For the final last-minute class assignment for our Intro to Creative Enterprise 166 course, we had to analyze Suresh Jayakar’s Ted Talk.
Jayakar shared an interesting concept he calls “design thinking.” Currently, I am using this concept for my next job working as the business director at the Madison College Clarion newspaper.
I am returning after graduation to build their interactive footers for their experimental newsletter. The job landed in my lap after reading the newspaper while eating my breakfast. For those who have never attended Madison College, the cafeteria is the best experience.
Instead of eating gut bombs from Esker Hall, we have actual chefs preparing our food. The concept came from design thinking during a survey and town hall listening session by our dean of the college.
Dr. Jack Daniels instills this concept in his learners. He wants all who attend his school have inexpensive alternatives to standard college cafeteria experiences.
I believe this idea ties into what Jayakar describes with his story about the food truck. Daniels believes in investing in the college poverty problem. Attending both schools is like night and day. The problem I experience at Whitewater that I don’t at Truax is segregation.
The segregation between traditional and nontraditional social classes broods prejudice. Like Jayakar says, “Because sometimes, traditional ways of doing things just doesn’t work.”
My biggest problem I am solving for the Clarion as their business director is innovation with new technologies based on the segregation and cultural incongruity experiences I had working for the Royal Purple. I am proposing a nontraditional brainstorm session thanks to our lessons from our creative enterprise class.
I have been in the trenches with the college since March 2020, when we had to take the broadcast platform from our server to podcast format. Students had their studio time and ran their shows.
Traditionally, the Royal Purple shut down because their staff is dominated by traditional students with no experience in the field. The Clarion ran the entire time because we had nontraditional and traditional equity and buy in.
When I worked shortly for the Royal Purple, the advisor took me from being the multimedia editor all the way to taking me off the budget without telling me why. The Royal Purple is unfriendly to people of age and disabilities.
The Clarion encourages diversity and allows nontraditional students opportunities by being a student ran press. The Royal Purple is a business.
At the Clarion, I was running meetings and have published many stories. Freedom to explore and offer ideas each week was provided by allowing all who wish to submit stories. The Royal Purple uses a niche concept and does not allow buy in from nontraditional learners.
Again, night and day. The Royal Purple’s advisor is a sports reporter who trolls stories based on his allegiance to the Greek society. His fixed mindset would not allow gonzo journalism based on his prejudice that gonzo journalism “is for druggies.” Dr. Hunter S. Thompson was a sports editor for Elgin Air Force Base and was discharged honorably.
The Clarion has no Greek buy in. The Royal Purple uses a fixed mindset. The lesson: community college will provide more opportunities in journalism than the university. Ageism runs the university press.
The point I am making? We are intellectuals, like what was shared by Jayakar. As we close, I ask all of my colleagues when you enter the field to give nontraditional employees a chance and seek their advice. Your choice could come down to shutting down or operating your investment. Shutting down is the last resort.
