MOVE RS & CREATORS
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or everything from birthday cards to labels for Food Services, Mountaineer Printing has members of the App State community covered. The student-run print lab located on campus provides graphic arts and imaging technology students in the advanced printing and finishing course hands-on experience by printing the needs of App State students and beyond. All students who take the course must work at the shop for four hours per week, production supervisor Charles Perkins said. Perkins and two other employees serve as leaders for the students and train students on all of the equipment, junior graphic arts and imaging technology major Lana Jackson said. Jackson said although working in the print shop is a class requirement, she thinks of it as a positive experience that helps the students, most of whom are seniors, gain real-world experience for future careers. “Pretty much everyone that goes through this program usually works in a print place when they graduate, so it’s pretty much a perfect experience of exactly what we’ll be doing when you graduate for most people,” Jackson said. Perkins said working in the shop also helps students understand the process of print production. Jackson added that Mountaineer Printing is “just like a regular print shop” and serves as a resource available to meet the printing needs for almost any project. “If it’s on paper, we pretty much print it,”
March 1, 2019
Print shop class prepares students for careers in graphic arts Erin O’Neill @ ׀erinmoneill ׀News Reporter
(Left) Lana Jackson, junior graphic arts and imaging technology student, works in the Mountaineer Printing lab in Katherine Harper Hall. (Right) Zach Byrd, senior graphic arts and imaging technology student, operates a printing machine. Byrd works for Mountaineer Printing, a student-run print lab located on campus that provides graphic arts and imaging technology in the advanced printing and finishing course hands-on experience. // Photos by Lynette Files
Perkins said. Prices for the print shop are based on the cost of materials and the number of items needed, according to Mountaineer Printing. Mountaineer Printing also offers printing services that include design, digital, offset, flexography, screen printing and finishing.
Jackson said that although some students may not know about the print shop, people definitely use the resource. “I think for the size that it is, it gets used the perfect amount. We’re pretty much busy all the time,” Jackson said. Mountaineer Printing is located in Katherine Harper Hall. Those interested in using the shop should contact Perkins to determine prices.
Students practice strategic communication in new advertising firm class
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hat if students could get real-world experience in their fields and have it be a course credit? Mimi Perreault, a lecturer in the Department of Communication, decided to start the public relations and advertising agency class to give public relations and advertising students a place to work with real clients. This class will give students an internship experience, not a classroom one.
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Anna Dollar @ ׀Anna_Carr ׀News Reporter “We have lots of media inside the Department of Communication,” Perreault said, referring to student media. “A lot of universities our size have an agency class.” Perreault decided to offer the agency class after talking to some of her friends who work at other universities, such as the University of South Carolina, and heard that their schools had these classes or other organizations. Perreault is on maternity leave,
so the class is supervised by Laura Brittain, an advertising lecturer. Olivia Remsberg, senior public relations major, is enrolled in the class. “I would say it’s like a club because it is more collaborative,” Remsberg said. “But it is a class and we are all taking it for credit. You have to apply to be in it so it is more selective than a club.” The class currently has 20 students enrolled and is almost equally
composed of public relations students and advertising students. Some of the requirements include teacher recommendations and creative thinking, Remsberg said. For the first semesters, the class will work with community nonprofits. “We are doing anything from PR campaigns for them to doing event advertising,” Remsberg said. “It’s whatever they want. They’re going to come to us and basically fill
out an application. The process isn’t defined yet.” As of right now, the class is busy trying to create its “brand” so it can promote itself, Remsberg said. Along with establishing a brand, the class is working on its structure. “We are starting from scratch and creating our own syllabus, creating our own jobs, creating services, creating our own website and branding,” Remsberg said.