automatic lights would turn off, I would be wearing headphones and they would come into what they thought was an empty newsroom and find me there. A lot of my favorite memories are from working on student publications when I was at AC and the people who mentored and supported me.
Andrea Godoy Editor Spring 2010 Co-Editor Fall 2010 23
One semester, I had already ceremoniously given away my keys to the office to the guy taking over the editor position, it was very emotional. He ended up not being able to do the magazine so Mike Haynes called me on a Friday while I was on my way to WT, and said, “Maddisun, the magazine is due Monday, do you think you could get it done?” You don’t tell Mike no, so I said “Of course!” and hung up and had a mini panic attack. My co-editor and I knocked it out. Did it win any awards? No. But it was done by deadline. In high school we had access to InDesign, Illustrator and Photoshop so I had worked with those programs before, but I realized while laying out the magazine, that there were some tricks I wanted to try, like removing backgrounds on pho tos and things like that, but I didn’t know how to do it. Luckily, there was a man named John who had a blonde afro and wore bell bottoms. Jill swears he is a ghost and didn’t exist, but he taught me the ins and outs of Photoshop, InDesign and all the tricks of the trade. I haven’t seen him since 2006 though. Maddisun Fowler Assistant Editor Fall 2006/Spring 2007/Spring 2008 Editor Fall 2007/Fall 2008/Spring 2009 Co-Editor Fall 2009
Being the editor of the magazine is real-world experience without dealing with real-world consequences. It was training for my professional life. If I had not had those experiences I would not be where I am right now.
I have always said that my time as editor of The Current, and my time working in student media in general, was the best way to prepare me for the real world. The environment of a college newspaper teaches you how to handle multiple deadlines and juggle various tasks under a time crunch. My time as editor gave me real-world scenarios to experience without actually being in the real world. My ability to manage all of my professional responsibilities is directly related to learning that you can only do the best you can do in the time you are given and that is almost always enough. Without the experiences that I was fortunate enough to have as editor of The Current and as a staff member at The Ranger, I simply would not be where I am today. Being editor of The Current was a pivotal stepping stone in my professional career.
Spring/Fall
Being the editor of The Current and even being a page editor a couple of times taught me a lot of things that have helped me in my professional life. I have learned how to communicate with a team of people. Everyone works differ ently. Working closely on the magazine with people who have different personalities and the way they work has helped me develope better skills to communicate. At my current job, I work with all kinds of different people and knowing how to communicate with them is important. I also learned different elements of design and how to use Adobe, which has been a huge part of my current job. I’m by no means a graphic designer, but learning how to properly lay out and make graphics for Facebook, flyers, brochures, etc. has helped me succeed. I’m able to tell people what looks good and bad. I’ve even had the opportunity to teach my boss some things. Something I would tell future editors and even staff members is don’t let the fact that you don’t know how to do something hold you back from doing it. I knew absolutely nothing about laying out pages and design when I started on staff for the magazine. And I think because I was willing to learn, I gained skills I never thought I would have.
Mackenzie Thomas Editor Spring 2019
I’m the director of marketing and community engagement specialist at the Amarillo Museum of Art, so I do all our social media, marketing and I update our website. I create invitations, do the press releases and talk to the news stations to come interview us. I still do graphic design, and I really love studio art. Those are my main passions. I made lifelong friends; I’ve made connections that have helped me in my professional life. I’ve found mentors from it. The trips were so fun. When I first started it was trial by fire. I’d never used InDesign and they just told me to do the back page. That is something that I hold dear to my heart because I wouldn’t be here without that experience.
2018
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Claire Ekas Assistant Editor 2017 Editor Spring
Sarah Clark Assistant Editor spring 2010 Co-Editor Fall 2010 Editor Spring 2011
Ryan Riley Editor Spring 2001/Fall 2001/Spring 2002/Spring 2003
One of the first editions I worked on was about faith and religion. I pitched a story about Satanists because I, being all of nineteen, felt that we needed to include every perspective. I didn’t think the editor would say yes. In reality I was just trying to be a rebel. Obviously, a rebel with absolutely no cause. But to my shock the editor was like, “cool, go for it.” But I had no idea what I was doing. I didn’t know what a Satanist was. I only knew what I’d seen in movies and TV. Which meant I thought they ate babies. Which, by the way, they don’t. I Googled it of course. Actually, I probably searched Yahoo. I was a Yahoo guy back then. Of course, nothing came up. The Satanists of Amarillo did not have a website. They didn’t have a well-publicized weekly gathering. I ended up just writing a story about how I didn’t find any. I tried to be funny about it. I don’t think I succeeded. But a few months after The Current came out, a post card was mailed into the newsroom addressed to me. It had no return address. And the only message on the card was, ‘Dear Mr. Riley... we are out there.’ 25
The Current and The Ranger were my first attempts at news writing or structural writing. I messed around in note books at home but never finished anything. I fell in love with writing while on the news staff at AC. It led to me study ing creative writing at Texas Tech and eventually going to graduate school to study screenwriting. And today I’m a mildly successful screenwriter living in Los Angeles.
Technically speaking I became the lord of all things InDesign and Adobe Illustrator. I learned how to package a publication for printing. I also got a crash course on management. I was in charge of getting exciting and inter esting articles from Reporting 1 and 2 students. Not only did I have to plan out the content, I had to put in the work with each and every reporter to help them with creating their best work. One-on-one meetings, reaching out to them, bombarding them with inspiration and showing interest, making sure I provided them with what they asked me for like phone numbers, interview opportunities, etcetera. You will only get out what you put in when you ask people to bring you quality stories for a publication. The skills I learned during my time at The Current, I use them every day in my career. In fall 2010, we contacted David Grisham, the head of Repent Amarillo, for an interview. He was thrilled and agreed. Believe it or not, he was the nicest and most polite person—you wouldn’t think he was the leader of an extreme Christian group—until he started to talk about his beliefs. It was a crazy experience, and we printed his answers in full without commentary because that’s our job: to deliver undiluted information to the public (espe cially if the source of the info is a polite but crazy person). But the best thing about that was, as far as I know, The Current was the only media group in town who made the effort to reach out to Grisham and request an interview. And I was tremendously proud of my reporter, who remained 100% unbiased in his questions—that was hard for him to do. In spring 2011, my final semester as editor, our servers crashed 12 days before we had to go to press. There were no backups. I had five classes and finals coming up. I put together a whole entire magazine from scratch in 12 days—I have no idea how Christa and I did it, but we did.
Other AR experiences integrate videos or images on top of static print pieces. “This helps alleviate the restrictions of available layout and design real estate on static print pieces,” Hochstein said. “It also allows for a printed piece to contain the most relevant and up-to-date informa tion possible without having to reprint the material.”
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Students can scan a QR code to take a virtual tour and see what college could be like on campus.
Reality puts spin on traditional print
By Elizabeth Chunn
Print media is changing, and advancements in tech nology raise the question of whether it will become extinct. There is reason to believe print media can stand the test of time and coexist with digital media thanks to the development of Augmented Reality (AR). “Print is never going to disappear because people still want to hold a piece of paper,” Sergio Rodriguez, the director of digital experiences at ColorArt Amarillo, a local printing company, said. “AR connects tradi tional media that older generations are familiar with digital and online media common today.”
Recently, colleges have started including QR codes on direct mail pieces for recruiting purposes. AR is a major growth area and is helpful when competing for student attention and making their mail stand out from other colleges. “Students can scan a QR code to take a virtual tour and see what college could be like on campus,” Ro driguez said. “Students will view the college as be ing up and up on the digitals.”
Augmented
Since AR is expected to play a major role in every day life, officials are considering the potential im pact on student experiences, especially in Amarillo College’s student magazine.
AR introduces a way to engage a publication’s audi ence. It could bring a picture to life or just add more depth to an article by displaying what sort of envi ronment an event took place in. “The most common ways AR is used include vid eos, 3D and 2D content, gamification, lenses, portals, scavenger hunts, wayfinding and social media inter action,” Brady Hochstein, ColorArt Amarillo’s strate gic account executive, said. Some travel agencies are using AR in static images to market the perfect vacation spot. “We have an example of where we took a static image of a beachfront property and created an immersive expe rience,” Rodriguez said. “When the image was viewed through a mobile device, it transformed into a video tour of the pool with fiery flames glowing at night.”
AR experiences are accessible in a few different ways. One of them is through apps on digital devic es or scannable QR codes. “QR codes redirect users to a web link when scanned by a mobile device’s camera,” Rodriguez said. “COVID brought QR codes back to the fore front when many people were scanning codes to access restaurant menus.”
“The use of AR has limitless potential and continues to enhance user experiences through memorable and engaging print pieces,” Hochstein said.
“During my tenure of working with students print ing the AC Current, there was not an augmented reality component,” Tony Freeman, former general manager of Cenveo Amarillo, said. AR can cause readers to experience articles like never before.”
Meet the Andrew Terry Co-Editor Rebekah Higgins Co-Editor 28
creators Faith Chamberlain Graphic Artist Kamden Slough Graphic Artist 29
I think that it is important to look into the past, not just out of respect for what came before us, but to learn, and with those lessons to continue innovating. This edition of The Current was made to celebrate the people who came before us, without getting stuck in the past.
The front and back covers of this magazine take inspiration from the design of one of the first editions of the AC yearbook from the ‘30s, but with our own new spin on it. The collages of previous magazine covers and content published throughout the decades are arranged in new ways that build on the work of the past to make something greater. I would also like to thank a few people in the present for working so diligently to make this magazine possible. Mak ing a magazine is a collaboration between so many very talented people, so I greatly appreciate Kamden and Faith for forming a fun and creative community over the semester. I would also like to thank Derek Weathersbee, Mad disun Fowler and Jill Gibson, our advisers, for all of the work they have done to push us not only to publish a good magazine, but to be the best versions of ourselves we can possibly be. Thank you to Brady Hochstein and the team at ColorArt for for the help in publishing not only this year’s edition but for being a part of this magazine since day one. Lastly, I would like to thank you for reading our magazine and taking the time to appreciate our efforts.
ANDREW TERRY
This edition has had its challenges and has been on a long journey. Originally it was supposed to be published Fall 2021, but, due to unforeseen circumstances, we decided to postpone the publication of The Current until spring of 2022. I cannot thank the staff enough for the amount of work they have put into The Current and none of this could have been done without them. Now that it has been printed I cannot help but step back and look at how far this edition has come. The Current has had hundreds of students work on it over the past 50 years and it’s a wonderful thought that we have added our beautiful magazine onto the shelf with its predecessors.
REBEKAH HIGGINS
30 DEAR READER, When we sat down to plan this edition, I was terrified. This is a big milestone for The Current and not just any milestone. The 50th anniversary. Early on we decided we wanted to look at the history of The Current, and at how it changed and remained the same through the years. To do this we went through every single edition of The Current. It was really neat that we had all of them. Even in the first edition, released in fall 1971, there are stories that are relevant today. The Current was preceded by the yearbook, The Palo Duro, which had been published every year since Am arillo College opened its doors, in 1929. By changing it to a magazine the staff has the opportunity to portray the culture of AC. In the early days The Current had stories about Greek life and athletics at AC, and in more recent years we have focused on Media and the Arts.
“IF I HAVE SEEN FURTHER IT IS BY STANDING ON THE SHOULDERS OF GIANTS” - ISSAC NEWTON
EDITORNOTES
