BAMMA 2010 Staff

CIIJ Director
Cristina L. Azocar, Ph.D.
Dr. Cristina L. Azocar is a member of the Upper Mattaponi Tribe. She is the director of the Center for Integration and Improvement of Journalism (CIIJ) and an assistant professor of journalism at San Francisco State University where she teaches classes on diversity in journalism. Azocar earned her doctorate in Communication Studies at the University of Michigan in 2001. Her research and teaching focus on portrayals of people of color in the news. She received her master's degree in Ethnic Studies and her bachelor's degree in Journalism from San Francisco State University. Dr. Azocar's interest in diversity in the news media spans almost fifteen years, and began with her concern about negative representations of Native Americans. She has done more than 100 presentations, workshops, talks and panels on the subject of journalism education and has published in academic and professional journals. Dr. Azocar serves on the board of the Native American Journalists Association as treasurer and chair of the education committee, the California Society of Newspaper Editors on the ex-officio journalism education seat, the Women's Media Center (founded by Jane Fonda, Robin Morgan and Gloria Steinem), the Grade the News citizen advisory board, the Sequoyah Research Center's American Native Press Archives. In 2005 she received the Distinguished Service to Journalism Education from the Journalism Association of Community Colleges and was honored as a Local Hero by KQED for Native American Heritage Month.


Editor-In-Chief
Zoneil Maharaj
Zoneil Maharaj is editor-in-chief and co-founder of Oh Dang!, an indie arts and culture webzine. A graduate of San Francisco State University's journalism department, Maharaj's work has appeared in various publications, including the San Francisco Chronicle, East Bay Express, XLR8R and WireTap Magazine. A former CIIJ staff member, this is his third year leading BAMMA.


Journalism Instructor
Ronnie Lovler
Ronnie Lovler joined CIIJ in February 2008. She is chair of the international committee for the Society of Professional Journalists and on the executive board of the northern California chapter of SPJ. She is also senior writer for the online, nonprofit news organization, Newsdesk.org. She taught journalism at the University of North Florida in Jacksonville, Florida before moving to San Francisco. Ms. Lovler's journalism career spans several decades. She served as bureau chief and correspondent for CNN in Latin America for almost 10 years. During her time at CNN, she reported from every country in Latin America. She also worked for CBS News, The Weather Channel and The Associated Press, as well as The San Juan Star in San Juan, Puerto Rico. She was part of a team of observers headed by President Jimmy Carter monitoring electoral processes in Nicaragua (2001) and Venezuela (2004). During the 2005 U.S. hurricane season, Ms. Lovler worked with the American Red Cross as a volunteer crisis communicator and public information officer. She received her undergraduate degree from Ohio State University and her graduate degree in communications at the University of Florida.


Multimedia Editor
Ali Thanawalla
Ali Thanawalla is a graduate of the Journalism Department at San Francisco State University, and recently finished an internship at SFGate.com. While at SF State, he spent three semesters working for the Golden Gate [X]press as a photographer and Multimedia Editor. He was also a Photography Intern at the East Bay Express. This is his second stint as Multimedia Editor for BAMMA.


Video Editor
Eric Lawson
Lawson is a senior at San Francisco State University with a focus on photojournalism. He has served as photo editor of the student newspaper, the Golden Gate [X]press, and completed internships at the Mountain View Voice and the Menlo Park Almanac. He also works as a freelance photojournalist for publications such as SPIN, SF Weekly, and Jambase. Lawson worked with CIIJ as a mentor for high school journalism students at Oakland Tech High School in Oakland, CA in the 2008-2009 academic year. This will be Lawson's third year working with BAMMA.


Photo Editor
Suzy Salazar
Suzy Salazar is a graduate of San Francisco State University. Her studies consisted of a double major in Raza Studies and Photojournalism. She currently works as the multimedia editor for El Tecolote. Her roles within El Tecolote newspaper have allowed her to develop and teach a visual journalism class at Burton high school located in San Francisco's Bayview district. She hopes to bring her experience in working with youth and journalism to BAMMA 2010.


News Editor
Angela Hart
Hi, I'm Angela Hart. I'm a graduate of the Journalism Department at San Francisco State University. I am interested in stories about development in two of the city's most changing neighborhoods: the South of Market and Mid-Market neighborhoods. These areas are home to some of San Francisco's most culturally and ethnically diverse populations, and contain a myriad of social and economic problems. They are also areas that the city plans to further develop in the coming decade, in part to help absorb future population growth. I am very excited about the new age of journalism and the possibilities new media holds. I'm a reporter at the San Francisco Public Press, and I'm working on an investigative piece about real estate trends in the city.


News Editor
Eric Gneckow
Eric Gneckow is a producer for KGO News Radio and the former editor in chief of SF State's student newspaper, the Golden Gate [X]press. This is his second year as an editor for BAMMA.


Designer
Tom Guffey
Tom Guffey has been in school for far too long. However, this has given him a lot of insight on how to work for student publications. He was A&E Editor, then Managing Editor, then Editor-in-Chief of La Voz, the student newspaper of De Anza College. He was Art Director of The Golden Gate [X]press, the student newspaper of SFSU, and is currently the Art Director of [X]press Magazine. He is also very nice.


Photo Lab Manager
Scot Tucker
Tucker is the Information Tech Consultant for the photojournalism program. He is also a Picture Editor at SFGate.com and has been a lecturer on [X]press publications labs. Tucker received a B.A. in Journalism and minor in Cinema from San Francisco State University in 2000.