The Tower: CSI’s campus voice

The College of Southern Idaho's student newspaper, The Tower, and journalism classes provide students the opportunity to hone writing skills while developing critical thinking skills. The college offers both beginning and advanced news writing courses. In these classes, students learn to communicate in writing in a clear and concise style. They also learn to develop good interviewing skills. They then apply those skills in the production of the student newspaper, which is published weekly and has a circulation of 3,000.

Students participate at all levels of the newspaper. Along with writing stories and taking photos, they also lay out the pages, determine local and wire content and deliver the finished product around campus. Students are also heavily involved in the advertising side by selling and designing ads.

Students are required to be enrolled in a journalism class in order to participate in The Tower. CSI students may enroll for Journalism 121, an introduction to Newswriting and Reporting, for three elective credits. Jour 121 students are required to have taken and passed English 101 or have demonstrated writing proficiency.

After completing Jour 121, students interested in continuing in the sequence may enroll for Journalism 222, an advanced writing and reporting course also worth three elective credits. After completing both courses, or by special instructor permission, students may apply to become an editor on the paper by taking Jour 290, a one credit elective.

Internships with local media outlets are also available for credit if arranged by the journalism instructor, Candace Baltz. Students interested in an internship must complete Jour 121 before they will be considered for the opportunity.